As for the others...
Qin Fangyang looked at the other twenty-two, who were either indifferent or too embarrassed to speak, and could not help wanting to sigh.
Once they reached the Martial Master Realm or higher and needed to go on missions, he would have to remind their teachers and parents that they should avoid missions if possible. Even switching careers and becoming ordinary people would offer better prospects than continuing as martial artists...
Otherwise... they could easily lose their lives.
What future could people have if they turned a blind eye to others' abilities and strengths?
For people who could not swallow their pride to befriend the strong and talented, was life more important than saving face?
Though this was only an ordinary training ground, if they never made friends in ordinary times, who would save them at a critical moment?
"Keep going! Winners, challenge the person one rank above you."
Qin Fangyang gave the order coldly.
At the same time, in another location, Zuo Xiaonian finished her cultivation for the day and went to the office in her snow-white training clothes.
"Master, does anyone else know when and where I'll make my breakthrough?" Zuo Xiaonian asked.
Opposite Zuo Xiaonian sat a beautiful woman in court dress, likewise clad in snow-white robes. Merely sitting there, she resembled a snow lotus atop an icy peak, untouched by a speck of dust.
She did not look old, but the age of someone this powerful could no longer be judged simply by appearances.
She was cool and pure, too imposing to look upon directly.
Hearing Zuo Xiaonian's question, the beautiful woman turned her gaze toward her and said mildly, "In the entire world, only three people know: you, me, and your junior sister."
Zuo Xiaonian knitted her delicate brows. "But I suspect the information has already leaked."
"Hmm?" The woman in court dress frowned, a sharp light shooting from her eyes. "What happened?"
Zuo Xiaonian took a deep breath and said, "Someone already knows it's star martial golden crystal, and the timing matches too."
"Who?"
"..."
Zuo Xiaonian said nothing.
Mu Yanyan, the woman in court dress, stood up. Her slender figure stood a full meter seventy-five tall. She narrowed her eyes at Zuo Xiaonian. "You can't say?"
"Yes, I can't say. But the information is absolutely accurate. There's no room for doubt," Zuo Xiaonian said.
"Mm."
Mu Yanyan did not press her. She knew her disciple's temperament. Since she could not say, even beating her to death would do no good.
By the same reasoning, the information really had leaked. There was absolutely no doubt!
She slowly paced two steps and said softly, "So it really has leaked?"
Zuo Xiaonian said nothing.
Without hesitation, Mu Yanyan picked up her phone and quickly dialed a number. "My office. Two minutes."
Chapter 18: It Wasn't Her!
Zuo Xiaonian and her master, Mu Yanyan, stood side by side in the office, dressed alike and equally cool, like twin snow lotuses blooming on a single stem. The only difference was that Mu Yanyan gave an impression of cool aloofness slightly weathered by wind and frost, while Zuo Xiaonian was spotless, pure, and radiant.
Looking at Mu Yanyan, one sensed a natural distance of a thousand miles. Anyone who approached would be frozen by her, her chill pressing upon them.
Zuo Xiaonian, however, made people feel too ashamed of their own unworthiness to approach, as though even a single step forward would sully the clean air surrounding this fairy.
A moment later.
Mu Yanyan raised her fair wrist. On it was a delicate little watch, bright red, like a drop of blood upon her wrist.
"Seven seconds left."
Mu Yanyan spoke.
Bang.
The office door was flung open, and a girl came rushing in like a whirlwind. "Master, what's the matter?!"
"Oh, Senior Sister Xiaonian, you're here too."
The girl had short hair and exquisite features. Yes, exquisite.
Her eyes, nose, brows, mouth, and ears-every feature conveyed a single word: exquisite!
She looked like a piece of porcelain painstakingly polished by a master craftsman, flawless and perfect.
Paired with a little blazer and jeans that left her snow-white ankles bare, the whole ensemble made her look all the more fresh and brisk.
She came bustling in with a set of car keys still dangling from her finger.
"Master, you really know how to pick your timing. I was out street racing just now. When I heard your venerable self summoning me, I had to ditch the car and whip my horse into a gallop all the way back. Well? I'm not late, am I?!"
The short-haired girl was panting. She helped herself to a glass of water, tipped her head back, and drank it down. A drop of water trickled from the corner of her mouth, slid over her exquisite collarbone, and disappeared into the abyss.
"Can't you do something worthwhile?!"
Mu Yanyan looked at her youngest disciple in exasperation, like iron that refused to become steel. "What do you know besides playing around all day? Street racing... I can't believe you actually did that. You can fly through the sky and chase airplanes, yet you still go street racing?! Do you have nothing better to do, or are you trying to make a nuisance of yourself?!"
The exquisite girl wiped her mouth, hopped over, and hugged Mu Yanyan's arm, swaying it as she wheedled, "Oh, Master, I was just having a little fun... Cultivation can't be the only thing in a person's life."
"Don't you agree, Senior Sister?" she added to Zuo Xiaonian.
Zuo Xiaonian said mildly, "In my life, cultivation is the only thing. Even then, I feel there isn't enough time, that the days are too few."
"How boring."
With a soft thump, the short-haired girl flung herself onto the sofa and stretched out her two long, shapely legs, sprawling across it like the character for 'big.' "Ah... that feels so good..."
"Meng Chenyu!"
Mu Yanyan's expression suddenly turned icy. "Get up! Stand properly! I have something to ask you!"
The exquisite girl, Meng Chenyu, shot to her feet and stood ramrod straight, looking somewhat wary. "Master, what's..."
As the saying went, hearing the strings was enough to grasp the melody. Hearing her master's unfriendly tone, how could the exquisite girl not realize something serious had happened? She no longer dared laugh or joke.
Mu Yanyan's face was as still as deep water. "Who have you told about your senior sister's impending breakthrough?"
At those unexpected words, Meng Chenyu froze.
"Speak!"