Parents' Former Comrades-in-Arms

Cao Bing's villa training room

Cao Bing was holding the Blood Shadow Saber, swinging and slashing without pause. Bare-chested, he was covered in sweat from chest to back.

Because of his Martial Artist training, Cao Bing had always kept his hair short. Now, steam was rising from those short locks.

"Ring-ring-ring-ring-ring!"

"Whose call is that?"

Cao Bing sheathed his saber and stood still, confusion flickering in his eyes. He casually grabbed a towel and wiped away his sweat before picking up his phone.

"Uncle Xie?"

Cao Bing's expression changed. Uncle Xie, whose full name was Xie Hongxin, had been his parents' teammate when they were alive and had always taken great care of him.

He hurriedly answered the call.

"Ha ha ha, Little Cao! I've only been in the wilderness for a little over a month, and you've already become a Martial Artist! Not bad, not bad—you've done your Uncle Xie proud!" The moment the call connected, a hearty laugh came from the other end.

Cao Bing smiled as well. Uncle Xie was still the same as ever. He replied, "Uncle Xie, I only just passed. I hadn't had time to share the good news with you yet. By the way, Uncle Xie, you're back from the wilderness?"

"I'm back! Got back last night! By the way, now that you've become a Martial Artist, have you thought about which squad you want to join?" Xie Hongxin asked over the phone.

"Not yet," Cao Bing answered honestly.

Cao Bing had considered the matter of joining a Martial Artist squad before, but after thinking it over for ages, he still couldn't decide. Mainly because he wasn't familiar with any of those squads. If he ran into one that preyed on newcomers, that would be a disaster.

As for the Fire Hammer Squad Luo Feng had joined, he hadn't even considered it. Luo Feng had offended Zhang Zehu of the Tiger Tooth Squad and had been ambushed on his first trip into the wilderness, nearly losing his life. If Cao Bing joined them, he might be dead before he even found anyone.

He wasn't Luo Feng. He might not have the luck to split bullets with a saber.

"No? That's fine too. Little Cao, our Divine Arrow Squad is having a gathering at noon today. Come hang out. Your Uncle Yan, Uncle Guan, and Aunt Song will all be there." Xie Hongxin paused briefly over the phone before continuing.

"Today?" Cao Bing froze for a moment, then asked.

"Today. Huajingyuan Hotel, sixth floor, Room 641! Remember it!" Xie Hongxin gave him the address directly. "All right, your Uncle Xie has something to take care of. We'll talk more at noon."

"Okay." As soon as Cao Bing spoke, Xie Hongxin hung up.

"Looks like the squad issue has been settled too. I thought I'd have to enter the wilderness alone." Cao Bing spoke happily, then checked the address of Huajingyuan Hotel and found that it wasn't far away.

"Keep practicing the saber. Try to reach the first layer of the Nine Layered Thunder Saber as soon as possible."

Cao Bing set a reminder, picked up the Blood Shadow Saber again, walked to the center of the room, and began sweating through his training once more.

"Uncle Xie!"

At Huajingyuan Hotel, Xie Hongxin was already waiting at the entrance when Cao Bing arrived. A high-end restaurant of this caliber naturally had attendants to guide guests, but Uncle Xie, who had always taken such good care of him, had personally come downstairs to wait for him.

"Ha ha, Little Cao! I heard about your results. First place in the practical combat test—you didn't embarrass your Uncle Xie!" Xie Hongxin laughed. The burly man stood over 1.9 meters tall, with a full beard and thick hair, yet he was remarkably forthright.

"How could I dare embarrass Uncle Xie?" Cao Bing grinned, but his body swiftly dodged the fan-sized hand coming at him.

Xie Hongxin was an Advanced Warrior who specialized in strength. Even an unintentional pat on Cao Bing's shoulder would be enough to make him grimace in pain for quite a while.

This had happened many times before Cao Bing became a Martial Artist. His body had developed a natural reaction, so when Xie Hongxin habitually swung that huge palm over, Cao Bing reacted instantly.

"Oh! Not bad, you can dodge now!" Xie Hongxin was greatly surprised when his slap came up empty.

Cao Bing twitched the corner of his mouth. Xie Hongxin was still the same, always fond of joking around with him, a junior.

"Come on, your Uncle Yan and the others are waiting for you!" Xie Hongxin had missed with his first attempt, then swung his arm around to sling it over Cao Bing's shoulders. Cao Bing dodged again, leaving him feeling rather bored. "The old Little Cao was cuter. No matter how he tried, he could never dodge."

Following Xie Hongxin into the elevator, Cao Bing took the initiative to press the button for the sixth floor. As the elevator slowly rose, the two soon arrived there.

What greeted them was a small garden with artificial hills and flowing water. Two corridors extended around it, both decorated in an antique style. Though they were inside a building, it gave people the feeling of standing in an ancient Jiangnan town.

"Renovations like this must have cost a fortune, right?" Cao Bing said. The last time he had seen artificial hills and flowing water inside a building had been at the General Headquarters of Limitless Martial Arts.

"Of course. But they wouldn't care about such a small sum. I heard Huajingyuan Hotel is owned by someone under a God of War. They don't care about this at all," Xie Hongxin explained.

"A God of War's property. No wonder." Only then did Cao Bing understand.

Which God of War wasn't worth tens or hundreds of billions?

Led by Xie Hongxin, Cao Bing arrived before a private room. Xie Hongxin pushed the door open, and several pairs of eyes inside turned toward them at once.

"Little Cao is here!" The first to spot Cao Bing was a short-haired woman in her thirties.

"Aunt Song!" Cao Bing called out.

"What aunt? Call me Sister Song!" The short-haired woman immediately became displeased. She was thirty-five, only seventeen years older than Cao Bing. How could he call her aunt?

"Uh, cough, cough." Cao Bing hurriedly coughed twice, awkwardly rubbing his nose before quietly changing his form of address. "Sister Song."

"Ah, that's more like it." Only then did Song Shengnan smile brightly as she patted Cao Bing's head, making him even more embarrassed.

Women... Cao Bing grumbled inwardly.

"Cao Bing is here." At that moment, an ordinary-looking man stood up.

"Uncle Yan."

This man's name was Yan Ying. He was the captain of the Divine Arrow Squad, known as the Divine Archer. His weapon was a series-7 alloy longbow, and he possessed Intermediate Warrior General level strength. Usually stern and unsmiling, he had been someone Cao Bing was very afraid of when he was young.

"Come on, Old Yan, can't you smile? Little Cao passed the Martial Artist test. That's something to celebrate!" At the same time, another middle-aged man in the corner chimed in.

"Don't! Guan Yong, don't scare Little Cao. If Old Yan smiles, won't that terrify him?" Xie Hongxin had just downed a bottle of beer and now teased Yan Ying in a strangely exaggerated tone.

"Ha ha ha, that's true!" His words immediately set everyone in the room laughing.

"Come on, Little Cao. I won't introduce your Uncle Yan and the others. This is Old Ye, Fang Ye. This is Little Zheng, Zheng Ke. They're both members of our Divine Arrow Squad." Song Shengnan called Cao Bing over and introduced the two unfamiliar figures.

"Uncle Fang, Brother Zheng." Cao Bing looked at the two men. They should be the squad's newly added members.

Fang Ye was an uncle nearing fifty, with calluses all over his hands and a deep scar on his face. He looked like someone who had seen plenty of battles.

Zheng Ke was probably not yet twenty-five. He had short hair and sharp eyes. Upon seeing Cao Bing, he merely revealed a faint smile before it vanished.