Chapter Thirty: Observation

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“Er…”

After pondering for a moment, Chen Xian still had no intention of meeting this junior fellow student.

“You go ahead. I’m not going today. I’ll go when I have time later.”

“Besides, there’s still an entire semester ahead of us. We have plenty of time,” Chen Xian said with a smile.

“Chen Xian, he’s a disciple of Mount Longhu. You rarely get a chance to meet someone like that. Are you really not going? If you miss him, you might not run into him again for the rest of the semester.”

On the other end of the call, Yang Fan wore an expression of disbelief. He had never expected Chen Xian to decline.

After all, Yang Fan had been looking forward to this for an entire semester. This was a disciple of Mount Longhu they were talking about.

His own father had once relied on cultivating friendships with countless people to form alliances and maneuver through the business world, eventually achieving the success he enjoyed today. His father often reminded him that there were no enemies in business, only friends, and that only by joining forces could one grow stronger and build something great.

Although Yang Fan did not need to depend on such methods as his father had, thanks to the advantages provided by his family, he had nevertheless absorbed some understanding of the adult world through constant exposure.

What he was doing might appear somewhat calculating, but he was no longer a child. That was simply how the adult world worked.

Now that this disciple of Mount Longhu was also their junior fellow student, Yang Fan possessed a natural advantage over the others who wished to befriend him.

Listening to Yang Fan’s attempts to persuade him, Chen Xian smiled and shook his head.

“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

“All right, then. I’ll go by myself. Wait for my news.”

Yang Fan laughed heartily on the other end of the call.

Hearing this, a faint smile appeared at the corners of Chen Xian’s mouth. He hung up.

“A disciple of Mount Longhu…”

Chen Xian murmured softly, his eyes deep and inscrutable.

“We’ll have a chance to meet, but not now.”

His decision not to meet this junior fellow student was not without reason.

For Mount Longhu to make an exception and accept this junior as a disciple, he naturally had to possess something extraordinary. Moreover, if Yang Fan’s father had learned of these secrets, others must have their own channels of information as well.

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In other words, the fact that Mount Longhu had accepted this junior as a disciple was likely no longer a secret in certain circles.

If Yang Fan’s father had thought of befriending him, others would inevitably have the same idea. Some might even become curious about the young man—or develop thoughts they ought not to have.

Now that such a disciple had descended from the mountain, would there be an elder from Mount Longhu accompanying him, either openly or in secret?

Furthermore, Chen Xian was currently practicing Mount Longhu’s martial inheritance, the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Canon. Before he mastered transformed force and became a practitioner of that level, the traces of the canon in his cultivation would remain quite obvious.

Other people might not notice, but if he encountered a martial artist from Mount Longhu—especially one whose cultivation surpassed his own—there was a good chance that person would recognize it.

That would be no small matter for Chen Xian. If he were discovered, he would have no way to explain the origin of the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Canon.

Naturally, he could not openly approach this junior fellow student at such a time.

But merely taking a look from within the crowd would not be a problem.

Thus, although Chen Xian had no intention of going with Yang Fan, he still planned to catch a glimpse of the young man. He was also deeply curious about what was so remarkable about this junior that Mount Longhu had accepted him.

At the same time, he wanted to observe the progress of the young man’s martial training and see how quickly he had advanced under the guidance of the Celestial Master’s Mansion.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Chen Xian could not help feeling a measure of anticipation.

Before that, however, he needed to find the examination schedule for the junior’s college so that he could make the necessary preparations.

…

The examinations began as scheduled. Chen Xian was in no hurry.

That day, after finishing his final exam, he did not return to the faculty housing. Instead, he found a stone bench on campus and quietly waited there.

Fourth-year students had fewer classes and finished their examinations earlier than the others. By this time, most of them had probably already bought their tickets and begun packing their luggage.

Before long, the second examination of the morning ended. Chen Xian immediately perked up, his gaze repeatedly sweeping across the door.

“He should be coming out soon.”

Thanks to Yang Fan’s prior efforts, Chen Xian already had a clear understanding of the junior’s schedule.

About five minutes later, a young man with a somewhat immature complexion emerged from the room amid the crowd.

“There he is.”

“That’s him.”

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The moment he saw the young man, Chen Xian’s heart jolted.

The distinctive gait produced by practicing the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Canon, along with the familiar rhythm of his breathing, convinced Chen Xian that this was the person he had come to observe.

After glancing at him several times, Chen Xian stopped watching the junior and turned his attention elsewhere.

Although he had only taken a few brief looks, he had already gained a fairly clear understanding of the young man. After all, both of them practiced the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Canon, so Chen Xian was intimately familiar with its unique characteristics.

This junior already possessed genuine martial skill. Moreover, although he had practiced for only one semester—the same length of time as Yang Fan—his martial foundation was considerably deeper.

Yang Fan’s martial instructor was a practitioner of transformed force. With the assistance of Holy Light No. 3, Yang Fan had already completed the refinement of his sinews, bones, and marrow. All he lacked now was mastery of force.

The guidance of a transformed-force master, combined with a body that had already undergone a complete metamorphosis, should have allowed Yang Fan to progress rapidly in martial cultivation.

Yet even under such circumstances, the martial skill displayed by Yang Fan was still inferior to that of this junior.

That alone demonstrated the depth of Mount Longhu’s heritage.

At the very least, the master who taught this young man had to be superior to a practitioner of transformed force. Otherwise, how could he possess such ability?

“His body lands as though rooted in the earth, while his steps shift like a swimming dragon.”

This was no ordinary achievement. Chen Xian’s eyes lit up.

It was the outward sign that the young man had truly established a foundation in his practice of the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Canon.

His breathing was strong and forceful, his exhalations long and steady. Clearly, he had also practiced a method for strengthening the internal organs.

“As expected of Mount Longhu. Its methods of teaching disciples are truly extraordinary. In a single semester, one can accomplish what would take others years of cultivation.”

“It seems I’ll have to avoid meeting this junior for some time. His martial skill has already reached a certain level of maturity. If we were to meet face-to-face, he might well notice something unusual about me.”

At that moment, Chen Xian had already decided that, for the foreseeable future, he would do his best to avoid crossing paths with the young man.

He had no desire to be exposed during some chance encounter.

With that thought, Chen Xian no longer wished to remain there. His objective had been accomplished, and there was no reason to linger.

“Let’s go.”

He rose to his feet without the slightest hesitation and walked toward the faculty housing.

It was time for him to pack his luggage and prepare to return home.

The only unpleasant complication was that tickets were in short supply during this period, and he still had not managed to purchase one for the journey home.

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