488: Formal Apprenticeship

"You bastards! I'll fight you to the end!" Zhang Ziyang roared, clutching his assault rifle and about to charge out, but Su Jiuning grabbed him.

"Calm down! Impulsiveness won't solve anything!" Su Jiuning's voice trembled, yet she maintained her final shred of reason. "We are outnumbered; we must preserve our strength!"

But in the gap while she was speaking, a second rocket-propelled grenade struck, hitting the rock right beside her.

The massive impact sent her flying violently. Her sniper rifle slipped from her hands and slammed heavily onto the ground.

Su Jiuning felt as if her internal organs had shifted. A sweetness rose in her throat as she spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. Her bones felt like they were falling apart, the pain so intense she nearly lost consciousness.

"Jiuning!" Zhang Ziyang howled as he lunged toward her, trying to help her up. But just as he bent over, several bullets struck him in the back.

His body stiffened. He slowly turned around, looking at the nearby government forces in disbelief before collapsing heavily to the ground. Blood quickly stained the soil beneath him red.

In just a few short minutes, two comrades had fallen one after another.

Lying on the ground, Su Jiuning watched Zhang Ziyang's body gradually lose its warmth. Her heart felt as if it were being squeezed by a cold hand, the pain making it impossible to breathe.

She wanted to crawl up, wanted to pick up her gun and continue fighting, but her body wouldn't obey. She could only watch helplessly as a group of militants and traitorous government soldiers surrounded her.

Leading them was a militant leader with a face full of scars. He toyed with a combat knife as he walked step by step toward Su Jiuning, looking down at her with eyes full of greed and mockery.

"Hehehe, what a beautiful Huaxia babe," the leader said in broken Huaxia, his tone lewd. "This isn't a place for you Huaxia people to be. Since you've come, don't even think about leaving."

The surrounding militants burst into laughter, their malicious eyes scanning Su Jiuning as if she were a piece of merchandise waiting to be priced.

Su Jiuning gritted her teeth, enduring the agonizing pain in her body as she stared coldly at the leader. "You scum, you'll pay for this sooner or later!"

"Pay? Hahaha!" The leader laughed even more arrogantly. "Now it's you who will pay! Drag her over here!"

Two militants immediately stepped forward, reaching out to grab Su Jiuning.

But at the moment their hands were about to touch her, something eerie happened.

The bodies of the militants surrounding Su Jiuning suddenly floated up uncontrollably, suspended in mid-air.

The mockery on their faces instantly turned to terror. They flailed their limbs frantically, letting out shrill screams.

"What's going on?! Why can't I move my body?"

"Help! Someone save me!"

Not just them—all the surrounding militants and traitorous government soldiers were lifted into the air by an invisible force. The entire battlefield was instantly plunged into a chaos of screams.

Su Jiuning was stunned. Forgetting the pain and the sorrow, she watched this incredible scene with wide-eyed amazement.

Her gaze instinctively shifted to the center of the battlefield, where a dark figure had appeared at some unknown time.

The dark figure stood tall, wearing a long black robe. His face was blurred, with only a rough silhouette visible.

He stood there quietly, as if blending into the surrounding shadows, yet he radiated a suffocating pressure.

"Die!"

A cold, indifferent, yet supremely majestic word escaped the dark figure's mouth.

As soon as the word was spoken, the bodies of all the militants and government soldiers suspended in the air were instantly crushed as if by invisible giant hands. Muffled "bang bang bang" sounds echoed one after another as blood, shredded meat, and bone fragments splashed everywhere, raining down on every corner of the jungle.

In just an instant, the dozens of people who had surrounded Su Jiuning were all turned into a ground full of mangled corpses.

Su Jiuning was completely dumbfounded. She opened her mouth to speak, but found her throat as if blocked, only able to utter a stammering, "You... you... this... this..."

She had never seen such terrifying power—instantly killing dozens with just a gesture. This had exceeded all her perceptions of 'power'.

The dark figure slowly turned around and walked toward Su Jiuning. As he approached, Su Jiuning gradually saw his face—it was an extremely handsome face with deep, well-defined features. His eyes were as indifferent as ice, yet they seemed to contain the vast sea of stars, making one afraid to look directly at them.

A faint smile played on Lu Chen's lips. Looking at Su Jiuning lying on the ground, her eyes full of shock and confusion, he spoke: "Su Jiuning, seeing your Master, why do you not kneel!"

"Master?" Su Jiuning was completely bewildered, her brow furrowed tightly and her mind a blank. "I... I don't know you? Have you mistaken me for someone else?"

Lu Chen did not explain much. He simply extended his right hand and flicked his finger, releasing a strand of pale gold data—this was the past life memory data Su Jiuning had saved in the heavenly dao diary.

Then, with a flick of his finger, this data stream merged into Su Jiuning's brain.

Instantly, countless strange yet incredibly familiar memory fragments flooded Su Jiuning's mind like a tide.

She saw herself in the gloomy and terrifying Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, kneeling respectfully before this man, pleading for him to take her as a Disciple;

She saw herself entering the Cultivation Small World, ordered to find a man named Lin Fei;

She saw herself and Lin Fei go from childhood sweethearts to soulmates, then to husband and wife, traveling together in the Cultivation World and spending over ten years of happiness;

She saw that later, because of Lu Chen's mission, she and Lin Fei turned against each other, changing from a loving couple to mortal enemies, entangled in a cycle of love and murder;

Finally, she saw herself fighting to the death with Lin Fei to carry out the mission, eventually being killed by Lin Fei, her Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

These memories were so clear it was as if they had happened yesterday. Every detail was vivid, and every emotion was palpably real.

The confusion in Su Jiuning's eyes gradually cleared, replaced by excitement as her eyes instantly moistened.

She struggled to her feet, ignored the agonizing pain in her body, and knelt respectfully before Lu Chen, her voice choked with uncontrollable excitement: "Greetings, Revered Master! Disciple Su Jiuning greets Revered Master!!"

Lu Chen said solemnly, "Mm. Although I sent you into the Small World to kill Lin Fei and you failed the mission and were killed by him, at least the final outcome was good. Lin Fei's existence actually accelerated the development of the Small World, which indirectly helped me. And since you died for my mission, it cannot be considered a dereliction of duty. Therefore, from today on, you are officially my Disciple."

He paused and continued, "In your previous life, you practiced the 'Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Eagle' Cultivation Technique. This technique suits you well; you shall continue to practice it in this life."

As he spoke, Lu Chen flicked his finger, and a golden light merged into Su Jiuning's mind. The complete formulas and cultivation insights of the 'Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Eagle' were instantly etched into her memory.

At the same time, with a wave of his left hand, three Magical Artifacts radiating brilliant light appeared before Su Jiuning—a sharp longbow, a set of resilient battle armor, and a jade pendant capable of storage.

"These three are Divine Artifact-grade items: the Heavenly Eagle Bow, the Heavenly Eagle Armor, and the Storage Jade Pendant. Consider them a meeting gift from your Revered Master," Lu Chen said. "The Heavenly Eagle Bow is incomparably sharp and can kill enemies from ten thousand miles away; the Heavenly Eagle Armor is invulnerable and can protect you; the Storage Jade Pendant has a vast space inside for storing items."

Su Jiuning looked at the three Divine Artifacts before her, even more excited. She kowtowed to Lu Chen once more: "Thank you for the reward, Revered Master! I will certainly Cultivate well and never fail Revered Master's expectations!"