6.11 - Fight monsters in women's wear?

Chapter 120: Fight monsters in women's wear?

The ID of the OP of this thread was "GuIdolIsGood^[1]," and was clearly a CP fan. Lu Heng usually didn't pay much attention to the trends on the platform after finishing his live streams, so this was the first time he found out that a group of CP fans related to him was actually active on the forum of the OhMyMy platform.

These fans even requested to open a small sub-forum under the main section for "Idol," where they created their own cute couple SovereignGu x Idol. The post in question was first published in this GuIdol sub-forum.

In the main post, the OP originally intended to stir up trouble under the video of EternalMoon. As a loyal CP fan, she was outraged when she found out that the local tyrant fan "SovereignGu" had displayed their loyal tyrant style for someone else.

She immediately stormed off to see who this hussy was that dared to fool around with Idol's person. As a result, she was obsessed with EternalMoon at first sight. Before the OP realized what was happening, she had already left a comment under the video: Please face me, male god!

Once she snapped out of it, the OP couldn't believe her own eyes. Her moral integrity must be in the negative to have been bewitched by this hussy! Determined to find some flaws, she ended up watching the video twenty times, over and over.

After watching it, she didn't find any fault, but she sure stumbled upon a bombshell!

During this time, Idol's live streaming frequency had significantly dropped, so his die-hard fans could only repeatedly watch his old streams. After watching so many times, they naturally kept some of Idol's little habits in mind. Now upon careful reflection, the OP realized that many of EternalMoon's small gestures were identical to Idol's.

After the OP discovered this shocking secret, Idol's die-hard fans flocked to watch. The thread grew rapidly, and more and more evidence proving that the two were the same person started piling up. Basically, fans from both sides had essentially stamped their approval that the two were indeed the same person.

One was a new super popular male god at the National Ancient Martial Arts Exchange Conference, the other was the wildly popular "goddess" male anchor on the OhMyMy platform. And the two people were actually the same person?

This wasn't just a bombshell, it was a nuclear explosion!

This post instantly shot out of the sub-forum and perched on the top of the OhMyMy platform's trending topics.

The two-in-one male god Lu Heng was in an extremely complicated mood at the moment. In his original plan, after embarking on the Martial Path and starting streaming on the Exorcist Martial Artist Livestream platform, he would gradually stop streaming on the OhMyMy platform and fade out of the public eye step by step.

After all, the trauma of being controlled by women's clothing in the previous world left him unwilling to carry the reputation of a "cross-dressing enthusiast" any longer. However, Gu Lingjun's latest move nipped his plan in the bud.

Yep! After reading through the ultra long post, Lu Heng discovered another vest of Gu Lingjun: SovereignGu.

Sure, SovereignGu^[2] and the Junlin vest shared the same word "Junlin," but given "Junlin's" immense popularity, vests with the "Junlin XX" format were everywhere on the Internet.

Besides, based on what Lu Heng knew about Gu Lingjun, this person was laser-focused on Martial Arts and had zero interest in any other forms of entertainment. And that SovereignGu appeared before the two even met. With Gu Lingjun's personality, there's just no way he was the type to go asking for hugs, kisses, and lifts on the OhMyMy platform.

That being said, in retrospect, Gu Lingjun had actually exposed quite a few flaws. For instance, that lone OhMyMy platform livestream app sitting on his phone. But with so much going on lately, Lu Heng hadn't given it a second thought, and that's how he ended up "capsizing in a ditch^[3]" today.

When his own video made it to the official homepage, Lu Heng had repeatedly told Gu Lingjun to not use the "Junlin" account to vote for him or send little red flowers. After all, Junlin was a member of the competition's judging panel, and gifting red flowers to a newbie like him was simply inviting trouble.

At that time, Gu Lingjun very obediently said, "I know."

Little did Lu Heng expect that Gu Lingjun would immediately put on a vest and go on a red flower gifting spree. Lu Heng was both infuriated and amused. Why am I stuck with the "King of Cross-dressing" title? It's got to be a curse, Lu Heng mused to himself.

He glanced up at Gu Lingjun, who was sitting across the dinner table from him. It was just after eating, and while waiting for the next dish, Lu Heng had casually scrolled through his phone, only to stumble upon this explosive piece of news.

"SovereignGu?" Lu Heng asked.

Gu Lingjun nodded.

"Why are you so intent on giving me little red flowers?" Lu Heng didn't quite understand his persistence.

Gu Lingjun read out the official description of the little red flowers' function in a matter-of-fact manner: "Little Red Flower: Used to express your fondness for the contestant. Please don't carelessly drown the contestants in little red flowers to make them feel your love."

That blunt declaration of love^[4] made Lu Heng blush. No matter how irritated he had been, his anger evaporated on the spot. All he could do was purse his lips and slide his phone across the table toward Gu Lingjun.

"What is it?" Gu Lingjun asked.

"My vest has been stripped off," Lu Heng sighed helplessly. "Given the current situation, the netizens are already convinced. Avoiding the issue will only cause fan backlash. After dinner, I'll go live to explain things. But the real problem now is... what excuse do I use to explain my cross-dressing streams?"

"Isn't the reason because you like cross-dressing?" Gu Lingjun asked, genuinely puzzled.

"...No, I don't like it," Lu Heng said as he retrieved his phone and quickly posted a livestream advance notice on the platform.

After returning home, he prepared himself mentally and connected to the livestream platform.

The moment he logged in, he was startled by the crazy influx of viewers. In just a few minutes, the number of people flooding into the stream was almost on par with his all-time peak viewership.

But it wasn't surprising. The official website of the Ancient Martial Arts Exchange Conference had hundreds of times the traffic and attention of the OhMyMy livestream platform. So, besides Idol's fans, most of the new viewers flooding in now were followers of EternalMoon.

"There are so many people here today, you almost gave me a scare," Lu Heng said as he began the stream.

The comments began to scroll crazily, and Lu Heng casually read some of them. Most were asking the same thing: whether or not he was really EternalMoon.

Lu Heng laughed softly: "I didn't expect to be found out so quickly."

"My ears are pregnant~"

"Idol, please laugh more often! I can reach the great harmony of life just by listening to your voice..."

In his usual livestreams, Lu Heng maintained a cold and aloof persona, never laughing. So hearing him laugh had sent the fans into a frenzy.

Then, suddenly, a flood of gift notifications swept down the entire barrage.

SovereignGu: Why stream in women's clothes?

The fans' attention immediately snapped back from his soft laughter to the burning question at hand.

Vinegar jar. Lu Heng was very clear about Gu Lingjun's intention, but he was used to it by now. So, he calmly went along with it, continuing, "I believe many friends have seen my video on the official page of the conference. Due to some personal reasons, I don't intend to appear before the public with my true identity."

"Some viewers have previously asked why my cross-dressing makeup always leans toward the exaggerated and mysterious, hiding my real appearance. Well, I think now you can all guess—my cross-dressing streams were an experiment."

"The results of this experiment are quite good. I've been livestreaming on OhMyMy for quite some time now. In fact, just the other day while I was eating, I saw someone at the table across from me watching one of my stream replays, and they didn't recognize me at all. So, it's safe to say my disguise skills are pretty solid," Lu Heng calmly explained the reason for streaming in women's clothing.

Hearing this, the online audience suddenly recalled that in EternalMoon's video, the makeup style was exactly the same as that of Idol's—an androgynous beauty. If the EternalMoon in that video were to appear in women's clothing, there really wouldn't be any sense of incongruity.

After saying all that, Lu Heng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that he had finally managed to free himself from the cross-dressing whirlwind. But to his surprise, after a moment of silence to process what he had said, the viewers began to post comments crazily again.

"Begging EternalMoon to hunt in women's clothing!"

"Sob sob sob, Idol, you deceived my feelings. So you're not really a xiao gege who loves cross-dressing. But if you fight monsters in women's clothing, I'll forgive you!"

"+1"

"I wanna see you hunt in that Miao tribe sister outfit from last time!"

"I'm a EternalMoon fan. I just checked out some of Idol's past videos. Now that I think about it... hunting in women's clothes could actually be kind of epic!"

To Lu Heng, these comments were like a bolt from the blue. He felt that the audience seemed to have opened a door to something disastrous.

This is all that pig teammate's fault! In a fit of rage, Lu Heng kicked "SovereignGu" out of the livestream and swiftly added him to the streaming room blacklist.

"?"

Gu Lingjun's message on WeChat came in almost instantly.

“Look at what you've done! Stay in the small dark room and reflect on your actions!"

Regardless of whether the audience had opened the door to a new world or how Lu Heng himself felt, this little storm actually ended up boosting EternalMoon's popularity even further.

Sure, a few trolls popped into his contestant page to spam comments about how "EternalMoon is a cross-dressing pervert," but the effect was mostly positive. The skyrocketing votes on the rookie leaderboard were proof of that.

EternalMoon's sudden burst of popularity naturally sparked resentment among many contestants.

Among them, the one who took it the hardest was probably Zhou Yishu, who was trailing right behind EternalMoon on the rookie leaderboard.

Zhou Yishu had been silently brooding over EternalMoon. That viral video of him hunting the mutated snake felt like a ruthless slap in the face. Even though Zhou Yishu managed to find a suitable prey later and secured a seeded contestant spot before the registration deadline, it still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

To make matters worse, EternalMoon consistently outranked him in popularity ranking on the "Most Anticipated Rookie" list. This particular leaderboard was bulletproof against vote manipulation, as each vote was tied to a verified ID, with camera authentication required to match the voter to their ID—making it impossible to fake votes.

Zhou Yishu gripped his phone tightly, wrestling with his thoughts. After a long hesitation, he finally dialed a number: "Is this Deep Sea Network Studio? I have a job for you. Are you interested?"

---

Footnotes:

[1] 顾教大法好: Gu Jiao is good. 大法好 is a humorous way of saying "XX is good!" Jiao is from jiao zhu daren which I've translated as Idol. Interestingly, 君临一顾 which I translate as SovereignGu can also be interpreted as Junlin is Gu, depending on context. Is Gu Lingjun even serious about hiding his identity? Dropping so many hints…  

[2] 君临一顾 (JunlinYiGu) which I translate as SovereignGu and 君临(Junlin) have the same two characters.  

[3] problem in a place where one is sure of success.

[4] 一言 不合 就 表白 actually means confessing at the first sign of discord, but I think this fits better.

---

Translator:

We're halfway through the arc~

Have fun this Halloween🎃👻

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6.10 - Another vest also fell off

Chapter 119: Another vest also fell off

Lu Heng's hunting practice at night continued as usual, but the difference from before was that instead of following stealthily, Gu Lingjun was now openly carrying a portable camera behind him.

Both of their skills had improved significantly.

Lu Heng's progress was naturally in combat skills. With Gu Lingjun by his side, he became more daring, taking on mutated creatures that were slightly stronger than himself, bold but not reckless. After getting injured a few times, his strength increased rapidly. Gu Lingjun was a man of his word. Even when Lu Heng got injured once and snapped a small tree as thick as a bowl in half, Gu Lingjun didn't intervene to help.

Gu Lingjun, on the other hand, improved in his filming skills. On the first night of filming, Lu Heng noticed that he was holding the latest model of a portable high-speed camera, operating it ultra professionally. At the time, Lu Heng thought, This Gu Lingjun looks like a martial arts fanatic, but he actually knows this technology. It seems I can definitely trust him with my registration video.

Lu Heng was lucky that day; he encountered a mutated creature that was a bit stronger than him. After a fierce battle, Lu Heng managed to slay the creature at the cost of a minor injury. Then, he happily went over to Gu Lingjun to watch the playback.

Upon viewing it, he realized that Gu Lingjun's skills were indeed impressive—so impressive that during the intense fight, he had only captured footage of Lu Heng, without even a trace of the mutated creature appearing in the video.

Fortunately, Gu Lingjun was quick to correct his mistake. After Lu Heng reminded him that this was a submission video for the National Ancient Martial Arts Exchange Conference, not a lick-the-screen video to be posted on the streaming platform, Gu Lingjun's ensuing filming skills made rapid progress.

Although the footage was still focused on Lu Heng, at least it was now clear what mutated creature he was fighting. Lu Heng was quite satisfied; after all, you can't expect too much from a newbie cameraman.

With both his own strength and a reliable cameraman in place, the biggest problem Lu Heng now faced was how to find a mutated creature that could guarantee his direct qualification for the finals.

Under the pretense of needing certain specific materials, Gu Lingjun had already informed the association to help keep an eye out for suitable mutated creatures. However, while the Ancient Martial Arts Association hadn't responded yet, the Zhou family unexpectedly provided Lu Heng with a good opportunity.

Standing in the small park's filming area, Lu Heng watched as Zhou Yishu, polite and respectful, conversed with the members of a Earth-tier Martial Artists live-streaming team. Feeling a bit bored, Lu Heng scrolled through his phone and saw a notification that Junlin had posted a new Weibo update. He opened it, and as expected, saw the one word: "Unhappy."

Just moments before, Lu Heng had been getting ready to start his nightly routine date, oops, I mean routine hunting practice with Gu Lingjun. However, he was interrupted by a call from Father Zhou, which made him rush to this small park. Gu Lingjun had come along as well, though he naturally stayed out of sight. At this point, Lu Heng had no idea where Gu Lingjun was hiding to post on Weibo.

"Gege, come over here. Let me introduce you," Zhou Yishu's voice pulled Lu Heng's attention away from his phone.

When Lu Heng walked over, he heard Zhou Yishu say, "Seniors, this is my twin brother, Zhou Yiheng."

"You two are twins? You don't look alike at all," one of the younger members of the team blurted out without hesitation.

"Yeah, everyone says that," Lu Heng responded good-naturedly, playing along with the persona of Zhou Yiheng, "Xiao Shu is much better than me, and he's way more talented in martial arts."

"What nonsense! Gege is way smarter than I am," Zhou Yishu laughed, casually putting his arm around Lu Heng's shoulder—only to feel a sudden chill down his spine, instinctively pulling his hand back. "Gege got into the directing program of S City^[1] with the third-highest score in Province D."

After saying that, Zhou Yishu respectfully bowed to the group and added, "Gege plans to pursue this as his career, so I hope you seniors can give him some guidance and support."

Lu Heng also smiled and said, "Thank you all so much for taking the time to shoot Xiao Shu's competition video. We truly appreciate it."

The livestream team members were all deeply moved, thinking how strong the bond between these two brothers was, fitting of twin brothers. But only the two parties involved knew the real situation.

After wrapping up the introductions, Zhou Yishu went to lure the selected mutated creature over. Zhou Yishu's luck couldn't be denied—he somehow got wind of a mutated snake, which happened to be a Yellow-tier high-level variant to boot. Snakes were one of the trickier types of mutated creatures to deal with, though unlike mutated cats notorious for being rookie-killers, a low-level Martial Artist with flawless technique still had a chance to take down a mutated snake.

If Zhou Yishu could successfully kill this mutated snake, securing a spot as a seed contestant in the tournament would be guaranteed.

After a brief wait, the main characters in the filming were all in their positions. Zhou Yishu's psychic weapon was a long spear. His movements—thrusting, blocking, and leading—clearly showed his solid foundation in Martial Arts. Thanks to Gu Lingjun's guidance, Lu Heng had also developed a considerable understanding of this world's Martial Arts. Watching Zhou Yishu's skirmish with the mutated snake, Lu Heng began to notice something was off.

Zhou Yishu's spear fighting seemed swift and fierce, but there was a certain hesitation in it. This had a lot to do with his personality. Spear fighting demands bold, sweeping movements with an aggressive momentum, using attack as defense. A person with a broad mind and pure heart, using a psychic spear as their weapon, would be practically unstoppable. But Zhou Yishu didn't possess that kind of spirit, and as a result, his style clashed with his spear skills.

When a psychic weapon was condensed, it automatically chose the form most suited to the wielder. The issue Zhou Yishu was facing naturally stemmed from the fact that the heart and talents he possessed didn't originally belong to him.

After a little thought, Lu Heng understood why Zhou Yishu had progressed so rapidly in the original worldline. After winning the title of "Rookie King" at the National Ancient Martial Arts Exchange Conference, Zhou Yishu's rise was meteoric. He quickly became the most popular new streamer on the platform. This smooth journey gave Zhou Yishu indomitable momentum to a certain extent, which in turn aligned with the aggressive nature of the spear.

However, it was clear Zhou Yishu wasn't going to take down the mutated snake today. The spear's advantage lies in its attack range, but its speed is a bit slow. Combined with Zhou Yishu's hesitation, the spear's ability to adapt in combat couldn't keep up with the mutated snake's rapid movements.

Seeing that Zhou Yishus disadvantage was becoming more apparent, Lu Heng discreetly pulled out his phone and sent a message to Gu Lingjun.

"Put a psychic mark on this snake for me."

"Done."

Because of his previous live streaming on the OhMyMy platform, Lu Heng had developed a habit of routinely thanking his fans after receiving gifts. The common style among streamers on the platform was lighthearted, using phrases like "kisses, hugs, lift you high" to express appreciation. Naturally, Lu Heng did as the natives did, and as a result, his phone's predictive text automatically suggested "mwah" after typing "thank you."

Lu Heng was a fast typist, and since his attention was partly on watching Zhou Yishu's ongoing battle, he naturally typed this simple phrase mindlessly. Thus, the message that appeared on the screen of his messaging app read:

"Thank you, mwah."

By the time Lu Heng realized this, the message was already irrevocable. This time, it took Gu Lingjun a bit longer to reply—about three minutes.

"Mwah."

Lu Heng nearly burst out laughing at the thought of the blank-faced Gu Lingjun typing this word.

However, his amusement was cut short when he looked up and saw Zhou Yishu approaching with a gloomy expression, clutching his right hand. Lu Heng had to force down the smile tugging at his lips. Just as Lu Heng had anticipated, Zhou Yishu had failed, and his right hand had been fractured by the tail swipe of the mutated snake as it escaped. Though for a Martial Artist, a fracture like this was a just minor injury that would heal in a day or two.

But for the proud and arrogant Zhou Yishu, failing in front of the helpers his father had specially arranged was hard enough to bear. What made it worse for him, though, was failing in front of his trash older brother.

"Never mind, Xiao Shu, I'm sure you'll succeed next time," Lu Heng said, stepping forward with a concerned expression. As a good gege, he naturally had to show some care in a situation like this.

"Gege, I'm sorry I'm not in the best shape today. I'll head back first," Zhou Yishu forced a smile, but his eyes remained dark and brooding. Without waiting for Lu Heng to respond, he walked off to say goodbye to the others.

However, that "you'll succeed next time" Zhou Yishu was waiting for never came. By the time his injury healed and he was ready to hunt the mutated snake again, he saw that mutated snake on the official website of the National Ancient Martial Arts Exchange Conference.

The tournament's organizing committee posted the seed contestants' registration videos on the official site. This served two purposes: it promoted the contestants to build up their popularity, and it also maintained fairness. If viewers spotted any issues with a video, they could report it to the committee. If enough people raised concerns, the committee would reevaluate the contestant's seed qualification.

That particular video was trending.

The contestant in the video was named RuYueZhiHeng^[2]. He did not reveal his true face, instead painting a strange totem on the left side of his face while wearing a white mask on the right. His psychic weapon was a pair of scimitars, and his movements were sharp and swift. The entire video was visually captivating. When the audience was still immersed in his seamless blade techniques and ethereal footwork, the mutated snake had already been pierced through its most vulnerable spot.

The tournament judges, however, saw much more. This mysterious young man's footwork was highly unique. None of the major Martial Arts families' styles that they were familiar with had anything like it. Could this be a lost form of Ancient Martial Arts footwork?

The video's popularity skyrocketed. Beyond the contestant's obvious strength and the video's watchability, there was another reason for its viral success—the video had been given an enormous amount of "little red flowers" by the same person.

The little red flowers were actually useless. At most, they were a way to express fondness for a contestant, but purchasing them required real money, so most fans typically sent one or two flowers to show their appreciation.

The official tournament page was linked to two livestreaming platforms—one was the Exorcist Martial Artists livestream platform and the other was the dominant OhMyMy livestreaming platform. Viewers logged in to the official page directly through the accounts of these two platforms.

The massive amount of little red flowers under RuYueZhiHeng's video quickly drew the attention of the keen-eyed netizens.

Soon, a trending topic emerged on OhMyMy's platform:

#Ancient Martial Arts Conference: Investigating the connection between Idol and RuYueZhiHeng, evidence points directly to the local tyrant fan SovereignGu#

---

Footnotes:

[1] I think this should be “..program at S University..” but the author used S City.

[2] 如月之恒: As Constant/Eternal as the Moon. Note that 恒(héng) in 如月之恒 is same as in 周一恒 (Zhou Yiheng), the original owner’s name.

---

Translator:

I'm thinking of using EternalMoon inplace of RuYueZhiHeng. Whaddya think?

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6.9 - Like

Chapter 118: Like

The comment immediately below read:

"Upstairs is obviously not a die-hard fan of Lord Junlin. Judging by his fighting style, he is clearly Lord Junlin."

The two comments were equally popular, each with its own supporters, locked in an all-out, no-holds-barred brawl that practically spilled offscreen!

Further down, the tone of the third comment was completely different.

"I noticed that Lord Junlin isn't wearing martial arts attire but everyday clothes, so it's clear he just happened to run into a mutated creature by accident. Could it be that Lord Junlin was on a date?"

Surprisingly, there was unanimous agreement under this comment, and most were "warm" and "friendly" greetings to the original poster. Many of the people who were fiercely arguing under the first two comments had become comrades in the same trench under this comment.

Junlin… Gu Lingjun? As soon as he saw the video, Lu Heng immediately understood. He'd guessed Gu Lingjun was a skilled Martial Artist but hadn't expected him to be an expert at the Heaven-tier. Lu Heng opened Junlin's Weibo, which netizens had stamped as "bot-posted" by now, since every post afterward consisted solely of either "Happy" or "Unhappy."

Lu Heng compared the timestamps of these Weibo posts with recent events. The first "Happy" post came after Lu Heng had been locked out and went to Gu Lingjun for help. The second "Unhappy" post seemed to have come after Lu Heng missed Gu Lingjun's friend request because he was asleep. The third "Happy" post came after they had arranged to go out for dinner together.

After that, pretty much every "Happy" post was made after he'd had a meal with Gu Lingjun, and every "Unhappy" post came when Lu Heng was stuck at school and couldn't make it back.

The answer was now obvious: Gu Lingjun was Junlin.

Lu Heng only realized Gu Lingjun's true identity now, not because he was slow or because Gu Lingjun was deliberately hiding it. It was simply that, on their way back before, they'd both been completely focused on something else.

Here's how it went down:

"You must have known I'm a Martial Artist for a while now, right?" Since Gu Lingjun had been directly coaching him in combat techniques, Lu Heng figured it wasn't a topic to tiptoe around.

"I sensed it the day you condensed your psychic weapon," Gu Lingjun replied, his eyes staying firmly fixed on the road ahead.

Lu Heng knew this was just the man's personality—quiet, but always straightforward with answers when asked. "Why do you follow me every night when I go hunting?"

"You started too late and haven't had any formal training. I'm worried that your lack of experience might lead to an accident."

Gu Lingjun's tone was as calm as ever, but the observant Lu Heng spotted his slightly blushing auricle.

Lu Heng snickered inwardly, though he kept a perfectly straight face: "Thank you so much, and I really appreciate you teaching me combat techniques just now. From what I know, between Martial Artists, only master and disciple pass down battle skills with such care. Mr. Gu, are you trying to take me on as a disciple?"

"No." Gu Lingjun's rebuttal was very fast and firm. Feeling his tone was a bit stiff, he seemed to gloss over: "There are other relationships that can also…"

Lu Heng feigned confusion: "Which relationships?"

But Gu Lingjun abruptly changed the subject: "You…are not mad at me for secretly following you?"

"I understand you're doing it out of concern. You're worried that I'll develop a dependent mentality if I know someone is protecting me, right?" Lu Heng smiled, always quick to see things from others' perspectives.

"Yes." Gu Lingjun's shoulders relaxed slightly.

"But," Lu Heng added mischievously, "there is a problem."

He noticed Gu Lingjun's grip on the steering wheel tighten, and—knowing the strength of a Martial Artist—worried he might actually snap it off. He didn't dare tease Gu Lingjun anymore: "I don't know if you've noticed, but my thought energy reserve isn't what a low-level Martial Artist would have, and I think you know why. My worry is that I'll get used to fighting this way and miscalculate the use of thought power if one day you're no longer around."

"That won't happen."

Gu Lingjun didn't say anything else, but Lu Heng knew that what he meant was that he would not leave. In truth, Lu Heng had worried that his hunting skills during this period were not his true level. But today, something clicked.

The way he saw it, the thought energy Gu Lingjun provided was like a power bank. Using a power bank doesn't mean the phone's performance is awful. At most, it means that the phone's battery life is a little poor, right? If there is really any emergency, I'll just be mindful to conserve my energy.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Lu Heng glanced back at his phone, only to find that the Weibo battlefield had undergone an earth-shattering change again. The original poster of the third popular comment, who had been thoroughly smashed into the ground and dragged through the dirt, the underdog had finally turned the tables and was now singing his victory song!

Why? Because Junlin had liked the post about him being on a date. Watching the sea of anguished wailing on Weibo, Lu Heng finally couldn't help himself. He collapsed on his bed, quietly pounding the mattress in laughter. How can this man be so mensao^[1] and childish!

Just as Lu Heng was wiping away tears from laughing so hard, the doorbell rang. He opened the door, and there stood none other than Gu Lingjun, the very person who'd stirred up a bloody storm on Weibo with a simple "like."

They settled down on the sofa, and Lu Heng poured him a glass of water in passing. By now, he knew Gu Lingjun's preferences very well—no beverages, only hot tea or water. But tea leaves were simply not something you'd find in the home of an en vogue streamer who relied on takeout for meals.

"What's up?" Lu Heng asked, a bit puzzled by Gu Lingjun's unexpected visit—they'd only just parted, and it wasn't even mealtime yet.

"For you," Gu Lingjun said, handing over a box.

Lu Heng opened it to find an exquisitely crafted silver-black mask, identical to the one worn by Lord Junlin, who was revered by thousands of people on the Exorcist Martial Artists livestream platform.

"Didn't you say before that you don't want your family to know you're competing?" Gu Lingjun added.

On their way back just now, Lu Heng had confided to Gu Lingjun about his recent hard work in hunting mutated creatures and also explained that he didn't want his family to find out about his participation in the competition. To keep his identity a secret, he'd decided to register with his face hidden, which the tournament rules allowed since identification of a Martial Artist was tied to their psychic weapon anyway, and appearance was secondary.

Lu Heng, subject to the rules, naturally couldn't share too much of the inside story. Besides, Gu Lingjun was a man of few words, and as long as Lu Heng was within his sight, he didn't ask too many questions about what Lu Heng wanted to do.

"So you really are Junlin." Lu Heng looked at the mask in his hand.

"You've watched my live streams?" Gu Lingjun replied.

That's not the point here. Lu Heng was sure he heard a hint of delight in Gu Lingjun's usually calm voice: "I watched the livestream with the mutant mantis. Swift moves and momentum as sharp as a blade—you're indeed a Heaven-tier Martial Artist."

Seeing Gu Lingjun's eyes getting brighter and brighter as he spoke, Lu Heng chuckled, "But I can't accept this mask."

The light dimmed instantly.

"Why?"

"Don't underestimate your fans. If I wear a mask that looks just like Junlin's, my contestant's homepage will probably get flooded with comments scolding me for freeloading on Junlin's popularity," Lu Heng explained.

"I can say the mask was a gift from me."

Gu Lingjun really doesn't understand the ways of the world. Lu Heng replied, "Then they'll just scold me for hugging your thigh to get to the top."

"So we have to secretly carry on^[2] like this forever?"

"..." What strange stuff has he been watching, Lu Heng ridiculed inwardly, but kept a soothing smile on his face: "When the day comes that I'm strong enough to stand side by side with you, no matter what our relationship is, others will have no room to interfere."

Seeing the lingering disappointment in Gu Lingjun's eyes, Lu Heng continued, "I need to submit a hunting video to register for the exchange conference, but I'm worried mine is too rough. I don't trust anyone else. Could you please help me…"

"Yes."

A City. The Gu family.

The eldest of the Gu family was entertaining guests. The young man sitting on the sofa across from him was the son of a pal and also the exclusive livestream cameraman for his younger brother, Gu Lingjun.

"Uncle Gu, does Little Uncle Gu have any dissatisfaction with me? Is he going to fire me?" The young man wore a face full of worry.

"What happened?"

"He actually called me today and asked me to send him the latest portable high-speed camera," the young man said, clearly anxious about losing this job. It was hard to find a gig with little work and high pay, and Gu Lingjun had almost never been picky about the filming quality.

"Oh, and Little Uncle Gu also asked me for a bunch of camera manuals for beginners and my study notes. Does it mean he's unhappy with my work and planning to film himself? Uncle Gu, please put in a good word for me…"

Based on what the eldest Gu knew about his baby brother, the situation was definitely not that simple. Hmm, it looks like we need to hold a family meeting pronto to figure this out.

Gu Lingjun's unusual behavior stirred up a little commotion in the Gu family. Meanwhile, the Zhou family wasn't willing to be left out; they also popped out to make their presence felt in front of Lu Heng.

Once again, they invited Lu Heng over for dinner.

"Xiao Heng, as you know, Xiao Shu is going to sign up for the National Ancient Martial Arts Exchange Conference. The competition requires a hunting video to be submitted," Father Zhou said with a beaming smile.

"Do you want me to film it for Xiao Shu? No problem! Although I'm just getting started in the directing program of the department, it should be fine if I work hard. I'll do my best!" Lu Heng beamed back.

Father Zhou was choked by his answer, and after a moment of hesitation, he clarified, "That's not it. I've arranged for a Earth-tier Martial Artist livestream team to film it for Xiao Shu. They're all top-notch professionals in this field, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for you to go and learn from them and gain some experience."

Lu Heng glanced at the "I care for you so much" expression on Father Zhou's face and plastered on a "I'm so touched" expression to match: "Thank you, Dad."

His gratitude was genuine; he sincerely thanked Father Zhou for presenting him with the chance to understand Zhou Yishu's capabilities. After all, in this upcoming conference, Zhou Yishu would be Lu Heng's biggest competitor.

---

Footnotes:

[1] 闷骚: outwardly cold or retiring but deep and passionate inside; secretly sultry; low-key spicy.

[2] 見不得人: shameful and cannot be revealed.

---

Translator:

Gu Lingjun: Does Ah Heng want to play secret lovers? 

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6.8 - Continue dropping the vest

Chapter 117: Continue dropping the vest

Lu Heng's life has been quite fulfilling recently.

During the day, he skipped required classes when he felt like it and bunked elective classes like it was a mission—he never planned on being any kind of behind-the-scenes staff member for Zhou Yishu, anyway. Attending some classes was just to avoid drawing the counselor's attention and having them notify the Zhou family. In his free time, he either stayed at home practicing some knife skills or planning the lineup for his evening livestreams.

In the evening, he livestreamed on the platform without fail, absorbing thought energy to prepare for his hunts after eleven.

Today, Lu Heng was sitting in the living room, waiting to go out to eat with Gu Lingjun. He wasn't quite sure how it happened, but the two of them had become dining partners, going out to eat together every day. Having someone to eat with makes the appetite better anyway.

Just as they were about to leave, Gu Lingjun received a phone call. He apologized, told Lu Heng to wait a moment and disappeared into his study to take care of something.

The doorbell rang.

Lu Heng glanced towards the study, noticed there was no movement, so he went to open the door.

"It's Gu Lingjun's, right? Please sign for it."

Lu Heng took the package, intending to place it on the coffee table. But just as he took a step, the poor, battered box finally gave up and split open at the bottom. A velvet-covered square box tumbled out, hitting the floor so tragically that it spat out its insides.

This thing on the floor looks kinda familiar? Lu Heng picked it up doubtfully, and sure enough—it was his own watch, with his initials engraved on the back of the dial. During a previous hunt, he'd been attacked by a mutated crow that grabbed his wrist, and the watch had luckily taken the hit. His wrist was fine, but the dial was completely shattered, and the strap had also snapped.

At the time, Lu Heng had remembered that this watch was a gift from Mother Zhou on a certain birthday, a matching pair she'd gotten for him and Zhou Yishu. Just thinking about it had killed any motivation to get it fixed, so he'd simply tossed it into the trash can.

How did Gu Lingjun manage to find it, get it repaired, and even send it back? Lu Heng placed the watch back in the square box and stuffed it back into the package.

Actually, Lu Heng had been feeling something was off for a while now—his thought energy seemed a little too abundant. Throughout recent hunts, he'd never once faced the problem of his thought power running low, which was not normal for a Yellow-tier Martial Artist who wasn't live streaming hunts. Initially, Lu Heng had thought it was just due to his own strong spirit, but now it seemed there was more to it.

Thinking about it again, he realized that nearly eighty percent of the thought energy in his body came from the same source—pure and potent. And now, seeing this watch that was supposed to be discarded in the trash, the answer was suddenly clear: Gu Lingjun was a Martial Artist, and a much higher-ranked one at that. This powerful Martial Artist harbored intense positive feelings toward him, supplying him with such a terrific source of thought energy.

At that moment, the study door opened, and Gu Lingjun walked out.

"Your courier," Lu Heng said, all the while studying his expression closely.

"Mm."

"Oh, by the way, the package seems to be torn, and the stuff inside fell out," Lu Heng added. As expected, Gu Lingjun's eyes flickered in a quick blink—a telltale sign of guilt.

"What's inside?" Gu Lingjun's tone was calm.

"It's just a velvet square box. I didn't open it; I just stuffed it back in." Lu Heng saw Gu Lingjun's shoulders relax slightly again, and he laughed to himself. This time, this guy's personality is unexpectedly entertaining.

[How can you be sure that Gu Lingjun is Shi Kong? You didn't even ask me to confirm.] Little Assistant made an appearance.

[Aren't you proactively confirming it now?]

[Do you plan to settle down with him as a pair of husbands?]

[Nope.]

[Okay, I get it, it's a bit of fun between husbands.] Little Assistant replied, and then tactfully disappeared.

Originally, Lu Heng really planned to see just how long Gu Lingjun intended to quietly follow him at night. Then the two of them would play the game of "You don't know that I know you're a Martial Artist" and "You don't know that I know you know I'm a Martial Artist" during the day.

However, Heaven does not abide by the wishes of people.

After discovering Gu Lingjun's secret, Lu Heng was in a particularly good mood and decided to take him to a restaurant famous for their delicious pickled fish. But after skipping classes for so long, Lu Heng forgot it was the weekend, and the line for that especially delicious pickled fish was ridiculously long!

Lu Heng was a bit eccentric in this regard. After receiving a number that indicated there were still 50 tables ahead of them, he thought he would wait for half an hour to see if the calling speed was fast. But after waiting half an hour, he didn't want to waste the time he'd already spent waiting and ended up feeling that he absolutely had to eat this pickled fish.

Then the speed of calling numbers became faster and faster, and many of them were empty. Lu Heng was secretly pleased but forgot about the peculiarities of this world: 11 p.m. was the Hour of the Demons. Diners living farther away naturally gave up on the delicious food to head home for their own safety, leaving only a few locals and the two of them behind.

On their way back after dinner, Lu Heng looked at the empty roads, and his brain, still stuffed with thoughts of pickled fish, finally came back online.

The Hour of the Demons was approaching.

Gu Lingjun, focused on driving, didn't notice it either. Because for him, the concept of not being able to go out after 11 p.m. like ordinary people simply didn't exist.

Surely, they wouldn't be unlucky enough to run into a mutated creature, right? During regular hunts, he had to concentrate hard and use his thought power to locate prey; it was unlikely he'd just stumble upon something out of the blue. That's what Lu Heng thought to himself.

The ear-splitting sound of tires screeching against the paved road filled the air. A black shadow fell from the sky, landing just two or three meters away from the car. If Gu Lingjun hadn't reacted so quickly, the vehicle would have been crushed flat by the huge force.

At this moment, the figure in the driver's seat had already vanished.

Given the situation, Lu Heng couldn't care less about whether to drop his vest himself or wait for Gu Lingjun to drop his own vest. The black shadow that suddenly appeared was a mutated cat, standing about half a person high. Mutated cats were practically the top predators among the urban mutated creatures. Cats are born hunters, but their attack power was limited due to their small size, which kept them from being too dangerous.

However, a mutated cat, having broken through the size limitations, became extremely dangerous. It had no shortcomings, be it speed, skill, or strength. To reduce the chances of such terrifying predators appearing, a special law had long been passed requiring that all pet cats undergo institution testing to make sure they carried no mutant genes.

Only it's not that easy to control stray cats in the city. After several large-scale captures and subsequent gene testing and neutering at relevant institutions, the population of stray cats had significantly decreased. But cats are elusive creatures, often appearing and disappearing without a trace, so there were always a few that slipped through the net. Among those that slipped through the net, there would inevitably be some mutant cats.

Just like the black cat in front of him, with its muscular body and bright red eyes instead of the usual emerald green, it moved with a speed that was like the wind, making it difficult for Lu Heng to catch a clear glimpse of its form. This was not a mutated creature he could handle; if it were up to him, he would probably have his heart ripped out by the mutated cat's first strike. Lu Heng was very self-aware.

Nevertheless, he still got out of the car, clenching his psychic weapon in his hands, just in case other small mutated creatures tried to take advantage of the crisis.

Gu Lingjun wielded his Tang sword as he dealt with the mutated cat. Seeing Lu Heng get out of the car, he said, "Follow me."

"Okay." Lu Heng understood that he should be leading the mutated cat to the small park.

He had been worried about losing track of the pair of one man and one cat, but he soon realized that Gu Lingjun was intentionally controlling the speed of both the mutated cat and himself, even deliberately slowing down his own strikes a bit.

"Pay attention."

Lu Heng immediately understood when he heard Gu Lingjun's voice ringing out. The other man was imparting some hunting techniques, which was simply a blessing from the heavens to Lu Heng, who had never undergone formal training.

During the chase and fight, Gu Lingjun successfully led the mutant cat to a nearby small park. Lu Heng obediently stayed at the edge, within the designated safety zone equipped with protective measures for the livestreaming team.

This was a kind of on-site teaching that countless Martial Artists would pay a fortune for but couldn't obtain, starting right then.

Gu Lingjun kicked the mutant cat hard in the waist, sending it flying several meters away. Seizing the opportunity, he gripped the hilt of his Tang sword with both hands, trying to split it into two pieces. The Tang sword condensed by thought power effortlessly split into two.

This high-level Martial Artist can actually change the number of his psychic weapon! Although it can be seen from the condensed form that the two Tang swords were weaker than the original one, this scene violated the theory of Martial Arts textbooks that Lu Heng had read before, and made him gape.

With the left blade held horizontally in front and the right blade poised to attack, Gu Lingjun charged forward.

Lu Heng realized that Gu Lingjun was instructing him on the techniques of using dual-wielded weapons. After a moment of thought, he pulled out his phone to start recording, preparing to save the footage for further study.

"With dual-wielded weapons, one hand can focus on defense while the other focuses on offense."

Gu Lingjun's left blade blocked any gaps in his defense, as the mutated cat's sharp claws struck against the blade, producing a deafening sound. As the mutated cat's claws were exhausted, Gu Lingjun swung his right blade, striking fiercely and piercing through the mutated cat's right paw.

The mutated cat let out a shrill cry and leaped back several meters by pressing on its hind legs.

Although Gu Lingjun was clearly overpowering the mutated cat, he didn't go too hard on it to ensure Lu Heng could learn. The two were so absorbed in their roles as teacher and student that they didn't notice the passage of time.

Just as Gu Lingjun felt it was time to end the fight, his decisive strike fell short as the mutated cat vanished into thin air. Looking down, he saw the black cat arching its back and hissing at him.

The Hour of the Demons was over.

The black cat flicked its tail and attempted to escape, but Gu Lingjun swiftly grabbed it by the scruff of its neck.

"What should we do with this cat?" Lu Heng asked as he walked over.

Although this cat would turn into a man-eating monster at midnight, and he didn't know if it had killed anyone before, Lu Heng asked himself if he could bear to kill a stray cat that had no power to resist.

"Give it to the association; they will handle it," Gu Lingjun replied.

After dealing with the black cat, Lu Heng returned home and lay down to rest, only to discover another big news breaking on Weibo. It was the number one trending search.

#Look at what I caught on camera: Lord Junlin is in S City#

The video was blurry, and one could barely see the contents, but it showed a car parked on the street. A man was tangled in a fight with a mutated creature in front of the vehicle. After moments, another man got out of the car, and then the two led the mutated creature out of view down the street.

The top comment read: The poster needs to get their eyes checked. Don't pass off just anyone with a Tang sword as Lord Junlin. Everyone knows Lord Junlin never collabs with others when hunting!

---

Translator:

Ngl, I totally thought those claw marks from the last chapter were left by Lord Junlin! Lol

Gu Lingjun: Since when does hunting with my Ah Heng count as collabing with others?

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6.7 - Still the familiar formula

Chapter 116: Still the familiar formula

After the excitement of successfully condensing a psychic weapon passed, Lu Heng felt a wave of fatigue rise from deep within him. A night without sleep, combined with the effort of condensing a psychic weapon for the first time, was honestly quite a burden for an ordinary person.

Since he only had an unimportant elective class today, Lu Heng decided to skip school. He set his phone to silent and promptly fell asleep.

He woke up hungry, reaching for his phone to see that it was already 4 p.m. Waking up from daytime sleep often left him feeling weak, so Lu Heng simply lay in bed, playing on his phone and waiting for the weakness to pass.

As soon as he opened WeChat, he noticed a friend request. The requester? Gu Lingjun.

His still-groggy mind finally remembered that he'd agreed to treat the kind Mr. Gu to a meal today, but had forgotten to send a heads-up after sleeping until four in the afternoon.

Feeling guilty, Lu Heng accepted the request and immediately sent a message.

"Sorry, I stayed up all night and just woke up. Let me treat you to dinner."

The other person must have been on his phone, as he replied almost instantly.

"Alright. What time?"

"Six. I'll come by your place when I'm ready."

After arranging the dinner with Gu Lingjun, Lu Heng casually opened his Weibo to check how many followers he'd gained from last night's meticulously prepared livestream. As soon as he opened it, he saw today's top trending topic:

#InMyLifetimeSeries^[1], I can't believe I saw Lord Junlin post on Weibo#

Lu Heng was a bit curious—back during the livestream, Junlin's swift moves and fierce momentum had indeed left a strong impression on him. He conveniently tapped on Junlin's Weibo profile, only to find the default page with just two solitary posts.

Unhappy. Posted on November 3rd at 11:00 a.m.

Happy. Posted on November 2nd at 8:00 p.m.

Both Weibo posts had been reposted millions of times by Junlin's fanatical fans. Comparing his own follower count, Lu Heng couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for the living legend before he closed the app and got out of bed to start getting ready.

As Lu Heng was washing up, Junlin's Weibo account hit the trending topics again, this time with the hashtag: #Is Lord Junlin's Weibo a Bot Post?#

Apparently, Junlin had just posted another one-word message. Now his barren profile displayed a perfectly orderly set of three posts:

Happy

Unhappy

Happy

Without even an emoji, fans were starting to suspect his Weibo posts were published by a bot.

Meanwhile, the "bot" himself, Gu Lingjun, was on a call.

"Lingjun, I heard from your dage that you finally posted two messages today on the Weibo account he set up for you! Does this mean you've finally come round and are willing to connect with your fans?" Mr. Gu, the family patriarch, had heard about it from his eldest son and immediately called, elated. His excitement wasn't so much about fan engagement or something, but more about a long-awaited sign that his youngest son, Gu Lingjun, might finally be open to interacting with the outside world.

"Mm. I posted three."

"Can you tell me what made you suddenly change your mind?" Patriarch Gu pressed on.

"Dage said that I can share my mood on Weibo, whether I'm happy or unhappy," Gu Lingjun explained in detail, knowing his father was concerned about him. "Before, I didn't feel like I had any reason to post anything, so I didn't."

After hanging up the call with his youngest son, Patriarch Gu finally pieced it together—Gu Lingjun was essentially saying he had never felt happy or unhappy. This realization left the old man even more worried; it seemed his son might not only have social difficulties but also emotional impairment.

At 5:55 p.m., Lu Heng was ready to head out for his dinner appointment, only to open the door and find Gu Lingjun standing there.

The familiarity of this behavior pattern moved Lu Heng's heart, though he kept his smile in place: "Mr. Gu, what a coincidence. I was just about to come to find you."

November's weather had already turned a bit chilly, yet Gu Lingjun was dressed simply in a shirt, knit sweater, and casual pants. But with the impeccable tailoring and high-quality fabric, it was clear his outfit wasn't from an ordinary brand.

"Mm." Gu Lingjun nodded slightly and turned toward the elevator.

"..." Lu Heng spotted the tag peeking out from under Gu Lingjun's sweater and quickly stopped him, "Wait a second."

As Lu Heng snipped off the tag from Gu Lingjun's sweater with a pair of scissors, he couldn't help but admire his new neighbor's composure. Clearly, this new neighbor was a man of extraordinary background who had seen the world—unfazed and calm even in such an awkward situation.

Gu Lingjun said that he was new to S City and wasn't familiar with the area, leaving all decisions up to Lu Heng. So Lu Heng took him to a well-known local private restaurant specializing in traditional S City flavors. Throughout the dinner, both the guest and the host thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Gu Lingjun didn't speak much, but he had an uncanny ability to pick up on Lu Heng's shifts in mood, and the two of them got along swimmingly.

However, as they were saying their goodbyes, something happened that confounded Lu Heng a little. Here's how it went.

Lu Heng said out of courtesy, "I didn't know you were from A City before. The flavors here in S City might not be to your liking. If so, I'll take you to a restaurant that's known for A City cuisine some other time."

Unexpectedly, Gu Lingjun acted in an unconventional way. He responded bluntly, "Not to my liking. Sure."

"…" Such a straightforward and somewhat familiar formula made Lu Heng fall into deep thought.

S City was huge, and the private restaurant they visited was in a far-off part of the city. By the time Lu Heng got home, it was nearly ten, yet he didn't feel the slightest bit tired.

Last night, Lu Heng had used up most of his thought energy unblocking his heart apertures, and with no livestream planned today, he intended to rest up. Yet, during his usual meditation, he found that his thought energy had not only fully recovered but was even slightly stronger than yesterday.

He couldn't shake a sense of suspicion around Gu Lingjun. But if Gu Lingjun truly was Shi Kong, Lu Heng figured he'd eventually discover it through their interactions. No need to overthink it now; with his thought energy restored, he could implement the next step of his plan tonight itself.

Lu Heng checked the time—it was already nearing eleven. He decided to head out and hunt mutant creatures.

There were two ways to qualify for the National Ancient Martial Arts Exchange Conference. One way was to hunt a mutant creature that best showcased one's abilities. If the mutant creature handed in was of a high enough level, its hunter could directly enter the finals as a seeded contestant. This approach ruled out cheating, as each Martial Artist's psychic weapon left a unique thought energy wavelength in the fatal wound on the prey. Additionally, to prevent newcomers with connections from having experienced family members subdue a creature so they could deliver the killing blow, each submission also had to include a full video of the hunt.

The second method to qualify for the conference was the preliminary round, designed for newcomers who had just broken through but hadn't had time to hunt, or for Martial Artists whose submitted mutant creatures did not meet the required level. In this case, the system would randomly match Martial Artists of the same level, using a points system to determine who would advance to the finals.

Lu Heng had originally planned to take this second route, as circumstances at the time only allowed him to advance through the preliminary rounds. However, now that he had cleared his heart apertures in advance, he decided to change his strategy. The preliminary rounds schedule was too long; it would not only waste time but would also consume too much energy. Generally speaking, even if one barely made it through the preliminaries, one would find themselves eliminated in the first round of the finals because one is too tired and has no strength to continue.

The elevator carrying Lu Heng had just closed its door.

The door next door opened and Gu Lingjun walked out. Just now, he sensed the thought power fluctuations from Lu Heng again and could naturally guess what Lu Heng was planning to do.

How can he be assured when someone who had only just condensed his psychic weapon wanted to go hunting alone? Gu Lingjun also stepped out and pressed the button for the elevator. He wasn't the least bit worried about losing track of Lu Heng; he had memorized the other party's thought power fluctuations, and with a little attention, he could easily follow Lu Heng's trail.

Lu Heng did not make the common rookie mistake of being overly eager; he was well aware of his own abilities. Having just established his thought energy cycle, his physical condition had not yet fully improved, and his thought power wasn't particularly strong. The only advantage he had was the combat awareness he had honed through experiences in previous worlds.

He carefully selected his first prey: a mutant flower. This mutant flower was originally just a city horticultural product that had been left in a garden; it had not mutated enough to move. After several tests, Lu Heng discovered that its most threatening attack was simply spewing out toxic pollen.

Feigning an attack, Lu Heng waited for the mutant flower to spray its pollen. The pollen had not yet fully dispersed in one direction when he quickly dashed behind the flower and slashed it with his scimitar, killing it instantly.

Ah Heng is amazing! I've never seen a rookie stay so calm during their first hunt, probing for weaknesses before making a move. Someone stood at the corner, their gaze fixed intently on the battle ahead.

For his second target, Lu Heng chose a mutant rat. It was fast but had low attack power. After some maneuvers, he successfully captured it as well.

Ah Heng is so smart! He knows to choose his prey based on his own abilities. This mutant rat is quick, but both its attack and defense are weak, which is perfect for a beginner to practice on.

Lu Heng continued to hunt mutant creatures according to his plan, making significant progress in his abilities over the course of several hours. However, a sudden situation arose during his final battle with a mutant bird. It turned out to be a pair of mutant birds, and while Lu Heng was engaged in combat with the male, the female was hiding nearby. When Lu Heng was too focused to pay attention, the female bird suddenly darted out from the bushes, its beak sharp as a steel blade, aimed straight for Lu Heng's back.

On a nearby tree, Gu Lingjun felt a tightening in his chest and instinctively gripped the branch tighter.

He had noticed the female bird long before, but he didn't intervene. This was Lu Heng's training, and if he could handle such a sudden ambush, it would greatly aid his growth. Gu Lingjun had already used his thought power to thoroughly assess the strength of the pair of mutant birds, and he believed that Lu Heng would only sustain a minor injury from this sneak attack at most.

It's just that although his reason told him that it doesn't matter and injuries are inevitable for any Martial Artist, when he saw the female bird launch its sneak attack, Gu Lingjun instinctively shifted his weight, almost rushing forward to intervene.

Fortunately, Lu Heng was alert. With his left hand scimitar, he blocked the male bird's talons, sidestepped, and intercepted the female's razor-sharp beak with his right hand scimitar, narrowly avoiding injury.

After a night of fighting, Lu Heng returned home with a full load, his backpack filled with the bodies of small mutant creatures. Turning these in to the Ancient Martial Arts Association would earn him both money and points.

Early the next morning, a Municipal Urban Greening Maintenance Bureau employee noticed several deep claw marks on the bark of a century-old camphor tree. Alarmed, he quickly called the S City Ancient Martial Arts Association.

"Hello? Hi, I've found several very deep claw marks on the camphor tree at the small park off Huxi Road, and they are definitely not made by a human. I suspect there's a mutant wildcat around. Please send someone over to handle it as soon as possible."

---

[1] 有生之年系列 is an ironic phrase used to describe something highly anticipated that seemed unlikely to ever happen, making it feel almost miraculous when it finally does. It's often used humorously or sarcastically to express the surprise and excitement of finally seeing progress or an event fans thought they might never live to see. It's exactly what I'll say if GRRM ever publishes Winds of Winter.

---

Translator:

Ah Heng is amazing! Ah Heng is so smart! Not like you're biased or anything, Lord Junlin.

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