Chapter 40: Rumor

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

At 6 am, at this time in winter, the sky was still dark.

Chen Yiming knocked on Chen Yingying’s door and urged her to wake up for morning training.

“Brother, it’s too early. The sky is still dark.” Chen Yingying opened the door with sleepy eyes. She was still half-asleep and had a reluctant expression on her face.

“You have to start your morning training at this time from now on. Don’t be lazy,” Chen Yiming said sternly.

Since he had already decided to let Chen Yingying embark on the path of martial arts, he could not be soft-hearted. He would help her develop a good habit from the first day. If he gave in to her now, he would give in to her countless times in the future.

“I have to wake up so early every day?” Chen Yingying pouted and her eyes widened.

All of a sudden, she was no longer sleepy. The thought of waking up so early every day in the future made her want to cry.

Soon, she washed up and tied her hair into a ponytail. Chen Yingying then followed Chen Yiming to the courtyard for their morning training.

Chen Yiming waited for Chen Yingying to stand in position before he said, “I taught you the slashing and sweeping sword moves last night. Practice it and let me see if there are any improvements.”

“Oh, I’ll start then.” Chen Yingying could not refuse, so she had no choice but to step forward.

…

Half a minute later, the veins on Chen Yiming’s head were bulging.

“How could I have such a stupid sister?” Chen Yiming thought to himself.

At the same time, he confirmed one more thing. Chen Yingying probably needed external help to break through in her cultivation.

After Chen Yingying demonstrated all the content that he had taught the previous day, Chen Yiming patiently pointed out all the mistakes she had made. He then guided her to execute the moves correctly step by step.

“I’ll have a new worry from now on,” Chen Yiming sighed to himself as he watched his younger sister practice.

He recalled that during the entrance test of the martial arts school, the school head Wan Rong had encountered such a situation and directly called for a stop.

…

Chen Yiming arrived at the school at 8:30 pm.

Today, the school was more lively than usual. Many trainees gathered together to chat, their faces filled with excitement. Clearly, something worth discussing had happened.

“Junior Brother Chen, you’re finally here.”

“Junior Brother Chen, we heard about what happened last night.”

“Junior Brother Chen, you became famous overnight.”

…

As soon as Chen Yiming stepped into the school, many trainees broke off their conversations and ran over to greet him. They had many questions for him about the events from the night before when he captured the bandits.

“I was lucky I didn’t meet them all at the same time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been their match.” Chen Yiming used the excuse he had thought of beforehand to answer the trainees who asked him about the incident.

He had expected that the other trainees would definitely ask him about how he took down three bandits who had undergone two transformations and three who had undergone the first transformation.

If it turned out to be true, Chen Yiming would be recognized by everyone as a first- or second-tier genius of East Lake City’s new generation of martial artists.

Other than those who were present at the scene, no one else knew the details of the arrest. Chen Shaojie and his colleagues were not even of the disciple realm, so they could not judge his actual ability.

As for Zhao Baolong and Dong Fen, who would believe the words of the captured bandits? They would probably think that the bandits were inexperienced and had never encountered a genius who could fight beyond their level.

Liang Lele joined in the fun and said, “That’s already very impressive. Even if you took them down one by one, it’s still not something any trainee at the level of the first transformation can do.”

“That’s right. Martial arts trainees like us can easily crush those bandits within the same realm, but Junior Brother, you faced opponents who were one level higher than you, and you even took down multiple people,” Zhao Jingru praised.

She knew that if she didn’t take the initiative to get close to him, Chen Yiming might not even remember having been in the same batch as a trainee like her.

“Junior Brother Chen, have you broken through to the second body transformation? There’s a rumor going about now that there is a consultant who has undergone three transformations in the city patrol,” a trainee asked.

The trainees of the martial arts school didn’t believe the rumors that Chen Yiming had undergone the third transformation.

Ordinary trainees from a faction like the Mantis Snake Sword School would definitely be considered elites to outsiders. It would not be difficult for them to fight multiple people of the same level at the same time. Most of them guessed that Chen Yiming had broken through to the second transformation.

“How can that happen so quickly? I’m still at the level of the first transformation. It’s just that I have improved a little recently.” Chen Yiming denied the rumors.

“Then Junior Brother Chen is going to rise up very quickly. Maybe you can become a core disciple earlier,” a trainee pointed out and sighed.

They were trainees of the same martial arts school, but the difference between them was greater than expected.

Zhang Youde did not go with the ordinary trainees to congratulate Chen Yiming. He was not as simple-minded as the ordinary trainees. He knew that just congratulating him was useless.

“These bandits look fierce, but in reality, their cultivation level is among the lowest of those within the same realm. Fighting against weaker opponents, numbers are not a problem. Even I can do it,” Zhang Youde thought to himself.

Chen Yiming was stronger than him, so he didn’t think it was strange for him to deal with a few bandits. After all, he hadn’t encountered any bandits who had undergone three transformations.

If someone at the level of the second transformation could defeat an opponent at the level of the third transformation, then he would not be just a genius, but a genius of the first tier among the new generation of martial artists.

Chen Yiming simply answered the students’ questions. They were too embarrassed to continue pestering him and quickly dispersed to prepare for the cultivation class.

Wang Bowen waited for the students to leave before walking out to the courtyard.

“Junior Brother Chen, why are you so late today?” Wang Bowen greeted him.

Chen Yiming had never been this late. He wasn’t used to not seeing him earlier that day.

“My sister has just started practicing martial arts. I have to supervise her myself on the first day of her training,” Chen Yiming explained.

“I see,” Wang Bowen expressed his understanding. “By the way, I have some good news for you.”

“What good news?”

“I contacted the head and reported your situation. From now on, you are a core disciple candidate,” said Wang Bowen with a smile.

“Core disciple candidate?” Chen Yiming was confused.

He only knew about core disciples, but he had never heard of core disciple candidates.

“It’s just that the head specially approved you to receive the treatment of a core disciple two years in advance. After two years, if you can’t break through to three transformations, this status will be revoked,” Wang Bowen explained.

“I really don’t know how to thank Senior Brother for all your help,” Chen Yiming said gratefully.

The head of the school did not personally pay attention to the situation of ordinary trainees. Even if they performed well, without the help of the core disciples, they could only wait until their bodies reached the third transformation before they were promoted to core disciples.

Cultivation had a golden age. A core disciple candidate would receive the treatment of a core disciple two years in advance, so the probability of breaking through three times was much higher than ordinary trainees.

“I don’t care about your thanks. Beating a few small fries who have undergone two transformations isn’t anything big,” Wang Bowen said sternly to prevent Chen Yiming from becoming arrogant. “When you can defeat someone on the level of the third transformation, I can help you apply to become a core disciple directly.”

For people at his level, what they saw was potential. For someone at the level of the first transformation to defeat an opponent who had undergone two transformations, the difficulty level was very different from someone at the level of the second transformation defeating an opponent at the level of the third transformation.