Chapter 873: Chapter 869: Taking the Initiative to Compete
At this point, the scholarly aura carried by Xiao Erren, played by Xiao Tian, vanished, and that familiar style and temperament reappeared upon him. However, as he said, this brought Lin Bingxuan and Melinda a feeling of discordance.
Lin Bingxuan put away her feigned anger, and along with Melinda, began to inspect Xiao Tian from top to bottom, just like observing a monkey at a zoo.
The fact of discovering that Xiao Erren is Xiao Tian is not merely as simple as Lin Bingxuan saying one is big, two are sky, and combining them equals Xiao Tian.
What truly made her suspicious was the absence of Xiao Tian’s presence. Given Lin Bingxuan’s understanding of him, Xiao Tian would definitely not allow such a situation to occur without doing anything.
Though his strength hasn’t yet returned to its peak, a large living person entering the villa, especially one who boldly strides in, should not escape his sensory perception under any circumstances.
Thus, with Xiao Tian never showing up, combined with the name Xiao Erren, which is an obvious hint, the answer was clear – Xiao Erren was indeed Xiao Tian!
However, although they unveiled Xiao Tian’s disguise, both Melinda and Lin Bingxuan secretly marveled; if not for various conditions converging, one could hardly detect any flaw.
"So, you plan to go to Japan with this face?" Lin Bingxuan seriously scrutinized Xiao Tian, attempting to pick out flaws from his disguise before they set off, hoping to make timely corrections.
Xiao Tian nodded and said, "Indeed, traveling as a scholar provides a legitimate reason for curiosity about Confucian Spring. Furthermore, Confucian Spring as a tourist spot welcomes countless tourists daily, making it less conspicuous."
...
Using his reasonable theory and demonstration, Xiao Tian finally succeeded in persuading Lin Bingxuan and Melinda to give up the idea of accompanying him.
Of course, what Xiao Tian said was true: this time the plan didn’t involve force. Besides, if they were discovered, bringing more people wouldn’t make much difference; rather, it might lead to everyone being picked off one by one.
Hence, as long as he considers some details carefully, acquiring the spring water from Confucian Spring shouldn’t be too difficult.
In reality, Xiao Tian’s biggest trouble currently is in the potion formula; it requires many diverse and expensive medicinal ingredients, and failure would exponentially increase the effort needed.
After careful calculation, Xiao Tian realized with the medicinal ingredients he currently had, he could barely make two sets, allowing for only one failure.
If both attempts were unsuccessful, it would be tantamount to a pointless trip.
However, what Xiao Tian could carry was indeed limited; bringing too much would inevitably arouse suspicion.
If he were subjected to intense monitoring, things would become restrictive and unpredictable.
Under such circumstances, Xiao Tian thought of the concoction he mixed last time. If he could neutralize some ingredients in advance, the total amount of medicinal materials required would decrease accordingly, drastically reducing the chance of attracting attention.
While flipping through the ancient book in hand, Xiao Tian began pondering the feasibility of his plan.
On the other side, Lin Bingxuan and Melinda were also preparing for Xiao Tian’s journey, removing unnecessary items and only keeping the essentials.
——
At the training ground of Heartbreak Valley, nearly a thousand disciples were undergoing intense drills, their collective vigorous shouts reverberating till the blue stone pavement beneath trembled.
From the loft, Bai Xiaoxuan watched the sweating senior sisters below with some reluctance, especially seeing Sun Miaohan and Ji Dantong at the front line where sweat had pooled beneath their feet, her brow furrowed.
"Master, won’t something happen to Dantong Sister and Miaohan Sister with such training?"
Since Sun Miaohan returned to her sect, she joined such torturous training and instantly startled her peers!
The crowd initially thought Ji Dantong was already sufficiently diligent; her reckless training seemed like self-inflicted torture.
Yet unexpectedly, Sun Miaohan was more relentless, increasing the previous training intensity and quickly rising to the top for daily training strength in Heartbreak Valley.
This way, with strength already slightly higher than Ji Dantong, Sun Miaohan naturally became the disciples’ model, touted by the seniors, making jealousy boil over.
Due to Sun Miaohan’s actions, the disciples who already suffered were not only persecuted daily but scolded by their masters for being unmotivated!
"Look at Sun Miaohan, she endures far more than you. You’re still far off, train for two more hours!"
"The difference between people is vast, complaining after barely training? Sun Miaohan never complains!"
"You lot truly embarrass me; at your age, I was like Sun Miaohan, never yielding to such minor obstacles!"
Such words became remarkably popular among the seniors in Heartbreak Valley recently, almost reaching a parroted status among them, igniting the resentment of the disciples, yet daring not to compete in training intensity against Sun Miaohan.
No mention of strength differences and endurance, just that mental resilience was enough to deter most.
However, there was an exception...
"Why bother, junior sister?" Sun Miaohan couldn’t help but speak, looking at Ji Dantong whose face was drenched in sweat and body trembling. freēwebnovel.com
"Just mind your own business!" Ji Dantong squeezed the words from between her teeth, sweat on her long eyelashes entering her eyes as she spoke, bringing a sour sensation.
Sun Miaohan, enduring increasing pressure, said, "I know you’re unconvinced, that although I didn’t complete Master’s orders, I wasn’t punished. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t be so cruel to yourself!"
Facing Sun Miaohan’s chatty nature after the conversation started, Ji Dantong somewhat regretted her earlier words, and inwardly, it truly wasn’t as her counterpart suggested.
Even Ji Dantong herself couldn’t confirm why she wanted to contend with Sun Miaohan; she just instinctively wanted to compete after that night’s talk.
Though previously they often clashed, it was largely passive resistance against Sun Miaohan’s provocations.
The desire to actively compete with the other was truly unprecedented for Ji Dantong. free𝑤ebnovel.com
She felt she must surpass Sun Miaohan in all aspects, and no matter how hard it was, she’d go to great lengths!
On the loft, Xu Ming withdrew his gaze, revealing a smile seemingly full of meaning...