Master of Kaidan
Chapter 213 Transformation

Chapter 213: Chapter 213 Transformation

"In conclusion," we believe that the code-named "Instructor" should be continually on the move, but because of the seasonal reasons, there’s a lack of animal activity noises in the wild, which makes it impossible to determine the exact location. According to our estimates, as long as we maintain communication, we should be able to lock down the target’s approximate location within two months."

The technical team leader, Zheng Wanrong, stood in front of the screen, analyzing the intelligence received in recent days. By examining details such as the velocity of water flow and wind strength in the audio, he constructed a terrain model and compared it with various landforms existing on Earth.

Although the world map on the screen was speckled with red dots like fish crossing a river, it was significantly more concise to the naked eye than the full-screen of red from a week ago.

"The problem is what happens after we pinpoint the location," said Liu Kai, the head of the Tactical Action Group, looking at the dense red dots and speaking with a certain resoluteness.

"As far as the Golden Bell Shield is concerned, the fifth level can already ignore shrapnel from grenades and mines. Based on the growth curve of cultivators, the sixth layer has a high probability of withstanding anti-materiel weapons. In theory, as long as he possesses the cultivation of the Golden Bell Shield at the sixth level or above, and enters an urban area, we would already have no way to handle him."

Many nodded quietly in agreement with Liu Kai’s remarks—not because there was truly no way to eliminate an expert above the sixth layer of the Golden Bell Shield, but because some methods are not suitable for use inside a city.

"Do you mean to suggest taking violent measures while the target is still in the wild?" Before Wang from the communications group could speak, Captain Li took the lead, saying,

"There’s more than one Kaidan, and considering the high likelihood that he is in Columbia, it’s nearly impossible to strike across national borders. Even if he were in Yan Country and we managed to capture or even kill him, it wouldn’t make the Kaidan completely disappear. Have you forgotten the ’Toy Dinosaur’ incident from five years ago?"

"..."

The mention of the "Toy Dinosaur" brought sudden silence to the conference room since it was the worst Kaidan incident to occur in Yan Country to date.

The origin of this malignant Kaidan, which caused the deaths of thousands, was nothing more than a few children’s boasting.

A child got a toy dinosaur and claimed it was the strongest monster in the world, saying it was dozens of meters tall, could breathe fire, and not even Ultraman could defeat it...

Entertainment for country kids was scarce, and they envied the child’s new toy, so the exaggerated dinosaur became a local legend among the children.

Then, the dinosaur appeared, thirty meters tall, resembling a Tyrannosaurus, capable of spitting fire, with skin as tough as 10mm armored plating, and scales that could even reflect light.

It was only after the local affiliated departments called in more than a dozen anti-hail artillery pieces from surrounding towns that they managed to gain precious time before reinforcements arrived.

Since that incident, Yan Country, already quite conservative in its approach to Kaidan, further upgraded its strategies, aiming to nip all Kaidan in the bud, because they dared not imagine the horrific consequences if such monsters appeared in densely populated cities.

In the heavy silence, Wang finally spoke up:

"Li is right; there’s more than one Kaidan, and defeating one means nothing. The existence of the ’Instructor’ can enhance our overall combat strength and risk resistance. Becoming antagonistic towards him serves no benefit. Don’t forget, he has the ability to sense our cognition of him. In other words, he probably knew a long time ago that we consider him a threat. In such a state, while he continues to communicate with us, whether out of good intention or sheer confidence, we should not break this unspoken agreement. The Tactical Action Group just needs to be ready with contingency plans. As for making contact, let the communications group handle it..."

...

"Master, we’ve finally arrived in Luzhou!" Looking at the city ahead, Liu Qi showed a face of relief after having survived a disaster. Now he finally understood the meaning of ’travel-worn.’ In the past five days, he had to walk for several hours on mountain roads every day, his food and drink largely depending on the mood of Mother Yangtze. Although he quickly learned some Qinggong under duress, the accumulated fatigue from sleeping rough still made him wish to find a bed and sleep through the entire winter.

Yet Feng Xue expressed dissatisfaction with Liu Qi’s appearance:

"The journey is less than two hundred kilometers; it’s a three-hour drive, and you took five days. What are you so proud of?"

"Two hundred kilometers! The walking speed of humans is only about 6 kilometers per hour! Even without considering fatigue, you’d have to walk for seven hours a day to get there! And that’s all mountain roads. It’s already amazing that we managed in five days, right?" Liu Qi complained with a grimace, but at his words, Feng Xue simply gave him a look:

"The problem is, we’re using Qinggong to travel! Even though we’re only using the most basic Grass Flying, there’s absolutely no problem reaching a speed of twenty kilometers per hour! Not to mention I’ve also taught you some Inner Strength."

"..." Liu Qi immediately closed his mouth. To be fair, if he truly integrated the Kung Fu his master had taught him, it really wouldn’t be a problem to complete the two hundred kilometers in a day. But he wasn’t one of those one-in-a-million martial arts prodigies who could instantly understand and integrate what they learned. His little bit of Grass Flying skill was only achieved after continual trial and error. As for the Inner Strength, he had just started practicing after barely getting through the minor circulation...

He could exhaust it in just over ten minutes!

But could he say that?

No!

He shouldn’t even be grumbling!

Because he knew that his master had indeed slowed down for his speed.

Seeing that Liu Qi realized his mistake, Feng Xue, with her Heart of Bright Mirror active, cut straight to the point:

"Let’s rest in the city. Think it over in the next two days. This is just the beginning, and as we move forward, it won’t be easy to have regrets."

"I won’t have regrets! I just got a bit emotional at the sight of the city, that’s all!" Liu Qi immediately declared his resolve, not only to make a statement to Feng Xue but also to dispel the hesitance in his own heart stirred by his master’s words.

Was he tired from the past few days?

Of course!

Walking several hours a day, surviving on fish, compressed biscuits, and river water purified with tablets, updating his novel, sketching out a new book outline, and meditating—all of this had him so tired he even cured his insomnia, finding sleep as soon as he lay down on any makeshift bed, covered with cloth. If it weren’t for his master’s watchful eye, he even suspected he’d be eaten by wolves in his sleep.

But there were gains as well.

Beyond the superficial changes like learning Qinggong or increasing Inner Strength, he felt an inner sense of elevation.

Liu Qi wasn’t sure if this was just his own ’feel-good’ perception, but he felt his mental state was wholly different from a week before.