In his previous life, after joining the Yu Family Hunting Team, Ying Li discovered that the core members of the team used unique combat methods when fighting Mutant Beasts.
These combat methods enhanced their fighting power.
He had climbed up from the very bottom and dreamed day and night of becoming stronger. The moment he realized this, he chose an A-Rank Sentinel with a good temper and helped him with tasks within his ability, begging him to teach him those combat methods.
The Sentinels of the Central District all had a high opinion of themselves and disdained currying favor with others. People like him were rare. That Sentinel was indeed a fairly good-natured person, so in the days that followed, he gradually taught Ying Li some simple combat techniques.
What this person taught him were all fairly common beginner-level combat techniques in the Central District. Later, after he himself became an A-Rank Sentinel and the Yu Family wanted to win him over, they taught him some intermediate combat techniques.
The great families would never pass down their most advanced techniques. What he learned were only beginner and intermediate-level combat techniques.
But all combat techniques were developed by Sentinels. If others could develop them, why couldn’t he?
He had an unyielding nature. He studied whenever he had free time and, sure enough, managed to develop several advanced combat techniques.
He also combined the training methods he knew with insights from his own training process to develop some truly excellent training methods.
He had training methods and combat techniques, so he secretly nurtured some subordinates. Unfortunately, a single Beast Tide completely destroyed all his plans and ambitions.
However, returning to ten years ago, being able to start over — that was also very good.
Ying Li sent Luo Qiming and the others a message, arranging to meet them the next day at the Sentinel Training Ground near the Surface Exchange.
He also told Xiang Ye about it.
“Big Brother Ying, you’re going to the surface again?” Xiang Ye asked.
“Yes,” Ying Li replied. “The Underground City is very crowded. The only places in the Upper City District where Sentinels can train are the Sentinel Academy and the Sentinel Union. Both places are also very hard to book, so I plan to train on the surface. Don’t worry, I’m only going during the day. I’ll come back in the evening.”
Xiang Ye immediately asked, “Big Brother Ying, can I come with you?”
Ying Li paused. “You want to go to the surface?”
When the Underground City was first built, the surface was incredibly dangerous. Those who couldn’t enter the Underground City, or who left the city for various reasons, all died!
Even now, ordinary people who leave the Underground City still die from the radiation brought by corrosive energy.
Because of this, many in the Underground City feared the surface world.
Even though Guides wouldn’t die if they went to the surface, the Guides of the Underground City were still unwilling to go. Many Sentinels, even, disliked going to the surface.
Ying Li deeply enjoyed the vast and gorgeous surface world. He had once invited Wu Nian to go to the surface with him for fun, but Wu Nian had refused.
He hadn’t expected that now, with Xiang Ye, he hadn’t even brought it up and Xiang Ye already wanted to go.
“Right, I want to go,” Xiang Ye said.
Ying Li was always leaving the city for hunts, so he spent very little time together with Ying Li.
And now, even when Ying Li returned to the city, he was still going outside the city to train… Their time together was even less!
He wanted to go with Ying Li, to keep him company, and also to see what the place Ying Li spent so much time in looked like.
Ying Li caught the longing in Xiang Ye’s eyes and suddenly asked, “Xiang Ye, do you want to train with us?”
“Can I train with you?” Xiang Ye looked at Ying Li in surprise.
Ying Li said, “Of course you can train with us. Although you’re a Guide, there’s no rule that says Guides can’t participate in training.”
He hoped Xiang Ye could train alongside them.
After a Guide and a Sentinel established a mental bond, if their relationship soured, the one who would suffer misfortune was definitely the Guide, not the Sentinel.
Because Sentinels were physically stronger!
In his previous life, one of the reasons he frequently tolerated Wu Nian was that Wu Nian was far too weak. One slap from him could have killed Wu Nian outright.
On top of being weak, Wu Nian was also overly naive. Ying Li couldn’t even bring himself to seriously hold a grudge against him.
“Big Brother Ying, I want to train with all of you!” Xiang Ye said firmly.
Ying Li explained, “A Guide’s physical fitness can’t compare to a Sentinel’s. When we first start, you can practice the Guide training videos I gave you before. When you get tired from physical training, you can train your mental power. Once your body improves a bit and you’ve fully adapted to your mental power, I’ll give you a set of Guide exercises. Follow them, and your rank may even go up.”
In his younger days, he had been a bit of a busybody, always wanting the people around him to grow stronger alongside him.
Moreover, at that time, he’d genuinely thought of Wu Nian as family. So, while developing Sentinel training methods, he had also casually researched Guide training methods.
He had indeed come up with a method for exercising a Guide’s mental power.
Before Wu Nian’s strength advanced to B-Rank, their relationship had been fairly good. Under Ying Li’s supervision, Wu Nian was willing to practice a little. Later on, he absolutely refused to move.
Ying Li had thought the Guide mental power training method he’d spent considerable effort developing would never be used. Now that Xiang Ye was willing to train with it, that was wonderful.
“Alright,” Xiang Ye nodded with a smile.
The next morning, Ying Li was woken by sounds from the kitchen.
When Xiang Ye cooked, he was very careful and made very little noise. But a Sentinel’s senses were far too acute; he still heard it.
It was about time, anyway. Ying Li opened his door and went out to see Xiang Ye peeling water chestnuts. He was even putting the skins into his mouth to eat.
Not wanting to waste a single bit.
Seeing Ying Li, Xiang Ye smiled sheepishly and sped up his cooking.
Breakfast was very plentiful. Xiang Ye also set aside a portion in a lunchbox. “Big Brother Ying, we can keep this one for lunch!”
“Alright,” Ying Li agreed with a smile. After the meal, he picked up the lunchbox along with the things he’d packed earlier and led Xiang Ye toward the city exit point.
Xiang Ye jogged behind Ying Li. “Big Brother Ying, let me carry some of the stuff.”
Ying Li replied, “Have you forgotten how much strength a B-Rank Sentinel has? If I weren’t afraid you’d feel embarrassed, I’d just carry you along too.”
If he carried Xiang Ye as he walked, they could go even faster.
Xiang Ye said nothing, but he stared at Ying Li’s hands for quite a while.
Being carried by Ying Li… actually, that wouldn’t be so bad either…
This time, Ying Li had arranged for Luo Qiming and the others to wait for him directly outside the city. So he brought Xiang Ye straight to the exit point.
It was rare for Guides to leave the city, but it wasn’t completely unheard of.
Some Guides would accompany their Sentinels to browse the Surface Exchange. When some of the young masters from the Central District went out hunting as a vacation and stayed in their RVs the whole time just sightseeing, they would sometimes bring their Guides along as well.
Therefore, during the exit inspection, no one questioned Xiang Ye. They smoothly left the Underground City and arrived at the Surface Exchange.
The several entrances to the Underground City were all inside the Surface Exchange. This place was enormous, stall after stall arranged like a labyrinth.
This place was so spacious!
Xiang Ye looked at everything with surprise and delight, clearly enjoying it immensely.
Seeing this, Ying Li said, “When we come back this evening, I’ll take you sightseeing around here. For now, let’s head to the training ground first.”
“No need to sightsee. It’s just that I’ve never seen a place like this before, and I wanted to look around,” Xiang Ye replied.
Ying Li smiled and hailed a vehicle to the training ground.
The vehicle carried them out of the Surface Exchange, and then the true blue sky, white clouds, and the vast surface world unfolded before Xiang Ye’s eyes.
Xiang Ye was so stunned he couldn’t speak.
He recalled an idiom he had learned long ago: “A frog at the bottom of the well.”
In the past, he had been that frog inside the well. Today, having followed Ying Li out of the “well” he had lived in for eighteen years, he finally saw the world for what it truly was.
Seeing Xiang Ye plastered against the car window, unwilling to even blink, Ying Li couldn’t help but smile.
The first time he had followed Teacher Yan out of the city, he too had been awed by the world outside.
Though this world was dangerous, it was truly beautiful.
The Sentinel Training Ground on the surface was enormous. There were indoor training halls as well as outdoor training fields, with varying rental prices.
Luo Qiming and the others had messaged him before, asking what kind of training hall to rent. After he said an indoor one, they had rented the best one available. After all, it wasn’t expensive.
Ying Li found the training hall based on the room number they had provided. Pushing the door open, he saw Luo Qiming and the others doing the training exercises taught at the Sentinel Academy.
Seeing him, the group greeted him enthusiastically and also looked at Xiang Ye with curiosity.
Ying Li introduced them. “This is my younger brother, Xiang Ye. He’s a D-Rank Guide.”
Ying Li had actually brought a Guide with him! Luo Qiming and the others’ eyes lit up as they greeted Xiang Ye one after another.
They were all C-Rank Sentinels. One of their dreams was to one day start a family with a D-Rank Guide.
But they didn’t have the money, so they’d never pursued it. Yet now, a D-Rank Guide had appeared before them.
Several of them eagerly stepped forward to make a good impression: “Little brother, hello! I’m Luo Qiming.”
“I brought some snacks. Do you want some?”
“I have drinks here!”
…
Seeing this, Ying Li frowned. “Eating too many snacks is bad for your health. Don’t give him any.”
He wouldn’t buy too many snacks for Xiang Ye, but these guys would!
If he didn’t stop them, they’d stuff Xiang Ye full of snacks, leaving him no appetite for proper meals. That would be bad for him.
Hearing Ying Li’s words, Luo Qiming and the others immediately fell silent, no longer daring to speak.
Ying Li then said, “Let Xiang Ye rest here. The rest of you, follow me to the other side.”
The training hall was very large. Ying Li had Xiang Ye do some simple exercises in the rest area, then led his four teammates to the training zone and instructed them to attack him.
On their previous hunt outside the city, Luo Qiming and the others had already witnessed Ying Li’s strength. They knew that even all four of them together couldn’t beat him, so they attacked without hesitation.
As expected, they didn’t land a single scratch on Ying Li and were instead beaten to the ground themselves.
They were all Sentinels from the Upper City District who had studied at the Sentinel Academy. Why was the gap between them and Ying Li so huge?
Luo Qiming and the others were drowning in self-doubt. But Ying Li had already begun instructing them based on each individual’s specific circumstances.
The training methods Ying Li taught them were completely different from what the Sentinel Academy taught.
The four struggled at first to get used to them, but after practicing for a while, they noticed just how effective the methods were.
Training methods like these should have cost a fortune to learn, but now Ying Li was teaching them for free, not asking for a single credit point!
Captain Ying was truly a great man!
The four of them no longer had any attention to spare for the Guide, Xiang Ye. All their focus was on the training.
As they trained, Ying Li demonstrated the moves again and again. Once they had learned them, he moved to the side to do his own training.
The training exercises he performed were much more difficult than the ones the four men were doing. But each time, he was able to complete them perfectly. Even after finishing, his face showed no redness, and he wasn’t out of breath — a stark contrast to Luo Qiming and the others, who were frequently collapsing from exhaustion.
Watching this, Xiang Ye felt as if his heart was about to leap out from his chest.
Ying Li was just too dashing!
