Chapter 413: Ling Shuang's Suggestion! Places Like This Should Be Visited Less!

"Welcome. How many in your party?"

Just like last time when he came with Senior Brother Fan Ren, the moment Xu Jingming and Ling Shuang stepped into the Shunxing Garden restaurant—

—a waitress in a qipao came up to greet them.

When she noticed Ling Shuang beside Xu Jingming, she was secretly taken aback by that beautiful, mature face and that stunning figure.

At the same time she was a little puzzled—guests bringing female companions here to dine were rather rare.

"Two of us. Please find us a quieter private room," Xu Jingming said.

"Of course. Honored guests, please follow me."

Led by the waitress, Xu Jingming and Ling Shuang walked up the stairs.

"This Shunxing Garden has really changed a lot. When I left three years ago, there wasn't anywhere near this much service."

Gazing at the dancers and singers performing in the center of the main hall, Ling Shuang remarked with a touch of admiration.

"Still, it does look rather nice—full of an ancient cultural air. We should come eat here more often."

After a casual sweep of her eyes, she drew her gaze back.

Under the waitress's guidance, the two of them entered a private room near the restaurant's inner courtyard garden, where the surroundings were very quiet.

"The menu is on the tablet on the table. Once you've placed your order, tap confirm."

After that reminder, the waitress left respectfully.

Before going, she thoughtfully closed the room door, as if afraid of disturbing something.

"Teacher, see what you'd like to eat. Order whatever you want."

Xu Jingming smiled and handed over the tablet on the table.

Taking the tablet and casually flipping through the menu, Ling Shuang's delicate brows knit slightly:

"Three years without coming, and Shunxing Garden's dishes seem to have gotten a lot pricier—especially these set meals. The price and the dishes just don't match up."

"The set meals really aren't a great deal. I noticed that last time I came with my senior brother. Teacher, just order à la carte."

Xu Jingming gave a dry cough and said with a chuckle.

He couldn't exactly say that those set meals were priced high because of the special services, could he?

"How could that do? You're the one treating this time—it wouldn't sit right not to try their signature offerings."

Ling Shuang smiled brightly as she browsed the tablet, and after a moment pointed at one of the menus and said:

"This one, then—the 168 set meal, priced at 168,000. That should be enough to eat, right?"

Ling Shuang clearly knew Xu Jingming's appetite and went straight for a set meal for ten.

Still, just to be safe, she casually asked anyway.

"It's enough."

Xu Jingming nodded, and at the same time quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

It's only a 168,000 set meal—there shouldn't be any special services with that, right?

Just as Xu Jingming had anticipated, the 168,000 set meal indeed came with nothing special.

The only difference was that the serving waitresses wore slightly more revealing outfits.

Ling Shuang didn't think much of it either, assuming it was just a new signature service the restaurant had added.

"Jingming, you're still planning to go to Myanmar alone this time?"

Once the meal was nearly finished, Ling Shuang's beautiful eyes turned to Xu Jingming as she spoke up to ask.

"Mm, going alone is more convenient," Xu Jingming replied with a nod.

"Going to the wilderness zone alone isn't really a problem.

But this time you also have to complete the martial hall's S-rank mission. I suggest you bring some people along—it would be better."

"Why?"

"It's simple. Tracking down the culprit who destroyed the martial hall branch requires following leads.

When it comes to following leads, psychic-type ability users are naturally more adept.

And you'll also need people to handle other miscellaneous tasks. If you had to do everything yourself,

it would be perfectly normal not to find a lead for a month or two."

Hearing Ling Shuang's words, Xu Jingming finally realized the point.

Indeed, if he had to do everything personally, there was no telling when the mission could be completed.

"I see you get along fairly well with Lin Hui.

You can bring him along, and you could even have him find some experts at following leads to join in.

Xia Lan is also a good choice. Although she's only at the upper Fourth Order,

after my training these past few days, she can handle most Fifth Order ability users.

And her spatial-type ability can also be of great use at certain critical moments."

Ling Shuang took a small sip of tea and said unhurriedly.

"Lin Hui, Xia Lan? Teacher, I understand." Xu Jingming nodded.

He had only been in the Prodigy Training Camp for a little over a month and wasn't all that familiar with the other trainees.

With Lin Hui's connections, he really could find some experts at following leads.

At the very least, he could bring in a psychic-type ability user.

As for Xia Lan, her strength was admittedly a bit low, but just as Teacher Ling said—

she could be of great use in certain situations, so bringing her along posed no problem.

"Glad you understand."

Ling Shuang nodded slightly, then a faint light flickered on her spatial ring, and a spotless beast bone appeared in her hand:

The place you're going is exactly 600 kilometers from the martial arts academy headquarters—the limit of my teleportation range.

Even if you shatter the space rune tablet, I might not be able to teleport to you.

Take this space beast bone for now; just return it to me when you come back.

Space beast bone?

Xu Jingming's eyes lit up, and he quickly bowed respectfully: "Thank you, Teacher Ling."

An eighth-rank peak protective rune, plus a Beast Emperor-class space beast bone—unless a ninth-rank Martial Saint shows up, no one can kill him!

"Your Teacher Su gave you a life-saving artifact; how could I, your Teacher Ling who's been with you longer, fall behind?"

Ling Shuang blinked her eyes and smiled faintly.

This faint hint of playfulness made Xu Jingming momentarily pause.

This kind of Teacher Ling—seductive, yet somehow... adorable?

"Alright, let's end the meal here. I'm heading back."

Ling Shuang rose from her seat, and a faint portal of space materialized beside her.

Before leaving, she added:

"By the way, although the state encourages rare awakened talents like you to leave descendants, you should still avoid places like this in the future."

If you truly need something, return to Magician University, or come straight to me."

With that, she stepped forward with her long legs and vanished into the space portal.

"So I've been found out..." Xu Jingming quickly realized.

Then again, with the immense spiritual power of an eighth-rank Grand Master,

having stayed in this private room so long, she couldn't possibly have missed the problems with those servers earlier.

"Also, why do I always get the feeling Teacher Ling's words carry some hidden implication?"

Shaking his head, Xu Jingming didn't dwell on it.

After calling the server to settle the bill, he also rose and left.

After all, it was an S-rank mission; he'd need to study it carefully once back at the villa.

Also, he needed to contact Lin Hui and Xia Lan to see if they'd be willing to join him on a trip to Myanmar...