The two people left, and the stray cat remained lying on the ground.
Ten minutes later, Jiang Ran and Meng Hao appeared again, glanced at the dead stray cat on the ground, and then looked at the deserted sewer.
Meng Hao, "How is it?"
Jiang Ran shook his head, "Something feels off, but it could just be my imagination. Let’s go."
It turns out they had followed Jiang Ran’s intuition and made another cautious check, and after confirming that there was no one, they said their goodbyes to each other.
After the two of them really left this time, the stray cat turned into a wisp of green smoke and whooshed towards Zhou Bai, who was hiding not far away in the sewer.
Christina exclaimed angrily, "Disgusting! So dirty! It’s all your fault for making me roll around in the sewer! I’m going to take a bath!"
Zhou Bai, "It was for the sake of disguise. I had you secretly watch them on the street because I was afraid Gong Tu would remember you. How did it go? What happened?"
Christina said, "They were definitely tracking you and mentioned someone higher up. They didn’t even let the cat go, but luckily, I can play dead. After blocking his Qi arrow with my Primordial Spirit force, I deliberately fell down. And I even gave myself a cut with Sword Qi!"
Christina revealed the wound on her stomach and cried out, "It hurts so much!"
Zhou Bai checked the injury and saw that Christina had already sealed it with her Primordial Spirit force. He patted her head, "You’ve worked hard, Tina. Are you okay?"
While speaking, Zhou Bai quickly applied the medicinal paste he was carrying to Christina’s wound, a preparation he had made especially for this exploration, costing him 10 points.
Christina, with Zhou Bai touching her stomach and humming in satisfaction, proudly said, "I did it myself, what could go wrong? My Primordial Spirit force is keeping it sealed, no impact on movements.
They did come back to check again, almost saw through me. But who am I? I am the genius of geniuses, heh heh!
They didn’t uncover me this time, but I heard more news. That Meng Hao said he needs to report to someone higher up. They went separate ways when leaving."
"Split up?" Zhou Bai’s eyes lit up. If it was the Knife Cultivator Meng Hao, then maybe it was worth following him to find out where his higher-up might be.
Christina suggested, "Shall we follow? I remember the direction they left in. We can still catch up now."
But Zhou Bai thought about it and shook his head, "The situation is unclear, and the gemstone is gone. Let’s not risk it, we’ll wait until next week."
"Or..." Zhou Bai’s eyes shone as he looked at Christina.
The next moment, with the cat’s resistance, Christina was vigorously rubbed to get the dirt off her fur, and then, using Sword Qi, she altered her fur from long to short, cleaning the previously grubby areas.
"Alright, try following him like this."
Christina complained, "My fur! Do you know how long it takes for it to grow back?"
Despite her grumbling, Christina still darted out, hopping and jumping cautiously as she trailed behind Meng Hao.
Taking advantage of her feline guise and the support of over six hundred points of Primordial Spirit force, and with Meng Hao lacking the scouting and counter-scouting skills of a Bow Cultivator, Christina followed him smoothly to a small building. After watching him enter the building, she returned to Zhou Bai.
"A factory district 300 meters away?" Zhou Bai pondered, "Who exactly is having them follow me?"
"Should I inform the school? Or the police?"
"We still don’t know what’s inside the building Meng Hao entered. What if it’s just his personal training space?" Zhou Bai shook his head slightly. "Merely tracking isn’t much, and even if I reported it, the authorities might just question and search them. If they don’t find any issues, then it’s me who’s exposed for holding intelligence on them, losing the advantage."
Zhou Bai thought for a moment. "Let’s wait until the cooldown of the gemstone is over next week. I’ll go check out that building myself to see what’s really up with these two guys. Without clarity, I can’t comfortably explore the hospital area."
Empowered by the time reversal capability of the gemstone, Zhou Bai’s strategy became bolder.
Ever since the incident with Xing Jun, Zhou Bai couldn’t fully trust Dao School, the government, and preferred to rely on himself to solve problems first.
His eyes narrowed slightly, "They’re still tracking me this late, which means they’ve been secretly surveilling me? Next time I go out, I’ll need to think of something."
Christina: "What about Doctor Zhuang? There’s definitely something wrong with that hospital."
"We can only put that aside for now, I can’t safely search for Doctor Zhuang’s secrets without knowing who’s been trying to track me," Zhou Bai assessed, "Besides, Doctor Zhuang’s secret has been hidden for so many years, it’s unlikely to erupt into problems just because of a few weeks’ delay.
Our own safety is the most important. I always feel that the secret Doctor Zhuang is hiding may be of great significance, it’s best to not let any information leak if we can help it."
Christina worriedly said, "What about that silly dog, what if she can’t recover just because of these few weeks?"
"Man does his best and leaves the rest to fate," Zhou Bai sighed, "In these times, we can only save others after we have ensured our own safety."
Following that, Zhou Bai stayed reclusive and diligently practiced, completely ignoring all other matters, quietly waiting for the gemstone’s cooldown time to pass.
...
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Elsewhere, in a secret chamber.
Meng Hao reported the results of his surveillance to Guang Ying.
He then saw Guang Ying fluctuate, "This Zhou Bai indeed has a problem. However, his strength is growing too fast, surpassing what you guys can handle."
Meng Hao knelt to the ground, "I am incompetent."
In the ensuing silence, drops of sweat began to fall from Meng Hao’s forehead.
Just as the air felt increasingly stifling and the pressure upon him seemed to grow, Guang Ying’s voice came through once more.
"It’s not your fault, it’s that Zhou Bai’s growth rate has exceeded my estimates."
"Like this, within a month, someone will come to assist you. You just need to find a way to lure Zhou Bai out of Dao School, and that person will take him away."
Meng Hao’s eyes lit up slightly. Although he had joined the organization, he hadn’t achieved any merit, gained recognition, or been promoted. He never expected that through Zhou Bai, he would get to know more of the organization’s higher-ups.
He quickly nodded, "Rest assured, Master. I have already investigated Zhou Bai’s affairs. Even if he doesn’t leave Dao School on his own in the future, I am confident that I can lure him out."
...
The next day in the classroom, as Christina controlled Zhou Bai’s body to walk through the door, she saw Ying Hui and another bald, muscular man standing there.
Ying Hui smiled at Zhou Bai and said to the bald man, "This is the Body Refinement prodigy I mentioned to you, Zhou Bai. His body is exceptionally strong, doesn’t matter how much he trains, he never wears out, I’m sure he’ll satisfy you."
Hearing Ying Hui’s words, Christina’s body shuddered and she asked, "Teacher Ying, who is this?"
Ying Hui introduced, "This is Kuang Tu, the number one Body Refinement practitioner of our East Dao School, a sixth-realm teacher. He’s been specially asked to come to guide your Body Refinement martial arts."
The man known as Kuang Tu was over two meters tall, his muscles as sharply defined as marble, giving him the appearance of a living statue.
Hearing Ying Hui’s words, Kuang Tu smiled at Zhou Bai, "So you’re Zhou Bai, the Ground Devil, right? I’ve heard you’re practicing the Great Dream Arhat Heart Scripture and the Toad Strength. I’ve also studied those martial arts."
Christina absolutely didn’t want to follow this hulking man in Body Refinement; she was clearly on the Sword Cultivator path, meant to practice swordsmanship.
She quickly asked, "What about Master She? Wasn’t I supposed to be learning swordsmanship from him?"
"Ah, why bother with swordsmanship? Your build is such a waste for sword training."
Ying Hui patted Zhou Bai’s shoulder and said, "Anyway, you’ve now perfected that layer of Spirit Diagram. Just follow Kuang Tu and properly learn Body Refinement, and later follow the Body Refinement Sword Cultivator path.
Once you complete the first layer, just practice Purifying Jun, and I’ll have someone forge a large door-like sword for you. Then you can just charge into battle with all your might."
Then he said to Kuang Tu, "Zhou Bai is in your hands now, just don’t kill him, huh?"
"Kill him?" Christina’s face paled, "Wait, Teacher Ying, don’t go, what did you mean by that?"