" Stop whimpering like a kid already! " Ning Qi complained. He knows the pain will only appear during the process of molding that mark. After the process completes, that pain will magically vanish as though it was never there.
Looking at Nangong Xu, who is still acting like he is hurt, couldn't help but give a kick.
Nangong Xu was just trying to act his best, wanted to show off that he is working very hard, and suddenly stood up from the 'real' pain in his butt. He looked at Ning Qi and understood that the sect master has seen through his farce, and gave an embarrassed smile.
" Huh? Sect master, when did you come? I have practiced so hard and endured a lot of pain, and didn't let you down. I have successfully practiced the divine strengthening technique to the First stage. " Nangong Xu acted as though, he didn't see Ning Qi was here before he got kicked in his butt.
Ning Qi didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this shameless behavior of this disciple. He didn't bother to respond to him.
"System! What is the overall comprehensive strength of this disciple, after activating the first mark? " Ning Qi asked slowly in his mind.
"Ding! The comprehensive strength that disciple Nangong Xu is being able to fight against an average Qi refining Level 8 cultivator for one minute. There is a big chance of winning against Qi refining level 7 cultivators. "The system responded.
" Stop talking nonsense and don't let this success get into your head. If you face a Qi refining cultivator of stage 8 and above opponents, you need to run away as soon as possible, got it? Even with the first stage of the divine strengthening technique, you only have the chance to win against level 7. It's better, if you only fight with level 6 or below, any more than that, avoid conflicts. Of course, we don't have to deal with any cultivators as of now... your strength may increase a lot by the time we met the cultivators of this world. Just remember that your life is more important than the shame that you get from running away. " Ning Qi said as a precaution and first lesson.
"I agree sect master!! Fight only if you are sure to win or run away as soon as possible. " Nangong Xu said even more shamelessly. But this time Ning Qi didn't retort to him, as this is the attitude that all of his disciples need to develop.
"Ok! Don't practice the divine strengthening technique at Night time... you need to put all your effort into your main cultivation, It will be the root of all your future strength. Also! take enough rest... Alright! I'm going back... I will come back tomorrow, we will go on a disciple hunt tomorrow. " Ning Qi said and didn't wait for Nangong Xu to respond, he used his quick speed to reach his scooter location in just around 5 seconds.
"Oh! Why do you always cut me off, Sect master? " Nangong Xu wanted to say, that he is excited to have more disciples and also wanted to discuss the disciple recruitment thing. He didn't think about it anymore and slowly walked to the second floor, to start his cultivation.
Ning Qi slowly drove his new scooter back to his house. By the time he reached his house, its already 7:30 pm.
"Oi Old Li! That scooter is in a good condition... But why it didn't have any side stand? I need to park it every time with the double stand, it's a hassle. " Ning Qi complained a bit, but didn't really blame him, with his strength now, he can even throw that scooter far away by lifting it over his head, not to mention just making it to stand on the double stand.
"Ah! you came back already... But that scooter is the only one that is in good condition, except for that. Don't worry though, that shop owner promised to fix it for free... If you have time, go and get it fixed. " Li Ping said and passed a bill to Ning Qi.
"Whatever! I don't have that much time now. " Ning Qi said, to which Li Ping looked at him suspiciously. He wanted to ask, what Ning Qi was doing in the past 2 or 3 days. But he didn't ask, he felt that his buddy won't do anything fishy, and will inform him when the time was right.
He didn't bother with Ning Qi anymore and concentrated on his show.
"Alright! I will make something after freshening up, wait a bit more." Ning said and walked into the bedroom. Li Ping simply raised his thumb, without even looking at him.
Ning Qi finished his bath and prepared 2 sets of dishes. Ning Qi hurriedly finished and went to bed quickly, he still need to go to the sect early in the morning.
The next day, early in the morning, Ning Qi and Nangong Xu started sparring, on the incision of Ning Qi's 'training resume'. Ning Qi wanted to teach the Hand to hand combat techniques to Nangong Xu.
"Sect Master! Please stop hitting me in the face..." Nangong Xu begged as he felt helpless.
Nangong Xu even activated his first stage mark, but found himself unable to even touch Ning Qi, who didn't even activate it. He is more and more convinced that Ning Qi's cultivation realm is too high for him to comprehend anymore.
After seeing that he is unable to fight back, he concentrated on dodging first. Only when he is able to dodge properly, he will have the chance to fight back.
"Good! let's stop it here for the day. Go and take a bath first, we will go and search for some good disciples today. " Ning Qi said slowly with a satisfied smile, after practicing for an hour or so. He felt that Nangong Xu is a quick learner, as he quickly grasped his situation and tried dodging, instead of going blindly for the hits.
At 8 am, they both went to a small roadside shop to have their breakfast quickly. Then they hit the road and started their hunt.
"Ah! Sect master... who are we looking for? Like, are there any particular criteria for joining our sect? " Nangong Xu couldn't help but ask, They have been walking around in circles for the past half an hour in Guilin botanical garden section.
"There is no criteria! Any ordinary human can join as a disciple of our sect. But the current limit is only 3 disciples, including you. So, we are looking for 2 more disciples. " Ning Qi explained.
"Oh! Then, why are we not doing anything now? " Nangong Xu asked with confusion, they have already seen too many ordinary people walking past them and sitting around the garden. He first thought that the sect master is looking for a person who has some special constitution or something.
"Should I go and ask them like ' Join my sect human! I will make you immortal cultivator?' " Ning Qi retorted back.
Nangong Xu also got embarrassed by that. But he still didn't know what the sect master is doing here if he is not going to tell people, that they are recruiting disciples.
On the other hand, Ning Qi himself doesn't know how to approach people regarding this, he for sure knows that if he says something similar to sect or cultivation, people will give him a weird look first, and then they won't even give him a chance to continue. Some bad-tempered people may even beat him up.
They roamed around for one more hour without any result. Nangong Xu saw that the Sect master has a thin face and even went to some of the people, trying to poach them. But all his attempts failed right after he opened his mouth, some people even cursed him.
"Sect master, I don't think it will work. Why don't I try to poach one of my friends from High school? " Nangong Xuan asked with a doubtful tone, as he didn't understand why the sect master is not letting the people he already knows.
Ning Qi also felt that this approach is not going to work. He felt that this disciple suggestion is quite feasible, as the system doesn't have any restrictions on the people that Nangong Xu knows.
"System! Is that okay? I don't know any of this disciple's friends, right?" Ning Qi asked the system for confirmation.
"Ding! Its feasible host " System simply confirmed, making Ning Qi slap his thigh. Now, this recruitment process will become a lot less difficult.
"Alright! Invite a friend that you trust the best first! If this recruitment gets successful, we can recruit one more later. " Ning Qi said.
"you will be very satisfied with my friend! you can always count on my friend's sect master." Nangong Xu said and called his friend. But no one picked up, making him embarrassed.
"They are probably in the class right now, sect master. They will have a break at 11 am, I will definitely going to get a call back then." Nangong Xu hurriedly explained, after seeing the mocking expression on Ning Qi's face.
Just when Ning Qi was about to say something, his mobile rang. The caller's ID is 'Kang Xuan Taxi'. Ning got a bit surprised and took the call, as this is the middle-aged uncle, which dropped him at Peach blossom river resort on the first day.
"Hello!" Ning Qi said, but soon he heard a lot of voices from another side.
"Hello, young Ning! I'm that taxi driver, that dropped you at the river resort 2 days ago. Young man Ning!... Can y- you please arrange for me a hundred thousand yuan? I will leave my taxi with you as the mortgage, don't worry about that. Please help me with this, Ning... I will be grateful to you forever."
Kang Xuan kind of said those words in a stuttering manner, before proceeding.
"My daughter is in the hospital right now and we just found out that she has cancer in the final stage. They are saying that she doesn't have many days left... I told the doctors to start doing the treatment or operation or whatever. But they probably think that I am unable to pay that much... can you please lend me a hundred thousand yuan please? I will pay you back, even if ... I, I, I have to beg on the streets with my wife... Please don't say no. "
Kong Xuan said, holding back his tears which will burst out at any moment. His heart is wailing to no end, but he has to stay strong, or else his daughter will die.
His wife has been crying since last night and his relatives just visited them as a formality. Only his younger brother and his wife's sister stayed with them as his support in this bleak situation. Even his older brother, who is a bit rich told him that there is no money right now and can't help him.
He felt like his world is collapsing in front of him. He felt like he wants to disappear then and there, he felt this kind of pain is too much for him to bear. But he saw his daughter with a bleak smile trying to console her mother and little sister.
He regained his will to make her daughter live or at least some more months than days. He called all his contacts, but no one wanted to help him with that much money. He is so desperate, that he even called Ning Qi.