45: Chapter 45 Don't Provoke Him

"Are you sure?"

"I couldn't have misread it!"

Uncle Zheng said, shaking his head.

Li Chengxi nodded, but he still found it hard to believe.

He went out for a trip in the afternoon and returned in the evening having jumped from the early stage of the Second Order to the middle stage, nearing the late stage? Who would believe that?

"Even if he went through a major battle this afternoon and his cultivation broke through under life-and-death pressure, it shouldn't be possible to improve this quickly, right?"

Uncle Zheng's brow was furrowed so deeply it could have crushed a fly.

"Or perhaps he had some kind of fortuitous encounter?"

"But regardless, there's no mistaking his Second Order middle-stage cultivation. Moreover—"

He paused.

"Moreover what?"

"Moreover, he was already able to kill Zhao Zhongliang, who was at the late stage of the Second Order. Now that he's reached the sixth level of the Second Order, his actual combat strength should be even higher. He might even be able to fight a Third Order Awakener..."

Li Chengxi's breath hitched for a moment.

"Third Order?"

"That's my guess, but it shouldn't be far off!" Uncle Zheng said.

He knew the terror of A-rank cultivation techniques. A sixth-level Second Order Awakener, with the support of an A-rank technique, should be able to hold their own against an eighth or ninth-level Second Order Awakener.

Additionally, the quality of Lin Mo's traits was likely not low, as the speed he displayed far exceeded Awakeners of the same level.

With the two combined, his combat power would climb exponentially.

That was why Uncle Zheng speculated that Lin Mo might already possess the true combat strength of a Third Order!

Li Chengxi fell silent.

His first instinct was to argue.

Nineteen years old with Third Order combat strength? Wasn't that nonsense?

Even among those geniuses in Yanjing born with silver spoons in their mouths, those who could reach Third Order combat strength at this age were few and far between.

What were their conditions? Their families owned mines, their clans had ancient ancestors, their cultivation resources were piled high like mountains, and they had one-on-one guidance from famous masters.

What did Lin Mo have?

A poor kid from a fourth-tier city with no resources and no famous masters—could he really possess Third Order combat strength at this age?

With these conditions, this kind of talent...

"A monster!"

Li Chengxi blurted out.

Uncle Zheng nodded: "I've lived for decades, and this Lin Mo's talent could probably rank in the top three of all the geniuses I've ever seen!"

"Rank in the top three? Uncle Zheng, are you talking about Lin Mo?!"

Li Chengxi was completely shocked.

Uncle Zheng was fifty-one this year and had spent his earlier decades in Yanjing. He had seen as many geniuses as there were hairs on an ox, and those were the top geniuses in the entire country!

But now Uncle Zheng was saying that Lin Mo's talent could rank in the top three among the best geniuses in the country he had ever seen?

What kind of concept was that?

"Yes, his talent is terrifying. Although his current strength is still behind the top geniuses in Yanjing..."

"But don't forget, his cultivation environment and resources are far inferior to those geniuses!"

"If given the same cultivation resources and environment, those Yanjing geniuses wouldn't be as good as this Lin Mo!"

"Uncle Zheng!"

Li Chengxi took a deep breath and said slowly:

"If—and I mean if—we gave this Lin Mo the best cultivation resources, how long would it take for him to reach the Third Order?!"

Li Chengxi asked the question he cared about most.

In the future, he would have to face those cousins in Yanjing. Only by reaching the Third Order would someone have the ability to help him even a little.

While Lin Mo's talent was high, he was only at the Second Order after all. For now, if resources were invested in Lin Mo, he wouldn't get a return in the short term.

"If he's fast, maybe half a year to a year! If he's slow, two years at most!"

Uncle Zheng said.

Li Chengxi sucked in a breath of cold air.

"One or two years?"

"I can afford to wait!"

"And what about three or four years from now?"

Uncle Zheng looked at him with a complex expression.

"Young Master, in another three or four years, I might not even be his match anymore."

Li Chengxi fell completely silent.

Uncle Zheng was at the seventh level of the Third Order; on this Nanling Front, he was considered quite a figure.

In three or four years, a young man in his early twenties would be able to beat Uncle Zheng?

"Uncle Zheng, tell me, what should I do now?"

Li Chengxi asked directly.

"What else?"

"Win him over," Uncle Zheng said. "Win him over at all costs. If you really can't, then at least don't offend him."

Li Chengxi nodded heavily and turned to call a subordinate.

"Go, clear out three of the best rooms for those three female students to stay in."

The subordinate was stunned for a moment: "Staff Officer Li, the best rooms are already occupied by Lin Mo and Wu Feng..."

"Then clear out the rooms of a few captains."

The subordinate's face twitched, but he still replied, "Yes!"

...

Zhou Hai walked out of the tent, his face darker than the bottom of a pot.

"Giving up rooms? Giving up our rooms?"

He kept his voice low, but the anger was impossible to suppress.

"We captains were living just fine, why should we give up our places for a few students?"

Standing next to him was Old Ding, a captain of the patrol team. The scar on his face was particularly prominent under the lights.

"Staff Officer Li gave the order personally, what can we do?"

Zhou Hai paced back and forth.

"I know he ordered it! But isn't this going too far? Never mind that Lin Mo, but even a few student soldiers from who-knows-where get to stay in the best rooms. Why?"

Old Ding didn't say anything.

Another patrol captain, Wang Chuan, walked up from behind. Hearing Zhou Hai's words, he suddenly spoke:

"Old Zhou, I have a piece of advice for you."

Zhou Hai looked up at him.

"That Lin Mo—you'd better not provoke him."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't know what happened this afternoon?" Wang Chuan said.

"In the outpost, right in front of Staff Officer Li, Lin Mo killed Zhao Zhongliang with a single strike. What was Zhao Zhongliang's strength? Late stage of the Second Order."

Zhou Hai's brow furrowed.

"And then?"

"And then Staff Officer Li didn't just not punish him, he even drove away Zhongliang's two brothers who wanted to cause trouble." Wang Chuan looked at him.

"Old Zhou, think about it. Who was Zhao Zhongliang? Someone who wouldn't even give face to our Battalion Commander, yet this time he gave so much face to that Lin Mo."

Zhou Hai fell silent.

"Also," Wang Chuan continued.

"Do you know how those three female students were rescued?"

Zhou Hai shook his head.

The 17th Patrol District was surrounded this afternoon. Over a hundred people were killed; only these three survived."

Wang Chuan paused, "It was Lin Mo alone who fished them out from a pack of Shadow Leopards."

Zhou Hai's expression changed.

"Shadow Leopards? Those are Second Order middle-stage beasts!"

"The news I got was at least thirty or forty Second Order Shadow Leopards, plus two Third Order ones."

Zhou Hai was stunned.

One person, slaughtering through thirty or forty Second Order beasts, plus two Third Order ones?

What kind of concept was that?

"Old Zhou," Wang Chuan patted his shoulder.

"Take my advice, don't mess with him, or you'll end up like Zhao Zhongliang."

Zhou Hai stood rooted to the spot, not moving for a long time.

After a long while, he let out a long breath.

"Fine, if we have to clear the rooms, we clear the rooms. If I can't afford to provoke him, can't I at least stay out of his way?"

...