'The Marshal and he…'
Xuanquan tried to calm herself by grasping the Dao on her waist.
'No. It shouldn't be the Marshal. I recall there are records of doppelgangers…'
She recalled the knowledge when Xianzhou came across several worlds. There, they encountered a strange case of several "doppelgangers".
It was later discovered that it was a case of "World Image Refraction". Simply put, there are inevitably people with the same appearance as yours throughout the vast universe.
The strange and incredulous thought on her head died down.
By the time she sat across Aleph, Xuanquan regained her composure.
"I'll take a look outside!"
"Come back before it's evening."
"Okay."
Bam-!
When Senti left, Xuanquan began speaking.
"We apologize for the events before."
"Oh. It's fine. You are using Nous' knowledge to deduce potential dangers around me. That's not so much as stalking goes."
He saw Xianzhou's original plan during his meeting with Marshal Hua. The Yuque was to deduce any potential threats caused by Aleph. That includes large-scale destruction and the likes.
However, Nous themselves used their actions as a medium to peer more onto Aleph. This resulted in the unwarranted "stalking" behavior.
"That's right. I want to ask a favor." He did not make things much difficult for Xuanquan. "Can you help me get a space for a martial arts school? Also, can I ask what the requirements are?"
'Is it for the girl before?'
She thought before giving out a swift reply.
"This is the other reason why I came here."
Xuanquan opened the suitcase she carried and placed an A4-sized red envelope atop the table.
"This is your certificate of residency. We are not certain whether you brought other people, but there are also some extras inside. All you have to do is to write your names on the blank section. As for the relevant permits…"
She opened the red envelope and took out the pieces of paper one by one. It has to be noted that Xianzhou's papers for official documents are made of a special synthesized malleable alloy.
Its texture was the same as a slightly rough foil, with each written Xianzhou character slightly protruding.
After a round of explanation, Xuanquan took out a special pen and handed it over to Aleph.
"Sir Aleph, you must use this to write your names. This is the certified pen used in stamping and producing official documents."
"You really do trust me."
"That's not wrong." She replied with a certain confidence. "Xianzhou does not mistreat its allies. If Sir Aleph needs something, you can contact me using your jade abacus."
Xuanquan pulled out the sleeve of her coat. A silver circlet presented itself to Aleph's eyes.
With several clicks, it projected a "QR Code" of sorts.
Hum-!
Aleph used his fingertips to copy its projected information. He then pointed his finger to the jade slab on his pocket.
His unthinkable operation caught Xuanquan off guard again.
"I am very grateful for your help. Don't think much of the previous events. Send my regards to the Marshal and Jingtian."
"I will take this in mind."
Their entire meeting lasted half an hour.
Xuanquan was about to leave when Aleph stopped her.
"You can voice out your concerns on the three techniques I gave you."
Hearing this, she briefly hesitated before sitting down again. She did as she was told, voicing out the confusions she faced during her recent training.
"Sphere Boundary stated the oneness between self and the world. If that's the case, how can a single person become the equivalent of a world?"
"That's a misconception. It states verbatim that "I am the world; the world is I". It's not necessary to become a direct equivalent of the world. Rather, you turn your surroundings into your own world."
"Then… How can it achieve a very potent concealment effect? Building a world from scratch is not as good as using the real world as a basis."
"The answer's right there. Use the real world as a basis, but limit its scope to what you can handle…"
Sphere Boundary was a martial arts technique created by a prodigy of Albion's world, Li Shuwen. Its greatest feat in Li Shuwen's hands was to conceal one's presence right in the middle of a battle. He would then hit his opponent hard, incapacitating his opponents in one strike.
The combination of it and No Second Strike was what made him a lethal assassin.
Aleph passed on these two techniques along with his experience with swords from Sasaki Koujiro to Bianca's expy.
In the end, his teaching session lasted for three whole hours.
"Hm?"
Right after Aleph bid Xuanquan farewell, Hua came home with Senti. The latter's fists still had bits of bloodstains in it.
Although he could see what happened with elemental sight, he chose to ask her instead.
"What happened?"
"I beat up some sore losers. They played a round of Mahjong with a small girl. When they lost, they threatened the girl and refused to accept their defeat…"
Turns out, Senti came across an interesting scene when she scouted for possible locations of their future dojo. She caught some gangsters slacking off with a young girl. The three of them played Mahjong.
When the two gangsters lost for the twentieth time, their patience could not hold it any longer. It ended up with Senti having to intervene by knocking their senses up.
Things did not end there.
The beaten up gangsters brought backup, which caused Senti to beat up even more people. By the time things became noisy, Hua noticed it while strolling in the residential area.
The entire gang was beaten up by Senti single-handedly, earning her the reputation of a "Red-eyed Demon Girl" in the span of a few hours.
Fortunately, Aleph manipulated the information around her. Using his Sphere Boundary and Infinity, he changed Senti's appearance in the eyes of others. It averted the trouble of being a look-alike of Xianzhou's Marshal.
"Isn't it a good thing? All we have to do is to use my new reputation to recruit new students! We can set—"
Bam-!
"Ow!"
A slow chop descended on top of Senti's head. The latter looked at its perpetrator, Hua.
"People will see the dojo in a negative light. If you are going to hit criminals, you shouldn't have done it too hard."
"B-but… Isn't what I did cool?! Even the people over the net say so…"
"No buts. Our original martial arts dojo was established to teach people how to protect themselves. At best, it's criminal subjugation, not ruthless beatings."
The interaction between the two placed a helpless smile on Aleph's face.