Chapter 84: Choosing a Disciple

The sports competition was in its final stage, but it had little to do with the freshmen students.

In all sports events, they were bound to lose to the sophomores and juniors, so they got eliminated quickly.

As for the reasons, besides the gap in experience and skill, high school students were at the age of fastest physical development. Compared to sophomores and juniors, freshmen were only two or three years younger in age, but the difference in physique and physical strength was quite significant.

This made the leaders of No.1 High School and No.2 High School fairly awkward in front of the county officials who came to watch the competition. They did not consider carefully before the competition.

However, there was an exception.

Among the members of the junior soccer team from County No.1 High School who made it to the finals this time, an exception was made to recruit a freshman boy, Li Zhichao.

This kid had good physical fitness, quick reflexes, and endurance. He was naturally good material for soccer. Moreover, he played with a fierce and tough style, good at midfield tackling and breakthroughs. After several matches, even though Li Zhichao’s freshman soccer team ultimately lost, the physical education teacher in charge of the junior team, Bai Linrui, went directly to the homeroom teacher of Class 15, freshman year, and pulled Li Zhichao into the soccer team playing in the finals, to compete against County No.2 High School.

When Li Zhichao proudly told Su Chunfeng that he had been exceptionally recruited into the junior soccer team to play against County No.2 High School, Su Chunfeng naturally praised and complimented him, but in his heart, he was both amused and exasperated — he knew that Li Zhichao certainly had excellent talent and physique for soccer, but the bigger reason for his excellent tackling and breakthrough performances in several matches was actually… the opposing players were all afraid of him.

Because Li Zhichao was usually sociable and chatty, almost all the boys in County No.1 High School now knew that Li Zhichao was Su Chunfeng’s close buddy, a childhood friend!

And Su Chunfeng…

This guy who once barged into Class 12, Senior Grade 3 alone with twin knives, made Qian Jingjiang submit, and became famous throughout the school — he was righteous, fierce, dared to risk his life, and should not be provoked.

So, Li Zhichao should not be provoked either.

At eight o’clock in the morning, homeroom teacher Cao Lan announced the students’ Final Exam results to the class, but did not announce the rankings. That would wait until after the winter break when school started again, and classes would be rearranged according to the rankings. After announcing the results, Cao Lan used a passionate speech to encourage the students to go watch the finals of various sports competitions taking place simultaneously at No.1 High School and No.2 High School today, to cheer and support No.1 High School’s team members.

Most students, encouraged by the teacher, went happily and excitedly to watch the competitions.

Only a small number of students stayed in the classroom to continue studying.

Su Chunfeng didn’t go either. He opened a book titled “Selected Excellent Compositions for High School Students” and read seriously, making reading notes on it — he was just waiting for the soccer final to start in the afternoon at No.1 High School’s soccer field. He would go to the scene then, just to cheer and support Li Zhichao.

After reading just two pages, Huang Yiyu sitting in the front row turned her head and said with a smile: “Su Chunfeng, my results in this Final Exam were better than yours…”

“Oh, congratulations.” Su Chunfeng responded flatly without looking up.

Such an attitude made Huang Yiyu somewhat disheartened. She had wanted to use this to strike at Su Chunfeng, venting the anger from being ignored and looked down upon by him a few days earlier, but now it seemed like punching the air, without any effect. She bit her lip and said in a lecturing tone: “Judging from the results the homeroom teacher just announced, your score ranked twenty-fifth in the class, slightly worse than last time, but it’s still okay. You probably won’t be eliminated from Class One…”

“Oh, thank you.” Su Chunfeng finally looked up and smiled at Huang Yiyu, then lowered his head to continue reading. But in his heart, he rather admired Huang Yiyu — this girl had a sharp mind. Even though the homeroom teacher didn’t announce the results in ranking order, she was able to quickly memorize and figure out the exact rankings. Su Chunfeng felt he couldn’t do that himself.

“But your results did decline somewhat.”

“Mhm.”

“So you need to work hard.”

“Mhm.”

Huang Yiyu suddenly felt she was being a bit too eager herself. Su Chunfeng clearly had an indifferent attitude, yet she insisted on initiating conversation with him… But this thought and feeling didn’t make Huang Yiyu stop paying attention to Su Chunfeng. Instead, it made her, with her very determined personality, more resolved to win Su Chunfeng over, to make him honestly talk and communicate with her — what’s the matter? Am I that annoying?

Thinking this, she said very seriously and sincerely: “Su Chunfeng, I think the reason your results declined is entirely because puppy love affected your studies, so…”

“Stop.” Su Chunfeng interrupted Huang Yiyu, looked up and said with a smile: “Classmate Huang Yiyu, thank you for your kind advice. But emotions are a very private matter. I don’t want to discuss this aspect with others. So, could you please respect my personal privacy, okay?”

“Huh?” Huang Yiyu was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly said: “Yes, sorry, I didn’t actually mean that, I just…”

“No need to say more, I understand, thank you.” Su Chunfeng waved his hand, closed the book, put it back into the desk drawer, then stood up and calmly walked out.

Huang Yiyu sat there dumbfounded.

She didn’t expect Su Chunfeng to use such a gentle attitude to suppress her little scheme of wanting revenge and venting. Moreover, he seemed to have a magnanimity that simply looked down on even bothering with her. Even though he didn’t want to deal with her, he still said the word thank you, then stood up and left calmly and composedly.

“I seem, indeed, a bit annoying, a bit over the line.” Huang Yiyu lightly bit her lip, lowered her head and silently thought.

…

Su Chunfeng didn’t take Huang Yiyu’s words to heart at all. He just didn’t want to chat with this type of proud and conceited girl, adding unnecessary trouble.

After walking out of the classroom, he simply strolled towards the Class 4 classroom.

He knew, based on Wang Haifei’s personality, she would probably be staying in the classroom studying now, not going to watch the competition to cheer for her classmates.

But to his disappointment, the Class 4 classroom door was locked, and there were no students inside.

Probably the Class 4 homeroom teacher had directly given a strict order, responding to the school leaders’ call, and took the whole class to watch the competition?

Su Chunfeng shook his head. Just as he was thinking about simply going to see how Li Zhichao’s team was preparing, he heard someone calling from behind: “Su Chunfeng, hello, hello.”

Turning to look, he saw Qian Ming striding down from the stairwell.

“Teacher Qian, hello.” Su Chunfeng said very politely. After Qian Ming walked to his side, he then softly reminded: “You are a teacher. Pay attention to your address and attitude. What is this?”

“Oh, sorry, I’ll definitely pay attention next time.” Qian Ming quickly smiled and apologized, while whispering: “Nothing much is happening today. Could you condescend to come to my dormitory to chat?”

Su Chunfeng thought for a moment, then nodded: “Alright.”

“Let’s go, let’s go.” Qian Ming immediately excitedly and eagerly gestured an invitation with his hand.

“You go first. I’ll come over in a bit myself.” Su Chunfeng frowned, displeased.

“Oh right, yes, yes, yes, sorry about that. I’ll go back and wait for you.” Qian Ming immediately understood, quickly apologized repeatedly, then turned and hurried away with big strides.

Su Chunfeng smiled and shook his head.

Originally, he didn’t want to have too much contact with Qian Ming. But ever since the last time when he urgently went to Qian Ming’s dormitory to borrow Talisman Paper and Cinnabar liquid to draw talismans, a very good idea suddenly occurred to him afterward — Qian Ming was a person with excellent talent in cultivation. He could introduce him to Wang Qimin as a disciple.

Although Qian Ming was a bit old, the good thing was this guy was self-taught and had built a good foundation. So if he started cultivating formally now, it should be possible.

At the very least, his achievements in his lifetime wouldn’t be lower than Wang Qimin’s, right?

And this was also a good thing for Qian Ming. If he stubbornly and tenaciously continued cultivating on his own like this, the danger of an accidental death in the future would be quite high.

Thinking about these things, Su Chunfeng walked towards the Faculty Dormitory Building.

Arriving outside Qian Ming’s dormitory on the fifth floor, he saw the door was wide open, with Qian Ming standing at the doorway waiting: “Chunfeng, please come in, come in.”

Su Chunfeng smiled and waved his hand, then walked in with big strides.

Qian Ming entered the room, closed the door, and quickly busied himself making tea, saying: “All these years I’ve been studying Esoteric Technique cultivation alone, it drained my heart and mind. Even now, I’m often confused. Whenever I think about it, I can’t help but sigh that our country’s millennia-old mysterious cultural essence has almost lost its inheritance today… I never thought I would meet an Esoteric Technique expert like you in this lifetime. I hope to receive much guidance from you in the future.”

Sitting by the table, Su Chunfeng didn’t respond to Qian Ming’s endless stream of words. Instead, he asked: “How old were you when you started cultivating Esoteric Techniques?”

“Sixteen.” Qian Ming placed a steaming cup of tea on the desk next to Su Chunfeng, then pulled over a stool and sat down beside him.

Sixteen…

Excellent!

In his heart, Su Chunfeng was pleasantly surprised, but also increasingly amazed and impressed by Qian Ming — without a teacher, starting self-cultivation at just sixteen, and persisting until now. Judging from the small Arcane Array he set up, his cultivation should already be at the initial stage of the Talisman Offering realm.

Truly rare.

Thinking this, he slightly frowned and asked somewhat puzzled: “What Esoteric Technique are you practicing?”

“Huh?” Qian Ming was stunned for a moment, saying: “Is there a particular detail here?”

Su Chunfeng was both amused and exasperated, feeling a sense of futility like playing the lute to a cow. He could only smile and say: “I mean, well, where did you learn the Esoteric Technique from?”

“From a book.” Qian Ming’s eyes sparkled with pride and excitement, seeming very proud of this matter. He proactively began to recount: “The year I started high school, my father took me to visit relatives at my aunt’s house in Shuchuan Province. It was my first long trip. Coincidentally, there was a temple fair on the mountain near my aunt’s house. That day it thundered, and a dilapidated small pavilion near the temple was struck by lightning and collapsed. Curious, I went to look and found a tattered ancient thread-bound book under the ruins… It was all in ancient characters. But my father was an archaeology expert. There were many books at home for researching ancient scripts. I had more exposure since childhood, so I could barely understand some. After returning home, I showed that book to my father. He said it was a book left by ancients for cultivation, but he didn’t pay much attention, just said it had collection value.”

Here, Qian Ming paused for a moment, his expression faintly revealing pride and expectation, as if waiting for Su Chunfeng to ask before continuing, which would feel more mysterious and face-giving.

However, Su Chunfeng didn’t ask him what happened next.

Because there was no need to ask — it was certainly that Qian Ming was naturally talented and clever, started researching and cultivating the techniques in the book by himself. And he most likely encountered Malignant Supernatural Entities when he was young, definitely not just once or twice, but several times. That’s why he paid extra attention to and believed in this area.