50: Chapter 50 The Third Apprentice
It was none other than the Genius girl from No. 1 High School — Gong Shuting!
Thinking that he still had one Disciple quota left, Han Ming's eyes rolled as he began to plot.
Gong Shuting was an A-Grade Talent with a fast Cultivate speed, and the Gongshu Family in Jiangbei was quite powerful, possessing an Old Ancestor at the Martial King Realm.
She lacked no resources to Cultivate; if she hadn't spent most of her time practicing Martial Skill, she might have already had a Breakthrough to Martial Master.
One could tell by how she was not at a disadvantage while facing two exotic beasts comparable to Five-star Martial Artist.
The Martial Skill and movement techniques she Cultivate were at least Profound Rank High Grade, and both had reached the Realm of Major Achievement.
With a plan in mind, Han Ming didn't wait for Gong Shuting's fight to end. He stored his positioning bracelet into his space, took out a black robe to wear, and put on a mask he had prepared beforehand.
After getting everything ready, he executed the Wind Shadow Step at Major Achievement, instantly appearing between Gong Shuting and the two exotic beasts.
Unleashing his full power as a 9-Star Martial Master, he executed the Wind-Thunder Palm at Major Achievement, slapping his palm towards the two Tier 2, 3-Star exotic beasts.
"Boom!"
Instantly, lightning flashed and a loud explosion rang out. The two double-horned fire rhinos didn't even have time to react before they were instantly slapped into blood mist.
"Gong Shuting of the Gongshu Family greets Senior. I do not know what Senior means by this?"
Seeing a black-clad figure suddenly appear, who not only killed her prey but was also hiding his face, Gong Shuting immediately retreated a few steps in vigilance and cupped her hands in a salute.
At the same time, her words carried a hint of a threat.
"Oh? You are the little girl from the Gongshu Family? I have no ill intent, so there is no need to be nervous."
Han Ming disguised his voice and spoke with a feigned elderly tone.
"Then I do not know what Senior means?"
Upon hearing this, Gong Shuting did not relax her vigilance; instead, she became even more guarded, ready to press the distress button on her bracelet at any moment.
"Rest assured! If I wanted to kill you, even if all the instructors in the Secret Realm came, they wouldn't be able to stop me. I just saw that you have good Talent and wanted to take you as a Disciple, that is all."
Han Ming saw through her thoughts and spoke with a mysterious air.
"I am sorry, Senior, but this Junior already has a Master, so let us forget about the apprenticeship!"
Although Gong Shuting didn't know if Han Ming's words were true or false, she had no intention of taking a mysterious, hidden person as her Master.
What if the other party was from the Blood Demon Alliance?
Her whole life would be ruined.
So, she just made up an excuse.
"Oh? Are you sure you are unwilling to take me as your Master? I do not mind if you have other Masters, as long as you sincerely say that you are willing to take me as your Master."
Han Ming heard this and knew she was making excuses to evade him. He revealed a dangerous gaze, and his aura as a Peak Martial Master firmly locked onto her.
He knew it was impossible to make her accept him as a Master normally, so he had to use some methods.
"Senior, are you sure you want to do this? My Gongshu Family has a Martial King powerhouse."
Feeling Han Ming's powerful pressure, cold sweat streamed down Gong Shuting's forehead, but she still refused to give up and threatened him.
"Hmph, a mere Martial King is nothing in my eyes. Besides, I only want to take you as a Disciple; do not be ungrateful."
Han Ming snorted coldly and took another step closer to Gong Shuting, his pressure intensifying.
Gong Shuting's face was very pale as she struggled to resist Han Ming's pressure. She glanced at the positioning bracelet on her wrist, but in the end, she did not press it.
She knew that even if she pressed it, if this person wanted to kill her, help would not arrive in time.
Furthermore, there were two days left in the Martial Exam, and she was currently in fifth place; she was very unwilling to drop out now.
"Is what Senior said true? As long as I am sincerely willing to take you as my Master, you will no longer make things difficult for me?"
Thinking of this, Gong Shuting gritted her teeth and made a decision.
"Rest assured, my word is gold. I would not stoop to deceiving a little girl who has just had a Breakthrough to Martial Artist."
Seeing her like this, Han Ming was inwardly delighted, but he spoke with a mysterious air.
"Junior Gong Shuting is willing to take Senior as my Master. May I ask what Senior's name is?"
"I am Immortal Venerable Wandao."
Han Ming just randomly made up a title.
"Disciple Gong Shuting is willing to take Senior Wandao as my Master. Greetings, Master."
Gong Shuting looked at Han Ming suspiciously. "Immortal Venerable Wandao"? She had never heard of it. And what Realm was an Immortal Venerable? Could it be a Martial Venerable?
But he didn't look like one!
She decided not to worry about whether it was true or false and just went along with the apprenticeship to handle him for now.
[Ding, detected that Gong Shuting has accepted the host as Master. Does the host wish to bind the Master-Disciple relationship with Gong Shuting?]
Just as Gong Shuting finished speaking, the System's notification sound rang in Han Ming's mind.
"Bind!"
He quickly said to the System in his mind.
[Ding, binding successful!]
As the System binding was successful, Han Ming opened Gong Shuting's panel.
[Disciple: Gong Shuting]
[Age: 19 years old]
[Talent: SS-Grade Heaven-defying Comprehension (Heaven-defying Comprehension, any Cultivation Technique or Martial Skill can be quickly brought to Perfection)]
[Realm: Two-Star Martial Artist]
[Cultivation Technique: Earth Rank Medium Grade Profound Water True Art (Major Achievement)]
[Martial Skill: Profound Rank High Grade Water Shadow Step (Perfection); Profound Rank High Grade Azure Wave Sword Technique (Perfection)]
Seeing Gong Shuting's panel, Han Ming was also astonished.
It was actually an SS-Grade Comprehension Ability Talent, plus two Profound Rank High Grade Martial Skill. He had really struck gold this time.
And the Gongshu Family hid things too deep.
An SS-Grade Genius, yet they publicly claimed it was A-Grade.
What Han Ming couldn't understand was why she was only a Two-Star Martial Artist despite having an SS-Grade Talent?
Could it be that the Comprehension Ability Talent only applied to Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill, and didn't have much effect on cultivating Qi and blood?
"Hmm, not bad. These are the Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill that I, your Master, give to you. I hope you will Cultivate them well."
Han Ming nodded with satisfaction, took out a few books of Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill he had prepared beforehand from his space, and handed them to Gong Shuting.
They were the Star-Shattering Finger and Wind-Thunder Palm that he himself practiced, as well as the Immortal-Grade Cultivation Technique he obtained from Lin Fan — the Ten Thousand Dao Scripture.
He had spent a long time exploring before he managed to copy the first half of the Ten Thousand Dao Scripture.
However, for Blue Star, it was enough. Even half of it was definitely a Divine-Grade Cultivation Technique or higher; there would be absolutely no problem Cultivating it to the Martial God Realm.
"This is a Divine-Grade High Grade Cultivation Technique. You must not tell anyone, otherwise, you will inevitably be coveted by others and bring unnecessary trouble upon yourself."
Seeing Gong Shuting take the Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill, Han Ming warned her solemnly again.
He gave the Disciple the Cultivation Technique so she could Cultivate faster and feed back into him; he didn't want such a precious Cultivation Technique to be spread everywhere.
"What? Divine... Divine-Grade Cultivation Technique?"
Gong Shuting's hand trembled as she received the Cultivation Technique upon hearing this, and the books nearly fell to the ground.
She opened her mouth wide in shock, and at the same time, looked at the Cultivation Technique in her hand with a hint of doubt.
She had heard of Divine-Grade Cultivation Technique from her grandfather.
It was said that there were no more than five in the Great Xia Alliance, and any faction possessing a Divine-Grade Cultivation Technique was undoubtedly one of the top entities in the Great Xia Alliance.
She didn't expect that this mysterious, cheap Master she had just taken would actually say he possessed a Divine-Grade Cultivation Technique?
And he gave it to her so easily?
Gong Shuting stared blankly at the Cultivation Technique in her hand, her head buzzing.
"Is... is this really a Divine-Grade Cultivation Technique?"
After a while, she regained her senses and asked Han Ming, somewhat incredulously.
"Hmm, what benefit would I get from lying to you? Also, people from the Blood Demon Alliance have already infiltrated the team of invigilators and will soon make a move against the Geniuses in the Martial Exam. Be careful yourself."
"Whenever you feel that your positioning bracelet has lost its effect, do not hesitate; leave your location as soon as possible and find a safe place to hide."
Han Ming understood why she was so shocked to hear about a Divine-Grade Cultivation Technique; even a Martial Emperor would be no different.
He nodded, told her about the Blood Demon Alliance's plan, and then his figure flashed, leaving the valley.
He still had to go find Zhang Beiwang!
"What? People from the Blood Demon Alliance have infiltrated?"
Gong Shuting was shocked again upon hearing this, but just as she wanted to ask more, Han Ming's figure was already gone.
Her expression shifted, not knowing whether she should tell her teacher this news.
After thinking about it, she decided against it.
She didn't know if this news was true or false, and she was also afraid that the teacher she was looking for might be from the Blood Demon Alliance, in which case she would undoubtedly be delivering herself to them.
It was better to just be careful herself.
Thinking this, she didn't continue to go out to hunt exotic beasts, but instead found a cave in the valley, took out the Cultivation Technique Han Ming had given her, and started to read it.
She also wanted to see if it was really a Divine-Grade Cultivation Technique.