Master, What Dao Do You Cultivate?-Chapter 38: Master, Your Name Is Huang Silang?

The morning sun was bright and warm, shining over the land. Good weather in Bangkok was a rare thing.
Ji Qinglin had just sent off a few more customers who came to buy Old Era relics. Ever since Yu Ye started training downstairs, business at the General Store had improved quite a bit—most of the time, the customers spent more time sneaking peeks at Yu Ye than actually looking at the goods.
Wearing a cropped athletic outfit, Yu Ye kicked cleanly through the air, her movements crisp and confident, exuding heroic energy. Just that one kick was strong enough to blow the poster off the wall. The customers who had just left the store turned back to sneak a few more glances.
“Master, isn’t Water-Splitting Strike a pretty good move? Why are you telling me to pull back the force on the final step?”
The Master and Disciple had been training at the General Store for a few days now, and they’d more or less learned all the higher-level techniques they bought from Zhang Huai Min.
Though Yu Ye had suffered when she injected all the techniques into her body at once, it pushed her meridians to improve, speeding up her mastery. Of course, the level of mastery between the two was quite different.
Yu Ye had only learned the techniques themselves and was still figuring out how to use them flexibly, while Ji Qinglin, with the aid of Divine Perception, could see through the operation of the techniques far more deeply.
So over the past few days, the more Yu Ye practiced, the more she felt her Master was unfathomable.
He could do all the techniques she’d just learned—and with even greater power. He could even break down their internal flow and explain the skills behind the moves.
Ji Qinglin walked over with a cup of tea, reached out, and grabbed her extended, smooth leg as he explained:
“Everyone knows the kill move comes last. That’s like playing your trump card face up—if the enemy catches it, you’re stuck. Since your strength lies in agility, it’s best to modify the flow of qi in the final step of the leg movement. Make it so you can either advance or retreat—keep some flexibility.”
Techniques on a cultivation storage device can be modified, but since most people don’t understand meridian flow, they don’t dare change them easily. Ji Qinglin, however, had no such limitation.
Yu Ye, hearing this, remembered how her last kick had been easily caught by her Master—who then flipped her and pinned her on the couch before stripping her. She shook her head and asked,
“With all these modifications, you could catch anyone off guard, no problem. So what’s next? Are we buying more techniques?”
“No need. Too many just become a burden. What matters more is real combat.”
Yu Ye perked up excitedly:
“Oh? You’re gonna arrange an opponent? I agree—it’s time those clueless Elders saw what we’re made of!”
“I wasn’t planning to match you against any Qi Refiners from the Commerce Guild. Showing our hand too early will hurt your chances in the Cultivation Tournament. And besides, they won’t help you gain real combat experience quickly.”
Yu Ye frowned slightly:
“Don’t tell me you’re gonna do it yourself? Your Disciple’s already blacked out twice, remember.”
Mad Ye: Pfft, you better be talking about training.
Ji Qinglin pulled out the computer from under the console.
“Haven’t you been curious about my other sources of income at the General Store? Besides my cut as a middleman, the other stream is right here.”
Yu Ye leaned over, hands resting on her Master’s shoulders. Her faint fragrance wrapped around him as she saw the computer screen filled with rotating profile files—two rows, top and bottom. Some of the faces were already marked with red Xs.
“This is... a bounty list.”
“You can kill without breaking the law. And if you’re lucky, you get a bonus. Sometimes these punks even have a private stash of loot.”
“No wonder you’re so badass, Master. So you honed yourself licking blood off blades too, huh?”
“Nope. I used to just plan—never did the killing myself. I only changed that for the sake of giving you some real combat experience.”
(He didn’t mention he also wanted to gain some combat experience himself.)
“You mean just planning was enough?”
“Yeah. Pick a target, hire a Qi Refiner, provide the action plan and intel. Then just wait for results and the money. Low risk, higher success rate.”
Yu Ye thought of Sang Feng from earlier—seemed about right.
“Master, are these bounties issued by the police?”
“The white bounties up top are from the police. The black ones below are from private parties or companies on the black market.”
“The police ones don’t pay much, but the black market ones are insanely high.”
“If they’re priced that high, either you can’t complete the job at all—or you complete it but never get paid. Compared to that, the police bounties are more reliable. In my experience, bounty targets often have way more valuables on them than the actual bounty’s worth.”
Yu Ye noticed that besides the bounty target’s personal info, there was a label below: “Team Up In Progress.”
“This... you can team up on these?”
“If you think you can’t handle it solo but still want to take the job, you can team up with others. Though usually, that kind of coordination happens in private. If you announce it publicly here, the bounty target will know too.”
Yu Ye noticed the account name in the top-left corner of the screen: Huang Silang.
Below it, it said:
Bounties Taken: 24
Success Rate: 100%
“100% success rate! Master, you’re not using your real name because you’re afraid of retaliation?”
“It’s just that I don’t take on anything I’m not confident in. As for retaliation—not an issue. Everyone on the dark web uses virtual identities. Besides, I always eliminate the root. The name ‘Huang Silang’ is pretty well-known on there. I’ve never had a collab request rejected.”
Yu Ye’s wide apricot eyes were now filled with even more admiration and anticipation:
“Master, then what kind of target should we pick?”
Ji Qinglin patiently analyzed:
“Look at the behavior of the bounty targets. Anyone who’s killed lots of police or Qi Refiners is out—too dangerous. Anyone with low reward money is out too—no real combat value.
Best case: a recent crime posted by the police. Someone with a body count—but not too many. Ideally, a repeat thief—especially if they’re agile Qi Refiners with private stashes. That’s perfect for your training.”
After filtering by those conditions, a matching bounty popped up:
Name: Duan Tianpeng
Alias: Sky Mantis
Common Techniques: Phantom Shadow Soul-Chasing Steps (Modified), Feilian Kick, Heart-Piercing Seal
Crimes Summary: Repeatedly broke into homes and stole female undergarments and valuables from prominent families. Killed guards and cleaning staff during two of the incidents. One week ago, struck again on Xindong Street—stole undergarments and a large amount of jewelry from a wealthy household.
Yu Ye frowned:
“An underwear thief? Master, can’t we pick someone more proper?”
“Are there any proper people among bounty targets? Don’t aim too high. If this guy can get into so many secure places, his skills are definitely solid.”
“I mean, sure, but the latest info’s from a week ago. How are we supposed to catch a flying thief?”
Ji Qinglin didn’t answer. Instead, he made a shushing gesture, opened the voice simulator, and connected to another contact on the dark web. Yu Ye saw the contact was labeled “Advisor Tang.”
The line connected, and an old man’s voice came through:
“Master Huang! Been a while since you were online. Which unlucky bastard are you after this time?”
Ji Qinglin answered simply:
“Sky Mantis Duan Tianpeng. I want his latest intel—not the fake stuff you guys post on the bounty boards.”
“Got it. Once the job’s done, 70–30 split on the reward?”
“If the intel’s detailed and legit, I’ll bump you to 40%.”
“You’re generous as always, Master Huang. I’ll get back to you.”