Super Soldier in the City

Chapter 2426 - 2490: Rigorous Training

Amidst the mountains, a small stream flows clearly from the mountainside. Little fish swim in the stream, with birds chirping intermittently in the woods along the banks. Occasionally, a gentle breeze blows, causing the leaves to rustle, and butterflies dance through the air, their origin and destination unknown. A fawn steps gracefully out of the woods, halts by the stream, and drinks small sips of water.Suddenly, a howling sound echoed through the otherwise tranquil forest, startling many birds into flight and sending leaves fluttering. Instantly, the fawn raised its head, gazed in the direction of the sound, and bolted away as if sensing immense danger.

A crimson long sword flew rapidly through the air, enveloped in flames like a fiery bird or a phoenix, but ultimately it was the Flame Long Sword. It sped towards the stream, then suddenly halted, its flames diminishing significantly. But with a faint shout, the Flame Sword surged with flames once more, swiftly flying back, its speed astonishing and magical. Unfortunately, the peaceful birds in the forest, recently uncertain, had no choice but to take off swiftly once again.

Xu Shanshan, clad in white, traversed the forest, her toes lightly tapping the ground. Her body darted through the woods as she constantly formed hand seals, manipulating the Flame Long Sword. Despite disturbing the forest’s original inhabitants, Xu Shanshan could only offer an apology. After all, she was cultivating.

This occurrence became frequent over the past two days. The Flame Long Sword could fly fifty meters away at most, beyond that it would lose control. Xu Shanshan was growing increasingly adept, although a distance to full mastery remained.

The sword control technique was taught to her by Elder Qingqiu, who even slightly improved it. Xu Shanshan studied diligently and cultivated earnestly every day. She was initially an Innate Expert with a pure body, making her learning remarkably efficient.

The Flame Long Sword had been sent by Li Yifei, unmistakably one of the swords of the Four Great Beasts, the phoenix from the Noah’s Ark Organization. Li Yifei had seized it and upon realizing it was a formidable weapon, he ordered it sent to his home country, gifting it to Xu Shanshan. She was training with Elder Qingqiu but lacked a suitable weapon at hand. She couldn’t continuously borrow Elder Qingqiu’s weapon, and the Mohist War Sword wasn’t hers, leaving her uncomfortable using it. Thus, upon obtaining this sword, Li Yifei immediately thought of Xu Shanshan.

When the weapon arrived, Elder Qingqiu was slightly surprised. The blade originally named Phoenix Flame Sword had once been the weapon of a Great Powers. Elder Qingqiu had read ancient texts mentioning it. Although not as ancient or renowned as the Mohist War Sword, it was still an excellent weapon. However, it was unexpected that the sword would come into the phoenix’s possession.

Elder Qingqiu expended some effort removing the mark from the Phoenix Flame Sword, handing it over to Xu Shanshan. The Phoenix Flame Sword possessed a degree of spirituality, enabling it to gradually acknowledge an owner, making its use increasingly adept.

Xu Shanshan felt akin to a sword fighter at that moment, capable of executing an enemy several dozen meters away... If her cultivation improved, might she reach the level of striking an enemy thousands of miles away? Xu Shanshan thought elatedly.

From behind, Elder Qingqiu strolled over, watching Xu Shanshan with a smile on her face, nodding slightly. This girl was indeed clever, though lacking a solid foundation. Once she engaged in systematic training and learning, her progress was swift.

Elder Qingqiu knew Xu Shanshan always harbored determination, dedicating considerable time to practice and training beyond normal cultivation hours, aiming for rapid advancement.

"Pre... Elder, hello!" Xu Shanshan heard approaching footsteps behind, quickly recalled the Phoenix Flame Sword, turned, and saw Elder Qingqiu, impulsively trying to call him master. However, remembering Elder Qingqiu’s clear rejection of this title, she opted to address him as Elder.

Elder Qingqiu nodded, smiling, "You’re progressing quickly, but watch your breath. This is an excellent sword, but simply pursuing speed and distance without power loses the essence!"

Xu Shanshan didn’t respond immediately but pondered seriously, nodding forcefully, "Elder, I’ll remember."

Elder Qingqiu continued, "Very good. Over the next three days, you must control your flashy impulses and focus on training your fine control skills. Sometimes even a centimeter’s deviation can yield entirely different results!"

"Okay!"

"After three days, I’ll teach you another move!" Elder Qingqiu said.

Xu Shanshan’s eyes gleamed upon hearing this, nodding repeatedly, "Thank you, Elder. I will practice now and strive to master this move within three days."

Elder Qingqiu, satisfied, said, "Go ahead, remember to stay focused."

"I will, I will," Xu Shanshan replied, turning to resume her cultivation.

Qingqiu turned her head to look at the distant mountains, this was not the small hill where she had made her home, but rather it was the deep mountains where she had brought Xu Shanshan to cultivate. Teaching Xu Shanshan was something Murong Yuanqing had entrusted to her, and towards that old fellow, Qingqiu had mixed feelings and couldn’t bear to refuse. Moreover, Xu Shanshan was indeed good, so she put all her effort into teaching her, almost imparting all she knew.

However, cultivation is not something that can be achieved in a single day or overnight. Li Yifei was an anomaly; he had even overturned the perceptions of these old fellows.

Of course, only a few people knew why Li Yifei was able to suddenly burst out with such powerful combat strength.

"So there’s no way to replenish that Innate Vital Energy?" the Holy Maiden asked. This was her third time asking in several days, because it was too mysterious. She already understood the meaning of True Qi from the Huaxia side, but couldn’t comprehend what Innate Vital Energy was or how it formed.

"There is a way, but we don’t know of it currently," Li Yifei replied. He had already explained to the Holy Maiden the causes of Innate Vital Energy. Simply put, it can be understood that when heaven and earth first opened, it was chaos, and after chaos, up ascended and down sank, which gave rise to all things. Within this was Innate Qi, most of which had already dissipated and merged into the heavens and earth, but some Innate Vital Energy had been preserved due to environmental reasons or had been collected by ancient Great Powers and stored in objects. There was also a kind of Innate Vital Energy that was transformed from the self of a Great Power, who upon reaching sufficiently strong cultivation, could condense their own Qi into Innate Qi. There is no essential difference between the two, obtaining either can replenish one’s own True Qi.

But... where to find it? Having twice such great opportunities is already extremely rare, so to dare to wish for a third? Li Yifei shook his head, putting on his shirt to cover his muscles. The Holy Maiden lay on the soft bed, secretly glancing at a certain spot, having witnessed it with her own eyes a few days ago, extremely shocked. However, she still dared not take another step or overly tease Li Yifei.

Upon learning that the Noah’s Ark Organization had issued a Kill Order, days passed instead in surprising calm. The two stayed in the small town, not deliberately hiding their identities. As for a powerful organization like Noah’s Ark, they shouldn’t fail to find the pair, but indeed no enemies appeared.

Li Yifei couldn’t help but find it odd; conversely, the forces behind the pair had made some progress. What the two had done during this period had indeed rattled the normally immovable Noah’s Ark, revealing some people within the organization, prompting immediate action from the Holy War Organization and the Huaxia side.

For the time being, Li Yifei and the Holy Maiden didn’t need to concern themselves with these matters, and they enjoyed their leisure, sleeping after sunset, watching the sea at sunrise, savoring life.

Of course, investigations continued in the shadows; they weren’t just there to kill but also to uncover evidence of collaboration between the Japan Side and Noah’s Ark Organization. Initially unrelated, suspicions arose when the raw materials for a certain drug largely originated from Japan. Especially in recent years, this country openly hunted whales within global high seas despite worldwide condemnation and opposition, making it worth speculating.

A recent piece of news arrived, causing Li Yifei to frown. This news... how to put it, it was something Li Yifei was reluctant to see. The news was brief, just a few sentences, revealing that the actual controller behind this activity was a company named Kenboku Planning, which bought raw material for the drugs from all whaling ships. But upon further investigation, it was found that the real controller of this company was a person named Aoki Takeshi, thirty years old.

Li Yifei hadn’t heard of the name Aoki Takeshi before, but the surname... wasn’t ordinary, so he had someone check this person’s identity. He quickly learned that Aoki Takeshi was a nephew of the chairman of one of Japan’s most famous conglomerates, the Aoki Group, and also cousin to Aoki Reiko.

This... made Li Yifei grimace a bit. He didn’t have many friends, but Aoki Reiko was considered one, including Suzuki Kawako, though he had less contact with the latter, having interacted with Aoki Reiko, and Li Yifei was aware of the unique feelings this Japanese woman had for him.

But... Li Yifei still grimaced and gritted his teeth, wondering, was the Aoki Group involved in this?

The Holy Maiden saw Li Yifei’s hesitation, donned a bathrobe, and got out of bed, walking over to ask, "Encountering a difficult problem?"

"Not exactly a difficult problem, it’s just our investigation shows... the target is a friend’s family," Li Yifei explained the situation, causing the Holy Maiden to chuckle gently, kneading his shoulder a few times as she said, "Just because it’s a family business doesn’t mean it’s her responsibility!"

"I know, Yanzi, that’s not the issue... sigh, I’ll be direct, I had a bit of a spark with her in the past, if we meet again, I fear the old flame might rekindle, and wouldn’t that disrupt the girl’s life?" Li Yifei said somewhat hesitantly.

The Holy Maiden was stunned for a moment, evidently surprised that this was what Li Yifei had been pondering over. She blinked, and a moment later, she softly said, "Darling, when did you change your gender?"

"I changed gender? What gender change?"

"A change of temperament..."

"No." Li Yifei shook his head.