A few days later.
April 22nd!
Training grounds.
Liu Ying, Gu Ao, and others were training new members. These new recruits were graduates of the four major academies, carrying an innate sense of pride, as their alma maters were considered orthodox institutions.
Moreover, they were among the top academies in the country.
"Train hard, everyone. Familiarize yourselves with the incantations and hand seals," Liu Ying instructed, hands clasped behind his back, his expression serious.
Regardless of who it was, once they assumed the role of a teacher, no matter how goofy they usually were, they would instantly become stern, as if there was an inherent understanding that teachers should be this way.
Truth be told, it felt quite satisfying.
No wonder so many people enjoyed role-playing.
Hehe.
"Teacher Liu, we've already become very familiar with these at the academy. Why do we need to continue practicing?" a young man remarked. He was a graduate of the Maoshan Academy, a junior of Liu Ying.
However, this young man's gaze kept drifting towards a young woman beside him.
Clearly, he wanted to show off in front of her.
To demonstrate his uniqueness.
To impress her and gain her favor; that was his ultimate goal.
"You say you're very familiar?" Liu Ying looked at the young man. He enjoyed exposing people's pretensions, and while it was often difficult to find suitable targets, now there were plenty of opportunities. These naive youngsters, thinking they were invincible after learning a little, acting as if they knew everything.
"I feel I'm very familiar," the young man said firmly.
Liu Ying smiled. "Alright, in that case, how about we perform the Maoshan Nine-Character Mantra hand seals together?"
"Sure." The young man was confident. He had a talent for hand seals. Leaving aside other aspects, in terms of hand seals, his speed was unmatched.
Among the crowd, a student from the Daoist Academy muttered softly, "Let me tell you a secret, these hand seals are originally from our Daoist tradition. They stole them."
The voice was very quiet.
It didn't spread.
Liu Ying's ears were sharp, and he definitely heard it. He disagreed with the statement, but couldn't refute it. There was some truth to it; the Maoshan hand seals were indeed adapted and innovated from the Daoist tradition, resulting in something both old and new.
"Begin," Liu Ying said softly.
The young man brought his fingers together, just about to focus on forming the hand seals when he heard exclamations from around him.
"Holy crap! So fast!"
"Dazzling! How long will it take to achieve such skill?"
To them, Teacher Liu's hands moved like phantom butterflies. Some female trainees blushed; the reason for their blushing was a complex question that a decent person couldn't possibly understand.
"Young man, your speed is too slow. I've already finished, and you've just started. Is this what you call familiar?" Liu Ying chuckled. "If this is considered familiar, then I highly doubt the current teaching ability of the Maoshan Academy."
The young man's face flushed red.
He felt utterly humiliated.
Especially in front of his goddess.
It was a strange phenomenon; why did Maoshan youngsters always have a goddess, and one they could never win over?
Liu Ying clapped his hands. "Alright, take your time. With effort, anyone can achieve this. The academy teaches only the basics. To turn the basics into mastery, you need diligent practice. Don't compare yourselves to your peers; compare yourselves to those older than you."
Even Liu Ying himself found it unbelievable that he could utter such profound words.
Amazing.
"Wow, Lin Fan! That's my idol!" a young man exclaimed, pointing ahead.
Immediately, everyone followed his gaze.
Young people enjoyed watching videos. Even though some time had passed, they would still revisit the live stream recordings when they were free.
It was so intense.
How they wished they could have been there to witness it firsthand.
"Quiet down, everyone. I'll go invite him to teach you cultivation," Liu Ying said.
He knew full well how powerful Lin Fan and Old Zhang were, just unaware that they were mentally ill. This was something One-Eyed Man didn't want anyone to know.
Liu Ying's words excited them greatly.
They immediately exclaimed, "Teacher Liu is awesome!"
Listening to these perfunctory praises, Liu Ying smiled faintly.
He knew it was flattery.
But he loved to hear it, loved to smell it, and no one could stop him.
Lin Fan and Old Zhang, leading their demonic rooster, strolled casually. Their arrival at the training grounds was a random act, without any purpose or intention.
"Lin Fan, Master," Liu Ying approached with a beaming smile, occasionally smoothing the few black hairs on his head.
One word: Damn handsome.
This was for the new students. Keep it up, and he'd definitely become a handsome man with a full head of black hair.
They considered Liu Ying a friend. In their minds, the hierarchy of friends was: Old Zhang, Hen, Liu Ying.
Being ranked fourth in Lin Fan's mind was pretty good.
"I've brought them to you. This is your idol, Lin Fan, and this is Master Zhang. Don't think that Master Zhang's age means he lacks ability. His acupuncture skills are exceptional," Liu Ying boasted. His methods weren't sophisticated, but they were genuine.
The trainees were thrilled. Some took out their phones and snapped photos.
"Idol, I love you the most!"
"Idol, how do you cultivate? Why are you so powerful?"
Although Lin Fan seemed to be around their age, because he was mentally ill, his emotions remained stable, giving him an air of composure.
Calm and unhurried, he smiled, observing everyone.
Lin Fan's smile had a potent effect.
At first glance, it seemed indifferent.
But after looking at it for a while, one would find it somewhat unsettling.
A group of young men lowered their heads.
They dared not meet Lin Fan's gaze.
They muttered softly.
"Idol is indeed an idol. Such an imposing smile."
"I'm a little scared."
"Not just you, I'm scared too, okay?"
Liu Ying smiled. Confidence was certainly a good thing, but excessive confidence was a bad sign. He thought of the four recent graduates who had gone missing some time ago.
They were all young.
And all very confident.
Their bodies were eventually found in the sewers, brutally murdered by demonic creatures. For them, dying in battle against demonic creatures was normal, but these young people, due to their arrogance and disregard for the demonic creatures, met a tragic end in the sewers.
If only they had been more self-aware.
Such a thing wouldn't have happened.
Take the young man's confidence in his hand seal skills, for example. Facing a demonic creature that could appear from anywhere at any time, with that speed, he'd likely be killed before he was even ready.
They still had much to learn, and needed to take it slowly.
At this moment, Lin Fan and Old Zhang exchanged glances. They noticed that these people seemed friendly, unlike the strange individuals they had encountered before.
Liu Ying said, "Lin Fan, they all want to know how you usually cultivate. Do you think you could demonstrate it for them?"
"Learn my cultivation method?" Lin Fan asked.
"Yes," Liu Ying nodded, then asked, "Is it inconvenient?"
Lin Fan shook his head, indicating that it wasn't inconvenient at all.
Mainly, he felt that his cultivation method wasn't particularly unique.
Just poking his fingers into electrical sockets.
Touching high-voltage boxes.
And Old Zhang's acupuncture.
"I can show you now," Lin Fan said.
Everyone was overjoyed to hear this.
This was what they had been most looking forward to.
Then, they saw Lin Fan sit cross-legged, inhaling and exhaling slowly.
"You can learn along with me."
"Feel nature, feel the energy between heaven and earth."
The Qigong cultivation method was very powerful.
Lin Fan was the only one in the world who knew it.
Unfortunately, if anyone wanted to learn Lin Fan's Qigong cultivation method, they could only be told, regrettably, that there was no way to teach it.
The energy particles permeating the world slowly integrated into Lin Fan's body.
The onlookers couldn't understand it at all.
Firstly, they couldn't see the energy particles.
And there were no strange phenomena that would amaze them.
However, those who worshipped Lin Fan would automatically fill in the blanks.
"Idol is cultivating a profound secret technique!"
"Why can't I understand it?"
"If you could understand it, you'd be the one sitting there."
"That makes sense."
Not only did they not understand, even Liu Ying couldn't comprehend what Lin Fan was doing.
Meanwhile, several figures were hiding in the shadows, secretly observing.
Xu Zihao was one of them.
Kuang Long was another.
And Venerable Yongxin was also there.
They hid on the second floor, peeking and filled with curiosity. What was he doing? What was the use of sitting cross-legged on the ground?
Venerable Yongxin pondered.
Could this be a new cultivation method?
Yongxin was a practical old monk. Seeing no one around, he sat cross-legged, wanting to experience what it was all about.
Now he wasn't the only one sitting cross-legged.
Xu Zihao and Kuang Long were also trying it.
When encountering something novel, everyone was curious.
And they were essentially stealing the technique.
A member passed by Venerable Yongxin, glanced at him curiously, and then whispered to his friend, "Strange, what is Venerable Yongxin doing sitting cross-legged there?"
"Cultivating, I guess."
"Strange method."
Their conversation reached Xu Zihao and Kuang Long's ears. Both abruptly stood up, neither noticing the other. Hearing that Venerable Yongxin was also sitting cross-legged, they felt they could ask him about it.
Soon, they saw Venerable Yongxin indeed sitting cross-legged.
The two met and exchanged glances.
It could be considered a meeting of strangers.
There wasn't much to say for now.
"Venerable Yongxin, what are you doing?" Xu Zihao asked, squatting beside him.
Venerable Yongxin, startled by the voice, shuddered. He had almost fallen asleep and was brought back to reality by the voice beside him.
"My legs and feet are uncomfortable, just sitting for a bit."
Venerable Yongxin stood up and left with a smile.
He definitely couldn't let others know what he was doing.
It was a matter of face.
Even if he was stealing a technique, he couldn't tell anyone.