Chapter 18 : Chapter 18
Chapter 18: Leapfrog Improvement
As Li Mu spoke, Sun Tong practically wanted to jump up and cover Li Mu’s mouth!
Sure enough, after hearing him, the Junior Wolf Guard and the other soldiers all turned to look at Sun Tong.
More than anything, they were curious.
What kind of lunatic had eaten a bear’s heart and leopard’s gall, to actually dare try to ruin someone whom the big shots of the military district were preparing to host at a banquet?
It was just that the killing intent carried in their gazes nearly scared the piss out of Sun Tong.
Sun Tong completely lost control of his expression. His face turned exceptionally ugly, and he looked as though he was on the verge of tears.
Soon afterward, the Junior Wolf Guard and the others mounted up, surrounding Li Mu from front and rear as they rode off at full speed.
Watching Li Mu’s departing figure, Yin Changming slowly let out a long breath of turbid air.
Then he cast Sun Tong a gloating look and deliberately coughed.
That single cough made Sun Tong’s legs go weak, and he nearly dropped to the ground on the spot.
Seeing his sorry state, Yin Changming could not help feeling a burst of satisfaction.
You filthy bastard, weren’t you acting arrogant just now?
This time, what you kicked was not an iron plate. It was a meat grinder!
He turned back and shouted to everyone, “Come on, let’s go eat hot pot!!”
The students immediately cheered in excitement and rushed toward the plaza.
Sun Tong, meanwhile, remained standing there for a long while with a deathly pale face.
“Director, let’s go.”
His assistant swallowed hard and reminded him in a low voice.
“Let’s go!”
Sun Tong wiped away a cold sweat.
He had just taken a step when he abruptly stopped again and gritted out at the people beside him, “All of you, keep your mouths shut tight!”
“After we go back, not a word of what happened today is to be said!”
All this time, he had been thinking about the threats he had made to Li Mu.
He had also been thinking about Li Mu’s connection to the military district. Was it possible that it was only a coincidence?
Was it possible that it was because of something else?
How could a mere student have such deep ties with the military district?
After comforting himself with those thoughts, he decided to conceal the whole matter.
He absolutely could not let his boss know.
If, because of him, the Jinhua Consortium’s plan to establish ties with the military district were to collapse, he knew very well what methods his boss was capable of...
Back at Blackwater High School, once the school leaders had returned to their seats, they called over Xiao Lingtong and a few other students who were somewhat familiar with Li Mu.
They asked them about everything that had happened to Li Mu after entering the Abyss.
Naturally, Xiao Lingtong and the others exaggerated the story quite a bit.
When the school leaders learned that Li Mu had snapped the Chief Instructor’s leg the very first time they met,
every last one of them was dumbfounded!
At the same time, they all thought of the same thing. Had Li Mu just been taken away because of that?
But when they heard the rest of it, that after being taken away, Li Mu had returned with a Monsterblood Warhorse and a premium Spiritual Treasure, everyone simply looked at one another.
He had injured the Chief Instructor and still received rewards?
Could Li Mu have relatives in the military district?
Still, some of the students were very clever.
One of them mentioned that when Li Mu had smashed the Chief Instructor’s leg, he had used the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock.
But what he had actually unleashed was the Five Shocks of Flowing Cloud.
And many of the students had recorded the whole process from beginning to end.
They took out their phones and showed the school leaders the entire scene.
Naturally, the school leaders could tell at a glance just how formidable the Five Shocks of Flowing Cloud was.
Yin Changming and the others instantly fell silent.
Yin Changming turned his gaze toward the head of logistics.
The moment the logistics director caught his meaning, he stood up and shouted, “Little Lu! Come here for a moment!”
The librarian, who had been eating and drinking with great gusto, came running over with chopsticks still in hand, chewing on mutton.
“Director! What is it?”
“I’m asking you. Yesterday, did Li Mu from Class Seven receive a technique from the library?”
“Ah! He did! I kept my eyes on him the whole time.”
After thinking for a moment, the librarian nodded vigorously.
“What technique did he take??”
“The Flowing Cloud Triple Shock!”
Clatter!
All the school leaders shot to their feet at once, and several stools scraped far across the ground from the force of it.
It scared the librarian, Little Lu, so badly that he jumped.
“Y-you... are you sure!?” Zhao Qingshan’s voice had started trembling as he asked, word by word.
“I’m sure! It was definitely the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock!”
After thinking again, Little Lu nodded firmly once more.
Every one of the school leaders was overwhelmed with shock.
In other words, Li Mu had only learned the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock yesterday.
And by today, he had already improved it into the Five Shocks of Flowing Cloud.
As a First Grade Martial Artist, he had used a spear-and-staff technique that he himself had learned for only one day and personally improved, and with it, he had broken the leg of a Second Grade Martial Artist!
Most crucially, officers from the military district had witnessed the whole thing.
And once they reasoned it out that way, then the department to which this so-called Director Song and Professor Xu belonged became obvious.
This could no longer be called genius.
This was monstrous!
Within the Abyss, Li Mu followed the Junior Wolf Guard to the Techniques Research Department.
In one of the rooms within the department, a round dining table had been set up especially for the meal.
All kinds of wine and dishes had been laid out.
Li Mu knocked on the door, and the one who opened it was Qin Zhanye.
“Come in, quickly!”
Li Mu stepped inside, and every face there was familiar.
Qin Zhanye, Director Song, Professor Xu, Old Zhou from the stables—Li Mu knew all of them.
The only one he did not recognize was the middle-aged man seated in the place of honor.
His expression was stern, and he carried the natural bearing of a superior.
The rank insignia on his shoulder was the same as Qin Zhanye’s.
Yet the military uniform he wore was a grade above Qin Zhanye’s.
Li Mu was inwardly startled and began guessing at the man’s identity.
All of their adjutants and guards remained outside the door.
Qin Zhanye pulled Li Mu into the room and shut the door properly behind him.
Professor Xu quickly stood up, his old face beaming as he said, “My apologies for calling you over so late. We didn’t delay anything important for you, did we?”
“No, no.”
Li Mu shook his head and hurried forward to press Professor Xu back into his chair.
He was the eldest person here. The moment he stood up, the pressure on Li Mu became enormous.
Qin Zhanye immediately began introducing the man at the head seat to Li Mu.
“Come, Li Mu, let me give you a proper introduction!”
“This is the Deputy Commander of our military district, Wang Longcheng!”
Li Mu was startled.
He quickly gave a Knight’s Salute.
The Deputy Commander was the fourth-highest figure in this military district.
Though only fourth in command, he was still someone ordinary people could only look up at from afar.
Not to mention Li Mu, who was only a student.
Even if their principal Yin Changming were here, he would not dare breathe too loudly in this place.
Within the organization of the Abyss-Suppressing Army, things were structured upward from five-man units.
Five men formed a squad, twenty-five formed a company, and one hundred formed a battalion.
Ten battalions made up one regiment, roughly around a thousand men.
And in general, ten regiments formed one military district, totaling around ten thousand men.
Of course, there were also some major military districts with eleven or twelve regiments, or even more.
The manpower fluctuation of a military district still varied quite a lot depending on the difficulty of the Abyss entrance it was guarding.
For example, the Abyss entrance at Ironhand City was guarded by two military districts.
Each military district had ten regiments.
The highest officers of a military district, from highest to lowest, were:
District Commander-in-Chief, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, District Chief Commander, and Deputy Commander.
Further down, posts such as regimental commander, instructor, and guard commander could all be held by a Senior Wolf Guard.
The highest post a Senior Wolf Guard could concurrently hold was that of Deputy Commander.
Above Deputy Commander, however, at the very least one had to hold the rank of Junior Tiger Marquis or higher.
Someone like Wang Longcheng, with the merit of a Senior Wolf Guard and the office of Deputy Commander, had already reached the highest post possible at that rank.
If he wanted to rise any higher, it would be impossible unless his merit reached the level of Junior Tiger Marquis.
As for the District Commander-in-Chief, at the very least, one had to be a Senior Tiger Marquis, or even a Junior Dragon General.
The ranks of the Abyss-Suppressing Army, from low to high, were:
Junior Wolf Guard, Mid Wolf Guard, Senior Wolf Guard.
Junior Tiger Marquis, Mid Tiger Marquis, Senior Tiger Marquis.
Junior Dragon General, Mid Dragon General, Senior Dragon General.
Dragon-Tiger Junior Marshal.
Dragon-Tiger Grand Marshal.
Among some of the major military districts, the District Commander-in-Chief could be as high as a Senior Dragon General.
And once two or more military districts were combined, that became an Army Group.
The size of an Army Group was even harder to define, ranging anywhere from tens of thousands to several hundred thousand, or even over a million.
And an Army Group could not be commanded by anyone below the rank of Dragon-Tiger Marshal.
“Come, sit down.”
Wang Longcheng smiled and gestured to Li Mu.
To show the military district’s emphasis on students, the highest-ranking officer in charge of the First Abyss Battle was the Deputy Commander.
Of course, for Li Mu and the others to run into an instructor like Red Hair really had been a special incident.
If Red Hair had not just happened to have been dumped by a woman and grown reckless with lust, even he would have had to weigh the consequences of something like that.
And the reason Wang Longcheng had appeared at this dinner table was purely because he was on very good personal terms with Professor Xu and Director Song.
Wang Longcheng placed great importance on the Techniques Department.
And today, those two had practically praised a student to the skies.
Naturally, he had become curious and come to take a look.
As a martial artist himself, he also deeply admired and was curious about Li Mu’s aptitude.
It had to be known that the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock had originally only been the Flowing Cloud Double Shock.
It had only gradually developed into the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock through the constant refinement of several generations of spear-and-staff martial artists.
If Li Mu had spent several years tempering himself with the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock, and from that comprehended the Flowing Cloud Quadruple Shock, then that would still have been one thing.
But Li Mu had directly grasped the fifth shock!
And Wang Longcheng had even heard that Li Mu had used the sixth shock on the spot.
That leap was a little too great. It was not something effort alone could make up for. It was absolute aptitude!
He absolutely had to meet this young man!
Without the slightest exaggeration, if the Flowing Cloud Six Shocks could be spread widely, it would absolutely belong in the category of High-Grade Techniques.
Everyone else also urged Li Mu to sit down quickly.
Wang Longcheng looked at Li Mu with a smile and was just about to speak.
Suddenly, his expression shifted slightly. His body trembled faintly, then returned to normal.
It looked almost as if a cough had risen in his throat.
But mindful of losing composure, Wang Longcheng had forcibly suppressed it.
Li Mu, however, caught that detail at once.
Curious, Li Mu activated Fiery Golden Eyes and looked over Wang Longcheng’s body.
His pupils instantly contracted.