Recruitment

The next day.

A morning of practice came to an end.

A wealthy boy from the class whom he rarely interacted with suddenly called out to Chen Fan.

"Your name is Chen Fan, right?"

The rich boy yawned, then walked up to Chen Fan with a goofy grin and casually slung an arm around his shoulders.

Chen Fan warily shrugged off his arm and looked at the boy whose name he could not remember. "What do you want?"

Inwardly, he was on the highest alert against this person.

The boy did not mind. He chuckled. "Someone wants to treat you to a meal."

Chen Fan was rather baffled.

Then the boy waved a hand toward the corridor. "There, they're here."

Several youths dressed in White Cloud Martial Academy trainee vests approached. Each was vigorous and powerfully built.

Two or three of them were even introductory disciples wearing Daoist robes!

At their head was the "Black Bear" Chen Fan had seen yesterday.

Chen Fan immediately clenched his fists.

A headache came over him.

Could it be that this guy wants to cause trouble for me because I was alone in a room with He Hongshan?

Boys at this age were impulsive and unreasonable. If they truly wanted to make trouble for Chen Fan, there was not much he could do.

Dealing with some thug would be easy enough, but how could he dare lay a hand on these rich second-generation kids...

Black Bear and the others drew near.

"Brother Tianyou!"

The boy beside Chen Fan wore a fawning smile.

Black Bear nodded at him, then lifted his chin as he looked at Chen Fan. "Bao Tianyou. Introductory disciple."

Outer disciples could only wear White Cloud Martial Academy vests. Only introductory disciples were issued Daoist robes.

Chen Fan had naturally known this man's identity long ago.

He also guessed that introductory disciples were most likely true martial artists, all of whom had comprehended inner breath, perhaps even advanced beyond that stage.

Chen Fan inwardly sensed trouble, but outwardly remained neither servile nor overbearing as he asked, "I'm Chen Fan. May I ask what Senior Brother Bao wants with me?"

Bao Tianyou smiled at Chen Fan, his manner extremely polite.

"I heard you're a young genius from Black Cloud Class. Once you become an introductory disciple in the future, we'll be true fellow disciples, so naturally we should get acquainted in advance!"

Chen Fan froze, his expression turning strange.

He had assumed this fellow was some arrogant disciple coming to cause him trouble. He had not expected him to be trying to recruit him...

Feng Cong had indeed praised him before, but he was far from being the most valued student in Black Cloud Class.

Aside from He Hongshan, at least two or three others were held in higher regard by Feng Cong than Chen Fan!

Besides, he had only just begun practicing White Cloud Pine-Crane Fist. A word or two of praise did not prove anything, did it?

The other party should not know that he was certain to master this martial art!

Why had Bao Tianyou sought him out on his own initiative?

What Chen Fan overlooked was that among those valued by Feng Cong, only he was from a commoner background, with no faction or affiliation whatsoever.

People like him were the easiest to recruit!

Among those who came to White Cloud Martial Academy to practice martial arts, there were quite a few who formed cliques like Bao Tianyou...

In truth, it was only because Lin Mo, He Hongshan, and the others were young, proud, and still somewhat immature that they had not thought to recruit Chen Fan. Had they been slightly older rich disciples, they would not have passed up someone like him either!

Bao Tianyou and the others brought Chen Fan to Jiangshan Tower, a famous restaurant in the county town.

Chen Fan had long heard of it, but he had never eaten here before.

It was simply far too expensive for him.

The group went up to the second floor of Jiangshan Tower, where Chen Fan noticed another group of White Cloud Martial Academy disciples had also arrived.

What surprised him, however, was that their group was led by an outer disciple in a trainee vest, with several introductory disciples in Daoist robes around him!

The youth was sixteen or seventeen, with an extraordinary bearing.

Bao Tianyou even went over to speak with him.

Chen Fan only heard Bao Tianyou address the youth as "Junior Brother Feng."

The two treated each other as equals, which Chen Fan found rather remarkable!

Before long, Bao Tianyou bid Junior Brother Feng farewell and brought Chen Fan and the others to a private room.

He ordered a whole table of fine dishes.

Roast goose, roasted chicken, braised pork...

There was everything one could want.

One meal alone cost seven or eight taels of silver. Looking at the prices on the menu, Chen Fan inwardly called it a waste.

If he bought the ingredients and cooked them himself, he would not even spend one percent as much!

Seven or eight taels of silver was money an ordinary family could not save in an entire year!

Yet to these wealthy youths, it was merely the cost of treating someone to a meal...

And these were only scions of prominent families from a county town.

The immense gap between rich and poor in this world left Chen Fan with many emotions.

Of course.

Since Bao Tianyou was paying, Chen Fan did not stand on ceremony. He dug in with gusto and ate to his heart's content!

He had to admit that the meal was truly delicious, the best Chen Fan had eaten since transmigrating!

It was worth the price.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill.

Bao Tianyou exchanged a few pleasantries with Chen Fan before changing the subject.

"Junior Brother Chen, while cultivating diligently every day is good, you must proceed step by step. Everyone's energy is limited. For martial artists like us, the greatest taboo is impatience and restlessness. You must get enough rest each day, especially at noon. You need to conserve your energy and rest for long enough, or the losses will outweigh the gains..."

Chen Fan knew he was referring to how he had trained at noon yesterday and been alone in a room with He Hongshan.

He sneered inwardly.

Putting on an innocent expression, he asked, "But I saw He Hongshan from our Black Cloud Class go to the training room to cultivate at noon as well?"

He deliberately made it clear that he was not familiar with He Hongshan!

Bao Tianyou shook his head. "He Hongshan is a genius of the He Clan. She has an unlimited supply of Energy Pills, so sleeping two or three hours a day is enough for her. She spends all her remaining time cultivating... You won't find another person like her in all of Flying Spirit County."

Energy Pills?

This once again touched upon a gap in Chen Fan's knowledge.

He silently remembered the name.

Bao Tianyou shook his head.

"Don't think I mind you being alone in a room with He Hongshan. My Bao Clan has always been on good terms with the He Clan. Hongshan truly is a younger sister I care for, but I wasn't lying to you. Martial artists, especially those in the Strength Training stage, must pay close attention to energy consumption!"

Chen Fan gave an embarrassed smile.

Though this Black Bear looked rough and bold, and was not particularly old, he was no simple character.

With just a few words, he had laid bare all the unspoken issues between them.

Of course, the reason Bao Tianyou did not mind speaking frankly was that he believed the gap between Chen Fan and He Hongshan was too great for anything to be possible.

"However... I must give you a warning. You must not have any ideas about He Hongshan." Bao Tianyou's expression turned extremely serious as he looked at Chen Fan's refined, handsome face.

"He Hongshan is an anomaly, a genius among geniuses. With the He Clan sparing no expense to nurture her, they intend for her to completely master White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm within one or two years, reveal her talent, and head to Yan Capital City to become a core disciple of the head master of our White Cloud Martial Academy. She may even stand shoulder to shoulder with Li Linliu in the future!"

The head master?

Chen Fan's mind raced.

So the White Cloud Martial Academy in Flying Spirit County was merely a branch academy!

The great families of Flying Spirit County presumably valued not the branch academy itself, but the strength of White Cloud Martial Academy's main branch!

There had been no sign outside White Cloud Martial Academy indicating it was a branch. Given Chen Fan's own status, no one had ever told him, so how could he have known?

And for the first time, he had finally heard the name Li Linliu from someone else.

Chen Fan could not help asking, "Who is Li Linliu?"

Bao Tianyou was taken aback, somewhat surprised. "You don't know Li Linliu?"