Leaving the Squad

That night, Chen Yuan trained for an extra two hours before returning to his room to rest.

Of course, Chen Yuan's so-called rest was actually meditation. He had gradually grown accustomed to this training rhythm.

Perhaps because of Qin Wei, Qin Zhan had not dared to contact him again over the following days.

Chen Yuan was happy to have the peace and quiet. Every day, he trained according to his schedule and watched the numbers on his panel slowly rise.

There was one minor incident in between. Qin Wei called him to say that she had broken through to Advanced Trainee and was about to claim Purple Light Dew to become a Martial Artist.

Chen Yuan congratulated her over the phone, which angered Qin Wei enough to hang up immediately. She did not call again afterward.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, October arrived.

"I don't agree!" Qin Zhan stared sternly at his daughter. "You can't enter the Wilderness Zone yet."

Qin Wei looked stubborn. "I'm already a Formal Martial Artist. Why can't I go?"

Qin Zhan laughed in anger. "You're only a Primary Warrior and haven't even mastered Five Hearts Toward Heaven. You're in such a hurry to enter the Wilderness Zone and throw your life away? This is utter nonsense!"

"Qin Wei, have I spoiled you too much all this time?"

Hearing her father call her by name, Qin Wei shuddered instinctively. She understood that he was genuinely angry this time.

The matter had started with a phone call Qin Zhan made earlier. He had intended to gather the members of his Wilderness Zone squad and set a time to enter the Wilderness Zone to hunt Monsters.

Qin Wei had recently advanced to become a Formal Martial Artist. After buying the martial arts manual she had long desired from Limit Home, she had been eager to test herself in real combat.

So, just as Qin Zhan was about to call Chen Yuan, Qin Wei stopped him and told him that she wanted to enter the Wilderness Zone as well.

That was what led to this father-daughter argument.

Facing her angry father, Qin Wei gathered her courage and argued back. "You aren't entering the Wilderness Zone immediately anyway. Give me a few days, and I'll soon get started with Five Hearts Toward Heaven."

"According to the dojo instructor's estimate, with my talent, my first absorption of cosmic energy will most likely increase my strength by a thousand kilograms. By then, I'll be an Intermediate Warrior." Qin Wei spoke with conviction. "You were willing to bring even Chen Yuan into the Wilderness Zone. Once I break through to Intermediate Warrior, with the Thunder Blade manual, how would I be inferior to someone like him who practices a C-rank manual?"

"You even bought Thunder Blade?!" Qin Zhan's voice instantly rose several octaves.

Thunder Blade was a martial arts manual created by Thor, one of Earth's three greatest powerhouses. Its original name was Nine-Fold Thunder Blade.

However, as Thor's strength had increased in recent years, the original Nine-Fold Thunder Blade now had fifteen levels. Calling it Nine-Fold Thunder Blade was no longer quite suitable, so the manual's name had simply been changed to Thunder Blade.

Thunder Blade was powerful, but it was also hailed as the most difficult saber technique in the world. Many confident geniuses had met defeat while trying to learn it.

"Although high-grade manuals have dropped in price across the board in recent years, just the first level of Thunder Blade costs five million Huaxia Coin." Qin Zhan looked as if he hated that iron could not become steel. "You only have ten million in starting funds. You wasted half of it on Thunder Blade without even knowing whether you can learn it?"

"Not five million. Ten million." Qin Wei corrected him seriously. "And since it was my first purchase, I could get it at half price. I spent ten million to buy the first three levels of Thunder Blade."

Qin Wei had her own reasons. "The dojo instructor said I'm extremely talented with the saber and recommended that I buy a more powerful manual. I also had to take advantage of the first-time half-price benefit. This is my only chance to access a high-grade manual."

"So you directly bought Thunder Blade?" Qin Zhan laughed angrily. "Why don't you take a look at what you're actually capable of first?"

"I'll definitely learn it." Qin Wei gritted her teeth. "So don't stop me from entering the Wilderness Zone. I urgently need a great deal of real combat to train my saber technique. You don't want to see me fail to learn Thunder Blade because I lack practice, do you?"

After saying that, Qin Wei gave Qin Zhan no chance to argue. She turned and stomped upstairs. "I'm going to train. The Wilderness Zone has to wait for me!"

Qin Zhan watched his daughter's back and stood silently for a long while before taking out his phone. "Hello, Yang? Tell the others to postpone entering the Wilderness Zone. Wait for my notice on the exact time."

Chen Yuan knew nothing about the matters between Qin Zhan and his daughter. For him, day-after-day training had become a habit. In particular, watching his strength steadily climb brought him an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

Mid-October arrived quickly. That day, two unexpected visitors came to Chen Yuan's home.

Chen Yuan looked at the two young men in black uniforms outside the courtyard gate, and memories surfaced in his mind.

They were both members of Qin Zhan's Wilderness Zone squad, Yang Fan and Wang Meng. Both were Advanced Warriors.

"Brother Yang, Brother Wang, what brings you here today? Is there something you need to notify me about?" Chen Yuan greeted them as he remembered, opening the courtyard gate at the same time.

"Chen Yuan, we won't go in. We came to inform you about something." Yang Fan looked at Chen Yuan, his expression somewhat stiff.

"Oh, please go ahead." Chen Yuan replied with a smile, seemingly unaware of the coldness in Yang Fan's tone.

Yang Fan exchanged a look with his companion before saying, "We hope you'll leave the Wilderness Zone squad."

As he spoke, he fixed his gaze tightly on Chen Yuan, attempting to put pressure on him.

"I see. I have no objections. I can leave." Chen Yuan nodded, then asked curiously, "But have you discussed this with the captain?"

"We'll speak with the captain ourselves. You only need to agree." Yang Fan seemed not to have expected Chen Yuan to agree so easily. He immediately relaxed, and his expression was no longer so stern.

He smiled at Chen Yuan. Seemingly afraid that Chen Yuan would change his mind, he said soothingly, "Chen Yuan, the Wilderness Zone is very dangerous. Honestly, everyone was quite dissatisfied with your performance last time."

"How about this? Train for a while longer. Once you become an Advanced Warrior, you can join us again, and no one will have any objections."

Chen Yuan did not particularly care. He had not planned to enter the Wilderness Zone through the squad again anyway. The secret he carried was too great, and it would be easy for others to notice something unusual.

Thus, upon hearing Yang Fan's words, he merely nodded casually. "Mm, I understand."

Seeing Chen Yuan agree so readily, Yang Fan glanced at Wang Meng. Seeing that he had nothing to say, Yang Fan said, "Then there's nothing else. Sorry for disturbing your training. We'll leave now."

"Take care." Chen Yuan closed the courtyard gate.

Yang Fan and Wang Meng walked down the path, gradually moving farther away from Chen Yuan's home. Only then did Yang Fan quietly ask his companion, "Old Wang, don't you think Chen Yuan agreed a little too readily?"

Wang Meng wore an odd expression. "What does it have to do with us whether he agreed readily or not? Isn't it good that we accomplished our goal?"

"I'm just worried that kid is up to something." The more Yang Fan thought about it, the more he felt Chen Yuan's behavior was strange. There was a mysterious quality to him that Yang Fan could not see through. "Should we secretly investigate what he's been doing lately?"

Wang Meng could not understand Yang Fan's train of thought. He abruptly turned and stared at his companion. "Yang Fan, Chen Yuan has nothing to do with us. We were only entrusted by Miss Qin Wei to kick Chen Yuan out of the squad."

"Now that we've achieved our goal, I'm warning you not to stir up unnecessary trouble."

Just a few days earlier, Qin Wei had finally gotten started with Five Hearts Toward Heaven. As she had said, her first absorption of cosmic energy increased her strength by one thousand kilograms, allowing her to advance to Intermediate Warrior on the spot.

Thus, Qin Zhan had no reason to stop Qin Wei from joining the squad. When news of her joining spread, several young men in the squad cheered excitedly.

After all, female Martial Artists were rare these days, especially young and beautiful ones like Qin Wei. Aside from Qin Zhan, the captain, everyone in this Wilderness Zone squad was a young man in his twenties. Who did not harbor a few thoughts about Qin Wei? Everyone understood without saying it aloud.

However, before joining the squad, Qin Wei had made a request behind Qin Zhan's back—she did not want to be on the same team as Chen Yuan.

Now that both of them were Intermediate Warriors, one was a beautiful female Martial Artist cultivating the ultimate manual Thunder Blade, with limitless prospects ahead of her. The other was Chen Yuan, who cultivated a C-rank manual and could not even defeat a Primary Beast Soldier in actual combat. Even an idiot would know whom to choose.

Other than Qin Zhan, who was still in the dark, everyone else in the squad had unanimously decided to kick Chen Yuan out. That was why Yang Fan and Wang Meng had come to persuade Chen Yuan to leave.

"So it was because of Qin Wei. Fine by me." In the courtyard, Chen Yuan paused mid-sword practice, then continued training as if nothing had happened.

It was not that he had deliberately eavesdropped. Rather, practicing the Spirit Wind Sword Art recently had made Chen Yuan increasingly sensitive to his surroundings. Even though Yang Fan and Wang Meng had already gone far away, their conversation still drifted into Chen Yuan's ears on the wind, allowing him to understand the whole story.

However, Chen Yuan did not care about any of this. If anything, they had given him an excellent reason to leave the squad, saving him from having to consider how to persuade Qin Zhan.

Sure enough, in the days that followed, Chen Yuan happened to hear that Qin Zhan's squad had already set off for the Wilderness Zone. No one contacted him.

Chen Yuan was in no hurry and continued training step by step.

On October 16, the Hibernation Method's proficiency crossed beyond the beginner stage, and Chen Yuan mastered the second stage of Deep Sleep.

On October 21, the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic reached perfection.