In this cyberpunk era, why are you still playing the traditional villain?

Xu Shi smiled. "I think you should know what I'm going to tell you next."

Pan Ling pursed her lips; her master was right.

Or perhaps, she has already figured out quite a few things.

After the war with the Papacy, Xu Shi's attitude towards her was actually a bit strange.

The main issue concerns matters related to "natural law".

Aside from answering her questions at the beginning, Xu Shi never mentioned this matter in front of her. He simply asked her to do the things she was already doing, and even seemed to be preventing her from getting involved.

However, he did not stop his foolish apprentice from investigating through others, such as Su Lin and the others, or even Old Master Wen. It can be said that Pan Ling learned far more about "Heavenly Principles" from them than from Xu Shi, her proper master.

On the contrary, Xu Shi, upon careful calculation, realized that today might be the first time he had formally discussed the topic of "natural law" with Pan Ling.

If you connect all of this together, it's actually a bit like...

"Yes, you guessed right, you can think of all of this as a test."

Xu Shi knew what she was thinking and nodded calmly. "Now the test is over, and my assessment is... you did very well."

"Well, it's not just good, I'd give it a 99 out of 100. I'm afraid you'll get arrogant if I give you one less point."

He thought about it and then changed his tune, rarely giving her such a high degree of affirmation.

"……oh."

Perhaps because she had guessed this, Pan Ling wasn't particularly happy to hear this, but simply replied calmly, "Then what is your purpose in doing this..."

"To have a backup plan."

Xu Shi laughed and said, "Or perhaps, I should find a suitable person to take over for myself?"

"I really didn't expect that you could deduce the 'protagonist halo' on your own... To be honest, after so long, I myself have overlooked this aspect."

He said seriously, "That's why I said you're excellent. It wasn't for nothing that I've taught you for so long."

That's the truth. He didn't tell Pan Ling everything about "Heavenly Principles" on his own initiative because he wanted to see how much she could learn and what she could analyze through her own investigation.

He didn't expect the final result to be so good; to be honest, it was a bit beyond his expectations.

"If you can do this well now, you might even do better than your teacher in the future."

Xu Shi cleared his throat and continued, "Now there's only one thing I need to confirm with you: do you... have any thoughts about overturning 'natural law'?"

"I... I still have many areas where I haven't done well enough..."

Pan Ling immediately understood what he meant and instinctively waved her hand in refusal, "Perhaps there's someone more suitable than me... right?"

"You're right, never think you're the best."

Xu Shi remained noncommittal, but upon hearing this, he simply shook his head, "However, I don't have the time to look for anyone else, let alone the inclination to take on a second apprentice."

"All you need to do is answer me: do you actually have this thought?"

"……some."

Pan Ling didn't hesitate for long this time before giving her answer.

To be honest, the reason she kept asking people around her about "the principles of Heaven" was because Xu Shi had given her a heads-up that day, which piqued her interest.

Having grown accustomed to her master's unrestrained and carefree attitude, she could no longer accept having her life controlled by others, and she desperately wanted to change all of this.

"That's fine."

Xu Shi could tell that this was her true feeling, and his tone relaxed a bit. "Then remember this well: if anything really happens to your teacher, you will have to take over everything from me, and you will have to finish the things that are not yet finished."

"Master, you shouldn't say such things!"

Pan Ling became a little anxious upon hearing this, and even subconsciously wanted to shut her master up.

This sounds like entrusting someone's orphan to another family. Does Master have some other plans?

"why not?"

Xu Shi grasped her wrist. "Don't think of your teacher as so noble. I also value my life and won't die so easily."

"Then you..."

"Nonsense, shouldn't you prepare for the worst before doing anything?"

Xu Shi rolled his eyes at her. "This is just a pre-arranged plan. You're my apprentice. If I don't entrust this to you, who else can I entrust it to?"

"I have a feeling... the day we have to face the 'laws of nature' isn't far off. Until then, we must do everything we can to prepare."

He explained, "Besides, you're still far from your current level. This is just a heads-up."

"Oh……"

Hearing her master say that, Pan Ling felt a little better.

After all, the atmosphere just now was a bit... To be honest, rather than fighting against "natural law," she would prefer that her master stay safe and sound, even if it meant staying by his side as a junior apprentice, rather than taking over his mantle.

But as she thought about it, she became a little resentful. How far behind was she? How far behind? She had studied and done everything her master had assigned her diligently, and so far, she hadn't seen anything go wrong.

"You're way off."

Seeing this, Xu Shi just smiled and said, "You still haven't been to my city-state. The situation there is very different from here. You will need to learn a lot of knowledge from scratch."

This is true. In terms of form alone, the Hualan Empire is still in the nascent stage of industry, while the City of Night Sin has long entered the information technology era. To put it bluntly, the difference is not small.

With Pan Ling's current abilities, she could probably handle things here with ease, like the Cat Cult or managing Silver Pine Island.

However, to expand this to the entire City of Nights of Sin, a more systematic approach is needed.

and so.

"Starting today, let your teachers' wives begin to give you a proper lesson."

Xu Shi stretched and said, "I'm not good at this; they'll have to do it."

Yes, it's true that Mr. Xu is a master strategist, but that doesn't change the fact that he's terrible at his major courses. After all, he wasn't exactly ignorant in the past, but he was certainly not.

In comparison, people like Su Lin, Tang Shuang, Xie Qingyan, and even the rising star, Queen Lin Yue of Sin City, might be more suitable to be Pan Ling's mentor in these areas.

The guidance of a professional is always better, and he won't act like a big shot and take on too much responsibility, as that would only harm his good apprentice.

Oh, right, and my maternal grandfather too.

"Then it would be better to just let the mistresses do it directly..."

Pan Ling muttered under her breath, clearly still not wanting to hear Xu Shi's words that sounded like a request.

"There always needs to be someone who is the backbone."

Xu Shi shook his head, interrupting her, "An army cannot be without a commander; you should understand this principle very well."

Actually, he had considered Pan Ling's suggestion. If he didn't have his little apprentice, his other choice would be Xia Ke'an.

The older woman is exceptionally capable; she was once a pampered young lady and is perfectly suited to lead others in doing things.

However, she has a problem: she is too hostile to "natural law".

This is both a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing is that she will definitely put in 120% effort in this area, but the bad thing is also obvious: she is very likely to make some emotional mistakes, which is absolutely unacceptable.

Therefore, in comparison, Pan Ling, whom he personally mentored, is less likely to have this problem. Her childhood experiences have also enabled her to maintain her rationality in various situations.

"……I see."

After listening to him, Pan Ling nodded seriously, knowing very well that her master had placed high expectations on her.

She didn't feel that she hadn't studied hard enough while following Xu Shi, but it was clear that she needed to work even harder from now on.

"It's good to know."

Xu Shi nodded slightly. "In that case, from today onwards, stay by my side. It's time for you to understand some of the core issues."

"Also, you can't tell anyone else about our conversation today, not even your sister, understand?"

"Ah."

Pan Ling certainly wouldn't tell anyone; she knew very well that this needed to be kept secret—it was true that she was preparing for the worst, but she couldn't let everyone know, otherwise it wouldn't be a good thing to be pessimistic before anything had even been done.

Otherwise, the master wouldn't have needed to specifically bring her here for a talk.

But...

"Master, do you really trust me that much?"

She still harbored some doubts about herself.

"You are my disciple. If I don't trust you, wouldn't that be like not trusting myself?"

Xu Shi was delighted. He hadn't expected that this apprentice, whom he had taken on a whim, would bring him such a pleasant surprise.

of course.

"To be honest, you do have your problems. The problem is that you don't need to pretend to be so insecure in the future, understand?"

He added, "I know you're deliberately trying to lower your stance, but if you go too far, it will become a habit, and that's not the kind of attitude a leader should project."

"Forehead……"

Pan Ling was dumbfounded; she really hadn't expected that her master would see through her little scheme so clearly.

Indeed, ever since she started working for Xu Shi, she has occasionally shown an attitude that "I haven't done enough."

But sometimes she does do it on purpose, especially in front of a few close people, such as her older sister, her junior sister, and her master.

She didn't do this with any bad intentions; it was more about being considerate of the feelings of those around her, such as her silly older sister, so that she wouldn't feel that there was too much of a gap between them.

This approach proved to be effective, and everyone liked the humble and modest young girl.

Only Xu Shi could see that his apprentice actually harbored a sense of arrogance.

The resentment she often unintentionally reveals stems from this arrogance; she simply chooses not to show it.

Or perhaps she's not so willing to show this in front of people she's close to, but it's a different story with people she's not close to—like Lu Baiyan or Qin Yiyan, when she's with these two, she completely takes the lead, just like she was back then.

Now that he has brought it up himself, he hopes that the other party can strike a balance and not appear overly humble, but also not become an arrogant brat.

It still needs a little nudge.

……

After the private conversation between master and disciple ended, a few days later, Xu Shi also officially devoted his attention to the most important part.

He had made considerable preparations for the plan to completely eliminate the "rust fog".