When Zhong Chen and Lin Fan walked out of the room, An Hai, who had been pacing anxiously at the door, suddenly turned around.
His gaze first fell on Zhong Chen, who had a smug smile on his face, and then on Lin Fan.
His eyes immediately landed on Lin Fan's hand, on the emerald ring that gleamed with a vibrant green.
"Sigh~"
A heavy sigh escaped An Hai's lips.
"Old An, are you here to congratulate me on receiving a promising disciple?"
Zhong Chen's lips curled upwards, and he stroked his long beard with a smile.
"You, you, you!"
An Hai trembled with anger. "You clearly know that my sect has a secret technique that no one has deciphered for a hundred years, and yet you've done something like this! I'm breaking off our friendship!"
"Old An, don't be like that."
Zhong Chen, in a victor's posture, stepped forward and hooked his arm around his old friend's shoulder.
"Don't try that with me!"
An Hai puffed out his beard and glared, then roughly pushed his arm away.
"We've been friends for decades, how can you turn your back on me so easily?"
Zhong Chen shamelessly pressed on. "Besides, just because Xiao Fan becomes my disciple doesn't mean he can't learn your secret technique. Since no one can decipher it anyway, why don't you just let Xiao Fan try?"
"You, Zhong Chen! Shameless!"
An Hai was so infuriated that he almost resorted to violence.
Lin Fan turned his face away, feeling extremely awkward.
Was it really necessary?
The two of them combined were almost a hundred and fifty years old, and they were causing such a ruckus over taking a disciple. It really wasn't worth it!
After a long while, Zhong Chen finally managed to appease his old friend with numerous promises.
"Xiao Fan, come and meet your Uncle-Master An."
Zhong Chen tried his best to suppress the hint of boastfulness in his voice.
An Hai's face was ashen. He had intended to leave immediately.
However, upon remembering the sect's secret technique that had been passed down for a hundred years, and the potential hope of deciphering it, he forced himself to remain.
"Greetings, Uncle-Master An."
Lin Fan bowed respectfully.
"Hm."
An Hai nodded impassively, a thousand emotions swirling within him.
He was just a step away!
If only Lin Fan were his disciple!
Zhong Chen beckoned, "Old An, let's discuss the next steps, and then I'll get in touch with Guo Cheng and the others."
As he spoke, Zhong Chen pulled An Hai, along with Lin Fan, back into the room.
...
In another hotel not far away.
Song Tian and Yuan Fei were frowning with worry.
"It doesn't make sense. How could the situation be like this?"
Song Tian mused, "How did Lin Fan find that dragon's den? And why did he arrive at the same time as Li Yusheng?"
"Master, do you think there's a possibility?"
Yuan Fei pondered for a while, then continued, "Lin Fan entered through the main path of Gushan, while Li Yusheng took the path behind the mountain. After he disappeared from everyone's sight, he must have taken a shortcut, found Li Yusheng, and secretly followed him."
As he spoke, he dipped his finger in tea and began sketching Gushan's terrain on the table.
Song Tian suddenly had an epiphany.
"That makes sense! Lin Fan is cunning, he's certainly capable of doing something like that!"
"Heh, it must be so!"
Yuan Fei sighed helplessly. "Lin Fan's martial arts are impressive, and Gushan is covered in lush trees. If he intended to track someone from the shadows, Li Yusheng would definitely not have noticed him."
"When Li Yusheng was close to finding the dragon's den, Lin Fan immediately went to the other side, pretended to discover it at the same time, and relying on his martial arts, used a broken branch as a marker, reaching it before Li Yusheng and claiming he found it first, treating the people from the Xing Shi Sect like fools."
The master and disciple's words were laced with disdain and contempt.
*Bang!*
Song Tian slammed his hand heavily on the table. "This child must not be spared! If such an ambitious person is allowed to succeed, the Xing Shi Sect will be ruined in his hands in the future!"
"Master, please calm your anger. Lin Fan's cunning can only succeed for a while, not every time. We just need to wait and see."
Yuan Fei sneered. "I believe the fox's tail will eventually be revealed."
"Exactly!"
Song Tian scoffed. "If the Li Qi Sect continues the competition, we'll observe openly. If Lin Fan tries any more tricks, we'll expose him in person!"
"It's better to let the Xing Shi Sect lose face than to have it ruined by him."
Yuan Fei nodded in agreement.
With his master's words, he felt reassured.
Although he was quite well-known among the younger generation, his standing among the older generation was still too weak.
Only when his master, the leader of Jinmen, intervened would the older generation give him any face.
A sinister smile appeared on Yuan Fei's face.
As long as there was one more match, he would make Lin Fan infamous and a clown that everyone would condemn!
Then, he would propose to continue the competition with Li Yusheng, turning the tide!
Thinking of this, he could hardly wait for tomorrow to arrive.
...
Jiu Ke Song Club.
Guo Cheng returned to his room with the Li Yusheng siblings after the meeting.
"Yurou, in your opinion, if we continue the competition, can we win?"
After calming down from his righteous indignation, Guo Cheng felt a heavy weight in his heart, making it difficult to breathe.
The first match was already so perilous. What if they lost in the end?
Twenty long years!
He had poured all his knowledge and effort into teaching the siblings, painstakingly reaching this point.
A single misstep could lead to a complete defeat!
"Uncle-Master."
Li Yurou took a deep breath and sighed. "Lin Fan's talent is truly terrifying. Honestly, I never imagined such a person could exist in this world."
"Sister, didn't we win?"
Li Yusheng felt a slight displeasure at her exaggerated words.
"Look."
Li Yurou took out her phone and showed it to the two of them.
"What is this?"
Guo Cheng and Li Yusheng squinted to look. On the phone screen was a landscape photo. On the ground were three stacked stones, looking very much like something a child would make while playing house.
"What if I told you that Lin Fan found the treacherous den first, and then rushed to the Emperor's Dragon Den? Would you believe me?"
"That's impossible!"
Li Yusheng did not believe it.
His sister had extraordinary talent, yet even she had gone through great lengths to find the Emperor's Dragon Den.
If Lin Fan had found the treacherous den first and then the Emperor's Dragon Den, how much time would that have taken?
Wouldn't he need to calculate it?
Li Yurou continued, "Lin Fan doesn't seem to have just gone to the treacherous den. It seems he visited all the dragon dens on the island."
"What?!"
"Sister, are you joking?"
Li Yurou smiled bitterly. "I have always believed in planning by humans and success by heaven. Therefore, for matters that require serious attention, I always review them afterward to identify loopholes and shortcomings."
"I used to think I was a one-in-a-million genius. However, given the vastness of our country..."
Li Yurou's face fell with dejection, and she couldn't help but sigh. "Even if it's one in a million, if the base is in the billions, there would still be tens of thousands of such geniuses!"
"Lin Fan's martial arts are superb, and his performance in geomancy is also like this. He... he..."
Li Yurou no longer knew how to describe Lin Fan.