Chapter 262: Chapter 133: The Gloomy Deep Pool

Coupled with Zhao Rui’s reputation as a Grandmaster Realm expert, it took only a day to assemble the first class of twenty students.

He estimated that after two or three sessions, the disciples from the Qingcheng Sword Sect would have learned most of what he had to teach.

At that point, he could go back and reap another harvest.

However, through this recruitment process, Zhao Rui also discovered a problem: there weren’t many Martial Arts left on the market for him to copy.

Over time, he had copied several dozen miscellaneous techniques.

The Court had disseminated many Martial Arts throughout the land, but a lot of them were just derivatives of the same art, with different names but nearly identical techniques.

Others were unsuitable for young people to practice.

After being so selective, only about a hundred or so commonly circulating techniques remained on the market.

By his calculations, once these classes were over, his “food supply” would likely be cut off.

Zhao Rui’s gaze couldn’t help but drift toward the distant Mount Song Shaolin…

「Black Dragon Mountain, Sichuan」

A slender figure stepped out of a black sedan. It was a beautiful young woman.

Accompanying her was an older man with medium-length hair.

“The Divine Envoy still hasn’t returned. Last time, that old wretch from Mount Emei led a raid on the Holy Hall… The rest of us have gone into hiding, and many have taken refuge with the film crew… The pressure on me is immense!”

The old man glanced around nervously.

“Director Wang, don’t be nervous. There’s no one else around here,” the woman said, reassuring him.

So, this old man was none other than Director Wang Ping.

“Sigh, you have no idea. I’m on edge all day, every day!”

Wang Ping sighed and continued, “My judgment back then was pretty good. Not only do you have a talent for acting, but your Martial Dao talent is exceptional too!”

“Now that you’re here, I feel much more at ease!”

Hearing Wang Ping’s words, the woman’s delicate brows furrowed. ’Exceptional talent?’

’No matter how exceptional my talent is, could it be better than that bastard’s?’

At this thought, her cheeks flushed, and the memory of a crisp slap echoed in her mind.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you to have a look.”

Director Wang looked around, then took the lead, heading up a mountain path.

The woman followed closely behind him up the mountain.

An hour and a half later, a few hundred meters from their old filming location, the two of them came to a stop.

“The Divine Envoy once mentioned that the place of her arrival wasn’t far from our film set.”

Director Wang gestured to the surroundings and continued, “I sent people to investigate later on. This is the only place that seemed suspicious.”

He pointed to a deep, spring-fed pool before them. “But I can’t make any guarantees.”

The woman nodded. “I’ll go down and investigate. You stand guard for me.”

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

As the water gradually submerged her body, the woman held her breath and slowly sank, walking toward the bottom.

The bottom of the pool was somewhat dark, with faint rays of sunlight slanting through the water, casting a weak glow.

The woman opened her eyes, focusing her vision to look around.

Aside from rocks, there was nothing out of the ordinary. She didn’t even see a single fish or shrimp.

The woman felt around, trying to find any traces she might have missed. Her Grandmaster Realm strength allowed her to stay underwater for a long time, holding her breath and concealing her presence.

Time ticked by, second by second.

By the side of the pool, Director Wang grew anxious, his eyes darting around ceaselessly.

’The Divine Envoy had left and not yet returned, which was clearly not a good sign.’

’If I knew for sure she was dead, that would be one thing. I could just wash my hands of this and quit.’

’But not knowing if she’s dead or alive, I don’t dare betray the Divine Envoy. If she came back one day and found out I’d turned traitor, the consequences would be unthinkable.’

“Luo Min, oh, Luo Min, I’m counting on you now.”

Director Wang muttered to himself, his eyes darting about restlessly.

This woman was, of course, Luo Min, who had left the Dongqi University Martial Arts Team.

After taking a leave of absence from the university, she had first sought out Wang Ping and had him bring her to this place.

’With the Divine Envoy gone, the only way to find any clues was to investigate the path of her arrival.’

’And as the Divine Envoy’s most trusted subordinate, Wang Ping naturally knew many secrets that others didn’t.’

By now, her Martial Arts had reached the Grandmaster Realm, and ordinary techniques could no longer satisfy her needs.

Having witnessed the Divine Envoy’s strange Cultivation Techniques, she had long since come to look down on common Martial Arts.

Now, with the Divine Envoy gone for so long, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of panic.

This naturally made her all the more eager to investigate any news about the Divine Envoy.

At the bottom of the deep pool, Luo Min continued to feel her way around, unwilling to miss a single inch.

The pool wasn’t large, only about ten square meters in area and four or five meters deep.

It seemed to have formed from a crevice in the valley that had filled with water flowing down from the mountaintop.

Just as she was meticulously searching, a black shadow silently approached from behind her.

The figure moved forward slowly, not making the slightest sound.

When it was merely a foot away from Luo Min, the black shadow suddenly lunged, aiming a vicious bite at the back of her neck.

“SQUELCH!”

Just as it was about to connect with Luo Min, a pair of fair, jade-like hands abruptly snatched its body.

Her five fingers were like sharp blades, clamping it firmly in her grasp.

’What kind of fish is this?’

Luo Min stared in astonishment at the strange fish in her hand. It was bizarrely shaped, with teeth as sharp as knives.

’There’s something wrong with this fish!’

Luo Min spotted the problem at once. She had already noticed the silence of the pool when she first came down.

She had been on her guard the whole time.

No matter how stealthy the strange fish’s movements were, to her Grandmaster Realm senses, they were far from enough.

Luo Min squeezed her fingers slightly, crushing the fish’s body. The strange fish writhed in pain, struggling to get free.

Luo Min took the opportunity to release her grip, and the strange fish, trailing a little blood, swam straight toward a rock at the bottom of the pool.

Luo Min quickly followed.

When she reached it, she lifted the rock, instantly revealing a passage about the width of a human thigh.

The strange fish had clearly darted inside.

Luo Min leaned in to look and saw a strange glimmer of light from within. The light had a gloomy hue and was flickering.

’Just as I thought!’

Luo Min immediately used her Claw Skill, digging at the sides of the passage.

Her ten slender fingers, enhanced by True Qi, were like blades that could cut through iron as if it were mud, effortlessly slicing through the surrounding rock.

The passage wasn’t deep, and in just a few moments, the light grew brighter and brighter.

“CRUMBLE!”

Just as she dug closer, the surrounding earth and rock began to collapse on their own. In the blink of an eye, the source of the light was fully revealed.

The light came from a female statuette less than a foot tall. The figure was seated cross-legged, carved with lifelike detail.

Luo Min cautiously reached out to grab it.

The moment she touched the statuette, her Divine Soul was thrown into a trance, as if an infinite suction force was instantly pulling it away.

In her confusion, she opened her eyes to find herself in a strange space. Outside this space, there seemed to be a boiling clamor.

“The Phantom Envoy has returned, but her Divine Soul is in disarray. It seems she has failed as well.”

“Let me pull her out. We’ll know everything once we question her!”

As the voice faded, the scene before Luo Min’s eyes opened up. She was in a simple, ancient hall, where several figures in black robes were staring intently at her.

“Such ethereal Soul Power. How pathetically weak!” one of the black-robed figures sneered.

“For someone from the homeland to manifest Soul Power, they must be at least at the Grandmaster Realm. This one looks young, so her innate talent must not be bad…”

The voice had barely fallen when Luo Min felt something like a sharp blade instantly churning inside her head.

Her consciousness instantly faded into black.

In a timeless darkness, after an unknown amount of time, Luo Min slowly regained consciousness.

’Since you are the Illusion Master’s disciple and your talent is decent, you shall continue to carry out her mission…’

As the voice echoed in her mind, Luo Min discovered with horror that she had already surfaced from the water.

’The Divine Soul, the great hall… it was all like a dream.’

’What’s this?’

Luo Min felt something in her hand. Lifting it out of the water, she saw it was the strange humanoid statuette.

She quickly put the object away and looked around, but she didn’t see Wang Ping anywhere.

A cold glint appeared in her eyes.

Her figure suddenly burst from the water, landing squarely on the bank.

She circulated True Qi throughout her body, and in a moment, the moisture on her clothes evaporated completely.

“Wang Ping…”

With a flicker of her body, Luo Min was already chasing after him down the path they had come.

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