Chương 133: Deep Pool and Darkness

In the afternoon, Wang Zhanshan, who had just returned from an outing, heard about Luo Min and Shen Xinzhu's affair and flew into a rage. He immediately summoned the two women to the main hall.

I don't know what they argued about.

The two women started fighting again, but fortunately Wang Zhanshan intervened quickly, preventing them from demolishing the main hall of Mingchan Courtyard.

However, the conflict between the two women is irreconcilable.

Wang Zhanshan had always considered himself the patriarch and managed his team in a simplistic and brutal manner. At this point, he still wanted to use his status to suppress Luo Min, but that was clearly no longer an option.

Not only is it impossible to achieve, it will also backfire.

It's unclear what the three argued about, but Luo Min angrily chose to leave the team and no longer participate in any martial arts team activities.

Her skills have reached such a level that she no longer needs the assistance of the martial arts team.

Moreover, she also achieved good results in the National Martial Arts Tournament.

That can be considered a successful completion of one's mission.

The other protagonist, Shen Xinzhu, chose to remain silent, neither leaving the team nor admitting her mistakes to Wang Zhanshan.

This can be considered a form of protest.

After Luo Min left, she also left the main hall.

After the two left, Wang Zhanshan slumped into a chair, looking utterly frustrated.

I don't know what she was thinking, but she didn't leave the main hall of the Narumi-in Temple for a long time.

On the other side, Zhao Rui was slightly surprised to hear that Luo Min had left the team, not expecting her to be so decisive.

However, everyone has their own ambitions.

The martial arts team is just a stepping stone on the path of martial arts. Not to mention Luo Min, even he was somewhat tired of the routine training.

Once you reach the Grandmaster realm, you need to follow the natural way and refine your energy to return to emptiness. The training methods used by ordinary martial artists in the martial arts team are clearly no longer suitable for him.

This is also why no one cared about him after he advanced to the Grandmaster level.

That evening, Wang Zhanshan, who had just emerged from the main hall of Mingchan Temple, surprisingly carried two bottles of wine and a bag of food up the mountain and arrived at the meditation room.

"Coach Wang? These two bottles of wine aren't the payment I made for them, are they?"

Zhao Rui smiled and accepted the wine and food, then led Wang Zhanshan into the meditation room.

"I haven't been here in ages!"

Wang Zhanshan glanced around, shook his head, and said.

"You didn't do anything wrong!"

Zhao Rui smiled.

"How can anyone not make mistakes?"

Wang Zhanshan replied with a wry smile, then looked around the room and said, "Let's eat first!"

After Zhao Rui set out the food and drinks, the two moved the table outside and enjoyed a quiet drink in the cool night air.

Zhao Rui knew he must have something on his mind, otherwise he wouldn't have come to find him.

To be honest, the two didn't have much of a relationship, and in fact, his coaching style was quite unpleasant to some.

Later, as his martial arts skills improved and he received his unique skills from Master Ge, the two of them were able to get along as equals.

"Sometimes I reflect on this: why am I guarding Narumi-in?"

"Actually, I know none of you like me. I'm fed up with it. Year after year, I've seen one batch of team members leave after another..."

Zhao Rui remained silent as he listened to Wang Zhanshan's incessant chatter.

It seems that Wang Zhanshan nowadays has completely lost the demeanor of a grandmaster; he's just like an ordinary, worldly coach.

Obsessed with fame and fortune, obsessed with worldly affairs.

They even forgot that they were a grandmaster-level expert.

Will I be like this in the future?

Zhao Rui was somewhat glad that he had refused Elder Ge's request.

All the good things in the world are not as valuable as a single day's effort!

If one cannot witness the winds and clouds atop this mountain, then what kind of skill or path is being cultivated?

Night deepens, the moon hangs high in the sky!

Wang Zhanshan staggered down the mountain, not even using his internal energy to expel the effects of the alcohol.

The next day, Wang Zhanshan publicly announced that Luo Min would be removed from the official membership of the martial arts team, and Shen Xinzhu would be placed on probation.

The incident involving the two caused an uproar throughout the entire martial arts team.

The veteran team members found it hard to believe that any conflict could have led the two to this point.

The new team members were surprised by Wang Zhanshan's ruthless methods, as he clearly did not regard Grandmaster-level and Level 10 martial artists as treasures.

Give up so easily.

They fell silent instantly.

The changes in the martial arts team were irrelevant to Zhao Rui. After showing up once, he never went back. Instead, he used Miao's father's connections to start a martial arts training class outside of school.

It follows the same model as Lincheng: selecting suitable trainees to improve their skills in a short period of time.

The matter of the demon is clearly not an isolated case. The existence of crystals had already appeared before, during the Taishan incident, so the people in the imperial court naturally knew about it long ago.

It is estimated that only ordinary people or ordinary martial artists would be completely unaware of this.

Regardless of whether chaos arises or not, and no matter what direction things take in the future, for martial artists, improving their strength is the only true principle.

For Zhao Rui, the best way to improve his strength is to start with the system requirements.

On the one hand, he can replicate more profound martial arts techniques by challenging masters.

On the other hand, he can also gather martial arts techniques from all over the world by contacting various low-level martial artists, and increase his advancement points as soon as possible.

At present, running tutoring classes is the best initial approach; let's first replicate all the various martial arts techniques available on the market before making any further moves.

With a goal in mind, Zhao Rui naturally got busy.

Martial arts students already had few things to do, and when they saw that Zhao Rui was going to open a tutoring class, Qin Rui, Li Xinran and others rushed over to help.

Miao Miaomiao even used her father's identity to directly search the entire province's list of martial arts students.

A list was compiled of eligible student martial artists within the Jeju Island region.

Then, I contacted each of these students by phone.

While abusing public power for private gain may sound unpleasant, it is undeniably effective.

With Zhao Rui's reputation as a Grandmaster-level expert, he managed to gather a class of twenty people in just one day.

It's estimated that after two or three sessions, the disciples from the Qingcheng Sword Sect should have learned most of it.

Then we can go and reap another harvest.

However, through this search, Zhao Rui also discovered a problem: there are not many martial arts techniques left that can be copied on the market.

In total, dozens of different kinds were copied.

The imperial court spread martial arts throughout the land, distributing a considerable number of martial arts techniques. However, many of these techniques were derivatives of the same martial art, with different names but essentially similar moves.

There are also some that are not suitable for teenagers to practice.

After all that selection, only about a hundred types are left that are commonly available on the market.

Based on this calculation, he'll probably run out of money after the course is over.

Zhao Rui's gaze involuntarily drifted towards the distant Shaolin Temple on Mount Song...

Heilongshan, Sichuan Province!

A tall, slender figure stepped out of a black car; it was a beautiful woman, not very old.

An elderly man with medium-length hair accompanied them.

"The divine messenger has not returned yet. Last time, that old thief nun from Emei led a group to raid the Holy Temple... The rest of them are hiding in various places, and many are seeking refuge with the film crew... I'm under a lot of pressure!"

The old man looked around nervously.

"Director Wang, don't be nervous, there's no one else around."

The woman comforted her.

It turned out that the old man was actually Wang Ping, Wang Dao.

"Oh, you have no idea how worried I am!"

Wang Ping sighed and continued, "My judgment back then was pretty good. You not only have acting talent, but also such great martial arts talent!"

"I feel so much more relaxed now that you're here!"

Hearing Wang Ping's words, the woman's delicate eyebrows furrowed involuntarily.

"Talented?"

No matter how talented someone is, can they compare to that jerk?

Thinking of this, the woman blushed, and the crisp sound of that slap came to mind.

"Come on, I'll show you."

Director Wang looked around and then headed towards a mountain path.

The woman followed closely behind, heading up the mountain.

An hour and a half later, the two stopped a few hundred meters away from where they had filmed.

"The divine messenger once mentioned that the place she returned from is not far from our film crew."

Director Wang pointed around and continued, "Later, I also sent people over to check, and this was the only place that seemed suspicious."

Director Wang pointed to the deep pool of spring water in front of him and said, "But I can't guarantee anything."

The woman nodded and said, "I'll go down and investigate; you protect me!"

After saying that, she took out her phone and handed it to Director Wang, then walked straight into the deep pool.

As the water gradually submerged her body, the woman began to hold her breath and slowly sank down to the bottom of the pool.

The bottom of the pool was somewhat dark, with weak sunlight shining obliquely into it, emitting a faint glow.

The woman opened her eyes and focused her gaze as she looked around.

Aside from the rocks, there was nothing special about the place; we didn't even see a single fish or shrimp.

The woman groped around, trying to find some missed traces. Her Grandmaster-level strength allowed her to stay underwater for a long time, holding her breath and concealing her breathing.

Time passed second by second.

Director Wang, who was waiting by the pool, was getting a little anxious, his eyes constantly darting around.

The messenger of the god has not returned since he left, which is clearly not a good omen.

If I knew she was dead, I would just quit.

However, with his fate unknown, he dared not betray the divine messenger. What if the divine messenger returned one day and found out of his betrayal? That would be terrible.

"Luo Min, Luo Min, I'm counting on you."

Director Wang muttered a few words, his eyes darting around nervously.

This woman was none other than Luo Min, who had left the Dongqi University martial arts team.

After taking leave from school, she went to find Wang Ping first, and then asked him to bring her here.

The divine messenger has vanished; perhaps only by tracing the path she came from can we find any clues.

As the most trusted servant of the divine messenger, Wang Ping naturally knew many secrets that others did not.

At this point, her martial arts skills had reached the Grandmaster level, and ordinary martial arts were no longer sufficient to meet her needs.

Having witnessed the divine messenger's bizarre techniques, she no longer took ordinary martial arts seriously.

Now that the divine messenger has not returned for a long time, she can't help but feel a little flustered.

Naturally, they became increasingly eager to investigate everything about the divine messenger.

At the bottom of the deep pool, Luo Min explored and searched everywhere, not wanting to miss a single inch.

The pool is not large, only about ten square meters in size and four or five meters deep.

It must have been a crack in the valley that was filled with water flowing from the mountaintop.

Just as she was carefully feeling around, a dark shadow silently approached from behind her.

The figure moved forward slowly, without making a sound.

When the shadowy figure was only a foot away from Luo Min, it suddenly lunged forward and bit down hard on the back of Luo Min's neck.

"puff!"

Just as it approached Luo Min, a pair of fair, white hands suddenly grabbed its body.

Five fingers, like sharp blades, firmly clamped it in their hands.

"What kind of fish is this?"

Luo Min stared in astonishment at the strange fish in her hand, which was oddly shaped and had teeth as sharp as knives.

"There's something wrong with this fish!"

Luo Min immediately noticed the problem; she had already noticed the stillness of the pool when she came down earlier.

I was already on guard.

No matter how quiet the strange fish was, it was still not enough to impress her, a master-level expert.

With a slight squeeze of his fingers, Luo Min pinched the fish's body until it broke. The strange fish, in pain, twisted and struggled.

Taking advantage of the moment, Luo Min loosened his grip and saw the strange fish, sprinkling a little blood, swim towards a rock at the bottom of the cave.

Luo Min quickly followed.

Once they got close, they lifted the rock, and a passage about the thickness of a thigh was revealed.

It's obvious that the strange fish darted into this place.

Luo Min leaned down and saw a strange light inside, its glow shimmering with an eerie hue and flickering.

"There was definitely something wrong!"

Luo Min quickly used his claw technique to dig at both sides of the passage.

With the support of true energy, his slender fingers became like sharp blades that could cut through iron like mud, effortlessly slicing through the surrounding rocks.

The passage wasn't deep to begin with, but in no time, the light grew brighter and brighter.

"Splash!"

Just as she dug closer, the surrounding soil and rocks began to collapse automatically, and in the blink of an eye, the luminous figure was fully revealed.

The light turned out to be a female figure less than a foot tall, sitting cross-legged and sculpted with remarkable lifelike detail.

Luo Min cautiously reached out and grasped it.

Just as she touched the statue, her soul suddenly felt disoriented, as if an infinite suction force had instantly drawn her soul away.

In her confusion, when she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a strange space, with what seemed like a great uproar outside.

"The Phantom has returned, but he's completely infatuated; he's likely failed as well."

"Once I bring her out, I'll find out the truth with a few questions!"

As the words fell, Luo Min's vision suddenly cleared. In an ancient hall, several figures dressed in black robes were staring intently at her.

"Such ethereal soul power is pitifully weak!"

A man in black robes sneered.

"Among those from our homeland who can manifest their soul power, they are at least at the Grandmaster level. This person looks young, so he must be quite talented..."

As soon as she finished speaking, Luo Min felt something like a sharp blade instantly slicing into her head.

Her consciousness vanished instantly, and she fell into a coma.

The darkness obscured the passage of time, and after an unknown period of time, Luo Min finally awoke.

"Since she's the Phantom Master's apprentice and has good talent, let's continue carrying out her mission..."

As the voice echoed in her mind, Luo Min was horrified to discover that she had already surfaced.

What spirits, what grand halls, it all seems like a dream.

"This is?"

Luo Min felt something in his hand, took it out of the water and looked at it; it was the strange human-shaped statue.

She quickly put the item away, looked around, but didn't see Wang Ping.

His eyes suddenly turned cold.

Suddenly, his figure stepped out of the water and landed straight on the shore.

He circulated his inner energy throughout his body, and in a short while, the moisture on his clothes was completely evaporated.

"Wang Ping..."

Luo Min swayed and chased after the way he came.

(End of this chapter)