.....
Bai Hen thought for a mont.
He decided to sync up with Lu Ding.
And opened his mouth with a cocky line.
“If I could’ve started cultivating at eight, I’d be stronger than his dad.”
With that deadpan face of his? Perfection.
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
Lu Ding laughed out loud, completely delighted.
Next to them, Quan Qing chid in with a polite laugh, “Well, of course no one can compare with either of you.”
“If we’re talking talent, let alone you two—even those trainees at the advanced training facility can’t compare. Most of you started cultivating within the past year.”
“But that guy’s been imrsed in cultivation for a long ti, plus he’s had access to all kinds of techniques and resources from the Lan Family—training outside and nourishing inside. His cultivation level might not be high, but his real combat ability shouldn’t be underestimated.”
“Over in Yunng, they’ve got a rankings board. Among those under twenty, he’s ranked ninth. There’s even a record of him fighting a Si Ming Realm cultivator, though it’s not like he could win—barely held his own and ran off when things got dicey.”
Those so-called rankings usually didn’t include 749 Investigators.
Most investigators were late bloors—older when they started.
But they had clean backgrounds.
People like Xue Ning and Zhu Yixuan were rare exceptions, and their families were already in decline—basically from humble roots.
So their backgrounds were clean too.
Of course, nothing’s absolute. So powerful families did support 749 from the beginning.
But the Yunng region? Not one of them.
Lu Ding thought about it.
He still had two pending missions: one for the Barshan railway connection, and one for water system redirection in Minshan City.
One was near Dingfeng Mountain, facing it from a distance—one big, one small. The other was right at the border of Yunng.
In that case, the second destination was basically set.
Originally, he wanted to swing by Dingfeng Mountain after finishing this case. That place was dangerous.
Without the Wind-Fixing Pearl, you couldn’t even go up.
But he had Wind-Fixing Art.
Wasn’t that how it always worked in novels?
Places like that usually held so serious loot—stuff just sitting there, waiting for the protagonist.
According to Brother Feifan’s analysis, the Wind-Fixing Pearl was ant to end up with Tong Yong in the storyline.
But now Tong Yong was gone, so if Lu Ding went to take a peek, it shouldn’t be a big deal, right?
However.
Now a Yunng Cultivator of Qi had popped up—one ranked on the genius board no less.
From what Lu Ding knew, anyone listed on that board, so long as they t the challenge conditions, could fight another ranked person.
If they won, the loser’s family had to offer a Rare Spiritual Treasure to the new ranking holder.
That was Yunng’s way of motivating younger mbers and fostering a sense of loyalty to the family.
“You lost, so the family has to cough up a treasure for your opponent. See how much your family supports you? You’d better work harder now.”
Well, in that case, Lu Ding figured—why the h*ll not?
Yunng's own rule was that anyone who qualified could challenge.
He still had ti before turning twenty.
Once he pulled out his ID—boom—straight to battle.
Right now, Lu Ding badly needed Rare Spiritual Treasures for cultivation.
If he beat them from bottom to top, that’d be nine treasures.
Think of how much money that saved?!
Free stuff. It had to be free. Free is always best.
Whether Dingfeng Mountain had a treasure—that was just Yan Feifan’s guess. Nobody knew for sure.
But Yunng? That was a guarantee.
So—beat Lan Mingli first, then go to Yunng.
Having made up his mind, Lu Ding turned to Quan Qing and said, “Got it. Sun’s setting soon, we’ve gotta start work. Let’s talk later.”
Quan Qing gave a quick bow and left the area.
Once he was gone, Lu Ding turned with a grin and said to Li Kai, “Captain Li, make sure your guys keep this hush-hush. Absolutely no word that I was here.”
Li Kai was caught off guard.
Most people couldn’t wait to spread their na far and wide—terrified others wouldn’t know who they were.
But Lu Ding…
“Oh~”
He turned his head, surprised, then smirked. Ah, he got it!
“Heheheh, no worries. It’ll be locked down tight. Nobody will know it was you two.”
With Lu Ding’s track record, even just the na would scare opponents off before the fight started.
Nobody’s dumb enough to throw an egg at a rock.
As long as no one deliberately investigated, no one would link it to Lu Ding.
So now, Lu Ding was betting Lan Mingli had that classic genius pride—too proud to dig around.
On the side, Bai Hen was getting anxious.
“What? What are you talking about? I don’t get it.”
Lu Ding looked at him. “You turned twenty yet?”
Bai Hen nodded, confused: “Just did, not long ago.”
“Then you’re out of this one.”
Lu Ding turned and left, totally ssing with him.
Bai Hen stood there, dumbfounded, then looked over at Li Kai—
Who was hugging the tree and laughing his *ss off as he walked away.
Bai Hen frowned.
Even if he didn’t get it…
It didn’t matter.
He pulled out his phone, stepped to the side, and quietly called Li Xuanlong.
“Hello? Teacher Li, can you do a favor?”
“Make my age the sa as Lu Ding’s.”
“Don’t ask why—I don’t even know. He said once I’m twenty I’m out, and when I asked why, he wouldn’t tell .”
“But I figure, if I’m the sa age as him, I’ll probably be included.”
“Mm, thanks, Teacher Li. Please be quick. I’m in Jinshan right now. Just have soone deliver the new ID to .”
He pocketed the phone and strode toward Lu Ding.
Lifting his chin slightly—
Now I’m in, right?
Didn’t want to tell ? Fine, I’ll just make myself the sa age as you.
.....
The sun dipped below the horizon.
The array was finished. Lu Ding stood next to the cannon set to launch the rain bomb, eyes full of excitent.
Earlier, Li Kai had told him—he could fire it himself.
Co on, Lu Ding’s a grown man—like he was gonna say no to that.
He used to get hyped playing with firecrackers and cow dung—
Now he was launching artillery? Heck yes.
Bai Hen walked over, arms crossed, standing beside him.
Lu Ding crouched slightly and looked up at him: “Xiaobai, wanna know what we were just talking about?”
Bai Hen shook his head: “Nope.”
Lu Ding: ?????
Hey! You really don’t have any curiosity?!
Now he understood how his enemies felt.
He opened his mouth to say sothing else—
Bai Hen pointed to the rope in Lu Ding’s hand. “I saw this on TV. You just pull it and the cannon fires, right?”
“Yep. You wanna try it?”
A spark flickered in Bai Hen’s eyes.
When he was a kid, his family was poor. During New Year, other kids played with firecrackers, but his family couldn’t afford them.
Money had to go toward necessities. At most, they’d splurge a bit on als.
Even on New Year’s Eve, he could only watch other families light fireworks—color bursts filling the sky.
He’d stare up at them until ash fell into his eyes.
Still, he always watched until the end.
Later, as he got older, he stopped chasing those things. Mostly because he had no friends to play with.
Lu Ding saw the look on his face, stood up, and offered his hand.
“Alright, one each. Here—you go first.”
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