Chapter 319 318: Rapid Progress

Guo Lei said nothing, his face grim.

He was simmering with rage.

Hua Hai looked up, his eyes meeting Guo Lei's furious gaze, and a wave of dread washed over him.

'This is terrifying!'

'This is bad,' Hua Hai thought. 'I have to calm him down, fast.' He hurriedly said,

"Boss Guo, you..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Guo Lei's fist smashed into Hua Hai's shoulder.

Hua Hai cried out in pain and sank weakly to his knees.

Guo Lei then laid into him with a barrage of punches and kicks. He was measured, ensuring the beating was excruciatingly painful without causing any real, lasting harm.

Hua Hai shrieked and wailed on the floor, pleading repeatedly,

"Boss Guo, Boss Guo, please, spare me! I wasn't thinking straight! From now on, I'll be your dog! I'll do anything you ask, no questions asked!"

When Guo Lei grew tired of the beating, he straightened up and said, "Heh. Beating you makes me look petty. But if I take a beating from you and don't give it back, what will everyone in Anhua think of me? For that reason alone, I can't let you off."

"You can come find me for revenge anytime. I'll be waiting."

All Hua Hai could do was kowtow. How could he possibly dare to answer Guo Lei?

As Mu Lin was seeing Ye Chunshui out, the corners of his lips curved into an inexplicable smile.

His divine sense had been covering the entire bar, so he had witnessed Guo Lei's beating of Hua Hai with perfect clarity.

He couldn't help but chuckle. He hadn't expected Guo Lei to be so vindictive.

Of course, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was just how the rules of the underworld worked.

Mu Lin said to Ye Chunshui, "Where do you live? I can drop you off nearby."

It sounded as if Mu Lin was the one driving, but in reality, they were just hailing a cab.

Ye Chunshui didn't put up much of a protest. She was exhausted and truly didn't know what to do with herself right now.

Going home to rest seemed like the most important thing.

"In the future, don't be so presumptuous. When you're handling things, stop and think: can you actually change anything? If you can't, then just focus on doing your own part well."

Ye Chunshui nodded vigorously. "Yes! Yes! You're right!"

Mu Lin could tell something was weighing on Ye Chunshui's mind, but he couldn't be bothered to pry.

'Plenty of people have things on their minds. I can't go around taking care of every single one of them.'

In any case, after seeing Ye Chunshui to her apartment, Mu Lin turned and left.

Ye Chunshui stood on her balcony, watching Mu Lin's retreating figure, then glanced at the chat window with Li Xue on her phone.

'These two... how can they be so different?'

'Where does all this animosity even come from?'

Ye Chunshui couldn't resist typing a few words in Mu Lin's defense: "Sorry, I didn't see your message. But... aren't you being a bit too hard on Mu Lin? He's a man, he needs his own space, you know!"

Li Xue replied instantly: "Space is one thing, but he's constantly away from home like this. What am I supposed to say when Grandpa asks about him?"

Ye Chunshui replied: "Men... they have a lot going on. A lot of things we can't understand."

Li Xue was furious: "How could he possibly be busy? He's just lazy. A guy from some poor backwater ditch—is he really busier than I am?"

Ye Chunshui paused for a long time before slowly typing: "You... are you being a little too controlling? Have you actually fallen for him?"

Li Xue scoffed: "How is that possible? Even if he were the most powerful man in the world, I wouldn't give him the time of day. Absolutely not!"

Ye Chunshui turned off her phone and lay on her bed, tossing and turning.

When Mu Lin returned to Lin Shishi's hotel, he found Chen Jingyun waiting for him.

"Mr. Mu!"

Mu Lin smiled. "Sorry to trouble you, Captain Chen. It's your time off, and I'm making you work overtime."

"It's no trouble at all. As long as you need something, I will absolutely make it happen."

Chen Jingyun had seen with his own eyes how the Zhou Family was thriving. He knew with absolute certainty that the Yang Family's name would no longer hold any weight in Anhua.

Everything they had was now in the hands of the Zhou Family.

They were lucky to have escaped with their lives.

And the root cause of the Zhou Family's meteoric rise was the man standing before him: Mu Lin.

This one man was worth an entire army. It was simply incredible.

Who could have known that such a powerful figure was living in the unassuming Li Family Villa?

Mu Lin thought for a moment, then asked, "Brother Chen, do you have any other plans?"

Chen Jingyun replied, "No special plans. I'll just head back to the security office to continue my shift."

In truth, Zhou Qianfan had instructed him not to leave Mu Lin's side unless Mu Lin himself dismissed him.

Lin Shishi was dead drunk and wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, so Mu Lin had to watch over her for the long haul.

With a long night ahead and nothing to do, Mu Lin decided to have Chen Jingyun stay and keep him company.

Mu Lin's divine sense swept over Chen Jingyun's body. He came from an elite military background, so his fundamentals were incredibly solid. Combined with his special forces training, Chen Jingyun possessed endurance far surpassing that of an ordinary person.

Mu Lin said, "Captain Chen, from what I can see, you have power lying dormant in your meridians. The strength is there, but you lack the proper method, which is why you've been unable to cultivate Inner Strength."

"I can help you generate Inner Strength quickly."

Chen Jingyun found this hard to believe. This was the cultivation secret of an Inner Strength expert, and Mu Lin was offering it up so casually, holding nothing back.

"Really? I've been trying for a while now, but I haven't had much success. I just can't seem to get past this stage."

Chen Jingyun said, "Every time I try to circulate my energy, it suddenly vanishes when it reaches my left arm."

Mu Lin said slowly, "That's normal. There's an impurity in your left arm. Let me handle it."

Mu Lin placed a hand on Chen Jingyun's wrist. "Just as I thought."

Chen Jingyun was curious. "What is it?"

"I've found the foreign object. Hold on."

Mu Lin channeled his energy, and a strange pain coursed through Chen Jingyun.

"What's happening?"

"I'm helping you," Mu Lin said.

With that, Mu Lin began to rapidly cleanse Chen Jingyun's meridians with his True Qi.

Before, he had remained neutral toward Chen Jingyun, as his cooperation with him and the Zhou Family was purely transactional.

But things were different now. The stronger the Zhou Family became, the more secure Mu Lin's own position would be.

After some time, Chen Jingyun shot up from the ground and excitedly performed a set of boxing forms.

The whoosh of his fists cutting through the air made Mu Lin nod slightly.

'Interesting.'

Finally, Chen Jingyun thrust his palm forward, and a powerful wave of energy shot out.

The force shot through an open window, obliterating a wild leaf just outside with hair's-breadth precision.

Chen Jingyun was thrilled. He had expected some significant improvement, but he never imagined his strength would leap so dramatically in such a short time.

It felt like a dream. He rushed toward Mu Lin. "Mr. Mu, thank you! Please, you must accept my bow of respect! If it weren't for you, I might never have reached this level in my entire life!"

Mu Lin waved his hand and laughed heartily.

When Chen Jingyun straightened up, Mu Lin asked, "Captain Chen, you don't have any enemies, do you?"

Chen Jingyun replied, "Of course I do, but they're all criminals who were locked up long ago."

"I mean among ordinary people," Mu Lin said slowly. "Colleagues, friends, relatives, that sort of thing."

Chen Jingyun thought for a moment. "We all get along just fine. Mr. Mu, what are you getting at?"

'I've already hinted as much as I can,' Mu Lin thought. 'If he still doesn't get it, then it's better that he doesn't.'

'It doesn't matter.'

"Over the years, even though you couldn't consolidate your power, it was a blessing in disguise. Your Inner Strength has become very deep. As long as your foundation is solid, your progress from here can be incredibly fast. I think within half a year, you should be able to become a master of the Late-stage Internal Strength, and it wouldn't be impossible to aim for the Grandmaster Realm."

Chen Jingyun's heart pounded in his chest. "Is that really possible?!"

"Of course it is. Come, let's spar. I want to see just how strong you've become."

"During the fight, focus on consolidating your Inner Strength. Try to convert all the True Qi in your body into Inner Strength."

"If you're lucky, you could become a Late-stage Internal Strength expert by the end of the night—it all depends on the quality of your cultivation."

Chen Jingyun hadn't expected his progress to be so fast. "Mr. Mu, isn't it bad to advance this quickly? If my foundation becomes unstable and collapses, the consequences could be severe."

Mu Lin said, "Consequences? What consequences? This is built on the foundation you've laid down over many, many years. It's not fast at all. Just relax and enjoy the feeling of being a top-tier expert."