108(2) : Am I Asking For Too Much ?

"You know how elder Kong has always appreciated my talent, boss . Right after I sincerely requested him to take me in as an apprentice, he agreed ! Later, he assured me that regardless of how the apprenticeship ceremony goes, I would be selected by him . That is why I wasn't at all worried about my luck during the ceremony and neither should you !"

Xuhan finished his heart touching story smoothly . Mu Ran sighed, his gaze distant and thoughtful .

"Underling, I'll remember this contribution of yours forever . A real man pays back his benefactors by tenfold . I've already been in your debt for so long, yet the more I try to reward you, the heavier my debt to you becomes ."


"It's okay, boss . I'm just doing my job ."

As the manly chains of their pure brotherhood strengthened, both of them decided not to dwell on the issue any longer, because it would quite possibly evolve from brotherhood to BL if they got even more emotional . Han Xuhan did not want to go down that crooked path...

So he turned his head and focused on Yuen Zhou, his thoughts spinning threads that could potentially unearth some even more precious information .

"Martial sister, didn't you say you could guess that my research led me to elder Kong Ye ? How did you come to that conclusion ?"


Yuen Zhou, rather than being caught off guard as he had assumed, looked like she expected his sudden query .

"Of course, it's because I knew that elder Kong Ye practices techniques related to astral extensions of himself . My first master, the one back at home, taught me how to deduce this sort of clues from a cultivator's appearance and qi . Although I cannot identify most of such details, I've spent enough time near him during our classes to notice enough of these signs ."

Han Xuhan felt confused . Why was she going to such lengths to provide this information in particular ? He had come to know the girl well enough to know that she rarely operated without hidden intentions . There had to be more to the story . She had no reason to volunteer as a participant in their stupid conversation . What was she trying to achieve...


"In fact, I've always been quite fascinated by how our astral forms can be cultivated to strengthen us in turn . Do you remember how helpless we were back at the Holy Land of Laws ? It was because our opponent was at the soul reformation realm, which strengthens one's soul beyond mortal limits . Had we cultivated techniques that focused on our astral forms, it would have provided our consciousness with an external layer of defense that isn't so easy to break down . Those eleven young cultivators who became puppets of the soul reformation realm expert, they too could have avoided their terrible fate had they cultivated such techniques . Ever since I've returned from that place, I've been contemplating where to find a technique that focuses on this field . The lower floors of the archives do not contain anything helpful . But who could have known that the heavens would provide me with a chance to learn from a real expert in this area ? I would be a fool to let go of such an opportunity !"


As Yuen Zhou finished her explanation, the thin threads in Xuhan's mind finally connected together .
No wonder !

Martial sister Zhou must have a crush on Mu Ran ! Yes, that is the most plausible conclusion ! That guy was the protagonist, for heaven's sake . It was already a miracle that he wasn't attracting a gaggle of beauties by now . Finally, first waifu has been confirmed !

Ever since Xuhan had met Mu Ran, she had been following the guy's trails . From her 'circumspect' housing in the BS mountain peak to her appearance in the land of laws, Yuen Zhou had always silently been somewhere behind them, observing, collecting information, trying to get closer to Mu Ran...


Ahahahah ! So adorable !

Xuhan faintly felt envious that his boss had managed to find himself a yandere . But his thoughts were immediately redirected as he realized that yanderes did NOT like other people hanging around their targets...

Damn, is that why she always seems so sharp and cold whenever we face each other ? OF COURSE, everything makes sense now !

How would he convince this lass that he just wanted to be a harmless underling ?


"So when you said back at the apprenticeship ceremony that you'd already decided to become an apprentice of elder Kong Ye, it was because you wanted to learn techniques related to astral form cultivation ?" Mu Ran asked, breaking the silence that had ensued after her explanation as Xuhan-the-chatterbox was too busy trying to play love detective .


"Oh no, not at all . The main reason I want to be his apprentice is his divination skills !"

"What ? How many things are he skilled in ?"

"How did you even unearth that information ?"


Mu Ran and Han Xuhan simultaneously asked two different questions . With a somewhat smug expression, Yuen Zhou decided to answer Mu Ran's query first, a detail that further fueled his newfound belief that the lass was absolutely smitten with Mu Ran .


"It's an open secret among the upper ranks of the sect that elder Kong Ye is a scion of a powerful family, martial brother . The number of skills he boasts of far surpasses any other elder of this sect . In fact, he's very likely to be more skillful than any sect's elders in this entire planet ."

"And exactly how did you stumble upon this open secret that nobody else seems to know, martial sister ?"


"That too is a secret, martial brother, one that I'd rather not share ."


Han Xuhan kept his expression neutral . The situation was beginning to grow far too complicated for him to take control of . It would be better to take a step back and gather some more threads before spinning another scheme .

"So you're going to ask the elder to teach you two skills instead of one ? That's gonna be really tough, I'm telling you . Developing personal skills in an area isn't something as simple cultivating random techniques . You'll have to meet a standard that will satisfy the expert you're studying under . If the information of elder Kong Ye being a scion of a powerful family is true, than his standards are going to be even higher than a normal expert's ."


Han Xuhan coughed lightly and looked away, feeling pretty awkward suddenly . Kong Ye had given him two impressive, yet somewhat shady techniques to study, with a promise of another one in near future . On top of that, he had set up a trap using Xiao Wu to make the elder teach him that skill called spirit manifestation . And just a minute ago, he had used the same technique aiming to leech off the astral warfare technique from the elder...

Five techniques in total equaled to an ungodly amount of studying in the future .
Finally realizing the gravity of his upcoming predicament, Xuhan began to faintly regret his decisions of stretching his claws toward so many different directions .


"Master, it seems that martial brother Mu Ran and I are the only ones trying to aim for just one skill . Would I be asking for too much if I wanted to learn astral warfare from you as well ?"


Xiao Wu's innocent question came from behind all of a sudden, making all three of them turn toward that direction .

His heart quaking, Han Xuhan noticed elder Kong Ye standing behind Xiao Wu, a furious expression colouring his face as he gloomily stared at Xuhan .