Chapter 597: The Unrepaired Combat Technique! Was Xu Jingming Tricked?

With a glance, Xu Jingming realized the living room wasn't just occupied by Ling Shuang.

Before he could ask, Ling Shuang introduced:

"This is a friend of mine from Dayangzhou—you can call her Aunt Bai."

"Aunt Bai, nice to meet you." Xu Jingming nodded and greeted.

"So this is your student, Xu Jingming? Truly an outstanding young man!"

Looking at Xu Jingming before her, Bai Sha's eyes lit up.

Indeed,

He stood nearly one meter ninety, his frame strong yet not bulky.

His face bore firm resolve, and a faint divine aura clung to his entire being.

Wherever he went, he stood out like a crane among chickens.

Even Bai Sha's daughter cast a curious glance toward Xu Jingming.

"Xiao Tangyuan, say hello to your brother," Bai Sha said, stroking her daughter's head.

Though shy, the little girl was obedient and chirped clearly: "Hello, brother."

"Xiao Shuang, since your student has come, I won't keep you any longer.

I'll come find you for a chat next time I'm free."

Bai Sha rose to take her leave, and Ling Shuang made no effort to stop her, seeing the mother and daughter out the door.

"Have the spears for Master Kevin been customized yet?"

After Bai Sha left, Ling Shuang sat back down on the sofa.

"Yes, the SSS-grade spears should be ready in about ten days."

"Your Su teacher's father is friends with Master Kevin—this speed is normal."

Ling Shuang nodded, her beautiful large eyes turning toward him:

"You said on the phone you had something to ask me—what is it?"

"It's like this..."

Xu Jingming briefly recounted the events and his wager with Wang Chun.

"You're challenging an old coach to repair a combat technique? You're quite confident in yourself."

Ling Shuang's eyebrows lifted slightly.

"I've always been confident," Xu Jingming grinned.

"Since you're confident, this shouldn't be a problem.

If you can secure the position of head coach at the Elite Training Camp, it will help me significantly."

Though Ling Shuang had never known Xu Jingming could repair combat techniques before,

based on her understanding of him, anything he believed he could accomplish, he usually did.

He won the Genius Tournament—this wager will be no different.

"Also, I'd like to ask: how do I join the front-line battlefield here in Mocheng?"

Xu Jingming asked thoughtfully.

"You want to hunt beasts so soon?"

Ling Shuang frowned slightly and warned:

"Mocheng isn't like Daxia—it's a chaotic mix of factions and powers.

Even the Mandate Cult has deeply infiltrated here; they've long had plans to eliminate human geniuses.

Besides, you were already targeted by an eighth-rank Grandmaster of the Mandate Cult back in Daxia.

Within the martial arts academy, it's safer—there are too many strong cultivators for the Mandate Cult to infiltrate.

Liu Shan may be at odds with us, but he won't let you come to harm.

But once you leave the academy grounds, all bets are off—if you go to the front-line battlefield or enter the wilderness,

you'd better change your identity to avoid assassinations."

"The Mandate Cult?" Xu Jingming frowned.

Within Daxia, the Mandate Cult was virtually nonexistent.

Internationally, they were constantly causing trouble.

He hadn't expected their influence to reach Dayangzhou, a land teeming with powerful cultivators.

"I understand—I'll alter my appearance and conceal my aura before entering the wilderness or front-line battlefield."

Psychic energy and aura could be disguised using the Concealment Technique; as for appearance,

with his current physique, Xu Jingming could easily reshape his facial muscles to look like another person.

As long as he didn't use signature combat techniques, no one would recognize him.

"Good."

Ling Shuang nodded. "To fight beasts on the city walls, besides joining an official military unit or guild,

the only other way is to join the Degaka Squad—Degaka is an extremely loose organization.

There's no mandatory requirement to join the front-line; you go if you want, stay if you don't.

You can still claim beast corpses as your spoils, but the downside is you can't accumulate combat merit."

"That's fine—as long as I can kill beasts, I don't care much about combat merit," Xu Jingming smiled.

"Alright, here's the Degaka Squad's address."

"Degaka doesn't accept just anyone—you must prove your strength there to become a member."

Ling Shuang sent Xu Jingming an address via her phone:

"Also, Mocheng just finished repelling a beast tide a few days ago.

The next wave won't arrive for over ten days—joining now won't make much difference."

"I see," Xu Jingming said, disappointed.

Without a beast tide to fight, he'd have to head to the wilderness first.

Though beast density there wouldn't match a tide, the speed of harvesting psychic points should be faster than in Kanda Wilderness.

"S-rank, you have an email in the virtual world.

It's from the Genius Tournament officials—they say you must log in on December 11th at 8 PM.

They'll announce the specific arrangements for entering Qingfeng Secret Realm."

At that moment, Eva's voice echoed in his mind.

"Qingfeng Secret Realm—finally, there's an entry schedule?"

Xu Jingming's eyes brightened.

December 11th at 8 PM—that means he had at most eight or nine days in the wilderness before he had to return.

In the wilderness, there was no way to connect to the virtual world.

Besides, he dared not shut off his awareness of the outside world in such a dangerous place.

Also, he still had his wager with Wang Chun—eight or nine days hunting beasts in the wilderness should yield enough psychic points

to repair the S+ rank technique, Thunderfire.

After obtaining the information he needed from Ling Shuang, Xu Jingming returned to his villa.

He donned all his gear, retrieved the incomplete Thunderfire technique, then left immediately.

In a secluded spot, he used the Concealment Technique to mask his aura as seventh-rank lower-tier and his psychic energy as A-rank.

He reshaped his facial muscles to appear as a thirty-year-old man, then sprinted toward the wilderness outside Mocheng.

Lei Long Wings were too conspicuous—using them in the city would be like exposing his identity...

Shortly after Xu Jingming left, his wager with Head Coach Wang Chun

was exposed on the Elite Training Camp forum, sparking heated discussion.

"I've always hated those guys like Baker—Lei Di did right! They should've been expelled!"

"True, but I feel Lei Di got tricked this time.

Repairing the incomplete Falling Thunder Technique isn't that hard—Coach Wang will probably fix it in under a month.

But Thunderfire? Many instructors tried and all failed—it's far harder to repair than Falling Thunder!"

"What the hell?!"

"Tricked! So Lei Di's definitely going to lose?"

"..."

Thunderfire, the technique that converts lightning energy into flame, interested not just Xu Jingming.

Other instructors at Mocheng's Thunder Martial Arts Academy were also interested—but none had ever succeeded in repairing it.

Some even claimed the technique was never completed—theory behind it was fundamentally impossible.

So when students learned Wang Chun had chosen Thunderfire for Xu Jingming,

they all believed Xu Jingming had been thoroughly scammed.

After learning of this on the forum, Xia Lan immediately wanted to warn Xu Jingming.

But his phone wouldn't connect, and his villa was empty—she only found out from Teacher Ling.

Xu Jingming had left the Thunder Martial Arts Academy and gone to the wilderness outside Mocheng.

"Jingming... he didn't even tell me he was going to the wilderness," Xia Lan bit her lip, her fair face filled with pouting sorrow.

But no matter how anxious she was, without finding Xu Jingming, there was nothing she could do.

We can only wait until Xu Jingming returns from the Wild Zone...