Chapter 95: A Strong Rival

The black flames slowly receded, revealing the original skin beneath. Cao Yuan gripped the [Sealing Scroll] around his neck with both hands, his bloodshot eyes slowly returning to normal as he began coughing violently.

Lin Qi Ye released the tape in his hand and let out a sigh of relief.

Indeed, in his madness, Cao Yuan was ridiculously strong. If it weren't for Lin Qi Ye having two forbidden items and his divine might being effective against [Black King Slaughter], this battle might not have been so easily won.

Cao Yuan, shirtless, lay on the ground, panting heavily. His gaze shifted to Lin Qi Ye, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"It's really you..."

"What?"

"There aren't many people in this world who can subdue [Black King Slaughter]."

"Is that so? If I'm not mistaken, the captain of the Masked Group can do it too."

"That's different. You can cleanse my sins."

"What are you talking about?"

Lin Qi Ye furrowed his brow, seemingly not understanding Cao Yuan's words. Cao Yuan simply shook his head, got up from the ground, and said no more.

At this moment, Instructor Han approached, carefully inspecting Lin Qi Ye for a while. "You're not injured, are you?"

"No."

"Hmm." Instructor Han paused, then gave Lin Qi Ye a thumbs up. "That move earlier was beautiful!"

Lin Qi Ye smiled slightly.

Instructor Han helped Cao Yuan up, but before Cao Yuan could say anything, Instructor Han shook his head to stop him.

"You don't need to say anything. This incident is entirely my fault. I forced you to draw your sword. It has nothing to do with you."

Cao Yuan, who had intended to apologize, was completely shut down, and he sighed helplessly. With his hands pressed together in front of his chest, he bowed slightly. "Amitabha."

Soon, several fully armed instructors hurried over. When they saw the destroyed combat stage, their brows furrowed slightly.

Instructor Han stepped forward and briefly explained the situation to the other instructors, and they finally felt at ease.

"Instructor Hong, I think... maybe I'm just not cut out for teaching."

Instructor Han pulled Instructor Hong aside and sighed deeply, speaking in a low voice.

"This is your first day on the job, and you already want to give up?" Instructor Hong raised an eyebrow.

"I've realized that teaching students and going out to fight in battle are completely different things. When I'm on a mission, I can fight multiple enemies with a single blade, and no matter how dangerous it gets, I won't even frown. But here, teaching, just a few minutes in... and I got completely messed up, almost causing an accident."

Instructor Hong looked at the frustrated expression on Instructor Han's face and couldn't help but laugh.

"I actually think you have a real talent for teaching. You drew three of the most troublesome people: one is the young master of the Bai Li family, one is an agent of the Archangel, and one is a super high-risk individual among the highest risks..."

"This wasn't just a random draw, out of 239 new recruits, you managed to draw three of the most difficult characters. Your luck is amazing!"

"Instructor Hong, don't make fun of me," Instructor Han said, a bit embarrassed as he rubbed his nose.

"Honestly, in close combat, there may be instructors who are stronger than you, but they're only specialized in one aspect, not as versatile as you. You're skilled in all kinds of weapons—swords, spears, halberds, and all. At this stage, what these rookies need is not expertise in any one weapon, but a teacher who can help them find the combat style that suits them best from all the weapons. We can't teach that, but the entire Great Xia Night Watch is likely to have no one but you, Han Li, who has that ability."

"But I..."

"Among these new recruits, only a few are troublesome. Honestly, witnessing the growth of these 'monsters' is a lucky experience for both of us, don't you think?" Instructor Hong's gaze drifted into the distance, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Aren't you curious about what kind of figures these 'monsters' will become when they leave this training camp?"

Instructor Han paused for a moment and subconsciously turned his head to look at the recruits. In his mind, the image of the young man with his left hand bandaged and holding a sword with his right flashed before him.

After a brief silence, he nodded.

"Alright, I'll give it another try."

Instructor Hong smiled, patted Instructor Han on the shoulder, and said, "Go ahead, those rookies are waiting for you to train them."

Instructor Han nodded, took a deep breath, and marched toward the training ground.

When the recruits saw Instructor Han return, the previously restless crowd immediately quieted down, and the entire training ground fell silent.

Instructor Han's gaze swept across the group. He took a wooden sword from a nearby rack and walked to the combat stage, which was missing half of it, and continued his explanation.

"The sword move we discussed earlier was quick and powerful, but it still lacked sufficient force..."

...

The whole morning was spent on close combat training. After briefly explaining a few sword techniques, Instructor Han moved on to two-handed sword, swordsmanship, spear techniques, and even some methods for using hidden weapons.

Since this was their first time training with cold weapons, most of the time was spent listening to Instructor Han's explanations. Instructor Han was kind-hearted and allowed everyone to sit and listen, giving the recruits some rest after being exhausted all morning.

By the time Instructor Han had talked himself dry, it was time for lunch.

When the recruits eagerly arrived at the cafeteria, they found that lunch was still the same: steamed buns with raw meat. Their morale immediately collapsed, with some even throwing up.

However, a sharp-eyed recruit noticed that, in addition to the steamed buns and raw meat, there was also a small pile of... pickles in front of each person!

This unexpected discovery made the despairing recruits overjoyed.

"Brother Qi Ye, do you think the old man in the cafeteria had a sudden change of heart? He actually prepared pickles!" Bai Li Pang Pang said, touched, stuffing the pickles into the steamed buns and taking a big bite.

"I don't know. All I know is that there's only a tiny little plate of it, not enough to eat more than a few bites," Lin Qi Ye said darkly, counting the number of pickles.

At that moment, a figure quietly moved up to their table.

Cao Yuan silently handed his pickles to Lin Qi Ye, chewing on raw meat as he spoke, "This is for you."

Lin Qi Ye was taken aback. Bai Li Pang Pang's eyes widened in disbelief.

"I say, bro, this is pickles! Aren't you going to eat them?"

"If Lin Qi Ye wants them, I'll give them to him."

"..."

Bai Li Pang Pang's mouth dropped open. "Do you know what this is called?"

"What?"

"A simp."

"I'm willing to."

"..."

Lin Qi Ye was silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "If you're doing this because of what happened this morning, you really don't have to. I'm not hurt..."

"It's not that, Lin Qi Ye." Cao Yuan shook his head and looked at Lin Qi Ye seriously.

"I just... simply want to simp for you."

Lin Qi Ye: ...

Bai Li Pang Pang shuddered, his gaze toward Cao Yuan instantly changing!

Damn it,

This is a formidable rival!