Later, Wang Ling got a list of the items he needed to bring for the four-day school exchange.
In addition to basic school supplies and clothes for the night, they also had to bring a spirit sword for the flying swords exchange activity. The characters in the last sentence on the list were extra large and striking: THE SCHOOL UNIFORM MUST BE WORN.
Wang Ling already no longer had the energy to ridicule the school uniform, since the nation was united in its uniform aesthetic. He didn't believe No. 59 High School's uniform would be any better.
His only concern now was how to make himself as inconspicuous as possible during this four-day school exchange.
Whether it was Old Antique leading the team, or the other four individuals on it, they were all people around whom he had to be highly vigilant.
Staring at the notification letter, he sighed.
No matter what, this wasn't going to be easy to deal with, and would need to be handled with special care. The smallest suspicious action might draw even more attention and suspicion from other people.
...
There were some points for attention in the notification letter which parents needed to sign in agreement.
When Wang Ling returned home in the evening, he straightaway threw the notification letter at Father Wang.
Father Wang straightaway took a pen out of his pocket to deftly and swiftly sign his name.
"You're not going to read it?" Wang Ling was very surprised.
Father Wang usually read school notifications more seriously than he did the morning newspaper.
"It's an off-campus activity, it's all safety instructions and points for attention, there's nothing to read. Is there anyone who can beat you?" Father Wang said.
"…"
Father Wang pushed his black-rimmed glasses up, and picked up the evening newspaper on the table. "These last few days, news of the Shadow Stream assassins being wiped out at your school has spread like wildfire. The man who had the worst death, his entire body broken into pieces, and his golden core reportedly broken down to slag — don't tell me you did that?"
Wang Ling: "…"
Seeing that Wang Ling wasn't saying anything, Father Wang sighed deeply. "It was an unusual situation this time. Next time, be a little more careful."
Wang Ling threw his hands up in the air and said helplessly, "He attacked me first, I didn't fight back at all."
Father Wang put down the newspaper and sighed, then he looked at Wang Ling and said meaningfully, "Though he sought death himself, you have to control yourself from now on. In any case, leave them a whole body! See how much trouble it's caused our forensic colleagues in their investigation. They have to reconstruct the pieces of dreg one by one, then put them back together."
"…"
"Forget it, forget it, it's already very difficult for Ling Ling. If it wasn't for that talisman seal, there probably wouldn't even have been slag left after the backlash." Mother Wang came out of the kitchen with a bowl of hot fish soup, placed it on the table, and untied her apron. "Both of you men, get ready for dinner!"
Wang Ling stared at the fish soup for a long moment. "Coral grouper?"
He remembered that this fish didn't really have much taste, but it was unusually expensive. Unless they had guests, Mother Wang would only buy one during the festive season.
Wang Ling didn't say anything, but Mother Wang immediately understood when she saw his expression. "Little Ming came today, and I was going to ask him to stay for dinner, but in the end something urgent came up and he had to go back. What a pity, I simmered the coral grouper soup for eight hours. The two of you men eat more today!"
Wang Ling: "…" Sure enough, that annoying guy had come!
Little Ming referred to Wang Ling's older cousin, Wang Ming.
Different to Wang Ling, Wang Ming was another kind of genius. Though the both of them had equally matchless innate skills, Wang Ming was more focused on scientific research. He became the youngest member of the Cultivation Academy of Science at the age of twenty-two, when they made an exception for his admittance into the institution.
To this day, his identity had not been officially made public and was a state secret. To Huaxiu nation's military forces, this man's brain was even more terrifying than a holy weapon.
The most straightforward evidence of this was the Dao talisman seal on Wang Ling's arm. Though it was Wang Ling who had drawn it based on an ancient text, it also incorporated the black technology which Wang Ming had created, thus combining cultivation principles with the most advanced science in Huaxiu nation. It was because of this scientific component that the basic function of the Dao talisman was greatly strengthened, perfectly suppressing Wang Ling's aura.
The reason he could hide his identity was to a large extent because of Wang Ming's help.
However, Wang Ling didn't really have a very good impression of his cousin.
Wang Ming was a fairly stubborn and intractable person who would never ever allow himself to fail.
Wang Ling remembered when, as a six-year-old, he had slapped twelve-year-old Wang Ming and sent him flying. Wang Ming had always taken that incident to heart, and since then, he would always challenge Wang Ling whenever he had the chance.
Until now, he had never once defeated Wang Ling.
Furthermore, during these many challenges, the Dao talisman seal had been continuously upgraded, limiting most of Wang Ling's strength. Yet the person who lost in the end was still Wang Ming…
Hence, Wang Ling always felt quite twitchy whenever he heard the name Wang Ming. When would this man give up on challenging him at the smallest provocation…
But Father Wang and Mother Wang didn't object to Wang Ming, and thought that the two cousins had a pretty good relationship. Otherwise, why would Wang Ming always be worried about the Dao talisman seal? Or did he just have too much time on his hands?
Wang Ling gave them a look. "…" The two of you are right! He really has too much time on his hands!
Father Wang looked at Mother Wang with some rebuke. "It wasn't easy for Little Ming to come today, why didn't you persuade him to stay? He hasn't been here in a while."
"Little Ming considers state affairs important, how could I persuade him to stay?" Mother Wang said with a little regret. "Next time we definitely must get Little Ming to stay the night; he can sleep with Ling Ling, and the two of them can have a heart-to-heart."
"…" Wang Ling really, really wanted to burst out swearing.
But Father Wang suddenly realized the problem with that. "Oh! No! The two of them can't sleep together. What will we do if Ling Ling accidentally kills Little Ming with one blow in his sleep?"
"…"
The two of you, enough!
After talking nonsense, in the end it was Father Wang who came back to the main point. "By the way, why did Little Ming specially come to see us this time?"
Mother Wang immediately patted her head. She had almost forgotten the real issue! She looked at Wang Ling and asked, "Ling Ling, how many more days do you think your Dao talisman seal will last for?"
Wang Ling remembered the last time the talisman had been changed was almost half a year ago. He counted with his fingers… hm, a minimum of three days, or five days at the very most. By then, the spirit energy in the Dao talisman seal would be completely used up. At that time, all of his aura would be exposed to the public.
At that time, even Wang Ling didn't know what would happen.
"You only have three to five days left, right? Little Ming said the upgraded Dao talisman would be delivered as soon as possible this week." Mother Wang suddenly felt a little worried. The last time Wang Ling's aura couldn't be contained, the spillover had caused a blackout across the whole of Star city for ten days!
"There shouldn't be any problems for the time being."
Father Wang nodded his head as he spoke. Looking at Mother Wang's frown, he said, "If you're really worried, let him take Jingke with him."
Jingke was the second sword that Father Wang had gotten Wang Ling after he had broken that magic sword when he was a year old.
This sword had been with Wang Ling since he was a kid, and was the only spirit sword that had formed a formal contract with him.
It was just that the material which this spirit sword was made of was a little special.
It was a small sword that wasn't made of gold, or silver, or copper, or iron… it was made of wood.