<h4>Chapter 997: Chapter 999: Rapid Advancement</h4>


    Capital City, Old Street Gambling Stone Field.


    Lin Dong waszily wandering around the gambling stone field with a rag in hand, his sly eyes darting around incessantly.


    Lin Zhao noticed this, amused, and patted him on the shoulder, "Hey Lin Dong, what are you looking around for like that? Mr. Chu isn’t here. You better not think about cking off."


    Lin Dong had just locked eyes on a target, he shook off Lin Zhao’s hand and kept his gaze fixed on it, then said to Lin Zhao, "What do you know? How could this be cking off? I’m searching for prey."


    Lin Zhao chuckled, "You kid, ’prey’? You think you’re a hunter or something!"


    Lin Dong withdrew his gaze and looked at Lin Zhao, winking at him mysteriously with a sly smile, then said, "Hehe, Lin Zhao, since we’re brothers, I’ll let you in on a little secret: Mr. Chu actually gave me a secret mission!"


    He whispered softly into Lin Zhao’s ear.


    Lin Zhao responded with an "oh," without much reaction, "Even if you have a secret mission, you can’t ck off, and it’s impolite to keep staring at the customers!"


    Lin Dong chuckled softly and, seeing Lin Zhao’s serious demeanor, scratched his head, asking, "Lin Zhao, aren’t you even a little curious about the task Mr. Chu gave me?"


    Lin Zhao shook his head, "Not really curious."


    "You don’t mind at all?" Lin Dong asked again.


    Lin Zhao looked at Lin Dong, puzzled, and asked, "Mind what?"


    Lin Dong: ...


    Seeing Lin Zhao’s face without a trace of lying, Lin Dong was a bit surprised. Shouldn’t Lin Zhao start questioning his own importance to Mr. Chu in this situation?


    After all, he had noticed that only he received a secret task from Mr. Chu, no one else did, not even a single phone call about the gambling stone field!


    Lin Zhao looked at Lin Dong’s bewildered face, seemingly understanding something. He looked at Lin Dong amusedly, "Lin Dong, you don’t think I’d be jealous, do you?"


    Lin Dong pouted, thinking this should be a normal reaction.


    Lin Zhao shrugged unconcernedly, "Come on, we’re not kids anymore. Since Mr. Chu assigned you a secret mission, it means that only you can aplish it, or that you’re much better at thispared to us. If it’s a task from Mr. Chu, just focus onpleting it."


    "You really don’t care?" Lin Dong asked unsurely.


    Lin Zhao shook his head, "I don’t care. If Mr. Chu needed me for something, he’d call. Since he hasn’t, it means I wouldn’t be of help."


    Lin Dong felt a bit let down. He thought Lin Zhao would be jealous, and he was nning to show off, but now he became theughing stock.


    Lin Dong sighed helplessly, casting a resentful nce at Lin Zhao, then said, "Alright then, I’ll goplete the task Mr. Chu assigned me."


    Feeling somewhat deted, Lin Dong walked away. He had hoped to unt a bit in front of Lin Zhao, but now, Lin Zhao seemedpletely uninterested. It was really his narrow-mindedness, sigh, how embarrassing.


    Lin Dong shook his head, shoving away the troubling thoughts, and headed toward his chosen target.


    Lin Zhao watched Lin Dong’s departing figure, shaking his head helplessly. Actually, if it had been the old him, he might have minded, might have been concerned about not being valued. But now, having faced life and death and the parting with loved ones, such minor feelings had be insignificant to him.


    What mattered most to him now was doing his job well and diligently practicing martial arts.


    He had already made arrangements with his family to stay in the vi every day with Lin Dong and the others. Although Chu Ge and Huo Tianqian weren’t around, they got up early to exercise every morning.


    Even Long Ang had joined their ranks, though his training style was somewhat different, but this routine made their livesfortable.


    Lin Zhao withdrew his gaze and resumed his busy work.


    While Lin Dong walked up to his chosen target, who was seriously watching the gambling stones,pletely focused, as if earnestly learning something.


    Suddenly feeling a weight on his shoulder, the person turned around to see Lin Dong staring at him with a mischievous grin.


    Everyone at the gambling stone field knew Lin Dong, and this person was no exception.


    Inherently timid, getting pat like this by Lin Dong startled him, and he looked at Lin Dong, puzzled, "Lin Dong? Do you need something?"


    Lin Dong stroked his chin, pondering briefly before asking, "If I’m not mistaken, your name’s Zhao Ben, right?"


    Zhao Ben nodded and immediately lowered his head. His name had often been the butt of jokes—Zhao Ben, which sounded like ’stupid’ in Chinese—coupled with his timid nature, he was always one step behind in everything, making the nickname ’Zhao Stupid’ all the more fitting.


    So when Lin Dong asked about his name, Zhao Ben felt a twinge of difort because he’d seen Lin Dong being very friendly and amicable in the gambling stone field, naturally getting along with everyone.


    Seeing the dejection on Zhao Ben’s face, Lin Dong asked puzzledly, "Zhao Ben, what’s wrong? I didn’t say anything wrong just now, did I?"


    Lin Dong had an ent, so when he called Zhao Ben, it often sounded like ’Zhao Stupid’.


    Zhao Ben shook his head, slightly raising his eyes, fixing his gaze on Lin Dong’s chin and asked, "Lin Dong, what is it that you need? Just say it straight."


    Lin Dong touched his nose, considering how to phrase it, and after a moment’s thought, he asked, "I heard you’re currently practicing martial arts, right?"


    Zhao Ben nodded, "Yes, I’ve just broken through to the early-stage Innate."


    This was the one thing he felt proud of. At his age, by his own efforts, he managed to break through to the early-stage Innate, something he never imagined or dared to hope for because even he considered himself to be quite dull.


    Lin Dong cleared his throat and asked, "Would you like to reach a higher level?"


    Lin Dong’s voice was neither loud nor too soft, but could be heard by those nearby, who all knew Zhao Ben as the youngest son of the Zhao Family from Capital City.


    The Zhao Family in the Capital isn’t as wealthy as the Zhao Family in Shanghai, but they have a solid standing there and aren’t economically weak.


    Zhao Ben looked at Lin Dong, surprise evident in his eyes, "Lin Dong, what do you mean by that? Do you have a quick way to improve?"


    Lin Dong nodded, "Exactly. Have you ever heard of Earth Ganoderma?"