A month later.
This morning, Luo Zheng once again ca to the secret room to practice knife skills and found Lan Xue had also arrived. They nodded to each other in mutual understanding. Over the past month, they had beco accustod to this routine. As usual, they released a few wasps after entering, and the two continued to practice knife skills. After an hour, they still hadn't hit a single wasp, but neither was discouraged, continually trying various angles to swing and retract their knives, repeating the sa actions over and over.
While Luo Zheng was engrossed in practice, he suddenly switched to using his family-inherited Breathing Skill to regulate his breathing, gradually entering a state of tranquility. In this state, Luo Zheng keenly noticed that the wasps' flying speed had slowed down, and their trajectories seed easier to track. Ecstatic, he hurriedly focused and cald himself to maintain this state.
Gradually, Luo Zheng saw a wasp flying past in front, its speed and flight path captured by his eyes. Following his instinct, he delivered a swift strike. As the blade slashed through, Luo Zheng sharply noticed under the lamp light that he had hit sothing. Startled, he lowered his head to check.
Soon, Luo Zheng discovered a wasp on the ground, split in two. His heart trembled, then imdiately filled with joy. He squatted down to confirm, and then dumbly laughed—after a month of day-and-night hard practice, he finally achieved results. Lan Xue also saw the wasp that had been killed and was overjoyed, looking at Luo Zheng with infatuation and a happy smile on her face: "My man is indeed extraordinary, his insight is rare even within the National Blade."
"Did I hit it?" Luo Zheng said with surprise and delight, his face full of a joyful smile, as if he had done sothing right and was waiting for his lover's praise.
"Yes, you hit it, better than ." Lan Xue did not hesitate to praise Luo Zheng, naturally happy that her loved one was strong. She curiously pursued, "How did you manage to do it?"
"I don't know either, just suddenly felt that their flying speed slowed down a bit, and the trajectory could be captured. I followed my instincts and struck, and I hit it. It was an accident, right?" Luo Zheng said in a bit of puzzlent.
"It wasn't accidental, I noticed that strike just now—it concentrated all your energy, spirit, and mind, and was faster than any strike before. Looks like your knife skills have broken through, congratulations." Lan Xue said earnestly.
"All my energy, spirit, and mind?" Luo Zheng was taken aback, lowered his head in thought, and suddenly rembered that he had just used his family Breathing Skill. Could it be because of this? The more he thought, the more it made sense. Once a person enters a state of tranquility, thoughts beco agile, and reactions are much quicker. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "It should be because I entered a state of tranquility just now, the family Breathing Skill, as you know. Unfortunately, it's too late to teach you this skill."
"It's okay, you told before that it requires training from a young age. You've practiced for fifteen years to achieve this state of tranquility. If I train for another fifteen years, I'll be too old to go on the battlefield. Learning it would be useless and a waste of ti. Don't feel pressured." Lan Xue laughed and comforted him.
"Uh, we'll teach our child when they're born. Teach them from a young age, and they'll surely surpass us in the future." Luo Zheng felt warmth in his heart and laughed, thinking, what more could one ask for from a loving partner?
"Full of yourself, who said I'll have a child with you?" Lan Xue gave Luo Zheng a side glance but felt sweet inside, her face brimming with a blissful smile. Suddenly thinking of sothing, she continued, "Right, we're returning to Beijing in a few days. You should go see your family, and our house needs renovation. Also, my dad called yesterday and said he wants to et you and talk face to face."
"Alright." Luo Zheng said without any concern.
"You're not curious about the reason for the eting?" Lan Xue asked curiously.
"No matter the reason, as a younger generation, you must go when the elder requests a eting, even if he doesn't like ." Luo Zheng said nonchalantly, swinging the Dragon Tooth in his hand as he reminisced about the earlier strike. As for eting the elders, Luo Zheng wasn't worried—whatever they said, he'd humbly accept.
Seeing that Luo Zheng wasn't opposed and had no intention of slandering, Lan Xue felt warmth in her heart, smiled, and said no more. The two continued to practice their knife skills. Luo Zheng found it difficult to enter that state again but wasn't discouraged, gradually exploring and carefully executing each strike.
At noon, the two, sweating from training, were about to go back and wash up when Wu Jin's guard ca over and said the captain needed them. Both agreed and hurried back to the dormitory to wash up before changing into their officer uniforms and heading to Wu Jin's office.
There was no one else in the office. Wu Jin was making tea and waiting. When he saw the two arrive, he gestured to them to sit and talk. They did not stand on ceremony, casually finding a place to sit, and looked at Wu Jin. Lan Xue threw Luo Zheng a glance, and he caught the hint, asking, "Captain, do you need us for sothing?"
"Hmm, how's your knife practice going?" Wu Jin asked with a smile.
"Not good enough, compared to Tiger King, still too far behind." Luo Zheng replied politely.
"Your benchmark is too high, isn't it? Why not compare with others?" Wu Jin chuckled, though his inner admiration was apparent. Soldiers who set high standards for themselves deserve respect.
"Also far behind Tiger Girl. She's still just a young girl, and I can't even beat a little girl—it's quite embarrassing." Luo Zheng continued with a laugh.
"You?" Wu Jin laughed, glaring at Luo Zheng. "The people you're comparing yourself to aren't ordinary at all. Tiger Girl's been training with knives for ten years—how long has it been for you? Forget it, let's not discuss this. Let's talk about business."
Upon hearing there was important business, both sat up straight, not daring to slack, exuding a vigorous military aura. Wu Jin smiled with satisfaction. As soldiers, they should joke freely when joking, but once it cos to business, they should look the part. Wu Jin said with a smile, "Don't be too serious; I wanted to discuss the mission with you two. Technically, I shouldn't keep assigning you tasks so frequently, but this is the chief's decision."
"The chief? Mr. Li?" Luo Zheng asked curiously.
"Yes, you have a bet with the chief, right? The two-year agreent—more than a year has already passed. If you don't work hard, you'll lose the bet in two years, and this lovely wife of yours will be gone. Don't say I didn't warn you." Wu Jin teased.
"Even losing won't an losing her." Lan Xue suddenly said seriously, her expression turning stern.
"Uh? Alright, I know you two are in a life-and-death romance; I was just joking." Wu Jin said awkwardly. "You are the elite squad in preparation. You know the specific reasons, as the organization has explained. To quickly remove the 'preparation' prefix, the old chief's idea is to train through real combat, giving you a security task. But before that, the organization has decided to assign instructors for your one-month closed training. Any objections?"
"No objections. What's the mission?" Luo Zheng asked.
"You will be inford in due ti. The imdiate priority is training. If the instructors say you are unfit for the task, the mission will be canceled because it's of great importance and cannot afford losses." Wu Jin's expression changed, becoming serious.
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