High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Just as Song Chen was about to finish off the assassin, a voice suddenly rang out.

"stop."

The sound wasn't loud, but the entire southern district fell silent.

Zhou Wangyue walked from the direction of the fortress. His steps seemed slow, but he walked from the top of the wall to Song Chen's side in an instant.

The speed of a sixth-tier grandmaster cannot be captured by the eyes.

He stood next to Song Chen, looking down at the black cloak kneeling on the ground, his gaze as calm as if he were looking at a stone.

"I'm taking this person and that live sea monster with me."

Song Chen looked at Zhou Wangyue without speaking. He did not retract his knife; the blade was still pointing at the black cloak's brow.

Zhou Wangyue explained to him: "He is a spy planted by the sea monster among the human race. A living person is more valuable than a corpse. I need to get information out of him, who is in command, how many human traitors are lurking in Tianhai City, and who else is their target besides you."

Song Chen paused for a second, then sheathed his sword.

Zhou Wangyue looked at Song Chen, and there was an indescribable light in the old man's eyes, as if he had seen something precious and cherished it.

"That strike you just made was excellent. You created an illusion to lure the enemy away, and then struck a vital point with pure sword intent."

"Third-tier against fourth-tier, one against four, and I won. I couldn't have done that back then. Very good."

Zhou Wangyue said two things that were very good.

Song Chen nodded slightly: "Principal, you're too kind. It's all just luck."

Zhou Wangyue glanced at him, said nothing, and turned to look at the black-cloaked human kneeling on the ground and the injured sea beast in the distance.

He raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and an invisible force surged from his palm, pressing the two fourth-level beings to the ground simultaneously, rendering them unable to move.

The suppressive power of a sixth-tier grandmaster is so great that even a fourth-tier grandmaster cannot muster the thought of resistance.

"Lin Yu." Zhou Wangyue's voice wasn't loud, but it carried far.

Lin Yu ran over from the south entrance, stood at attention, and saluted: "Principal."

"Take Song Chen back to rest, find him some clean clothes, and let him get some rest."

"Keep an eye on him and don't let him go out again. That's it for today's mission."

Lin Yu nodded and went forward to help Song Chen.

Song Chen waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need it. He wasn't injured, but his blood and energy were a bit depleted.

I definitely need to rest.

Zhou Wangyue stood there, watching their figures disappear into the morning mist.

Then he looked down at the two still-alive figures.

"Someone come here," he said into the walkie-talkie.

Zhao Guoqiang led several soldiers out of the fortress and ran to Zhou Wangyue.

He glanced at the corpse on the ground and the black cloak, his eyelids twitched, but he didn't ask anything.

"Take this sea monster and this person back, lock them up in separate rooms, and keep them under strict guard."

"Don't interrogate me, wait for me to return."

Zhao Guoqiang nodded and waved for the soldiers to come forward and handle the situation. Several soldiers carefully approached the injured sea monster, used psionic handcuffs to lock its limbs and head, and lifted it onto a stretcher.

The other two soldiers hoisted up the black cloaks and dragged them toward the fortress.

The wounds of the figure in the black cloak had stopped healing; Zhou Wangyue needed him to live.

The old man took one last look in the direction of the south district before walking toward the fortress.

……

Two hours later.

Song Chen sat in her dormitory, quietly recovering her physical and mental strength.

The door was pushed open, and Zhou Wangyue walked in, went to Song Chen's bedside, pulled over a chair and sat down, unscrewed the thermos he carried with him, took a sip of tea, and then put the thermos on the bedside table.

He looked at Song Chen and asked, "Are you angry?"

Song Chen, on the other hand, was very casual.

"A little, but not much."

Zhou Wangyue looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You knew last night that someone was watching me, and that someone would come to kill me today, but you didn't make a move beforehand. You only came out when they arrived."

"You used me as bait."

Zhou Wangyue nodded: "Yes, I used you as bait."

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, neither looking away.

Song Chen suddenly laughed.

"Tell me in advance next time, don't always make me guess."

Zhou Wangyue paused for a moment, then smiled.

After laughing, he screwed on the lid, put the thermos aside, crossed his hands on his knees, and looked at Song Chen with a serious expression.

"Song Chen, I took on a few disciples in my early years."

As he spoke, his voice deepened and his pace slowed.

"The first one was called Fang Shan. He followed me for six years. He was at the peak of the fourth rank and died in the sea beast tide ten years ago. He was torn in two by a fifth-rank sea beast. When I arrived, I hadn't even recovered his whole body."

"The second one was named Lu Chenzhou. He followed me for four years and was at the early stage of the fifth rank. He died seven years ago on the battlefield in the Northern Wilderness. He was betrayed by a human traitor and ambushed. When I found him, he had already bled to death and was leaning against a tree, still holding a knife in his hand."

"The third one was Jiang Yue, a female disciple. She followed me for three years and was at the mid-stage of the fourth rank. She died five years ago during a cleanup operation when she was surrounded by alien beasts and died from exhaustion."

"When I arrived, there were seventeen corpses of fourth-tier alien beasts lying around her, and her knife was stuck in the head of the last alien beast, and she couldn't pull it out."

Song Chen didn't speak, but listened quietly.

Zhou Wangyue's voice sounded calm, but the fingers gripping his knee tightened slightly.

"My three disciples are all dead."

"From then on, I stopped taking on disciples. It wasn't that I didn't want to, but that I didn't dare to. I taught them skills, gave them weapons, watched them grow from clueless children into capable martial artists, and then watched them die."

"Watching them die in front of me, in my arms, in places I couldn't get to."

"That feeling...it's unpleasant."

After he finished speaking, the room remained quiet for a long time.

The sounds of soldiers carrying supplies could be heard outside the window, and in the distance, psionic heavy artillery was being test-fired, its muffled roar coming from the direction of the fortress, like distant thunder.

Zhou Wangyue looked into Song Chen's eyes: "But I want to take you as my fourth disciple."

"It's not because of how many strange beasts you killed, nor because of how high your talent is, but because when you faced four fourth-tier warriors today, your sword didn't tremble. This shows that your heart didn't tremble. A warrior whose heart doesn't tremble will at least not die a pathetic death."

Would you like to become my disciple?

Song Chen looked at the old man.

A sixth-level Grandmaster, the president of Tianhai University, and one of the most outstanding people in Great Xia.

At this moment, he didn't look like a peerless expert, but like an ordinary old man who wanted to take on a disciple.

Song Chen sat up straight, faced Zhou Wangyue, and nodded.

"willing."

He had no reason to refuse; this was an incredible opportunity, and naturally he had to accept it.

Zhou Wangyue looked at him, and then the old man smiled.

He didn't say anything like "good apprentice," he just reached out and patted Song Chen on the shoulder.

"Okay, then let's do it this way."

As he spoke, he stood up.

"By the way, let me see your knife."