# 473
Chapter 473 – The Third-Stage Problem
Jialan hugged the dazed Lin Qiye and sprinted back to the warehouse. The moment she stepped inside, Zhou Ping’s figure appeared before her.
His gaze fell on Lin Qiye, still wreathed in purple mist, and his brows knitted slightly. “Mental contamination?”
He pressed two fingers together; a wisp of sword-qi coiled around the tip. With a light tap to Lin Qiye’s forehead, every trace of purple gas swirling in the boy’s mind was scoured away like grime from a bowl. The mist was forced out of his body and blossomed into a small violet cloud at his side. Zhou Ping flicked his sleeve and the cloud vanished into nothing.
Clarity returned to Lin Qiye’s eyes.
Zhou Ping nodded. “All right, he’s fine.”
Jialan: …
Zhou Ping turned to the doorway where Baili Pangpang and the other two stood staring at him with bitter resentment. He blinked. “Why… are you looking at me like that?”
Baili Pangpang shut his eyes and let out a helpless sigh.
Isn’t this the classic “half-way kill”?
Sister Jialan finally gets her chance—rice almost cooked—then someone snatches the pot off the stove…
He opened his mouth to speak, but a soft crack rang out from Lin Qiye’s body, as though a pane of glass had shattered. The crisp sound echoed through the warehouse.
A moment later, a fierce mental-energy wave erupted with Lin Qiye at its center!
Jialan, still holding him, froze.
“He broke through?” Zhou Ping stared, surprised.
Every trace of cloudiness left Lin Qiye’s gaze; in its place shone unprecedented lucidity. Specks of light blossomed in his pupils, and faintly one could hear the roar of a surging sea within him.
His bottleneck had already been loosening; the heavy dose of mental contamination, coupled with the Sword Saint’s sword-qi, punched straight through the final barrier. The mental river in his mind finally poured into an endless ocean.
Lin Qiye—Sea Realm.
He slipped gently from Jialan’s arms, drew a deep breath, pulled the turbid air hidden in his body into his lungs, then exhaled it slowly…
When he opened his eyes again, the whole world felt sharper.
“Not bad,” Zhou Ping said with a small nod. “Faster than I expected.”
Lin Qiye smiled, turned to Jialan behind him. “Thanks for this time, Jialan.”
Her expression was stiff; after a long second she managed a soft “Mm.”
“Since everyone except Cao Yuan has basically reached the Sea Realm, it’s time for the next training stage…” Zhou Ping mused, then looked troubled.
Lin Qiye and the others exchanged glances. “Senior Sword Saint, what is the next stage?”
“Stage one was ‘Sword-qi Tempest’ to raise your mental realm. Stage two was ‘individual combat’—sparring to patch your weak spots. Stage three… is naturally ‘team battle training’.”
“Team battle?” Baili Pangpang asked doubtfully. “Then who’s our opponent? It can’t be you again, Senior? Fighting you is just getting tortured.”
“No, your opponents won’t be me,” Zhou Ping said quietly. “They’ll be the Night Watch squads numbered 006 to 010.”
“Night Watch squads?!”
Shock flashed in everyone’s eyes.
“So we’re going to…”
Zhou Ping nodded. “Visit the garrisons of squads 006 through 010 and fight them… though squad 010 in Guangshen is still reorganizing, so you’ll only face four teams.”
“Going head-to-head with the top ten Night Watch squads of Great Xia…” Lin Qiye murmured. “But we’re only five people. How do we fight?”
“However many you field, the opposing squad will match.” Zhou Ping paused. “At least, that’s my plan.”
Lin Qiye blinked. “What do you mean your plan? Didn’t Night Watch headquarters clear this with those squads?”
“…They didn’t.”
“…” Lin Qiye suddenly pictured something. “Don’t tell me—headquarters never even informed those squads we’re coming to challenge them?”
“Mm.”
“…”
The air turned deathly still.
“We’re supposed to barge into the bases of Great Xia’s top-ten squads without warning, roll up our sleeves, and brawl?” Baili Pangpang exclaimed. “What’s the difference between that and bandits?!”
“The difference is we only fight, we don’t loot,” An Qingyu said mildly.
“It’s not that barbaric,” Zhou Ping said awkwardly. “Ye Fan wants me to contact the squads, explain our purpose, and negotiate the details…”
Cao Yuan exhaled in relief. “That’s fine. Once you reveal you’re the Sword Saint, they won’t dare refuse.”
“Ye Fan forbade me from revealing my identity,” Zhou Ping added.
Lin Qiye: …
The five exchanged silent glances.
Yep—looks like we’re just gonna wing it.
They’d long experienced Zhou Ping’s severe social terror: three sentences and he’s ready to grab his bag and run. Without dropping his Sword Saint title, expecting him to negotiate with strangers who don’t know his credentials… the best outcome is they don’t slam the door in his face.
After two months together, Zhou Ping had only progressed to “not running away.” After every lesson he hurried back to his room and shut the door; except for necessary explanations, he never initiated conversation.
“Senior Sword Saint… Senior Sword Saint?” Lin Qiye called, seeing the man stand like a statue.
“…Mm?” Zhou Ping snapped out of his daze.
“Do we need to prepare anything? And when do we leave?”
“Oh… pack whatever. We… we leave tomorrow morning.” He turned and hurried toward his room. “Sort your own gear; I’ve got something to do…”
Lin Qiye: …
Bang!
Zhou Ping shut the door. In the empty warehouse the five looked at one another.
“Somehow I feel the real problem of stage three isn’t beating those squads,” Cao Yuan muttered, “but getting our Sword Saint to talk to them like a normal person.”
“No,” Baili Pangpang said gravely. “The biggest problem is stopping him from sneaking off halfway through…”