Chapter 78: The Ancient Cypress Splits

"Jian Sha, Ding Huan is my college classmate and one of the three mentors at Yujiang University whose students made it into the Top Ten Colleges of Blue Star."

Luo Xuanwei was now no longer certain; rumors everywhere claimed Ding Huan was the true mentor behind Fang Chong, Lü Zi, and Li Li Wanran.

She had deeply doubted it before, but now that Ding Huan himself denied it, she felt the rumors must be untrue.

She knew Ding Huan too well—except for the past half year, he had barely left her sight; how could he suddenly become so powerful?

What puzzled her even more was, if Ding Huan truly was just along for the ride, why was the Gene Alliance hunting him? And why hadn't they caught him yet?

Regardless, today she must have a proper talk with Ding Huan.

"I'm Qiao Jiansha; Qiao Yi is my cousin." The tall man stepped before Ding Huan, his tone arrogant.

He didn't need Luo Xuanwei to introduce him—he already knew who Ding Huan was.

Ding Huan didn't even deign to look at the guy and turned to walk away.

He had heard from Liu Aimei that the Qiao family had been searching for him for some time.

He had previously refused to meet anyone from the Qiao family; if they still refused to be reasonable now, he'd simply send a wind blade their way.

Ding Huan figured this kind of guy had his eyes on his forehead—he'd definitely follow, and when he did, Ding Huan would cut him down with a wind blade.

At a time like this, if he killed Qiao Jiansha, what could the Qiao family do to him?

To Ding Huan's surprise, the guy didn't follow.

Qiao Jiansha indeed didn't chase Ding Huan—he immediately pulled out his phone and called back to seek instructions.

The Qiao family had been searching for Ding Huan for over half a year; now that they'd found him, he calmed down instead. Why was Ding Huan appearing here so openly?

The message over the phone left Qiao Jiansha feeling as if he'd fallen into an ice pit.

Ding Huan's three students had just made a huge splash on the Human Corridor Frontline.

Several of them were Level Four Gene Cultivators, three had earned the International Star Guard Rank on the Human Corridor Frontline, and one was a Two-Star Guard.

This was absolutely not a family the Qiao clan could afford to offend.

Seeing that Qiao Jiansha didn't come over to cause trouble, Ding Huan also couldn't be bothered wasting words with him.

"Ding Huan, you've changed so much. Are you free today? Let's have dinner together?"

What puzzled Ding Huan was: since she'd attached herself to Qiao Jiansha, why was Luo Xuanwei still bold enough to invite him to dinner?

"Did you take my things, Fu Mei, and think you could walk away unscathed?" A voice thick with lethal intent rang out, and two women and one man instantly appeared before them.

Ding Huan's eyes widened in shock when he saw the woman approaching.

Fu Mei—she was the daughter of his former housekeeper.

This woman sold his house, bought a damaged gene serum, and became a gene adept.

He hadn't expected that in this life, after reclaiming his house, her cultivation would have grown even higher.

She was clearly a Level Two Gene Cultivator, radiating intense fire affinity—had she fused a fire-element gene serum?

Oh right—he remembered Luo Xuanwei was the one this woman killed.

Could it be today?

Ding Huan's gaze fell on the two others beside Fu Mei—both were Level Two Gene Cultivators. Clearly, Fu Mei had joined the Gene Alliance; these two were from the Alliance.

"You? Ding Xiaotu?" Fu Mei saw Ding Huan, and the murderous intent in her eyes could no longer be contained.

The person she hated most wasn't Luo Xuanwei—it was Ding Xiaotu. She hadn't expected to find Ding Xiaotu while searching for Luo Xuanwei—what a delightful surprise.

Ding Huan was puzzled: shouldn't he be famous enough by now? Didn't this woman know he'd changed his name to Ding Huan?

Even though Ding Huan ignored Fu Mei, she still said, "Good."

After saying that, she turned to Luo Xuanwei: "Prepare my things. I'll make you understand, slowly, that what belongs to Fu Mei isn't so easily taken."

Luo Xuanwei instinctively stepped back several paces, hiding behind Qiao Jiansha.

Fu Mei didn't care about Luo Xuanwei—perhaps knowing she couldn't escape—she walked up to Ding Huan.

"Do you know how much I've wanted you dead? I was even planning to find you, but heaven helped me—delivering this little beast right to my feet."

"You dared sell my house and have me thrown out like a dog? Hahaha…"

"Spit it out if you've got something to say." Ding Huan had no patience for Fu Mei.

Was her brain made of pig intestines? Didn't she know she was just a housekeeper's daughter?

She actually thought her employer's house belonged to her. There were many oddballs in the world, but Ding Huan had never seen one this absurd.

"Die…" Fu Mei stepped forward, raising her hand mid-air to slap Ding Huan's face.

Ding Huan raised his hand—two wind blades shot out.

"Puff! Puff!" Two bursts of blood erupted.

Fu Mei's two arms fell to the ground; her qi collapsed, and she tumbled from the air, collapsing into a half-kneeling position, staring blankly at Ding Huan.

"You…" Fu Mei couldn't believe her arms had been severed.

The sacrifices she'd made to join the Gene Alliance and reach Level Two Gene Cultivator were beyond ordinary comprehension.

She voluntarily entered the Gene Alliance's laboratory and volunteered as a test subject for the extremely dangerous No. 16 Gene Serum.

The pain and torment she endured these past months were beyond human endurance.

Thankfully, she survived—and became a gene adept.

Then she joined the Gene Alliance and received a Qi Stone, becoming a Level Two Gene Cultivator in a short time.

Just when she thought she could crush Ding Huan effortlessly, he didn't even move—and cut off both her arms.

Fu Mei had spent nearly all of the past half year locked in a dark room, fusing the gene serum and enhancing her strength; she knew little of what happened outside.

The two with Fu Mei clearly weren't as ignorant as she was—they vaguely knew the Shanghai Gene Alliance's stronghold had been wiped out by Ding Huan.

This Ding Huan was ruthless and would show no mercy to Gene Alliance members.

After seeing Fu Mei's arms severed mid-air by invisible blades, both men were certain: Ding Huan was indeed the one who slaughtered the Shanghai Gene Alliance's leadership.

So without waiting for Fu Mei to cry for help, they both began retreating.

Ding Huan's gaze fell on the two of them. "Come here."

Without a second thought, the two of them turned and fled in unison.

Almost the instant the two of them took their first step in flight, two wind blades had already torn their bodies into four pieces.

Qiao Jiansha, who had been watching from not far away, felt his heart pound wildly. If he hadn't made that phone call back to the Qiao family just now, he would absolutely be a corpse right now.

With Ding Huan's methods of slaughter, to say he wouldn't dare kill Qiao Jiansha would be deceiving himself.

Luo Xinwei stared at Ding Huan with a pale face. She had finally confirmed it. Ding Huan was the mentor who had trained the three heaven-defying students of Yujiang University. Ding Huan was no longer the Ding Xiaotu she had once known.

She could be certain that Ding Huan had encountered a great stroke of fortune—an enormous one.

She immediately grew excited. If she could get Ding Huan to teach her, wouldn't she likewise be able to enter one of Blue Star's top ten academies?

Luo Xinwei clenched her fists. She somewhat hated herself for failing to seize the opportunity several times. No matter what, today she would make Ding Huan teach her.

As for whether Ding Huan would agree—what kind of question was that? Wasn't that a given?

Seeing her two companions torn in half by Ding Huan's single strike without even escaping a single step, Fu Mei's heart seemed to plunge into an icy abyss.

When had that trash Ding Xiaotu become so formidable? Right—it must be that after selling his house, this trash bought and merged with a genetic potion.

That opportunity should have been hers, Fu Mei's.

"I'll ask you one question. Do you know anything about the death of my old man, Ding Baishan?" Ding Huan looked at Fu Mei, who had fallen to her knees before him, his tone ice-cold.

Blood trickled from the corner of Fu Mei's mouth as she said, word by word, "Ding Xiaotu, I know plenty. As long as you promise to spare me, I swear I won't hide a single word…"

Before Fu Mei could finish speaking, Ding Huan sent a wind blade across, and Fu Mei's head was instantly separated from her body.

Then Ding Huan sent a fireball down onto Fu Mei's body.

Why? That was Fu Mei's sole confusion before she died—hadn't she not yet spoken?

Internal Qi converted into a fireball?

Qiao Jiansha's eyes went even wider. He had heard of the technique of converting internal Qi into fire, but Ding Huan's effortless conversion was far more powerful than anything he had heard of.

Luo Xinwei watched with little stars practically popping out of her eyes. Hers—this ability would all be hers.

Ding Huan hurled out two more fireballs, turning the other two into flying ash, before turning to leave.

"Xiaotu, wait…" Luo Xinwei rushed excitedly up to Ding Huan. "Can I learn these things?"

Seeing Ding Huan looking at her with a face full of surprise, Luo Xinwei hurriedly said, "I mean the techniques you just used. I want to learn them too.

I never expected you to know these things, and I never expected that the three students of Yujiang University were really trained by you."

Habits formed over a long time made Luo Xinwei believe that as long as she voiced a request to Ding Huan, Ding Huan would satisfy her no matter what.

That was a matter of course.

Ding Huan looked at Luo Xinwei and nodded in great agreement. "Of course you can. Naturally, you're able to learn."

"Then let's go to the school first. I have a private dormitory on campus; you can teach me there…" Luo Xinwei said excitedly.

"I'm afraid not. I have urgent matters. I won't take up time from your learning these things. By the way, I saved your life once today—remember my great kindness. See you…"

After saying this, Ding Huan's figure flashed, and he was already standing more than ten zhang away. With another flash, he vanished completely.

Luo Xinwei stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at Ding Huan's retreating back. What was going on?

What did he mean, not taking up time from her learning these things? Hadn't he not even taught her yet? Why did he leave?

After a long while, Luo Xinwei finally came to her senses. Ding Huan had never intended to teach her anything in the first place. Saying she could learn didn't mean learning from him, Ding Huan.

Tears welled in Luo Xinwei's eyes. She couldn't quite understand why Ding Xiaotu was no longer the old Ding Xiaotu who always granted her every request.

She only thought about why Ding Huan wouldn't listen to her anymore, never considering that Ding Huan had mentioned saving her life before he left.

"Crack!" A deafening explosion made Luo Xinwei and Qiao Jiansha jump in fright.

When the two of them saw that it was a ten-thousand-year-old cypress—a world heritage site—not far away that had split open, they both broke out in a cold sweat.