Chapter 10: Influence
Chapter 10: Influence
Gu Tong’s little wish was soon realized.
Within the Spring City City Guard Army system, the soldiers under Gu Tong warmly welcomed the arrival of this Zongwu genius!
As for rumors like him being expelled, these soldiers belonging to the Military Headquarters simply did not care.
The Zongwu with Principal Shen was the Zongwu the soldiers liked.
Seeing the sincere smiles on faces as young as his own, Ling Yi’s sadness was temporarily relieved a little.
It only took Ling Yi five days, from when a few City Guard Army soldiers first came to ask him for advice on martial techniques, to later becoming a temporary instructor teaching them all together!
From not everyone initially trusting Ling Yi’s ability that much, to the looks of admiration in the eyes of everyone on the Spring City City Guard Army camp square today, Ling Yi had conquered these peers of his in the shortest time.
Now it wasn’t just Gu Tong’s subordinates. People from other departments of the City Guard Army, as long as they had no missions, almost all came here at the first opportunity.
Teaching students? Ling Yi was already experienced.
Starting with the theories of various martial techniques, going from simple to complex, a few simple, clear sentences might exceed what some people had painstakingly pondered for years or even longer.
Then, based on the martial techniques these people excelled at, they were divided into many small groups.
Then each group received targeted training.
Some with relatively better talent improved rapidly!
But a truly great teacher did not just make the best students even better. It was about making even the weakest one… keep up!
Also achieve significant progress and growth!
This was a master teacher!
Ling Yi possessed this ability.
After living in the military camp for a week, the comprehensive combat strength of the entire Spring City City Guard Army system increased by at least ten percent!
This change was something even Gu Tong did not expect.
It even caught the attention of the highest leadership of the City Guard Army here in Spring City. Delighted, they asked Gu Tong where he had dug up such a treasure.
After hearing Gu Tong’s brief introduction of Ling Yi, they immediately and decisively decided to hire Ling Yi as the Chief Instructor of the Spring City City Guard Army.
“He doesn’t want to join the City Guard Army system, there must be his own reasons. Don’t force him. But we can hire him as our Chief Instructor, just pay him a salary! It’s fine if his account is frozen, pay him in cash! As long as he doesn’t leave Spring City, on this land, no one dares to touch him!”
And so, Ling Yi, this young man who was expelled from Zongwu, framed, and left the Qin State’s Capital City in disgrace, unexpectedly utilized his own abilities and gained his first formal job in life.
Chief Instructor of the Spring City City Guard Army!
The kind with an official letter of appointment!
Just this afternoon, the Spring City City Guard Army held a grand appointment ceremony for Ling Yi.
And held a welcoming banquet in the City Guard Army cafeteria that evening.
Although Ling Yi did not formally join the City Guard Army, Gu Tong kept him here in another way.
Because there were rules, no one drank alcohol at the banquet. So after it ended, Gu Tong, who was off duty tomorrow, specially ordered some takeout, grabbed a few cans of beer, and came to find Ling Yi to chat.
“How does it feel?”
“Pretty good, thank you, senior brother!” Ling Yi opened a can of beer, clinked it with Gu Tong’s, and took a small sip.
Gu Tong gulped down a big mouthful, then put it on the table, smiling as he said, “Brothers from the same sect, don’t be so polite. If we’re really talking about thanks, it should be me thanking you. I didn’t expect your arrival to inject such fresh vitality into Spring City’s City Guard Army system! It’s simply amazing! You have no idea how much those guys worship you.”
Ling Yi smiled. This feeling wasn’t unfamiliar to him. Back at Zongwu Academy, those junior schoolmates were like that too.
Lately, he had been worried, afraid his classmates would cause trouble. Fortunately, so far, no major news had come, allowing Ling Yi to temporarily relax a little.
However, his anxious heart wasn’t completely at ease, because lately his class group had been unusually quiet.
Luo Xue, who had said she would return to the country, also went silent.
Not answering calls or replying to messages, making Ling Yi highly suspect those scoundrels had already made a new small group…
His bond with his classmates was unquestionable, so he was truly afraid they would cause something that couldn’t be taken back.
“By the way, what happened to you at Zongwu Academy has attracted more people’s attention. Some even use the ‘Ling Yi Incident’ to describe it,” Gu Tong said to Ling Yi with a smile.
“It is indeed quite eerie…” Ling Yi instantly understood, the corner of his mouth twitched, and he sighed helplessly. “Actually, I don’t want this matter to blow up so big.”
Gu Tong nodded. He understood Ling Yi’s feelings.
On one hand, Ling Yi had deep feelings for Zongwu; it was those people he hated, not the school. On the other hand, this matter’s water was too deep; what Ling Yi suffered was definitely not just what it seemed on the surface.
“Some things you can control, but some things, no one can control. People’s hearts have their own sense of justice. So, making a fuss isn’t necessarily bad; at least it can make those people tone it down a little.” Gu Tong took a sip of his drink and said pensively, “It’s just that from now on, if the Military wants to recruit from Zongwu… I’m afraid it won’t be so easy anymore!”
As he said this, Gu Tong glanced at Ling Yi. “Know why I wanted you to join the City Guard Army system? Having a backer is just one aspect. The most important thing is, in our Great Qin, martial arts may seem prosperous, but it’s actually on the decline. The Monarch is old. Plus, Great Qin is located in the Central Plains, surrounded by enemies on all sides… In the past, we had Eastern Sea City, the world’s largest port, a clear sea route. But now… Ling Yi, you know? Every time I look at a world map, I feel terrible!”
“Recapturing Eastern Sea City and eating the freshest seafood is my lifelong wish!”
Ling Yi: “…”
Gu Tong made a joke, then said, “Laughably, countless cowards only seek cowardly peace, using the Demi-Human Race as an excuse, fooling the people through the Ministry of Truth… Little do they know those wolves with wild ambitions might bare their fangs at us anytime! The road to Great Qin’s revival is full of thorns!”
Ling Yi looked at the somewhat agitated Gu Tong and smiled bitterly. “Senior brother, telling me all this really isn’t useful. If not for avenging my father, my greatest wish is to live a peaceful, stable little life…”
“You said it yourself… ‘if’,” Gu Tong chuckled. “Without power, status, or a big leg to cling to, what will you use for revenge? Fighting alone? Uncle Shen, a Dao Enlightenment Master at the fifth rank, sixth layer, even he… And you, in what year and month will you reach that level?”
Ling Yi fell silent.
Gu Tong finished the remaining beer in his can in one go and looked at Ling Yi. “So brother, how can everything in the world go as one wishes?”
“Just strive to be worthy of my own heart?” Ling Yi glanced at Gu Tong.
Gu Tong took out his phone, scrolled through it, found a message, and handed the phone to Ling Yi.
“Look.”
Ling Yi took the phone somewhat puzzled and looked carefully.
On Gu Tong’s phone was an internal message about Zongwu.
Over at Zongwu, the aftermath of the “Ling Yi Incident” not only hadn’t weakened with his departure, but instead showed signs of intensifying.
Liang Shanming, Yang Tie, and those who stood up to kick him when he was down that day had already been severely taught a lesson by Ling Yi, especially Liang Shanming and Yang Tie, who were quite badly injured and hospitalized.
At first, this group of people seemed successful.
Because they did attract some people’s attention. The academy even specially sent people to the hospital to visit Liang Shanming and Yang Tie.
The two also posted pictures of being visited on their Friends Circle to show off.
But what happened next completely exceeded their expectations.
First, the roommates of Liang Shanming, Yang Tie, Chang Quan, and the others not only threw their belongings out of the dormitory window but also publicly broke ties with this group on their personal social media accounts!
Next, a large number of young genius students whom Ling Yi had taught throughout the school went to challenge that group!
“You like challenges, right? What a coincidence, we like them too!”
Except for Liang Shanming and Yang Tie who were still in the hospital, every one of the others faced at least dozens of challenges!
At first, those people were quite tough. Relying on their strong personal strength, they did suppress some challengers.
But as those second-grade Acupoint Opening Realm challengers stepped forward one after another, those people finally couldn’t hold on.
Soon, they were all beaten into the hospital, keeping Liang Shanming and Yang Tie company.
Regarding this, the leadership of Zongwu Academy didn’t have very good solutions either, because when the Old Principal was around, he set a rule—
To train the students, the academy did not forbid normal challenges!
After all, this was a martial arts academy. If even normal challenges were forbidden, what kind of stuff could they cultivate?
Even Zhao Tianping’s group did not dare to easily change this rule.
If all this was just the righteous, passionate young people at the academy speaking up for him, not causing too big a wave, then another piece of news made Ling Yi completely understand what Gu Tong meant by “hard to recruit from Zongwu later.”
— A large number of Zongwu students were dropping out and directly joining the army!
“See? How scary your influence is, maybe even you yourself don’t realize it,” Gu Tong said, looking at Ling Yi, continuing to persuade energetically. “Now you’ve become the Chief Instructor of Spring City’s City Guard Army. You already bear the label of the City Guard Army. I can even apply to the leadership for special permission so you don’t have to be on duty and go on missions daily like we do…”
Looking at this senior brother who spared no effort trying to pull him into the City Guard Army, saying he wasn’t moved at all in his heart would be a lie.
Avoiding an answer would be disrespectful to his senior brother.
So Ling Yi looked at Gu Tong, picked up his drink, clinked it with Gu Tong’s, and said sincerely, “Senior brother, I understand your kind intentions, and I appreciate them from the bottom of my heart. But about this matter, please give me a little more time, okay?”
Gu Tong nodded readily. “Okay. Regarding this matter, it stops here tonight! Let’s not talk official business. Let’s chat casually about other things. Tonight, us brothers won’t stop until we’re drunk!”