Teaching Her Junior Disciple in Their Master's Place

Early the next morning, Chu Heng arrived at the summit of Holy Mountain just as the sky began to brighten, determined to show his sincerity.

The summit remained quiet and cold. The doors of the Worship Hall and Douluo Hall were shut tight, with no one in sight.

Chu Heng stood outside the Worship Hall. After hesitating for a long while, he still did not dare call out. He refused to believe Douluo Guang Ling did not know he was there. Perhaps leaving the doors closed was another test...

So Chu Heng waited obediently outside. Half an hour passed. Gold and crimson touched the eastern sky, and the first ray of sunlight cleared the distant mountains and fell upon Holy Mountain.

At that very moment...

"Creak..."

The doors of the Worship Hall swung inward.

Chu Heng perked up and looked over. Guang Ling stood inside, dressed in plain white fighting clothes, his silver-white hair loose over his shoulders. He looked as casual as he had yesterday.

He knew I was standing out here all along.

Chu Heng hurried forward.

"Teacher!"

Guang Ling gave a slight nod.

"Mm. You've got patience, but you're a little too timid..."

Chu Heng had no words for that assessment.

If I'd called out, would you have said, "You've got nerve, but you're a little short on patience"?

Before Chu Heng could dwell on it, Guang Ling waved a hand. The scene before Chu Heng's eyes changed abruptly.

The Worship Hall vanished. In its place stretched an endless snowfield, where the wind howled and snowflakes whirled.

Everything around them lay under snow, with no trace of life. Even the sky was a bleak gray-white.

"Hiss..."

Chu Heng instinctively hunched his shoulders.

So cold! The chill was more than something he felt on his skin. It seemed to seep through it, creeping into his veins and even his mind.

Though he was already a Soul Grandmaster, he could feel his hands and feet rapidly stiffening in that environment.

Teleportation? Or a domain?

Chu Heng could not tell whether the scene before him was real, but the cold was miserable enough. He turned to Guang Ling, who seemed not to notice his gaze and spoke evenly.

"Release your Martial Soul."

Chu Heng understood at once. Guang Ling had only seen his pistol form yesterday and had merely heard about the other two. Now he wanted to see them for himself.

But did he have to bring me somewhere like this?

Whatever he thought, Chu Heng could only comply. He released his Martial Soul, then shifted it into its Rifle form.

"Teacher, I'm starting."

"Go ahead."

Chu Heng raised the gun and aimed at a huge rock jutting out of the snow in the distance.

The next instant—

Bang, bang, bang, bang...!

A stream of Soul Power bullets poured out. Snow scattered, and pits appeared across the rock's surface.

Guang Ling stood beside him and watched calmly.

Chu Heng stopped firing. Soul Power flowed through his Martial Soul, and the gun reassembled into its Grenade Launcher form!

Chu Heng adjusted his aim and channeled in Soul Power.

Boom!

A Soul Power shell landed in the snowfield ahead. The explosion hurled up a great mass of snow, sending a wave several meters high into the air.

Two more shots followed.

Boom!

Boom!

The ground trembled faintly.

Guang Ling raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting."

Chu Heng's mouth twitched. Oh well. As long as he's happy.

Once Guang Ling had seen enough, he waved his hand again. Chu Heng felt briefly dazed. When he opened his eyes, the blizzard was gone, and they were back inside the Worship Hall.

Warmth wrapped around Chu Heng once more, and he let out a long breath.

Guang Ling walked over to a chair and sat down.

"Kid."

"How did yesterday feel?"

Chu Heng paused.

"What do you mean?"

"Spirit City."

Guang Ling propped his cheek on one hand.

"There's a lot of pressure here."

Guang Ling chuckled.

"Scared already?"

"Not exactly."

Chu Heng shook his head.

Guang Ling said nothing more. He took a token from his Storage Ring and tossed it to Chu Heng.

Chu Heng hurriedly caught it. The token felt cool in his hand and was silver-white throughout. The Spirit Hall emblem was carved on one side, and an unusual bow-shaped pattern on the other.

"Keep it. If you run into trouble in Spirit City, use this."

Chu Heng's eyes lit up. After seeing Su Xianling use hers yesterday, he knew how useful such a token could be.

"Thank you, Teacher!"

"Don't thank me yet."

Guang Ling waved a hand.

"Go get Xianling."

Chu Heng froze.

"Huh?"

Wait, didn't she tell me yesterday to come see Teacher on my own? I've barely been here, and now he wants her too?

Chu Heng was puzzled, but he did not dare ask.

"Yes."

He put the token away and obediently left the Worship Hall.

Before long, Chu Heng reached the courtyard where Su Xianling lived.

Even before he got close, he spotted a familiar figure doing her morning exercises inside.

Su Xianling wore training clothes that allowed her to move freely and was going through a remarkably fluid series of stretches. Chu Heng took two looks, then immediately turned his gaze away.

Look away. Clear the mind. Desire is emptiness, and emptiness is desire...

After reciting that jumble in his head, Chu Heng stood outside the courtyard gate and called out loudly:

"Sister!"

Su Xianling stopped. When she turned and saw Chu Heng, she walked toward the gate.

"What is it?"

She glanced at the sky.

"Haven't you gone to see Teacher yet? It's getting a little late."

Chu Heng was speechless.

I got there before dawn, all right?

"No! Teacher asked me to come get you."

"?"

Su Xianling paused.

"Teacher asked you to get me?"

"Yeah."

Chu Heng spread his hands.

"I don't know why either."

Su Xianling frowned. She did not know what their teacher wanted, but since he had summoned her, she would go.

"Let's go."

They climbed Holy Mountain. When they returned to the Worship Hall, Guang Ling was still sitting where Chu Heng had left him.

Su Xianling spoke as soon as she entered.

"Teacher, you wanted me?"

"Mm."

Guang Ling nodded. He glanced at Chu Heng, then at Su Xianling. His expression was unusually serious, though to Su Xianling, the look in his eyes was plainly mischievous.

"Xianling, I'm leaving Chu Heng in your care from now on."

"???"

Su Xianling froze. So did Chu Heng. The two of them turned to Guang Ling at the same time.

The hall fell silent for two seconds.

Su Xianling caught the sly glint in her teacher's eyes and could not help speaking up.

"Wait, Teacher. Didn't you only take him as your disciple yesterday?"

"I did."

Guang Ling answered as though it were obvious.

"Then why am I the one teaching him?"

"I've already taught you everything I've learned in my life. So whether you teach him or I do, it's the same."

"But I still need to train!"

"You looked after him for years before this, and your training never suffered. How about this? I'll personally take you to find your sixth Spirit Ring, and I'll give both of you more resources from now on. In return, you can take on the extra work and teach Chu Heng in my place."

Guang Ling valued Su Xianling, so he had offered her something in return for the effort. Of course, he had another reason for this arrangement, but it was not yet the time to say it.

"All right!"

Su Xianling agreed readily. Though she did not want to, she sounded so happy that Guang Ling was taken aback.

What he did not know was that Su Xianling liked having Chu Heng by her side!