The next day, Chen Jing arrived at the entrance of Donglai Pawnshop.
Chen Jing glanced at several people out of the corner of his eye and recognized some of them, including well-known young people from the three major hunting groups and some famous lone scavengers. He also recognized some of them, but they seemed threatening based on their physique or equipment.
Zhang Taoying wasn't there. It seems that people with extraordinary abilities are recruited directly and don't need to come here. The treatment is really good... Chen Jing thought.
After consulting his master, he was told to temporarily conceal his extraordinary abilities and, after joining the Black Hand team, to use the fact that he had received a gift from his master as an excuse to avoid arousing suspicion as much as possible.
People who knew each other gathered in twos and threes. Chen Jing also met an acquaintance. His surname was Dao, his given name was Nan, and his full name was Dao Nan. He was a soldier in Commander Ma's hunting team. He had studied under an expert for a period of time before, but was not accepted as an apprentice.
The surname Dao is said to originate from a mysterious sect called Tiandao Mountain, a surname that is neither very large nor very small. After listening to his master's explanation, Chen Jing suspected that Tiandao Mountain cultivated "Dao Qi".
Chen Jing heard about Tiandao Mountain from people discussing it in a tavern. It was a mysterious sect from the pre-Qin period, and no one knew its hidden location. Its immortals often bestowed miracles upon ordinary people, so it was a topic of much discussion.
Mysterious and powerful... This is the ideal state of a cultivator! Chen Jing thought for a moment and sighed inwardly.
Dao Nan had a samurai-style topknot, a broad, angular face, and most notably, a long sword slung across his back and a short sword at his waist. Chen Jing moved closer silently, startling him.
Dao Nan saw an acquaintance and quickly greeted him:
"Chen Jing! You were invited by them too? I heard that you encountered the slave spirits before and came back alive. I also heard that several people from other hunting groups and some scavengers were killed! There were even people with special abilities who were killed by the slave spirits."
Chen Jing glanced at both sides, suppressing his smugness, and said:
"Let's not talk about that now. Did you also arrive today?"
Dao Nan said:
"I was invited shortly after returning to Ash City the day before yesterday, and when I came here yesterday, I was told to come today."
The day before yesterday…the day we came back from hunting in the ruins? Chen Jing glanced at the stranger and asked:
"Which of these people do you know?"
Dao Nan nodded, pointing to a tall, slender woman standing in the corner, dressed in dirty hemp clothing but with clean, fair skin. He said:
"This is the woman who is rumored to love taking baths, a dull and simple-minded woman who only has brute strength."
Chen Jing was somewhat surprised, not expecting that the mastermind had even brought her along. Chen Jing had heard rumors about her before; she particularly liked to bathe in the river in the boat district, which was full of dangerous water ghosts.
Dao Nan then pointed to several swordsmen who were looking around. Their clothes and weapons were quite exquisite, and their bodies were also strong enough.
Dao Nan lowered his voice:
"See them? They are apprentices at the Meijing Dojo."
Meijing Dojo? Chen Jing thought of that term. It was a dojo that ran a training area for newbies. Unlike Chen Jing and his group, the parents of those kids often had higher incomes and belonged to the upper-middle class.
Dao Nan continued:
"The apprentices of the Meijing Dojo all have excellent physiques and martial arts skills. They abide by the ancient rules of the dojo and try to break through their limits with their willpower to become practitioners. However, none of them have succeeded."
Chen Jing was a little curious and asked:
What does it mean to "break through limits with willpower"?
Dao Nan said:
"Didn't your teacher tell you? Well, it shouldn't be a problem if I tell you first. There are three paths to becoming a cultivator. One is to be the child of a strong person, born with the right genes. Another is to swallow a specially refined elixir. Once you swallow a golden pill, your fate is in your own hands. The last one is to break through your limits through willpower and training. Your body will naturally produce blood energy fish, which is the symbol of becoming a cultivator. This is the best way. The first two have more or less drawbacks."
Daonan Road:
"Once you've learned most of the techniques from your teacher, the teacher will kick you out so you can figure it out on your own, try things out, and break through your limitations. That's how it happened to me."
Blood Qi Fish…are you talking about the Blood Realm? Hmm, skipping directly to the Body Realm? Skipping the stage of becoming a prodigy? What are the drawbacks? Chen Jing pondered, but didn't ask aloud. Instead, he decided to ask his teacher later, because the pawnshop door opened.
Squeak.
The pawnshop door was pushed open, and Mo Wujiang, a bald man with strange runes on his head, stepped out, his eyes sweeping over everyone. He smiled and said:
"There are quite a few people here today."
"Come again tomorrow."
After he finished speaking, he turned to go inside.
Ah... Chen Jing was stunned. What, what's going on?
Just then, a young man shouted:
"Wait! Lord Mo! We arrived the day before yesterday, and you made me wait until yesterday. We came yesterday, and you made me wait until today. How much longer do we have to wait?!"
Mo Wujiang turned around, staring coldly at the boy, making his scalp tingle and his whole body tremble. Just when Chen Jing thought he was about to take out a talisman and burn it into a fireball to turn the boy to ashes, Mo Wujiang spoke.
“Good question.” Mo Wujiang’s lips slowly curled into a smile. “Once we’re ready, we’ll set off on a hunt.”
"You will participate in that hunt as assistants; those who perform adequately will pass."
Another boy nearby asked, "Lord Mo, what are we hunting?"
Mo Wujiang smiled kindly: "Come again tomorrow."
It means I'll tell you tomorrow!
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