《Path of the Lilies》


 1 Talent Tes

    Chen Kingdom Capital, Central Hall


    "Dad, what''s that?" a young girl around six years old tugged on her father''s clothes. Her dark black hair fluttered along with the wind. Even though her clothes were disheveled and looked rather worn out, one look was all they needed to see that this young girl was really cute.


    A man stood beside the girl, protecting the girl carefully. He has similar features with the girl except his eyes was blue-green rather than green like the girl. The man patted the girl''s head tenderly.


    "Jiao''er, that''s the place for the test."


    The young girl, Ye Jiao, looked at her father with a worried expression. "But Dad¡­"


    "There''s no need to worry," The man picked up his daughter carefully and let her rest on his arm. He smiled tenderly. "Whatever happens, you have my back."


    Ye Jiao''s brows knitted in worry, but she nodded her head. Snuggled in her father''s embrace, she hid her cute face from other people''s line of sight. Her small hand clutched her father''s clothes closely.


    The man, Ye Xiao, patted his daughter''s back. Even though he didn''t like this arrangement, every six-years-old-child has to undergo the test. It was the rule for their country to determine who has the talent or not. Slowly, he made his way to the hall where numerous children and their parents were already inside.


    The test was relatively easy as it was hard for children to do anything complicated. All they have to do is put their hand on the surface of the large stone in the middle of the room. It would naturally calculate the talent they have and show it based on the color. It started from red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, blue, and purple, with purple being the best.


    Ye Xiao stopped near the circle. Parents were not allowed to get inside and aid their children because it was all up to their children.


    "Ye Xiao, you''ve finally showed up."


    The voice made Ye Xiao instinctively hold his daughter tighter. Even though Ye Jiao didn''t know what happened, she could feel her father''s body tensed up. Her small hands clutched her father''s clothes tighter, trying to tell her father that she would be fine.


    Ye Xiao turned his glance to the side. He saw a man in his mid-thirties standing not far from him. The man has natural disposition of a leader. He had a good appearance with a long beard under his chin, which he caressed slowly using his finger. His large built and specially made clothes made people understood that this was not a man they could offend. He held a high position in this kingdom.


    He forced his emotions to calm down. "It has been some time, General Wei Shang."


    We Shang smiled, yet there was no mirth in his eyes. "Your daughter has just turned 6 years old? What a coincidence, my daughter too."


    The mockery in Wei Shang''s tone was exceptionally clear. He completely disregarded Ye Xiao because he knew that this man didn''t have the qualification to defeat him. Be it power or influence, Wei Shang was far above Ye Xiao.


    "I see," Ye Xiao replied in an unhurried tone.


    Wei Shang''s gaze turned to look at the young girl in Ye Xiao''s arms. "Is there any need to test her again? Everyone here knows that she''s just a cripple, a trash that will never be able to learn the arts."


    "Watch what you say!" Ye Xiao blurted out. He glared back at Wei Shang as ripples started to appear around his body, indicating that he was close to using his power.


    Wei Shang sneered. "Ye Xiao, Ye Xiao, you might have been a great genius seven years ago, but now you''re nothing more than a weakling. You have wasted your time and potential. The current you is not worth anything."


    Ye Xiao didn''t reply anymore. He put Ye Jiao down with his back facing Wei Shang. Someone like this disgusted him too much that he didn''t want to taint his daughter''s eyes. It would be better for her to never see him.


    "Ye Jiao, just do your best."


    The young girl noticed her father''s worry in her. Ye Jiao stretched up her arm and put on a bright smile on her face. "Don''t worry, Dad. I will return back soon."


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    With that, Ye Jiao turned around and headed to the circle. She lined up at the very back of the line, allowing the other children to have their tests before her. Her eyes were looking at her arm with hope that this test would change her fate.


    Wei Shang shook his head. "You should just kill that girl. Because of her, your wife left you. A genius producing a trash, what a disgrace."


    "Don''t spout nonsense, Wei Shang," Ye Xiao''s eyes glinted with ruthlessness. Even if he was weaker than this man, he didn''t want to back down. No matter what other people said, he would never abandon his daughter.


    "You don''t have the qualification to call my name directly, Ye Xiao," Wei Shang''s aura grew fiercer. His eyes locked straight onto the insolent man in front of him. "I''ll let you go this time because you''re my disgusting brother-in-law, but if you dare to say my name directly again, I''ll cut off your tongue."


    Ye Xiao harrumphed and looked at the children. A young girl with cute features was standing in the middle, getting ready to be tested. Her dark brown hair fluttered along as she walked to the center. Her small hand was placed on the stone while the man by the side waited for the reaction.


    "That''s my daughter," Wei Shang grinned.


    Hearing the man''s claim, Ye Xiao frowned. His eyes didn''t move as he watched the stone started to shine in blue, a very familiar color to him. The blue color looked exceptionally beautiful as it enveloped the entire hall with its color, showing the large potential she has.


    "Oh, she''s just slightly lower than you," Wei Shang rubbed his chin. "But as expected of my children, they''re all amazing unlike a certain someone who produces someone even worse than him."


    "Amazing!" one of the people exclaimed.


    His friend nodded. "It seems that the Wei Family has produced another genius."


    "It''s expected, isn''t it?"


    "Yes¡­"


    Many people gave compliments to the young girl. Other children were also looking at the girl with admiration. It was rare for them to produce such a good result, so they knew that this girl must have great potential.


    Ye Xiao ignored the man beside him as other children started being tested. The majority of them only have orange or yellow color. Occasionally green color would appear, but those who could reach light blue or blue color like Wei Shang''s daughter was exceptionally rare.


    At the back, Ye Jiao waited patiently for the students to end their test. Some of them had gone home while some others were watching the children testing their potential one by one.


    "Next."


    Ye Jiao noticed that she was the last one. Her hand trembled a bit as she placed it on the stone, which felt a bit cold at touch. Faint energy was emitted from the stone. Ye Jiao''s eyes watched as the energy in the stone entered her body bit by bit, but there was no change in the stone.


    No light emitted at all.


    It was known that if the stone didn''t give any reaction, it meant that the kid couldn''t use the energy at all, or in other words: trash.

 2 You’re a Trash!

    Ye Jiao stared at the stone before her with desperation.


    Just a bit. Even a little bit was fine.


    She doesn''t mind even if it was the lowest one as long as there was a reaction, it meant that there was hope for her to practice arts. Without any reaction from the stone whatsoever, it had sealed her fate.


    "Even after 6 years, the result is still the same, Ye Xiao!" Wei Shang roared with laughter. "There''s no use in testing her anymore."


    "You!" Ye Xiao glared at the man with hatred. Good families would send people to test their children''s potential once they were born. Although the test was only an estimation, it could predict the children''s future. When Ye Jiao was born, they had tested her and deemed her to be a trash.


    It was rare for trash to appear from a good family, but it was even rarer that she came from a family with good genes.


    Wei Shang laughed without restrain as he turned around. His daughter was with his first wife, cuddling happily at the result that everyone knew she would have. It was not a surprise for children from noble families to have good results. Other people could only look at them from afar without the chance to get jealous at all.


    "Sir, this?" Ye Jiao raised her head, looking at the examiner.


    The examiner could see that the girl felt desperate. In this world where practitioner could be found everywhere, being a trash would surely bring her numerous painful experiences. And here, only the strong could survive.


    He shook his head lightly, trying to not look too dejected. "Unfortunately, the device didn''t detect any potential in your body, young girl."


    No potential.


    The two words slammed the girl''s heart and shattered it to pieces. She had prayed to bring hope from this test, but it instead brought her despair. Her eyes stared at the stone before her as tears welled up.


    "I¡­ I see."


    Ye Jiao stayed still in her place for several second as she tried to calm down. She shouldn''t make her father worry about her anymore. Her small legs slowly brought her back to her father, who was looking at her with a warm smile as always. He reached out his hand and caressed the girl''s head slowly.


    "Daddy¡­"


    "It''s fine, Jiao''er, you did great," Ye Xiao pulled the girl up from the ground and carried her in his embrace. Other people termed his daughter as trash without any potential, but he would never give up on her. Even if the chance was slim, he would train her by himself.


    Ye Jiao might not be able to see her father''s disappointment, but she could hear the sad tone her father had. She clutched her small hand to grip her father''s clothes. "Dad, I''m sorry."


    "Why are you apologizing? It''s not your fault, not at all," Ye Xiao caressed Ye Jiao''s head tenderly as he walked out of the hall.


    "I''m sorry."


    Ye Jiao buried her face in her father''s embrace. Even though her father never told her directly, she had heard that her mother left because of her trash potential. She couldn''t stand the thought of being a mother of a trash, so she left the two of them.


    In this world, only martial artists can survive. Each child would be tested since young to determine their talent and growth because different talents gave different speed for their improvement. The energy they used in this world was called Eon Energy.


    It was not known since when the energy existed, but humanity started to learn how to use them a few centuries ago. Ever since then, the use of Eon Energy became part of their daily life. It was similar to that of magic, but it could be produced naturally by nature.


    Not only for fulfilling their daily necessities, Eon Energy could also be used to strengthen one''s body. This was the reason they tested the talent. It would determine how far they could advance and the amount of Eon Energy that could possibly be stored in their body.


    The higher, the better.


    Every step and improvement in Eon Energy meant a huge leapt of power. The first step was to form the core in their body by absorbing the Eon Energy in their surroundings. The amount of Eon Energy they could absorb at a time depended on their talent.


    For those who had purple grade, they should be able to form the core by the time they reached the age of 10 while those lower should be able to form one by the time they were 11 to 13 years old. The lowest one, red grade would only be able to form when they were 14 to 15 years old. However, this was only the estimation because the environment and resources were also important.


    Forming their core would mean that they had started their path to become a master.


    It was a slow process and during this time, the children have to learn many other things aside from martial arts. The knowledge of this world was simply too vast as there are still a lot of mysteries around.


    "Elder, Ye Xiao will be leaving first," Ye Xiao said when he reached the door. He didn''t stop or try to talk anymore as he carried his daughter in his embrace.


    As the two of them left the hall, several figures appeared from the shadows. They were experts that watched the test because Wei Shang''s daughter would be tested today. Those who achieved the rank light blue or above would have their name recorded because they were the most talented ones in this world with the ability to reach higher rank.


    "As expected of Ye Xiao, his sense is still as high as before," one of the elders commented.


    "He''s not a genius for nothing. Even though he''s stuck in rank 3 and unable to proceed further, even those rank 4 might have trouble facing him."


    The elder who spoke first snorted. "How could that be? Between rank 3 and 4, there''s a huge disparity. No matter how much of a genius that Ye Xiao is, he won''t be able to defeat the rank 4."


    "I just say that he can give them trouble."


    While they were squabbling, one of the elders walked to the testing stone. He put his hand on the surface of the stone as his brows furrowed.


    "What is it? The stone won''t be able to test your power anymore after you form the core," another elder reminded.


    "Not that."


    The elder flicked his finger, straight on the stone. In that instant, the stone was shattered to pieces. Not even a single one of them stayed intact in its original place.


    Silence descended on the room.


    As the elders of this kingdom, they knew very well how sturdy this stone was. There shouldn''t be any way for the stone to break like this. Even with their power, a flick of their finger wouldn''t be able to cause this much damage.


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    "It seems something is wrong," the elder who flicked his finger frowned. "I think things are not so simple."


    "But Wei Shang wouldn''t dare to do anything to the stone."


    "It might not be him. Ask people to investigate whoever stayed here at this time," the elder stared at the stone with a frown on his face. He was watching it from afar, so he could sense that there was something wrong. From the moment Ye Jiao touched it, the stone seemed to lose all of its power.


    It was too weird.


    ''Is it that girl?''


    Looking at his comrades, the elder shook his head. It would be ridiculous for a young girl to destroy this stone when not even masters could do it. He should not think too much.

 3 Eon Energy

    After the test, Ye Xiao returned back to his residence. The capital city was big, but his residence didn''t take up that much area. It was located on the edge of the city, outside the wall with nothing but nature surrounding them. If he wanted to obtain resources, he would have to walk to the market.


    Ye Jiao opened her eyes slightly as she scanned the scenery. The familiar abundant nature brought a smile to her lips. No matter what, she loved nature the most.


    "Daddy, I can walk," Ye Jiao pulled her father''s clothes to remind him.


    "Ah, ok," Ye Xiao put his daughter down. His movement was done with extreme care as he was afraid to hurt his little daughter. "Be careful when walking. There might be rocks."


    "Yes, Daddy."


    The coquettish sound from his daughter let Ye Xiao be at ease. He watched as his daughter ran here and there. He didn''t understand why but his daughter loved nature the most. It was good that their house was surrounded by plants as it meant Ye Jiao could spend her time playing around a lot.


    Looking at his daughter, Ye Xiao sighed to himself. Once a child reached the age of 6, they would be sent to the academy and taught the method to absorb Eon Energy from their surroundings. He could teach his daughter as there were no rules that restricted him, but he knew that he was not a good teacher. Being a genius doesn''t mean that he was a great teacher as well.


    ''There should be no problem to teach her the basic.''


    If it was only teaching the basic technique, he didn''t have any problem. Besides, children were not allowed to learn any other techniques until they formed their core because it would harm their body. Until Ye Jiao formed her core, he should be able to be her teacher.


    Formed her core.


    People without any talent should never be able to form the core, but Ye Xiao wanted to hope. He hoped that his daughter would be able to protect herself.


    "Daddy, the air is fresher today," Ye Jiao said as she watched her surroundings.


    Ye Xiao arched his eyebrows. His senses are sharp, so he knew that the air was fresh because there was rain not far from this location. However, someone like Ye Jiao shouldn''t be able to know it. Could it be that she still has some ability to absorb Eon Energy?


    ''Perhaps, I should try.''


    "Jiao''er, do you want to train too?"


    Ye Jiao stopped running around. Her arm, which was stretched to the side just now, moved down slowly. Her large green eyes stared back at her father with a hopeful expression. It was as if asking ''is it possible?''


    "Jiao''er?" Ye Xiao asked once again with a gentle tone.


    Ye Jiao stared back at her father. "Can I train, Daddy?"


    Can I train?


    It was a simple question, the most basic question. Ye Xiao could feel his back drenched in sweat as he stared at his daughter. It was common knowledge that people without talent couldn''t train. His daughter is smart, so he knew that this little girl had realized that too.


    But he didn''t want to let this girl lose all hope.


    "Why not?" Ye Xiao smiled. "We can at least try, right? If you want, I''ll train you. But if you don''t want, I''ll protect you for my entire life."


    Ye Jiao gazed at her father, smiling brightly at her. There was no trace of hatred in her father''s eyes. Even though the girl knew that her father should have be able to live a better life, he abandoned everything to raise her. He didn''t tell her, but she knew that much.


    She didn''t want to disappoint her father. Even if there was only 1% chance, she would try.


    "I want to train, Dad," Ye Jiao replied excitedly.


    "That''s good," Ye Xiao smiled happily. He patted his daughter''s head tenderly. "Let''s talk as we walk home. What do you know about Eon Energy?"


    Ye Jiao knitted her brow. "Eon Energy is the most basic energy in the world. It''s the one that form everything and can be produced by transforming other energy back to its source. Eon Energy was first discovered a few centuries ago and known to be the most efficient energy to use, so people started to develop them bit by bit. And now, can could also use them to strengthen themselves."


    "You''re correct," Ye Xiao pondered. "Did you sneak in to read my book again?"


    "Well, you won''t let me read if I don''t," Ye Jiao admitted. She scratched her head in embarrassment.


    Ye Xiao smiled. "I don''t mind if you read them, but you should know that some knowledge is not suitable for children to learn."


    Even though he said this, he knew better that some children already learned them since young. Some children were forced to mature early on because of their circumstances, especially those who came from renowned families or those who were born at the very bottom of the ladder. They were faced with real life difficult circumstances that they should have never faced before.


    "I''m just curious," Ye Jiao replied.


    "It''s fine, and your knowledge is not complete. Eon Energy is not only used to strengthen our body, but also to help us do something that we never could have imagine before. Watch this."


    Ye Xiao gathered Eon Energy into his palm, forming a small ball filled with energy. Using the slightest bit of movement, he spun them around. He glanced to the side and pressed his palm on the tree, the small ball immediately crushed the outer layer of the tree, allowing them to see a small crater.


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    "Wow!" Ye Jiao''s eyes shone brightly as she looked at the mark on the tree. Her small index finger pointed at the mark. "Dad, that''s because of Eon Energy?"


    Ye Xiao smiled proudly. "Yes, that''s the basic use of Eon Energy once you reach second rank."


    "Second rank?"


    When it landed on Ye Jiao''s ear, it sounded to be extremely far away. Except if they were genius, they would already grow up before they could reach second rank. After all, it was not easy to reach that rank.


    "You can only use Eon Energy outside your body if you reach second rank," Ye Xiao laughed as he tousled Ye Jiao''s hair.


    "Oh," Ye Jiao''s eyes were fixated on the mark on the tree.


    Someday¡­.


    Someday, she will surely be able to do the same as her father. No, not only the same, she will aim to become even better.


    "Now, I''ll teach you how to absorb Eon Energy."

 4 Start of the Training

    "After you reach the age of 6, you can start absorbing the Eon Energy in your surroundings," Ye Xiao started his teaching. "First, you have to sense the energy in your surroundings and pull them bit by bit into your body. This process takes time as you can''t master them at once."


    "How do I know that it''s Eon Energy?" Ye Jiao was confused.


    Ye Xiao scratched his cheek. "Um, you will know? It feels warm and comfortable. It always exists around you, so you should be able to sense them after a while."


    Ye Jiao looked back at her father blankly. Honestly, she didn''t have any idea what her father was teaching her. There was nothing around her that she could sense or see. All that existed was only air that she breathes in every single minute plus other natures.


    Looking around her, Ye Jiao knitted her brows. She wondered what her father was talking about earlier.


    Ye Xiao scratched his head. He was not a good teacher. Other children might have already asked him numerous questions, but Ye Jiao chose to ponder the matter by herself. It was good to be independent, but asking question should be done if she didn''t understand.


    Well, even if she did, he might not be able to answer them.


    He looked around him as he continued walking with Ye Jiao beside him. When he first learned it, he could feel the surroundings easily because his talent was one of the best in this world. Just by relying on his keen sense and more talented body, he could train with ease. Trying to explain what he felt with words were clearly not his forte.


    "We''ve arrived at home," Ye Xiao called when they approached a small hut.


    It was a small house around three meters square made of woods. There was only one door and one window visible from outside. Even though the condition of the house could only be associated with the word ''terrible,'' it was their house where they have been living for years.


    "Is it my turn to cook?" Ye Jiao pointed to herself. After she learned how to talk, she also learned how to cook with her father to lessen his burden.


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    "There''s no need," Ye Xiao shook his head. "You can spend the time to try sensing Eon Energy in your surroundings. I''ll cook today."


    "Okay, Daddy."


    Ye Jiao sat down on the grass as her father walked into the small house. Her eyes wandered around, trying to see what her father mentioned to her just now. It made no sense for her that they could sense something that they couldn''t see. After all, everything she knew so far was those that she could see.


    Stretching her hand, Ye Jiao tried to focus everything on her skin, but there was nothing around her.


    Focusing her attention to her surroundings didn''t help either as she could not see their difference.


    ''Ugh, I don''t understand!''


    Flop!


    Lying on the grass, Ye Jiao stared at the sky. It was cloudy that day, making the sky look white rather than blue. Relaxing on the grass, Ye Jiao enjoyed the scenery. Asking a six years old little girl to keep her focus for hours was clearly impossible.


    After satisfying herself, Ye Jiao closed her eyes and tried to feel everything around her. She could sense the wind breeze and the faint warmth from the sun. As she tried to sense them, Ye Jiao had the feeling that there were numerous lights around her body, circling around.


    ''It''s warm.''


    The light felt so warm and comfortable. Slowly, Ye Jiao tried to control them. Extending her mind to reach these lights around her, she tried to move them according to her will. The light moved a bit then stopped.


    ''Move.''


    Bit by bit, the light moved closer. The moment they touched Ye Jiao''s skin, she could feel the warmth coming to her. It was so comfortable. The warmth spread to her entire body with most of them lingering in her abdomen.


    Feeling exhilarated, Ye Jiao started to attempt it again and again. Every single dot required a long time for her to move, but once they entered her body, the warmth was extremely comfortable that she wanted more and more. The sensation couldn''t be compared with anything else she had before.


    "Jiao''er!" Ye Xiao called the girl.


    "Dad?" Ye Jiao rubbed her eyes. It was so comfortable that she felt sleepy.


    Ye Xiao smiled when he saw his little daughter. He didn''t really expect her to succeed in her training, but having her sleep outside was clearly not an option. "You little brat, why are you sleeping outside?"


    "Ah?" Ye Jiao was stunned. She glanced at the sky and realized that it was already night time. When they returned back from the test, it was still afternoon. Did she really spend that long lying on the grass?


    The time she took to pull those warm light around didn''t feel that long. At most, they should only be one hour.


    Seeing Ye Jiao scratching her head with confusion, Ye Xiao shook his head lightly. "Don''t sleep outside when it''s night. The chilly wind will make you sick."


    "Yes, Dad."


    Ye Jiao stood up and dusted her body. She felt that something was clearly different from herself as she still could feel the warm sensation from before. However, there was nothing visible in her body that could let her have any clue.


    "Dinner is ready. Let''s go eat."


    "What''s for dinner today, Dad?" Ye Jiao''s eyes shone when she heard the word ''dinner.''


    Ye Xiao pointed to the table. "There are soup and some rice."


    Running slightly to the table, Ye Jiao climbed the chair and positioned herself near the table. Even though she was already 6 years old, her body was still rather small as they barely had enough for their meal every day. The soup was mostly filled with water, but they tasted the best for Ye Jiao.


    Scooping some of them for her and her father, Ye Jiao grinned. "Daddy should eat more because you use Eon Energy."


    Ye Xiao was stunned. He barely used his Eon Energy. Besides, forming a small ball like what he did in front of Ye Jiao could be done with using less than 0,1% of his overall energy. No, even using 0.01% was still too much. It didn''t expend his energy at all.


    However, seeing the bright smile on his daughter''s face, Ye Xiao just accepted it. "Alright, but you should eat more too. I cooked a lot for you, little lass."


    "Yes, Daddy!"


    With that, the two of them proceeded to have a noisy dinner.

 5 Theyre The Real Trashes

    "How has your practice been lately, Jiao''er?" Ye Xiao asked. It has been several weeks since he tested his daughter''s talent. Even though the result was not too good, Ye Jiao spent most of her days sitting around to sense Eon Energy in the surroundings. Given by the way she usually behaved, he always found her sleeping at the end of it.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "I''m not sure myself, Dad."


    Ye Xiao scratched his head. He wanted to test Ye Jiao to find out about her progress, but he himself didn''t know how to do that. Internally, he sighed to himself as he really needed to find a teacher if he wanted his daughter to progress further.


    "We''re going to the city today, Jiao''er. Are you ready?" Ye Xiao crouched down in front of his daughter.


    Going to the city?


    Ye Jiao could clearly remember the last time she went to the city because her father wanted to sell some animals that he hunted. Many children were pointing at her, mocking her for her uselessness and motherless. The story of how her mother heartlessly left her father was famous in the capital city. Almost everyone knew about them.


    Walking around in the city was clearly not something she liked to do. Staying in the forest and enjoying the warmth nature gave her was the thing that she loved to do the most.


    "Why are we going to the city, Dad?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    "Yesterday is the school admission for new children. I want to try letting you go to school," Ye Xiao replied. Even though he didn''t have any confidence of succeeding, he wanted to give it a try. As an ex-genius, he used to have close relationship with the principal. He would find a way to let them accept Ye Jiao even if it was only to teach her the knowledge of this world.


    Ye Jiao looked at her father worriedly. With her current condition, it was close to impossible for the school to accept her. They only accepted people with talent even if it was a poor one because it was important to have the knowledge in this world if they wanted to stay alive.


    "I can just study here, Dad."


    "No, it''s not enough," Ye Xiao shook his head. He also wanted to do the same, but he wished for his daughter to receive the best treatment possible. His knowledge was extremely limited because he got married when he was still quite young. The time he got a child was actually the best time to develop his talent.


    But he never regretted it.


    Ye Jiao was hesitant, but she nodded her head. "Ok, Dad."


    "Good girl, change your clothes. We''re going to go."


    "Yes, Dad."


    Changing her clothes, Ye Jiao used a long dress that her father bought for her. It was green in color, perfectly suited with her green iris. After she had finished, she walked out of their room.


    The small house has three rooms, one was the bathroom, one was their bedroom, and the last one was their living room plus kitchen. It was a bit cramped because of the size, but for two people, it was already enough.


    Ye Jiao glanced at her father. Different than usual, her father wore his clothes neatly. His blue robe, which represented his identity as Eon Energy Master Rank 3, looked more dazzling than usual. Even though his appearance didn''t change much, he looked a bit older when he dressed up like this.


    "How''s your Dad, Jiao''er?" Ye Xiao grinned. "I''m the most handsome man out there, right?"


    Ye Jiao giggled. "Dad just looks older like this."


    "Well," Ye Xiao scratched his head. He did intend to make himself look older because he was still in his early twenties, but hearing it from his daughter made him feel old. "Dad is just slightly older than you."


    "Dad is already 23," Ye Jiao grinned.


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    Uh, he can''t fool his daughter. He should have hidden his real age from her in the past if he knew she would just blurt it out like that.


    Ye Xiao sighed. "Let''s go."


    Grabbing her father''s hand, Ye Jiao nodded her head. The two of them walked in the forest as they headed to the city. Hearing the bustling talking people, Ye Jiao knitted her brow. She never liked the crowd because of their intense gaze that they directed at her.


    Ye Xiao could sense his daughter''s body tense up. He was quite surprised because it was slightly earlier than usual. Usually, Ye Jiao would only start hearing when they were already near the city, but today, she heard it around half a meter earlier. The distance might not change much, but it meant that Ye Jiao''s sense grew keener.


    ''Is it because she slept too much lately?''


    Before Ye Xiao could ponder on the matter, he could feel Ye Jiao tugging at the hem of his clothes. "Dad, can you carry me?"


    "Sure."


    Carefully, Ye Xiao picked his daughter up and let her stay in his embrace comfortably. He made sure that he covered her ear with one of his arms before continuing their walk. Rather than listening to the nonsenses these people spouted out, it would be better for her to not listen to anything.


    The moment he entered the city from the gate, the guard glanced at him for a moment before letting him pass. They already knew that Ye Xiao lived on the outskirts, not far from the gate of the city. Although this man could stay inside the city, he preferred to stay outside the city.


    "That man has come again," a man remarked when he saw Ye Xiao entered the city. "He doesn''t look like he''s here to sell animal''s body again."


    "Maybe it''s for the school. Children below the age of 12 and above the age of six will receive basic education in the schools in this city."


    The man sneered. "Heh, that trash wants to study? Dream on!"


    "Yeah, the school is not a place for trashes like that girl to study."


    "Tsk, it''s really a shame that a genius like him has a pitiful descendant like that. It seems that the Heaven hates him so much."


    Ye Xiao ignored the chatter around him. Ever since Ye Jiao''s birth, he has been surrounded by this kind of noises no matter where he went. Those who flattered him from head to toe in the past turned their back and taunted him with their words. They would only suck up to the strong and trample on the weak.


    To these kinds of people, Ye Xiao didn''t care in the slightest.


    He didn''t want to waste his time with them, so he used their mocking to train his temper. Even though he is already a father, he is still considered to be young. Normal people his age would still be fooling around and training their body to the fullest.


    At this time, Ye Jiao moved her small hand and gripped her father''s hand. Her firm movement seemed to tell her father that she was fine and he shouldn''t be too concerned in the matter.


    ''Yeah. They''re the real trash and not you,'' Ye Xiao smiled in his mind as he continued to walk in an unhurried pace.

 6 Bullying

    It didn''t take long for them to arrive at the largest elementary school in the capital. The name of the school was Chen Elementary School. It was named after the Imperial Family because of their influence and history. In this school, the students were not only taught basic knowledge but also basic combat.


    The vast knowledge that was accumulated ever since the kingdom was built was stored in Chen School. There were also Chen Academy to study after the elementary school, which was the place they put most of their knowledge into. The elementary was mostly on the basic ones, which was more important for children to study.


    "It''s large," Ye Jiao murmured.


    The school was extremely large in her eyes. She couldn''t see the end of the wall easily. Besides, the large building in front of her should be at least several hundred meters'' heights. Well, in her opinion.


    Ye Xiao had a complicated smile on his face. Even though he was happy to return here again, he knew that it would not be the same as in the past. He was no longer the same aspiring genius as before. Right now, his power might be rare, but not as much as before.


    Many people caught up to him and surpassed him.


    Now, he was left in the dust, unable to return back to the frontline where he should be.


    "Daddy will go and meet someone, so you wait in the courtyard, ok?" Ye Xiao looked at his daughter.


    Ye Jiao looked up and put on a reassuring smile on her face. "I''ll be fine, Daddy. There''s no need for you to worry so much."


    Ye Xiao nodded his head and put down his daughter. He patted the girl''s head before walking into the large building. The guards around didn''t bother trying to stop him because they recognized him as someone who graduated from this school. Besides, his name has become famous in this city.


    While her father took his time inside, Ye Jiao scanned her surroundings. There were a lot of students walking around. They were wearing proper uniform and played around with their friends, laughing and fooling around.


    Her grip tightened.


    She never had a friend. No one dared to come close to her because she is a trash, the lowest existence in this world.


    "Hey, there''s an outsider here."


    "Where?"


    "Ah, you''re right."


    Most of the students bypassed her, but several of them seemed to take notice of her. Ye Jiao raised her head and saw two people looking at her curiously.


    The two of them have brown hair with neat clothes. Although their clothes looked the same because they all wore uniforms, the two of them seemed to have the air of a noble. Not only that, there was some disposition that was rarely visible on ordinary people.


    "Brother Liao, are there any new students?" the girl asked.


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    The boy shrugged. "I''m not sure, Wei Mi."


    Wei?


    Ye Jiao''s heart tightened when she heard this surname. Her eyes landed on the girl''s face. She felt that this girl was somewhat familiar to her and now she understood why. This was the same girl that let the stone emitted blue light in the test. They were tested on the same day with Wei Mi''s result being the best and her being the worst.


    Wei Mi scanned Ye Jiao up and down. "Green eyes. If I''m not wrong, she must be Ye Jiao, right?"


    "Ye Jiao?" Wei Liao, the boy, had the tone of disdain as he uttered her name. For the Wei Family, the name of this trash was something that they hated the most.


    Ye Jiao stared at the two of them without any intention to answer their inquiry. There was no need for her to talk back as she didn''t really have any grounds to talk to them. Her mind spun hard as she tried to recall their identities.


    Wei Family is one of the two noble families in this kingdom. Their current head, Wei Shang, was the great general who held control of the entire army in this kingdom. He had five children. Wei Liao is the second son and also the third child. He is two years older than Ye Jiao and has started to study in the school from a long time ago. Even though his talent was not the best, he still got the light blue.


    Wei Mi is the second daughter and the fourth child. She was the same age with Ye Jiao and has one of the best talents among the four children. The youngest one still has not been tested yet, so it was still unknown.


    "A trash like you hopes to study in school?" Wei Mi''s tone was filled with derision. "You should just hope that you don''t get kicked out of the city rather than studying in school."


    Even though the girl was merely six-years-old, her words were filled with poison. Every single word carried a sharp knife, ready to strike whoever heard it.


    "If you think that you can still go to school, you should think twice," Wei Liao laughed.


    Wei Mi nodded her head. "If you want to blame someone, blame your father for offending every single powerful force in this kingdom, including my father. You know, it''s easy to kick you out of the city with my father''s influence."


    Hearing their words, Ye Jiao''s hand was trembling hard. She wanted to punch the two of them and make them pay for their words, but she couldn''t do that. If she fought with these two, she would invite more trouble to her father. There was no way Wei Shang wouldn''t use the chance to eliminate her father.


    Endure¡­


    She has to endure.


    Wei Mi giggled. "If I report your father to my father, I''m sure that he won''t be able to stay in this city anymore. Or even worse, his sister will be in deep trouble."


    Ye Jiao''s hand trembled even worse when they mentioned her aunt. Wei Shang married her aunt when she was young. She didn''t know the detail, but it was a forced marriage with her aunt''s status being a mere a concubine, unworthy of anything.


    Her eyes glared at the two children in front of her. No, they were not children, they were demons.


    Tears started to form in her eyes as she suppressed her feelings. She didn''t have any other choice but to control her emotion because she was nothing right now. Trying to fight back would only bring trouble to her¡­


    "Let''s ask the guard to kick this eyesore out," Wei Liao sneered.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes reddened.


    Why?


    Why are they this ruthless?


    She didn''t understand why they always had to treat her so differently. Really, she hated having any connections whatsoever with these people. They were exceptionally annoying and hateful.


    "Wei Liao, Wei Mi, what are you doing in front of the building?"


    The cold voice caused both Wei Liao and Wei Mi to fix their postures immediately. They quickly turned their bodies around and bowed slightly in polite manner.


    "Wei Liao (Mi) greets Senior Mu."


    Ye Jiao raised her head. What she saw stunned her because the one standing in front of her was a beautiful young lady. Appearance-wise, this person should be only several years older than her, but she has the disposition of a queen, an ice queen at that. Her blue hair and eyes were staring back at her while her expression remained motionless.


    "Don''t create trouble. Go back to your class."


    "Yes, Senior Mu!"


    The two of Wei quickly turned their body and headed straight to the building. Wei Mi turned around and looked at Ye Jiao. She mouthed out. ''Consider yourself lucky this time.''


    Ye Jiao paid no heed to the two Weis as she bowed slightly to the girl in front of her. "Ye Jiao greets Senior Mu."


    She didn''t know who this person was as she only knew the name from the two Weis. Seeing that Senior Mu only looked at her coldly, she didn''t know what to do.


    "You shouldn''t stay here. They''ll bully you again."


    "Ah," Ye Jiao noticed that several students seemed to realize her identity. She knew that they would surely come to mock her again. It was not physical bullying, but for a six years old kid, psychological bullying would leave a greater scar in their heart compared to facing the pain of being beaten up.


    "I''ll be more careful. Many thanks for Senior Mu''s help."


    Senior Mu didn''t say anything again. She walked in a different direction, leaving Ye Jiao alone.


    Ye Jiao heaved a sigh of relief. She could feel the invisible pressure coming from Senior Mu''s body. Right now, she was glad that she didn''t have to face that senior again. She did feel thankful, but the pressure was too much for her weak body.


    ''There are still good people around.''


    But she was glad because this was the first time she saw someone standing up for her except for her father.

 7 It’s Impossible

    Ye Xiao made his way to the principal''s office. The familiar route made him felt somewhat melancholic, but he didn''t dwell on his feelings for too long. It would only be a brief meeting with his old teacher.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Xiao, you know that you don''t have to knock."


    Hearing that familiar voice, Ye Xiao''s hand trembled a bit. He pushed the door open and walked inside as his eyes landed on the old man behind the desk. The old man has white hair, but his eyes still looked as sharp as ever.


    "Principal," Ye Xiao called.


    The old man, the principal of Chen Elementary School, raised his head. Looking at the young man before him, he sighed deeply. "You have finally come to see me, Ye Xiao."


    "I''m sorry, Principal."


    "It''s not your fault," the Principal waved his hand. "I have not seen you for more than one decade. How are you?"


    Ye Xiao smiled. "I''m good."


    The principal sighed. "You''ve come to talk about your daughter, right?"


    "Yes."


    Tapping his fingers on the table, the principal sighed once again. He took out a paper and handed it to Ye Xiao. "I already received the report regarding your daughter''s condition. Here''s what the elders concluded."


    Normally, important documents like that should never fall into the hands of someone like Ye Xiao. However, the principal didn''t really care about that. Even if those men wanted to create trouble, it would be hard because he didn''t really break any written rules.


    Ye Xiao''s eyes landed on the paper. Aside from the talent to use Eon Energy, there were elders that watched the children from the shadows. They would make conclusions regarding the child''s mentality and aptitude to learn.


    The paper was written as such:


    Ye Jiao


    Talent: G-


    Mentality: weak


    She''s showing her emotion without any restrain and unable to withstand the result of the test.


    Reading the result of the test made Ye Xiao rather angry. He had seen for himself how his daughter held her feelings in because that girl didn''t want to make him worry. Besides, what kind of child would be able to stay calm when they find out that they didn''t have any talent?


    Only adults with mature mind would be able to think much further into the future.


    As for the talent, G was the lowest with the color of red. If there was another minus sign, it would show that they didn''t have any aptitude at all. This kind of result was the lowest without any chance to study in the future.


    "Principal, this¡­"


    "They give this to every school in the capital," the Principal cut off Ye Xiao''s words. "It''s not my decision, but I''m unable to accept your daughter into the school."


    Ye Xiao''s face contorted a bit. "Can''t you make any leeway of rules? Even the lowest class is fine as long as she can learn the basic knowledge. There''s no need for you to teach her Eon Energy."


    "Ye Xiao," The Principal sighed. "I really want to help, but I can''t."


    The two men descended into silence. Looking at each other, Ye Xiao tried to think of ways to get his daughter proper education. Learning under him alone would never be enough for her. He didn''t want his daughter to lack in terms of knowledge.


    "Is it because of them?" finally, Ye Xiao opened his mouth.


    "Yes."


    "I see."


    Seeing the despondent Ye Xiao, the Principal could only sigh. He really wanted to help this young man, but he was unable to do anything more.


    "If you''re just an ordinary man, I might be able to help you out, Ye Xiao. Unfortunately, you''re a former genius with numerous people who want you to suffer and die. There are too many people you have offended during your time of glory," the Principal explained.


    Even without the explanation, Ye Xiao knew all of them very well. The thought of running away from this place with his sister and daughter crossed his mind numerous times, but he was not strong enough. If he tried to make a move, they would surely kill him and everyone around him.


    He could only stay low and wait for the chance.


    As a genius in his youth, he always acted according to his will. In this kingdom, there was not even a single one of them who could defeat him in terms of talent and battle under rank 3. Among the youths, he was the best. But his recklessness and arrogance pulled him into a deep pit and dragged down everyone around him.


    "I''m really thankful for all of your help, Principal."


    The Principal nodded his head. "That woman''s family called me again not long ago. They made inquiries of your progress in Eon Energy."


    Ye Xiao''s eyebrows arched. That woman the principal talked about was his ex-wife. His ''ex-wife'' came from a different country, a beautiful and talented young genius. The only one who has higher talent than that woman was him. She came to him and seduced him, which resulted in a relationship that didn''t last long.


    From the moment Ye Jiao was born, he understood that that woman only came to him because of his talent. They didn''t even want him as they only hoped to destroy him, leaving him with nothing.


    "She has reached rank 5?"


    "No, not yet," the Principal shook his head. "She''s not that good, Ye Xiao. If only you can reach rank 4, you will be able to chase after her."


    Rank 4


    Ye Xiao had longed for that rank for a long time, but the incident with his ex-wife seemed to have created a knot in his heart. Even after 7 years, he was unable to solve it.


    "Thank you for the information, Principal. I''ll be going now."


    The Principal watched Ye Xiao for a moment before throwing a key to the young man.


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    *Catch*


    "Principal?" Ye Xiao was stunned to see the key in his hand. He was extremely familiar with this key because of his exceptional performance in the past.


    The Principal smiled kindly. "That''s my last gift to you. Make a visit to that place for a while and try to calm your mind. You can take Ye Jiao along if you want."


    Ye Xiao''s hand clenched around the key tightly. He knew that this was the kindness the principal showed him. He bowed down. "Thank you very much, Principal!"

 8 Breakthrough

    Ye Jiao smiled widely when she saw her father walking out of the building. After that annoying Wei brother and sister, she didn''t meet anyone who bothered her anymore.


    "Daddy," Ye Jiao ran to her father and hugged the latter.


    Ye Xiao ruffled up his daughter''s hair. "Did you wait for long?"


    "No, I didn''t. Are we going back now?"


    "Not yet, there''s a place that I want to show you," Ye Xiao replied. He took his daughter''s hand before guiding her to the other side of the school.


    Ye Jiao watched her surrounding with curiosity. As classes have started, there weren''t any students around. She felt more at ease without anyone looking at her. Their gazes always looked extremely annoying in her opinion.


    Behind the large building of the school, there was another smaller building. It was a round building with blue color on the outside. There was no window visible.


    "It''s really big," Ye Jiao murmured. Apparently, she was not used to see large buildings one after another. When they headed to the market, most of the buildings were only two floors. Some of them even just one, so tall building like this seemed unordinary for her.


    Ye Xiao chuckled. "Let''s get in."


    Taking out the key he got from the principal, Ye Xiao unlocked the door. Pushing it lightly, he allowed Ye Jiao to come in first before he came inside and locked the door again. This place was not accessible for everyone, so he had to make sure that no one would come to disturb them.


    Inside the building was a large machine in the middle with a pond surrounding it. Light shone from above, allowing them to see the room clearly. Aside from the blue-colored pond, there was nothing else around them.


    Ye Jiao looked around in confusion. "What are we doing here, Dad?"


    "Take a closer look at the pond."


    Ye Jiao didn''t understand, but she followed after her father''s instruction. Her small feet brought her to the pond. Upon looking at the pond, her eyes glimmered. It seemed as if the pond was not made of water. The surface was exceptionally clear and glittered under the light.


    "It''s amazing," Ye Jiao exclaimed excitedly. It was really beautiful.


    Ye Xiao laughed. "The pond is filled with pure Eon Energy. Also, this room has the formation that will help you guide Eon Energy into your body."


    "Really? That''s really cool!"


    "This is one of the best training places to train your Eon Energy," Ye Xiao laughed. "Just sit down and try to absorb the Eon Energy like what I taught you, but don''t fall asleep again."


    "I''m not sleeping," Ye Jiao pouted. Well, she might fall asleep because they were exceptionally warm and comfortable, but she didn''t want to admit it.


    Ye Xiao arched his eyebrows. "Oh? Are you sure about that?"


    "Uh¡­" Ye Jiao didn''t know what to reply.


    "Come and try absorbing them. Even if you just get a little bit, it doesn''t matter," Ye Xiao pointed to the pond as he played with the key. Come to think of it, the principal didn''t tell him to return the key back so quick, he might be able to use this place for a long time.


    After all, students were not allowed to use this place when they had just started school.


    "Okay, Dad," Ye Jiao sat down near the pond and closed her eyes. Focusing her attention to her surrounding, she could ''see'' the light around her. There were a lot of them, so much more compared with the forest. Slowly, she urged them to come to her.


    The light started to move in her direction. This was far easier than what she had experienced before. It was no wonder that her father said this was one of the best places to train. The amount and speed far surpassed anything that she ever knew.


    While Ye Jiao was sitting and training, Ye Xiao initiated his Eon Energy and walked to the pond. Without disturbing his daughter, he started to walk on top of the water. If Ye Jiao saw this, she would have exclaimed loudly and made a ruckus at how amazing her father is.


    Ye Xiao walked straight to the machine in the middle. It was the one that produced Eon Energy, so the nearer they came to the machine, the more Eon Energy they could absorb.


    ''I already have enough to break through, but I can always use it to strengthen my core further.''


    With that in mind, Ye Xiao started to absorb the Eon Energy at a much faster rate. This place might have abundant Eon Energy, but for a rank 3 like Ye Xiao, he could absorb all of them within days because of his large pool and greater absorption ability.


    Time passed swiftly.


    The two of them didn''t move from their place at all. After an unknown amount of time, Ye Xiao opened his eyes. He could feel that his core has been strengthened further, but it would not really help him much. Among the rank 3, no one could possibly defeat him even before this.


    ''Well, it''s better than nothing.''


    Looking at his daughter, Ye Xiao''s eyes suddenly widened. He could see the Eon Energy moving at a fast rate into his daughter''s body. It was a scene he was familiar with because his teacher always praised him for his fast absorption rate.


    Ye Jiao didn''t have any problem to absorb Eon Energy.


    No, not only that, she was even faster than most children her age. Even him, the acclaimed genius in his youth, couldn''t compare with the speed Ye Jiao is showing right now.


    That''s a trash?


    If that''s a trash, then he must have been even worse than trash in his youth.


    Ye Xiao laughed as tears streamed down from the corner of his eyes. His daughter is not a trash! She''s a genius!


    He wanted to yell that sentence loudly to the world. The relief upon finding out that his daughter was talented must have greatly overwhelmed him.


    ''It''s great, Jiao''er. It''s really great.''


    As his tears dropped to the lake below him, the thin layer that blocked him all this time was shattered. The feeling he harnessed all this time was directed to his daughter. Because of his worry, he could never attempt to reach the higher rank and was stuck in rank 3.


    Eon Energy spun around him in large number as they entered his body violently, filling his newly advanced core. Ye Xiao could feel that his body was brimming with newfound power along with sharpened sense. The world before him no longer looked the same as before.


    ''So, this is rank 4.''


    After staying in rank 3 for seven years, Ye Xiao finally advanced to rank 4.


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 9 I Have to Stay Low

    Ye Jiao''s eyes fluttered open. She could sense the light around her seemed to be getting sucked away. Upon opening her eyes, she could see her father was standing near the large machine with light circulating around him. His majestic sight looked exceptionally beautiful.


    It lasted for a few seconds before the light returned back to normal. However, Ye Jiao noticed that the number of ball light in this place have decreased by a significant amount. In addition, there seemed to be some dent on the machine not far from her father.


    "Daddy."


    "Ah, Jiao''er," Ye Xiao completely forgot that his daughter was also training there. He quickly ran on the water to her side. "Are you alright?"


    Upon breaking through, he would release some shockwave that might destroy things around him. As he was standing near the machine, it bore the brunt of some damage while the rest was directed to the wall around him.


    Seeing that Ye Jiao was fine, he felt exceptionally glad.


    "Dad looks so cool!" Ye Jiao immediately praised her father with sparkling eyes. Her view of her father changed considerably because of what she saw just now.


    "Of course, your dad is the best!"


    "Yes, Daddy is the best."


    Ye Xiao laughed as he ruffled the girl''s hair. "Let me check your progress."


    "Ah, you can do that, Dad?"


    He inspected Ye Jiao''s body as his daughter looked back curiously. The trace of Eon Energy in Ye Jiao''s body was very visible, but they were scattered around in her body without any clear direction. Their movement to the abdomen was exceptionally slow, but there was no trace of them leaving her body at all.


    ''Her body is really suitable for containing Eon Energy, maybe that''s why the stone couldn''t detect her talent.''


    The stone determined the amount of Eon Energy that was transferred back to the stone after they sent a sliver to circle the child''s body. The lesser the energy that was returned meant that the child''s talent was better because they could absorb the Eon Energy.


    But in Ye Jiao''s case, her body contained them all. The stone couldn''t give any reaction for what it didn''t receive.


    ''But even me back then still has a bit leaking out. Is there any greater talent after purple?''


    "Jiao''er, you should direct Eon Energy in your body to your abdomen to form your core," Ye Xiao said to his daughter tenderly.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. "You never told me that before, Dad."


    Ye Xiao smiled wryly. It seemed that he forgot to tell that to her because he didn''t expect her to have so much of them inside her body. They were accumulated, and it would take some time before they could reach her abdomen. Thankfully, her body was able to contain them all.


    "Oh right, do you feel uncomfortable?"


    "Not at all," Ye Jiao tilted her head. If anything, her body felt comfortable with her absorbing so many light-uh Eon Energy. It was only now that she realized that the light she had seen every day must be the Eon Energy that her father meant.


    Ye Xiao''s mouth twitched. The greater the talent, the more Eon Energy they could contain in their body. Even though the number would naturally increase as they developed their core, it should only be focused on the core and not body. A case like Ye Jiao seemed to be special.


    "You can continue to absorb the Eon Energy in this room. After you feel that that is enough, just tell me."


    "Ok, Dad."


    Ye Jiao sat down and started to absorb the Eon Energy again. On the other hand, Ye Xiao attempted to absorb when he came near Ye Jiao, but stopped them before they entered his body. This action allowed a lot of Eon Energy to gather around Ye Jiao''s body.


    ''This should be enough.''


    After he had finished with the arrangement, Ye Xiao walked to the door and opened it. In front of the door, the Principal was standing with a wide smile. Ye Xiao knew that the principal must have sensed it when he broke through because of the Eon Energy''s violent reaction.


    "Principal," Ye Xiao called.


    The Principal smiled. "Xiao''er, congratulation!"


    Ye Xiao smiled back warmly. "Many thanks to you, Principal. Without you, I would have never been able to break through to rank 4."


    "What are you saying, it''s all your hard work," The Principal was happy. Even though he could guess that the condition of the room would be bad because of the shockwave, they were not important. "Rank 4 is the start of specialization. It''ll be good if you can attend a sect or academy to learn them."


    Ye Xiao smiled. "I''ll think about that, Principal."


    "That''s good, Xiao''er."


    "Principal, can you hide the news of my breakthrough for the time being? I don''t want them to know that I have reached rank 4," Ye Xiao asked.


    "There''s no need to worry. I''ll never tell them," the Principal harrumphed. He cared for Ye Xiao just like his own son, so he would never do anything that could possibly harm Ye Xiao.


    "Many thanks, Principal."


    "Good. Do you still want to use the room?" the Principal pointed to the room behind Ye Xiao.


    Ye Xiao nodded. "Yes, I''ll return the key after I have finished. Thank you very much, Principal."


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    "It''s fine, I only helped a bit," The Principal traded a few more words with Ye Xiao before he watched the young man entered the room again. Internally, he was glad that Ye Xiao had finally broken through. As long as Ye Xiao worked hard, it would be possible to reclaim the genius title he once had.


    The Principal gazed at the sky. He wished that he would still be alive to see this genius return to his peak and reclaimed back his position that he once lost.


    But not now.


    He had to stay low before he could become strong enough because there were a lot of people who wanted him to die.

 10 I Promise

    Ye Xiao entered the room and waited for his daughter. He was not sure how many hours have passed before Ye Jiao opened her eyes and walked to him with a weird expression.


    "What is it, Jiao''er?" Ye Xiao asked worriedly.


    Ye Jiao looked back at her father. "The light, I mean, Eon Energy feels warm and comfortable for me. But it feels like there''s no space anymore. I''m so full even though I didn''t eat anything, Dad."


    Hearing his daughter''s explanation, Ye Xiao laughed. "That means that you''re reaching the limit of your body. Don''t worry, as long as you direct them to your abdomen, you won''t feel that way anymore."


    "I see," Ye Jiao nodded her head in understanding. She looked at her hand for a few seconds.


    "Is there anything wrong, Jiao''er?"


    "Dad, I can absorb Eon Energy, so it means that I''m not a trash," Ye Jiao raised her head. "If I''m not a trash, will mom come back to Daddy?"


    Ye Xiao felt that his heart has been slammed with a hammer when he heard his daughter''s question. He really wanted to say ''yes'' because he knew that his daughter longed for a mother''s affection. However, it was impossible. After all, he understood perfectly that they never wanted him or his child.


    Their real purpose was to destroy him.


    She never cared for them.


    And they succeeded.


    "Jiao''er, she''ll never return back. Even if you turn into a genius that only appear once in a millennium, she''ll never return back."


    Ye Jiao furrowed her brows. She extended her arm and touched her father''s check with her small palm. "But Dad miss her."


    He misses her?


    Ye Xiao raised his hand and cupped his daughter''s hand. He did miss her in the past, but once he found out of her devilish scheme, he had thrown her out of his mind. However, at that time, his heart was shattered with nothing left anymore.


    If he didn''t have Ye Jiao and his sister that he cared so much, he would never be able to keep living. Right now, he had gotten over her as he understood that he still had two people whom he cared so much and cared for him. They were already more than enough than that ungrateful woman.


    "I don''t miss her anymore," Ye Xiao chuckled. "Besides¡­" she''s not your¡­.


    "Besides?"


    "It''s nothing," Ye Xiao decided not to tell anything more to his daughter. She was still too young to know the complicated matter of adults.


    Ye Jiao knitted her brows. "What is it, Dad?"


    "Jiao''er, I want you to promise me one thing," Ye Xiao changed the conversation abruptly.


    "What is it, Dad?"


    "I want you to promise me that you''ll never show to anyone that you can absorb Eon Energy."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. Her father wanted her to stay as the trash that everyone knew as? Why? She didn''t like being treated as trash every single day. It was so painful.


    "Why?"


    Ye Xiao''s eyes showed pained expression. "Because there''ll be a lot of people who want to go after you. Being a genius is not always good."


    He had lived a life where he was treated as a genius. Everyone tried to get into his good side and flattered him to the end of the world. However, many people came to hate him because of the abundant attention he got. They wished to drag him down to the bottom layer.


    But their power couldn''t contend with him in the past.


    Now that he had already stayed at the bottom layer, stuck at rank 3 for a long time, they trampled on him however they wished. They didn''t see him as a threat because they knew that he would never be able to pass rank 3 after the incident they forced him to go through.


    With Ye Jiao known as a trash, they didn''t bother pursuing him and his daughter anymore. But Ye Xiao knew very well that they would surely come to find him if they found out Ye Jiao''s true ability. If this girl became strong, their position would be in danger, so they would want to eliminate her as soon as possible.


    He didn''t want that to happen.


    "There are a lot of people who want your father to die. If they catch wind of your real ability, they''ll chase after you, Jiao''er."


    Ye Jiao watched her father''s expression change rapidly one time after another. She didn''t have the knowledge of the entire world, but she knew that her father was worried about her. Even though she was only 6 years old little girl, she had learned to understand her father better.


    She nodded her head. "I understand, Dad."


    "Sorry, Jiao''er," Ye Xiao hugged his daughter. He didn''t want to pull her into this mess, but he didn''t have the power to protect her completely.


    Ye Jiao hugged her father back. She knew that she would have to endure the mocking and jeer from children around her age because they termed her as a trash. It was not something she liked. Not at all.


    However, if it was her father''s request, she would do it. She didn''t want to place her father in a greater worry than what he already has. If by staying as a trash she could protect her father, she would do it. She wanted her father to be happy.


    "I''ll be fine, Dad."


    Ye Jiao smiled brightly, trying to ease her father''s worry.


    "Once you have strong power, you can show them to other people," Ye Xiao added. He didn''t want his daughter to live as a trash forever. Once she has enough power to protect herself, he wanted her to shine by herself and claimed back all the honor she should have.


    "How strong do I need to get, Dad?"


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    "Rank 3, no rank 4," Ye Xiao answered. Even though rank 3 could be considered as powerful, they were nothing in front of rank 4. After experiencing the power as a rank 4, he understood this far better. If she wanted to stay safe, it would be better to aim for rank 4.


    In this kingdom, the highest rank was only peak rank 4. If she could reach rank 4, he believed that no one would be able to defeat his daughter.


    "Rank 4," Ye Jiao murmured. It was hard but not impossible. She closed her eyes for a moment as she understood that her path would be filled with hardship. "I understand, I''ll wait until I rank 4, Dad."


    "Good daughter," Ye Xiao caressed the girl''s hair. "Let''s go. Starting tomorrow you''ll focus on moving the Eon Energy inside your body to your abdomen and circulate them in your body properly."


    "Yes, Dad!"


    ---


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 11 New Year Celebration

    For the next few months, Ye Jiao focused on pushing Eon Energy to her abdomen to form her core. At the same time, she would try to absorb Eon Energy from the outside into her body and if possible, directly to her core. The practice took some time, but she got the hang of it after enough trial and error.


    "Dad, will we celebrate the New Year with Aunty again?" Ye Jiao asked with sparkling eyes. She had longed to meet with her aunt and played with the latter again.


    Ye Xiao nodded his head. "Yes. We''re going to meet with your aunt. Have you prepared the soup?"


    "Yes!"


    Ye Jiao could cook several dishes, but she could cook soup the best. There were plenty of vegetables in the forest that they could use for soup, so she didn''t need to take a long time.


    "Should I taste it first?" Ye Xiao grinned.


    "No! It''s for Aunty," Ye Jiao turned her body around, her small arms were hugging the pot that they had. The size of the pot was not that big, but it looked like a large bucket for the small Ye Jiao.


    "Alright, let''s go."


    Taking her father''s hand to hers, Ye Jiao followed after her father happily. Even though they would visit the city again, the place that she disliked a lot, she was happy to meet with her aunt again.


    Her aunt married Wei Shang when Ye Jiao was one-year-old. At that time, her father was pressured by Wei Shang and others, so he had to give his sister to them. Ye Jiao didn''t know the detail, but she had heard that story numerous times in the past.


    Both her father and her aunt were exceptionally famous in the capital city.


    But not in a good way.


    As they got closer to the gate, Ye Jiao tightened her grip. After the practice to absorb Eon Energy to her body for the past few months, her senses have grown sharper. Hearing things like this was not of a problem to her at all and the distance has grown even larger.


    Ye Xiao also sensed his daughter''s nervousness, so he stopped in his track. "Do you want to be carried again, Jiao''er?"


    "No," Ye Jiao shook her head. She had to deal with this for a long time in the future. If she had to rely on her father forever, she wouldn''t be able to grow strong. He would worry for her and unable to focus in his practice.


    "Ye Jiao has become stronger, so I can walk by myself."


    Ye Xiao smiled and patted his daughter''s head. "Ok, but if you feel overwhelmed, you can always tell me, okay?"


    "Yes!"


    The two of them started to walk into the city. As they entered the gate, Ye Jiao could hear the people''s voices even clearer. Her grip tightened slightly, but she forced her face to remain calm. As they walked inside, she could perfectly hear the people talked about her.


    "Ah, that trash come again."


    "They''re really disgrace of this kingdom. Really, I don''t understand why the king hadn''t killed them."


    "Well, he''s a ''former'' genius after all."


    Their talk, which she was unable to hear clearly before, entered her ear perfectly. Even though only those that was close enough to her that she could hear, their words were clearly painful. Her eyes captured their disdain and jeer directed at the two of them as she walked.


    ''I''m okay.''


    Ye Jiao chanted internally as she circulated the Eon Energy in her body. Trying to focus her attention to the Eon Energy inside her body, she did her best to ignore their taunting words and obvious provocation. Even though she felt sad and angry, she pushed them down and focused her attention to train her body.


    There was no use caring for them.


    Before long, the two of them stopped before a large residence. The sign of ''Wei'' word was placed right at the front of the gate with several guards guarding the area. They looked at Ye Xiao with derision.


    "You come again, little genius?" one of the guards asked with mocking tone.


    Ye Xiao kept his calm as he pointed to the door. "Is there celebration?"


    "Our General Wei is eating dinner with his family. Your sister is at the back, you can enter through the side gate," the guard pointed to the side carelessly.


    "I see."


    Ye Jiao felt her father pulled her hand as she followed after him. From behind her, she could hear the guards mocked her father. Her body tensed up slightly, but she didn''t say anything.


    After having keener sense, she had just understood what her father have gone through all these years. He had to face their mock and all for the past seven years. With her father martial arts, it was clear that this man would be able to hear much more and saw their mocking gaze even clearer.


    Compared to her, he must have heard much more.


    It didn''t take long for them to reach the side door. The guard looked at Ye Xiao and snorted before opening the door. "You have time until midnight."


    "I know."


    Ye Xiao replied shortly before guiding Ye Jiao inside. The location looked like a small forest as it was not tended. The stone road was filled with grass here and there with some broken stones.


    The girl watched her father walked in unhurried pace as she wondered how he could withstand all of those treatment. It was hard for her to ignore them all.


    "Jiao''er."


    "Yes, Daddy?" Ye Jiao replied in quivering voice. She was stunned to hear her own voice cracked. Even though she didn''t cry or anything, her voice sounded as if she was crying.


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    Ye Xiao sighed. He didn''t wish for his daughter to see them all because he knew that what she could hear and experience has become much more than before. Stopping on his step, he turned around and crouched down, putting his eyes at the same level with his daughter.


    "You did great, Jiao''er," his finger caressed the girl''s cheek, trying to calm her down.


    Ye Jiao stared at her father as she nodded her head in a slow movement. It seemed that her subconsciousness was not as calm as her consciousness. Even though she forced herself to stay calm and composed, her inner self was shaken terribly.


    "Jiao''er is already seven, so of course, Jiao''er is strong," Ye Jiao replied as she forced a smile on her face. By the end of her sentence, her voice had returned back to normal.


    "Yes, you''re strong," Ye Xiao smiled back and caressed his daughter''s head. He felt complicated. On one side, he didn''t wish to put his daughter in this difficult position. On the other side, he was proud to see that his daughter could keep on smiling and faced what he used to be unable to.


    She is strong, much stronger than what he thought.


    "I want to meet with Aunty," Ye Jiao raised the pot in her hand higher. She wanted to let her aunt taste the soup she had specifically made.


    "Yes, let''s meet with your Aunt."

 12 Ye Ai Xia

    Ye Xiao and Ye Jiao continue walking inside the small forest. Before long, they could see a small house in the middle of the small forest. The house itself looked far better than their own hut in the forest outside the city. There were some cracks on the wooden wall. The window was partially broken. The area was clean, but this was the only clean place.


    In front of the house, a young woman was sitting on a chair. She has brown hair and green eyes. Her facial expression didn''t resemble Ye Xiao, but one could definitely tell that she was a really beautiful lady. Her body was thin because of lack of nutrition, yet it didn''t diminish her beauty in the slightest.


    "Aunt Ai Xia!" Ye Jiao yelled as she waved her hand excitedly.


    The young woman, Ye Ai Xia, smiled brightly when she saw the two of them. "Xiao Ge*, Jiao''er, you have come."


    Despite wearing a long dress, Ye Ai Xia ran to the two of them and hugged Ye Xiao tightly. Ye Xiao was also smiling brightly as he caressed his sister''s hair. By the side, Ye Jiao waited patiently for her aunt to release her father.


    "Ai Xia, you have become thinner," Ye Xiao frowned.


    Ye Ai Xia released her grip and frowned. "What are you talking about? I''m still the same as before. Moreover, the one become thinner is this little girl."


    She crouched down and hugged Ye Jiao before lifting the girl. Despite having a petite frame, she didn''t have any problem to carry Ye Jiao in her embrace.


    Ye Xiao rolled his eyes. "Stop showing off your strength, you lass."


    "What?" Ye Ai Xia smiled cheekily. "You''re not the only one who can grow stronger. It seems that you have become far stronger, Xiao Ge. I can''t gauge your strength anymore."


    Seeing the frown on Ye Ai Xia''s face, Ye Xiao grinned. Ye Ai Xia has slightly lower talent than him, so this woman had reached rank 3 a few years ago. Although it didn''t seem that Ye Ai Xia would be able to reach rank 4 with her lazy personality, she was already quite strong.


    "Guess."


    Ye Ai Xia furrowed her brows. A thought crossed her mind as she saw the smug smile on her brother''s face. It was the same smile full of confidence that her brother never showed again for the past few years. "Xiao Ge, don''t tell me that you have reached rank 4?"


    Seeing that Ye Xiao only smiled, Ye Ai Xia was filled with happiness. She used her other arm to hug her brother, nearly squishing Ye Jiao who still stay in her embrace.


    "I can''t believe that you manage to reach rank 4! This is really amazing," Ye Ai Xia genuinely felt happy. The gap between rank 3 and 4 were not something that could be crossed with only hard work. They have to reach realization of their path in martial arts before they could make a breakthrough.


    With the pain Ye Xiao had suffered, it has almost closed all chance for him to get promoted.


    "Yes, I have found my path," Ye Xiao nodded his head. He patted Ye Jiao''s head. "It''s all thanks to you and her. Without you two, I wouldn''t have been able to find my path again."


    Ye Ai Xia was stunned before a beautiful smile made its way to her face. "That''s really great. I''m glad that I can be of help."


    "Dad is amazing!" Ye Jiao added.


    "Yes, Dad is awesome," Ye Xiao praised himself.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head in agreement. "Dad is the best!"


    Ye Ai Xia rolled her eyes when she saw the smug smile on her brother''s face. These shameless pairs. She could not believe that her brother would praise himself to the high sky.


    "What are you teaching her to make her praise you like that?"


    "It''s the truth," Ye Xiao replied with a grin on his face.


    Ye Ai Xia shook her head. She could guess that her brother must be showing off in front of Ye Jiao not long ago. Well, she didn''t mind this side of her brother, though. It was far better to see him full of confidence and energy rather than depressed all day because of the misfortune.


    "Aunt Ai Xia, this is for you," Ye Jiao raised the pot that she has been holding all these times. Thankfully, her father sealed the cup with his Eon Energy. If he did not, the content would have been spilled all over because of the bumpy road.


    "Ah, you cook soup for me. Jiao''er is really the best!" Ye Ai Xia smiled happily. "Let''s go, Aunty has prepared dishes for you to eat."


    "Hey, what about me?"


    "You should reflect first," Ye Ai Xia harrumphed. "Before you learn your mistake, you will not get any of them."


    "Ack, you''re really ruthless Ai Xia," Ye Xiao scratched his head. He watched as Ye Ai Xia put Ye Jiao down and set up the table for them. There were only a few small dishes such as stir-fry vegetables and some fruits. In this residence, Ye Ai Xia didn''t really get preferential treatment, which made her unable to eat too much.


    "They look good, Aunty," Ye Jiao''s eyes sparkled when she saw them all. "Aunt is a better cook than Dad."


    "Of course, your Aunt is the best," Ye Ai Xia replied unashamedly.


    Hearing his sister copied him, Ye Xiao rolled his eyes. Even though Ye Ai Xia teased him of his shameless praise of himself, she herself always did that in front of Ye Jiao. In the end, the two of them were really similar to each other.


    "Ai Xia, you can praise yourself but I can''t?"


    "I have special privilege," Ye Ai Xia smiled brightly. "While you don''t, Ge ge*."


    Ye Xiao sighed. "Fine, I won''t praise myself in front of you again. Now, can I eat?"


    "Hmph! You only promise because you want to eat."


    "Aww, come on Ai Xia, don''t be childish."


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    Ye Jiao giggled as she watched the two of them bantered with one another. This was how they spent their time most of the time because Ye Ai Xia loved to tease her big brother.


    "Dad, let''s eat."


    "My good daughter," Ye Xiao sprinted closer. "Let me taste the cabbage that your aunt makes."


    "Okay, here''s for you, Dad."


    Ye Ai Xia clicked her tongue. "You''re cheating! You make use of your daughter to eat the food!"


    Ye Xiao grinned as he munched on the vegetables. "This is my privilege, so I can bypass your rule with the help of my daughter."


    "Hmph! I won''t cook again for you, then."


    "Ack, Ai Xia, don''t be like that, I won''t do it again!"


    Ye Jiao laughed as she watched her father and aunt joked around. The two of them looked like a pair of children when they bantered with one another. If one didn''t know better, they wouldn''t think that the two of them were 24 and 23 years old.


    While the two of them were busy arguing, her hand picked up another piece of cabbage.


    --


    *Ge is the way to call an older brother in Chinese (ge ge means older brother, but if added name, it could just use one like Xiao Ge = Big Brother Xiao)

 13 Brother and Sister ?

    The eventful dinner ended after the food was cleaned up. All of them entered the three''s stomach, which has become quite full.


    "Jiao''er, what have you been doing for the past year?" Ye Ai Xia pulled the girl to her lap tenderly. Her eyes were watching the little girl with affection.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "I''m learning how to climb a tree from Dad to pick fruit."


    "Climb a tree?" Ye Ai Xia shot a dagger to Ye Xiao. Seeing the gaze full of accusation, Ye Xiao raised his hand with a smile on his face. He did let the girl train to climb tree, but it was not to the extreme because he knew full well that it might endanger the girl.


    "Yes. There are a lot of fruits on the tree, so Dad teach me how to get them," Ye Jiao replied excitedly. At first, it was hard for her to climb, but she soon learned how to do them correctly. In her opinion, it was really fun as she could get a lot of fruits.


    "I see. Remember to be careful, okay?"


    "Yes!"


    Ye Ai Xia caressed the girl''s hair. "Is there anything else?"


    "I have the test for my talent," Ye Jiao furrowed her brows as she recalled that experience. "The stone didn''t light up at all."


    "Ah," Ye Ai Xia''s hand stopped for a moment. As Eon Energy master herself, she knew perfectly what it meant to have the stone didn''t light up. "It''s fine, Jiao''er."


    "But¡­" Ye Jiao was about to continue when she felt warm energy flashed from not far from her. Her eyes glanced to her father, which was sitting nonchalantly beside Ye Ai Xia. From his gesture, one might not realize that this man has just used his Eon Energy to create a barrier.


    Ye Ai Xia looked at Ye Xiao with a frown on her face. "What''s that for?"


    "That''s to prevent anyone from hearing our conversation," Ye Xiao replied. "Except rank 4 masters, no one can break the barrier."


    Ye Ai Xia rolled her eyes. In this kingdom alone, the number of masters that had reached rank 4 could be counted with fingers. The barrier between rank 3 and 4 was simply too huge. Even those with high talent might not necessarily able to cross the barrier.


    "So, that''s the barrier," Ye Jiao looked at the faint light barrier around them. In her eyes, they looked exceptionally beautiful.


    Hearing Ye Jiao''s comment, Ye Ai Xia''s eyes narrowed. People without talent should have never been able to sense Eon Energy, much less seeing them. But from the way Ye Jiao said it, it sounded as if she could see them clearly, something that she herself was unable to do.


    "Xiao Ge, tell me that I didn''t hear it wrong."


    Ye Xiao smiled. "You didn''t hear it wrong, Xia''er."


    "She can practice."


    "Yes, even better than me."


    "Better than you?" Ye Ai Xia''s eyes widened as she glanced at her brother. "You''re a genius who has the purple colored talent, reach the rank 3 by the age of 16, but you say that she''s better than you?"


    "Hey, do you forget that the purple looks slightly blue?" Ye Xiao chuckled. "If it''s really purple, I should have crossed the barrier by the age of 15 or even faster."


    "15? Are you a monster?"


    "I might not have reached the qualification to be one," Ye Xiao''s gaze landed on his daughter. He used sound transmission to tell his next words to his sister. "But she might become one."


    Ye Ai Xia''s eyes widened. If Ye Jiao truly did become a rare genius, no one would be able to look down at them anymore. The title and privilege that should have been Ye Xiao''s would be returned back and those who schemed at them would have to pay the price.


    But, Ye Jiao has to grow up first.


    And the process would be extremely long and arduous.


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    "I see, you''re really great, Jiao''er," Ye Ai Xia hugged the girl tightly. "But more than anything, I want you to stay safe."


    "I''m okay, Aunt Ai Xia," Ye Jiao smiled brightly.


    Ye Ai Xia smiled wryly. "This child. Come on, Aunty will read you a story."


    "I want the story of how Dad won in the competition!"


    "Ah, story of him again?"


    "Yes!"


    "Uh, Xiao Ge, what are you feeding her all these times?"


    Ye Xiao didn''t answer as he dragged his feet to clean up the table. While he was cleaning, he could hear his sister bragged to his daughter of his prowess.


    ''Geez, you didn''t want me to brag, but your story is praising me to the sky, Xia''er.''


    Ye Jiao listened to the story Ye Ai Xia told her with enthusiasm. This was the routine when she stayed here because she loved to stay in Ye Ai Xia''s embrace and listened to the story that her aunt would tell her. After the fifth story, Ye Jiao''s eyelids become heavy, and she rested her head to Ye Ai Xia''s shoulder.


    In the next few seconds, she fell asleep.


    "She becomes more and more like you, Xiao Ge," Ye Ai Xia commented when she saw Ye Xiao walked out with two fruits in his hand. He must have sensed that Ye Jiao had fallen asleep.


    Ye Xiao. "She''s my daughter, so it''s obvious that she becomes like me."


    Ye Ai Xia lowered her gaze. "She''s also my daughter, dummy."


    "I know," Ye Xiao''s gaze softened as he sat down beside his sister. On the outside, they were only a pair of brother and sister, but they were not actually brother and sister. They didn''t have any blood relation because they were childhood friends from different family. When Ye Ai Xia lost her family, his father took her in and added their family surname to the woman.


    Eight years ago, there was a hidden scheme that he never realized until everything was too late.


    He thought that his so-called ''wife'' was the one who has his daughter. It was only later that he realized that it was actually his little sister. It was no wonder that that woman tossed him off right after Ye Jiao was born. The foolish him was blinded by love and tried all means to win her over.


    At first, he thought that it was because of Ye Jiao''s poor constitution.


    But it was not that at all.


    In the first place, what that woman was to crush his heart and his hope. The coincidence that they couldn''t sense Ye Jiao''s talent only added fuel to the fire. In the end, they truly succeeded as they crushed his spirit, nearly sending him straight to his death.

 14 Martial Path

    "You''re really an idiot, Xiao Ge," Ye Ai Xia murmured. Her hand softly caressed Ye Jiao''s hair who was sleeping peacefully in her embrace.


    Ye Xiao patted Ye Ai Xia''s shoulder. "Yeah, this idiot is the most foolish man in the world. How''s your condition in this place, Xia''er?"


    "They still give me meal, so it''s good."


    "That man didn''t come to you, right?"


    "If he dares, I''ll cut off his little brother," Ye Ai Xia''s eyes glinted with ruthlessness.


    Hearing her claim, Ye Xiao felt a bit chilly at his lower half. He coughed a bit as he balled his fist in frustration. "I still can''t take you away from here. I haven''t chosen my specialization, so I''m not a match against Wei Shang."


    Once they reached rank 4, they would be able to make a specialization in their Eon Energy mastery. Before they entered their specialization, they were only at the lowest bottom of rank 4. Even though Ye Xiao would be able to make things difficult for Wei Shang with his power, there would be someone else at rank 4 who would stop him from taking Ye Ai Xia away from this place.


    At that time, it would be the end of them.


    The arranged marriage that Wei Shang did was because he wanted his sister, and also because they wanted to entrap him in this kingdom forever. Without Ye Ai Xia, Ye Xiao wouldn''t be able to leave the kingdom peacefully as he cared for his sister a lot.


    Moreover, finding out that his real wife was his sister made him treasure her even more.


    "It''s fine, Xiao Ge. I know that you can do it," Ye Ai Xia put her hand on top of Ye Xiao''s hand. "No matter how long, I''ll be waiting for you."


    "I know, you''re the best sister in the past. And now you''re the best wife I have, Xia''er."


    Ye Xiao gazed on the sky. When he felt relief on the fact that Ye Jiao has great talent on her own and able to practice, he also realized his martial path. The path that he once lost has returned.


    "Is there anything I can help, Xiao Ge?"


    "In a few months'' time, I have to go," Ye Xiao said slowly. "My martial path is to be carefree and become strong. With the watchful eyes of those guys, I won''t be able to train my specialization."


    Once they found out that he had reached rank 4, they would do everything they could to suppress him and kill him. It wouldn''t be beneficial to him, so he wanted to leave the city. However, leaving the city meant that he had to leave both Ye Ai Xia and Ye Jiao.


    Ye Ai Xia sighed as she listened to her husband''s rambling. "You''re always like that. Being a martial arts maniac, you always think of training and training all the time."


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    Ye Xiao could only smile wryly. When they were young, his sight has always been about training and reaching the higher rank. As for other things, he barely paid any attention because he wanted to become strong. With his talent and aptitude, it didn''t take long for him to raise even stronger.


    On the other hand, Ye Ai Xia loved to play around. She has good talent, not far from him, but she didn''t really like training and all. She wanted to enjoy her life to the fullest with her friends and brother, so she rarely practiced too much. Still, in terms of progress, she was far better than her peers.


    "But I''m not going to go against it," Ye Ai Xia smiled. "You should pursue the sky, Xiao Ge for it''s your fate. I''m unable to advance any further, so I''ll support you from behind."


    "You''re already rank 3, so you still have the chance to advance," Ye Xiao furrowed his brows.


    Ye Ai Xia shook her head. "In terms of Eon Energy, I do have more than enough, but do you really think that I still can advance? I don''t like training, and I hate violence. The path of martial art is not suitable for me. I could never cross the barrier for rank 3 and 4."


    There were two barriers to reach rank 4. The first barrier was talent barrier, which only those who has talent green color or above could possibly cross. The second barrier was their mental barrier, which meant that they needed to have the heart to follow through the path.


    Not everyone has it, and Ye Ai Xia knew that she didn''t have the second one.


    "You really should think this through," Ye Xiao sighed.


    Ye Ai Xia laughed. "I have thought about this numerous time, Xiao Ge, and my answer will stay the same. As for Jiao''er, you can trust her with me. I''ll protect her with everything I have."


    "Xia''er¡­."


    "Don''t worry," Ye Ai Xia raised her head. Her green eyes reflected the man before her. "I''m not a weak woman, Xiao Ge. Pursue your dream and attain the highest rank possible. We''ll be waiting to hear your success."


    Ye Xiao smiled. The one who understood him the most was really Ye Ai Xia and no one else. Even though they only met a few times each year, she still could guess what was inside his mind the most. He leaned in and gave a kiss to the woman''s cheek.


    "I understand. When the times come, I''ll entrust Jiao''er to you."


    "Do your best, Xiao Ge," Ye Ai Xia smiled.


    At this time, Ye Jiao stirred a bit. Her eyes fluttered open and looked at the two of them. "I''m sleepy."


    "You can continue to sleep. It''s almost midnight," Ye Xiao laughed. He picked Ye Jiao carefully as he looked back at Ye Ai Xia. "I''ll come to visit you again. Please take care of yourself."


    "You too, Xiao Ge."


    Ye Jiao watched as the two of them looked at one another. She rubbed her eyes as she felt sleepy and rested her head to her father''s chest again.


    After a few seconds, Ye Xiao walked to the gate. This time, his steps were firmer than before. He had come to the conclusion of what he was going to do and his plan in the future. He hoped that the two of them would be fine when he left because they were the only family he had left.


    As her father left the Wei Residence, Ye Jiao opened her eyes slightly. The moment it reached midnight people started to light up the fireworks to celebrate the new year. Many of them celebrated it with their family happily and laughing with one another.


    Her eyes watched the fireworks behind her father. They were beautiful as they light up the dark sky.


    At this time, she recalled her father''s words to her.


    ''Even in the darkest moment, there will be hope. Just like fireworks in the sky. They''re able to shine so brightly.''


    Ye Jiao believed those words. Her days were filled with hardship, but every day with her father was really fun. Someday, she would be able to become far stronger. This was only the beginning of her path.

 15 Provocation

    In the next few weeks, Ye Jiao spent her time practicing in her house. However, Ye Xiao didn''t feel satisfied with her only training Eon Energy, so she had to train her physical body too. Her practice every day would be running, push-up, sit-up, and climbing trees aside from absorbing Eon Energy.


    "Won''t it slow down my progress, Dad?"


    "Not at all," Ye Xiao shook his head. "After forming the core, the next step is to strengthen your body, so having a good foundation is a must."


    As her father said, with better physical ability, Ye Jiao found out that it become easier to absorb the warm Eon Energy to her body. Because of that, she didn''t hesitate any longer and continued to practice harder as much as her small body allowed it.


    "Jiao''er, look at this," Ye Xiao called his daughter.


    "What is it, Dad?" Ye Jiao jogged over. She saw that her father had drawn a human on the surface of the tree. As it was based on an adult, her height alone was barely reaching the hips.


    Ye Xiao pointed to the drawing he made. "I''ll be teaching you about the weakness in human''s body using this tonight."


    "But the arm looks weird, Dad."


    "Ignore that one¡­" Ye Xiao scratched his head. Drawing was not his forte, so he could only make do with his limited capabilities. At the very least, he wanted to teach his daughter about the important weak point in human''s body.


    Ye Jiao giggled when she saw her dad looked embarrassed. She scrutinized the picture in front of her as she tried to reach up. "Dad, with my height, I won''t be able to hit the higher one."


    "Don''t worry, you can try to aim at their feet. Fingers are very sensitives, including those in your feet, so if you aim for that, you''ll be able to inflict higher damage to them," Ye Xiao explained with a wicked smile. He was recalling his youth as he made use of this knowledge to play around with the elders because he was annoyed.


    "I see," Ye Jiao looked at the feet. She should be able to stomp on their feet if she got close enough.


    Ye Xiao watched his daughter as he scratched his head. He hoped that this was not too early for him to teach a young girl how to fight. Well, he learned how to fight not long after entering elementary school, so this should be fine. Besides, she would learn this sooner or later.


    He turned his head to the gate''s direction. "There''s a guest. Jiao''er, you should stay behind me."


    "Yes, Dad."


    Ye Xiao stayed still in his place as his eyes looked straight to the front. Not long after that, two people appeared in his view. His pupil contracted slightly at this sight. A woman and a girl were coming in his direction.


    "Senior Su Lian," Ye Xiao called.


    The woman has dark yellow hair, fluttering along with the wind. Her sharp eyebrows showed that she had hard disposition. She was wearing dark purple dress adorned with numerous accessories that signified her high position. Her blue iris stared deep at Ye Xiao.


    "You''re still living here, Ye Xiao," Su Lian snorted. "Truly befitting for a fallen genius."


    On his side, the young girl has brown hair with similar features with Su Lian. Her pink dress was moving along as she moved gracefully. This place might be forest, but the little girl didn''t forget her manner.


    "What do you want?" Ye Xiao''s eyes were watching the little girl, Wei Mi, carefully. This woman, Su Lian was his senior back in school and also Wei Shang''s legal wife. In this world, it was normal for men to have numerous wives, especially for people who have higher position such as Wei Shang.


    "I''m just walking around with my daughter," Su Lian replied while waving her hand. "It''s just a coincidence that I come here."


    Even Ye Jiao knew that this woman was lying. Their residence was located in the place that people normally didn''t pass. There was nothing around this place aside from thick forest, so it was not really a popular spot to visit. This woman must have come here purposely.


    Ye Xiao''s expression remained icy. "I see."


    Su Lian sneered. "I have consolidated my power as a rank 3. In the hunt next week, I''ll defeat you, Ye Xiao!"


    A few weeks after New Year, there would be a hunting session to determine their talent and resources in this kingdom. Usually, Ye Xiao would participate and gained a rather good position, which allowed him to receive some resources every year to practice Eon Energy.


    "I won''t participate this year," Ye Xiao said in flat tone.


    "What?" Su Lian was stunned. All these years, Ye Xiao still participated in the hunt because this man wanted to gain more experience, but this time, he refused?


    Ye Xiao shrugged. "Just flaunt all you want, Su Lian. Forever and ever, you''re just a yellow grade and you will never be able to reach rank 4."


    Yellow grade.


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    Su Lian''s face turned ashen. She always hated Ye Xiao because this man always taunted her for her low constitution. The reason she could marry Wei Shang was only because of her family background.


    "I might not be able to reach rank 4, but my son and daughter will surely surpass you, Ye Xiao. You''re just a trash after being unable to breakthrough!"


    Ye Xiao''s gaze landed on Wei Mi. It was only nearing one year since he first saw the young girl in the test, but there was already some trace of Eon Energy in her body. The Wei Family seemed to be adamant on nurturing another young genius as Wei Shang have three children that reached blue color, including Wei Mi.


    However, the amount of Eon Energy in Wei Mi''s body was far lacking compared with Ye Jiao.


    He sneered internally. If it was one year ago, he would feel hurt because of her remark, but now, it was nothing but a wind that passed through.


    "Relying on other people, you''re the trash one, Senior Su Lian. You''re 7 years older, but your progress is slower than the so-called ''trash,''" Ye Xiao didn''t hold back as he retorted back. In front of Wei Shang, he might not be able to do much, but if it was only Su Lian, he didn''t mind cursing her for an entire day.


    "You!"


    "What? I''m just saying the truth, leech," Ye Xiao replied.


    Su Lian''s face turned red in anger. She pulled her daughter''s hand. Originally, she wanted to provoke Ye Xiao using her daughter, but it turned out that she was the one being provoked instead.


    "Just you wait until I report to Wei Shang!"


    "Whatever you say."


    Wei Mi watched her mother expression as she pulled her hand and tried to soothe her mother. Whenever it was the matter concerning Ye Xiao and his family, her mother always looked so distraught.


    "Wei Mi, you have to work harder," Su Lian said in a grave tone. "You have to make me proud."


    "Yes, Mother," Wei Mi replied solemnly. Everything her mother said, she would abide completely.


    Ye Xiao watched the two of them departed without worry. He knew that Wei Shang wouldn''t listen to Su Lian. That man was a general with prestige. If he tried to battle him, it would only reflect bad on him. After all, there was no one that saw him cursed Su Lian. If this was in the market with numerous people, he might not be this outrageous.


    "Dad, you''re awesome!" Ye Jiao''s eyes sparkled.


    Seeing his daughter''s reaction, Ye Xiao smiled wryly. "Don''t copy me."


    It would be a problem if she decided to copy his action rashly. There should be some calculation before deciding to do something like this.


    "Ok, Dad."


    Ye Xiao rubbed his nose. Well, that did feel rather satisfying. Venting his anger to that woman did feel really good.

 16 Watch and Learn 1

    "Dad, where are we going?" Ye Jiao asked curiously. It has been several days since the meeting with Su Lian and Wei Mi.


    Ye Xiao looked at Ye Jiao. "Have you finished the training?"


    "Yes, I did the set 5 times."


    "Can your body keep up?"


    Ye Jiao scratched her cheek. Aside from feeling exceptionally tired because of pushing her body to the limit, she was mostly fine. However, she didn''t really understand her father''s inquiry.


    Ye Xiao changed his question. "I mean, can you still move after 5 set?"


    "I can, a bit."


    "That''s good enough," Ye Xiao nodded his head and packed the fruits and some dried meat he had prepared before. "We''re going to the forest."


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "But Dad, isn''t the forest dangerous?"


    The capital was surrounded by wall for several reasons. One of them was to prevent the beasts around the capital to come inside. There were a lot of beasts in the forest, and majority of the areas in this place was still pure forest. Even inside the city, there were many residences that have forest like garden.


    "It is dangerous, especially for someone like you," Ye Xiao pointed to Ye Jiao.


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    Listening to her father annoying remark, Ye Jiao tilted her head to the side. "If it''s dangerous, why do you want to bring me there?"


    "It''s dangerous for you but not for me," Ye Xiao laughed. Most of the beasts in the area only has the strength of rank 3 Eon Energy master. Back then, he was already undefeatable among the rank 3, including the beast. After advancing to rank 4, it was obvious that they wouldn''t be his match too.


    "What am I going to do there, Dad?"


    "Watch and learn," Ye Xiao''s tone turned somber. "You couldn''t fight and should never fight. All you have to do is staying behind me and watch me fight. This shall be the last lesson I give to you.


    Last lesson?


    The two words struck Ye Jiao hard. She stared at her father with her large green eyes. "Dad, you''re going to leave?"


    "I''ll leave in a few weeks," Ye Xiao patted Ye Jiao''s head. Before he left, he wanted to give his daughter the best training and memory possible. He didn''t know when he would return, or how much Ye Jiao would have grown by the time he returned.


    Anything could happen, and he wanted to prepare for the worst.


    "I see," Ye Jiao''s tone was sad. She wanted to stay with her father for a long time. Every day with her father was fun and gave her sense of comfort. He would protect her and stayed with her, comforting her even with the slightest presence he had.


    Ye Xiao patted his daughter''s head. "Don''t look so down. Come on, Dad will show you how Eon Energy Master fights."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes shone when she heard it. She didn''t know when she would become an Eon Energy Master, but she believed that she would become one soon. With her father known as a former genius in Chen Kingdom, she was sure that he could show her the best way of fighting. This was the privilege she had because of her father''s identity.


    "Ok!"


    After cleaning up, Ye Jiao excitedly followed after her father into the forest. Their house was located at the edge of the forest, which made it took a long time to venture deeper. Before this, Ye Jiao has never visited the forest. Her father warned her of the danger, so she didn''t try to get closer.


    As for hunting, her father did everything by himself because he couldn''t possibly bring Ye Jiao inside if he was not confident that he could protect her.


    "Dad, are all Eon Energy Master can fight well?"


    Ye Xiao shook his head. "Nope, not all Eon Energy Master train to become strong in fight. Those who know that they won''t be able to reach higher rank focus their mastery in using Eon Energy to help them become proficient in their future jobs."


    "Future jobs?"


    "Yes. For example, a farmer''s son is going to study. He didn''t have high talent, only yellow or orange. He will not try to pursue learning how to fight the most. Rather, he will try to study how to make use of his Eon Energy better for farming to inherit his father''s business."


    "Oh," Ye Jiao nodded in understanding.


    Ye Xiao looked at his daughter. "Have you thought what do you want to be when you grow up?"


    Looking at her father, Ye Jiao was at lost. Her father is a hunter, which primary job was to hunt beasts around the capital city and others. It was a good paying job, plus they could eat by themselves. However, for one to become a hunter, they have to reach rank 2.


    Rank 1 would only court death if they try to become a hunter.


    It was not impossible for her to become a hunter, but it meant that she would have to wait until she has become far stronger. Even though she might take shorter time than most people, it might not be for much.


    "I don''t know, Dad," Ye Jiao replied in honestly.


    Ye Xiao chuckled. He didn''t hope for her to answer that she knew what she wanted to be. He himself never wanted to become a hunter, but this was the only work available for him if he wanted to survive. Other kinds of work would never let him live sufficiently.


    "You should think well of what you want to do, but before reaching the necessary strength to pursue your dream, it''ll be good for you to learn many things. Knowledge is priceless," Ye Xiao reminded Ye Jiao. By this time, the two of them have walked for quite some time into the forest. He stayed alert as he didn''t want to be caught off guard.


    "What do you think I should learn, Dad?"


    "It''s really up to you," Ye Xiao scratched his head. So far, he had taught the little girl how to cook, basic farming, and basic physical training. He himself was not one to learn many things in the past because his attention was focused on physical training to become stronger.


    If it was not because of his previous family condition, he would have never learnt the other two.


    Ye Jiao looked at her father with confusion. She truly didn''t know what she had to learn. Everything she saw and knew depended on what her father had taught her so far.


    "I won''t decide for you," Ye Xiao sighed. "I''ll give you the review of jobs that''s available in the city. Of course, if you don''t want to pick any of them, I''ll not force you."


    "I understand, Dad."


    Ye Xiao thought to himself regarding the use of Eon Energy. As they were the basic form of energy, people have developed Eon Energy to help in their daily needs. It could be used for many things and soon, he was sure that they would completely envelope every area.


    As for himself, he only used a small device that would produce light if given Eon Energy. Being an Eon Energy Master, it was easy for him to use it.


    ''I guess, I''ll just leave her basic knowledge lesson to her mother.''


    Compared to him, Ye Ai Xia used more tools with Eon Energy. Even though tools without Eon Energy existed, their number has lessened. Aside from children without complete mastery of Eon Energy, there were almost no one who still used them.


    As he was pondering, Ye Xiao detected the presence of a beast not far from them. He smiled brightly.


    "Jiao''er, watch and learn."

 17 Watch and Learn 2

    "Jiao''er, watch and learn."


    Ye Jiao stayed still in her place as she watched her father walked forward. Even from the back, she could sense that her father looked different than before. It was as if Ye Xiao was enveloped in a layer of energy, looking all powerful.


    "Jiao''er, can you see the difference in me?"


    "Dad looks more powerful," Ye Jiao replied.


    "I initiate Eon Energy to cover up my entire body," Ye Xiao explained. "This is the second use of Eon Energy. Once you can use Eon Energy to spread into your entire body, it means you have reached rank 2."


    Hearing her father''s explanation, Ye Jiao''s eyes shone. It might be only the basic use of Eon Energy because the three first rank could be attained by more than half the entire population in Chen Kingdom. But for someone like her, it was simply amazing.


    Looking at the faint light layer around her father, Ye Jiao was astounded. The light looked beautiful as they protected her father completely. It was thin, yet at the same time, it gave off the vibe of being strong and capable enough to protect him.


    As Ye Xiao talked, a large tiger appeared from the forest. Ye Xiao''s brows arched. It was unusual for tigers to reach this near to the capital.


    He evaded the tiger''s claw when it jumped as he moved to the side. In the next second, he punched forward, straight to the tiger''s stomach. It was just a simple punch, but the force generated was enough to push the tiger to the back.


    "This is the basic use of Eon Energy in rank 1," Ye Xiao spoke up. "After forming your core, you have to focus on strengthening your body, which will allow you to become far stronger. This beast over here is just rank 2, so it''s possible for you to defeat it when you''re only rank 1."


    It was possible, but their body might get hurt because of the hard skin the beast had.


    Rank 2 beasts couldn''t use Eon Energy, but they have far stronger body than rank 1. In addition, their movement was faster and concise. They might be beast, but if human didn''t be careful, they would have to pay enormous price.


    "Dad, it''s coming again!" Ye Jiao noticed that the tiger had stood up again and roared in anger.


    Ye Xiao chuckled. "There''s no need to worry so much."


    He clenched his fingers into a fist as Eon Energy flowed to his hand. Different than the one protecting him all over his body, the one in his hand was circulated so that it would give impact.


    As the tiger pounced on Ye Xiao, he lowered his body and evaded to the side before punching the tiger. This time, it was sent backwards much further with blood splattered around. That one punch had instantly crushed the tiger''s defense.


    Ye Jiao''s jaw was opened wide. She was astounded by the strength her father showed to her. "Dad, that''s amazing!"


    "That''s the power of peak rank 2," Ye Xiao remarked nonchalantly. "Second rank will allow you to have free control of Eon Energy outside your body. It wouldn''t be too far, but you can use them for many things. I just strengthen my hand and add some Eon Energy surrounding it. If it hit anything, it would move them in circular movement."


    Ye Jiao blinked a few times. "Circular movement?"


    "Um," Ye Xiao scratched the back of his head. It was hard to explain things that he only did subconsciously. For him, controlling Eon Energy was extremely easy, so he always tried to use them in numerous different ways. One of them was by controlling it around his body.


    "Dad?"


    "Do you know how to spin egg?"


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. After boiling egg, the content of the egg would turn hard, making it easy for egg to rotate. Sometimes, she would play with them and compete with her father to see who lasted longer. Of course, knowing her father, he would add a bit of Eon Energy to win.


    Well, he hated to lose.


    Even if it was against his own daughter. (A/N: shameless father)


    "If you spin it really hard and touch it suddenly, what do you feel?"


    "It hurts," Ye Jiao only recalled that it would feel painful. She tried to stop her father''s spinning egg before because he added Eon Energy, but the spin made her hand felt a bit hurt when she touched it. She could stop it, but she knew that her palm would turn red.


    "The principle in this is the same, but the one that rotate is Eon Energy. I make them rotate all over my palm, protecting it and at the same time, harming whoever try to get close because it''ll cause pain if they touch it," Ye Xiao explained.


    Honestly, he wanted to just say that it was because of friction and fast movement. But if he said that, Ye Jiao would never understand. He sighed internally. Teaching a little kid was really difficult.


    Right now, he truly admired the elementary school teachers.


    "So with the spin of Eon Energy, it can protect and harm at the same time?" Ye Jiao asked.


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    Ye Xiao nodded his head. "Yes. Let''s see the tiger and you''ll understand it."


    He walked to the tiger''s corpse, which now had a large hole in its stomach. Blood was flowing out from the wound, dying the grasses red with blood. Thankfully, there was only blood that was visible, or Ye Xiao might not be able to explain things because Ye Jiao might not be able to withstand the sight.


    Even now, Ye Jiao was trying to not think too much as she looked at the wound on the tiger''s body. The blood made her felt nausea, but she didn''t say anything. Her eyes were locked on the torn skin, which has the circle mark around the wounds.


    "Is this mark come from your punch, Dad?"


    "Yes," Ye Xiao nodded his head. "My strength coupled with the destructive feature of Eon Energy produce this result."


    "It''s amazing," Ye Jiao muttered.


    "It''s not that good. Anyway, let''s bring it back home to eat and you should start to practice the basic physical exercise again."


    "Ah, we just hunt one?"


    Ye Xiao laughed. "Of course, we only hunt one. Normally, you have to venture deeper to find one, so we''re lucky that it ends this quick. Starting tomorrow, I''ll take you along to the hunt, but you should never participate in the fight."


    "Ok, Dad," Ye Jiao nodded excitedly. Watching her father fight was really cool. "What if there''s rank 3 beasts around?"


    "Don''t worry. Most of the beast around here are rank 2," Ye Xiao said with ease. He had exterminated most of the rank 3 when he ventured into the forest for the past few years. Now, rank 3 became extremely scarce.


    "I see."

 18 Departing

    The days of watching her father hunt lasted for several weeks. At first, Ye Jiao didn''t feel well whenever she saw the beasts'' corpses, but she got better gradually. Afterwards, she also helped her father to skin them and take the meat for their meal.


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    In the past, Ye Xiao only hunt once a week because he didn''t dare to leave Ye Jiao alone. Now, he hunted every single day, so they have excess of meat and food in overall. Aside from that, he also built a small hut inside the forest for hunting. It was located quite deep, but because of the position, it was quite hidden and normal people wouldn''t be able to find it.


    This was the place where Ye Jiao spent most of her time to train while her father hunted the monster in front of her before skinning them.


    "Jiao''er, have you packed all the meat?" Ye Xiao''s head appeared on the door.


    Ye Jiao smiled. Behind her were several large bundles full of meat. It was the result of the past few days of hunts as her father didn''t sell them. They had had enough money from the hunt from the previous weeks that Ye Xiao sold for his journey expense.


    "Everything is ready, Dad."


    "Good," Ye Xiao took out a bracelet. In the next second, all the meat had disappeared.


    Ye Jiao was stunned. She looked around but didn''t find any trace of the meat. "Dad, all of the meat disappears!"


    "Don''t panic, they''re all here," Ye Xiao played with the bracelet on his hand. He had just bought a small storage bracelet to store the food. The difference in the time flow would make the meat last longer, so he decided to buy one.


    "What''s that, Dad?"


    "It''s called storage bracelet. Just give it to your aunt later, she can show you how it works," Ye Xiao didn''t want to try explaining things to Ye Jiao again. The last time he tried, it ended badly because he had to find an example that was easy to understand for kids. Rather than racking his brain further, he would just give the task to Ye Ai Xia.


    "Ok."


    "Now, let''s go."


    Holding her father''s hands, Ye Jiao followed after her father into the city. After several times visiting the city to accompany her father sold the beast'' corpse, she had gotten used with the differential treatment the people gave to her. Compared with before, she could control her emotion better, albeit the fact that it was still rather hard for her.


    Towards the jeer and mocking gaze they gave, Ye Jiao paid no heed and followed after her father quietly. The journey that used to be unbearable for her became something ordinary for her.


    "I want to visit my sister," Ye Xiao told the guard calmly.


    The guard arched his eyebrows. "This is not the time for a festival or anything."


    "I can visit her three times a year. I have only used one," Ye Xiao replied calmly. It was the agreement that he made with Wei Shang, he would visit Ye Ai Xia three times in a year.


    The guard clicked his tongue as he stepped to the side, giving the way to the two of them. Without waiting any further, Ye Xiao walked inside. The condition of the road still looked as bad as before, but he didn''t pay any attention to that.


    Before long, the two of them arrived by the small residence. Ye Ai Xia was sweeping the ground with ease and took a few seconds to realize that her brother has arrived.


    "Xiao Ge," Ye Ai Xia smiled brightly. "Jiao''er!"


    "Aunty!" Ye Jiao released her hand from her father''s grip before running to Ye Ai Xia. She hugged the other party tightly.


    "You seem well, Xia''er," Ye Xiao smiled warmly.


    Ye Ai Xia giggled. "I don''t really have much to do here. I really don''t expect you two to come here today."


    Normally, Ye Xiao would visit Ye Ai Xia when it was the New Year and some other festivals. At that time, the city was bustling with celebration and Ye Xiao would celebrate them with Ye Ai Xia and Ye Jiao here. Because of that, Ye Ai Xia only prepared more dishes when it was the time for festival as there was chance that Ye Xiao would come to visit.


    "I come to bid farewell, Xia''er," Ye Xiao said solemnly. His normal prideful and playful tone has disappeared. It was replaced with serious tone.


    Ye Ai Xia''s eyes shook slightly. "You''re going to start your journey? Why are you in a hurry?"


    "She will reach rank 5 soon with the help of her elder."


    When Ye Ai Xia heard that, her heart felt like dropping to the bottom. The only woman that Ye Xiao paid attention to was only one, his ex-wife. Other than that person, there was no one else around that Ye Xiao would care about.


    Ye Ai Xia raised her head. "Can you catch up?"


    Ye Xiao smirked. "Who do you think I am? Of course, I''ll catch up and surpass her. Even if I''m at the lower rank, I''ll find a way to defeat her."


    "Good."


    Ye Jiao listened to their conversation with confusion. Who were they talking about?


    Ye Ai Xia patted Ye Jiao''s head. "How''s the little one''s progress in training?"


    "Oh," Ye Xiao smirked. He was astounded by Ye Jiao''s result so far and knew that her progress rate was faster than most children. More importantly, she didn''t slack off and always did her best in training because of their family condition. This made him exceptionally proud of her.


    "She''s progressing really quickly, and I have made the arrangement for her training¡­"


    Smack!


    "Do you want to make her to be a training maniac like you?" Ye Ai Xia glared at Ye Xiao. This husband of hers used to be famous as a training and fighting maniac. She should have expected no less from him being Ye Jiao''s teacher.


    Ye Xiao laughed. "She''s far more earnest than you. Isn''t that right, Jiao''er?"


    Ye Jiao didn''t really understand what her father meant, but she nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yes, Jiao''er wants to become stronger faster."


    "Oh, is that so?" Ye Ai Xia turned her head to Ye Xiao as she balled her fist together. She should have known that this man didn''t know what a girl should learn. "You''re really an idiot."


    Smack!


    "AH! Xia''er, forgive me!"


    Smack!"


    "Xia''er! Not in front of Jiao''er! She won''t be able to handle the sight!"


    "Oh, I''m sure you have brought her to hunt."


    Ye Xiao''s face paled. Ye Ai Xia''s guess was spot on. Seeing the chance in Ye Xiao''s face, Ye Ai Xia knew that it was true. She could feel her blood boil again. Bringing a seven-year-old kid to hunt¡­


    Smack!


    "Ah! Help me!"

 19 Farewell

    "Sheesh, do you have to beat me up on the day I''m going to go?" Ye Xiao asked. Ye Ai Xia finally stopped hitting him, but it didn''t mean that his body didn''t feel hurt. Thankfully, he has strong body, or he might have to delay his journey because of injury. It was also a good thing that Ye Ai Xia didn''t add Eon Energy to her slap since it caused more damages.


    Ye Ai Xia harrumphed. "That''s for treating Jiao''er like a boy."


    Ye Xiao scratched his head. That was all he could teach Ye Jiao as he was not sure. Besides, Ye Jiao accepted them all without any complaint, so he thought that it would be fine.


    "Dad, are you alright?"


    "Don''t worry Jiao''er," Ye Xiao laughed as he patted Ye Jiao''s head. "She''s just angry because I don''t teach you properly. With her, you have to learn a lot, alright?"


    Ye Jiao nodded her head seriously. She would train even harder and become stronger to help out her father.


    "Yes, Dad, Jiao''er promises."


    "Also, until you become strong enough, you have to stay low and endure. It''s not going to be easy, but Daddy believes that you can."


    Ye Jiao thought about the harsh treatment of the people in the city. After this, she had to face them alone without her father by her side to protect her anymore. It wouldn''t be easy for her, but she knew that she had to do it.


    "Yes!"


    Eyes full of determination, high fighting spirit, and the willingness to bear the hardship. Ye Ai Xia smiled as she watched her little daughter. This girl was truly similar, similar to her hot-blooded father in many ways.


    But really, he should have taught her to be a little bit feminine.


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    Ye Xiao shifted his gaze to Ye Ai Xia. "Xia''er, I''m going."


    "En, be careful Xiao Ge."


    "I''ll be honest, this journey is not going to be easy," Ye Xiao started. He knew that there were a lot of people who wanted him to die because of his past potential and achievement. Right now, he was still rather young, so they might set their eyes on him.


    However, he would not back down just because of that.


    "But I promise you that I''ll surely return back to the two of you and at that time, everything will be different," Ye Xiao smiled. "I''ll take back everything that should have been mine and reach the greater heights."''


    "I believe you can do it, Xiao Ge."


    Ye Jiao watched the two of them stared at one another. Longing feeling and suppressed desire were apparent in their eyes. She knew that her father cared for her aunt very much, so the decision to leave this place so suddenly shouldn''t be easy.


    "Take care, Xia''er and Jiao''er. I''ll be back."


    Ye Xiao gave a hug to the two of them before departing. He didn''t turn back anymore because he knew that the sight of Ye Ai Xia and Ye Jiao might waver his determination. Before he could take them out of this place, he would not return. He had to be strong.


    Step by step, he left the place.


    Ye Ai Xia watched her husband''s back as tears trickled down from the corner of her eyes. From the past until now, she always saw his back. Hopefully, he would return soon enough.


    "Jiao''er."


    "Yes, Aunt Ai Xia?"


    Ye Ai Xia pointed to the house. "This is going to be your house from now. It''s not much, but we can live sufficiently here."


    The Wei Family might will not give enough for two people to eat, though. She should find a way to search for additional food for the two of them.


    "Aunt Ai Xia, this is a present from Dad," Ye Jiao showed the bracelet that her father gave her not long ago. The content was only meat, but their size alone was enough to feed them for months. After that, they might need to find other ways to find meals to eat.


    Ye Ai Xia took the bracelet. Her eyes widened when she saw the content. They were so many meats inside. As she had expected, that annoying man must have brought Ye Jiao to the forest to hunt. Really, he should learn how to treat children better.


    They were not mature yet!


    "Jiao''er, your father is really excessive," Ye Ai Xia sighed. "But this is going to be enough for our meal for the next year. Can you clean meat and cook them?"


    "I can," Ye Jiao nodded her head with confidence.


    Ye Ai Xia messed up Ye Jiao''s hair. "That''s good. I''ll be needing your assistance to help with cooking. For now, I want to hear what you have been doing with Xiao Ge, your father, for the past few months."


    As she said that, she used up her Eon Energy and made a barrier around the two of them. Compared with her brother, her Eon Energy was smaller in amount, so she could barely make barrier enough to not allow people hear their conversation at close distance.


    "Dad allows me to watch him hunt the beasts," Ye Jiao said excitedly. "When he''s fighting, he''s really cool. Within seconds, he can finish them so easily¡­"


    Hearing the flood of praises from Ye Jiao''s mouth, Ye Ai Xia didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. In this little girl''s eyes, that man must have been the most powerful man in the world.


    Ye Jiao recounted the hunt that she experienced with her father before reaching to the memories when they visited the stores.


    "Dad brought me a pendant," Ye Jiao took out the small pendant on her neck. At the point of it, it looked like a tear. "I''m the one choosing the color because it matches my eyes."


    Ye Ai Xia stared at the pendant for a few seconds. It was an item to hide one''s progress. Unless they were above rank 3, they wouldn''t be able to see her strength. It seemed that Ye Xiao had prepared the worst possible situation for the girl.


    "Jiao''er, you should never take off the pendant, understand?"


    Ye Jiao was surprised to hear the solemn tone. Before this, her father also warned her the same thing, so she nodded her head. "Yes, I''ll never take this off."


    "Good, now, let''s prepare the lunch."


    "Ok, Aunt Ai Xia."


    "You can continue the story too. I want to know more about Xiao Ge."


    Ye Jiao giggled as she recounted more stories of her father during the past few months.

 20 Disparity in Strength

    Living in Ye Ai Xia''s residence was not that bad at all. Ye Jiao spent her day to do the physical exercise that her father taught her and learned the knowledge that Ye Ai Xia gave her from books. Aside from servants who came occasionally to give foods, no one else came to the secluded residence.


    "¡­., 97, 98, 99, 100."


    Ye Jiao laid down on the ground after she had finished 100 push-ups. Her father told her to do these exercises every day to make sure that her physical strength matched up with the increase of Eon Energy in her body.


    ''But it''s really slow.''


    After more than one year since she first learnt how to absorb Eon Energy, Ye Jiao realized that her progress was quite slow. The core would still take a long time to make. With the insane amount of Eon Energy she absorbed every day, Ye Jiao thought that she would be able to form the core soon.


    But it was just her dream.


    "It''s already evening. Seems like I''m training too long today," Ye Jiao scratched the back of her head. She had just finished the fourth set for the day, but she spent a long time to finish them all.


    ''Hm? There''s someone?''


    Her keen sense caught someone walking in her direction. No, it was not just one, but two people. Ye Jiao furrowed her brows as she stood up and cleaned the dust on her clothes. There was rarely anyone who would visit this place because of the secluded location, but it didn''t mean there was none at all.


    At times, she could hear the voices of other people not far from the residence. Most of them just passed through to go to other places, but today, it was different.


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    Two people entered her field of vision.


    One of them was a young man around the age of 13 years old. He has dark brown hair with sharp features. His eyes and eyebrows made him looked rather scary for a boy his age. The clothes he wore was rather good, bright red robe with a long sword hanging on his hips.


    As for the other one, Ye Jiao was familiar with her. She is Wei Mi, the second miss of Wei Residence and also the fourth child. In the past, she clashed with this little girl a few times. Their encounter might be brief, but all of them left a bad impression.


    "Brother Cheng, this is the trash that I told you before," Wei Mi jeered as she looked at Ye Jiao.


    Brother Cheng?


    Wei Cheng?


    Ye Jiao''s mind spun hard as she tried to remember the name. The first son of Wei Residence has the name Wei Cheng. He was known to be talented and has recently formed his core.


    Formed his core? Ye Jiao''s instinct told her that she shouldn''t stay here any longer. If they wanted to create trouble and beat her up, her measly power wouldn''t be able to contend against someone who had formed his core.


    Forming one''s core didn''t mean that he has become Eon Master, but he has stepped into the path to become one. Without the core, they wouldn''t be able to become a master.


    "This is the trash?" Wei Cheng looked at Ye Jiao with disinterest. What he saw was only a small young girl at the age of seven standing in front of him. Without any talent or whatsoever, there was no way this girl could match against him.


    "Yes,"


    "I haven''t greeted you for coming here before, have I?"


    Wei Chang glanced for a moment before activating his core. He had just formed it recently, so his control was not too good. However, for ordinary people, it was enough to give them pressure to their body because of the impact.


    "Don''t you know that you have to kneel down when meeting with the masters in Wei Family?" the boy asked in cold voice.


    Ye Jiao gritted her teeth as she endured the sudden pressure. Compared with the killing intent from the beasts, this was nothing much. Internally, she circulated her own Eon Energy to withstand the pressure as it would surely make her fall down.


    "Brother Cheng, can you restrain your power a bit?" Wei Mi felt that it was hard to breathe all of the sudden.


    Wei Cheng frowned. He really should learn how to control his power better. "Sorry, Mi''er. I just want to teach this trash a lesson."


    "It''s fine," Wei Mi smiled sweetly.


    Ye Jiao really wished to kick this pair of brother and sister. She had heard from Ye Ai Xia that Wei Cheng and Wei Mi were the children of Su Lian, the legal wife. The two of them have higher status compared with other children, so they acted more arrogant than the others.


    Wei Cheng turned his attention back to Ye Jiao.


    "Why are you still standing like that? This is Wei Residence and here, you have to follow our rules!"


    Wei Mi sneered. "She might be a mute, Cheng Ge."


    "Oh? Really?"


    Ye Jiao noticed that Wei Cheng had extended his arm towards her. She wanted to move her body, but her limbs felt all heavy. It seemed as if her body was sealed off. Gritting her teeth, she focused her attention to her feet and forced it to move. The sudden movement caused her body to become unstable, and she fell to the ground in sitting position.


    "How weak," Wei Mi giggled, clearly forgotten that she herself also unable to withstand the pressure coming from her brother.


    Wei Cheng snorted. "Trashes like them should just be ignored. Scram and don''t come to the outer layer anymore."


    Ye Jiao didn''t move from her position as she watched the two of them laughing. Her hand was gripping the ground as they were trembling in anger. If only it was possible, she wished to smack the two of them right in the face.


    Wei Cheng noticed her trembling arm. He thought that the girl was scared, so she was unable to move. "In front of absolute power, a trash like you can''t do anything. Let''s go, Mi''er."


    "Yes, Cheng Ge," Wei Mi replied coquettishly and hugged her brother''s arm. She sneered as she felt happy to see Ye Jiao being pushed around like that. After the incident in the academy, she had longed to see Ye Jiao got what she deserved as trash. Now, she felt truly elated.


    ''A trash should know their place.''

 21 Determination

    "¡­Wei Family really loves to bully the weak people," Ye Jiao murmured after she had calmed down. She didn''t have any confidence in her self-control, so she didn''t try to speak or fight back when the two siblings came to her. If she decided to fight them, the Wei Family would make things hard for Ye Ai Xia because they were staying in Wei Family Residence.


    Ye Jiao stared at her dirty hand. She sighed to herself. At least, she didn''t try to punch them for real because they were acting really arrogantly and annoying.


    Slowly, she made her way back to the residence where Ye Ai Xia was busy cooking their next meal.


    "Jiao''er, you have returned?" Ye Ai Xia asked without turning around. As Eon Energy Master rank 3, Ye Ai Xia has sharper sense compared with ordinary people, so she could sense it when Ye Jiao came closer.


    "Yes, Aunt Ai Xia."


    "Can you help me cook?"


    "Ah, I''m a bit dirty after practicing, so I''ll take a bath first," Ye Jiao gave her excuse. Without waiting for an answer, she dashed to the room and headed straight to the bathroom.


    She undressed before jumping into the large bathtub filled with warm water. Ye Ai Xia always prepared water when it was afternoon because Ye Jiao finished her practice at around this time every single day for the past few days.


    Splash!


    "It feels really good," Ye Jiao smiled to herself. Looking at her hand, she started to rub them together in the water to clean up the dirt and all. At the same time, her mind was thinking of her encounter with the two of them again.


    Splash! Splash!


    Ye Jiao slammed her hand into the water two times as tears streamed out of the corner of her eyes. This was the first time someone used their overpowering strength to suppress her. Before this, they only mocked her or sent her jeering gaze. The fact that she could do nothing but hid everything in her heart made her angry and sad.


    This frustrated her.


    The weak has no say in this world and the strong treated the weak as dirt. No, not all the strong, but the Wei Family.


    ''A family of a general yet they bully the weak. Truly a great general.''


    Ye Jiao buried her face in the water as she forced herself to stop crying. There was no use to cry. She just has to become stronger faster so that no one would bully her anymore.


    "Jiao''er."


    Sensing the sudden hug from behind, Ye Jiao was stunned. "Aunt Ai Xia, I''m still bathing."


    "I know," Ye Ai Xia noticed that this girl was clearly holding back her feeling. It was unusual for Ye Jiao to head directly to the bath, so she could guess that something must be wrong. Seeing her action, she could faintly guess what had happened.


    "Aunt Ai Xia, I¡­"


    "It''s fine," Ye Ai Xia said in soothing tone. She caressed Ye Jiao''s hair tenderly. "You''re doing great, Jiao''er. Everything is fine."


    Ye Jiao could feel the comfortable warmth that Ye Ai Xia provided to her. Tears welled up in her ears again. She buried her face in Ye Ai Xia''s embrace. "I''m so weak, Aunt¡­ I can''t do anything!"


    "Shh, sweetheart, it''s fine, you''re doing great," Ye Ai Xia said to Ye Jiao in soft tone.


    Ye Jiao cried in Ye Ai Xia''s embrace as she vented up her frustration. The feeling of holding back her own talent and hiding from the others were not something a seven-year-old girl capable to do. Everything was simply too much for her.


    She didn''t know how long it took for her to calm down, but Ye Ai Xia continued to accompany her and stroked her tenderly.


    "Have you calmed down?" Ye Ai Xia asked.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. "Yes, I''m sorry for crying like that, Aunt Ai Xia."


    "It''s normal for girls to cry," Ye Ai Xia sighed. "There''s no need for you to hold back every single time. If it feels hard, you can come to me."


    Listening to Ye Ai Xia''s words, Ye Jiao nodded her head once more. She used to rely on her father because he would protect her from every danger around them. After he had left, she forgot that she had Ye Ai Xia caring for her.


    "I''ll train even harder," Ye Jiao said. "That way, I can surpass them and reach higher rank than before."


    Ye Ai Xia smiled. "Jiao''er, what''s your martial path?"


    Martial path?


    "What''s that?"


    "That''s the reason for you to pursue the path to be Eon Energy Master. This reason is the one that will bring you to a greater height and let you walk down your path," Ye Ai Xia explained.


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    Ye Jiao recalled that her father once asked her the same question in the past. She never gave it much thought before because she didn''t know herself why she wanted to become strong.


    Was it because she wanted to gain revenge?


    Was it because she wanted to gain the recognition?


    Was it because she wanted to be praised and hailed as the genius?


    Her eyes flickered as she recalled the cold expression her father had when he faced against those from Wei Family. After that, her memory brought her to remember the time she spent with her father. All the joy and fun times she had with them flashed through her mind in that split second.


    Why did she want to become strong?


    "Jiao''er?" Ye Ai Xia noticed that Ye Jiao seemed to fall into a contemplation. This question was hard to answer for children, and many of them usually provided with weird and funny answers.


    Ye Jiao looked up and smiled brightly. "I know my martial path."


    "Yes? What is it?"


    "It''s to protect!"

 22 Call Me ‘Mother’

    Protect.


    One simple word, yet it could give a lot of different meaning. At the same time, it would not be an easy path because trying to protect someone was harder than to fight freely.


    Ye Ai Xia looked at Ye Jiao with astonishment. "W-what do you mean by protect, Jiao''er?"


    Her words were cracked for she didn''t expect to hear that word from Ye Jiao. From numerous reasons for one to practice martial arts, she had to pick this one.


    Ye Jiao didn''t seem to realize as she opened her mouth to explain her answer. "I''m always being protected by Daddy, but I also want to be the one to protect him because I don''t want to lose him."


    Ye Ai Xia smiled. It was simple, yet it was genuine.


    "I see, you''ll have to train hard, then," she messed up her daughter''s hair. "But remember that you have to take care of your body. Training a lot is good, but paying attention to your own health is still extremely important, understand?"


    "Yes!" Ye Jiao answered. She enjoyed the repeated tender stroke Ye Ai Xia gave.


    "Let''s go to eat," Ye Ai Xia stood up. "I''m sure you''re hungry."


    "Yes!" Ye Jiao exclaimed happily. She looked at Ye AI Xia before remarking. "Aunt Ai Xia, it''ll be great if you can be my mother."


    Her careless words caused Ye Ai Xia to be stunned. She watched as Ye Jiao ran out of the bathroom to prepare the table as tears welled up in her eyes.


    Mother


    ''I''m really your mother, little girl.''


    She was glad that Ye Jiao said that, but at the same time, she was sad because she couldn''t tell the girl the truth. Because of the promise with those people, she was unable to tell her that she was her mother. All she could do was staying as her ''aunt'' to stay around Ye Jiao.


    "Aunt Ai Xia, let''s eat!"


    "Wait for me, little girl," Ye Ai Xia wiped her tears before walking out of the room. A smile made its way to her lips as she watched her cute little daughter.


    Yeah, this was enough.


    ¡­.


    The next day, Ye Jiao woke up early and saw Ye Ai Xia was practicing Eon Energy. She rarely saw her aunt practiced martial arts even when she woke up early, so this was quite a surprise.


    "Jiao''er?"


    "Ah, Aunt Ai Xia, did I disturb you?" Ye Jiao asked hesitantly. It was not her intention to disturb her aunt. She has just woken up and about to help preparing their breakfast.


    Ye Ai Xia chuckled and shook her head. "Not at all. You wake up even earlier than usual."


    "Eh?"


    Looking outside the window, Ye Jiao realized that she woke up before dawn. It seemed that she had had enough of sleep, so her body automatically pushed her to wake up.


    Ye Ai Xia pulled the girl closer. "You''re sleeping even less now, Brat."


    "Aunt also didn''t sleep for long."


    When their Eon Energy reached certain amount in their body, their strength would be replenished with only circulating them. As a result, she didn''t really need a long sleep and could do with just training all night. However, Ye Jiao was still far away from that stage.


    "Don''t compare yourself with me," Ye Ai Xia remarked. He patted the girl''s hand. "I have a story. Do you want to hear it?"


    "What story, Aunt Ai Xia?"


    "It''s about a little girl that lost her parents and being bullied because she didn''t have any parents," Ye Ai Xia noticed that she had caught Ye Jiao''s attention. "There''s this one little girl, she lost her parents because of war. Her parents are exceptional geniuses, so they''re fighting for the kingdom, yet the two of them lost their lives because of war.


    As the result, the girl is left alone. She has exceptional talent, but after losing her parents, her progress stagnated. People around her started to bully her because she doesn''t improve anymore and terms her as useless."


    Ye Jiao frowned. Even though the situation was fairly different with her, there was some similarities. She really hated the people in the story who bullied the girl.


    "Why did they bully her when they know that she has better talent?"


    "Because of jealousy," Ye Ai Xia smiled wryly. "The biggest enemy is not the enemy that comes to your door with a sword ready, but human heart because you don''t know what is inside their heart. Now, continuing the story.


    The girl tried to fight back, but she''s not as strong as them. At that time, a young boy came and protected her. He beat up the bullies and treated the girl''s wound. Even though the girl was known to be broken because of the lost, he didn''t care and still treat her the same. Thanks to him, the girl could recover and train again wholeheartedly."


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    "That''s really sweet!" Ye Jiao''s eyes glimmered. "He''s really cool!"


    "Yep."


    Ye Jiao leaned back to Ye Ai Xia in a relaxed manner. "Thank you for telling me this story, Aunt Ai Xia."


    Ye Ai Xia smiled and caressed Ye Jiao''s hair. "Don''t be depressed with your condition. There will be friends who will care for you regardless of your talent. They''ll care because it''s you."


    "En," Ye Jiao nodded her head. A true friend that cared for her? She really wished she could meet with them.


    "Now, you should learn to tone your training down a bit and don''t push yourself too hard."


    "No! I don''t want to always be protected by other people. I want to become strong as myself," Ye Jiao replied back strongly.


    "You brat!" Ye Ai Xia messed up the girl''s hair. That declaration truly reminded her of Ye Xiao. That man was also extremely stubborn, which resulted in their teacher gave him the worst possible training.


    Ye Jiao laughed freely.


    After finished teasing up the girl''s hair, Ye Ai Xia moved down from the bed. "Jiao''er, I have a request."


    "What is it, Aunt Ai Xia?"


    "Can you call me mother?"

 23 Sneaking Ou

    Ye Jiao stared at Ye Ai Xia as her mind was spinning hard. From people around them, she had heard that her mother has left her when she was born because she was deemed to be useless. Her father had told her that she would never come back, so she should never try to hope. At the same time, she had never experienced the feeling of having a mother.


    The only ones who cared for her were her father, Ye Xiao and Ye Ai Xia.


    Her silence caused Ye Ai Xia to be nervous. Even though she couldn''t tell the truth to Ye Jiao, she hoped that her daughter could call her as ''mother.''


    "Ok, Mom," Ye Jiao smiled brightly.


    Ye Ai Xia had taken care for her just like what a mother did. Rather than thinking of how to get the woman that left her father years ago back, it would be better to have a different mother. A mother who genuinely cared for her.


    And that woman is Ye Ai Xia.


    "Good child," Ye Ai Xia smiled brightly, happiness was evident in her facial expression. "Let''s eat some meat for breakfast today. I''ll make the best meal ever!"


    Ye Jiao''s eyes sparked. "Thank you, Mom!"


    The breakfast was much livelier than usual. Both Ye Ai Xia and Ye Jiao were happy by their decision. Even though their mind thought different things, they were happy with one another.


    "Mom, I''m going to practice again," Ye Jiao told her mother.


    Ye Ai Xia nodded her head. "Be careful and don''t go too far. Those young masters and misses from Wei Family won''t like it."


    Ye Jiao recalled the incident yesterday as she nodded her head in understanding. She had experienced it firsthand how these people didn''t like her appearance at all. Rather than blatantly searched for trouble, it would be better for her to stay low and didn''t approach the border again.


    "Yes, Mom. Oh yeah, Mom, can you teach me basic self-defense?"


    Ye Ai Xia flashed an apologetic smile. "I''m never good at close combat. When you form your core, I can only teach you how to use them."


    "I see, thanks Mom."


    Roaming in the small forest, Ye Jiao looked around her. The size of the forest was pretty big, but she couldn''t go too far from her mother''s residence because other people from Wei Family would surely stop her.


    ''It''s troublesome.''


    Ye Jiao decided to head the other way and encountered the wall not far from there. Wei Family Residence was protected by walls around three to five meters height. She was not sure of their real height because for her, they looked extremely tall.


    Her eyes landed on the trees around her. They were not close enough to the wall, so they couldn''t be used to climb up.


    Well, even if she tried to get out, what was the benefit? She couldn''t live alone outside. With her measly strength, it would be a miracle to stay alive out there.


    Her small legs continued to walk near the wall. This was still the area for her mother''s residence, so she didn''t have any problem to walk around. No one would try to stop her. After walking for a while, she heard the sound of people yelling.


    "LINE UP!"


    "DON''T SLOW DOWN! ARE YOU ALL LADIES?"


    Ye Jiao raised her head to the side. Her eyes blinked several times. They sounded like soldiers in training, but there shouldn''t be any soldier nearby, right?


    Ah, Wei Family is a general family.


    She had completely forgotten about it. Wei Shang is the great general in Chen Kingdom. He has the firm control over the entire military power in this kingdom. With his words, every soldier would move without any hesitation. Whoever offended him have to be ready to face against the entire army of Chen Kingdom.


    Which unfortunately, her father did.


    Even though so, Ye Xiao managed to stay alive.


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    Ye Jiao glanced at the wall. From the sound of it, there should be a nearby training camp not far from this house. It was not really weird considering that Wei Shang might want to supervise their training for himself. Besides, it was good for his children to learn martial arts from military.


    ''I want to see.''


    Chen Kingdom might be a small kingdom in the map from what she saw in the books, but it has good military power because of the other three kingdoms nearby. The four kingdoms were not in a good relationship, so there were constant wars. Added with the beasts around the area, they needed excellent military power if they wanted to survive.


    Glancing around, Ye Jiao strode and made her way to find the closest tree to the wall. Her small legs brought her near the exit of the forest when she saw a tree with part of its branch reached the top the wall.


    ''Yes!''


    Her small limbs quickly moved to the tree. Using the skill that her father taught her, she climbed the tree agilely. She was glad that her father forced her to climb up and down tree for at least 100 times every day. Now, she could easily climb them even with her small hands and legs.


    ''Whoa!''


    The wall looked even taller after she climbed the tree. Slowly, she walked closer on top of the branch to the wall before reaching the wall. She was glad that the top of the wall was not sharp, which allowed her to stand on top of them.


    Well, upon seeing the large field in front of her, she understood why the guards around here were lazing around. This wall directly separated Wei Family Residence to the largest military training camp in Chen Kingdom Capital.


    Her eyes landed to the small group not far from her. The soldiers'' built were exceptionally good. They were all carrying large rock on top of their head using their hand as they ran with one particularly large person leading them all. Sweat poured down on their body.


    "Cool," Ye Jiao murmured.


    She quickly glanced around to find ways to get down and watched their practice. If she stood here for too long, they would surely realize her presence. Her eyes sparkled when she saw the tree not far from them. Thankfully, there were trees both outside and inside the residence that was located near the wall.


    With light movement, she climbed down the tree at the same time the soldiers finished running. They slammed the rocks down, causing the earth to quake.


    "Now, spar with your partner!"


    "YES, SIR!"


    Following their ear-piercing yell, each of the soldier started to form partner and dueled with one another. Using their legs and fists, they traded blows with one another.


    ''Amazing,'' Ye Jiao thought in her mind. This was the first time she saw the soldiers training and she had to say that she was amazed. They were simply astounding.


    Tep!


    "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

 24 If I can Endure, I want to Watch

    The cold voice filled with killing intent jolted Ye Jiao awake from her daydream. She glanced up only to see the leader was staring at her. The boundless energy around him signified that this man was at the peak of rank 3.


    She was already familiar with rank 3 aura thanks to her father, so she recognized it easily.


    "I¡­"


    The leader furrowed his brows. "Answer my question!"


    "I''m Ye Jiao!" Ye Jiao answered in an instant. The force from the man made her replied his question quicker than what she thought.


    Ye Jiao?


    Not only him, even his subordinates were stunned to hear this young girl said that name. In the entire capital of Chen Kingdom, who didn''t know that Ye Jiao is the name of the useless trash that came from a talented genius.


    What made them even more confused was the fact that Ye Jiao appeared in their training ground. Normal people shouldn''t'' be able to come here, much less someone without talent. However, this place was right in the middle of the training ground, which made it hard for people to sneak inside deeper.


    "What are you doing here?"


    "I-I just want to take a look," Ye Jiao replied after thinking for a bit. It was partially true because she came here to look at them and learnt their technique if possible.


    Of course, without getting found out.


    "General Mu, shall I kick this insolent kid?" one of the soldiers approached their leader. His face showed disgust and annoyance. He didn''t like the trash and moreover, someone as brave as Ye Jiao. This girl clearly didn''t know her place.


    Their leader, General Mu, glanced at his subordinates. "Continue practicing."


    "Sir!" the soldier corrected his posture and returned back to practice. The cold tone that General Mu used was exceptionally indifferent tinged with threat for him to do it immediately.


    Ye Jiao looked at the person before her. General Mu? There was only one person came to her mind when she heard this name. Mu Hong, a general at peak rank 3. In terms of strength, only Ye Xiao was above him among the rank 3, which granted him a high position in military.


    Under Wei Shang, no one else could beat this man in terms of position.


    "Ye Jiao, you violate military law."


    "What military law, General Mu?" Ye Jiao asked with confusion. She didn''t know there was any law of that kind in this place. After all, both her parents were not military people, so they never told her.


    "Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to step into the training grounds, or you''ll be punished heavily," Mu Hong clearly looked annoyed.


    He was busy training his men, but this girl appeared suddenly. He noticed this girl when she climbed down the tree thanks to his high perception. At that time, he ordered his men to start sparring with one another before approaching the young girl.


    "I didn''t know that."


    "Do you think that your ''I didn''t know'' will help you escape punishment?" Mu Hong asked coldly.


    Ye Jiao knew that she had met someone who followed after the rules so strictly. She blamed herself for not being careful enough. If only she didn''t act rash, they wouldn''t have found out her presence in this place. Well, she didn''t really have any confidence to fool a rank 3 Eon Energy Master, though.


    "You can choose to be kicked out or walk out by yourself," Mu Hong gave her the choices.


    Some soldiers were secretly scoffing to themselves. Their leader was too soft with these people. If it was them, they would have kicked out Ye Jiao without listened to the girl''s explanation. In their eyes, trash would always be trash.


    Ye Jiao''s heart sunk. She knew that this man would never allow her to come here again in the future. But she wanted to learn more. Just training her physical body was not enough. She needed the experience and training to learn basic self-defense, much more than what her father had taught her.


    "Please wait, what''s the punishment for trespassing?"


    Mu Hong furrowed his brows. "It''s beaten up with the military rod 30 times. Don''t waste my time, little girl."


    "I have one proposal!" Ye Jiao hurriedly said. "If I can endure the punishment, please let me stay here to watch the practice."


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    Mu Hong listened to Ye Jiao''s words as if he was listening to an idiot. This brat clearly didn''t have any Eon Energy in her body as he couldn''t sense any. If she decided to be beaten up by the military rod, she would surely die because of the power behind each strike.


    Even the soldiers were thinking that this brat has gone insane. They themselves never wanted to be punished with the military rod because of how hard they were. Being beaten up was not a small matter.


    "Little girl, don''t waste my time."


    "I''m serious!" Ye Jiao replied strongly, her gaze was filled with determination.


    Looking at the stubborn little girl in front of him, Mu Hong was feeling slightly astounded. Even among the soldiers, there were not many people who would willingly take the punishment just because they wanted to ''see'' the training.


    However, her gaze told him everything.


    This girl is desperate. Even though Ye Ai Xia could teach her martial arts, it would be completely different than the military because Ye Ai Xia was not good at physical combat. The only place she could try to study martial arts would be the military training camp, but it wouldn''t be easy to gain the approval.


    Because she has the tag of useless on her head.


    Mu Hong had seen a lot of soldiers. He knew that the more desperate someone, the more they would force themselves forward.


    "Alright, brat, you''re the one who ask for it."

 25 Punishment and Promise

    The soldiers were dumbfounded when they heard their leader agreed to the terms that Ye Jiao proposed. Does their leader want to kill a young child?


    Seeing the serious expression on Mu Hong''s face, no one dared to speak up. They focused on their opponent and continued their spar with one another. Their leader has the highest authority after Wei Shang, so no one wanted to offend him.


    Ye Jiao beamed when she heard that Mu Hong had agreed to her ridiculous request. She herself knew that it wouldn''t be easy, but him agreeing with her request would mean that he gave her the chance.


    "Ye Jiao is grateful to General Mu."


    Mu Hong didn''t reply. His piercing gaze was looking straight at Ye Jiao as he wanted to know how she felt. However, other than genuine relief and wariness, there was no trace of fear or anything like that. For a seven years old girl, she has outstanding mental perseverance.


    "Bring me the military rod."


    "Yes, Sir!"


    One of the soldiers immediately ran to the storage house and returned with a large rod in his hand. Ye Jiao''s eyes widened when she saw the large rod with several bumps all around. The size alone was already more than half of her body.


    Mu Hong pointed to the girl. "You go and hit her 30 times according to the military law."


    "Sir!" the soldier looked at the rod in his hand as hesitation flashed in his eyes. Truthfully, he was not sure that the girl would be able to stay alive if he had to beat her up using this rod. But military order has to be done.


    Ye Jiao stood firmly on her place as she closed her eyes. Her body started to initiate Eon Energy to protect her body. Even if the soldier tried to not hit her too hard, it would still feel hurt.


    "Start!" Mu Hong yelled.


    The soldier gritted his teeth and clenched his hand that grabbed the rod. Whatever happens, it is not his fault!


    Pak!


    The first hit reached her butt. Ye Jiao''s body shook when the rod hit her body as sweat started to pour out of her forehead. It was painful. Her small body was not used with the pain as she has never gotten hit with a large rod before.


    Pak!


    As the second hit reached her legs, the pain intensified and her legs trembled slightly, threatening to bring her down. Ye Jiao gritted her teeth as she focused on Eon Energy regulation in her body. No matter what, she had to endure the punishment.


    Pak! Pak! Pak!


    Just like that, the soldier continued to hit her. Even though he purposely didn''t use a lot of power and maintained it in moderate amount, the pain was still much more than what ordinary children normally experienced.


    Ye Jiao gritted her teeth as she forced her legs to stay firm. It would do her no good if she fell down even if it might lessen the impact slightly.


    "Is she a monster?"


    "Her physical strength must be great."


    "Maybe a trash without Eon Energy has better physical body."


    The soldiers secretly chatted to one another while continuing their practice. Mu Hong could hear them, but he was not in the mood to reprimand them. His eyes were completely focused on the young girl who was enduring the numerous hits.


    ''She''s not a strong person, but she endures everything.''


    From the expression that Ye Jiao showed, Mu Hong knew that this girl was enduring the hit with everything she got. No matter how painful it was, she forced her feet to stood straight in place and received the numerous punishments.


    Endurance, perseverance, and determination.


    With these three fueled her will, Ye Jiao stood straight under the beating of the military rod. By the time the last strike landed on her body, her legs couldn''t hold it any longer as she fell to the ground in sitting position.


    Ye Jiao gritted her teeth. She could feel her legs and butt were throbbing really hard after the numerous hits. It was so painful that she didn''t want to stand up anymore.


    Right now, the one who felt immense astonishment was the soldier who hit her. He knew that even after lowering his strength, his hit would make the girl felt painful. However, seeing how the girl still stood straight after the numerous beatings, he didn''t have any word left.


    She is trash?


    So what? Most of the talented people couldn''t even bear to have their hand scratched. They would be noisy making ruckus here and there, telling the world how weak they were, yet they were proud of it.


    Compared to this young girl, the soldier felt that this girl was worthy of admiration more than those geniuses.


    Ye Jiao raised her head to look at Mu Hong. "General Mu, I have finished the punishment. Now, can you let me stay here?"


    Mu Hong could see the determination in the girl''s eyes. Most children her age would be pampered to no end by their parents coupled with a lot of training according to their potential. Yet this girl decided to go on her way and made decision like this.


    If he had to say, this girl would surely become someone great in the future if she continued to preserve in her way and action. The Wei Family might have created a terrifying enemy. But of course, that was only if she could grow up.


    Mu Hong nodded his head. "You can stay near that tree and watch our practice. Jun, you help her reach the tree."


    "Yes, Sir!"


    Ye Jiao struggled to stand up as the soldier beside her, whom Mu Hong called as Jun, helped her. She gave a smile to the man.


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    "Thank you, Um-Soldier?"


    The man smiled wryly. "I''m Wang Jun, Miss."


    "Thank you, Soldier Wang Jun."


    "It''s nothing, Miss," as Wang Jun helped Ye Jiao reached the tree, he realized how weak this girl was after the beating. This made him understood that she didn''t withstand the 30 blows without taking any damage.


    Only after making sure Ye Jiao was fine did Wang Jun returned back to his teammates.

 26 My Decision

    Ye Jiao circulated Eon Energy in her body according to what her father taught her. It helped eased her pain and at the same time, pushing them to her core little by little. Going by the progress in her body, it would take a long time for her to form the core.


    "Line up!" Mu Hong yelled. "All of you, do the set 100 times!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    The soldiers started to move in accordance to what Mu Hong said. Punch, kick, twist, and many other moves. These were the basic movement for martial art in Chen Kingdom and also the one that most soldier practiced. They were not really a secret, but children wouldn''t learn them if they didn''t attend the academy once they were 12 years old.


    Seeing that Mu Hong purposely asked them to do the set, Ye Jiao was elated. She could guess that Mu Hong wanted her to see their technique just as he promised.


    ''One step to the left, twist your body¡­.''


    Ye Jiao murmured the step as the soldiers repeated the same set over and over. Their body was bathed in sweat, but they moved in sync without anyone left out. For this alone, Ye Jiao was surprised because the discipline in the military seemed to be stricter than other places.


    Time passed with Ye Jiao continued to watch their practice. Even though she didn''t see much, they were already more than enough for her. After all, most children didn''t have the privilege to see them except if they have good family background.


    "Brat, it''s nearing night. If you don''t go home soon, your parents will be worried," Mu Hong remarked suddenly.


    Ye Jiao was startled and glanced at the general before her. She used her hand to held the tree as she struggled to stand up. The pain on her feet made her unable to move properly.


    "Ye Jiao is grateful for General Mu''s benevolence. Ye Jiao will return back now."


    Mu Hong scrutinized Ye Jiao''s body. After hours of sitting in the same place, there was not much progress in her condition. It didn''t seem like she would be able to go home properly like this.


    "Wang Jun."


    "Yes, Sir!" in split second, Wang Jun have moved from his group to greet his leader.


    Mu Hong pointed at Ye Jiao using his thumb. "Take her back to her home and make sure you see her parents. It''s across this wall."


    Across this wall?


    Wang Jun was surprised. Every soldier in this place knew that the place behind this wall was Wei Family Residence. After all, this place was built close to the place to make sure that General Wei could come and supervise them occasionally.


    "I can go home alone," Ye Jiao refused the offer. If her mother saw her going home in tattered condition, she was not sure what her mother would do.


    "Wang Jun will help you."


    The firm tone Mu Hong used made Ye Jiao flinched. It was full of authoritative order, which made her unable to refuse. Without any other option, Ye Jiao could only accept Mu Hong''s arrangement. Inside her head, she was thinking of reasons to give her mother.


    Wang Jun kneeled in one knee near Ye Jiao, bringing his eyes on the same height as Ye Jiao. He smiled reassuringly. "Miss, let me help you."


    "I''m not a ''miss.''"


    "It doesn''t really matter. Pardon me for the intrusion," Wang Jun held Ye Jiao''s back gently before lifting her feet, carrying the girl in bridal style. Given Ye Jiao''s legs, he was pretty sure that the girl wouldn''t be able to withstand for a long time.


    Ye Jiao knitted her brows, but no word of complaint came out of her mouth. She had endured a long beating, what was this slight pain compared to that?


    Wang Jun looked at the wall before jump up. His legs moved once more as he landed on the ground in Wei Residence. The sudden movement of the man astonished Ye Jiao. She spent some time to climb the tree and reached the other side, but this man took less than one second.


    "Soldier Wang Jun, are you Eon Energy Master?"


    "Yes, I am," Wang Jun replied. "Miss, there''s no need with the formalities. You can just call my name directly without the need to worry."


    Ye Jiao frowned. "But that''s impolite."


    Wang Jun chuckled. "I''m not someone from noble family, so you don''t have to worry, Miss."


    "Hmm, ok, I''ll call you Brother Wang, is that good?" Ye Jiao asked.


    "Brother Jun will be better," Wang Jun suggested. Rather than being called using his surname, it would be better to just use his name. It was not like he had titles either as he was mere soldier. Well, they were actually not that close to be called brother like that, but he didn''t really mind.


    "I understand, Brother Jun."


    "By the way, which way is your residence?"


    "Over there."


    As Ye Jiao directed the way for them, her eyes were scanning the young man before her. Even though Wang Jun didn''t really use Eon Energy, but his physical strength suggested that he must have good foundation and perhaps, already reached quite a high level.


    She wondered whether this soldier was second rank or third rank.


    Wang Jun dashed in the small forest until they reached a small residence. His pupil contracted when he saw the condition of the house because it was simply so bad. Even some poor people in the capital might have better house compared to her.


    "This is my house. Put me down."


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    "Ah, but¡­"


    "I want to walk by myself," Ye Jiao said again.


    Wang Jun didn''t know how to refute, so he put the girl down. Albeit staggering a bit because of the pain, Ye Jiao straightened her body and walked slowly to the house. Her cover was not entirely perfect but ordinary people wouldn''t think that this girl was hurt.


    "Mom, I''m home," Ye Jiao called softly.


    Ye Ai Xia already detected the two of them as she walked out of the residence. Her eyes were scanning the young man with suspicion. "Who are you?"


    Wang Jun bowed down. "I''m soldier Wang Jun from the first division."


    Soldier?


    Ye Ai Xia was stunned to hear that someone from the military has come with her daughter. She eyed Ye Jiao sharply while the girl tried to avert her eyes. It seemed that the two of them would need to have a good talk with one another.


    "Thank you for bringing my daughter back, Wang Jun."


    "It''s my duty, Madam. I''ll excuse myself."


    Wang Jun could sense that his presence was not welcomed with how Ye Ai Xia kept on giving a dagger in her glare. With Ye Ai Xia being an Eon Energy Master rank 3, her gaze alone might give pressure to other people around her.


    "Please leave."


    Ye Jiao watched as Wang Jun disappeared from his place as quick as his dash before. Her eyes moved back to her mother. "Mom¡­"


    "Jiao''er, I think I need to know what you''re doing for the past few hours," Ye Ai Xia crossed her arm. This daughter of hers truly made her worried.


    "Uh, ok, Mom."

 27 Gardening

    "I went to see the soldier''s training and get into a bit of argument with the leader, but finally, he allowed me to watch," Ye Jiao gave the simplest explanation she could think of. There were a lot of missing points from her explanation, making it extremely general.


    Ye Ai Xia arched her eyebrows. "What kind of argument is that?"


    "Um, it''s regarding military law that normal civilians are not allowed to watch the training or something like that."


    "Jiao''er, did you learn about the laws?"


    "No, I didn''t," Ye Jiao replied honestly. She truly wanted to learn after this, though. If that general tried to use the law to punish her again, she might not be able to answer anything without prior knowledge.


    Ye Ai Xia sighed as she massaged her temple. Her Eon Energy moved to inspect Ye Jiao''s body. Upon seeing the bruises, her brows knitted further as deadly aura emerged from her body.


    "They hit you?"


    "Mom?" Ye Jiao could sense the murderous intent from her mother. It was not directed at her, but the thick bloodlust still affected her as she was standing not far from her mother.


    Ye Ai Xia looked at Ye Jiao and tried to calm her temper. "Did they hit you?"


    "It''s the promise," Ye Jiao mumbled. "If I can withstand the punishment, I can stay to watch their practice."


    "Jiao''er, you know that you can ask me if you want to know their practice, right?"


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    "But Mom said that you didn''t know many physical skills."


    Ye Ai Xia wanted to refute, but found no words to say. Well, she specialized in using her Eon Energy because Ye Xiao always protected her back in her childhood. Besides, as a beauty and genius, there was no one who dared to challenge her after she had recovered her mental thoughts.


    As a result, she didn''t have much battling experience.


    "Fine, but you better not come home in this condition again. You''re going to send me to my early grave," Ye Ai Xia sighed.


    Ye Jiao was scared. "Mom, you''re not going to die, right?"


    Ye Ai Xia was stunned for a second. She forgot that she was talking with a young child who was still unable to differentiate between sentence with real meaning and those that was only said for figurative meaning. Looking at the trembling girl, she put on an amused smile.


    "Silly girl, I''m not going to die that soon. I''m still young."


    "That''s good, Mom,"


    Ye Ai Xia chuckled before hugged the girl and carried her up. "Now, let''s wash you up and tend to your wound. I don''t want your skin to be filled with bruise all over. It''s not good for girls."


    "Ok, Mom."


    With gentle movement, Ye Ai Xia helped Ye Jiao to take a bath and applied the ointment. Seeing her bruised skin, she remembered her husband again. Every single day, Ye Xiao would come home filled with wounds here and there. It was her role to reprimand that reckless man and tended his wounds.


    "Jiao''er, you''re becoming more and more like Xiao Ge," Ye Ai Xia sighed.


    Ye Jiao raised her head. "I want to become like my dad. He''s very cool."


    "Oh no, you shouldn''t become like him." If this girl became similar to that reckless, idiot, and stupid husband of hers, she would have to take care of two annoying people. One was already more than enough. Having two of them would just mean more workloads for her.


    "But Dad is really cool and amazing," Ye Jiao defended. In her eyes, the greatest person she ever knew must be her father. Kind, dependable, and of course, a bit shameless and proud at times.


    Ye Ai Xia rolled her eyes. ''Xiao Ge, what in the world did you feed her with?''


    After applying the ointment, Ye Ai Xia sighed and pointed to the backyard. "I have just bought some flower seeds. With your condition, I won''t allow you to train, so you should help me to plant them all."


    Ye Jiao looked at her legs. Indeed, she wouldn''t be able to climb the trees in this condition. She had to wait for her legs to heal before sneaking out to see the training of the soldiers again. For the time being, she had to use her time to study other things.


    "What flowers, Mom?"


    "Lilies," Ye Ai Xia replied. "I specifically order them because they''re beautiful. Their seeds are pretty rare in this kingdom."


    Ye Jiao didn''t have much knowledge over plants or anything like that, but her mother loved them. There were a lot of flowers in the backyard as Ye Ai Xia spent her time to tend them all. As for Ye Jiao, she only visited the place occasionally.


    Lilies.


    "Is that the kind of flower that has a lot of meaning, Mom?" Ye Jiao''s eyes sparkled with interest.


    Ye Ai Xia nodded her head. "Yes. I''ll tell you all about them later. Now, can you stand up?"


    Ye Jiao moved her legs slowly to the edge of the bed before climbing down. The moment her feet touched the ground, she could feel a bit of pain. As she put pressure on her feet, the pain increased as she felt as if her muscle was torn apart.


    Hurriedly, she circulated her Eon Energy and used them to withstand the pain.


    "Come on, little girl," Ye Ai Xia smiled and put her hand on Ye Jiao''s shoulder, using the slightest bit of Eon Energy to help propping the girl.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head and stepped forward bit by bit. The distance to the backyard were only several meters, but it took a long time for Ye Jiao to arrive due to her special condition. Her eyes watched the beautiful backyard, filled with flowers and other plants.


    Ye Ai Xia helped Ye Jiao to sit down on top of a tree stump before taking out a pouch of seeds. She moved to the side and started to plant them with gentle movement.


    ''This place is beautiful.''


    The scene of the garden made her felt comfortable. Ye Jiao slowly closed her eyes as she absorbed Eon Energy from outside and circulate it in her body before pushing it to her abdomen to form her core. This way, she would still nourish her body bit by bit in her practice every day.


    The two of them spent the rest of the day peacefully as Ye Ai Xia enjoyed gardening and Ye Jiao enjoyed the warm Eon Energy that continued to flow into her body.

 28 You Shouldn’t be Here

    It took several days for Ye Jiao to heal completely and started to do physical exercise again. Only after she could finish them without much trouble did she decided to try copying the move that she watched from the soldiers in Chen Kingdom.


    "The martial art movement from the military is not that good," Ye Ai Xia commented as she watched Ye Jiao moved around in the courtyard. This time, Ye Jiao didn''t go to the forest because her mother wanted to see the movement.


    Ye Jiao finished her move and caught up her breath as she looked at her mother. "Isn''t it because I still can''t do it right?"


    "No, it''s not that," Ye Ai Xia chuckled. "The martial arts in this kingdom is not really that good. People mostly only train their Eon Energy to make sure that they can do their job. Those who really need martial arts are people who can bypass rank 3."


    "Why?"


    "Because you''re only a real master if you can pass rank 3," Ye Ai Xia smiled. To reach rank 3, except people with red or orange talent, they only needed to work hard and practice every day for years. Eventually, they would surely reach it. But rank 4 was completely different.


    "But they call rank 1 to be Eon Energy Master," Ye Jiao tilted her head.


    Ye Ai Xia nodded. "It''s because once they reach rank 1, they can use Eon Energy. To make it sound cooler, they''re termed as Master in this kingdom. But if you go out of this place, you''ll know that rank 3 is just the lowest beginning."


    "Really? They seem really far from me."


    "That''s because you have just started learning," Ye Ai Xia chuckled.


    "How do you know all of that, Mom?"


    Ye Ai Xia recalled Ye Xiao and others that happened in the past. When Ye Xiao reached rank 3, he was told about the vastness of the world and the higher ranks that existed. But in this kingdom, it was hard to find them because most of them couldn''t breakthrough despite their immense talent.


    To reach the higher rank, it was not only Eon Energy that mattered, but also many other qualitative things that she also didn''t know. Just like Ye Xiao unable to breakthrough because of his heart, many other people also reached a bottleneck because they couldn''t come in terms with their mind and situation. If this was the problem, no one would be able to help if it was not from the person himself.


    "I''m lucky go have proper knowledge and all," Ye Ai Xia replied softly.


    Ye Jiao furrowed her brows. "But they say it''s hard to make a breakthrough from rank 3, why is that, Mom?"


    "You''ll know once you reach rank 3, Jiao''er. For now, you should just focus on forming your core and remember, in front of rank 4 Eon Energy Master, you should never initiate your Eon Energy at all," Ye Ai Xia warned. The necklace wouldn''t be able to hide her in front of rank 4 if she still circulated her Eon Energy.


    "Yes, Mom."


    "Now, you should have some rest. It''s already late."


    "Mom, I want to visit the training camp again," Ye Jiao uttered her intention. She had remembered all of the move from what she saw before. Even though her movement still sluggish, she wanted to learn much more.


    Ye Ai Xia rubbed her forehead. "I know that you want to learn a lot, but there are reasons why only after children reach the age of 12 that they''re allowed to practice martial arts'' movement. Your body won''t be able to hold on without the core."


    "But Dad starts to learn martial arts when he''s 10 and a half," Ye Jiao remarked. Her father had bragged it to her before, so she still remembered.


    Ye Ai Xia smiled wryly. At that time, Ye Xiao managed to form his core much to the surprise of many people. This was the greatest advantage of having purple color talent, or A talent. They would have a much faster head start compared to other children. As for her, she only formed one when she was 12, which was slightly above the average age of 13 in this kingdom.


    "He has formed his core."


    "I want to beat up his record."


    "Well¡­" according to your potential that Ye Xiao mentioned, it was possible. Ye Ai Xia recalled the story that their teacher loved to tell. "In the entire world, the youngest person to form their core is 9 years old plus several days. If you train hard, you should be able to form it sooner."


    Ye Jiao was astounded. She was only seven and a half years old. It has been around one and a half year since she started training but the core inside her body hasn''t even reached half. It would be impossible for her to beat that record.


    "How much of your core have you formed?"


    "Around 40%," Ye Jiao replied.


    Ye Ai Xia calculated internally. To her surprise, based on this speed, Ye Jiao should be able to form her core by the age of 10 or even less. It was faster than Ye Xiao albeit slower than the record. This daughter of hers is really a genius.


    "Then, you should focus on forming your core. Don''t think too much of other things."


    "I still want to watch."


    "You!"


    After a long debate with Ye Ai Xia, Ye Jiao finally gained the permission to sneak out again. Despite worried of Ye Jiao''s safety, Ye Ai Xia couldn''t venture as deep as the girl. Her position was always monitored every single day, so she had to stay near her residence except when she came to take the food, which the servants delivered right outside her residence.


    Using the same way as before, Ye Jiao climbed the trees and headed to the training camp. Her eyes lit up when she saw Mu Hong and his soldier not far from the wall again.


    "General, that kid is here again."


    Mu Hong paid no heed to the soldier''s information. He had seen that girl climbed down and then hid behind the tree. Seeing how agile she moved, he could guess that she must have healed completely from the wounds she sustained before.


    "Continue your practice!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    He made his way to the girl with complicated feeling. Looking her hopeful gaze, he knew that she wanted to stay here to study.


    "Girl, you have seen the one before. It should be enough to practice the basic. Rather than focusing on martial arts, kids like you should just focus on studying."


    "I want to become stronger," Ye Jiao replied.


    Mu Hong pointed to the soldiers behind him. "They''re all Eon Energy Master. The lowest among them is rank 2, so they can train martial art. The only one you can train is the first one that I let you see. Other martial art requires Eon Energy if you want to practice them."


    Ye Jiao peered to the back. "Is there really nothing?"


    "Listen here, little girl, you can watch the training as I have promised you before. However, it won''t be beneficial for you because your body hasn''t formed a core."


    Ye Jiao glanced up to the general before nodding her small head. Her mother also told her the same thing, she had to focus on forming her own core rather than worrying about fighting.


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    "Ok, I''ll return back."


    "Good."


    With that, Ye Jiao turned around with the intention to go back. However, it was at this time that she heard a familiar infuriating voice.


    "Hey! What is that trash doing here? She shouldn''t be here."

 29 You are Not Qualified

    Two people walked into the training camp, one young man and one little girl. The soldiers quickly saluted the two of them when they passed while Mu Hong only nodded his head slightly. As a general with high position, he didn''t have to bow down or saluted this young master and young miss.


    The one who shouted was the girl, Wei Mi. "General Mu, what''s this trash doing here?"


    "Young Miss of Wei Family, she sneaks inside just now," Mu Hong replied truthfully. His face remained stoic without any ripple of emotion.


    "Oh," the young man with gray robe, Wei Cheng, arched his eyebrow. "It seems that this place has severe lack in security for even a trash can get in."


    "You should discuss it with your father," Mu Hong replied somberly.


    Wei Cheng harrumphed in annoyance. He didn''t really like Mu Hong because of how this general behaved. However, as one of the most accomplished general after his father in this kingdom, Mu Hong has high position that even the King respected. He had no choice but to keep his real attitude under the warp when meeting with Mu Hong.


    Ye Jiao watched the two of them warily. She still remembered her last encounter with them. Wei Cheng used his power to severely restrain her because he had formed his core. Now, several weeks after that incident, she was pretty sure that Wei Cheng had started to consolidate his power.


    Should she run?


    But if she used the same way to return back, they would know how she could come here. If they cut down the tree, she would never be able to come here again in the future and would forever be confined in that suffocating residence.


    "May I ask what is Young Master of Wei Family''s intention in coming here?" Mu Hong asked in polite yet not really tone.


    Wei Cheng patted his sword on his hips. "I have consolidated most part of my core, so it''s time for me to start training how to use my sword. My father wants me to come training in the training camp starting today."


    "If you want to train, you should go to the youth division and not here. I don''t accept children."


    Even though Wei Cheng came here with the purpose of asking Mu Hong to train him, he didn''t really have much hope. His father had told him that Mu Hong was someone with a lot of pride and strict discipline to follow the rule. Accepting children below the age of 15 was out of the question, which was the reason his soldiers mostly formed of second rank to third rank.


    However, not all of them were training in this training camp. Only the elites trained under Mu Hong directly while the rest were handled by his subordinates.


    "I see," Wei Cheng put on a smile on his face yet his eyes showed no mirth. "I understand, General Mu. I''ll come to the youth division after I finish dealing with this trash."


    Mu Hong noticed the hostile tone that Wei Cheng used whenever he mentioned Ye Jiao. He was not sure regarding their relationship, but one glance was what he needed to tell that they didn''t have good relationship.


    If they tried to fight right here, he would stop them because the rule prohibited real fight if it was not a spar. But if Wei Cheng just used his power to suppress Ye Jiao, he couldn''t do anything. Protecting this little girl was clearly out of the question because he didn''t want to delve into more troubles because of the bad relationship between Ye and Wei Family.


    "I won''t stop you, but you have to abide the rules."


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    Wei Cheng smiled. It was just like what his father said, Mu Hong was a stuck-up general who followed after rules strictly. Of course, if it was real war, there was no such thing called rule.


    All is fair in the war.


    "Trash, did you forget what I tell you not long ago?" Wei Cheng asked in arrogant tone.


    Ye Jiao gritted her teeth. She didn''t forget. This young man had purposely come to find her just to tell her that she didn''t have any position in Wei Family. Because of her so-called low position, she had to bow down in front of them.


    But she didn''t want to.


    Why should she bow down in front of this annoying young man and girl? Just because of her low position, it meant that she could be bullied every single time?


    "Ge ge," Wei Mi called. "She''s not just a trash, but also very stupid. It seems that you have to work on remind her again."


    Wei Cheng shrugged. In the next second, he emitted out his Eon Energy. Although his control was exceptionally bad, it was more than enough to put pressure. Still, this was not really a good practice for someone who had just formed his core because it would require excessive amount, which meant that he couldn''t hold out for long.


    Ye Jiao''s body felt like it was hammered down to the ground. She gritted her teeth as she realized that the pressure from Wei Cheng was much higher than before. It felt as if he wanted to crush her bone.


    "Kneel down!" Wei Cheng ordered.


    Even under the pressure, Ye Jiao didn''t wish to kneel in front of this young man. Pushing her body''s strength to the limit by circulating her Eon Energy, she stood there. Her legs were shaking, but her eyes showed nothing but determination.


    From the side, Mu Hong watched everything in silence. As Eon Energy Master rank 3, he has sharper sense than these kids. He could sense the faint sense of threat coming from Ye Jiao''s eyes. Her eyes seemed to be filled with resolution and unwillingness, much more than before.


    ''There''s a sense of chills coming from her.''


    This level of threat wouldn''t be able to do anything to him, but he really didn''t understand. How come a young girl who hadn''t formed her core able to emit pressure that sent fear? It was faint, but it was clearly there.


    "She''s stubborn, Ge," Wei Mi frowned.


    Wei Cheng nodded and added more power. His back has started to be filled with sweat because he had used up a lot of Eon Energy just to try suppressing the girl.


    This time, Ye Jiao''s body was unable to hold on. Her legs trembled before she fell down to the ground. Her two hands propped her body from slamming down to the ground as the pressure seemed to increase on her back.


    We Cheng harrumphed. "That''s far better."


    Ye Jiao gnashed her teeth as she looked to the ground. She was unwilling to be in this position, being pressure by others without the ability to fight back. It was so infuriating.


    "Kick her out," Wei Cheng said as he retracted his Eon Energy. His core has used up more than half of his Eon Energy. As he had just recently formed his core, he couldn''t use it properly other than pushing it out recklessly in the form of aura. "A trash like her is not qualified to be here."


    With that, the two siblings walked away to find the youth division.

 30 Mu Xin

    Ye Jiao moved her body to a sitting position once they have left. Her breath was in disorder because she had to use all of the power inside her body to withstand the pressure. However, her eyes didn''t show any trace of weakness whatsoever.


    All that she showed was eyes filled with determination.


    "Wang Jun," Mu Hong called.


    "Yes, Sir," Wang Jun appeared before Mu Hong swiftly. He looked quite angry at the treatment that Ye Jiao received, but he was not in the position to interfere. If he dared to do anything, Wei Shang would be glad to kick him out of the army. His position was simply too low.


    "Take her to here," Mu Hong handed a paper to Wang Jun.


    Seeing the content of the paper, Wang Jun was stunned. It was a place that he didn''t expect Mu Hong to allow Ye Jiao came. However, he wouldn''t ask this general for his reason. There was no need to dig his early grave on his own.


    Wang Jun approached Ye Jiao. "Miss, please pardon me."


    "I can walk just fine."


    "There''s a place that General Mu wants you to see."


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    "What?" Ye Jiao was suspicious, but before she could react, Wang Jun have scooped her up and dashed through the training camp. This time, Wang Jun used his Eon Energy to speed up his movement, making him moved even faster than before.


    Ye Jiao was annoyed. With this person''s strength, she wouldn''t be able to get out of his grip. And in this speed, she might die if she fell down to the ground. Because of that, she focused her attention to the power that Wang Jun exerted.


    ''This should be slightly weaker than Dad, so perhaps, rank 2?''


    She assessed the power of this young soldier as she scrutinized his face. This man was quite young, around 17 or 18 of age. With the power he showed, he should have a rather good talent, which around blue or light blue. After all, to be able to reach rank 2 before the age of 20 could only come from light blue or above talent.


    Her train of thoughts stopped when Wang Jun stopped his movement. By then, the two of them have arrived before a large residence. The wall was painted in bright cream and red color. With the numerous plants around them, it gave off the feeling of peace and at the same time, spirit.


    "Jun Ge, what are you doing here?"


    The female voice caused Ye Jiao to turn her head around. She could see a young girl around the age of 11 with blue hair standing not far from her. The icy aura around the person caused Ye Jiao to recall a girl that she met more than a year ago.


    "Senior Mu?"


    The girl, Mu Xin, looked at Ye Jiao. "Who are you?"


    "Ah, I''m Ye Jiao," Ye Jiao replied. Wang Jun had placed her back on the ground as the girl stared at the young girl before her.


    "Ye Jiao as in that famous name?" Mu Xin arched her eyebrows.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. She was thankful that Mu Xin didn''t blatantly said the word ''trash'' because that was how people termed her most of the time. "Yes."


    Mu Xin glanced at Ye Jiao up and down. There was nothing special in this girl before her, but her father would never let just anyone come to their residence.


    "Have we met before?"


    "Senior Mu helps me when I come to visit the academy around a year ago," Ye Jiao answered.


    Mu Xin furrowed her brows slightly. She could not remember that time at all. There were a lot of things that occurred in the school every single day, making her unable to remember the detail for each and every one of them.


    "Miss Xin, your father left this message for you," Wang Jun showed the piece of paper that Mu Hong gave to him not long ago.


    Mu Xin read the content before returning it back to Wang Jun. "Tell father that I understand. You can leave now, Jun Ge."


    "Yes, Miss."


    Ye Jiao watched Wang Jun disappeared before turning her head to Mu Xin once again, clearly didn''t understand what was going on.


    Mu Xin pointed to the house behind them. "Follow me inside. I''ll tell you."


    "Yes."


    The house was big from the outside, but seeing it from inside made it seemed to be much bigger than from outside. There were not many items around, but they were placed in a way that would make one felt comfortable.


    Ye Jiao followed after Mu Xin through several corridors before they arrived by a large room. Her eyes widened when she sensed the massive amount of Eon Energy in the room. In the next second, her attention was placed on the several wooden weapons and pillars in the middle of the room.


    "This is my training room," Mu Xin said. "My Father wants you to practice with me, but I don''t like to practice with other people."


    She wouldn''t look down at Ye Jiao because of her infamous name. It was just part of her nature that she disliked to train with other people. There were a lot of people who tried to get close to her because of her talent. She was fed up with them.


    What she wanted was to train to become stronger and even stronger. Those people who only knew how to bootlick people made her disgusted.


    "Practice with you?" Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. She didn''t expect that general to make such an arrangement to her. From the way she saw that general before, he seemed to be someone who followed after the rule strictly and hated children. He even rejected training Wei Cheng despite the latter came to him personally.


    "Yes," Mu Xin said in flat tone.


    Ye Jiao glanced around for a few seconds. "General Mu tells me that children shouldn''t practice martial arts before forming their core, but you practice them."


    "I only learn the basic plus basic combat," Mu Xin answered. "Spar with me. If you can win, I won''t bother you anymore."


    "That won''t do," Ye Jiao didn''t want to lose the chance to practice with Mu Xin. From the way Wei Liao and Wei Mi behaved around this girl before, she could guess that Mu Xin was quite powerful herself. The chance to come and practice with this cold girl didn''t come that easy.


    "What do you want?"


    "I want to practice together with you," Ye Jiao replied.


    Mu Xin frowned. "If you hinder my practice, I''ll still kick you out. Is that clear?"


    "Yes."


    "Let''s start."

 31 Training Partner

    After saying that, Mu Xin''s disposition changed greatly. Her eyes were locked straight to Ye Jiao before she rushed to the girl. Her finger formed a fist before punching straight to Ye Jiao''s stomach.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes could follow Mu Xin''s speed, but her body couldn''t. The strike landed on her stomach as she forced her body to withstand the impact. She shifted her weight to the left before lifting her right legs, sending a kick to Mu Xin''s stomach.


    Pak!


    Mu Xin used her hand to block the kick. Her right hand was swung to make a slap while Ye Jiao forcefully jumped to the back using one legs. Her small body could clearly feel the burden, so she swiftly circulated the Eon Energy inside her body to help her ease the strain.


    "You''re not bad," Mu Xin commented. "But this is only the beginning."


    "I won''t lose," Ye Jiao replied back.


    "Is that so?"


    Mu Xin charged straight to Ye Jiao once again, sending punch or kick to her direction. As Ye Jiao barely learned martial art, her blocks and attack were all over the place. Numerous hits reached her body as she just forcefully withstood the pain.


    ''It hurts.''


    Ye Jiao raised her arm and blocked the punch from Mu Xin. She pushed her hand back and send a punch back to the girl. However, Mu Xin moved to the side and used one arm to move her trajectory. At the same time, her other hand formed a fist and punched straight to Ye Jiao''s stomach.


    *cough* *cough*


    Being pushed to the back, Ye Jiao felt that her inner organs were screaming because of that clean punch. The punch hit her right in her weak spot, churning her inside because of the force.


    "You alright?" Mu Xin asked.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head as she continued to circulate Eon Energy in her body. She struggled to stand up as Mu Xin looked at the young girl before her. It was clear that Ye Jiao was unable to fight any longer, but this girl struggled to stand up again.


    "It''s still not finished, right?" Ye Jiao readied her stance again, yet her legs were already shaking.


    Mu Xin shook her head. "I don''t want to fight against you again. You don''t have any strength to block my punch again."


    "Ah, but¡­"


    "Don''t worry, you can practice with me," Mu Xin cut off Ye Jiao''s words. "Sit down there, I''ll take the ointment for you."


    "Ok."


    After Mu Xin walked out of the room, Ye Jiao sat down on the ground as she inspected her body. Mu Xin''s strength was clearly abnormal. That girl hadn''t formed her core, but Mu Xin had managed to make her body felt pain all over.


    Slowly, she absorbed Eon Energy from the surroundings. At first, she did it slowly then faster and faster, straight to the place for her core. Ye Jiao was pleasantly surprised because it seemed that she could absorb them much faster. In addition, her muscle would become stronger with the nourishment of Eon Energy.


    ''Wait, did it mean I have to be beaten up every single time?''


    Ye Jiao''s lips twitched when she thought of getting beaten up for practice. That was clearly a big no. The pain was not a joke, but the speed at which she absorbed Eon Energy seemed to increase and made her muscle stronger.


    Now, she was in a dilemma.


    Mu Xin pushed open the door as she carried a box in her hand. She sat down near Ye Jiao. "Don''t worry, there are a lot of good medicine here."


    "Ah, thank you, Senior Mu."


    "Here, let me help you."


    "I can do it by myself."


    "I insist."


    The way Mu Xin talked made her remember that general. These two had somewhat authoritative tone in their voice, making it hard for her to refuse them. In the end, Ye Jiao allowed Mu Xin to help her applied the ointment.


    "How about your body, Senior Mu?"


    "I''m good," Mu Xin replied shortly. "Your attack is too poor to give me wounds or anything."


    Ye Jiao smiled wryly. She looked at Mu Xin curiously. "Have you formed your core?"


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    "Not yet. My progress slows down because my father wants me to practice my physical body," Mu Xin said calmly. "But this will make me reach rank 1 faster after I form my core."


    "Really?" Ye Jiao was astounded.


    Mu Xin nodded her head. "Rank 1 Eon Energy Master are those who are capable of controlling their Eon Energy to their entire body even to the cell. With training my body, I also practiced how to control them to my muscle little by little. It''ll make me stronger and at the same time, learning how to control them."


    "I see," Ye Jiao understood.


    Still, she was unable to control it deeper to her body. Just controlling it to form her core was already taxing enough, so she had to do it step by step. After all, it was not too late to learn them after reaching rank 1 in the future.


    "You''re weird, Ye Jiao," Mu Xin commented as she watched Ye Jiao fell into deep contemplation. Most children around her would just say that it was a useless practice. It was easier to form their core first before worrying about the higher rank. After all, trying to move their Eon Energy to other place than their core took a lot of effort.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "Really? I think I''m quite normal."


    Mu Xin didn''t answer again. She put the box to the side before siting cross legged. "I''ll train my Eon Energy to restore my strength. You''re free to do anything you want here."


    After she said that, Mu Xin focused her attention completely to absorb the Eon Energy and used them to form her core and strengthen her muscle.


    By the side, Ye Jiao chose to sit down and did the same. She didn''t want to slack off.


    -


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 32 Arrangemen

    Ye Jiao didn''t know how many hours passed when she heard the sound of the door opened. Her eyes fluttered open as she stared at the door where Mu Hong was standing with stoic face.


    "Father," Mu Xin greeted.


    "General Mu," Ye Jiao quickly followed suit.


    Mu Hong nodded and came closer. His eyes scrutinized Mu Xin''s body. "How''s the training with Ye Jiao today?"


    "I spar with her once."


    "Do you want to practice with her again?"


    Mu Xin furrowed her brows. "She''s too far from my level, Father. I feel like bullying a little kid when I spar with her."


    Ye Jiao smiled embarrassedly. There was a gap of four years between her and Mu Xin. It was obvious that she was lacking far behind Mu Xin in many aspects. Asking her to have the same strength as this girl was clearly impossible.


    Mu Hong nodded his head. He also knew that. "I know, but I don''t ask her to be your practice partner because she has sufficient skill. Rather, I want you to learn how to control your power."


    Control her power?


    Mu Xin looked back at her father. "Father, what do you mean?"


    "Most of the time, you''re always using your full power when you''re fighting. It''s indeed necessary when your opponent is strong. But if you''re fighting against someone far weaker than you, you''ll have to limit your strength unless you want to kill that person."


    Kill.


    This one word sent chills to the two girls. Even though Ye Jiao had seen numerous beasts killed by her father before, not a single one of them was human. The thought of killing other people terrified her a bit as her young age made her knowledge rather limited.


    "You wouldn''t want that, would you?" Mu Hong was satisfied when he saw the two''s reaction. "There are a lot of ways to learn how to control your strength. One of them is by purposely sparing with someone weaker. Of course, you''ll still spar with me from time to time to make sure that your skill wouldn''t get rusty. Do you understand, Xin''er?"


    Mu Xin nodded her head. All these times, she always thought of fighting using her entire strength even against far weaker people. There were already a lot of them whom she sent to hospital because of her excessive strength. What she needed to do was to learn how to control her strength and gauge opponent''s strength correctly.


    "I understand, Father."


    "Good. I also want you to start training your skill against someone else. You don''t like fighting with other students your age, but what about her?"


    Mu Xin glanced at Ye Jiao. The fight with Ye Jiao didn''t last long, but it was full of unexpected situations. Besides, the determination in Ye Jiao''s eyes made it clear that this girl didn''t have any other intention other than training.


    "She''s not that bad," Mu Xin admitted.


    Internally, Mu Hong was smiling. He knew that only someone who was equally stubborn as his daughter could possibly make this cold girl to acknowledge. Other people who only got close to her because of her talent was clearly out of the question.


    They only wanted connection and not training partner.


    "Do you have any objection for my arrangement?"


    "None, Father."


    "Good," Mu Hong pointed to the door. "It''s nearly time for dinner. You should take a bath and go to the dining room."


    "Yes, Father."


    Ye Jiao listened to their conversation attentively. This was the first time she knew that there was a method of training like this. Her eyes were locked on Mu Hong before she bowed.


    "Thank you for this chance, General Mu."


    Mu Hong looked at Ye Jiao. Actually, there was no need for him to purposely ask this little girl to come here and helped his daughter. After all, he only planned on teaching this thing to Mu Xin a year after this because at that time, his daughter would have formed her core.


    However, the stubbornness and faint sense of threat he received from Ye Jiao made him realized that this girl might have a bright future. This was just an instinct, so he decided to give it a try. Seeing that Mu Xin didn''t have a lot of rejection to Ye Jiao meant that it was possible for him to make the two of them got close.


    "You have to train hard too, little girl."


    "Yes, General," Ye Jiao looked back at Mu Hong timidly. "May I ask something?"


    "Ask away."


    "Why do you help me, General Mu? There shouldn''t be any benefit, right?"


    Mu Hong stared back at Ye Jiao. The girl was staring back at him with her large eyes filled with confusion. Normal people would think the same way because there was no reason for him to take this girl in.


    "You can help Mu Xin practice. Besides, that stubbornness you show saying that you want to get strong when you''re this weak," Mu Hong stopped for a moment. "I don''t dislike it."


    Ye Jiao could detect melancholic tone from the general before her. Even though she didn''t know why, she was sure that the topic made the general remembered something in his past. This tone made her felt rather uncomfortable.


    "Ye Jiao thanks General Mu for your help."


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    "Train hard. Mu Xin will be a great sparring partner for you," Mu Hong said calmly. "Also, remember that you have to start gauge your own strength better if you want to become stronger."


    "Yes, General," Ye Jiao was not sure what this general meant by gauging her strength. She had to do some test one way or another to find out her real strength. But it might be for the future as the current her was still extremely weak without any remarkable traits.


    "Wang Jun."


    "Sir!"


    "Take Ye Jiao home."


    "Yes, Sir."


    With that, Ye Jiao was escorted home using a peculiar transportation means.

 33 I Want You to Stay Safe

    Ye Jiao arrived home pretty quickly. She couldn''t see the way that Wang Jun used because he was simply too fast for her to detect. By the time she realized, they had arrived in front of her residence.


    "Miss, we have arrived."


    "Thank you, Jun Ge," Ye Jiao stepped on the ground and turned around to look at Wang Jun. She smiled brightly.


    Wang Jun nodded his head. "It''s my duty."


    "Jiao''er, can you explain to me why you''re being escorted home again?"


    The two of them were surprised to hear the sudden voice from behind them. Ye Ai Xia was standing with her arm crossed. Even though it was already night time, the two of them could see Ye Ai Xia''s angry expression. It was clear that she felt pissed off to see Ye Jiao returned back home while being escorted.


    "Mom, I have new friend today," Ye Jiao waved her hand, trying to distract her mother in fear that she really erupted. Her mother is Eon Energy Master Ran 3. If she tried to battle Wang Jun, it wouldn''t be easy for him to get away unscathed.


    "New friend?" Ye Ai Xia''s gaze lingered on Wang Jun.


    Honestly, Wang Jun really wanted to run away as fast as possible. However, he knew better than anyone that the woman in front of him was far stronger than him. Before he could go more than two meters, Ye Ai Xia would have captured him back.


    "Yes, her name is Mu Xin. I''ll tell you everything later, Mom," Ye Jiao said again.


    Mu Xin?


    Ye Ai Xia might be someone who stayed in the residence all the time, but it didn''t mean that she didn''t have any knowledge over the people in the capital. She didn''t know Mu Xin, but she knew Mu Hong. Based on the surname alone, it was clear that Mu Xin must be Mu Hong''s daughter.


    The next question remained was, how in the world Ye Jiao got acquaintance with them?


    "You mean Mu Hong''s daughter?" Ye Ai Xia turned her gaze to Wang Jun. "You must be a soldier from the first division."


    "Yes, Madam," Wang Jun bowed down.


    Ye Ai Xia crossed her arm. "Tell me, what is it that General Mu wants from my daughter?"


    "General Mu wishes for Miss Ye Jiao to accompany Miss Mu Xin in her training and train together in their place every two days."


    Two days?


    Ye Jiao looked at her bruised arm. Well, it was good that she didn''t have to come every day. If she had to spar against Mu Xin every single day, she would be beaten up black and blue every day. It was not something she wanted.


    "How old is Mu Xin?"


    "Miss Mu Xin is 11 years old."


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    Ye Ai Xia arched her eyebrows, killing intent permeated out from her body. "Are you kidding with me? Mu Xin is already close to forming her core while Ye Jiao is still far away."


    "They''re not training their core," Wang Jun tried to explain. He didn''t understand why Ye Ai Xia would think about this matter since from what he knew, Ye Jiao was a trash without ability to absorb Eon Energy. "It''s martial arts training to enhance their strength and basic combat."


    "Will Mu Xin bully Ye Jiao?"


    "No, General Mu wants Miss Mu Xin to train her strength."


    Ye Ai Xia knew that the training after forming one''s core was to train their strength and used it appropriately. What she didn''t expect was Mu Hong wished for Mu Xin to learn it much faster than other children.


    ''That general is quite harsh in his teaching.''


    "I understand. Tell Mu Hong that if he dares to bully Ye Jiao, I don''t mind snatching his title as the current strongest rank 3," Ye Ai Xia harrumphed as she released a part of her power, crushing Wang Jun''s body with immense pressure.


    Compared with Wei Cheng, Ye Ai Xia has complete control of her power. It was easy for her to direct it to give pressure to one person and didn''t affect Ye Jiao in the slightest.


    Wang Jun''s back was filled with sweat. He could sense that the strength Ye Ai Xia gave off was clearly stronger than their general. From what he heard; Ye Ai Xia''s strength was only somewhat in the middle as she didn''t have the right mindset to breakthrough to rank 4.


    But this power¡­


    It was clearly someone who was already close to breaking through rank 4.


    If the two of them clashed, it would be a grand clash of two people at the peak of rank 3. Neither one of them seemed to have the chance to breakthrough because of their mental condition, but their battle would surely be big.


    "Yes, Madam."


    The pressure disappeared after he replied. Without waiting for another second, Wang Jun fled for his life. He worried that Ye Ai Xia would change her decision and decided to beat him up black and blue. With his Eon Energy at rank 2, he was not her match at all.


    Ye Jiao was amazed when she heard her mother''s declaration. Warm feeling filled her chest as she made her way to her mother.


    "You''re amazing, Mom."


    "You''re really making me worried, Jiao''er," Ye Ai Xia sighed and reached out to Ye Jiao before hugging the girl in her embrace tightly. Scanning this little girl''s body made her noticed that she must be wounded hard.


    "I''m sorry, Mom."


    "You little idiot," Ye Ai Xia sighed. "You can train all you want and practice hard using different kind of means. I don''t mind them at all. As long as you can stay safe and return back home in one piece, I don''t mind. Mom wants you to stay safe."


    The warmth from her mother''s embrace and words touched Ye Jiao''s heart. She knew that she had made her mother worried sick because of her reckless attitude. However, she wanted to get stronger and even stronger.


    "Jiao''er, promise me that you''ll keep yourself safe. That''s all I ask."


    "Yes, Mom," Ye Jiao replied. "I''ll not do anything dangerous when I''m training right now."


    "Right now? Do you mean you''ll when you''re stronger?"


    "That''s¡­"


    "Jiao''er!"

 34 I Still Have a Long Way to Go

    Ye Jiao looked down. She knew that in the future, she would have to train fighting with beasts and many others. At that time, she might get hurt and wounded badly. Trying to keep herself safe all the time was impossible.


    Ye Ai Xia sighed as she caressed Ye Jiao''s face. "Jiao''er, look at Mom."


    Slowly, Ye Jiao raised her head. Her eyes were staring back at her mother''s green iris. "Mom."


    "Even though the world outside will be dangerous, you have to prioritize your life. Don''t be greedy in front of treasure, but you shouldn''t back down when you''re being treated unfairly. Different condition calls for different solution."


    Ye Jiao looked back at her mother with confusion. The little her couldn''t understand what her mother meant as she was still too small.


    Ye Ai Xia sighed. "Forget it, let''s go and treat your wounds."


    "Senior Mu has treated them. I already use ointment," Ye Jiao explained to her mother. Afterwards, she continued to tell the story of her training that day and many others, including her suspicion that her training speed seemed to increase.


    Listening to Ye Jiao''s story, Ye Ai Xia came to the conclusion that Mu Hong and Mu Xin truly wanted Ye Jiao to train with them. They didn''t train her poorly and let her came to the room filled with Eon Energy albeit they didn''t know that Ye Jiao could absorb them.


    "Mom, could it be that if I get beaten up, I can train much faster?"


    Pfft!


    Ye Ai Xia laughed freely. The conclusion that Ye Jiao came after training in that place seemed to be extremely outstanding. She shook her head as she wiped her tears that came out because of her laugh.


    "Hahaha, it''s not that at all, Jiao''er. Your training become faster because of the amount of Eon Energy in that room is much more than outside. After you have reached a certain stage, you will need place with denser Eon Energy if you want to progress faster," Ye Ai Xia explained.


    Every place contained Eon Energy in the air, but it was different in every place. After reaching 30-40% in the core forming, children''s speed would slow down in normal condition. They would need a place that has dense Eon Energy gathered, like the place where Ye Xiao brought Ye Jiao back when the little girl started learning.


    "It means that my progress is faster because I''m in that room filled with Eon Energy?" Ye Jiao asked. She thought that it was because she got beaten up. Thankfully, it was not that.


    Ye Ai Xia nodded her head as she stifled her laugh. "Mu Xin should have formed around 80-90% of her core. She will need a place with denser Eon Energy to form her core."


    Besides, the Mu Family was known to have larger strength than ordinary people. If they used their Eon Energy to train their muscle too, their speed of progress would slow down in forming their core. Even with the help of the special place, it was entirely possible for them to become slower than what their talent suggested.


    At this time, Ye Ai Xia looked at her daughter. Ye Xiao had told her that he asked Ye Jiao to train her physical body too. Even though with stronger body they would be able to absorb more Eon Energy, it would slow down her progress in forming her core because many of them were directed at her muscle and not her abdomen.


    ''But her progress is already 45%.''


    Could it be that if she focuses entirely in forming her core, she could reach 50% or even more?


    Ye Ai Xia shook her head slightly. That kind of talent would be too much to think of. Both her and Ye Xiao didn''t have that much talent to begin with.


    ''I shouldn''t think too much. It might just be because of the Eon Energy that she absorbs from that place when she''s six.''


    "Mom, I''ll be training in Mu Residence every two days, so it meant that I will still train at home," Ye Jiao looked at her mother. "Can mother teaches me knowledge too?"


    Ye Ai Xia nodded her head. "Sure, I''ll teach you basic knowledge."


    "What is the basic knowledge, Mom?"


    "Mathematic, geography, history, physics, laws, arts,¡­"


    Hearing her mother listed out a lot of things to learn, Ye Jiao felt like fainting. There were so many!


    Little did she know that part of them were actually things that only children over the age of 12 learned after they formed their core. But of course, Ye Ai Xia would not care about them and decided to just teach everything to Ye Jiao.


    "I''ll take a bath first, Mom."


    "Ok, I have readied the water."


    Ye Jiao dashed to the bathroom as she tried not to think too much. She has learned a lot because of the books she read all these years. However, they were still lacking compared with the number of lessons her mother uttered just now.


    ''I still have a long way to go.''


    After bath and dinner, Ye Ai Xia started teaching Ye Jiao the knowledge regarding geography. Thanks to Ye Jiao''s prior knowledge after helping out in farming, she could understand the basic better. However, Ye Ai Xia would move up the lesson right after Ye Jiao grasped the basic.


    In the end, their lesson lasted until it was bed time for Ye Jiao.


    "Jiao''er?" Ye Ai Xia noticed that Ye Jiao didn''t answer anymore. She looked over her book and noticed that the girl had put her head on the table. She smiled slightly.


    "Am I too harsh? Come on, Jiao''er, you have to sleep on the bed."


    With that, Ye Ai Xia carried her daughter to the bedroom. With gentle movement, she placed her daughter on top of the bed before pulling the blanket to cover up the little girl. Afterward, she leaned in and planted a kiss on the girl''s forehead.


    "Sweet dream."


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    Ye Ai Xia walked out of the room and cleaned up the books on the table before walking to the garden behind the house. Her eyes caught the sight of the newly planted flower that she planted not long ago. It has started to show the bud.


    She smiled slightly before standing in the middle and started to absorb the Eon Energy around her. Near the nature, there will be much more Eon Energy existed.


    ''I''ll also grow stronger, Jiao''er.''


    After seeing her daughter was so determined to grow stronger and Ye Xiao leaving them, Ye Ai Xia felt a sense of crisis. She started to be more diligent and trained her Eon Energy. Even though she might not pass the requirement to breakthrough, she would become the strongest Eon Energy Master Rank 3.


    If something happened to Ye Xiao, she would be the only one left to protect Ye Jiao. Before Ye Jiao could become strong enough to protect herself, she too has to become even stronger.


    She didn''t want to lose the two of them.

 35 Know Your Place!

    By morning, Ye Ai Xia had finished her practice. She noticed that Ye Jiao had woken up, so she quickly returned back home.


    "Good morning, Mom," Ye Jiao smiled brightly.


    "Good morning, Sweetheart. How''s your sleep last night?"


    Ye Jiao snuggled in her mother''s embrace. It was so warm. "I sleep deeply, Mom. There didn''t seem to be anything that bother me during my sleep at all. Also, it feels as if this place has become warmer, Mom."


    "Warmer?" Ye Ai Xia was perplexed. There was nothing different in this place than before.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. Her eyes scanned the surrounding. "There are much more Eon Energy around here than before."


    Ah.


    Ye Ai Xia recalled the garden behind the residence. She had planted much more flowers and other plants there. As plants could provide much more Eon Energy rather than cities, it made the concentration of Eon Energy in this place thicker than before.


    However, she clearly didn''t feel the Eon Energy to be warm. At most, it would make her feel comfortable.


    "Eon Energy makes you feel warm?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao nodded her head. "It''s warm and so comfortable."


    Ye Ai Xia looked at her daughter with suspicion. She walked to the kitchen and beckoned for the young girl to follow after her. Ye Jiao followed after her mother curiously and saw that her mother was standing right beside the stove.


    With slight movement, Ye Ai Xia started the fire. "Jiao''er, come over here and stay near the fire."


    Ye Jiao looked at her mother with confusion. It was not winter and even in winder, their place didn''t have snow because the four kingdoms were located at the south area. Except the slightly lower temperature, there was not much chance during winter than now.


    She stood before the stove obediently as her eyes looked at the fire curiously. There were a lot of Eon Energy around the fire, which she slowly absorbed into her body. Rather than scorching hot, all she felt was that the Eon Energy was slightly hotter than the usual warmth she felt.


    "It''s a bit hotter."


    "¡­Compared to the one you used to absorb?"


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. "Yes."


    Ye Ai Xia frowned. If it was not fire, then what? As she was pondering, she noticed that the servants have come to deliver the food to them.


    "I''ll take the food. You stay here and practice, Jiao''er."


    "Yes, Mom," Ye Jiao sat near the stove and started to practice. She could distinctively sense that there seemed to be two different feeling from the Eon Energy she absorbed that day. Even though it was not too clear, she knew that it must be there.


    Ye Ai Xia walked out of the house and saw two servants walked with a basket in their hand. Her brows knitted when she saw the size of the basket. It had grown smaller.


    "Here''s your share today," one of them said sarcastically.


    As they turned around to leave, Ye Ai Xia looked below the small blanket. Her blood boil in rage when she saw the content.


    "Hold it right there!"


    "What? We have¡­."


    The two servants were about to disregard Ye Ai Xia when they sensed immense pressure coming to them. The two of them were Eon Energy Master rank 1 because Wei Shang would only accept servant who had Eon Energy power. However, the two of them were unable to move under the pressure that Ye Ai Xia emitted.


    "Who told you to cut off the food to my residence?" Ye Ai Xia asked with loud voice filled with coldness.


    The two servants were terrified when they sensed the immense pressure. They could feel their bone cracking because of the power this woman emitted. All these times, they treated her without care because Ye Ai Xia didn''t really have any power here, but this time it seemed that this woman had grown angry.


    "Answer!" Ye Ai Xia yelled.


    "It''s master!"


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    Ye Ai Xia arched her eyebrows. "Oh, Wei Shang you say? Are you sure that you''re telling me the truth?"


    "Yes!" the two of them answered in unison.


    Seeing their action, Ye Ai Xia snorted. She moved closer before using her Eon Energy to bind the two of them. "In that case, let''s pay a visit to that man."


    The two servants'' faces were pale in fear. However, they were unable to do anything as Ye Ai Xia dashed through the small forest straight to Wei Shang''s residence. The guards that watched over her were unable to catch up as she reached the residence faster than any of them.


    Bang!


    "Wei Shang, you better give me explanation," Ye Ai Xia kicked the door open. There was no trace of her usual gentle and soft manner.


    Inside the room, Wei Shang was sitting on his chair with an annoyed expression. He is a rank 4, so he could sense that Ye Ai Xia had come to his direction. His guards were too slow in response, despite the fact that Ye Ai Xia came here while bringing two servants with her.


    "What is it?" Wei Shang asked.


    Ye Ai Xia crossed her arm. "They''re giving me less food than usual today. Tell me, do you want to starve me to death?"


    "If I want you to die, I''ll kill you right here and right now."


    "Oh? Can you do it? She instructs you to keep me alive, isn''t she?" Ye Ai Xia asked in unbridled manner.


    Wei Shang frowned. Recalling his promise to that woman, he knew that he had to keep Ye Ai Xia alive in his residence as a little prisoner.


    "What do you want?"


    "I just want enough food and not this trash," Ye Ai Xia pointed to the basket that she had placed on the floor.


    Seeing how the basket looked well, Wei Shang could guess that Ye Ai Xia had grown stronger again. Even though there was a barrier that this girl would never be able to pass, this girl has become too much of a hassle to him.


    "What if I say no?"


    "Oh? Do you know why I decide to stay quiet in your residence? Do you think you can stop me just because you''re Rank 4? Let me tell you, if I run to the beast''s nest, do you dare to chase after me?" Ye Ai Xia asked loudly.


    Wei Shang''s expression sunk. He knew very well that he could defeat Ye Ai Xia with his current power, but if she ran to their nest in the forest, he would be the one courting death. In their nest, there was rank 4 or even rank 5 beasts. If he tried to go there, he would die without any doubts.


    With the speed that Ye Ai Xia showed today he knew that he wouldn''t be able to chase after her. Even in the past, Ye Ai Xia''s specialization has been utilizing Eon Energy to make her move faster, making her speed to be unmatched.


    However, going to the beast''s nest was a bet for the two of them. If not cornered, Ye Ai Xia would never want to pick that option, but if she was forced to do it, she would do it.


    The two of them stayed still in their place, locked in a stalemate.

 36 The Answer

    "You won''t be able to do it," Wei Shang broke the silence between the two of them. His eyes were looking straight to Ye Ai Xia. "If you go there, you''ll die along with your daughter."


    Ye Ai Xia arched her eyebrows. "Do you want to try?"


    Do you want to try?


    It was clearly a provocation, but Wei Shang didn''t dare to try that. Ye Xiao was still out there, out of their supervision. One way or another, that man managed to get out of their range and roam freely. If something happened to Ye Ai Xia, he would surely return back or perhaps, return back years later to get his revenge.


    In addition, there was still the promise that he made with that woman.


    That woman wanted Ye Ai Xia to stay alive and watched her from afar without the chance to catch up. If that woman heard that Ye Ai Xia had died, she might send an army from her family to exterminate his own family.


    He was not that woman''s match. Even if all experts in the kingdoms gathered, they wouldn''t be able to defeat that woman and her family. The gap was simply too big.


    "Fine, it''s just food, right?" Wei Shang relented. If a dispute happened because of a small portion of food, he would shame the entire Wei Residence. She just wanted more food, so he would give it to her.


    "Yes."


    We Shang waved his hand, and a servant appeared before him. "Tell the kitchen servant to increase Ye Ai Xia''s food portion to twice from what she gets previously."


    "Yes, Master."


    Ye Ai Xia watched the man walked away before turning her gaze back to Wei Shang. "You better not lie. I''ll be waiting for my food."


    "Of course," Wei Shang replied coolly.


    As Ye Ai Xia left the place, the atmosphere turned several folds colder. The two servants that Ye Ai Xia brought with her were still kneeling on the ground. They didn''t expect to hear something so outrageous in this place. However, they also knew that they would be silenced to make sure that the news never leaked out.


    Wei Shang swept his glance to his guards. "All of you should head to the training camp and train again."


    "Yes, Master!"


    The guards were ashamed. Neither one of them managed to stop Ye Ai Xia before that woman reached Wei Shang''s residence. This was a huge shame in their place.


    "You''ll endure 100 beating from the military rod and next week, all of you will spar with me one by one."


    "Yes, Master!"


    "Any objection?"


    "No, Master! Master is the most benevolent man in the world!"


    "Good," Wei Shang said shortly. "You''re dismissed. And feed these two to the beasts."


    As the guards disappeared back to do their punishment, Wei Shang tapped the table with annoyance. In his family, he was the absolute strongest one while the rest was only middle rank 3 at most. There were not many elites in this kingdom that he managed to pull to his side.


    It seemed that it was already the time for him to develop more elites for himself.


    At the same time, Ye Ai Xia returned back to her residence. Her heart was pacing quickly as she has truly acted outrageous just now. However, she needed to do this, or their treatment to the two of them would become worse.


    ''One or two more years and I''ll be able to leave.''


    If Ye Jiao managed to form her core before the age of 10, the two of them would have a chance to leave this place by relying on the large school that would be interested in her talent. For a child to form their core below the age of 11, they would be treated extremely well because of how rare they were. Out of thousands, only one child would be able to have enough talent to reach it.


    Ye Ai Xia entered the room and saw that Ye Jiao was still sitting in front of the stove. Seeing how the girl didn''t seem to feel the hot too much, her brow creased.


    ''Did she have natural affinity with fire? But if that''s the case, she shouldn''t feel the heat at all.''


    As she pondered, Ye Jiao was focusing on the Eon Energy around her. She could feel that the Eon Energy that was formed from the fire in the stove was easier to absorb compared with the one that she used to absorb. She didn''t really understand the reason, but since it made her training easier, she didn''t move even one step from this place.


    ''Oh, they come.''


    Ye Ai Xia walked out to see another servant had come. In her hand was a large basket, filled with food to the brim. Seeing the food, Ye Ai Xia was satisfied.


    "Madam, this is your food for today."


    "Ok, you can leave," Ye Ai Xia picked the basket and returned back to the room. Her hand was busy looking at the food in the basket. Coupled with the meat that his husband had left behind, they should have enough food to eat for the next year. Not only enough, they might be able to eat to their fill.


    "Jiao''er."


    Ye Jiao opened her eyes and turned around. "Mom."


    "How''s the training?"


    "It''s amazing," Ye Jiao replied. "The Eon Energy become easier to collect compared with usual."


    "I see," Ye Ai Xia caressed the girl''s hair tenderly. Her mind was thinking hard to find out the result. Unfortunately, she didn''t have the knowledge that large for she didn''t know the reason. As she thought, Ye Jiao needed a proper teacher to teach her this kind of matter.


    "Mom, is it weird?" Ye Jiao asked.


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    Ye Ai Xia shook her head. "You might have some special condition that Mom also doesn''t understand. Do you want a proper teacher, Jiao''er?"


    Ye Jiao dropped her eyelids. From what she saw, it was indeed possible for her to get a proper teacher, but doing so would mean revealing her talent to other people. When that happened, her mother and father''s enemies would come here. There was no one around here who could possibly protect her from them.


    "Ye Jiao will become stronger first, Mom," Ye Jiao replied. Her hand touched the necklace that her father gave to her before he left. "Dad says that I have to become stronger and only then I could protect myself, mom, and dad."


    Ye Ai Xia smiled slightly. "If that''s your decision, I understand."


    Ye Jiao looked at her mother with complicated expression. "Mom, do you want me to get a proper teacher?"


    "I feel that I didn''t do you right because I can''t teach you everything," Ye Ai Xia replied. She was not a teacher and her knowledge were extremely limited.


    Ye Jiao shook her head rapidly. "No, Mom is a good teacher. Besides, I only need to learn the basic. When I become strong, we can search for a different teacher, Mom."


    "You''re right," Ye Ai Xia nodded her head. It shouldn''t be too late for Ye Jiao to search for a teacher once this girl formed her core or even reached rank 1. She believed that her daughter would be able to achieve them when this girl was still young.


    Ye Jiao smiled. "Shall I prepare breakfast, Mom?"


    "Come and help me."


    "Yes, Mom!"

 37 Learning to Multitask

    "Jiao''er, can you circulate your Eon Energy while doing chores?" Ye Ai Xia asked.


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    Ye Jiao nearly dropped the cloth that she held in her hand when she heard her mother''s question. Her eyes blinked a few times. "Mom, isn''t that impossible?"


    She required great concentration to pull Eon Energy to her body and core. If she had to do chores on top of absorbing them, she wouldn''t be able to do the two of them well. It was simply too hard.


    Ye Ai Xia chuckled. "There''s someone you know that manage to do it."


    "Who?"


    "Who do you think?" Ye Ai Xia winked.


    Ye Jiao beamed. "Dad?"


    "Yes."


    "Dad is really awesome!"


    Ye Ai Xia laughed. "He told me that it was indeed possible to pull the Eon Energy while doing something else, but it''s not directed to your core. All he does is just circulating Eon Energy to strengthen his body because he was too lazy."


    "Dad is lazy?"


    "Yes," Ye Ai Xia laughed. "There''s a time when he''s so lazy that he chooses to train while doing chores. This way, he didn''t have to specifically pick time to train and could spend the time to play with the others. The teachers are angry, but they couldn''t do anything because he still progresses faster than most children here."


    Ye Jiao followed after her mother and laughed too. "Is that before Dad form his core?"


    "He had formed his core. It''s when he''s about to reach rank 1."


    "Ah," Ye Jiao recalled that reaching the first rank required them to train their Eon Energy freely inside their body. It was no wonder that her father trained to do it while doing chores and others.


    "Do you want to try?"


    "Yes!"


    As Ye Jiao continued to clean up the window, she tried to circulate the Eon Energy in her body. However, her coordination turned into a mess as she had to focus to two things. In the end, she took twice the time she used to clean the window.


    Ye Ai Xia shook her head. "Try to do it while sweeping the floor. It''ll require less thinking."


    "Ok, Mom."


    With that, Ye Jiao did chores for the entire morning while training the circulation that Ye Ai Xia mentioned. Even though her movement was extremely awkward at times, she continued to train the double practice to train her Eon Energy and did chores.


    "It''s afternoon, let''s start our lesson today," Ye Ai Xia called the girl.


    Ye Jiao jogged to the house. Her eyes scanned the book on the table curiously. "What are we going to study today, Mom?"


    "I''ll teach you geography, or to be exact, regarding Chen Kingdom," Ye Ai Xia replied. "What do you know regarding Chen Kingdom and its size."


    "It''s really large," Ye Jiao replied. "There are numerous cities and villages in this kingdom. The capital is the largest city in this kingdom. As for the terrain¡­ um, there are a lot of varieties?"


    "I can see that you don''t know anything."


    "Sorry, Mom," Ye Jiao scratched her head. She did learn geography but only the general. What she remembered was only the types of plant that grew in what season and the likes. As for the Chen Kingdom in specific, she was not too sure.


    Ye Ai Xia took out a map and spread it on the table. "This area is Chen Kingdom. There are indeed a lot of different terrains, but Chen Kingdom is mostly covered in forests. This is why there are a lot of beasts around. The forests are their habitat."


    "The shape looks like a chicken."


    Pfft!


    "Why are you thinking of that?"


    Ye Jiao grinned. "Here, it looks like its head and down there look like the tail and feet."


    Upon listening to Ye Jiao''s explanation, Ye Ai Xia didn''t know whether to laugh or not. It was true that the shape looked like chicken because of the newest expansion at the north, but should that be her first remark?


    "Mom, Chen Kingdom is bordering two kingdoms?"


    "Yes, at the east, there''s Cao Kingdom while the west is Chi Kingdom," Ye Ai Xia pointed. "This map didn''t give the detail area, but it should be around the same size with Chen Kingdom."


    "But without the chicken shape?"


    "Yes¡­ are you hungry?"


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "No, why Mom?"


    "Because you keep on mentioning chicken," Ye Ai Xia giggled. "Anyway, at the northwest of Chen Kingdom, in the area near the chicken head, it''s a mountain''s range."


    "Oh," Ye Jiao studied the map. The four kingdoms seemed to face the same mountain range because their shape at the northwest looked like a straight line with slight bumps here and there. "What''s in that mountain range, Mom?"


    "It''s¡­." Ye Ai Xia wanted to answer, but she decided to not do it. It was her destination once they were unable to live in this place anymore. There was something in that place that would be able to protect the two of them. But it was only a plan.


    Ye Jiao noticed that her mother seemed strange. "Mom?"


    "It''s nothing," Ye Ai Xia coughed. "Now, let''s move to another topic. What do you know regarding the division of power in Chen Kingdom?"


    "There are three prominent families," Ye Jiao raised three of her fingers. "First is the Imperial family, Chen Family. Second is the military family, Wei Family. Third is scholarly family, Lu Family."


    "You''re correct, do you know the three of them?"


    "I only know Wei Family."


    Both mother and daughter smiled wryly. Ye Jiao only knew Wei Family because they were living here. It was easy for her to gain the information of the Wei Family.


    "What do you know regarding the five children of Wei Shang?"


    "Two of them come from the main wife while the other three comes from the concubines," Ye Jiao replied.


    "How many concubines he has?"


    "A lot."


    "That''s not number."


    "I don''t know the exact number."


    The two of them continued their question and answer for a long time.

 38 Training with an Unforgiving Senior Sister

    Ye Jiao continued her training at night by absorbing Eon Energy in her surroundings as they had finished their lesson in the knowledge matters.


    Ye Ai Xia noticed that Ye Jiao opened her eyes. "What is it, Jiao''er?"


    "Mom, is there usually any difference when practicing at day and night?"


    "No, there shouldn''t be any difference," Ye Ai Xia replied. "Do you feel that there''s something different in your training?"


    "No."


    "Then you should continue."


    "Yes, Mom."


    Ye Ai Xia waited until Ye Jiao had finished training before doing training on her own at the backyard. A lot of Eon Energy entered her body as she expanded her core and strengthened her body. However, the progress was extremely slow as she had reached rank 3.


    By morning, Ye Ai Xia noticed that Wang Jun had come over to their residence.


    "Are you the one who will escort Ye Jiao?" Ye Ai Xia walked to the front door and gave an indifferent look at the young man before her.


    Wang Jun bowed down polite. "Greeting Madam. I''ll wait here for Miss Ye Jiao."


    "Don''t disturb us."


    "Yes, Madam."


    Internally, Wang Jun was screaming loudly. Everyone always told him how Ye Ai Xia was known to be a beautiful and gentle lady. However, all he saw from this woman was how fierce she was. If only he knew this, he would not accept the task of escorting Ye Jiao from the general.


    Thankfully for him, Ye Jiao woke up early every day. After a breakfast with her mother, she came along with Wang Jun to Mu Family Residence.


    "Jun Ge, is there no other way to come aside from this?" Ye Jiao asked.


    Wang Jun shook his head. "The distance between Wei Family residence and Mu Family residence is quite far. It''ll take a long time for you to travel every day if I don''t come to escort you."


    "I see¡­"


    "Do you feel uncomfortable?"


    Ye Jiao thought about it as she glanced at the young man. Not really since this person seemed to be only slightly younger than her father. She could just assume that he was her big brother and kind of, father like? That sound pretty good.


    It didn''t take long for them to arrive in Mu Family Residence. This time, Mu Xin didn''t appear in the front door.


    "Miss Mu Xin is in the training room."


    "Ok, I understand," Ye Jiao made a beeline to the training room. After visiting them once yesterday, she partially remembered the layout of the path to the training room. Even though she still stopped here and there to see if she took the wrong way, she finally arrived by the training.


    Inside the room, a young girl with blue hair was standing with a wooden sword on her hand. The girl, Mu Xin, turned her head when she heard the door opened. Her indifferent expression didn''t change in the slightest as she pointed her sword to Ye Jiao.


    "You''re late."


    "This is still early," Ye Jiao was speechless. Did this girl want her to come here by dawn?


    Mu Xin picked up another wooded sword and threw it to Ye Jiao. The girl caught it and surprised by the weight. It was far heavier than most ordinary swords.


    "What are we going to do today?"


    "Swing them 500 times after stretching out by yourself," Mu Xin replied indifferently.


    Ye Jiao stared at the sword on her hand. 1000 times? She was not sure that her hand would be able to stay intact by the time she finished training. Seeing Mu Xin had started, Ye Jiao followed suit and copied Mu Xin''s movement to stretch before swinging the sword.


    The heavy wooden sword moved slowly as she tried to swing it as hard as possible. Her arm muscle felt like breaking by the time she reached 500. It was really hard to finish the training that Mu Xin arranged. However, Ye Jiao persevered and swung the sword over and over.


    ''240, 241,¡­"


    By the time Mu Xin finished hers, Ye Jiao was still struggling around 300 or so.


    "You should focus on balancing your stance when you''re swinging your sword too," Mu Xin commented when she saw Ye Jiao''s bad posture. "If you do it like this, I can knock you down very easily."


    "What?"


    Tak!


    Mu Xin swung her sword in Ye Jiao''s direction and knocked against the latter''s wooden sword. The force was not big, but Ye Jiao could feel that her legs were weak. The moment the sword connected with each other, she shifted her weight to her other leg, which was in unstable position.


    The end result was clear:


    Bruck!


    "That hurts," Ye Jiao complained. Her eyes stared at her legs with confusion. The one she used to practice was her hand, but even her legs were feeling weak when there was an impact given to her.


    Mu Xin pointed to Ye Jiao with her wooden sword. "You have to fix your stance, or you''ll fall to the floor in every attack."


    "You''re going to attack me when I swing the sword?"


    "Yes, that''s the quickest way to make you learn the importance of your stance," Mu Xin replied. She stood in front of Ye Jiao, ready to strike her wooden sword every time Ye Jiao made mistake or something like that.


    Ye Jiao smiled wryly. "Can you spare me a bit?"


    "No."


    "¡­Ok," Ye Jiao stood up again and tried to recall how Mu Xin stood up not long ago. One legs at the front while the other one at the back. Their distance from each other were not far, just around their shoulder''s length.


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    Her finger gripped the sword tighter as she focused her attention to her feet''s position. Even though her muscle felt hurt because of the repeated movement, she still made sure that she swung the sword in full power.


    Right when the sword was in the middle, Mu Xin stepped forward and clashed her sword with Ye Jiao''s. This time, Ye Jiao could feel the impact very well. It started from her hand to her legs, which she forcefully held by positioning her center of gravity lower.


    Mu Xin looked a bit surprised. "You catch them rather quick."


    "I just copy your movement."


    "Continue. I''ll strike occasionally."


    "Ok."


    The meaning of occasionally was almost every swing. Ye Jiao had to make sure that her legs were able to withstand the burden as Mu Xin was very unforgiving. She fell back several times and other times, she could stay standing in her place.

 39 You Can Use Tricks

    One way or another, Ye Jiao managed to survive that one hellish training in the morning. Her arm felt numb and by the time they finished, lunch time has passed by a long time.


    "We''re going to eat. Do you want to come along?" Mu Xin asked as she pointed outside.


    "Yes."


    Mu Xin placed her sword on the side carefully while Ye Jiao followed behind Mu Xin. Their dining room was located quite far in the back, so Ye Jiao had to pass several corridors and room before they could reach the dining room. There were no one inside the room, but a lot of food was already prepared on the table.


    "You can eat all you want," Mu Xin pointed to the table. "Make sure to eat a lot because our training hasn''t finished."


    "Ok, then I''ll eat a lot."


    With that, Ye Jiao pulled one of the chairs and sat down. She was stunned to see that the position of the chair was quite low for her, making it hard to reach the table. Standing up on the chair, she picked up several dishes to her plate first before sitting down again. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of numerous food in front of her.


    Mu Xin watched Ye Jiao''s action amusedly. This table was not designed for children and with Ye Jiao''s current height, it was hard for the girl to reach the plate.


    She was just thought that Ye Jiao was cute when she saw the little girl ate. The speed at which she ate made it seemed like she wanted to gobble them all in one go. It was funny yet at the same time, it meant she had to eat faster if she wanted to have some food.


    "They''re really good," Ye Jiao said with satisfaction. This was one of the rare times when she could eat a lot of food without any restrain.


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    Mu Xin nodded her head. "You can eat lunch here every single day. After this, we''re going to practice again."


    "What''s the next part?"


    "Sparring."


    Ye Jiao smiled wryly. Her arm was not in the condition to spar against Mu Xin. "Do we have to start right away?"


    "No, you should digest your food first," Mu Xin replied.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head and scanned the room for the first time. Before this, her attention was solely focused on the food. Now that she looked around, she realized that the dining room was large. The wall was painted in cream color and there were numerous paintings there.


    "Senior Mu, do you learn about geography?"


    Mu Xin arched her eyebrows. "I do. It''s one of the basic subjects in school."


    "Then, do you know what''s on the north of Chen Kingdom? I mean, is there anything in the mountain''s range?"


    "Mountain range?" Mu Xin nodded her head. "There''s an academy over there."


    "Academy?" in that secluded place?


    "It''s a special academy unaffiliated to the four kingdoms in this area. Only geniuses of the four kingdoms can reach the academy, so it''s like a dream for all of us."


    "Do you want to go there?"


    "Of course."


    Ye Jiao thought about herself. "Is the academy really powerful that everyone wants to get inside there?"


    "Yes, they''re much more powerful than the four kingdoms. In fact, just one of these academies are enough to flatten the entire kingdom."


    Hearing that, Ye Jiao was speechless. Come to think about it, most of the experts around here were only rank 4 at most. Based on talent alone, they should be able to reach rank 5 or even above it. But so far, none of them could reach it.


    If those academies could destroy an entire kingdom, it was clear that there must be those at higher rank over there. Maybe rank 5, 6, or even 7?


    "Wait, you say they? There is more than one academy?"


    Mu Xin nodded. "My Father tells me that it''s enough to know that there are powerful academies at the north which only accept rare geniuses in this world. He didn''t tell me the exact number, but yes, there are more than one academy."


    "What''s the requirement?"


    "The lowest requirement is reaching rank 3 before the age of 20 for some better academies," Mu Xin replied.


    Rank 3 before the age of 20?


    Ye Jiao was startled to hear such a high barrier. It was known that only those who possessed light blue or above talent could possibly reach rank 3 before the age of 20. Even light blue color didn''t mean that they would be able to do it if they didn''t work hard enough.


    "That means, they only accept rank 3 students or above?"


    "Yes."


    Ye Jiao furrowed her brows. It would take a long time for her to reach rank 3. Even though she was confident that she could reach it before the age of 20, it might be hard to hide in front of Wei Shang and the others. After all, her mother told her that the necklace wouldn''t be able to protect her if there was a rank 4 who tried to probe deeper.


    Could she last one decade in this place? She was totally unsure.


    Mu Xin studied Ye Jiao''s face. Seeing the troubled look, she assumed that Ye Jiao was thinking that it would be hard to get in. After all, she had heard about Ye Jiao''s poor constitution and all from her father. If one should say, this girl has the lowest talent of them all.


    "You don''t have to be so down. Everyone has their own path and way," Mu Xin said. "Even people without Eon Energy might be able to survive int his world."


    "What?" Ye Jiao raised her head in surprise. This was the first time she heard someone said that to her. Most of the time, they would look at her with the look of pity or disgust because of her identity and talent. After all, it was known that they wouldn''t be able to survive if they didn''t have good enough talent to protect themselves.


    Mu Xin nodded her head. "It''s true. There are ways for people without Eon Energy to win against powerful people. Even though it''s not easy, it''s not impossible."


    It''s not impossible.


    The sentence seemed to stick deeply in Ye Jiao''s mind as she stared at Mu Xin. In her opinion, it was hard for people without Eon Energy to survive because she had experienced for herself the discrimination they held to people without Eon Energy.


    Well, her case was rather special because of her background.


    "How?"


    "Do you know the word ''tricks?''"

 40 Weak People Have Their Own Means

    Tricks?


    Ye Jiao''s mind tried to work hard as she processed the word. It should mean that she used some underhanded means to win, right?


    Mu Xin leaned back on her chair. "There are several ways to fight. You can use poison, secret weapon, assassination, and many others. Why do you think there are covert ways to do things? It''s because there are a lot of people who want to challenge those far stronger than them. Without these, they won''t be able to win."


    Ye Jiao listened to Mu Xin''s explanation attentively. She had heard some of those words, but as a seven-year-old kid, her vocabulary was quite limited.


    "Can you explain more, Senior Mu?"


    "Ok. Poison is substance that can be dangerous to human''s body. Some people use this to fight in order to weaken their enemy because they''re far weaker than the other party. Some poison can even directly kill even a powerful Eon Master," Mu Xin explained in her limited knowledge too. She didn''t have that vast knowledge and only some of the basics.


    Ye Jiao blinked. "There are things like that?"


    "Yes. Just like medicine can cure sickness, poison can do the opposite," Mu Xin replied.


    "How about secret weapon? Is that the weapon that you keep in secret?"


    "No, it means hidden weapon that you don''t show to other people. If you usually fight with sword and when your opponent drops his guard, you stab him with a knife that you hide somewhere, it means that you''re using a secret weapon," Mu Xin explained.


    Ye Jiao was speechless. Did normal eleven years old girl would talk about killing someone in their fight? It was no wonder that Mu Xin is the daughter of General Mu. Even her knowledge has some relation with fight one way or another.


    "As for assassination, it''s simple. You''re paying other people to kill your enemy."


    "Can you do that?"


    Mu Xin nodded her head. "There are some assassin organizations in this kingdom, but I don''t know their name. If you have money, you can use their service to kill someone. Of course, the higher the person you want to kill, the higher the money you have to prepare."


    "I see," Ye Jiao didn''t expect Mu Xin to know their name too. She herself rarely traveled on the street because she disliked the gaze people always gave her and lately, she was confined in Wei Family Residence. She couldn''t get out of the residence easily as there were a lot of guards around except if she wanted to go to the training field again.


    Which she would not do because Wei Cheng, Wei Family first son, stayed there to practice.


    As for money and hiring assassin, that would be a far etched dream. She didn''t even have any means to earn money right now. Hunting might earn her some money, but rank 1 beast didn''t have much value because many people could hunt by themselves. They were only hunted for meal or just for practice for children who recently formed their core or reached rank 1.


    "Time to practice again," Mu Xin stood up. "There''s no need for you to think of killing other people. There are a lot of ways to make people suffer without killing them."


    Ye Jiao: "¡­" you''re the one thinking about them, Senior Mu. She was just asking because of curiosity.


    Seeing that Mu Xin had stood up and prepared for practice, Ye Jiao also followed suit. Her mind was still thinking regarding the things that Mu Xin said to her. She didn''t have any plan on killing anyone. That thought was simply too unreasonable for a seven-year-old kid. All she wanted was to have some ways to make sure that they wouldn''t disturb her.


    How to make them stay away from her mother''s residence? That was something she needed to think about.


    "Are you ready?" Mu Xin had readied her stance once more.


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    Ye Jiao nodded her head. For now, she should just focus on training with Mu Xin. Hopefully, her arm would not be in brutal condition after this.


    Their spar didn''t last long because Mu Xin also felt sore. Apparently, her sword was much heavier, and she had to swing the sword for 1000 times at higher rate. Well, that was more than twice hers, but Mu Xin still looked better. Her arm was completely sore with abrasion here and there.


    Mu Xin helped her to apply the medicine before sitting down and absorbed the Eon Energy around her.


    Ye Jiao decided to do the same as she sat down and started to pull Eon Energy in her surroundings. Little by little, they entered her body. This time, she also focused them to her hand, nourishing her muscle to the fullest.


    It was a slow process, but Ye Jiao enjoyed watching the progress as she tried to control the Eon Energy. It slowly healed her muscle, allowing the sore muscle to feel much better than before. Compared to the previous day, her speed had increased again, albeit only a little bit.


    ''If I can increase the speed of absorption, I should be able to form the core faster.''


    With that in mind, Ye Jiao spent the rest of her time to form her core until Mu Hong returned home and called the two of them.


    "How''s the practice today, Mu Xin?"


    "It''s going well, Father. We swing the sword per your instruction. 500 for Ye Jiao, 1000 for me. We eat¡­."


    Hearing the detailed report from Mu Xin, Ye Jiao''s mind blanked. She felt as if she was facing a military meeting because of how detailed Mu Xin''s explanation was. This made her wondered if Mu Xin truly calculated everything and memorized everything that they did.


    After Mu Xin had finished, Mu Hong turned his head to Ye Jiao. "It''s good to practice memorization little by little. Wang Jun will send you back, little girl."


    "Thank you very much for your care, General Mu," Ye Jiao bowed down formally. Her movement was a bit clumsy, but it was still the expected form. She turned her body to face Mu Xin. "Let''s practice again in two days, Senior Mu."


    Mu Xin nodded her head. "Take care of yourself."


    In the next second, Wang Jun appeared in the room. Ye Jiao really wanted to know if this man was truly a soldier because of how he could appear. She would need to sharpen her sense further if she wanted to be able to know more.


    "Miss, pardon my intrusion."


    The journey home went without a hitch and Wang Jun dropped Ye Jiao in front of her residence.

 41 Little Plan

    "Miss, shall I come again in two days?" Wang Jun asked.


    Ye Jiao looked at Wang Jun with confusion. "Of course."


    "I understand. Good night, Miss," Wang Jun was relieved when he heard Ye Jiao''s answer. Most of the girls that practiced with Mu Xin couldn''t stand Mu Xin''s cold and overbearing attitude. They would stop coming to practice because of that. This was the reason he felt worried regarding Ye Jiao''s answer.


    On the other hand, Ye Jiao has never even thought of leaving the training midway. It was fun albeit the pain in her arm seemed to intensify further.


    Looking at the departing back of Wang Jun, Ye Jiao shrugged and turned around. It didn''t concern her. Probably, that man only asked that question because he was unsure that she wanted to go with him since she asked that question this morning.


    "Jiao''er, have you returned?"


    The familiar gentle tone entered her ear. Ye Jiao instinctively turned around and saw Ye Ai Xia walked out of the residence. Her eyes were scanning her daughter carefully, worried that something might have happened to her. Looking at Ye Jiao''s arm, Ye Ai Xia''s brow furrowed.


    "Mom!"


    "Jiao''er, why is your arm wounded badly?"


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    "Ah, this is from practice," Ye Jiao scratched the back of her head. "Don''t worry, Mom. It''s almost healed."


    "I worry."


    "Mom¡­."


    Ye Ai Xia sighed. "Come inside, I have prepared dinner for you. It''s braised meat tonight."


    "Yay!" Ye Jiao''s eyes lit up when she heard their dinner menu. She exclaimed happily before running into the residence, impatient to eat the food.


    Ye Ai Xia shook her head lightly when she saw Ye Jiao''s action. This little girl was really cute. Before long, the two of them had started their dinner and enjoyed the night meal. After eating, Ye Jiao headed off to read some books while Ye Ai Xia cleaned up the house.


    ''What should I do to make sure that those people from Wei Family won''t come here?''


    She knew that they would still come here to bully her just like what they did not long after she came. Although they hadn''t come here again, there was no guarantee that they wouldn''t come again. Ye Jiao didn''t really like facing against them as she just wanted peace.


    Also, what if they found out that she went missing every two days to practice?


    Ye Jiao moved her body around on the bed as she pondered. She truly wanted to ask her mother for an advice, but she was not sure regarding her mother''s position in this residence. Her mother barely talked about herself except occasional story regarding two children that she often spoke out.


    Some of the story sounded weird for her because of her limited knowledge, but she still loved them all.


    "Jiao''er, you''re still awake?"


    "Ah, Mom," Ye Jiao sat down and pushed the book on her hand further. She smiled sheepishly. "I just want to have some reading time."


    Ye Ai Xia glanced at the title of the book. It was an ordinary book regarding gardening that she placed on their room to study how to cultivate those flowers. She sighed.


    "Do you want to learn gardening?"


    "Maybe," Ye Jiao replied with hesitation. She was not sure what she had to learn.


    Ye Ai Xia smiled and sat down near Ye Jiao. "Let''s go to sleep, you can think of it later. If you want to learn gardening, Mom will guide you."


    "Ok, Mom," Ye Jiao put the book away. She lied down on the bed and pulled her blanket as Ye Ai Xia stood not far from her. Her eyes watched her mother''s movement curiously.


    "What is it, Jiao''er?"


    "Do Mom and Dad love gardening?" She recalled that her father taught her how to plant the seed and watered them to wait the plants to grow. Seeing how her mother spent a long time in the garden, the thought that they loved gardening crossed her mind.


    Ye Ai Xia laughed. "It''s not like I really love gardening, but that''s something I do ever since I was young. You see, sometimes meat can''t fulfill all the nutrition you need, so you have to fill them with fruits and vegetables."


    Ye Jiao blinked. Nutrition?


    "In short, it means that every different food has a different component¡­." Ye Ai Xia chose to stop talking. What was in her mind to use these high-level languages in front of a young girl? There would be no way Ye Jiao could understand.


    "Mom?"


    "Well, it is just to have variation of food because it''s unhealthy to eat meat all the time," Ye Ai Xia finally picked the shortest explanation that she could think of. Internally, she apologized to her daughter because she didn''t have the talent to be a teacher.


    Ye Jiao made an ''oh'' sound. "So, Mom and Dad learn how to plant vegetables?"


    "Yes."


    "Between Mom and Dad, who''s better?"


    "Xiao Ge, I mean, your father," Ye Ai Xia replied. "He doesn''t like to lose against me, so he always put all of his effort. We make a bet one time to cultivate the same flower and he won, so I have to bear with the punishment."


    "What''s the punishment?"


    Ye Ai Xia''s face darkened. It was not a memory she wanted to visit again. "I have to hold onto cricket, caterpillar, worm, and some others in my hand."


    The thought of touching them made her shivered. She didn''t mind with just a few of them, but Ye Xiao just had to picked up a basket full of these animals. Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she patted Ye Jiao''s head.


    "Now, you should go to sleep."


    "Ok, Mom."


    Ye Ai Xia didn''t realize it, but when she talked about her experience, Ye Jiao''s eyes shone for a split second. Right now, this girl just had gotten an idea of how to make sure that the Wei young masters and misses didn''t come to visit her.

 43 Get Caught ?

    Ye Jiao brought the basket filled with bugs to the road in the small forest. The size of the forest for her mother was not too big, making it easy for her to reach the entrance. From her position, she could see the house where the servants stayed.


    Her eyes locked on the rock path not far from her as she smiled deviously. It might not be in good condition because of the weeds and grasses around them, but it was still passable. At this time, her mind was conjuring another idea.


    ''What if I make it harder for them to pass?''


    Crouching on the ground, Ye Jiao put the bucket on the side before her hand started to pull one of the rocks. Her hand was holding onto the rock as she pulled them up. She was surprised when she found out that it was hard to move them.


    "I thought that it''s going to be easy," Ye Jiao sighed as she stared at her fingers, which was covered in bruises because of her attempt. Looking at how the weeds managed to grow well, she thought that the rocks were not properly placed.


    However, her mind thought of a different idea.


    "I''ll ask Mom for some weed seed. Grasses can easily grow anywhere in a matter of weeks. If I spread the seed here, they''ll be able to make the path harder to walk," Ye Jiao smiled to herself. Without even the need of someone teaching her, her mind could come up with some simple plans.


    After thinking that, Ye Jiao''s attention returned back to the bucket. She picked it up and threw the content out by swinging the bucket as hard as possible. Numerous insects fell to the ground. They quickly crawled all around, trying to find better place after being stacked up for a long time.


    Ye Jiao hit the bottom of the bucket, pushing the leftover insects to come out. Looking at the scene before her, she really wanted to know if one would dare to come closer when they saw the scene.


    One side, there were worm, beetle, and cricket.


    Looking to the other side, there were a stack of worm and centipede.


    As for the different side, there were several other bugs that she didn''t know the name.


    ''I guess, I also don''t want to pass through this place.''


    Even she herself wouldn''t want to walk through a place filled with numerous insects like this. Ye Jiao put the bucket on her back as she climbed the nearby tree, wanting to know how it looked like from above. Her lips curled up when she saw what a mess it was under the tree.


    The bugs would surely roam around as they had to find suitable place to live. However, Ye Jiao was pretty sure that they wouldn''t be too far from here. She could also move the insects from the garden to here again. Because of the vegetable and flowers her mother planted, numerous insects came.


    ''How about bee?'' Ye Jiao thought to herself. ''I think no.''


    She had to make sure that she has the capabilities to capture them first without harming her. These were only normal bugs that one could find in garden and forest. Bees were also normal, but Ye Jiao didn''t have the confidence to capture one. She might get stung before she could capture one.


    "Maybe spider will do, but I haven''t seen one around here."


    Ye Jiao thought hard as she sat down on the branch. Suddenly, her ear heard the sound of footsteps coming to her place. With a swift movement, she climbed further and hid herself in the stack of leaves and branches. Thankfully, it was summer so the trees still have their leaves.


    ''Who is it?''


    From the direction of Wei Family houses, two people came to her sight.


    One of them was a boy around the age of 13 years old. From the dark brown hair and the man''s tall stature, Ye Jiao could easily recognize him as Wei Cheng. As for the other one was a young girl at the age of seven. Her long and brown hair fluttered along with her silk dress, following along with the wind.


    ''Wei Cheng and Wei Mi.''


    The two of them had visited her in the past, so Ye Jiao was not surprised that they would come to visit her again.


    "Cheng Ge," Wei Mi opened her mouth as she held her brother''s arm affectionally. "The servants start to act annoying and didn''t follow your order anymore."


    "I know," Wei Cheng replied coolly.


    Wei Mi pouted. "Is there nothing you can do? If they no longer listen to you, we''re just going to stay silent all the time?"


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    "Of course not," Wei Cheng''s eyes glinted. "This is why we''re going to make a short visit today. If I can''t make her starve, at least, I can press her."


    "Cheng Ge has reached perfect control over the Eon Energy?" Wei Mi''s eyes sparkled. If her brother could master them so quickly, he would become a truly acclaimed genius in this kingdom. No one would be able to surpass him.


    Wei Cheng chuckled. "How could it be that fast? I have just started to learn controlling them, so you might have to stay a bit further than me later."


    "It''s not a big problem," Wei Mi raised her thumb, showing that she understood.


    "Good girl."


    On the tree, Ye Jiao was listening to their conversation with anger. She could guess that they were trying to make the servant sent less food to this place because they mentioned the word ''starve.'' Thankfully, their plan was thwarted as she remembered that the two of them had enough food to eat every day.


    As the two of them walked closer, Wei Cheng''s sense told him that there was someone else nearby. His eyes narrowed.


    "Cheng Ge?" Wei Mi asked. She didn''t understand why her brother would stop so suddenly.


    "Wait a minute," Wei Cheng replied. His eyes were scanning the surrounding carefully. When one trained in Eon Energy, their sense would be sharper such as hearing and vision. Even though he couldn''t see anyone, he could hear rustling movement not far from him.


    Wei Mi tilted her head in confusion. "Cheng Ge, we can''t stay here for long. Mom says that we only have a short break before continuing our study."


    The one who supervised their training was their mother because Wei Shang was a busy man. He rarely has any time to spare, so their education was left to the school and their mother. If they were talented, he might give some special permission, but that was all there was.


    Wei Cheng nodded his head. "I know. Just a moment."


    He walked forward a few steps as he tried to scan the surrounding. Suddenly, he raised his head to look at the trees.

 44 Close Call

    Wei Cheng walked forward a few steps as he tried to scan the surrounding. Suddenly, he raised his head to look at the trees.


    The trees have lots of leaves. It was the perfect place to hide someone because people without high Eon Energy would have limited vision. Only after reaching a certain stage would they be able to sense other people''s presence and not only because of vision or hearing.


    "What is it, Cheng Ge?" Wei Mi jogged to her brother side.


    "There might be¡­."


    Before Wei Cheng could finish his word, he could hear loud scream coming from the girl behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Wei Mi jumped to him. His hand was stretched out as he caught the young girl in his arm.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! Worm! Worm! Worm!" Wei Mi screamed loudly in fear.


    "What?"


    Wei Cheng was trying to figure out what this girl was screaming about when he saw a worm not far from them. His brows furrowed in disgust as he didn''t like insect. Still, it was not a good move to show it in front of Wei Mi as he had a ''great'' older brother image that he had to maintain.


    If he was caught acting shameful because of insect, he wouldn''t be able to keep his face.


    "It''s just one worm, Mi''er. There''s nothing to worry about," Wei Cheng completely forgot about the person he wanted to search. His attention was fully focused on the little girl in his arm. Given Wei Mi''s age, he didn''t really feel surprised that she hated worm.


    "But it''s disgusting! Yuck!"


    "Don''t worry, it won''t reach you," Wei Cheng soothed his sister.


    Wei Mi clung onto Wei Cheng''s arm as if it was her lifeline. Out of everything that she had seen in her entire life, the one she hated the most was insects. Seeing one of them over here made her panicked and relied on her brother completely.


    "Tell it to go away, Ge."


    "I will."


    Wei Cheng used his legs to kick the nearby worm as he reminded himself to threw the shoes away after this. His eyes instinctively followed after the trajectory of his kick. The place where the worm landed was right at the top of several other worms.


    His face turned slightly green in disgust. He turned his head away, but the next sight nearly caused him to release his grip on Wei Mi''s arm. He could see several centipedes and cricket were crawling and jumping around not far from him.


    The cricket seemed to notice his gaze as it switched direction suddenly and landed not far from Wei Cheng''s feet.


    Stomp!


    By this time, Wei Cheng''s face had turned completely green. He must be extremely unlucky to come right when there were a lot of insects around this place. If only he knew about this, he wouldn''t come here. The thought of having them near his skin gave him goosebumps.


    ''I need to take a bath.''


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    "Ge?" Wei Mi''s soft voice was heard once more.


    "Let''s go back," Wei Cheng was not in the mood to make trouble anymore. He was too disgust with what he saw just now to think about other things. Rather than staying here, he would be better off to finish his study.


    "Ah, we''re going back, Cheng Ge?" Wei Mi was surprised.


    Wei Cheng nodded his head. "We''ll return at other time when there''s no bugs around. Don''t worry. I won''t forget to make her life miserable. Mother''s task, I''ll surely complete it."


    "Ge, can you help me walk?"


    "There''s no insect over here, come here."


    "But¡­"


    "Come over here, Wei MI."


    "Ok¡­"


    On the tree, Ye Jiao was sweating a lot. She feared that Wei Cheng would find out that she was here because his strength was far stronger than her. Prior to this, she had never learned any skill to erase her presence, making it easy for others to spot her if she was not hidden enough.


    ''I have to be careful. People who have formed their core has greater senses.''


    Ye Jiao stayed still in her place as she analyzed what she heard from the two of them. Apparently, there must be some kind of grudges between her mother or father with Su Lian, Wei Cheng and Wei Mi''s mother. As she had never seen the other party, she was not totally sure what kind of grudge they were, but it was surely not something light.


    After making sure that they have left, Ye Jiao moved to other tree using the branch as the bridge. Her small body quickly moved from her place back to her residence.


    "The bugs plan is a big success," Ye Jiao giggled to herself. She could guess that Wei Mi would be terrified, but didn''t expect that it would have effect on Wei Cheng too. After all, that boy was far older than her, and he didn''t look like one that would fear bugs.


    Well not fear, it was disgust.


    Ye Jiao stopped on the tree just several meters away from her residence. Her eyes were looking at her mother, who was busy taking water from the well.


    "Dad, I''ll surely become stronger. Far stronger than what I am, so when you return, you''ll be proud of me," Ye Jiao vowed solemnly. There was still a long path ahead of her, and she would use her time to the fullest to train herself and reached the peak.


    The peak¡­


    Ye Jiao''s lips curled up. She wondered what it would be to reach the highest rank in Eon Energy. Surely, it would be a very exciting goal.


    As she thought that, Ye Jiao went down the tree and ran to her mother. "Mom, I have returned."


    "Ah, Jiao''er, help me prepare the plate."


    "Yes, Mom!"

 45 The Progress

    Time passed swiftly and a year soon passed. There was nothing special happened over the past year as Ye Jiao spent her time to practice with Mu Xin and with her mother. She also spared some of her time to put more bugs on the road, effectively blocking the annoying siblings to come bothering her. But the peace didn''t last for long.


    "Senior Mu, you''re going to fully form your core soon?" Ye Jiao was surprised when she heard that Mu Xin wanted to form her core.


    Mu Xin nodded her head. Over the past year, the two of them have gotten used with each other and spent their time training a lot. Both of them progressed a lot in their training as in terms of basic combat, they could spar for hours now.


    Forming one''s core didn''t only mean that they gathered Eon Energy to their abdomen. After reaching the necessary amount of Eon Energy, they had to compress it and formed the core. The process to compress it alone might take hours or even days depending on their capabilities and size.


    The size of their core would differ from one person to another. It was usually depended on their talent, in which higher talent has larger core because if that was not the case, they would have been able to form their core much earlier. The difference in time became rather small because of the difference in amount that they needed.


    "Congratulation, Senior Mu," Ye Jiao said happily. She was genuinely glad that Mu Xin could form her core at the age of 12, despite the fact that the two of them spent a long time to practice their body and control.


    Mu Xin nodded her head. "When I start to form my core, I won''t be able to have any practice with you because I don''t know how long it will take to form my core."


    Their speed to form their core varied and no longer depended on their talent, but rather perseverance. It was known that forming one''s core would give their body a lot of pressure and sometimes, pain. There was no one who could say for sure what kind of core they would form until it was formed.


    Most children required their parent''s help to form their core because the control of Eon Energy in their body would be much harder. Some children might attempt it themselves if they had higher confidence and control, but not many dared to try this. Even though they knew that forming it themselves would result in much better core, for safety measure, they would ask for help.


    Some children might even die because they couldn''t withstand the pressure.


    Unless they were absolutely confident in their ability, no one dared to form their core themselves. Unfortunately or fortunately, those at blue color talent or higher were tasked to form their core by themselves and only granted help if they needed it during the process.


    "Senior Mu will form it yourself?"


    "Yes, my father will supervise me in case there''s any mishap," Mu Xin replied. "But I''ll have to do it myself."


    The girl patted her stomach lightly, feeling rather nervous. She could sense that her abdomen was already full of Eon Energy, so it was already the time to condense it into a core. Still, she was afraid of the process because it might not be so easy.


    Ye Jiao hugged Mu Xin''s from the back. Her small height made her head only reached Mu Xin''s chest and her hand touched the latter''s hand. "Don''t worry. I''m sure you can do it, Senior Mu."


    Mu Xin smiled back. Over the past year, Ye Jiao found out that Mu Xin was not as cold as she appeared on the outside. Despite the cold aura that this girl emitted most of the time, Mu Xin was a rather sweet and capable girl. If not for the fact that her mind was completely filled with training and training again, many people would surely want to be her friend.


    "Do you know Summer Festival will be held in two days?" Mu Xin recalled the festival.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. "I know, but I''m not allowed to get out."


    In order to see the festival before, she had to sneak out of the residence and watched from the wall. She didn''t dare to get out since she worried that she might get lost, so watching from the wall was the only option she could pick.


    "Let''s go there. I''ll ask Jun Ge to pick you up, and we''re going to have some fun," Mu Xin suggested. "After all, I might not be able to practice with you anymore in the future?"


    "Why?" Ye Jiao tilted her head. It should be only a few days break, right?


    Mu Xin sat down on the wooden floor. "My father says that once I form my core, I''ll have to focus on learning how to use them or in other words, gaining experience. Every child who have only form their core or reach rank 1 will make a group to learn how to hunt rank 1 beast."


    "It means, we can''t train together anymore?" Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. Even though she knew that their training wouldn''t last forever because they termed her as someone unable to absorb Eon Energy, it was still too quick. For the past year, she enjoyed the time she spent with Mu Xin very much.


    Mu Xin sighed. She didn''t want this too, but it was not like she could stay to just practice the basic with Ye Jiao forever. The path she wanted to take was different than the other girl.


    "Maybe."


    "I''ll miss you," Ye Jiao muttered.


    Mu Xin stood up. She patted Ye Jiao''s head tenderly. "That''s why, we should spend the festival day together. I''m sure that it''s going to be fun with you."


    "What are they usually do during summer festival?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    "It''s usually also called Fifth Month Festival. I''m not entirely sure the reason for the festival, but there are a lot of dumplings they make," Mu Xin''s mouth watered as she recalled the dumpling she ate last year. They were all very delicious.


    "Dumpling?" Ye Jiao''s eyes lit up. She really wanted to taste them.


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    Mu Xin nodded her head. "How is it? Will you come? I''ll pay for the food."


    Free food? Who would want to reject such generous offer? Ye Jiao immediately nodded her head repeatedly. She didn''t want to miss the opportunity to eat a lot.


    "Now, it''s time to practice again," Mu Xin picked up her wooden sword. She smiled brightly. "This time, let''s practice basic swordsmanship. I''m sure you can use the sword well now?"


    Ye Jiao could only smile wryly. She could barely do any movement correctly because of her small body and posture. If it just swung the sword, she could do it, but sparing was out of the question. However, there was no way she could refuse Mu Xin''s request.


    "Ok."


    "I won''t go easy on you. This will be the last memorable practice for u," Mu Xin showed a smile, a smile that was filled with mischievousness.


    Ye Jiao gulped. "Please be kind to me."


    "Not a chance!"

 46 Ye Jiao’s Condition

    In the end, Ye Jiao had to make sure that she didn''t lose out against Mu Xin. The two of them spared for hours, to the point that they were completely drenched in sweat. However, the winner of their little spar hadn''t appeared even then.


    "Misses, it''s almost dinner time," Wang Jun said as he sighed. He entered the training room not long ago to remind Mu Xin about dinner. However, the two of them were still in the middle of training their body.


    "Later."


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    "Wait a minute."


    The two girls stepped forward; one swung the wooden sword from below while the other one swung the sword from above. The two swords clashed with one another.


    Tak!


    Mu Xin and Ye Jiao both retreated to the back. Before long, they already dashed forward once again. Their wooden swords were ready to clash with one another.


    Tep!


    "This should be enough," Wang Jun caught both of their sword. His movement was far swifter and faster than the two of them combine. "You need to rest, Miss Mu Xin and Miss Ye Jiao."


    Mu Xin frowned. "Don''t disturb me, Wang Jun. You should just practice so you can enter the third rank faster."


    "I can''t do that, Miss," Wang Jun smiled. "My task is to monitor you and help out in your practice."


    "You''re annoying," Mu Xin was still dissatisfied with the lack of training she had. However, she was not a match against Wang Jun, especially because this man had reached the peak of second rank. It would take a few more months for this man to enter the third rank.


    Ye Jiao lowered her sword obediently. Near the dinner time, she found out that Wang Jun would always appear here to escort her back and reminded Mu Xin for her dinner. At first, she thought that it was weird, but Mu Xin told her that Wang Jun was partially her father''s servant. Her father asked this man to monitor her after dinner time to make sure that she didn''t overwork.


    Originally, Mu Xin hated the arrangement, but she didn''t have any other choice. Sneaking out to train was clearly impossible, so she had to obediently sleep and wait until it was morning to train again.


    "It''s part of my nature," Wang Jun smiled.


    Mu Xin turned around. "You''re wasting your talent if you''re just watching me. It''ll be better to train. You''re a genius that reach rank 2 at the age of 16."


    "If that age is considered as genius, I wonder what word would be suitable for you, Miss."


    Mu Xin''s talent was slightly higher than Wang Jun, allowing her to advance faster than this man if one tried to count their age. She didn''t look at the young man again as she patted Ye Jiao''s shoulder. "Don''t forget to come two days later. We''re going to have fun in the festival."


    "Ok," Ye Jiao smiled.


    Mu Xin flicked a glance to Wang Jun. "I''m going to eat dinner first. You should hurry if you want to eat."


    "I understand, Miss," Wang Jun replied politely. He turned around to Ye Jiao. "Miss, if you please?"


    "Let''s go."


    As usual, Wang Jun escorted Ye Jiao back to her residence swiftly. The time it took for their journey lessened greatly as Ye Jiao could feel that this man must be nearing breakthrough point. If he could become a rank 3 within a year, he would be one among several talented students in this kingdom.


    "We''ve arrived."


    Ye Jiao jumped down. She smiled sweetly. "Thank you very much for escorting me, Jun Ge."


    "Rest well," Wang Jun bid his farewell before disappearing into the darkness once again.


    Ye Jiao has gotten used with the man''s attitude after being escorted for an entire year. She wished that she could travel by herself, but after looking at the map, she chose not to attempt it. Wei Family Residence was located at the west of the city while Mu Family Residence was located at the south of the capital city.


    If she tried to walk, she might take more than an hour with her small feet. It would be better to just leave it to the expert.


    Ye Jiao lowered her gaze to her arm and abdomen. When she heard that Mu Xin would start forming the latter''s core, she also yearned to form hers. However, she hadn''t felt full yet. The amount of Eon Energy in her abdomen has filled the entire space from a month ago thanks to the training room filled with abundant energy and the stoves in her room.


    Her speed when she used them was doubled compared when she was still living with her father and only absorbed from nature. Even though there was a time when she absorbed the Eon Energy from the special room in school, it took a long time to pull them into her abdomen because she has just started learning.


    ''it''s already full, yet I still can pull more Eon Energy.''


    She didn''t understand why, but even if she tried to pull more Eon Energy, her stomach accepted them. There shouldn''t be any room left, yet her abdomen kept on pulling them. There was just one thing that she was certain of, the Eon Energy was being compressed little by little with her attempt.


    Mu Xin told her that the best time for them to form their Eon Energy was when their abdomen refused to add more Eon Energy.


    Ye Jiao tried to push it to the back of her mind as she intended to ask her mother about it. Her small legs brought her inside as she saw her mother sat down on the stairs, waiting patiently.


    "Mom!" Ye Jiao called cheerfully.


    "Jiao''er," Ye Ai Xia smiled back. She beckoned for her daughter to come closer. Without waiting, Ye Jiao jumped to her mother''s embrace. "How''s the training today?"


    "It''s fun. Senior Mu is going to form her core, so we''re going to spend Summer Festival together, Mom," Ye Jiao shared the gist.


    Ye Ai Xia arched her eyebrows. "I see. You have to be careful when you get out, understand?"


    "Yes, Mom."


    Ye Ai Xia ruffled her daughter''s hair affectionally. The next second, her eyes turned sharp. "Jiao''er, I would like to listen to your story later, but now, you should go inside the house."


    "Mom?"


    "We have a guest," Ye Ai Xia replied.


    "Ok."

 47 Su Lian’s Hatred

    Ye Jiao followed after her mother''s request as she hid herself in their bedroom. Her small body moved straight to the window as she pulled the curtain slightly. She was curious as to who could possibly bypass her small barrier of bugs.


    Not long afterward, a woman came with several guards by her side. Her long dark yellow hair fluttered along with the wind. She was wearing a dark blue dress adorned with numerous accessories that signified her high position. Right now, her face that was filled with make up looked rather stringed. Her eyebrows were furrowed deeply, but her face color remained normal because of the thick makeup.


    "Ye. Ai. Xia," the woman, Su Lian, Wei Shang''s legal wife and also the mother of Wei Cheng and Wei Mi, spat out Ye Ai Xia''s name per syllable. Her tone was deep and filled with hatred.


    Ye Ai Xia arched her eyebrows. "What do you want, Su Lian? Are you missing me after not visiting my place for years?"


    "Who would miss a rotten woman like you."


    "Oh? I''m flattered that a dignified and arrogant woman like you would still spare time to look at something rotten. I guess, your eyes must be really bad," Ye Ai Xia shook her head lightly. In front of Su Lian, she would never spare this woman any glance.


    She might be Wei Shang''s wife, but this woman didn''t really have anything good. She was lazy, depended on her family''s background to marry Wei Shang, and lastly, have zero knowledge and only knew how to use her fist rather than brain.


    This kind of woman was exceptionally annoying.


    Su Lian''s face darkened. There might be no apparent changes thanks to her thick makeup, but the atmosphere around her turned bad. "You should do something about the bugs on the way. They''re terribly disgusting just like you."


    "I''m too lazy," Ye Ai Xia said nonchalantly. "I don''t even use the road. Why should I care about what''s there?"


    "You!"


    "What?"


    "Insolent! You don''t even know how to take care of your house? What a good woman you are," Su Lian controlled her anger and spat out.


    Ye Ai Xia arched her eyebrows. "First of all, this is not my house. This is just a house that your dearest husband rent out to me. Secondly, why do you even come here when it''s clearly not the time to visit each other? Do you miss me so much?"


    "Hmph! As if I''ll miss you," Su Lian snorted angrily. She glanced to the guard, who gave a scroll to the woman. "I come here to deliver message from my husband. He asks you to come to the racing competition in two days."


    As she said that, she threw the scroll to Ye Ai Xia, who caught it with ease. Opening the scroll, her eyes narrowed at the seal at the bottom. It was the imperial family seal.


    ''I see, so they want me to come this year.''


    It was just a normal racing competition that they held every Summer Festival. Originally, they held the competition on water in other kingdoms, but in this kingdom, it was a simple race of circling the entire city outside. There will be trees marked to let them knew which one they should pass and not.


    The winner would get a prize from the Imperial family. Every year, the prize would be different, and they were unable to join in consecutive year. As Ye Ai Xia hadn''t joined for the past few years, she could join this year.


    Normally, they would sign up by themselves if they wanted to join. However, there was also cases when the imperial family summoned them to join. Sometimes it was because the said person was remarkable or it could also because they wanted to humiliate them.


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    Ye Ai Xia clicked her tongue. It would be very bothersome.


    "Then I''ll say thanks," Ye Ai Xia rolled the parchment again. She looked at Su Lian once more for she felt that this woman hadn''t finished.


    Indeed, Su Lian wouldn''t want to come here if she didn''t have to. However, Wei Shang asked her to come personally to deliver this message as the show of honor. No matter how much Su Lian didn''t want to do it, she couldn''t possibly reject Wei Shang''s order.


    In this residence, his order is absolute.


    She couldn''t reject, but she could use this time to her advantage. Su Lian smiled. "I have something that I want to do."


    As she said that, her disposition changed and the guard moved back several steps. Violent Eon Energy emerged from Su Lian''s body in that split second as the woman launched herself to Ye Ai Xia''s direction. Her fist, filled with Eon Energy, punched forward.


    Bang!


    Tep.


    Ye Ai Xia swiftly evaded the attack. Looking at the cracked ground, she clicked her tongue. "You''re still as rough as ever, Ape Woman."


    "What in the world are you saying, you Slippery Eel," Su Lian snorted. Her arm, which was usually covered by her clothes was visible when she punched out, showing her well-built muscle. If one didn''t know better, one would not think that this belonged to woman.


    "At least, I look gentler than you," Ye Ai Xia said nonchalantly.


    Su Lian''s face darkened once again. Thanks to the art she practiced and the limit of her talent, she had to work harder to make her body stronger. As the result, she has more muscle than normal woman, which made her looked rather manly.


    She hated it, so she always hid it under her long sleeves.


    "You rotten b*tch!"


    With that, Su Lian chased after Ye Ai Xia, throwing her fist here and there. Unfortunately, Ye Ai Xia has much higher speed and agility, allowing her to move around without restrain. Her gentle fighting skill made Su Lian looked like a brute.


    On the back, Ye Jiao was watching their fight with astonishment. Her mother''s movements were exceptionally good that she felt her mother was dancing. Moving here and there along with the wind''s movement, Ye Ai Xia looked exceptional.


    In her heart, now she had another idol that she wanted to pursue.

 48 Adult Conflic

    "Stop running, you slippery b*tch! Face me head on if you''re a woman!"


    "I''m already a woman since I was born. Why should I follow your request?" Ye Ai Xia replied nonchalantly. She twisted her body and evaded the next attack. Her agile movement agitated the angry Su Lian further.


    Su Lian snorted and jumped up, before smashing the ground with her two fists. The ground shook badly, but Ye Ai Xia was able to escape with ease. Her eyes followed after Su Lian''s movement carefully, making sure that the woman''s fist won''t hit her.


    This ape woman''s power was much higher than a normal person. As Su Lian trained her Eon Energy to support her massive strength, she became a full-fledged tank. For Ye Ai Xia, getting hit by Su Lian might be her end because her strength was barely 10% of this woman''s.


    "Come back here, you b*tch!"


    "I''m over here," Ye Ai Xia sighed in annoyance. She attempted her skill and appeared right behind Su Lian. Her hand was enveloped in Eon Energy as she slapped the woman''s head from the back. Right after she done that, she disappeared from her place once more.


    Human''s back was pretty fragile. With her head got hit, Su Lian couldn''t think of anything as she twisted her body and punched his fist forward as fast as possible. Unfortunately, she only hit thin air as Ye Ai Xia had returned back to her position.


    "You!"


    Ye Ai Xia smiled gently. "Yes?"


    Su Lian''s breathe has started to become irregular thanks to the fight she had. After a series of vigorous movement to attack Ye Ai Xia, she didn''t have any strength left. She glanced to her guard.


    "Be thankful that you''re still alive. I''ll come here again in the future."


    "Just come," Ye Ai Xia replied indifferently. "I''m not going to stop you, but I''ll welcome you like this every single time you come here."


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    Su Lian harrumphed. "We shall see how you can escape from this, Ai Xia."


    "Whatever it is, it''s not your problem," Ye Ai Xia replied indifferently.


    Turning around, Su Lian walked away from the path. Her eyes were filled with deep hatred. She came to humiliate Ye Ai Xia, but she didn''t expect that this woman still grew stronger again. In the past, she lost numerous times because she was lower in terms of rank compared with Ye Ai Xia.


    Now, she had reached rank 3, yet Ye Ai Xia still could defeat her. Even though they should be on par because they were in the same rank, Ye Ai Xia seemed like she dealt with the others in ease.


    Ye Ai Xia stood still in her place before turning to one side. She could feel faint presence of someone watching her. Her lips curled up and she mouthed out.


    ''Wei Shang, do you have fun?''


    Afterwards, Ye Ai Xia turned to the house and slammed the door shut.


    Several dozen meters away from Ye Ai Xia''s position, right in the direction where she looked at just now, Wei Shang stood still. He wanted to see what would happen. He thought that Su Lian would be able to overpower Ye Ai Xia after giving some treasure. Unfortunately, that woman was still worthless.


    "Wei Cheng, what''s your opinion of their fight?"


    "Father, I think that mom is too agitated," beside Wei Shang, Wei Chang was standing calmly. His irises were looking forward, clearly, he was in deep contemplation. "Normally speaking, Ye Ai Xia is not as strong as mom, but mom didn''t use her brain, so she attacks violently. The result is destruction, but not on the target."


    "Very well, how about Ye Ai Xia?"


    "I''m not sure," Wei Cheng frowned. "Based on the speed that I manage to see, she must have attempted numerous skills to escape from mom''s attack. After all, mom''s speed is not that bad. Probably, she''s exhausted, but she hides it."


    "Indeed," Wei Shang''s eyes were locked on the residence for several seconds. "You shall go back and write the report to me. I want you to analyze everything."


    "Yes, Father."


    As the two figures disappeared, Ye Ai Xia returned to her room. She saw Ye Jiao sat on their bed, her eyes were looking back with sparkle.


    "Mom, you''re awesome!" Ye Jiao raised two of her thumbs.


    Seeing Ye Jiao''s action, Ye Ai Xia had the feeling how Ye Xiao managed to make their daughter idolized him. He must have showed off in front of Ye Jiao numerous times.


    "It''s good that I can vent out a bit, but Ye Jiao, you shouldn''t follow my lead, okay?" Ye Ai Xia might be fine to deal with Su Lian. However, Ye Jiao''s small and fragile body wouldn''t be able to deal with the massive strength that Su Lian had. Just one punch might kill this girl.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. "When I become stronger, can I fight her?"


    "Only if you become stronger."


    "Yes, Mom," Ye Jiao nodded her head obediently. She looked straight to her mother in curiosity. "Mom, why that woman wants to create trouble for you?"


    "That¡­." Ye Ai Xia didn''t know how to explain this to her daughter. Years ago, Wei Shang had a crush on her when she was still 14 years old. However, she rejected him badly because Wei Shang already have wives, son and daughters. She also only liked her brother, who was clearly a big idiot because he never realized it.


    She got into conflict with Wei Shang because of her refusal. At that time, Su Lian was angry because she rejected Wei Shang and caused the Wei Family in chaos. She was not sure what did Wei Shang do, but Su Lian hated her so much to the point of creating countless troubles for her. Even though Su Lian was far older, but Su Lian''s strength was rather low, so Ye Ai Xia still could defeat the other party with ease.


    Only after Wei Shang restricted that woman that Ye Ai Xia could have peace.


    Ye Ai Xia looked at her daughter. It was actually simple conflict, but it was kind of adult thing. There was no way she wanted to let Ye Jiao knew them at the tender age of eight.


    "Mom?"


    "I have some conflict with her in the past," Ye Ai Xia replied.


    Ye Jiao blinked. "But she''s already an old woman. Why would she create trouble to you, Mom?"


    Pfft!


    Ye Ai Xia almost laughed out loud. If Su Lian knew that she was called an old woman, that woman would surely be enraged. Still, it was rather true because Wei Shang was a decade older than her while Su Lian was seven years older than her. In a way, they were old people, right?


    Thinking like this made Ye Ai Xia content as she smirked. "That''s because they''re petty people."


    "They''re so annoying."


    "Mom agree and now, you should take a bath."


    "Yes, Mom."

 49 You Can’t Run Away

    Wei Family Residence


    "General, there''s a report."


    "What is it?"


    Sitting on his chair as usual, Wei Shang was looking at the man before him with disinterest. There were so many things that occurred in the kingdom that he could barely had any time to rest. He only wished that he would be able to take a break, even a little bit is fine.


    "There''s a case of sudden fire in the small city not far from the capital. It destroyed the entire city."


    "If there''s fire, you can just put it out. There''s no need to report it here," Wei Shang waved his hand as if it was nothing important.


    The man was feeling nervous. The reason why he brought this report was because there was something unusual that they reported. However, he didn''t know how to report this to the man before him.


    "General, it''s not ordinary fire."


    "Not ordinary?"


    "Yeah¡­ They say that the fire is started by a single individual¡­"


    "One person?" Wei Shang''s eyes narrowed sharply. He knew that it was possible to cause the case of fire, but from the report that he received, the fire caused the entire place to be destroyed. It should be hard to do that.


    Unless the one who did it was Eon Energy Master rank 4.


    "Tell His Majesty, I''m going over there to check."


    "Yes, General!"


    Wei Shang stood up and got out of his residence. He didn''t care for anything as he took a horse and paced it to the designated city. Looking at the smoke that was still on the sky, he used it as the guide for him to reach the specific city.


    Bam!


    Bang!


    "I see, it''s you, Ye Xiao."


    "Guh, Wei Shang!"


    Standing not far from him, Wei Shang could see the proud genius Ye Xiao. The man was wearing tattered clothes because he had just gotten into a fight not long ago. His blue green pupil was dilated at the sight of Wei Shang.


    Ye Xiao knew that he was not a match against Wei Shang when he was in this battered condition.


    "Do you really think that it''s possible for you to hide and gather your strength without us noticed?" Wei Shang''s tone was filled with mockery. He looked at Ye Xiao with contempt visible in his eyes.


    "What do you want?" Ye Xiao asked as he tried to recover his breath. No matter what, he couldn''t let this man killed him.


    Wei Shang looked at Ye Xiao with a glint in his eyes. "You should know what I want, Ye Xiao. I want your life!"


    If only Ye Xiao was still stuck in rank 3, he would not pay any attention to this man. However, the Ye Xiao who stood before him was clearly already rank 4. This only meant that with time, he would be the one lagging behind. Ye Xiao would surely never let him off for destroying his life.


    Bang!


    Fire burst out of Ye Xiao''s palm, directed straight to Wei Shang. However, a wall made of earth quickly blocked it.


    "You''re still very weak, Ye Xiao," Wei Shang looked at the young man before him with contempt. If only this man didn''t exist¡­ Ye Ai Xia would never reject him. What did she see in this man to make her fully trusted him?


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    He hated this man very much.


    "Hmph, you come at the wrong timing," Ye Xiao grunted. He gathered more Eon Energy as he blasted his surrounding with Eon Energy filled with fire. It didn''t take long for the entire forest to be filled with fire.


    "Do you really think that you can stop me like this?"


    Bang! Bam!


    The force between two completely different elements filled the area. At the same time, Ye Xiao kept on retreating. He knew that it was not an advantageous place for him to stay because Wei Shang could practically control the earth.


    He had to find a rocky place because it would be harder for Wei Shang to control them.


    *pant* *pant*


    With his Eon Energy already depleted, Ye Xiao ran away. He stopped when he saw the swamp before him. It was dark and murky. His heart dropped for he realized that this was already the border with Cao Kingdom.


    Because he was slightly at the north, this place was known to be the death trap. It was because the swamp in this area was known to be bottomless and everyone who came inside would never be able to get out again.


    ''I have to¡­''


    Before he could turn again, Ye Xiao sensed tremendous pressure coming at him. Gritting his teeth, he looked to the side, where the king was riding on top of a large water ball below him. There was nothing visible that maintained the ball in that shape, but Ye Xiao knew that this man was controlling his Eon Energy.


    "Wei Shang, didn''t you tell me that he''s still rank 3?"


    "It seems that he makes a breakthrough when we don''t pay any attention," Wei Shang''s tone was flat. "Let''s finish this, Your Majesty."


    "Sure."


    With a wave of his hand, large wave of water came flooding to that place. Ye Xiao''s face turned sour as he dashed into the swamp. Right now, he couldn''t think of anything but finding a way to survive.


    Splash! Splash! Splash!


    Water swept over everything. The king could sense that there was no one that was within his water anymore. Ye Xiao must have fallen into one of the bottomless swamp inside this swamp.


    "Good job tiring him out."


    "It''s not a big deal, Your Majesty," Wei Shang''s attention landed on a small flower necklace on the ground. It was a necklace that he was familiar with. When they were still in school, Ye Ai Xia gave that necklace to Ye Xiao.


    "Let''s return."


    As the king returned back nonchalantly, Wei Shang picked up the necklace on the ground. Afterwards, he silently followed after the king.

 50 Preparation for Summer Festival 1

    Ye Ai Xia''s place


    "Mom, what people do during Summer Festival?" Ye Jiao asked curiously. She only knew that there would be a race and from Mu Xin, she heard that there will be a lot of dumplings.


    Ye Ai Xia patted on the bed, calling the girl to go up before she answered. "Summer Festival is the time for family to gather together and make rice dumpling. Aside from that, there''s also the race around the city. The fastest will receive reward from the imperial family."


    "Reward?" Ye Jiao''s eyes sparkled.


    Ye Ai Xia nodded her head. She used to participate in the race a couple of times in the past. As her specialization was her speed, she could win the race. After all, they had the limit of the race to be only rank 3 at most. Those at rank 4 couldn''t participate.


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    In the first place, those rank 4 were the guardian of the capital city. There would be no way they wanted to participate in this kind of race.


    "The reward will be different each year. Come to think about it. I haven''t checked it," Ye Ai Xia took the parchment and opened it up. She glanced at the lines telling the reward.


    First place: Spring and Youth Pill


    Second place: Eon Energy Pill rank 3


    Third place: Eon Energy Pill rank 2


    Ye Jiao peered to the paper. Thanks to her mother teaching, she could read the letters that was written inside. "Mom, what is a pill?"


    "A pill is some kind of medicine in the shape of a small ball," Ye Ai Xia replied. She raised her hand and used her Eon energy to form a small ball. "The shape is like this, but each type of Eon Energy is different with one another. They can be either formed by using pure Eon Energy or a mix of various medicine that''s squished together."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes shone. "Can you make one, Mom?"


    "I can condense my Eon Energy to form an Eon Energy pill," Ye Ai Xia admitted, "But it''s going to deplete my Eon Energy a lot as it wastes a lot of power and I have to compress it to make sure that it''s completely pure."


    "it sounds difficult."


    "It is," Ye Ai Xia nodded her head. "As for pills with using plants and all, I can''t make them. I have never learned them before, so it''s impossible to make one."


    "It needs study?"


    "Yes," Ye Ai Xia pointed to the first one. "This is a previous pill that they say to be able to restore youth to someone. Many women would surely aim for that."


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "It sounds like this competition is targeted to women."


    "It''s possible."


    "Can you use Eon Energy Pill, Mom?"


    "I can," Ye Ai Xia eyes moved to the reward. "But it''s not going to be of much use to me."


    For Eon Energy Master Rank 3, Eon Energy Pill rank 2 wouldn''t help them too much. It would only increase the amount of their Eon Energy slightly without much change in the overall condition. If they wanted to improve a lot, they would need Eon Energy Pill rank 3, which was far rarer in this Kingdom.


    Besides, Ye Ai Xia has almost reached her limit in rank 3, so she couldn''t absorb too much at once anymore. She could only use Eon Energy to strengthen her body bit by bit.


    Those people must have done this on purpose.


    They knew that she didn''t have much use of the rewards this time, but they still gave it out here. As for the first reward, she didn''t really care for it as she was still young. Besides, Eon Energy Master could make themselves look a bit younger than their real age.


    "This year race is truly a joke," Ye Ai Xia sighed to herself.


    "Mom?"


    "Let''s just prepare for the Summer Festival. Jiao''er, tomorrow you should go to the kitchen and asks for some rice, pork, egg, and some other ingredient. We''re going to make dumplings."


    "Why rice, Mom?"


    "In the festival, it''s the tradition to make rice dumpling," Ye Ai Xia replied. As for why it was rice¡­* she had forgotten. History lesson was not her forte, so why should she bother remembering them?


    "I''ll make them with you, Mom?" Ye Jiao''s eyes sparkled.


    "Yes, now go to sleep, little lady."


    "Yes, Mom."


    Ye Jiao snuggled to her bed before pulling the blanket up. She waited until Ye Ai Xia had left before sitting down on her bed. A few months ago, she found out that her training speed remained the same even if she practiced at night, making it convenient for her. As she wanted to become stronger quicker, she spent the night training again until she fell asleep.


    By the time it was morning, Ye Jiao found herself on her bed. Her blanket was not placed properly due to her sleeping during her training.


    "Mom, I''ll go get the rice first," Ye Jiao jumped down the bed and said to her mother.


    Ye Ai Xia walked to the house from the backyard. She nodded her head. "Be careful. If the servant didn''t want to give, just say to replace today''s meal with raw ingredients such as rice, egg, pork, and others that I tell you before."


    "Ok, Mom!"


    With that instruction, Ye Jiao ran out of the house and headed to the stone path. She could see that there were a lot of wrecked stone paths near the entrance with the bugs were nowhere to be found. It seemed that the guards killed them all along with destroying part of the path when they came here yesterady.


    Ye Jiao clicked her tongue. It was such a shame that a lot of them died. She didn''t really have much interest to collect them again from the garden. Right now, she had to focus on her training.


    "Excuse me," Ye Jiao stopped by the entrance. Several servants were standing in front of her, busy working to prepare the breakfast for their young masters and misses.


    The servants sent a glare to her. They recognized her as the young girl that stayed with Ye Ai Xia. Even though no one dared to make trouble for her because of what happened to the two servants before, they wouldn''t treat her politely.


    "What do you want?"


    "I want to ask for some rice, pork, egg¡­"


    The servant frowned at the list Ye Jiao mentioned. "There''s no such thing in the kitchen. Just go, and we''re going to deliver your usual meal to you."


    "That won''t do," Ye Jiao replied. "How about if you just change the meal to these ingredients?"


    "Do you want to create trouble for us?" The servant asked back. If they didn''t deliver the food per their master''s instruction, they wouldn''t be able to make any excuse. Last time, two of their friends have died because of changing the menu. Now, did this girl want to do the same thing?


    "No, this is what Aunt Ai Xia wants," Ye Jiao recalled that her mother asked her to call her aunt in front of others. There were times when she almost forgot, but this time, she managed to hold her tongue from spouting off that word.


    The servants looked at one another. They didn''t really want to deal with this little girl because it would be annoying.


    "Go away, we''re not going to receive order from you."


    They would prefer to receive order straight from their master than obeying this woman and plunged themselves into trouble. They were not stupid.


    Ye Jiao frowned. Her eyes were looking at the servants with annoyance. She didn''t want to create trouble, but shouldn''t the servant agree to what her mother asked? This would make it hard for them to celebrate the Summer Festival.


    As she was pondering what she should say, a light and elegant voice entered her ear.


    "What are you doing loitering here?"


    ---


    A/N:


    *I make it based on Fifth Month Festival in China, also known as Dragon Boat Festival, Dumpling Festival, and Double Fifth Festival. (Just try to search it in google for the backstory, it''s pretty famous)

 51 Preparation for Summer Festival 2

    "What are you doing loitering here?"


    The sound was light and melodious, creating ease to whoever heard it. However, the sharp tone tinged with displeasure made them aware that the owner was not in a good mood.


    Ye Jiao turned her head and saw a young girl around the age of 13 was standing not far from her. Her long dark brown hair fluttered along with the wind. Her sharp gaze told others that she was not someone to be trifled with, yet her beautiful face would surely attract others to her. Just standing in front of this girl caused a sense of pressure in Ye Jiao''s body.


    Her brows furrowed slightly. She could see that this girl looked slightly younger than Wei Cheng, but her disposition and power didn''t seem to be lacking in the slightest compared to him.


    "Miss Wei Yin," the servants quickly bowed down.


    Hearing the name, Ye Jiao realized who this woman was. She was Wei Shang''s first daughter and also the second child in this family. Wei Yin was only a year younger than Wei Cheng, but the two of them reached rank 1 almost at the same time not long ago. That achievement confirmed further that this Wei Yin has greater talent than Wei Cheng.


    Wei Yin nodded her head. Her eyes held no emotion as she glanced to Ye Jiao. "Who are you?"


    "My name is Ye Jiao, Miss Wei Yin," Ye Jiao replied somberly.


    "What are you doing here?" Wei Yin had heard Ye Jiao''s name a few times, especially from the annoying duo. From them, she knew that Ye Jiao should have stayed in Ye Ai Xia''s residence most of the time and unable to get out if it was unnecessary.


    Ye Jiao pointed to the kitchen. "I want to ask for our meal today to be exchanged for some ingredients."


    Wei Yin remembered that tomorrow would be the Summer Festival. She could guess that this little girl wanted the ingredients because she wanted to celebrate it with Ye Ai Xia.


    "Just give it to her and don''t create commotion. It''s time for breakfast," Wei Yin said coldly.


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    The servants hurriedly nodded their heads. "We''ll do what you say, Miss."


    As they scampered to fetch the food and others, Wei Yin was not bothered in the slightest. She turned around and left without glancing at the others at all. In her eyes, they seemed to be nonexistent.


    "Many thanks for your help, Miss Wei Yin."


    However, Wei Yin didn''t even glance in Ye Jiao''s direction anymore as if she didn''t hear it. Ye Jiao knew that the other party heard it, but she took no offense. For someone as high as Wei Yin, her existence must be nothing worth of her time.


    ''So, that''s what it feels to face a rank 1 who hadn''t controlled their strength well," Ye Jiao could remember the faint pressure she felt. It was not unbearable, but it made her looked up at the girl a bit because of her young age and disposition.


    Because of her power and ability, no one dared to slight her in the slightest.


    Ye Jiao shook her head and tried not to think too much. Even though that girl kind of helping her, she has never even met with Wei Yin before. This might just be a little coincidence and unintended act on the other party''s part. Still, she would surely remember the kindness Wei Yin gave to her.


    Turning her body around, Ye Jiao strode on the road back to her residence. She wanted to tell her mother first.


    "Mom, I manage to ask them to change the meal," Ye Jiao reported right after she arrived by the door. Her eyes widened when she saw her mother was already busy cooking.


    "That''s good, Jiao''er."


    "Mom, where does this food come from?"


    Ye Ai Xia smiled brightly. "It comes from yesterday''s meal and some meat that your father left for us before. There are still some of them left, so we''re going to eat this today."


    "I''ll prepare the plates first, then," Ye Jiao moved to the counter.


    "Be careful, Jiao''er."


    "Yes, Mom."


    ¡­


    After breakfast, Ye Jiao spent the rest of her time studying and practicing. Thanks to her training with Mu Xin, her body has grown far stronger compared with ordinary people. This would surely be a great help for her if she wanted to reach rank 1.


    "My progress feels slow," Ye Jiao sighed to herself. She glanced at her own arm. "Well, I guess I''m the one who''s impatient."


    If other people found out how she has filled the place for her core full with Eon Energy, they would surely think of her as a monster. Unfortunately, Ye Jiao couldn''t feel satisfied. She still could pull more Eon Energy into her core, pushing it together in her abdomen. Until she couldn''t pull more Eon Energy, she wouldn''t be able to form her core.


    Without the core, she couldn''t start training Eon Energy.


    Ye Jiao sighed to herself as she lay on the grass. Right now, she was staying inside the small forest, not far from the residence. This forest was filled with nature that she loved so much. Beads of sweat from her training stained her shirt.


    "Let''s just pull more Eon Energy here."


    Not willing to move from her position, Ye Jiao closed her eyes and started to feel her surroundings. It has been a long time since the last time she practiced pulling Eon Energy to her body while she was lying down. After all, her mother forced her to do it when she was sitting to make it more stable.


    The warm light around her entered her body bit by bit as Ye Jiao sped up her power. It was as warm as she could remember and before long, she fell asleep again.


    "Jiao''er," Ye Ai Xia sighed when she saw her daughter sleep on the grass again. She wondered what Ye Xiao taught this girl to make her love to sleep outside.


    "Mhm," Ye Jiao''s body stirred. Her eyelashes fluttered open as she saw her mother''s face right in front of her. "Mom."


    "What did I say about sleeping outside?"


    "Uh, I''ll catch a cold if I do it too often," Ye Jiao scratched her head.


    Ye Ai Xia crossed her arm. "It''s good that you remember. Let''s go home and have early dinner. You need to sleep early because tomorrow we''re going to wake up early."


    "Why early, Mom?"


    "We''re going to make the dumpling in the morning," Ye Ai Xia explained. "But because I have competition in the morning, we have to push the schedule into even earlier."


    "Can''t we do it after the competition, Mom?" Ye Jiao asked with hopeful expression. She doubted that she could fall asleep again after sleeping for a long time.


    Ye Ai Xia shook her head. She also wanted to have their time together at night, but she was worried that those people would pull some trick on her. If she got wounded or anything, she might not be able to accompany Ye Jiao.


    "No, we''re going to do it in the morning."


    "Awww," Ye Jiao muttered. "Ok, I''ll wake up very early for you, Mom."


    "Good girl."


    "Hehe."

 52 Making Rice Dumplings

    At night, Ye Ai Xia washed some leaves to use for the wrap for the rice dumpling. She made sure that they were soaked before looking at her daughter and pointed at the pork meat.


    "Cut them into 1 to 2 inches chunks, Jiao''er," Ye Ai Xia instructed.


    "Yes, Mom," Ye Jiao picked up the knife and started to cut them down while her mother prepared other ingredients. Her small hand, which has gotten used with using a sword, could move agilely.


    "I have finished, Mom."


    "Good, you can rest now," Ye Ai Xia smiled. "The rest should be done tomorrow morning."


    "Ok, Mom."


    Ye Jiao sprinted to her bedroom while Ye Ai Xia prepared other ingredients. She made sure that they were all ready before heading to the backyard to practice.


    The next morning, Ye Ai Xia came into the house early. She headed straight to their bedroom and woke Ye Jiao up. The little girl was excited as she jumped off the bed right after she woke up.


    "Come on, Mom. We''re going to make the best rice dumpling ever!"


    "Wait for me, little brat. And wash your body first."


    "Ok, Mom."


    After cleaning herself up, Ye Jiao dashed to the kitchen. She looked excitedly as her mother put out the rice and beans out. She instructed her to wash them before they start to make the rice dumpling.


    Making the rice dumpling itself was not that hard. Ye Ai Xia washed off the leaves and cut the coarse edge before bending them to make cone shape. After that, it would be filled with rice, bean, meat, eggs, mushroom, bean again, and lastly rice again. Afterwards, she closed the leaf, pressed it lightly to make sure the shape was right and used bamboo twine to tie it up.


    "Here you go, the first rice dumpling," Ye Ai Xia handed it to Ye Jiao after she had tied it up.


    Ye Jiao looked at the rice dumpling excitedly. "What are we going to do next, Mom?"


    "We''re going to make a few more before boiling them for six hours," Ye Ai Xia replied. "You have to make sure that the water submerges them from time to time until the time is up. Can I trust you to keep watch?"


    "Yes, you can, Mom," Ye Jiao smiled. "We''re going to enjoy them together at night."


    "Yes, now let''s make another one."


    "Okay!"


    The two of them spent the rest of the morning making the rice dumplings before Ye Ai Xia put them into the pot. For the first few hours, she still stayed at home and helped Ye Jiao to dress up to go out with Mu Xin. The two of them had promised to play together for this festival.


    Ye Jiao wore a light red dress. Her skirt was long but loose, making it easy to move around. Ye Ai Xia had purposely picked one where the girl would be able to run because she knew that Ye Jiao didn''t like to stay in one place for a long time. The edge of the dress was embroidered with flower patterned embroidery in purple color, giving it an elegant feel.


    "You look good, Jiao''er," Ye Ai Xia nodded with satisfaction when she saw Ye Jiao''s image in the mirror.


    "Mom, will you dress up too?"


    "Me? I''ll just wear my sports dress," Ye Ai Xia replied. She didn''t really want to look good in front of those annoying men. She was pretty sure that each of them would be present when she appeared.


    "Can I see it?"


    "Why not? Wait here for a bit."


    Ye Ai Xia went to the bathroom for a moment before walking out with green dress and long green pants. The bright green color was similar to her eyes. The dress has long sleeves which was quite large at the end, making it easy to move around. The design was as such that it exuded the image of a refined woman.


    Ye Ai Xia smiled. "How do I look?"


    "You look amazing, Mom! Even a goddess might not be as beautiful as you," Ye Jiao praised with sparkling eyes.


    "You brat," Ye Ai Xia poked her daughter''s forehead. "Mom will be going now. Take care of the house, ok?"


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    "Yes!"


    After her mother left, Ye Jiao sat in the living room patiently. There were still another three hours before she could leave the house, so she spent the time practicing near the fireplace while checking the water from time to time.


    After an unknown amount of time passed, Ye Jiao sensed that Wang Jun has arrived behind her.


    "Miss Ye Jiao," Wang Jun called softly. It was impolite to disturb someone when they were practicing, so he did it with caution. After all, one didn''t know whether the other person was in deep training or just a light one.


    Ye Jiao opened her eyes slowly. Her bright green iris stared back at Wang Jun with questions all over her face. "Is it the time to meet with Senior Mu Xin?"


    "Yes, she has finished making her rice dumpling, so she wants you to come over," Wang Jun replied.


    "I can''t. I still have to wait for another hour for the rice dumpling to finish," Ye Jiao pointed to the pot before her.


    Wang Jun stared at the pot for a moment before turning around. "Wait here."


    "Jun Ge?"


    At that moment, Wang Jun had disappeared from the place without any trace. Ye Jiao could never understand how this man managed to erase his presence perfectly every single time. It was as if this man was a ghost, which would be totally absurd.


    It took several minutes for Wang Jun to return back, this time he brought Mu Xin with him.


    "Senior Mu," Ye Jiao was stunned to see the girl came here. She quickly stood up from her place and walked to the other party.


    Mu Xin was wearing a blue long dress, which was light and easy to move in. Her face has started to show the trace of maturity. Albeit faint, but the light makeup she wore today made it more visible.


    "You take longer to make them," Mu Xin pointed to the pot.


    Ye Jiao scratched her head. "I can''t help it, it''s not like I can speed them up."


    "You''re right."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes caught the basket in Mu Xin''s arm. It was surely the rice dumpling that Mu Xin made with her father. Her eyes sparkled with interest as she had never eaten them before.


    "Do you want some? I brought it here with me to wait for your rice dumpling. Jun Ge, you can also eat some if you want," Mu Xin remarked.


    "Yes, thank you!"


    "I''ll not reject your offer, Miss," Wang Jun replied as he took the rice dumpling and opened it. His eyes widened when he saw the rather messy shape.


    Mu Xin took one of the rice dumplings. "Some of them might not have good shape because I''m the one who put them in."


    "I can''t see the difference," Ye Jiao munched on the rice dumpling. The sweetness from the meat and sticky rice made her smile.


    "Eat more, I''ll eat yours too later."


    "Good idea."


    While the two girls chatted happily, Wang Jun ate the dumpling quietly by the side. He didn''t have any intention to disturb the two of them.

 53 The Competition

    After departing from her house, Ye Ai Xia headed outside. This time, the guards didn''t stop her because they knew that she would participate in the competition. If they tried to hinder her path, they would have to face the consequences.


    Walking to the gate, Ye Ai Xia could see that there were a lot of people there. Most of them were women, but some men were present. It seemed that the Spring and Youth Pill succeeded in attracting numerous female participants. Well, what would one expect from a pill that can help restore one''s youth?


    Ye Ai Xia stopped right in front of the gate as numerous pairs of eyes were looking at her. She has gotten used to their stare. Many were looking at her with astonishment while others with lust or envy. As one of the most beautiful women in the capital, she knew how common this treatment was.


    "I can see that you still love to show off, Ye Ai Xia," the familiar voice entered her eyes.


    Ye Ai Xia glanced to the side where she could see a dark yellow haired woman standing not far from her. The majestic bright red color of her clothes made her look quite eye catching among the crowd as the woman sneered.


    "So it''s you, Su Lian," Ye Ai Xia remarked indifferently. "Don''t you think it''s unwise for an old woman like you to wear such bright color?"


    Su Lian''s face darkened the moment she heard the word ''old.'' In the entire world, the word that women hated the most was old and that would certainly include Su Lian. "I might have grown older, but I don''t look old at all."


    "Really? With all that wrinkles on your face, I''ll wonder what other people will say," Ye Ai Xia replied sarcastically. In front of Su Lian, she dared to talk however she wished. After all, their clashes have been known since a long time ago."


    "You-!"


    "Senior Sister, I think it''s unwise to quarrel with someone like her," the woman from behind Su Lian warned. The woman had a similar hair color, which was dark yellow. However, this woman looked far beautiful compared with Su Lian and looked far more refined in her manner.


    "Su Daji," Ye Ai Xia murmured. This woman was one of the concubines that Wei Shang has. Although Su Daji herself has great talent, her son, Wei Liao, was rather lacking.


    Su Lian furrowed her brows. "Indeed, this is not the place for us to start our quarrel. I''m going to defeat you in the competition, Ye Ai Xia."


    "I''m afraid you''re not qualified," Ye Ai Xia laughed freely. Her eyes landed on Su Daji. It would be a different case for this woman as she knew herself that Su Daji also specialized in speed and the two of them have similar rank right now. If they compete on their speed, no one can say for sure who would win.


    Su Daji smiled sweetly. "His Highness has come. The competition will soon start, so you better prepare yourself, Ye Ai Xia."


    Ye Ai Xia nodded her head. "Many thanks for your reminder."


    As the two Su left, Ye Ai Xia turned her head to the direction of the imperial family. Her eyes glinted with maliciousness when she saw them. Her hatred towards them was on par or even much more compared with her hatred of Wei Shang.


    If not for the Imperial Family, she would never succumb to this horrible fate.


    Closing her eyes, Ye Ai Xia calmed her heart. Whatever happened shall happen. She would just focus on the competition and did what she could.


    ¡­


    Wei Family Residence


    In the small courtyard, Ye Jiao smiled brightly when she realized that the time was up. The rice dumpling has been cooked perfectly. Slowly, she picked them out of the pot and placed them on the table.


    "Can I take one?" Mu Xin asked with interest. She wanted to compare the two rice dumplings.


    "Sure, just take one," Ye Jiao nodded her head as she picked up one for herself. Opening up the twine, she could see the perfectly made rice dumpling. Slowly, she ate them and savored the sweet taste.


    "It''s really good," Mu Xin commented.


    "Yes, it''s delicious!"


    The two girls chatted as they ate the rice dumpling. Mu Xin only brought several of them, so now her basket was empty. She glanced at Wang Jun.


    "Jun Ge, carry us out of this place."


    Wang Jun blinked several times. "Miss, it''s going to be hard hiding the presence of three people at once even with the treasure that your father lends to me. It''ll be safer if I take you out one by one."


    "Why bother?" Mu Xin crossed her arm in annoyance. "Those people are only here to watch over Madam Ye Ai Xia and not Ye Jiao. There''s no way they''re still around here when she has left."


    Wang Jun smiled bitterly. It was easy for Mu Xin to say that, but he knew better. There were still some of them left to watch over the residence. It might not be directed straight to Ye Jiao, but it wouldn''t be easy for him to get out unnoticed if he brought two girls with him at once.


    Seeing their hopeful gaze, he sighed to himself. "Fine, get on."


    "Yes! You''re the best, Jun Ge."


    "Thank you, Jun Ge."


    "Save your praise for later," Wang Jun said jokingly before he departed with the two of them out of the residence. Within minutes, the three of them reached the wall, at the border of the city.


    Slowly and carefully, Wang Jun put the two girls down as they inched closer to the wall, trying to see what was down there. Seeing numerous Eon Energy Masters running around, their eyes sparkled with interest.


    "This is the first time I see numerous Eon Energy Masters using their power all at once," Mu Xin exclaimed in surprise.


    "Me too."


    "What kind of race is this, Jun Ge?"


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    Wang Jun turned his head to see the two girls. He smiled kindly. "This is the race to circle the city once. But it''s not just an ordinary circling the entire city as there are numerous obstacles that they placed. First of all, you have to be careful with the beasts surrounding the capital city. Secondly, there might be some trap that they prepared."


    "Trap?" Ye Jiao''s interest was piqued up.


    "Yes, there might be some traps. This part of the wall is for the beginning of the race. If you want to see the end, it''s over there, but I doubt that there''s anyone who has reached the finish line this quickly," Wang Jun recalled that the race had just started around an hour ago. Considering the traps and beasts, even the fastest person might need two hours to circle the city if they used their power as rank 3 moderately.


    "We can try to walk over there while talking," Ye Jiao suggested. For the two of them, the distance was quite long. The time they needed to head to the other wall might be the same time needed for the Eon Energy Masters to reach the finish line.


    "That''s a great idea," Mu Xin agreed without much thought.


    Ye Jiao grinned. "Then, what are you waiting for? Let''s go!"

 54 Two Big Family in Chen Kingdom

    "Senior Mu, there are a lot of people over there," Ye Jiao commented when the two of them have walked for quite some time. The side of the wall near the finish line was extremely crowded with people. Those who hadn''t reached Rank 1 would stay on the wall in fear that they would get attacked.


    Mu Xin nodded her head. "They can''t watch from below, so they''re also using this place to watch."


    "Can we get pass them?" Ye Jiao asked worriedly. It would be hard to look from there with numerous people blocking their way. Added with their height as children, it would be close to impossible to see from behind them.


    "I can secure a place easily," Mu Xin shrugged.


    "What?"


    When they reached near the wall, a soldier approached the two of them. He recognized Mu Xin immediately as their general''s daughter.


    "Miss Mu Xin," the soldier bowed down.


    "I want to take a look," Mu Xin said in an indifferent tone. Her warm expression was replaced back to her cold and aloof face, showing a large contrast to how this girl behaved in front of Ye Jiao.


    "I''ll take you there, Miss," the soldier glanced at Wang Jun and Ye Jiao, unsure if he should bring them along.


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    "They''re my friends, so they''re coming with me."


    "I understand, Miss."


    As the soldier guided them, Ye Jiao was watching the soldier''s expression. From the way he behaved, it didn''t seem he liked the notion of taking the two of them along with Mu Xin. Well, the two of them didn''t have high status, so it was to be expected that the soldier wouldn''t give them preferential treatment.


    The soldier brought them to the post tower. In the city wall, there will be some parts that were rather large. It was usually called as their post and also the place for their leader to lead during war or battle.


    This time, the place was used by children of influential families to rest. Because of their parents or other family members, they were allowed to stay there to watch. Compared to the crowded wall, this place only has several children staying. Some of them brought their friends, but there were not many.


    "It''s pretty large," Ye Jiao commented in awe. She didn''t know that they could stay here.


    Mu Xin nodded her head. "It''s to be expected that this place is pretty large. This is the post for the generals or other people such as strategist."


    "I see."


    Walking to the wall, Ye Jiao looked to the ground. Her eyes were astonished when she saw the height. The wall in Wei Family residence could never be compared with the mighty height of this wall. It was simply too awesome.


    The people outside looked extremely small from this position. Ye Jiao admired the people around her then turned her head to the side. She could see a young boy leaning on the wall leisurely. His relaxed attitude was in contrast to the excited children around him, but no one dared to get close to the young boy.


    "Senior Mu, do you know who that is?" Ye Jiao pointed using her chin.


    Mu Xin furrowed her brows. "It''s Lu Wan."


    "Lu Wan?" Ye Jiao tilted her head. From the corner of her eyes, she secretly watched that green haired boy with curiosity.


    "Haven''t you heard about him?" Mu Xin smiled wryly. "Just recently, he came out of his training hall as Eon Energy Master Rank 1."


    Eon Energy Master Rank 1?


    Ye Jiao was astonished. From the figure the boy had, she guessed that he should be around 11 to 12 years old. Most children that age have just formed their core, but this Lu Wan has reached rank 1?


    "You know that Lu Family is the second largest family in this kingdom, right?"


    "Yes."


    Chen Kingdom was formed with two factions supporting it. One of them was Wei Family, which was the holder of the military of this kingdom. The other one was Lu Family, who was known for their strict rules and extreme understanding of politics and law. Above the two families, only the Imperial family stood higher.


    Mu Xin pointed to the boy. "Lu Wan is the second son in Lu Family and also the genius of this generation."


    "Is it not Wei Cheng or Wei Yin?" Ye Jiao recalled that the two of them were pretty good themselves. If they claimed themselves to be the genius, many people would surely agree with them.


    "Nope, they''re nearing the word ''genius,'' but they''re mostly only slightly talented," Mu Xin shook her head.


    "Only slightly talented?" The standard to be called as a genius was really high in this place.


    Mu Xin smiled as she watched Ye Jiao''s reaction. "Do you remember their color during the test? Or at least, have you heard about it?"


    "It''s blue with slight purple color in Wei Mi," Ye Jiao replied.


    "You''re right," Mu Xin nodded her head. She pointed her chin to Lu Wan. "On the other hand, this young boy reached purple color back then, making him the one with the highest talent so far."


    Purple color!


    It was known that purple was the peak of their talent in this world. Whoever could reach purple color would be destined for greatness because they have the possibility to achieve the highest stage in Eon Energy.


    "That''s amazing!" Ye Jiao exclaimed.


    Mu Xin nodded her head. "In this kingdom, there are only two people who reach pure purple color in this generation. I mean, among the people around our age."


    "So little!"


    "Of course, do you think it''s common to reach purple color?" Mu Xin laughed. If it was that easy to find one with that talent color, the entire world would be filled with geniuses all over the place.


    Ye Jiao could sense the longing tone that Mu Xin used when she spoke. It was clear that Mu Xin also hoped that she could have purple color talent because it was the only chance she could reach higher rank.


    "Senior Mu," Ye Jiao tugged the girl''s sleeves. "Don''t worry. I''m sure that you''ll be able to reach a high rank in the future too."


    "Yes," Mu Xin smiled. Her talent might not be the best among them all, but she would not give up that easily. Her path would be much harder if she wanted to reach the same rank as them all, but it was not like all hope was lost.


    Their path has just begun. There will be many things that happened in the future that might change their fate.


    Ye Jiao turned her head to the other side and her body stiffened when she saw the four siblings from Wei Family. In total, Wei Family has five children, but so far, she has only met with four of them. Right now, the four of them are staying in this post tower.


    Her eyes met with Wei Mi''s eyes, who widened in surprise and disgust.


    "You! What is trash like you doing here?"

 55 Confrontation

    Ye Jiao''s body stood rooted in place as she saw the four siblings from the Wei Family. Even though she wanted to run away because she didn''t want to deal with them, it would be hard for her to move when they had taken notice of her. Four pairs of eyes looked in her direction.


    "It''s that trash again," Wei Mi scrunched her face in disgust. The thought of staying in the same place with Ye Jiao made her annoyed.


    Wei Cheng''s reaction was not any better. He arched his eyebrows in annoyance. "What in the world would someone like you do to stay in this place?"


    "Trash!" Wei Liao also added.


    On the other hand, Wei Yin stayed silent. She was not interested in their childish dispute as she moved away from her place and picked a comfortable place to sit. Her brothers and sisters from different mothers were annoying in her eyes.


    "Hey, are you still a mute?" Wei Mi approached Ye Jiao. Her hand was raised up, about to slap the girl''s face but Mu Xin stopped her movement. With Mu Xin trained in martial arts every single day, her physical body was far stronger than ordinary people.


    "Senior Mu!" Ye Jiao was startled.


    "Trying to hit a girl in public, are you not aware of your position as the general''s legal daughter?" Mu Xin asked in a menacing tone. Her disposition has been cold most of the time and when she got angry, her tone turned even icier.


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    "You!"


    Wei Mi tried her best to pull her hand back, but she could feel that Mu Xin was holding her firmly. It was not to the point of pain, but she was unable to free herself from the girl''s grip.


    "Release my sister!" Wei Cheng stepped in.


    Mu Xin glanced at Wei Cheng and released Wei Mi''s arm right when the girl was trying to pull back. Her action caused the girl to stumble to the back and crashed right to Wei Liao, who was standing not far from her.


    "Be careful," Wei Liao murmured.


    Wei Mi''s eyes reddened. As the pampered daughter of Wei Family, she has never been slighted in any way. This was the first time for her to receive such a treatment. With the help of Wei Cheng, she struggled to stand up.


    All these times, Mu Xin stood indifferently. She didn''t care about their difference in status. Even though her father might be under Wei Mi''s father, she couldn''t just let them go when they tried to bully Ye Jiao. It was too much. The girl was only eight years old, but they always made things difficult for her.


    At least, when they were outside, she would step in.


    "Miss," Wang Jun reminded from the back to not act rashly. Even though Mu Hong would be able to deal with the matter cleanly, it would be better to not create any trouble with the Wei Family.


    "I know, Jun Ge," Mu Xin replied calmly.


    Wei Cheng was already angry at Mu Xin''s indifferent. When he heard how Mu Xin called Wang Jun, he sneered. "Even a lowly servant can become your brother, Mu Xin. It seems that the standard of Mu Family has gone down."


    "It''s called polite, Wei Cheng. I''m not like the Wei Family who can''t act appropriately when they''re outside," Mu Xin said solemnly.


    "You!" Wei Mi was about to lash out when Wei Yin held the girl from the back. Even though Wei Yin didn''t have any interest in stepping in, she knew that they would get into trouble if they made a scene at this place right now.


    "Wei Mi, we''re outside," Wei Yin warned the young girl. "My apologies for bothering the two of you. We''re going to go now."


    "You! Don''t restrain me!" Wei Mi struggled. She would not feel satisfied before she could push Ye Jiao back. The humiliation she felt after falling down to the ground and crashing against Wei Liao wouldn''t disappear just like that.


    "Wei Mi!"


    "Mi''er," Wei Cheng also spoke up. "Don''t create trouble here."


    He could see that the other influential family children were also looking at them with inquiry. Clearly, the little ruckus that Wei Mi started made them aware that there were disputes here. As the participants haven''t reached nearing the finish line, the children were mostly talking with each other or relaxing.


    "But, Cheng Ge¡­"


    "Shut up!"


    The loud yell caused the children to startle. Some of them even jumped on their place due to the surprise. Numerous pairs of eyes were looking in one direction, which was the green haired boy. Right now, his posture was still as relaxed as ever, but his expression showed his displeasure.


    Wei Cheng quickly corrected his posture. "We''re sorry¡­."


    "Just shut up and watch if you want to stay here or scram outside if you want to create trouble. Listening to your gibberish makes me want to puke," Lu Wan said harshly, not caring how his words entered the other''s ears.


    Ye Jiao was utterly stunned when she heard how Lu Wan berated the others harshly. Wasn''t the Lu Family known for their scholarly attitude?


    This boy¡­ no, this brat has just cursed them all and told them to scram.


    If she didn''t hear it by herself, she would not believe such a person came from Lu Family. The way he behaved was too similar to that of a rogue. Even though there were truths inside his words, they were extraordinarily harsh.


    Lu Wan swept his gaze once before turning his gaze back to the outside. The people would reach the finish line soon and he wanted to see them.


    Wei Cheng glanced at Ye Jiao as he mouthed out. ''This is not over yet, brat!''


    Looking at the Wei children moved back, Ye Jiao was secretly astonished. Even though the brat named Lu Wan was harsh with his mouth, he could directly order other people to move back easily. It seemed that his position in this kingdom was not light at all.


    But before that.


    "Senior Mu, is Lu Family really famous as a scholarly family?"


    Mu Xin smiled wryly. "Yes, but Lu Wan is an oddball. He doesn''t follow any rules and tends to act according to his will. But because of his talent, no one force him to study law and politics and let him do whatever he wants. Right now, he has become Eon Energy Master rank 1."


    "How old is he?"


    "He should be 11 years old," Mu Xin replied.


    11 years old¡­ it was even younger than what Ye Jiao expected.


    Ye Jiao turned her body in the direction outside the city once more. The tense atmosphere has eased up as the children started to talk with one another bit by bit. The content of their conversation might be different from one another, but several of them must be talking about Lu Wan.


    "Those with purple talent are really amazing," Ye Jiao sighed.


    Mu Xin giggled. "In the previous generation, there are only two people with purple talent too."


    "Who?"


    "Ye Xiao and Ai Xia."

 56 Conclusion of the Competition

    "Dad and¡­" Ye Jiao''s eyes widened in astonishment. She knew that her father was awesome, but she didn''t expect that it would be this great.


    Mu Xin nodded her head. "However, the two of them fail to reach rank 3 before the age of 15 because of different reasons."


    "Wait, who''s Ai Xia?"


    "It''s your aunt, dummy," Mu Xin laughed. "Madam Ai Xia is adopted by Ye Family, but she refused to change her surname. Because of that, they kindly allow her to use her surname while adding Ye surname."


    "Ah," Ye Jiao never realized that her mother''s real surname was Ai. She always thought that her mother had replaced it from young and at the same time, her name was Ai Xia. But it turned out that it was coming from her mother''s past name.


    "I thought that there are more people with purple talent."


    "Yes, from other places," Mu Xin admitted. "Occasionally, there will be students exchange with students from other places. It usually occurs every five years, but it''s only applicable in Academy and not Elementary School."


    "Is it going to happen soon?"


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    "I think no? I don''t know either," Mu Xin replied embarrassedly. "I''m still in Elementary School this year, so I don''t pay much attention."


    "I see."


    Ye Jiao thought to herself. If there were only two people with purple talent in this kingdom, it meant that her father''s wife must have come from a different kingdom. Was it one among the four kingdoms or outside the four kingdoms?


    She was not sure herself.


    "The participants are rushing in!"


    The shout from another student brought Ye Jiao''s attention back to the competition. She could see two women were leading at the front with someone else at their back, training not far from them.


    "It''s Su Daji," Mu Xin pointed to one of the women at the front. Right now, the aloof and respectable madam from Wei Family looked rather horrible. She was drenched in mud all over her body, but she still forced her Eon Energy to propel her forward.


    The other woman was Ye Ai Xia. Compared with Su Daji, Ye Ai Xia''s condition was far better. Her clothes were a bit unkempt because of running madly at high speed, but she was not dirty at all. If anything, her movement still has the trace of elegance.


    "They''re almost reaching the finish line," Ye Jiao said excitedly.


    "The brutal war will start here," Mu Xin commented.


    Right after she said that, Su Daji suddenly attacked the other two women using her Eon Energy. It was forming a line and pushed the two of them.


    Ye Ai Xia was prepared as she blocked it by making Eon Energy barrier, but the other woman fell to the ground. Still, that woman didn''t give up and stood up again. For Eon Energy Master Rank 3, that small damage was nothing much.


    With that, the three of them were closing to the finish line even faster and faster. Su Daji continued to spare some time to attack, but the other two were already prepared for her attack, allowing them to escape.


    However, their action of escaping made Su Daji reach first.


    "This is the first time I see battle between rank 3 masters," Mu Xin didn''t know whether to laugh or cry seeing their pitiful battle. Compared with her imagination, their battle looked hilarious.


    Ye Jiao laughed. "But it''s not easy to control the Eon Energy."


    "Yes, it''s just, the way they control it makes it funny," Mu Xin replied. Her eyes glanced to the back as she saw two other women were already dashing madly to the finish line. Their eyes contained despair as they saw how close the three of them were to the finish line.


    "The fastest ones are all women."


    "The reward is more suitable for women," Mu Xin shrugged.


    Ye Jiao watched intently as she saw Su Daji crossed the finish line followed by her mother. Her eyes contained slight disappointment, but she was proud that her mother could reach the finish line pretty quick to have the third place.


    "It has ended, do you want to return back or watch the ceremony?" Mu Xin asked. She didn''t really have any interest in watching them.


    Ye Jiao eyed the four siblings. "I think it''s better if I return back."


    "Ah, are they bully you?"


    "No, it''s not that," Ye Jiao frowned. She just has the feeling that they would try to report her for getting out of Wei Family Residence to Wei Shang. At that time, it was her mother who would get into trouble.


    Mu Xin studied Ye Jiao''s expression and took out a bottle of medicine. "This can help you cure the outer layer of wounds quickly. Let''s meet again after I finish forming my core."


    "Ok, Senior Mu," Ye Jiao agreed directly.


    Mu Xin turned to Wang Jun. "Jun Ge, please escort Ye Jiao back."


    "Yes, Miss."


    The two of them looked at one another for a moment before Ye Jiao turned around and got out of the place. Once they were among the crowd, Wang Jun picked her up and departed from the place.


    It didn''t take long for them to arrive in Wei Family Residence.


    "Thank you, Jun Ge," Ye Jiao gave her thanks.


    Wang Jun nodded his head. He watched the girl for a few seconds. "Please be careful during your stay here, Miss Ye. Wei Family is filled with malicious people."


    "I know. Thank you for your reminder."


    Seeing the reassuring smile on Ye Jiao''s face, Wang Jun felt a bit guilty for leaving this young girl in this kind of place. If it was possible, it would be great to take her out of the city. However, he would never be able to do that under the watch of those rank 4.


    With a heavy feeling, he turned around and left without knowing that it would take him months before meeting the young girl again.


    Ye Jiao stood in her place for the next few minutes. She focused on controlling the Eon Energy around her and absorbed them slowly but steadily. Her core hadn''t shows any sign that it would be full, so she could absorb a lot of Eon Energy with ease.


    ''They come.''


    In front of her, she saw Wei Mi and Wei Liao walking closer. Their faces contained disgust when they saw the young girl.


    "It seems that you know how to return back early, brat," Wei Mi crossed her arm. "Wei Liao, call our father here."


    "Ok."


    Ye Jiao watched the two of them with a bad premonition. "What do you want?"


    "What do I want?" Wei Mi arched her eyebrow. "I want to crush you."

 57 Wei Family Maliciousness

    "What do I want?" Wei Mi arched her eyebrow. "I want to crush you."


    Ye Jiao frowned. What was this girl saying? Her eyes showed trace of confusion as she looked back at Wei Mi. The two of them were of the same age, yet it seemed as if Wei Mi''s mind was filled with malicious thoughts.


    "You''re trash that should have never been born. If not because of that annoying woman, my mother will never receive ridicule from other people!" Wei Mi yelled angrily.


    She found out that some people would look at her mother with disdain and ridicule, which was weird considering Su Lian''s position. As the legal wife of a great general, she should have been respected wherever she went. Even though they didn''t treat her that badly, she hated it when they looked at her with pity because of her mother.


    Why?


    Wei Mi heard from others that Su Lian confronted Ye Ai Xia numerous times in the past and never won even once. Even in the competition just now, they never considered her mother to win the race. This made her angry and annoyed.


    In her mind, if she could get rid of Ye Jiao, she would be able to help her mother regain some face. After all, if Ye Jiao lost face because of her, it would attribute that her mother was greater than Ye Ai Xia.


    "What are you talking about?" Ye Jiao didn''t understand at all.


    Wei Mi sneered. "You will never understand, you b*tch!"


    She stepped forward and swung her arm right to Ye Jiao''s face. Instinctively, Ye Jiao evaded to the side, making Wei Mi''s attack fall short. Even though Wei Mi lost her balance for a moment, Ye Jiao didn''t take the initiative to attack. Her eyes were watching the girl as she calculated her movement in her mind.


    If she dared to attack, Wei Shang would surely blame her for misconduct. Harming a general''s daughter worth a lot of beatings as punishment.


    Wei Mi stabilized herself and launched several punches, which came from the basic martial art in the military. As the daughter of the general himself, it was not weird that she came to learn them. After all, Wei Mi''s talent was known to be the best among the five siblings in Wei Family.


    Ye Jiao dodged several of them as she stepped back.


    "Why are you attacking me?"


    "Why? I want to beat you up!" Wei Mi replied angrily. She would not feel calm until she saw Ye Jiao wounded.


    Seeing that Wei Mi was about to begin another barrage of attack, Ye Jiao prepared herself. Her keen senses told her that the others were coming in her direction.


    Her body moved to the side, evaded the attack in large movement. At the same time, she made sure that there was a large distance between her and Wei Mi. She glanced at the side where Wei Shang had appeared with Wei Cheng and Wei Liao. As for Su Lian, that woman was nowhere to see.


    Probably, they were having debate with other women over the competition.


    "What''s going on here?" Wei Shang asked with annoyance.


    The voice and pressure coming from Wei Shang sent shiver down Ye Jiao''s body. She hurriedly stopped every movement of Eon Energy in her body as her palm was clenched into a fist. Just a gaze from Wei Shang felt like piercing her body, scanning at her directly without any ability to resist.


    It was scary. She felt as if she couldn''t hide anything in front of this man.


    "Daddy!" Wei Mi wailed. "Dad, she''s cursing me."


    Cursing?


    Ye Jiao snapped back to the real world when she heard Wei Mi''s accusation. Where in the world did Wei Mi hear her curse? She barely spoke out any word at all during the time Wei Mi was here. This girl¡­.


    "Is that true?" Wei Shang frowned. He disliked Ye Jiao, but he didn''t really want to make any trouble for the girl more than what he had. If anything, he didn''t want to have any interaction with Ye Jiao because she would make him remember Ye Xiao.


    "Yes, that''s true! She has cursed even before I go to call you, Dad!" Wei Liao supported Wei Mi''s words.


    Ye Jiao stared at the young man with a frown on her forehead. Just how far they wanted to slight her?


    "Are you sure you didn''t mishear?" Wei Shang felt rather suspicious. If that was true, the two of them wouldn''t just stay silent and do nothing. They would surely retaliate to Ye Jiao considering how proud they were.


    "Yes!"


    "Yes, Daddy!" Wei Mi pleaded, using her sweetest voice.


    Wei Cheng stepped forward. "Father, she''s an insolent girl that doesn''t know her place. You should give a lesson to her!"


    "Yes, Dad! You have to punish her!" Wei Mi asked while crying.


    Wei Shang was put in a pinch. He came here because Wei Liao told him that Wei Mi and Ye Jiao were in the middle of a fight. But from what he saw, the two of them didn''t seem to be hurt at all. If it was verbal bullying, he couldn''t confirm the truth as he sent the guards to watch at faraway location.


    "Dad, are you siding with this bit¡­ brat?" Wei Mi sobbed.


    The girl''s soft tone and pleading voice melted Wei Shang''s heart. He sighed as he waved his hand. "Just do as you wish. Just remember to return in a few minutes. Your mothers will return soon."


    "Thank you, Father," Wei Cheng bowed politely, but underneath his notion, a wicked smile was formed on his lips.


    As Wei Shang moved away, Ye Jiao was considering whether she should run or not. Wei Cheng has reached rank 1. If he wanted to beat her up, it would be extremely easy because their gap in strength was too much.


    "Father has left," Wei Liao informed.


    Wei Mi smirked. "I also bring a whip this time around. Now, help me capture her, Cheng Ge, Liao Ge!"


    Ye Jiao''s body jerked to the back as Wei Liao sprinted forward suddenly to reach her. She twisted her body to the side, agilely evaded the grip. Afterwards, Ye Jiao jumped back. Wei Cheng was reaching to her side at higher speed, so she moved away once more.


    As she had been training with Mu Xin, her reaction speed was rather fast. Even Wei Cheng would be unable to catch her if he was alone.


    As the two younger ones blocked her way, Wei Cheng reached to her back. His fist hit her back fiercely and before Ye Jiao could escape, the pain made her fall to the ground. Beads of sweat trailed down on her face as she could faintly see the smirk on Wei Cheng''s smug face.


    Before long, all she could see was a barrage of fist and kick plus the whip that Wei Mi used.


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 58 Silence

    "That''s enough," Wei Cheng remarked. "We have to return before our mother returns."


    "I''m still not satisfied," Wei Liao complained. He was one of the weakest one here as Wei Mi has started to catch up with him. It was rare for him to be able to vent out his feelings outside, so he wanted to use this chance to the fullest.


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    Wei Mi nodded her head. Her small arms were tired because of the whip''s weight, but she hadn''t had enough of using them. "Just a bit more, Cheng Ge."


    "We can come here again in a few days. The experts have cleared up all the bugs," Wei Cheng said in an authoritative tone. "Let''s go back."


    "Fine," Wei Mi reluctantly moved.


    Wei Liao took the chance to deliver one more kick before following after the other two. The three of them chatted merrily as if nothing had happened.


    On the ground, Ye Jiao was crouching down with her hand protecting her head. Her Eon Energy was working at full speed to protect her body from the beating she took just now. Many of her muscles were slightly swollen, but the Eon Energy prevented it from taking large damage. Still, it didn''t mean that she was not bleeding as Wei Mi kept on hitting her using that large whip.


    When she heard that they had left, Ye Jiao raised her head slowly. She felt frustrated at how weak she was as she dragged her painful body.


    She couldn''t fight back at all.


    Even though she tried her best to escape from the three of them and bought time, they still caught her easily. The beating that took place after that was vivid in her mind as Ye Jiao stood up slowly. Her hand reached to her pocket and took out the medicine that Mu Xin gave her not long ago.


    ''I''ll be using this first.''


    Ye Jiao headed to the bathroom, ignoring all the pain in her muscle. She poured out the medicine to the bath before getting inside. The medicine water felt scorching on her skin, it was painful but Ye Jiao didn''t say anything.


    Quietly, she absorbed the Eon Energy from the medicine and directed them to her muscle. With visible speed, the pain started to subside, leaving only some marks on her skin. Ye Jiao didn''t stop and continued to absorb the medicine and circulated her body. After a long time had passed, she started to feel much more comfortable.


    Raising her small hand, Ye Jiao scrutinized her skin.


    "At least, it makes me grow stronger¡­" As she spoke up, tears dropped from the corner of her eyes to the water. Ye Jiao blinked a few times. "Huh? That''s weird¡­ Why am I crying?"


    The tears streamed out even harder. Ye Jiao sat there silently as tears continued to pour out. She was sad and frustrated by her condition. Continuously at the bottom level with them beating her up even though she has much better talent caused her to be frustrated. For a young girl, the mental torture was not something she could treat as passing wind so easily.


    It hurts.


    Ye Jiao stared at her own fist. All she has was nothing but better start in training, but right now, she was nothing much in front of them. She could only bid her time slowly and trained to become stronger.


    It took some time before Ye Jiao could stop her cry and stepped out of the bathtub. Her mother hadn''t returned yet, so she headed straight to the kitchen and prepared the rice dumpling they had cooked earlier. As her body no longer felt hurt and there were no visible wounds left, she didn''t have any trouble.


    ''The medicine Senior Mu gives is really good.''


    Ye Jiao couldn''t wait to tell Mu Xin how thankful she was. However, she would have to wait until Mu Xin had finished the latter''s training to form her core. Forming one''s core was the very first step to becoming an Eon Energy Master, so it was always placed in great importance.


    That one process could change the kid''s fate forever.


    "Jiao''er, Mom''s home!"


    The cheerful voice from her mother brightened her mood instantly. Ye Jiao ran to the door and saw her mother waving to her. She sprinted from her position and jumped straight to her mother''s embrace.


    "Mom! Welcome back!"


    "I''m back, Little Brat," Ye Ai Xia smiled as she messed up Ye Jiao''s hair. "Do you finish the rice dumpling?"


    "Of course! I already prepared everything on the table, let''s go eat, Mom!"


    "Hey, be patient a bit, you naughty brat!"


    The two of them laughed and bantered with one another as they spent the dinner in warm light. Ye Ai Xia didn''t seem to be bothered with her loss at all while Ye Jiao didn''t want to let the incident affect her dinner. The two of them just focused on whatever matter in front of them rather than worrying about other things.


    "There are still a lot of rice dumplings left," Ye Ai Xia said after she felt full. She made a bit too much.


    "We can eat them tomorrow again, Mom," Ye Jiao suggested. "They''re really good."


    "I''ll keep them in the ring, now, I have something for you, Jiao''er."


    As she said that, Ye Ai Xia took out the Eon Energy Pill Rank 3 that she got from the competition. Originally, they didn''t even want to give her, but after a long debate, they didn''t have any choice. After all, she challenged them in front of the mass.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. "Mom, what''s that?"


    "This is Eon Energy Pill Rank 3," Ye Ai Xia replied. The size of the white ball was similar to that of an egg but the color was bright white and yellow. "You can easily differentiate each rank based on their size. Rank 2 is around half of this while rank 1 is just the size of a pea."


    Ye Jiao was astonished. "There are large differences between them."


    "Yes, now, eat this, Jiao''er."


    "Eat?" Ye Jiao stared at the bright white yellowish ball in front of her with hesitation. The size alone was already enough to make her doubt whether she could eat it or not. Added with the fact that she was not sure what she should do after eating it, she felt utterly confused.


    Ye Ai Xia stared at the ball before laughing. "Wait a minute, I''ll compress it."


    "You can compress it, Mom?"


    "Yes," Ye Ai Xia nodded her head. She started to pour her Eon Energy to the ball as it spun around. "When one reach peak rank 3, they''ll be able to control their Eon Energy much better and use it for this. If I compress it, it''ll became purer and smaller."


    She sighed internally as she could guess that they were giving her subpar Eon Energy Pill Rank 3. Even though they knew that she didn''t have any use, they didn''t want to give her anything good. She was glad that she had great control of her Eon Energy to the point that compressing the pill become easier.


    In front of Ye Ai Xia, Ye Jiao watched the process patiently. She could see that the ball turned brighter and brighter while at the same time, the size turned even smaller. It took Ye Ai Xia a long time before she could finish compressing the pill. Right now, the size was around half of the previous one.


    "Here, Jiao''er."


    "Are you sure about it, Mom?" Ye Jiao asked hesitantly. Now the size became much more plausible for her to directly swallow.


    Ye Ai Xia nodded her head. "I don''t have any use of it, so you should just eat it."


    Ye Jiao stared at the bright ball for a moment before putting it inside her mouth and swallowed it.


    ---


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 60 He Has Died

    Wei Family Residence


    Wei Shang played with his communication jade as he pondered. It was a tool used to communicate with other people with the help of Eon Energy. Right now, he was pondering about something.


    "Wei Shang."


    The cold and deep voice jolted him awake from his thought. He put the communication jade closer. "Your Majesty, you''ve finally replied."


    "What is the matter?"


    "It''s about Ye Ai Xia¡­."


    The moment he uttered the name, Wei Shang could feel that the temperature coming from the other side of the line has dropped several degrees. This name was rather taboo for them because of several reasons.


    "Didn''t I tell you to kill her if she makes trouble?"


    "She didn''t create any trouble," Wei Shang replied. "I just need your permission to tell her about Ye Xiao''s death."


    "You''re still trying to get her?"


    "Yes," Wei Shang admitted.


    The person on the other side of the line stayed silent for a moment. "Fine, but if you fail and that woman turns crazy, I''ll come there personally to kill her. This time, I''ll not accept any foolish suggestion from you again."


    "This shall be the last time," Wei Shang promised.


    "Before that, give me a reason why you turn impatient."


    Wei Shang didn''t immediately answer. When he saw the woman back in the competition a few days before, he was enraptured once again. The beauty that Ye Ai Xia possessed didn''t diminish in the slightest. Even though the trace of warmth that used to fill her entire being has disappeared and replaced with coldness, he couldn''t forget that sight at all.


    He couldn''t wait anymore.


    "I guess, I just reached my limit."


    "Is that so?" the tone didn''t seem to believe him in the slightest. "Do what you want, I''ll watch from afar."


    "Yes, Your Majesty."


    As Wei Shang cut off the communication, he tapped his table. This shall be his last resort. He turned his head to the servant. "Call Su Lian here."


    "Yes, General."


    ¡­.


    Ye Jiao spent the time in the backyard as she leisurely laid down on the grass while enjoying nature. It was so comfortable that she didn''t want to move from her place at all. Their place was rather far from the outside world, so she was not bothered by anyone in the slightest.


    "Jiao''er, just stay here if you want. Mom needs to get out for a moment," Ye Ai Xia informed.


    "Is there a guest, Mom?"


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    "Yes, but you shouldn''t concern yourself, ok?"


    Ye Jiao furrowed her brows. From the tone her mother used, she could guess that the guest didn''t come with friendly intention. Well, there were rarely anyone who would show them any kind gesture in this city, so it was common.


    Still, she was worried about her mother.


    "I''ll stay behind, Mom," Ye Jiao replied. She didn''t really like dealing with the guests too. Many of them were only coming to inflict wounds on her, which she disliked very much.


    Ye Ai Xia smiled. "Good girl. Mom will return soon."


    After making sure that Ye Jiao was still in the backyard, Ye Ai Xia made her way to the front. Her gentle expression was replaced with her cold attitude as she stood silently near the gate.


    Not long after that, two women came to her sight. They were dressed lavishly, showing off their high status in the residence.


    "What can this lowly one can do to help the high and noble Su Lian?" Ye Ai Xia asked in a mocking tone.


    Su Lian smiled. "I come with my sister. Don''t you need to greet her too?"


    Hearing the word ''sister,'' Ye Ai Xia really wanted to scoff. Su Lian and Su Daji''s relationship has never been good because each one of them wished for the other party''s fall. Su Lian came from a high ranking family, but she didn''t have good martial talent. On the other hand, Su Daji came from the lower position in Su Family with good martial talent and face.


    They wished to have what other party had but they didn''t. The only reason they came in terms today was because they wanted to create trouble on her doorstep.


    "Congratulations on getting first place, Su Daji," Ye Ai Xia said sarcastically.


    Su Daji smiled sweetly. The Spring and Youth Pill she consumed made her look a few years younger. Despite already in her thirties, she looked no different from those who were in their mid-twenties.


    "Many thanks for giving way for me."


    "Sure," Ye Ai Xia replied back with an uncaring tone.


    Su Lian sneered. She could see that Ye Ai Xia was displeased. Her mind was thinking that it should be related to the competition. Little did she know that Ye Ai Xia never had any good feelings about the two of them, so she would always treat them coldly and as rudely as possible.


    "Are you thinking of using that pill, Ye Ai Xia?" Su Lian asked.


    Ye Ai Xia shrugged, not intending to answer. Evan an idiot knew that she didn''t need it because it was only useful for someone who had only reached the third rank and hadn''t stabilized themselves yet.


    "Maybe she''s thinking of giving the pill to Ye Jiao," Su Daji smiled sweetly. "Perhaps, a pill can change someone''s talent."


    "Ah, I forgot about that," Su Lian laughed. "That''s truly befitting of you."


    Ye Ai Xia watched the two of them laughed with indifferent expression. She was not polite at all as she crossed her arm. "Have you finished?"


    "No, not yet."


    "Yes, we have beautiful news for you," Su Lian laughed.


    "What news?" Ye Ai Xia arched her eyebrows. It was only a few days ago that the competition ended, but there was already another thing happening the city. It sure was lively lately.


    Su Lian nodded her head, her smile showed that she was genuinely happy. "Ye Xiao has died."


    Ye Xiao has died¡­.


    Ye Xiao has¡­


    He has died?


    Ye Ai Xia''s aura turned hostile at that very moment. The two women were caught off guard, but they were already prepared for her violent reaction as they used their Eon Energy to guard themselves. At the same time, several guards appeared to protect them from Ye Ai Xia.


    "Hahaha, how violent, Ye Ai Xia!" Su Lian laughed maniacally.


    Ye Ai Xia glared at the woman with a heated gaze. If possible, she wished to shred this woman into pieces and throw them into the wilderness. Her eyes were filled with both rage and disbelief.


    "I dare you to repeat that once more."


    Su Lian laughed eerily. "I''ll repeat it no matter how many times you ask me. YE XIAO HAS DIED! Your beloved husband has died."

 61 Raging Ye Ai Xia

    Ye Ai Xia stared at the two women in front of her as she yelled. "LIES! Ye Xiao must be alive!"


    Su Daji laughed hollowly. "This is the news that Wei Shang delivered himself. There''s no way that it can''t be true."


    "You''re lying!"


    "Wei Shang and His Highness ambushed Ye Xiao together. Do you think he would be able to survive after facing the attack of two peak Eon Energy Master Rank 4?" Su Lian asked again.


    Her tone was clearly delighted. When Wei Shang asked her to deliver the news to Ye Ai Xia, she accepted the task with elation. Finally, she would be able to see the mighty Ye Ai Xia fall into despair. After being beaten up numerous times, this was the first time she saw Ye Ai Xia looked like this.


    Ye Ai Xia''s blood boiled with rage. Ye Xiao had reached rank 4 a year ago. Even though he was still not a match against Wei Shang and that man, there would be no way her husband could die so easily.


    She refused to believe this!


    "Don''t think that you can fool me, Su Lian," Ye Ai Xia disappeared from her place as she appeared right before Su Lian. Her hand was swung as hard as possible, slapping the insolent woman in her face.


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    "You!" Su Daji swiftly moved to chase after Ye Ai Xia, but the latter had disappeared and returned back to her position.


    Su Lian smirked. "You b*tch! Do you think I''ll lie to you about this? I''m genuinely happy when Wei Shang asks me to tell you this news. Now, you can definitely know how it feels to lose someone important to you."


    Wei Shang asks me to tell you this news¡­


    That one sentence made Ye Ai Xia''s blood boils again. That damnable Wei Shang dared to hide such news from her.


    She always stayed here to wait for Ye Xiao''s return. All these times, she believed that her husband would return, and they could stay together again. But what she got was the news of his death.


    ''Xiao Ge, you''re a big fat liar.''


    "Let''s hear the news directly from him, then," Ye Ai Xia used her Eon Energy and grabbed the back collar of Su Lian before flying straight to Wei Shang''s residence. The speed which she used nearly caused Su Lian to be suffocated as the pressure was large.


    The guards were chasing after her, but Su Daji didn''t even bother to do that. She turned her head to the residence that Ye Ai Xia left.


    "Now, let me kill that little girl too."


    With a large smile on her face, Su Daji entered the residence.


    At high speed, Ye Ai Xia entered Wei Shang''s residence. Her aura was exceptionally scary as she barged inside the place. In front of her, Wei Shang was standing calmly without any intention to run away.


    "You''re quicker than before," Wei Shang remarked.


    Ye Ai Xia glared. "Where''s my husband?"


    She tossed Su Lian to the side. At this time, Su Lian couldn''t use her strength that she was always proud of in the past. Her body felt hurt as she was assigned to great pressure when travelling at the speed she was unable to handle.


    "He has died," Wei Shang replied. "I work together with His Highness to set a trap to him and attack him directly."


    "Lies! You can''t possibly defeat him!" Ye Ai Xia yelled.


    Wei Shang arched his eyebrows. "Do you really think that someone who has just reached rank 4 can defeat two people who had stayed stuck in this stage for years? He''s nothing but a child in front of us."


    Rank 4¡­


    They knew that Ye Xiao had reached rank 4.


    Ye Ai Xia stared blankly as anger was boiling inside her body. Right now, she felt mad and annoyed at the realization that she never thought that Ye Xiao would die in their hand.


    "Lies, you''re lying!" Ye Ai Xia said again. She didn''t want to believe that her husband had died, but she didn''t have any choice but to believe.


    "You can repeat that no matter how many times you want, but you won''t be able to change the fact," Wei Shang said calmly.


    "You-!"


    "Here," Wei Shang threw something in Ye Ai Xia''s direction. "You might not be able to believe me, but this is all that''s left from him."


    On the woman''s arm was a beautiful necklace made of cheap embroidery. Ye Ai Xia perfectly remembered this particular necklace because she was the one who made it when they were young. It was her gift for Ye Xiao and that man would never take it off because he promised her.


    Wei Shang looked at Ye Ai Xia and calmly persuaded her once more. "Just give up, Ai Xia. If you stay with me, I''ll protect you and Ye Jiao."


    Ye Ai Xia didn''t reply. She felt nothing but disgust when she talked with Wei Shang. Over the time he chased after her, he always used different kinds of means to win her over. Not even once she felt moved by his action.


    Did he think that by killing her husband, he would get her?


    He must be dreaming.


    That annoying king hated Ye Xiao because of the latter''s talent, so he always found all kinds of means to hinder Ye Xiao. And when he succeeded, he didn''t stop there and continued to put all kind of pressure to the man, breaking down her husband terribly.


    When they wanted to get out, he just had to appear and stop them. This Wei Shang''s proposal allowed them to stay alive because he wanted her, and he was very patient. But it seemed that the time had reached the limit.


    They couldn''t tolerate Ye Xiao''s existence anymore.


    ''Too bright and you''ll have many enemies chasing after you. Too low and you''ll have many people pushing you around.''


    Ye Ai Xia mocked herself as she laughed dryly. How she wished that the two of them could just be ordinary Eon Energy Master and lived a normal life. If that was the case, there would be no need for them to experience this kind of thing.


    ''Xiao Ge, I''m sorry¡­.''


    Rather than being this man''s woman, she would rather die. She only accepted the proposal to stay in his residence and gave him time because they would allow Ye Jiao to stay alive. But now, she didn''t have any reason to stay here anymore. Would they even allow her daughter to live while treating her harshly just like what they had done so far?


    ''Jiao''er, Mother is sorry¡­''


    Ye Ai Xia started to initiate her Eon Energy inside her body. To reach rank 4, they must come in term with their path in martial arts and have vision for their future. If they tried to hastily reach it after reaching peak rank 3, they would stick in that rank forever unable to advance. Or worse, they would die not long after they reached the rank because of the price they gave for the power.


    She could never come in terms with her own path and condition. But right now, all of them didn''t matter.


    Within the next moment, she forced herself to the next rank, blasting her surrounding with a powerful Eon Energy wave.

 62 Destroy Everything

    Ye Ai Xia could feel the Eon Energy entered her body at rapid speed. At the same time, the condition of Wei Shang''s residence has become a complete mess. The shockwave that she caused destroyed a lot of things, including the buildings.


    Slowly, Ye Ai Xia opened her eyes. She could sense that everything around her had changed. Things that she was unable to sense before become awfully clear in her eyes and mind.


    Her eyes landed on Su Lian. That woman was not far from her when she advanced, causing the woman to be wounded hard.


    "You-!" Su Lian was terrified. It was rank 4! Rank 4!


    She felt deep envy and hatred at this woman. Why was it that everyone around her always had better talent than her? She could never defeat them and always subjected to the lower rank!


    It was unfair!


    Ye Ai Xia looked at Su Lian indifferently before stretching out her hand. "Su Lian, do you know what''s worse than death?"


    "What?"


    "It''s this," Ye Ai Xia used her Eon Energy, making numerous formless wind blades. In split second, they pierced straight to Su Lian, destroying the woman''s core. The supposedly durable core of a rank 3 was destroyed just like that! Eon Energy rushed out madly from her core, which Ye Ai Xia conveniently absorbed.


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    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    Su Lian screamed loudly. It was painful and when she saw the Eon Energy leaked out of her stomach, despair enveloped her.


    "No! NO! YOU B*TCH!"


    Ye Ai Xia ignored Su Lian as she swung her hand once again, cutting off the guards around them in two right in their abdomen. Eon Energy filled the surrounding and Ye Ai Xia pulled them to her own body to nourish her advancement.


    At this time, Wei Shang was dumbstruck. The scene where Ye Ai Xia reached rank 4 cleanly and then killed the others was exceptionally beautiful in his eyes. Right now, he couldn''t see anything but this woman before her.


    "Ye Ai Xia," he called.


    Ye Ai Xia turned her head, but she didn''t stop her action of absorbing the massive Eon Energy in her surroundings. Her gaze was cold and indifferent as she looked back at Wei Shang.


    "I will never accept your proposal."


    "You''ll accept it," Wei Shang licked his lips. "I''ll make sure that you do."


    "No, you won''t," Ye Ai Xia smiled mirthlessly. Eon Energy formed in her hand as wind element started to gather around her. In the next second, she punched forward, straight in Wei Shang''s direction.


    "You never have a chance, Wei Shang."


    Wei Shang was not worried as he kicked the ground. Eon Energy extended from the tip of his feet as it was absorbed and then formed a large wall right in front of him.


    "I''m earth elemental, so you''re pretty weak against me, Ye Ai Xia," Wei Shang chuckled. "But it''s really something amazing. I didn''t expect someone like you to directly use the power of the element when you advanced to rank 4."


    Ye Ai Xia didn''t reply. She just focused her attention to her Eon Energy before she started to attack Wei Shang brutally without any care of the situation at all.


    Wei Shang also welcomed her with a smile. He was rather happy that he could fight against Ye Ai Xia once again.


    The two of them completely ignored the dead guard and Su Lian, who was still in the midst of despair because of her core. Once their core was shattered, they would have to start from the beginning again. But with her age and talent, she knew that forming another core would be nothing but a dream.


    ''Ye Ai Xia! I''ll kill you!''


    She screamed inside her mind as despair filled her entire body. She wished for nothing but killing them all. They had turned her into a waste in mere second.


    The fight blasted everything around them. Wind and earth element shook the entire surrounding, crushing numerous buildings in Wei Family Residence. The people ran out of the fighting area in fear of getting involved.


    "Ye Ai Xia, you won''t be able to last long. Just give up and be mine," Wei Shang licked his lips. "I''m already patient enough to wait until this long."


    Ye Ai Xia''s face scrunched a bit in disgust. "In your dream!"


    With that, their Eon Energy clashed once more.


    ¡­


    When they were making large ruckus in the main residence, Su Daji headed into the residence and searched for the young girl. Her brow furrowed when she couldn''t sense the little girl despite being Eon Energy Master Ran 3. Little did she know that Ye Jiao had left the residence long ago.


    From the moment her mother released her anger, Ye Jiao ran to the forest. She knew that her mother might not pay any attention to anything else when she was angry, so her only option was escaping and hiding as far as possible.


    Her small legs brought her into the edge of the forest where she could see large destruction on the building in front of her. A lot of people were running here and there, trying to avoid the center of the fight. If they get caught up in the middle of that storm, they might lose their life.


    Ye Jiao stopped right at the entrance of the forest. Her eyes looked at the servants around her as she realized that she might be in danger if they found her. If they used her as a hostage for her mother, she wouldn''t be able to do anything. The current her was still very weak, and she didn''t have any trick under her sleeves except basic combat.


    "She''s there!"


    The familiar sound of a boy sent chill to the back of Ye Jiao''s body. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Wei Cheng and Wei Liao running in her direction. Wei Cheng was grinning widely as if he had just won a lottery.


    "Catch her, Wei Liao!"


    "Yes, Brother!"


    As Wei Liao dashed, Ye Jiao turned around to run too. The movement that Wei Liao used was one of the basic martial arts among the soldiers. It seemed that the boy broke the rules to learn it quicker than what he should be.


    Ye Jiao noticed that her speed was far lacking compared with Wei Liao. Within seconds, the boy would catch up to her.


    ''What should I do?''


    In the midst of her chaotic mind, Ye Jiao''s eyes noticed a branch that was hanging slightly lower than the others. She sprinted to the tree and used her legs to kick the tree, using it as the foundation for her to jump upward.


    Her small arm grabbed the branch, allowing her to hang there.


    "Come here!" Wei Liao tried to catch her feet, but Ye Jiao swung her body backward. Her body was bending enough to escape Wei Liao''s hand. The poor boy stumbled on the ground as he was unable to catch her.


    Ye Jiao let the gravity pulled her down as she sped it up with a slight rotation in her palm. Her feet crashed on Wei Liao''s back, pushing the boy''s body and face on the ground.


    Seeing that, Ye Jiao grinned happily. ''Eat that, you annoying boy!''


    "Ye Jiao!" Wei Cheng yelled angrily as he also dashed forward.

 63 Path of No Return

    Soldier''s Training Hall


    When Wei Family Residence experienced sudden destruction, the soldiers were busy training in the training hall. Every single one of them readied themselves the moment they heard the loud explosion followed with numerous buildings collapsed. They didn''t know what had happened, but they had to be prepared for the battle that was to come.


    "General Mu, what''s your order?" one of the higher ranked soldiers kneeled and asked respectfully.


    Mu Hong, General Mu, was looking at the direction of the residence with furrowed brows. It was obvious that there was someone who attacked Wei Shang right now. Based on the fighting prowess alone, that person must be someone of rank 4.


    He smiled bitterly. "We''ll wait."


    "But General¡­"


    "Even if we go there, we''re just going to head to our death," Mu Hong said firmly. Against a rank 4, rank 3 wouldn''t be able to do anything. The specialization ability that they could develop once reaching rank 4 was not something to belittle with. He didn''t have any means to contend against them except running away.


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    Even though they might be able to stay together in a formation, he would be sending a lot of them to their death door.


    Besides¡­


    "There''s only one person who could come to Wei Family Residence unscathed and create trouble for Great General Wei," Mu Hong murmured to himself.


    It was Ye Ai Xia. It must be her.


    "General, what if the Imperial family asks us to be responsible for not dealing with this incident properly?" one of the adjutants asked worriedly.


    Mu Hong waved his hand. "If there''s anything wrong, just tell them that it''s all my order. If they want to blame someone, they should blame me."


    "General!"


    "This is my decision," Mu Hong said firmly. He turned his head to Wang Jun. "Wang Jun, you should go relay my order for soldiers to not move from their post. Tell them that General Wei has everything under his control."


    "Yes, General!" Wang Jun saluted before departing swiftly.


    Behind them, the other officials were doubtful. They didn''t understand why General Mu didn''t want to deal with the intruder cleanly like what they usually did. Right now, they could only stay silent as the general only told them to be wary and prepared for every order he might give.


    Mu Hong looked to the palace. He could faintly sense an incoming pressure from that place as his face turned pale.


    ''Ye Ai Xia, you better leave. Once His Majesty arrives in Wei Family Residence, you will never be able to run away.''


    He couldn''t help them much, but it was better than nothing. As for the punishment, he would think about them later and designed several excuses. It should be able to safe his life with some physical punishment or probably a demotion. For him, it was a price that was worth it if he could save those two lives.


    ¡­.


    Wei Family Residence


    Ye Ai Xia could sense that the air pressure around her started to change. The immense pressure coming to her told her clearly that someone of great figure would come soon enough.


    ''He''ll be here soon.''


    "Ye Ai Xia, give up!" Wei Shang yelled. He initiated his Eon Energy and pushed the ground up, making sharp cones directed to Ye Ai Xia. "I won''t be able to plead for your life anymore once he arrives."


    "Give up and be yours? You must be dreaming, Wei Shang!" Ye Ai Xia yelled. "How many times should I repeat it to you that I will never be yours?"


    With slight movement, she evaded the attack and moved to the back. Spreading her sense, she searched for Ye Jiao''s location. There was no place for them in this kingdom anymore. They have to leave.


    Wei Shang looked at Ye Ai Xia with a complicated gaze. "Why can''t you just give up? He''s already dead, your husband won''t be able to return back and help you anymore."


    "So what?" Ye Ai Xia gathered Eon Energy in her arm as it made a small tornado around her. Her smile was beautiful yet it was filled with resolve of this destructive path. "Life and death, I''ll be with him. There was nothing that could separate us!"


    "You''re crazy!"


    Wei Shang evaded the numerous tornados directed at him as it destroyed the residence around him. Right now, he couldn''t care about his residence and people around him. The only person that he saw was only Ye Ai Xia.


    "Yes, I''m crazy," Ye Ai Xia smiled sweetly. "I just want to stay with him, but you all have to intervene. If it''s for him¡­ I don''t mind becoming crazy," Her tone was melancholic despite the ruthless glint in her eyes. She stretched out her arm and collected a massive amount of Eon Energy to her.


    Seeing her action, Wei Shang''s face paled. He turned to escape, but Ye Ai Xia had directed numerous air blades to him. It cut off everything around him with some of it hitting his clothes, tearing them.


    Wei Shang pulled the earth to protect him as he stood firmly, waiting for the cut to end. It was at this time he realized that he was being pushed to the back. After a few more steps, he crashed against a building''s wall. His expression changed when he saw the building collapsed on top of him.


    "Ye Ai Xia!"


    Seeing that he blocked her attack blindly, Ye Ai Xia was relieved. She had seen that the building was still standing despite being partially destroyed. All she had to do was cut off the support one by one and it would fall.


    She turned her head to her residence as she disappeared from her place.


    ''Ye Jiao, please be safe.''

 64 Learning the Truth

    While her mother was busy destroying everything, Ye Jiao was still busy evading the two brothers. She climbed the tree and moved to another tree when Wei Cheng hit the tree with his fist, making it shake so badly.


    "You! Come over here!" Wei Cheng yelled as he punched the next tree.


    Ye Jiao didn''t pay any heed to the man''s threat as she jumped to another tree and ran on the branches. Her small body was capable of staying stable even with the slippery surface of the tree. With agile movement, she kept on moving from one tree to another tree while Wei Cheng chased after her from below.


    Thankfully, the boy''s strength was not enough to cut the tree down or she would be in much bigger trouble.


    Behind Wei Cheng, Wei Liao was trying to catch up. His face and clothes were filled with dirt because of Ye Jiao''s kick before, yet he didn''t have any intention to clean them up.


    Bang!


    The massive destruction of a building not far from them shook the ground badly. Ye Jiao clung to the branch, preventing herself from falling down.


    "Ahh!" Wei Liao stumbled on the ground once again, hitting a tree beside him in the process. His position was rather funny that if Ye Jiao was not in a pinch, she would take the time to laugh at him.


    "I got you!" Wei Cheng forcefully stabilized himself as he punched the tree where Ye Jiao was staying. The tree shook badly, nearly pushing Ye Jiao to let go of her grip to the branch.


    ''I have to move!''


    Ye Jiao twisted her arm and pushed herself up when the tree stabilized slightly. She ran to the edge of the branch and jumped to another branch right at the time Wei Cheng punched the tree once more. Her feet landed on the next branch safely.


    Wei Cheng frowned and chased after the girl once more, hitting the next tree where Ye Jiao was at. Unfortunately, their speed was almost the same, allowing Ye Jiao to move to another tree before he could hit it.


    Their cat and mouse chase lasted until there was a large blast coming from the forest.


    "Mother!" Wei Liao yelled. He was almost running out of breath from running here and there. Seeing his mother blasting everything around her with Eon Energy, he was elated.


    Su Daji glanced at the three of them. She smirked devilishly. "So, this is where you''re at, Ye Jiao."


    ''This is bad.''


    Ye Jiao turned around and tried to run to another tree when she felt that the trees were blasted by powerful Eon Energy wave. Her legs lost its support as the trees were falling on top of each other.


    Ye Jiao firmly gripped the branch above her and used it to twist her body upwards. By the time the tree reached the ground, the branch protected her from direct impact with the ground.


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    "Che, she''s quite agile," Su Daji clicked her tongue. "But not for long."


    Stretching out her Eon Energy, she enveloped the entire place. Seeing this woman''s action, Wei Cheng tactfully moved to the back. He didn''t want to get the repercussions for being the third party in this battle. The competition between his mother and Su Daji might not be too apparent on the surface, but he knew that the two of them clashed with one another in secret.


    If word came out that he was wounded accidentally when Su Daji chased after Ye Jiao, he knew that there would be no one to help him.


    Because it was only an "accident."


    Knowing Su Daji, Wei Cheng knew how possible it was for this woman to scheme like that. He swiftly moved to the back as Su Daji continued to destroyed the tree, throwing them away with her Eon Energy, revealing the young girl in the middle.


    "I get you, little girl."


    Right when her arm was nearing Ye Jiao, a wind blade appeared to block her advance. It nearly cut off her arm if not for her quick reflex.


    "Ye Ai Xia!" Su Daji hissed.


    Ye Ai Xia appeared in front of Su Daji and swung her arm, which was filled with wind element. The moment it was swung forward, it created several wind blades. Su Daji swiftly retreated, yet the wind still cut off part of her outer layer, showing her thin inner clothes.


    "You''re not touching my daughter, Su Daji," Ye Ai Xia said coldly.


    "You b*tch!" Su Daji yelled.


    Ye Ai Xia arched her eyebrows. One of her arms picked Ye Jiao up while the other one controlled the wind around her using Eon Energy and attacked Su Daji violently. Even though it was not enough to kill the woman, it would be enough to wound her badly and ripped her clothes.


    Right now, she was glad that she could use this power to humiliate this annoying woman a bit. It was just too bad that only some servants around them would be able to watch.


    "Mother!" Wei Liao''s face paled when he saw his mother''s condition. He rushed forward, trying to cover his mother''s body.


    Su Daji''s face was beet red as she could feel pain from the sharp wounds all over her body. She glared at Ye Ai Xia. "You won''t be able to get away, Ye Ai Xia!"


    "Whether I can get away or not, it''s not your business."


    Ye Ai Xia didn''t try to attack anymore as she gathered her power and dashed to the wall. However, the moment she reached the southern wall of Wei Family Residence, a wall of water blocked her way.


    "Mom, be careful!" Ye Jiao said as she clutched her mother''s clothes tightly. Her eyes showed trace of worry.


    "Don''t worry, Jiao''er. Everything is going to be alright."


    Turning her body around, Ye Ai Xia could see a man standing behind her. He was wearing a purple robe embedded with golden embroidery around the edge. His tall stature seemed as if blocking the sunlight as he stood on top of massive amount of water.


    "Ye Ai Xia, how dare you tell her the truth!" the man bellowed angrily.


    Ye Ai Xia stood firmly on top of the wall. Her eyes didn''t show any trace of fear as she glared back at the man. "The truth? I never tell her. I, Ye Ai Xia, will not break my promise!"


    "She calls you mother!" the man accused again. "You must have told her that you''re her real mother!"


    Real mother?


    When Ye Jiao heard the phrase, her eyes widened in surprise. It was shocking and moreover, it was something that she had longed for a long time. Her eyes glanced up, right to her mother''s face.


    Her small hand was stretched out to touch her face slightly. All her live, she longed to see her mother to stay with her and experienced the warmth just like what she had with Ye Ai Xia. Now, she knew that she had it all these times. The one staying beside her was no other than her mother.


    Slowly, she leaned her head closer to her mother''s chest. Right now, she didn''t care about anything else as she savored the delightful feeling that sprout out from her body.


    ''Mother¡­ I have a mother who cares for me.''


    "Mom¡­" Ye Jiao whispered softly, her tone extremely tender and full of affection plus happiness.

 65 Getting Ou

    "I never tell her the truth," Ye Ai Xia could hear her daughter softy called her. She tightened her grip around the girl as she smiled brightly to the man. "You did, just now."


    "What are you¡­"


    "Chen Tian, do you really think that everyone is as stupid as you?" Ye Ai Xia gathered her Eon Energy in the form of wind around her. "Scheming against other people, sabotaging someone more talented than you, you can''t do anything other than scheming behind people''s back."


    "Watch your mouth, Ye Ai Xia!" the man, Chen Tian, warned angrily. He is the king and also the ruler of Chen Kingdom. Everyone should obey him and not go against him.


    Ye Ai Xia smirked. "Out of envy, you always put the two of us at disadvantages. Putting up numerous excuses and tricks before trying to kill us. I''m thankful that Wei Shang is patient enough with me and enraptured to my beauty so I can bid my time here. You never think that I can bypass the rank, have you?"


    Chen Tian frowned. Reaching rank 4 always meant as an accomplishment because it was not easy to pass the rank. However, out of the entire people in the world, the one he didn''t want to pass this rank would be these two.


    Ye Xiao and Ye Ai Xia.


    The two of them have great talent and the fact that Ye Ai Xia could use elemental power right after she advanced just showed how much her talent that was buried because of his intervention. He hated this.


    Only the Imperial Family should be the strongest!


    "You''re just a pest, Ye Ai Xia. And you''ll forever be one!" As Chen Tian said that, the massive wall behind Ye Jiao fell down right to the woman.


    Ye Ai Xia''s expression didn''t change. "Jiao''er, hold tight."


    "Yes, Mom."


    Wordlessly, Ye Ai Xia used her arm to gather the Eon Energy around her, forming a wind shield that protected the two of them. She could sense that her core was strained due to the battle she had with Wei Shang. The gap between newly advanced rank 4 and peak rank 4 was simply too big.


    It was not easy for her to bypass the gap so easily.


    The water splashed everywhere, flooding Wei Family Residence. Many people died because of the side effects, but not a single one of them cared about it. When people of higher rank battled, it was capable of destroying a city literally.


    "I have to admit, you''re really talented," Chen Tian commented when he saw the water dispersed, revealing the unscathed Ye Ai Xia and Ye Jiao in her arm. "But, how long can your Eon Energy last against me?"


    Even among the rank 4, Chen Tian was undoubtedly could be categorized as the strongest one. Not like Wei Shang who was stuck at this layer because of his disturbed path, Chen Tian was stuck because he failed his advancement. Failing reaching the rank would push them back to stay in the same rank yet stronger than before.


    However, trying to advance once more would be harder, so those who had failed would not try to advance again unless they were awfully confident.


    "You don''t have to worry about that," Ye Ai Xia replied calmly as she gathered Eon Energy from her surroundings. Her core was almost empty, signaling that she wouldn''t be able to fight anymore.


    "You''ll kill yourself, Ye Ai Xia," Chen Tian smirked. "Well, I''m sure that it would be nice sending both husband and wife to their death door."


    Ye Ai Xia''s hand trembled slightly at the mention of Ye Xiao. Her eyes were filled with grief at the thought of her deceased husband. Indeed, her husband had died in the hand of this man and Wei Shang. The two of them would never let her go before her death.


    But she would not make it easy for them.


    "I see," Ye Ai Xia raised her arm and commanded a massive amount of whirlwind around her to attack Chen Tian. At the same time, Chen Tian used the water to block, which caused water to splash everywhere.


    The street was flooded heavily as many people tried to run away from the center of the battle.


    "Ye Ai Xia!" Wei Shang has released himself from the building that collapsed on top of him just now. He looked at the woman with a heated gaze. "You''re not getting away!"


    "Now, all player are here," Ye Ai Xia smiled sweetly. Despite being cornered, there was no trace of fear in her face. It was as if everything was under her control.


    "Mom?"


    The soft call from her daughter tinged her heart, yet Ye Ai Xia couldn''t look at her daughter. If she did, she would hesitate from using this forbidden move.


    "Eon Energy is the basic energy of everything, including blood," Ye Ai Xia said calmly. "You should know about this, right?"


    "What are¡­?"


    At the same time that they wanted to ask, Ye Ai Xia had started the barrage of attack to the two of them. Numerous wind blades appeared right at the same time. Given Ye Ai Xia''s current power, it was hard to believe that she still has this much under her sleeves.


    Slash!


    Both Chen Tian and Wei Shang did their best to use their elemental energy to block the attack from Ye Ai Xia. They could feel the intensity of the attack grew much before that they were forced to move back. At the same time, they also launched their attack towards Ye Ai Xia.


    Water splashed through Ye Ai Xia''s body, but she was unharmed by them. Her eyes were looking back as calm as ever.


    "You''re good, Ye Ai Xia," Wei Shang commented.


    Ye Ai Xia smiled. "Thank you for your praise. Now, you two have firmly broken the blood contract you sign before."


    Chen Tian frowned. "What are you talking about? The blood contract only states that we should never touch Ye Jiao¡­"


    At that moment, both Wei Shang and Chen Tian''s face paled considerably. They could see that Ye Jiao has gotten wet. In that last massive attack, Ye Ai Xia only erased the force movement, making it like ordinary water. Yet, it still caused Ye Jiao to be wet. If something happened to her, they would have to face the repercussions.


    "You-!"


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    "B*tch!"


    Ye Ai Xia paid no heed to the two cursing words as she burned off her last strength and created massive tornadoes around her and set them off. The tornados were going wildly to every single place as she disappeared from her place.

 66 Out of Capital City

    Bang!


    Chen Tian smashed his hand to the wall in front of him with rage. The single fact that Ye Ai Xia managed to make them harm the little girl ''unintentionally'' made him terribly angry.


    \"Your Majesty,\" Wei Shang knew that he had signed the contract too, but his punishment wouldn''t be as bad as this man.


    Chen Tian shot a glare to the general. \"This is all your fault! If you don''t try to obtain that sl*t because of your lust, this will never happen. Contract of bloodline. I''m really foolish to sign that contract back then.\"


    As Chen Tian was cursing out loudly here and there, Wei Shang didn''t reply. He still remembered very much the time when they cornered the couple. It was easy to defeat the two of them because both Wei Shang and Chen Tian were stronger. But they couldn''t get away unscathed.


    In that heavy battle, the only option available for them was to give in and compromise. The two sides reached a conclusion and signed a contract that would bind them for the rest of their lives.


    Now, the contract was broken. Nothing tied up both Ye Ai Xi and Ye Jiao anymore.


    \"A true diamond will stay shine even though it''s under heavy pressure,\" Wei Shang muttered.


    Chen Tian glared at Wei Shang. \"What are you saying?\"


    \"It''s just a phrase that my master loves to say before,\" Wei Shang coughed. \"Now, let''s find a way to cure the repercussions.\"


    \"There''s no such thing you dumbass! You want to repair it? Say that to your children that you put on the stake!\" Chen Tian yelled angrily. He rubbed his forehead in annoyance. It was clear that Ye Ai Xia used this chance to make sure that they paid the price.


    Wei Shang didn''t retort. \"Since we''ve broken the contract first, Ye Ai Xia won''t have any trouble leaving the city anymore.\"


    \"I know,\" Chen Tian replied. With speed as Ye Ai Xia''s specialization and the fact that the girl obtained wind specialization, he knew that it was close to impossible for them to chase after Ye Ai Xia anymore.


    He gnashed his teeth in anger. \"Next time I see someone with surname ''Ye,'' I''ll skin them alive and send them to be beasts'' food!\"


    While Chen Tian roared here and there in anger, Wei Shang turned his attention back to his residence. He could see Wei Cheng helped Su Lian and the woman was crying loudly. Wei Mi was also with them, bawling her eyes out. Some other concubines died while the others could barely survive. His children were all save, but they looked shocked.


    Wei Shang didn''t really want to let Ye Ai Xia go, but if he didn''t have any other choice, he would stop pursuing that woman.


    ''Well, at least, this will show my children how harsh the real world for Eon Energy Master is.''


    He waited patiently for Chen Tian to finish the latter''s rambling as he scanned the surrounding. He would need to work harder if he wanted to rebuild his house. At least, a few months would be needed.


    ''Sigh¡­''


    As for the repercussions in his end? He would never tell it to his children and let them be in the dark forever.


    ¡­.


    While Chen Tian and Wei Shang were angry, Ye Ai Xia used the chance to run far away from the capital city. As the soldiers were stationed in their post, Ye Ai Xia used the place without many guards to escape out of the city. Using her wind element, it was easy for her to fly on the air.


    \"Mom, you''re really amazing!\" Ye Jiao exclaimed excitedly as the two of them entered the forest.


    Ye Ai Xia smiled slightly. Her face had turned pale as she had overexerted herself in the battle she had just now. Normal people who had just recently advanced to rank 4 would need a long time to stabilize themselves. Massive amount of Eon Energy would be needed if they wanted to survive.


    It was a completely new realm, not something one could just easily use.


    \"Jiao''er, is there any other house aside from the one near the gate?\" Ye Ai Xia asked, her voice was slightly softer.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. \"There''s another one. Dad made it when we went hunting in the past to make the journey shorter. It''s a small hut but located in a secluded place to make it safe from the beasts.\"


    \"Can you take us there?\"


    \"Yes! It''s not far from here, Mom!\"


    Ye Ai Xia followed after Ye Jiao as the two of them entered the forest deeper. She had taken the two of them away from the city, which was now located quite far behind them. However, there was no telling how much soldiers that Chen Tian and Wei Shang would send to chase after them.


    They might not feel satisfied with only letting her go.


    \"Mom, what''s blood contract?\" Ye Jiao asked as she walked into the forest.


    \"It''s a very serious contract that you can only use when it''s really important. Basically, you use your own blood for the contract to seal it. Once you have signed the contract, you will never be able to break it forever,\" Ye Ai Xia explained.


    Ye Jiao made an ''oh'' mouth. \"Then mom, what''s the contract that you make with General Wei?\"


    The contract she made?


    Ye Ai Xia smiled wryly. It was a contract that stated that she would not leave the city more than two kilometers away while they kept their hands out of Ye Jiao. If either one of them broke it, their offspring would be cursed forever and whoever broke the contract first would make it nullify for the other party.


    She had purposely made the two of them broke the contract in order to allow her escape more than two kilometers away from the capital city.


    \"It''s nothing, Jiao''er.\"


    \"Mhm,\" Ye Jiao looked at her mother with furrowed brows. She decided not to think too much as she moved her attention back to the road. Her eyes recognized the trees around them before she stopped near one of them and pointed to the front.


    \"It''s over there, Mom. The hut that Dad makes is there!\"


    Even without Ye Jiao telling her, Ye Ai Xia could see the hut from her position. With her sharper sense, she could see the small hut that Ye Xiao had built before. The location was protected by trees and rocky areas, making it perfect for a small hideout.


    \"Xiao Ge¡­\"


    \"Mom?\" Ye Jiao noticed that her mother didn''t move at all. She was staring at the direction of the hut as tears started to fall down. \"Are you alright, Mom?\"


    \"It''s nothing, Jiao''er. Let''s go there¡­\"

 67 First Path of the Lilies: Death and Rebirth 1

    The two of them headed to the hut. Ye Ai Xia''s steps were slow and it became even slower to the point that she stopped a few steps away from the hut.


    \"Mom?\" Ye Jiao looked at her mother worriedly. \"Is there anything wrong? Can Ye Jiao do something?\"


    \"No,\" Ye Ai Xia raised her hand and messed up the girl''s hair. She could feel the turmoil inside her body was getting stronger. There would be nothing that she could anymore.


    Turning her head to the ground, she spotted a beautiful white flower not far from them. Her hand was stretched out and plucked the flower before putting it on Ye Jiao''s ear. The little girl''s eyes widened as she looked at her mother with confusion.


    \"Mom?\"


    \"The lily flower looks good on you,\" Ye Ai Xia said slowly. She took out the embroidery necklace that she brought with her. It belonged to Ye Xiao, but now that he had gone, she would just give it to her daughter. Slowly, she put it around her neck and patted it lightly. \"This is for you. Take care of it well.\"


    \"This,\" Ye Jiao caressed the center of the necklace. The embroidery was flower shaped, but it had changed its shape due to the time. The thread had turned soft over the time as the color started to fade. \"Mom, this is dad''s, right?\"


    \"Yes, it was his. So, you have to take care of it well, ok?\"


    \"Jiao''er understand,\" Ye Jiao nodded her head firmly. Her small arm was holding the necklace tightly.


    She propped her body and continued to walk towards the hut. Her limbs felt heavy, but she continued until she reached the small hut. The floor was made of mud, so she could partially drag her body inside.


    Ye Ai Xia leaned on the wall as she caressed Ye Jiao''s face. \"Why did you start crying?\"


    \"Huh?\" Ye Jiao touched her face as she realized that she was crying. She didn''t understand why, but she felt that she would lose something precious from her right now. Her eyes stared back at her mother. \"Mom will leave me¡­\"


    Ye Ai Xia''s eyes widened. She smiled wryly. The Heaven was kind to her that they gave her a talented and caring daughter. Unfortunately, she wouldn''t be here to see her daughter''s growth.


    \"Jiao''er, Mom is sorry. Mother won''t be able to accompany you again,\" Ye Ai Xia smiled with sadness. Her strength has started to leave her body as the result of forcing herself to break into rank 4 even when she had no qualification. \"Listen to me, well.\"


    \"No! Mom, don''t leave Jiao''er!\" Ye Jiao clutched her mother''s clothes tightly. Her eyes turned red as she stared at her mother with a despairing expression. She didn''t want to lose her mother.


    Ye Ai Xia patted the girl''s head. \"Don''t be so sad. Mom is just going to your father''s place ahead of you. You can only stay here for a short time. This might be a safe place, but you can''t stay here forever. Once you form your core¡­you should leave.\"


    \"But Mom¡­\"


    \"Sshh,\" Ye Ai Xia stroked the girl''s cheek. \"It''ll be fine. Any other places are safer than the capital city. Mom believes that¡­ you will be able to become a great figure in the future.\"


    Ye Jiao cried hard as she listened to her mother''s words. She would train hard, but she didn''t want to lose her mother. \"Mom, don''t leave me¡­ please¡­\"


    Ye Ai Xia smiled wryly as her eyes watered. She also didn''t want to leave her daughter alone. This girl was only eight and a half years old. The world was simply too big and dangerous. She didn''t want to leave her daughter alone to face the cruelty and harshness of this world.


    Alas, it was impossible.


    It was her decision to pick this path. There might be a better future for her if she accepted Wei Shang''s proposal, but she doubted it. This is her path and she had to face the consequences of her own action.


    Her strength has almost left her body as she put her hand on top of Ye Jiao''s hand. \"Mother will watch over you¡­ in Heaven¡­.\"


    After she said that, Ye Ai Xia''s breathing turned extremely faint. She had reached her limit a long time ago because of her attempt to fight right after her breakthrough. Now, she couldn''t do anything to prolong her life anymore.


    A smile never disappeared from her face as she looked at her daughter with a tender gaze. She really wanted to see her daughter''s growth and protect her, but she couldn''t. Ye Jiao would have to face them all alone without anyone to protect her.


    ''I''m sorry, Jiao''er. I can never become a proper mother for you.''


    ''I hope, you can find genuine friends who will care for you and accompany you on your path.''


    ''It won''t be easy, but I hope that you can have a much better end than me.''


    Slowly, Ye Ai Xia couldn''t feel anything anymore.


    Ye Jiao looked at her mother with a tear stained face. Her eyes were red as tears continue to flow out just like a river. The moment her mother breathed her last, she screamed loudly to vent out her sadness.


    \"Mooooooooommmmmmm!!!\"


    In the forest filled with beast, the scream of a young girl rang loudly. Beating the sound of the beasts, Ye Jiao continued to cry and scream loudly, bawling her eyes out. The pain of losing both of her parents hit her hard.


    Ye Xiao was her idol, a figure she hoped to pursue because he was invincible in her eyes. No one could defeat her father. He gave her a sense of comfort and safety.


    Ye Ai Xia was a motherly figure to her, an excellent woman that she hoped to be her real mother. And she did, but the joy she felt was short lived. Her mother left her as soon as Ye Jiao found out the truth, taking away the warmth and comfort she always gave her in the past.


    In this world, she only has two people who cared for her more than anything in the world, and she lost the two of them in a single day.


    \"Mom, don''t... leave me...\" Ye Jiao sobbed between her tears. She didn''t want to cry anymore, but her tears couldn''t stop as it poured out just like a waterfall.


    Please¡­ don''t¡­.


    No matter how many times she screamed and begged inside her mind, she knew that it could never bring her mother back. But she just couldn''t stop herself. The pain slowly ate up her body, giving her endless pain both mentally and physically.


    With raging emotion, her body shook. The Eon Energy that she accumulated in her body moved violently. The Eon Energy pill in her abdomen started to rotate at much higher speed, releasing a large amount of Eon Energy at once.


    Ye Jiao''s cry stopped. The pain in her body jolted her away from her sadness, throwing her straight to the middle of a stormy sea of violent energy.


    Pain permeated every part of her body. With great struggle, Ye Jiao moved away from her mother''s body. She had lost control of the Eon Energy Pill in her body. Considering that it was worth a rank 3 Eon Energy Master, her body might shatter because of the burden.


    She had to find a safe place to control the energy. It was filling up her abdomen with Eon Energy at the rate which her body couldn''t handle. With no other choice, Ye Jiao moved from her position and headed out of the hut.


    Her vision became exceptionally sharp, yet her head was ringing with pain. There was no beast nearby for the time being, so Ye Jiao dragged her body to a nearby tree and sat down.


    Her back was facing the tree as she controlled Eon Energy inside her body, determined to make sure that she could absorb them all.


    In a few minutes, her abdomen felt full.


    Ye Jiao''s heart sank for she understood perfectly that it meant she was ready to form her core, stepping into the first path for becoming Eon Energy Master.


    ''The pill is still spewing up too much energy.''


    She had allocated some of them to her body''s parts, but she couldn''t drag them out. Pulling out Eon Energy from her body out of her will proved to be hard.


    ''I have to form my core now...''


    Ye Jiao''s back was filled with sweat as she weighed her choice. Her body might explode if she didn''t control the energy, but forming a core without supervision of adults will be the same as courting death. Should something go wrong, it is the end.


    ''I don''t have a choice, do I?'' The first step to becoming an Eon Energy Master was the hardest from them all. If she failed, she might die.


    Gritting her teeth, Ye Jiao focused her attention to her body and pulled the fragment of Eon Energy in her body to her abdomen. The full abdomen was forced to receive much more energy than what it could handle.


    Under extreme pressure, Eon Energy inside her abdomen started to condense together, forming the first part of the core alongside with large pain, nearly sending her to pass out.


    ''Persevere!''


    Ye Jiao yelled in her mind as she pushed through again, forming the second pieces of her core. At the same time, she could feel the pain spreading to every fiber of her body.


    And when she formed the third piece, the pain became unbearable.


    Her body swayed as it crashed to the tree behind her. Tears poured out of her eyes once again, staining her soft cheek.


    ''I can''t do this anymore...''


    ''It''s so painful...''


    ''Mom... Dad... Help me....''

 68 First Path of the Lilies: Death and Rebirth 2

    As the pain continued to assault her body, Ye Jiao could faintly hear a sound of footsteps not far from her. Her consciousness was hazy for she was unable to fully comprehend what happened near her. All she could think of is her current condition and the fact that her body felt hurt.


    ''Should I just give up?''


    There was no one else who cared for her in this world. The two of them have left to the other world ahead of her, a much more beautiful world than this rotten place.


    It would be better for her to follow after them, right?


    No!


    Her mother sacrificed herself to bring her out of that corrupted kingdom. Her father had protected her ever since she was born. If she gave up now, she would waste their efforts that they have given to her. Everything would become a waste if she gave up.


    Ye Jiao collected herself as she steadied her body. With the tree supporting her weight, she continued to form the next piece of her core.


    As the fourth piece was formed, her body felt unimaginable pain once more. However, Ye Jiao has made her resolve, so she gnashed her teeth and continued the process.


    The pieces were formed one after another, becoming one as she pressed them together. The pain continued to envelope her body, but Ye Jiao endured and proceeded with forming the next piece.


    Overtime, the pain dulled.


    Ye Jiao couldn''t feel the pain anymore when her core was almost completely formed. She didn''t count the number of pieces that she made anymore. All she knew was that the core would finish and she wouldn''t feel the pain in a few more pieces.


    Patiently, Ye Jiao continued to control the Eon Energy in her abdomen to form the pieces. By now, the Eon Energy Pill in her abdomen has changed shape as only a third of it left. It has been used by Ye Jiao to form her core.


    Last piece.


    Condensing the Eon Energy, Ye Jiao finally closed down her core. The long and exhausting process was over.


    The moment her core was formed, she could feel her newly formed core absorbed a massive amount of Eon Energy from the pill and outside her body. Warmth enveloped her entire body and filled her core.


    It was comfortable.


    At that very moment, Ye Jiao had just become the youngest person in the kingdom to form her core and started her path as Eon Energy Master!


    Ye Jiao felt as if she had just had a full course of meal. Her body was filled with boundless energy. She was glad and happy that she had succeeded.


    Slowly, Ye Jiao opened her eyes.


    ¡­


    Not far from Ye Jiao, two men were travelling across the forest. One of them was already at an old age while the other one was the green haired boy that Ye Jiao met a few days before.


    The old man, Zhan Jing, was only travelling around when he sensed the movement of Eon Energy in the air. He was very familiar with these movements as he stopped his own path.


    \"Master, what is it?\" Lu Wan, the green haired boy, asked with confusion.


    Zhan Jing pointed to the side. \"There''s something interesting over there.\"


    \"What is it?\"


    Zhan Jing didn''t answer. He directly changed his decision and dashed away. Lu Wan cursed under his breath before pushing himself forward to follow after the man. His master didn''t even bother to wait for him.


    It didn''t take long for them to arrive before a rather secluded hut. In front of the hut, a young girl was sitting. Tears streamed out of her eyes, staining her delicate face.


    \"Ma-!\"


    \"Ssh,\" Zhan Jing put his finger in front of his lips. \"She''s forming her core.\"


    Lu Wan was dumbstruck when he heard his master''s words.


    She''s forming her core?


    Looking at her tender figure and small stature, anyone would be able to tell that she must be very young. Probably 8 or 9 years old. What kind of talent would allow them to form their core at that tender age?


    Also, why in the world would she form her core in the forest like this? It is very dangerous!


    \"Master,\" Lu Wan lowered his voice. \"Don''t you need to help her?\"


    He had experienced it by himself before. Forming one''s core below the age of 12 would give strain to their body. At the same time, the pain they experienced would be much bigger compared with ordinary children. It was not easy for him to form his own core a year ago.


    Zhan Jing shook his head. \"She''s a very interesting girl. If she''s about to break down, I''ll help her, but...\"


    As he said that, he could sense the girl started to pull herself together. Eon Energy gathered from outside slightly as she formed the next piece of her core.


    \"Right now, she''s still struggling,\" Zhan Jing replied.


    Lu Wan clicked his tongue. \"It means that I have to work harder. Even a girl younger than me can endure this devilish treatment.\"


    Zhan Jing didn''t reply right away. He scrutinized the girl''s body and their surroundings before locked his gaze on the hut. There were traces of powerful Eon Energy coming from inside.


    With a swift movement, he arrived by the hut''s window. He peered inside and saw a young beautiful woman inside.


    \"Lu Wan, come over here,\" Zhan Jing sent sound transmission using his Eon Energy.


    Lu Wan arched his eyebrows before jogging to his master''s side. The window position was not too high as it was designed for children. Peering inside, Lu Wan''s eyes widened when he saw the familiar face.


    \"That''s Madam Ye Ai Xia,\" he said with astonishment. \"Wait, that means she''s Ye Jiao?\"


    Lu Wan turned his head to Ye Jiao. The age of the young girl was suited to the rumors that he heard. However, wasn''t Ye Jiao known to be a waste?


    Zhan Jing looked at the woman inside for a moment.


    \"Does she have any relationship with Ye Xiao?\"


    \"Master, you know Ye Xiao?\" Lu Wan was surprised. After all, his master didn''t come from this kingdom.


    Zhan Jing flicked his finger on the boy''s forehead. \"I''m an assassin and Ye Xiao''s name has appeared numerous times in the list in the past.\"


    \"Fine, Ye Ai Xia is his stepsister and the imperial family recently announced that she''s Ye Xiao''s wife.\"


    Lu Wan rubbed his forehead with indignation. He was glad that his father delivered the news very quickly or it would be impossible for him to know. Not long ago, there was a massive battle in Wei Family Residence and that king announced this.


    Zhen Jing pointed to Ye Jiao. \"Why did I never hear of her name before?\"


    \"Because she''s trash.\"


    \"Trash?\"


    \"The stone didn''t light up when it''s her turn, so she''s known as the famous trash in this city.\"


    Zhan Jing listened attentively to Lu Wan''s explanation. His lips curled up when he heard that the stone didn''t light up. Hearing the rest of the sentence, he laughed so hard yet blocked his voice from reaching the struggling young girl.


    \"What a stupid kingdom.\"


    Lu Wan nearly tripped to the ground when he heard his master''s words. His lips twitched a bit. Has his master gone crazy?

 69 First Path of the Lilies: Death and Rebirth 3

    Lu Wan looked at his master with a dumbfounded expression. \"Master, why are you laughing?\"


    \"I really want to thank the foolish Chen Kingdom for letting out a genius like this to me,\" Zhan Jing rubbed his chin.


    \"Master?\" Lu Wan asked hesitantly. He didn''t understand what made his master so happy.


    Zhan Jing leaned on the wall. \"Do you know the normal age for people with purple colored talent to form their core?\"


    \"It should be 10 years old.\"


    \"Right, but the record for the earliest age to form their core is 9 years old,\" Zhan Jing said calmly. \"It shows that above purple talent, there''s still one more rank.\"


    \"Why one?\"


    \"Because that''s already the upper limit. People who had this talent will look like trash on their test with the stone because they can''t light it up. However, there''s one significant difference. The stone will be the one to get destroyed,\" Zhan Jing smirked, showing a scary smile.


    \"D-destroyed?\"


    \"Yes, the testing stone will give out Eon Energy to your body in order to test the children. It''s only a sliver, but it contains the core of the stone. Purple talent will return the core back without any Eon Energy while Red talent will return the core along with all the Eon Energy that it brought out.


    This talent above purple talent didn''t even let that core get out,\" Zhan Jing laughed. \"Hence, the stone will be destroyed. This talent is always known to be a stone destroyer because of this peculiarity!\"


    Lu Wan opened his mouth and closed it again. Come to think about it, his father argued with the people from academy because they wanted to replace the stone. They said that the stone was too old that it broke.


    And that day was the very same day Ye Jiao went to test her talent!


    Could it be...?


    Zhan Jing could guess that he must have mentioned the truth. \"The normal age for people with this special talent, let''s call it talent s, to form their core is 9 to 10 years old.\"


    Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. \"But I formed my core when I was 10 years old!\"


    \"10 and a half,\" Zhan Jing corrected him. \"There''s still one more factor for you to lower the age again. You must have innate specialization talent.\"


    \"Innate specialization talent? What''s that, Master? I never heard it,\" Lu Wan frowned.


    \"Small people like you will never hear it. This Chen Country is too small to have that much knowledge.\"


    \"Master....\"


    \"You don''t have to know what that is for now,\" Zhan Jing replied. \"It''s useless below rank 4 and only have the purpose to lower the possible age limit for you to reach higher rank. If you want to know more, reach rank 4.\"


    Lu Wan: \"....\" let me strangle you, Master. I might take one decade to reach that rank!


    As Lu Wan was still grumbling, Zhan Jing was watching the young girl attentively. It might not concern him, but he wanted this young girl to be his disciple. To have someone with s talent to be his disciple, who wouldn''t want it?


    Chen Kingdom has thrown a treasure right at their front door. Let him be the one to pick her up and polished the small jade.


    It would be extremely interesting to see the growth of a genius.


    Zhan Jing scrutinized Ye Jiao''s process of forming her core with interest. This was the first time he saw someone so young form their core, but he knew that those who have higher talent would experience bigger pain when they form their core. It was as if Heaven couldn''t bear to see their existence.


    They have to bear with higher pain to receive better results. That was the price for having better talent and started their path earlier than ordinary people.


    \"She''s opening her eyes,\" Lu Wan murmured.


    At this time, Ye Jiao opened her eyes slowly. Her pupil grew larger when she saw the two of them standing not far from the hut. In an instant, she jumped up and readied her stance. \"Who are you?\"


    \"Lu Wan,\" Lu Wan replied.


    Ye Jiao looked at the green haired boy as she recalled her own meeting with that boy. He looked more docile compared to the one that yelled to other children back then. Her eyes turned to Zhan Jing with cautiousness.


    \"I''m his master,\" Zhan Jing pointed to Lu Wan carelessly. \"Little girl, what are you doing forming your core in the middle of the forest?\"


    \"Ah?\" Ye Jiao didn''t know whether to answer or not. Should she tell this man her secret? But she felt that he already knew about her talent and ability, much more than what she herself knew.


    Zhan Jing could sense her hesitation. He released a bit of his power, sending pressure to the girl. \"Even if you don''t want to answer, I can make you answer, little girl.\"


    The power that Zhan Jing showed to her told her that this man must be at least rank 4. With her has just formed her core, there would be no way for her to match up against this man. Even running away would be impossible if he didn''t allow her.


    Since he was with Lu Wan, he shouldn''t be Wei Family''s friend. Lu Family and Wei Family have been in discord with one another for a long time. She had to place her bet on that fact.


    \"I¡­\" Ye Jiao opened her mouth. \"My mother gave me Eon Energy Pill rank 3, but I failed to control it last time, so I have to start forming my core.\"


    Hearing her words, Lu Wan''s lips twitched. Giving a rank 3 pill to a young girl, did that woman wanted this girl to die? It was good that she could withstand the power inside the pill or she would have died a long time ago.


    \"Oh?\" Zhang Jing''s eyebrows shot up when he heard the girl''s words. He scanned her body for a moment as he noticed that there was still around a quarter of the pill left inside her body. It meant that she has much more Eon Energy inside her body compared with other ordinary people.


    ''A genius is really different. And this is no pampered one.''


    Most geniuses would receive preferential treatment from the moment they were born, but it was different with this young girl. She experienced the opposite for a long period of time. No one wanted to care for a ''trash.''


    \"In normal times, you''ll have died numerous times because of beasts,\" Lu Wan shook his head. The beasts ran away when they sensed his master, so this place was safe.


    \"Ah,\" Ye Jiao didn''t think about that. She bowed down to Zhan Jing. \"Many thanks for Revered Elder''s help.\"


    \"It''s not a big deal. I didn''t do anything.\"


    \"But¡­\"


    \"The presence of your mother, Eon Energy Master rank 4 is enough to scare away the beasts, so I didn''t have to do anything.\"


    Ye Jiao was stunned. She turned to look at her house in surprise as she didn''t expect that her mother''s presence alone was enough to scare away the beasts.


    In normal times, it was impossible, but Ye Ai Xia had purposely leaked out her presence before her death. This would surely scare away the beast from this place as they knew the strength of Eon Energy Master rank 4 was not to be trifled with.


    Zhan Jing looked at the young girl before him. If he didn''t guess it wrongly, her mother must have the inkling that her daughter would form her core soon. Even though this place would be safe from beast, the amount of food was scarce. She must have prepared enough food in a storage bracelet for her daughter. Once Ye Jiao reached rank 1, she would have access to the bracelet, allowing her to have enough food.


    It was the best preparation she could give to her daughter to ensure the girl''s safety.


    ''She''s quite meticulous and remarkable.''


    Zhan Jing didn''t usually like to meddle in other people''s business, but this girl would the exception. \"Little girl, your name is Ye Jiao, right? Do you want to be my disciple?\"

 70 First Path of the Lilies: Death and Rebirth 4

    \"Disciple?\" Ye Jiao was stunned to hear the word from the man. She looked at the man strangely. She didn''t even know him and anything, but he wanted her to be his disciple. \"Revered Elder, I''m afraid that I''ll only bring trouble for you.\"


    \"Ye Jiao will be hunted down by the Imperial Family and Wei Family,\" Lu Wan elaborated. \"The two of them hate her father very much, so they will not spare his daughter on top of killing those two.\"


    Zhan Jing shook his head lightly. He had heard about Ye Xiao and Ye Ai Xia numerous times back in the past. The brilliance that the two of them showed was something that no ordinary person was capable off. Yet, the brightest light was crushed by other people to smithereens because of envy and jealousy.


    \"It''s only Chen Kingdom, isn''t it? There''s no need to worry, they can''t do anything to me,\" Zhan Jing said haughtily.


    Lu Wan jeered to his master. \"That''s what you said to me back then, but you didn''t do anything to help me.\"


    Flick!


    \"Your debt should be collected by no other than yourself,\" Zhang Jing replied calmly. \"I can assassinate them easily, but why should I do that when you''re the one creating trouble?\"


    \"Che, you''re a stingy master,\" Lu Wan complained as he rubbed his forehead. His master really loved to flick his forehead whenever he made a thoughtless remark.


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes when she saw their relationship. She thought that the man was a powerful and unapproachable man just like the two rank 4 that she saw. However, this man looked no different than ordinary people. If not for the fact that he showed her that pressure before, she might not believe that this man was truly a rank 4.


    \"Who are you, Revered Elder?\" Ye Jiao could help but ask.


    Zhan Jing crossed his arm. \"I''ll only tell you if you become my disciple.\"


    Disciple¡­


    Ye Jiao didn''t have any strength right now. Even though she had formed her core, she had no idea how to use the Eon Energy properly. Rather than stumbling around trying by herself, it would be better to get a master that would help her. Besides, she wouldn''t be able to get out of the forest with her power alone.


    Making up her mind, Ye Jiao stood up and walked to Zhan Jing''s direction. She stopped two meters away from the man and kowtowed to him.


    \"Disciple Ye Jiao greets Master.\"


    Zhan Jing laughed. \"Good, that''s good.\"


    He threw a bracelet to Ye Jiao, which the girl caught. Her eyes widened when she saw the beautiful light brown color on the bracelet. \"Master, this is?\"


    \"This is my first gift as your master. It''s a storage tool that you can use. Just drop your blood on top of it to own it and then you can use it as you wish,\" Zhan Jing replied with ease.


    Ye Jiao beamed. \"Thank you, Master.\"


    She bit the tip of her finger before dropping a blood right on top of the bracelet. At that moment, she could feel that there was some kind of connection with it. She put it on before picking up a rock and tried to think of putting it in. When it truly came in, her eyes widened in delight.


    \"She''s truly peculiar,\" Lu Wan commented when he watched the girl experimented on putting the rock out again. When he first got his storage tool, he asked his master how to use it, yet this girl could figure it out by herself.


    Zhan Jing nodded his head. \"Ye Jiao, now I want you to listen to me.\"


    \"Yes, Master,\" Ye Jiao stopped playing with the bracelet as she turned to see her master. Her expression turned solemn.


    \"I come from Bao Fu. Have you ever heard of it?\"


    \"Revenge*?\" Ye Jiao blinked her eyes several times.


    Zhan Jing shook his head. \"Bao Fu is an assassin organization, the largest one in the four kingdoms. I''m a hidden elder there and my mission is to do every covert assassination that should be kept secret. My achievement is always kept hidden there.\"


    \"That''s why they always treat you to be an odd member.\"


    Flick!


    \"Master!\"


    \"Ignore this brat,\" Zhan Jing said calmly. \"By being my disciple, I have two paths that you can pick. You can either train outside the organization, which mean that I''ll personally make training for you or you can participate in the newbie training in the organization. Before you decide, let me explain them one by one.


    If you want me to do personal training, I''ll put you in Lu Wan''s place because you don''t have any residence and it''s dangerous out here. I''ll only check on you once in a while. If you want to participate in the newbie training, I''ll register you and you have to stay in that place until you reach rank 1. Once you reach that rank, you''ll be given your first task as an assassin and then they will return you back to me because I''m your master.\"


    Ye Jiao furrowed her brows. \"Why rank 1, Master?\"


    \"That''s because there are a lot of ways of training after reaching rank 1,\" Zhan Jing replied. \"It takes longer from rank 1 to rank 2 rather than forming one''s core to rank 1. There''s training for that, but if you join it, you''ll be bound in the organization for the rest of your life.\"


    The thought that she had to work in an assassin organization for her entire life didn''t sound too good for Ye Jiao. After being confined for a long time, what she longed for the most was freedom. She wanted to explore the vast world and experience many things that she couldn''t before.


    \"Master, will I be given time to bury my Mom?\" Ye Jiao asked first.


    Zhan Jing nodded. \"We''re not in a hurry. If you have made your decision, tell me.\"


    \"I have made my decision, Master. I¡­\"


    ¡­.


    Ye Jiao dug the dirt not far from the house and buried her mother silently. She refused the help from Zhan Jing and Lu Wan because she wanted to do it by herself. Her finger trembled as she put the rock on the edge and started to carve it.


    Ye AI Xia


    Her finger traced the engraving she made as her eyes were filled with resolution. She didn''t have anyone else in this world, but this was only the beginning. The path to be a martial art has just opened.


    \"Mom, Jiao''er will return one day and at that time, I''ll be much stronger than now.\"


    She picked up the white lily flower that her mother plucked before. When she dragged her body out of the hut, the flower fell to her mother''s side. This time, she put the flower right in front of the stone.


    \"Mom, in funeral white lily signifies that the soul of the deceased has returned to the peaceful state. Mom can be at ease because Jiao''er will be fine and Jiao''er will surely grow even stronger.\"


    Ye Jiao stared at the flower as the wind blew around them. The petal moved along in the rhythm, which made it look like dancing.


    She closed her eyes before turning her gaze to the sky. \"I have lost everything; you can''t take anything else from me. But I will gain much from this in my path as Eon Energy Master---I''ll not give up and someday, I''ll reach the peak.\"


    Slowly, Ye Jiao stood up from her place and bowed to the grave once more before turning her body around. This would be the start of a new path for her. It might be hard because she will be alone, but she would not give up. Her eyes were filled with determination as she looked at her master.


    \"Master, I''m ready.\"


    *Bao Fu meant revenge in Chinese language.


    This is the end of Volume 1, thank you for reading until this far. It has been quite a bumpy road hehe (^_^)

 71 Road to Hell

    After burying her mother, Ye Jiao followed after Zhan Jing and Lu Wan. The young boy didn''t have any intention to go back so early as he hated staying in his residence too long.


    \"Won''t your family worry if you go missing?\" Ye Jiao asked with confusion.


    Lu Wan shrugged. \"In Lu Family, I''m known to be a genius and it''s easy for me to ask for a practice leave. I only need to say that I want to practice for a set period of time and no one will come to bother me anymore.\"


    How enviable.


    Ye Jiao could guess that Lu Wan''s treatment in the residence must be very good. This young boy could easily go out and no one would bother with him. On the other hand, it was extremely hard for her to get out if not because of outside''s help.


    \"By the way, have you learned the basic of the ranks?\" Lu Wan asked.


    \"Basics of the rank?\"


    \"I mean, the difference between each rank until rank 3. This is pretty common in the school,\" Lu Wan replied. \"Eh, wait, you don''t go to school.\"


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. She couldn''t go to school all these times because of that person''s interference. It didn''t mean that she didn''t learn anything, but her mother didn''t really teach her much of the difference in the ranks.


    \"I only know that rank 1 will focus on how to control Eon Energy in your body and strengthen your overall strength,\" Ye Jiao answered truthfully.


    Lu Wan nodded his head. \"It''s not wrong, but it''s not complete. Forming one''s core is just the very beginning of your journey because it''ll take a long time and effort if you want to reach the first rank.


    The first rank is known as inner body training, which mean that you have to learn how to use the Eon Energy that you have gathered inside your body. Pulling it inside is easy because there''s some help with your body constitution. Once you''ve formed your core, you have to learn how to pull them out and make use of them inside your body.


    When you are capable of controlling even the tiniest bit of Eon Energy, you''ll reach the first rank. At that time, you can feel that your overall strength increases and there''s connection with your core,\" as Lu Wan explained, he tapped his abdomen. It was apparent that he also included his personal experience when he reached the first rank.


    His gesture made Ye Jiao remember that this young boy that was only slightly older than her has reached the first rank. She wondered if she could catch up with him soon.


    \"The second rank is known as layer of defense. You have to learn how to pull Eon Energy outside of your body and materialize them to form a defense line outside your body. It''ll start from small part bit by bit until it covers your entire body. Once you have completed it, you have reached rank 2.\"


    \"Will there be any difference in the core?\" Ye Jiao asked.


    Lu Wan titled his head. \"The teacher says that you can feel the difference yourself. The amount and size won''t change, but there''ll be something different. However, this is something that you have to learn by yourself.\"


    \"I see.\"


    \"Moving on, the third rank is known as the controller. You will be able to extend Eon Energy farther than the previous two rank and at the same time, the size of your core will double the previous rank.\"


    \"Double?\" Ye Jiao exclaimed in surprise. She never thought that the difference between rank 2 and 3 would be this much.


    Lu Wan laughed. \"Rank 4 core will be bigger more than double rank 3, so you shouldn''t be this surprised.\"


    More than double.


    It seemed that Ye Jiao finally understood the reason why many people worshiped those at rank 4. They were truly amazing.


    Zhan Jing shook his head. \"Don''t be amazed with just those rank. For the true elites, rank 3 is the beginning.\"


    \"Yeah, I heard that they''re only accepting people who can pass rank 3 before the age of 15,\" Lu Wan put his hand behind his head. His mouth formed a cheeky grin. \"But that''s my goal. I''ll prove to them that I''m the true genius.\"


    Zhan Jing flicked a glance at Lu Wan. \"Your senior brother will reach rank 3 faster.\"


    \"¡­Don''t remind me of that annoying b*stard,\" Lu Wan''s face darkened.


    Ye Jiao was not sure what had happened, but she could guess that the relationship between the disciples might not be too harmonious. Still, she couldn''t feel any malicious intent nor hatred from Lu Wan. There was only pure annoyance, which might be because of their clashes in personalities.


    Compared to her own grievances, she really hated those people who killed both her mother and father. At this time, her eyes glinted with ruthlessness.


    Flick!


    \"Master?\" Ye Jiao blinked in confusion. Her master suddenly turned around and flicked her forehead.


    Zhan Jing looked at Ye Jiao with serene expression. \"Little Girl, what''s your martial path?\"


    \"Master, I haven''t even made up my mind about that,\" Lu Wan rolled his eyes.


    On the other hand, Ye Jiao opened her mouth. \"It''s to¡­.\"


    \"There''s no need to answer me. Do you think by taking revenge, you''re following your path?\" Zhan Jing pointed to Ye Jiao''s head. \"Think of what you want to do carefully, Little Girl.\"


    Ye Jiao nodded her head in a slow motion. She had heard from her mother that someone''s martial path was extremely important in their growth. Only by protecting their heart pure to their martial path could they achieve higher rank.


    By her side, Lu Wan didn''t disturb the little girl. He has his own problem in his martial path too as he still couldn''t decide on anything.


    \"Oh yeah, where are we going?\" Ye Jiao asked another question to change the topic. The matter of her path and the knowledge of the ranks were thrown to the back of her mind. She would only remember them again when she was about to reach higher ranks.


    \"Bao Fu training island,\" Lu Wan replied. \"In that place, you have to prioritize your own survival. No matter what happen, you should never show mercy to other people or try to help them.\"


    \"What?\" Ye Jiao was stunned. From what she knew, helping other people in need was common knowledge. Why did her senior brother tell her otherwise?


    \"Path of assassin is not an easy path,\" Lu Wan replied, his eyes deepened. The image on his face contrasted the usual rascally look he had. \"In that place, even surviving is difficult, not to mention helping other people. You''re not allowed to care to everyone around you and just focus on how to complete the objective of the training. Once you show weakness, they''ll take advantage of you.\"


    The grave tone that Lu Wan used caused chill to run down behind Ye Jiao''s spine. She knew that this boy must have experienced something dreadful in that place for him to say something like this. Slowly, she raised her hand and touched her senior brother''s hand lightly.


    \"Don''t worry. I''ll be okay.\"


    \"Good,\" Lu Wan murmured. \"Don''t regret your decision. This is the path to hell.\"


    Ye Jiao took a deep breath. She didn''t have anyone else who could help her in this world. Her master and Lu Wan appeared at the right time to pave a way for her to follow, but they couldn''t help her forever. Her path of martial art solely belonged to her, and she would surely follow the path she chose without regret.


    No matter how hard it would be, she knew that she had to pass.


    \"I won''t, Senior Brother.\"

 72 Start of the Training

    \"The journey will take a few days, so I''ll teach you how to circulate your Eon Energy and learn to control them to every path of your body,\" Zhan Jing remarked as they stopped midway.


    \"Ok.\"


    \"Before that, I need to know your exact age,\" Zhan Jing continued. There were records of this training method. Each of them would be different according to the age because the younger they were, the weaker their body''s condition would be. There was some adjustment that they had to do.


    \"I''m eight years and six months old, um,\" Ye Jiao counted the days. It should be six months and four days or five days? Or perhaps 6 days? She was not totally sure the hour of her birth and today''s date.


    \"That''s enough,\" Zhan Jing thought to himself as he recalled the training he gave to Lu Wan. He was not sure Ye Jiao would be suitable, but it was the one designed for the youngest, which was 9 to 10 years old.


    While Zhan Jing was pondering, Lu Wan pointed to Ye Jiao in disbelief. \"You''re still eight years old?\"


    \"Yes,\" Ye Jiao replied innocently.


    \"T-that''s impossible! I thought you''re already nine!\"


    \"I''ll be nine in six months.\"


    \"That''s different!\" Lu Wan crouched down and held his head. The news that Ye Jiao told him gave him a huge shock. If other people knew that a child at eight years old manage to form her core, they would be crazy. It was practically breaking the record of this world.


    He had thought that the one who formed their core at nine was a freak, but this little junior he met was much more of a freak!


    Zhan Jing looked at Lu Wan. \"if you don''t want to get left behind, you should train more earnestly.\"


    \"I already did!\"


    \"It''s not enough. Now, shut up so I can teach Ye Jiao.\"


    Lu Wan clamped his mouth as he sat down resentfully. His master always tried to pull talented children to his side with numerous ways. Each of them was at least purple colored talent, which was known to be the highest possible talent. Who would have thought that he could meet with someone at a higher level?


    No one ever told him the existence of higher talent than purple color.


    It took a short time for Ye Jiao to start practicing. She tried to pull Eon Energy out of her core, which was pretty easy. It surprised her greatly because she recalled how hard it was for her in the past. Without wasting any time, Ye Jiao started to circulate her Eon Energy to every part of her body slowly.


    Lu Wan watched as Ye Jiao trained in ease with widened eyes. \"Master, why did she can train so easily while I have to suffer tremendously just because I can''t pull Eon Energy out of my core?\"


    Zhan Jing beat him up in the past because Lu Wan didn''t follow instruction. It took this boy several hours for his first successful attempt. Seeing how easy it was for Ye Jiao to do it, he felt that it was unfair.


    \"She must have practiced it before,\" Zhan Jing replied calmly.


    Lu Wan frowned. \"But if she has practiced it before and yet still formed her core at eight years old, are you implying that she should have formed her core even earlier?\"


    \"That''s possible.\"


    \"¡­\" master, now I don''t have the courage to say that I''m a genius anymore.


    Lu Wan sat down as he started his own training. Seeing how Ye Jiao trained, he was sure that this little lass would catch up to him soon enough. He didn''t want to get left behind by this little girl.


    Zhan Jing watched the two of them and didn''t disturb any of them. He leaned back on the tree as he watched the surroundings. No beast dared to come closer once they sensed his power, so it was a calm night.


    For the next few days, Ye Jiao familiarized herself with the circulation training while they headed to the lake. At the same time, Ye Jiao learned more about Lu Wan and this boy''s family.


    \"Your family doesn''t know that you''re Master''s disciple?\" Ye Jiao''s eyes widened in disbelief.


    Lu Wan shrugged. \"There''s no way that stuck up Lu Family want to accept their descendant become part of an assassin organization. They''re known to be righteous and all, so everything related to underworld should be erased from their presence.\"


    In other words, Lu Wan had intentionally joined their enemy.


    Ye Jiao had heard that the Lu Family was a scholarly family that was famous for their knowledge and manner. They were also very powerful in the court that no one dared to fight them openly. With their ability to turn the situation around based on the so-called truth, they have the stable footing here.


    Of course, the fact that their family head was a rank 4 helped it very much. No one wanted to be on the bad side of a rank 4 in case that their family was wiped out.


    \"Why do you stand on the opposite side?\"


    \"I don''t have any good relation with my family,\" Lu Wan replied. \"They''re always looking at me with hope that I can bring the entire family up by joining the prestigious academy. Because of my talent, they want to use me to raise their status.


    I hate it. I never have any interest to have any relationship with them because of how fake they are,\" Lu Wan''s face scrunched in disgust.


    \"I guess it''s not going to be easy for you.\"


    \"Nah, they didn''t dare to go against me, so I have complete freedom. Who could stand learning manner, politic, and all the entire day? I would prefer using the time to focus on my training as martial artist,\" Lu Wan replied.


    \"Have you ever tried to talk with them?\"


    \"It''s useless,\" Lu Wan shrugged. \"My father only come to me to ask my training and advancement. Upon forming my core at the age of 10, he starts to give me more freedom and no longer restrict my movements. As long as I give him satisfactory result in training, he won''t do anything.\"


    Ye Jiao frowned. She couldn''t imagine what kind of parent would actually let their child like that.


    Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao. \"I''ll give you complete overview after you finish your training and come to my residence.\"


    Wait, what?

 73 The Lake of Beginning

    Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao. \"I''ll give you complete overview after you finish your training and come to my residence.\"


    Wait, what?


    \"Senior Lu, are you telling me that I''ll be living in your residence?\" Ye Jiao asked with incredulous expression. She could not believe what she had just heard.


    \"Yep,\" Lu Wan nodded his head. \"You can''t possibly follow master forever. He has his own dangerous missions that he has to fulfill. There''s no time for him to care for a young girl that didn''t have the capabilities to protect herself.\"


    Ye Jiao: \"¡­\" that hurt.


    She knew that Lu Wan was blunt, but the word he uttered still struck her deeply. At the same time, this reminded her that her ability was much lower than this young man, making her rather weak in his eyes. She should train much more so that she could become stronger.


    Zhan Jing stopped in his step. \"Lu Wan, there''s a large cat ahead. Kill it for our meal tonight.\"


    \"Yes, Master,\" Lu Wan''s eyes glimmered. He turned his head to Ye Jiao. \"Watch and learn. You''ll see that your senior brother is amazing!\"


    Ye Jiao rolled her eyes at her senior brother''s shameless remark. However, her eyes still followed the boy''s silhouette. After Mu Xin, Lu Wan was the only friend she had that was close to her age. It was rare for her to interact with other children.


    As she followed her gaze to Lu Wan, she was surprised to see the young man directly advanced to the large cat. His speed was far faster than her, albeit still far slower if she compared with the adults. Within seconds, Lu Wan had appeared near the cat.


    The cat reacted when Lu Wan reached several meters away. She jumped back and hissed while Lu Wan changed his direction to the side. His movement, albeit rushed, seemed to be very smooth. It was as if he had done this countless time.


    Lu Wan took out a small dagger as he rushed to the cat. As the cat attacked again, Lu Wan evaded to the side and his hand sliced the cat from the side, inflicting long wound. Blood spurted out, but Lu Wan knew that it was not deep enough to finish the cat off.


    \"The cat is going to attack him again,\" Ye Jiao furrowed her brows.


    Zhan Jing watched the two of them in silence. He was trying to know each of them better.


    The cat spun its body before it pounced straight to Lu Wan. Seeing the incoming attack, Lu Wan made a circular movements with one of his feet as the pivot. He evaded the attack once more agilely as his left hand, the one without the dagger, punched forward.


    Punch!


    The punch hit straight to the cat''s stomach. As it was still in midair, there was nothing to hold her down. The punch sent her straight to the back as Lu Wan dashed straight to her and raised his hand upward. The dagger went down and cut off the cat''s stomach directly as blood splattered everywhere.


    The cat struggled with kick, but Lu Wan swiftly moved to the cat''s neck and stabbed once more, killing the cat.


    \"Done,\" Lu Wan grinned as he waved his blood-soaked dagger. \"It''s not as hard as I imagine it to be.\"


    Zhan Jing shook his head. \"Come over here, Lu Wan.\"


    \"Yes, Master.\"


    Flick!


    \"Ouch! It''s harder that usual, Master!\" Lu Wan whined. His master always made sure that the pain was not too much, but this time, his master didn''t even hold back.


    Zhan Jing crossed his arm. \"If you think that this kind of performance satisfies me, you''re terribly wrong. First of all, do you know the danger of alerting enemies too early? Just because you''ve grown stronger, it doesn''t mean you can look down on your opponent. Secondly, what kind of attack is that? You¡­.\"


    Ye Jiao listened as Zhan Jing listed out numerous points in front of Lu Wan. The poor boy was forced to listen to the explanation until his ear was hurt. Well, he wanted to show off, but he overestimated his own power, so Zhan Jing scolded him terribly.


    It took a long time before Zhan Jing finished and they kept the cat. Afterward, the three of them continued their journey.


    \"I feel that my ear is almost fell,\" Lu Wan complained as he sighed to himself.


    \"Well, Master has his point,\" Ye Jiao consoled.


    Lu Wan nodded. He knew that he still needed a lot of practice if he wanted to become better. \"Anyway, I''m surprised you''re fine in front of blood. I believe you don''t see it often, right.\"


    Ye Jiao noticed that her senior brother was twirling his blood-soaked blade and hand. It was still dirty as he didn''t bother cleaning them up. Without any water nearby, he didn''t have any intention to clean up.


    \"I have seen it before when I follow my father to hunt,\" Ye Jiao replied honestly.


    Hearing her answer, Lu Wan was speechless. He recalled his own experience of seeing the battle with beast and his struggle as he sighed. He should have expected that this little girl was not normal at all. The experience she had was completely different than what normal children should have.


    Ye Jiao turned her head to the front. Her keen smell sensed that there was something different near them. \"Are we near our destination?\"


    \"Yes.\"


    \"Am I going there alone?\"


    \"Yes,\" Lu Wan replied. \"Neither one of us can go there. Besides, I believe that you can do well by yourself.\"


    \"I do hope so,\" Ye Jiao said back.


    Before long, the three of them arrived before a majestic lake. The surface was blue in color with massive fog filled the entire area. If one should say, they couldn''t see more than several meters forward because of the thick fog covering the entire area.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes scanned her surroundings as she recalled that this was one of the lakes in the wilderness in this country. It was avoided because no one could know what was inside. Never would she expect that they have to go here.


    Zhan Jing pointed to the front. \"Your destination is over there.\"


    \"I understand, Master.\"

 74 Departure to Hell Island

    Looking at the lake, Ye Jiao followed after Zhan Jing as they circled the shore. It didn''t take long before she could see a small house with a man and several children around Lu Wan''s age around him. The old man looked at Zhan Jing with arched eyebrows.


    \"You have just come here last year. What is it this year?\" the old man asked.


    Zhan Jing pushed Ye Jiao forward. \"I accept another disciple. I''ll trouble you to take care of her, old pal.\"


    The old man scanned Ye Jiao before he stood up abruptly. He walked straight to Zhan Jing. \"You lucky b*stard, where did you get another fine disciple? No, where in the world did you find this little monster?\"


    Looking at Ye Jiao, it was easy for him to conclude that she must have the talent above purple. Otherwise, it was impossible for the children to form their core below the age of 10. This kind of talent was extremely hard to find.


    Even finding one in the entire four kingdoms in this area was already considered very lucky. The thought of seeing one at this talent in this lifetime alone was something this old man longed for. And his friend actually managed to pull the child to be his disciple.


    The pain¡­


    Was simply too big.


    Zhan Jing shrugged. \"I just have several lucky encounters. I need your help to take her to the island.\"


    The old man furrowed his brows. \"Are you sure you want to send her there? You know that among 100 children, only one will survive, right?\"


    Ye Jiao shuddered when she heard the low survival rate. Even though Lu Wan had warned her that it wouldn''t be easy, she didn''t think that it would be this much. In the next second, she calmed down instantly.


    She didn''t have any place in this kingdom anymore. If she was spotted alive, she was sure that the imperial family and Wei Family would never let her off. She had seen how Lu Wan was able to fight so well despite only being a rank 1, so she believed that this island would be her chance to get stronger faster.


    \"She''s the one who decide,\" Zhan Jing patted Ye Jiao''s shoulder.


    The old man looked at Ye Jiao before sighing. \"If you say so, old pal. I won''t disturb you from taking a great disciple. Just a little warning. Even though she''s a bit special, there''ll be no one who will take care of her.\"


    \"There''s no need for that. You just have to make sure that everything is as fair as possible.\"


    \"Got it.\"


    The old man beckoned Ye Jiao to come nearer as he inspected the girl''s body. He clicked his tongue as he realized how large her core was considering that she has just formed her core. Not only that, her muscle strength was far stronger than most people. Even if she was lacking in age, it didn''t seem that she would have much problem to survive as long as she has the will.


    \"Wait here with the other children. The ship will arrive soon.\"


    \"Okay,\" Ye Jiao''s clear voice sounded.


    The old man sighed to himself as he watched the girl sat down. He turned his head to Zhan Jing. \"I don''t know what kind of luck you have to be able to find her, but you wouldn''t want her existence to be known to the other two. Do you want me to forge her name and age?\"


    Zhan Jing arched his eyebrows. He stepped forward and crouched before Ye Jiao. \"Kid, what''s your name that you want to use as assassin?\"


    \"Name?\"


    \"Yeah, you can choose any name that you want.\"


    Hearing that, Ye Jiao pondered for a moment. Her eyes flickered for a second before she smiled again.


    \"Ai Jiao.\"


    Zhan Jing''s eyes widened for a second before nodded his head. \"You heard her. She''s Ai Jiao.\"


    \"Got it.\"


    \"How old are you, Ai Jiao?\" Zhan Jing asked again.


    Ye Jiao furrowed her brows. She had heard their conversation just know and knew how rare it was for nine years old kid to appear.


    \"10 years old.\"


    \"You''re pretty small for 10 years old,\" Lu Wan chuckled. It was pretty obvious from Ye Jiao''s appearance that she must be very young, but he wouldn''t leak it out. \"Have fun, Junior Sister Ai.\"


    \"Take care of yourself, Senior Brother,\" Ye Jiao replied back.


    Lu Wan nodded his head. \"Oh right, I forgot to tell you,\" Lu Wan inched closer. \"My name is Yu Shui.\"


    \"Rainwater*?\" Ye Jiao looked at Lu Wan in surprise.


    \"Compared to your name that means love**,\" Lu Wan grinned.


    Ye Jiao glared at her senior brother. \"The pronunciation is different, Senior Brother Yu, so it has different meaning. You need to start learning lesson again.\"


    \"Uh no, I have had enough.\"


    The thought of the lesson that his father enforced him made his face pale. Lu Wan would never want to go through that anymore after he was given freedom. It would be better to just focus on his training as martial artist.


    At this time, Ye Jiao sensed that the air flow started to move. Her head was tilted to the lake as she saw a large ship approaching them. The large sail was visible even from a long distance, earning awe from the group of children.


    \"It seems that your transportation has arrived,\" Lu Wan commented. \"See you later, Junior Sister Ai.\"


    \"See you in a few months, Senior Brother Yu.\"


    Ye Jiao walked to the front along with the other children. They were following behind the old man, who was waiting patiently for the ship to arrive by the dock. Several men appeared from the ship, wearing dark brown robe. They glanced at the children behind the old man.


    \"How many children this time?\" he asked.


    \"There are only 14,\" the old man replied. \"The lowest is still light blue color talent. Here''s the list.\"


    The man accepted it as he beckoned for the children to get inside. \"Are they all orphans?\"


    \"Most of them. One of them is Zhan Jing disciple and the other one is that person''s disciple.\"


    \"Oh, you have another disciple?\" the man turned his head to Zhan Jing. \"I wish you luck. It seems that the two disciples might clash.\"


    He knew how these leaders sometimes would pick some talented children to be their disciple. Of course, the precaution was that the children have to have purple talent. Usually, these children would perform much better.


    Zhan Jing shrugged. \"We shall see who will have the last laugh.\"


    \"I see. Time to depart!\"


    The two of them watched as the man got inside and pulled back the plank. Lu Wan turned his head to his master as the ship started to embark.


    \"Master, do you think Junior Sister will be alright?\"


    \"She''ll be fine,\" Zhan Jing answered lightly. \"I always pick the freak to be my disciple. How can she be ordinary?\"


    Lu Wan smiled bitterly. Most people just paid attention to the talent, but Zhan Jing always seek the most peculiar disciple. He placed both of his hand behind his back. \"Now, what''s my training, Master?\"


    \"Come with me.\"


    \"Yes!\"


    ...


    A/N:


    *Yu Shui (both with third tone) means rainwater


    ** Ai Jiao (second tone on first and first tone at the second character) meant love

 75 The Meaning of Loyalty

    Mu Family Residence


    \"General, here''s the medicine,\" Wang Jun brought a bag to Mu Hong. His expression was contorted for he was unable to accept that his master got wounded this terribly.


    Mu Hong took the bag calmly. \"Wang Jun, are you still thinking that it''s not worth it?\"


    Because of his action to not deploy the soldiers to help out Wei Shang, the Imperial Family was angry. If only the soldier chased after Ye Ai Xia, they would not lose the track of that woman like now. As Wei Shang was busy battling the woman, the highest command fell into Mu Hong''s hand.


    His command was deemed unsuitable, thus earning him large punishment from the Imperial Family.


    Wang Jun looked at Mu Hong worriedly. \"But General, they cut down your salary.\"


    \"I never need that much money.\"


    \"And you have to bear the punishment¡­\"


    \"I''m strong, Wang Jun,\" Mu Hong laughed. With his martial arts, this tiny bit of punishment was not too much. Even though he couldn''t do much because he had pledged to serve the country, he couldn''t let them kill Ye Jiao and her mother.


    Over the past one year, he knew how the two girls have grown closer. He was not that heartless to let eight years old girl died just like that. All he could do was giving them a chance to get out of this country by withholding the military soldiers.


    \"Master¡­\"


    Wang Jun felt helpless when he saw his master like this. Even though he agreed with Mu Hong''s decision, he was angry at the reaction Imperial Family had. They were putting the blame on his master.


    If not because they still needed the man''s help because of his military prowess, Wang Jun was sure that they might take Mu Hong life away. It was good that his master''s capability let him stayed in his position.


    \"Oh? Mu Xin have finished forming her core,\" Mu Hong turned his head to the training room. He was watching his daughter attentively over the past few days along with Wang Jun to make sure that there was nothing wrong. Every single misstep might be fatal because it was the very beginning of their journey as Eon Energy Master.


    From the training room, Mu Xin slowly walked out. Her body didn''t change much, but it was clear that she was far stronger than before. The Eon Energy in her body has also stabilized.


    \"Father, I have succeeded,\" Mu Xin reported somberly.


    Mu Hong nodded his head. \"Good.\"


    \"Is there anything I have to do, Father?\"


    \"I''ll pass you the circulation method,\" Mu Hong said. \"You need to stabilize your rank first.\"


    \"Yes, Father.\"


    Mu Xin glanced at Wang Jun, but he avoided her gaze. Her brows furrowed. \"What happened during the time I''m forming my core?\"


    \"There''s nothing happened,\" Mu Hong lied immediately. His expression and tone didn''t change in the slightest. For him, it was easy to manipulate his body language to make sure that no one could read it.


    However, Mu Xin didn''t look at her father. She was staring directly at Wang Jun. When she walked out, she could see that this man seemed to try avoiding her gaze. There must be something that happened during the time she was forming her core.


    \"Jun Ge,\" Mu Xin called out.


    Wang Jun turned his head. He forced a smile out of his mouth. \"There''s nothing happened, Miss Mu.\"


    \"You''re lying.\"


    \"I''m not,\" Wang Jun''s smile stiffened. He knew that this little girl has the capabilities to detect when he lied. This was the reason he tried to stay away from the girl''s gaze.


    Mu Xin narrowed her eyes. \"Is it related to Ye Jiao?\"


    Wang Jun didn''t reply. His expression changed subtly and Mu Xin was not that idiot to miss the change. Her mind worked hard as she thought of every possible situation that could occur.


    \"Where''s Ye Jiao?\"


    Her chilly voice rang in the room, sending chill to Wang Jun. She might be at a lower rank compared to him, but her disposition has always been extremely cold. At times, it might even instill fear when they heard her talked.


    Mu Hong sighed. \"No one know where she is.\"


    \"Father?\"


    \"There''s an incident in the capital a few days ago,\" Mu Hong replied. Seeing how Mu Xin was concerned about Ye Jiao, he was glad that this girl was inside the training room, forming her core. If she found out that something happened to Ye Jiao, this girl might not be rational enough to not move out to help.


    He proceeded to tell the girl everything that had happened in the capital. In the meantime, he could sense the temperature in the room dropped even further. It was apparent that the girl was angry and sad at the same time.


    \"Father, I''ll go search for Ye Jiao,\" Mu Xin said somberly.


    \"I can''t let you out. Unless you have reached rank 1, I''ll never let you out to the forest,\" Mu Hong said firmly. He was very clear that the beasts outside the capital were strong. The weakest one of them all would be able to kill normal people with ease. Even if they had formed their core, it didn''t guarantee their safety.


    \"But Father¡­\"


    \"Reach rank 1 and I''ll let you out with Wang Jun,\" Mu Hong said.


    Mu Xin furrowed her brows. The chilly aura around her intensified as she looked at her father. \"It''ll be too late.\"


    \"The soldiers didn''t manage to find her over the past few days. Do you think you will be able to find her if you get out now?\"


    Her father''s words made sense. Many people were already going out, trying to search both Ye Jiao and her mother. So far, there was no trace of them at all. It was as if the two of them disappeared from the earth.


    \"I don''t think so,\" Mu Xin admitted.


    Mu Hong nodded his head. \"Focus on getting stronger, Mu Xin. I''ll let you search her if you''re strong enough.\"


    \"Yes, Father,\" Mu Xin balled her finger to a fist. She felt helpless of her situation right now. No matter how much she wanted to help, she knew that the current her didn''t have the power to do that. All she could do was train and train again to become strong.

 76 Conflict for Training Room

    On the Ship


    At this time, Ye Jiao was adjusting to the condition of the ship. It was not moving at earth breaking speed, but rather slow and steady. The speed of the ship made her wonder if they wanted to reach the island quicker or not.


    She glanced at the nearby guard. \"Uncle, how long will it take to reach the island?\"


    \"A few days,\" the man replied.


    From the man''s tone, Ye Jiao could guess that he didn''t like her to bother him. She tactfully moved to the room and headed downstairs. There were a lot of rooms, which was given to them.


    They could pick whatever room they want as the key was left outside. However, they could only pick one or the guards would come to beat them up.


    Ye Jiao leisure walked down the stairs before entering the corridor. She picked the middle one and got into the room. The room''s size was around two meters'' cubic equipped with a bed, table, cupboard, and a chair. It was a standard size of a simple room, which was pretty good for her.


    She glanced around before sitting down on the chair and started to circulate the Eon Energy. Every people have their limit on how many times they could circulate their Eon Energy, which also applicable for her too. After a few days of continuous circulation, she found out that she could only do it for a limited amount each day.


    Which mean, there were hours that she could use to train other things.


    \"It''s slow,\" Ye Jiao commented as she opened her eyes. The rate at which her core grew over the span of the past few days was extremely slow. It only increased by a bit, which was actually common since the main practice she had to do was scattering her Eon Energy to every part of her body.


    Her core''s growth was placed at the back.


    Ye Jiao stood up and stretched. \"Maybe, I''m the one who''s too greedy.\"


    She wanted to grow stronger faster and faster to catch up with those people. The urgency she felt made her wanted to be able to grow even faster albeit it was already extremely fast for her to grow this way.


    Her feet started to move from her position. She walked out of the room and locked it back before putting the key on her pocket. For the next few days, she would use this room to rest.


    Bang!


    Her ears caught the faint sound of people fighting. Out of curiosity, her feet dragged her body along to the direction of the sound. As she got closer, she could hear the children talked to one another as the fight continued.


    \"They hog every room,\" one of the children said helplessly.


    \"Ugh, I really wish to beat them up.\"


    Ye Jiao entered the room and found a lot of children inside. It seemed that the port where she boarded was not the only one because there were at least 20 children in this place. Her eyes scanned the surroundings as she saw that there was several training equipment such as weight, pillar, and even books.


    However, it was clear that a group of children limited the use of the equipment. The rest of the children were looking at one another in dismay because they hadn''t got the chance to use it.


    \"Is there any rule for using the equipment?\" Ye Jiao asked in her sonorous voice.


    One of the children turned around. He was surprised to see a small kid like Ye Jiao there, but he replied politely. \"There''s none. It''s just, this group wants to use them all for their use and didn''t allow the others to use.\"


    \"Oh?\"


    Ye Jiao stepped forward to the equipment. There were two pillars with several branches that made it looked like a human that were left unused. The number of children in the group didn''t cover for all of them.


    \"Hey! You''re not allowed to use it!\" one of the children in the group yelled.


    \"Is it yours?\"


    \"No! But¡­\"


    \"Then you shouldn''t decide how to use it,\" Ye Jiao replied unhurriedly. Her calm demeanor caused the kid to stop in his track. The way Ye Jiao said it made him flinched. It was as if he was facing against a powerful person rather than a kid his age.


    Not wanting to waste her time anymore, Ye Jiao walked to the nearby pillar. Her hand stretched to touch the wood as she wanted to know how hard it was.


    \"You dare!\"


    The kid lunged forward with his punch directed to Ye Jiao. She twisted her body to the side, luring her body away from the pillar. With a swift movement, she raised her legs and kicked the kid on his stomach.


    *Cough*


    The kid crouched on the floor as he coughed. The kick just now hurt his stomach much more than he imagined. He didn''t understand how come a small kid like this could have that much power.


    The children''s mouth was opened wide in surprise. They didn''t expect to see that a small kid would just step forward directly to use the equipment. Their eyes wandered to a young boy, who was looking at Ye Jiao in rage.


    ''She''s in trouble.''


    ''Good luck, girl.''


    One of the boys in the group, who clearly looked a bit younger than the other looked at Ye Jiao with menacing expression.


    \"Who are you?\"


    Ye Jiao crossed her arm. \"Just a kid like you.\"


    \"Like me?\" the boy sneered. \"I''m different than the others, I''m a disciple of a faction leader. If you don''t bow down to me and follow my rules, I will not let you off.\"


    Seeing the boys were ready to move under this one boy order, Ye Jiao''s brow creased. She had been living her life under the pressure of people far stronger than her. These boys were around the same as her in terms of power since they had just formed their core.


    Should she step forward or back down?

 77 A Fight on the Ship

    Back down again?


    No!


    Ye Jiao didn''t want to continue cower in the back in the face of challenge. She had had enough of them for the past few years. She might not be the strongest among them all, but she didn''t want to back down in the face of people who were around the same as her.


    If they were already rank 3, she didn''t have any choice but to run. This time, it was different.


    She wanted to fight back!


    \"In this ship, everyone is the same. We''re all just children who had just formed our core and this training room is free to use,\" Ye Jiao argued. \"There''s no reason for me to follow your rule.\"


    The boy frowned. \"What''s your name?\"


    \"Ai Jiao,\" Ye Jiao replied.


    \"So, it''s Ai Jiao. I''m Lin Jie,\" the boy introduced himself as he scrutinized Ye Jiao''s appearance up and down. \"You better remember the name of the one who will make sure you follow the rule.\"


    \"You?\" Ye Jiao arched her brows. \"We don''t know who will win, yet.\"


    \"Senior Lin Jie, just let me¡­\"


    \"No, you won''t be able to defeat her,\" Lin Jie cut off the boy''s word. From the way Ye Jiao fought just now, he could guess that she had trained in basic martial art. Most of the boys here also trained, but they were not as proficient as Ye Jiao.


    He could gang up against Ye Jiao, but it wouldn''t be pretty. It would only show that he won in number. When another new batch of children come, they might get ganged up too because it just showed that number could make them win.


    Lin Jie stepped forward. \"I''ll defeat her fair and square.\"


    \"You want to be the boss?\" Ye Jiao asked in a low tone.


    \"What? You''re interested in this position?\"


    \"Not at all.\"


    \"Then, prepare yourself!\"


    As he said that, Lin Jie dashed forward from his position to reach Ye Jiao. His movements were extremely swift and at a completely different speed compared to the previous boy.


    But this kind of speed was nothing in Ye Jiao''s eyes. Mu Xin was extremely strong and quick because that girl had trained since very young. Ye Jiao had suffered from beating numerous times. Facing a lower speed, she evaded the punch and used her arm to block it as she changed her pivot.


    Her other arm punched forward straight to Lin Jie''s stomach.


    Lin Jie''s expression changed when he sensed Ye Jiao''s power. He jumped to the side to minimize the damage from the punch, but his stomach was throbbing. His brow furrowed.


    ''Is this girl really the same age as him?''


    The power that she showed from the punch made him thought of her as someone who had trained from a long time.


    \"You¡­How old are you?\"


    \"I''m 10,\" Ye Jiao replied. Internally, she was sighing to herself as she lamented why she had to add one and a half year to her own age. Unfortunately, too brilliant would only make her the target of many people.


    Lin Jie furrowed his brow. \"You can use the equipment.\"


    \"Senior!\"


    \"But¡­!\"


    Lin Jie swept his gaze across the children. \"Continue to practice. We only have a few more days before we reach the island.\"


    \"Yes.\"


    \"I understand.\"


    \"Ok, Senior.\"


    Ye Jiao watched as the children followed after Lin Jie''s command without any complaint. Her mind was thinking hard as she thought about how the children already knew the hierarchy of power ever since they were young. They were following after the strong and oppressed the weak.


    She was amazed by their way of thinking as she herself knew that it was hard for her to accept her situation in the past. Children who faced difficulties always grew up faster than normal children.


    ''Let''s not think too much.''


    Ye Jiao turned her attention to the pillar before her as she focused her attention. Her mind recalled the basic training she had with Mu Xin before she started to move. Punching, kicking, defending, and the basic stance.


    Some children were looking at Ye Jiao with surprise as they didn''t expect this little girl to be able to match against Lin Jie. Aside from the fact that Lin Jie has become the direct disciple, this young boy also very strong. However, the children tactfully moved back and waited until Lin Jie''s group had finished before they started to use the equipment.


    Not all of them were that strong.


    At this time, the guard was watching the children with expressionless face. He communicated with his friend using Eon Energy to wrap his voice.


    \"There''s an interesting kid in this batch.\"


    \"Oh, what is it?\"


    \"The disciple that Zhan Jing pick personally is starting to show her fangs,\" the guard replied back. His eyes were still scanning the children unhurriedly.


    \"Oh. Just watch over her like you did with the rest. There''s always one or two unique children that appear at times.\"


    \"I understand.\"


    As the communication was cut off, the man sighed to himself. He really wanted to curse that Zhan Jing for having such a good luck. In the past few years, this man had encountered two exceptional children.


    Now, that number would increase by one.


    \"That Zhan Jing really have too much luck.\"


    While the guards were paying attention to Ye Jiao, the girl herself didn''t think too much. She focused on her punch and kick to the pillar. At this time, the ship suddenly shook as some of the children tumbled because of it.


    Ye Jiao lowered her center of gravity as she held into the branch of the pillar. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced outside.


    ''I''m not too used with ship. I guess, I can use this chance to train my stability on unstable surface.''


    A smile made its way to Ye Jiao''s mouth. She realized that the trip didn''t seem to be bad. There were a lot of things she could learn from this alone.

 78 Hell Island Number 4

    On the days Ye Jiao spent on the ship, no one bothered her in her resting room. Every child seemed to come into an unspoken agreement that they would never bother her. She could use the training room as she wished and no one would come to her to speak to her. Even during eating, they would stay as far away as possible.


    She felt as if they were wary of her, but she couldn''t bring herself to care about their attitude. The warning that her senior brother gave her was still fresh in her mind and the low survival rate made her also a bit tense.


    This ship alone only contained around 50 to 60 children.


    From that alone, she could guess that the number of children that could survive was probably only one or two children. The rest would die in the island due to the harsh training that they have.


    \"Get to the deck!\"


    Ye Jiao''s body jolted when she heard the sudden voice rang in her ear. She sprinted from her room and locked it before returning back the key to its position. Her legs brought her to the deck as fast as possible along with the other children.


    Her eyes were locked straight to the island in front of her. It was a beautiful large island that was filled with trees. The surroundings fog made it looked mysterious, but overall, it was enchanting.


    She really wanted to go there right now.


    As the ship cut open the sea, they came closer to the dock. The ship moved sideways, following after the movements of the waves. While the children were doing everything they could to stay stand up, Ye Jiao stayed calm and firm on her place.


    Thanks to her personal training, she didn''t have any problem to stand firmly even when there was large wave. It would be a different case when she had to fight, but at least, she didn''t have to cling to every item around her.


    As the ship stopped by the dock, the men took out a plank to let the children got out of the ship. Several men were already waiting by the place.


    \"How many children?\"


    \"57 children, 38 boys and 19 girls,\" one of the men replied.


    \"Kids, follow after me.\"


    The children were following after the men while they looked around with curiosity. The place was filled with trees and other plants, giving the impression that nature was all they could see.


    Ye Jiao followed attentively. Despite the fact that the place was covered in nature completely, she could sense the tense atmosphere. There was also faint smell of blood that linger on the air, telling her the danger hidden in the seemingly ordinary place.


    Before long, they entered wide area where they could see numerous children. The children looked exhausted and many of them were wounded, yet they kept their expression firm and tended to their wounds. Some of the children also bawled but no one paid any attention to those children.


    Ye Jiao''s pupil contracted at the gory sight of the children before her. She could guess that the smell of blood must be coming from them, but what kind of practice they had to go through?


    \"Girls head to the right and boys to the left,\" a man said to the new children.


    The children dispersed according to the direction. They came across a large building, which seemed so weak that it could crash down at any given time. The girls stayed quiet as they walked inside. Most of them were orphans, so they didn''t have much qualm with getting a rundown place to stay at all.


    A man was already inside, holding a piece of paper. He glanced at the children before pointing to one of the corridors. The girls looked at one another before they decided to just follow after the instruction.


    ''It smells really bad.''


    Ye Jiao really wondered whether they cleaned up the place or not. She noticed that a paper was glued to the door frame, telling them who should be inside the room. The name of four children were written there.


    Since she couldn''t find her name on the first door, Ye Jiao continued to walk. She looked at the second door before walking again. She found her name on the fourth door, so she walked inside directly after knocking the door. Inside the room, she could see two girls with slightly haggard appearance was sitting on their respective bed.


    \"Those two are empty,\" one of them opened her mouth. \"You can pick whichever one you want.\"


    The two empty beds were located at the top and down. Ye Jiao picked the upper one as she climbed the stair and sat down, not caring that her clothes might be dirty. The two girls ignored her as they focused on their training, circulating Eon Energy in their body.


    Another girl walked inside when the three of them were busy practicing. She glanced in Ye Jiao''s direction, but didn''t have any intention to fight for the bed. Everyone who had seen her fought before wouldn''t even have the thought to challenge her in the slightest. They still wanted to live.


    ''The concentration of Eon Energy in this place is not bad.''


    Ye Jiao was delightful when she realized that the amount of Eon Energy in this place was much more than what she usually found in the city. After she had finished circulating her Eon Energy, she started to absorb Eon Energy from the outside to fill her core. It felt so comfortable that she ended up sleeping in sitting position again.


    By the time she woke up, it was already early in the morning.


    \"WAKE UP!\"


    The loud yell from outside jolted the children awake from their slumber. Despite already awake, Ye Jiao was not ready to receive such a greeting early in the morning.


    \"You two better not late,\" one of the older girls warned before dashed to the bathroom. She didn''t even bother locking it because she only washed her face before running out of the room.


    Ye Jiao jumped down from her bed and washed her face as fast as possible. Her eyes sparkled with interest and expectation for the training they would give to the children.

 79 The Training Begins

    The man swept his gaze to the hundreds of children that gathered before him. Only they knew how they managed to gather numerous children with at least green talent in this place. After all, it was pretty rare for them to appear in the four kingdoms.


    \"Today we have new children joining us, so I''ll give you a basic overview of your training. First of all, you have 15 minutes to finish your breakfast and after that you will have to run by following the trail until your Eon Energy is used up. The next step will be explained after you have finished the first one.\"


    Ye Jiao took a second to process the information before running to the table at the front. The older children were already crowding there, picking up bread, meat, fruit, and whatever food there was to eat. Squeezing through the children, Ye Jiao picked up anything her hand could reach before retreating to the back.


    Glancing at her hand, she was glad that she managed to pick a large chunk of meat jerky. At least, she would have decent breakfast.


    Contrary to normal children, the children ate their breakfast in silent. Not a single one of them dared to speak, which influenced the new children as they were afraid of breaking the rules. Some of them didn''t get the breakfast, but they didn''t protest as they returned back to line up.


    \"Have you finished?\" the man swept his gaze. His brows furrowed when he saw a boy still ate something. \"Men, drag him out.\"


    \"Wa¡­oomph!\"


    Before the boy could say anything, he was dragged out of the place. Ye Jiao''s body stiffened in fear. Those men were Eon Energy Master rank 3. If she didn''t follow the rules, they might throw her out in the next second.


    \"If you don''t follow the rules I say, you''ll end up like him, understand?\"


    The children nodded their head earnestly. For the new children, their bodies were filled with sweat in fear that they might be targeted. After all, everything here was new to them.


    ''What kind of place is this?''


    Ye Jiao could feel the tension in the air increased. It was scary.


    \"Now, you should start running,\" the man pointed to the path on the forest.


    The children energetically ran as if their lives depended on it. Seeing that, Ye Jiao didn''t hesitate to pick up her pace as she scanned the surroundings. The path in the forest didn''t seem to be hard to travel at first. It was kind of normal.


    As time passed by, she realized that the air pressure increased. Her body felt heavy, so she started to circulate her Eon Energy to ease the tension. However, the more she used her Eon Energy, the more pressure that came to her body. She had to force her legs to keep on moving despite the harsh condition.


    ''It''s so heavy.''


    Ye Jiao continued to run as fast as possible, trying to match the speed of the other children. Some of them have started to slow down, but the majority kept up their pace. Before long, she could hear the scream of children from behind her.


    Trying hard not to think too much, she continued to run. It was then she noticed that a boy in front of her had stopped running. He didn''t have the energy to continue.


    A man appeared before him. \"You have drained your Eon Energy, now follow me.\"


    \"Yes.\"


    At this moment, Ye Jiao realized that the long running they had was targeted for them to use their Eon Energy until it run out. The children have just formed their core and still not familiar with circulating their Eon Energy. By forcing their body to run under heavy pressure, they were forced to use their Eon Energy until nothing remain.


    It was an impressive strategy.


    Knowing that the purpose of this training was to make them able to use their Eon Energy with ease, Ye Jiao continued running. The amount of Eon Energy inside her body was quite a lot, which took her a long time to use them all. Of course, in the eyes of others, it was just because she was new here.


    By the time she used up her Eon Energy, the number of children around her has dropped by more than half.


    \"You there,\" a man appeared by Ye Jiao''s side. \"You have drained your Eon Energy, now follow me.\"


    \"Yes.\"


    Ye Jiao obediently followed after the man. Her eyes showed trace of curiosity as she wondered where they would bring them. She could faintly sense that there were several other children around her, but she didn''t show it on her face.


    The man brought her to a steep mountain. Calling it steep was a bit underrated because it looked more like a cliff as it looked just like a wall. There were a lot of rocks, which would allow them to climb.


    ''It can''t be¡­''


    Ye Jiao swallowed hard when she saw some children has started climbing. Without Eon Energy to support them, they have to rely on their pure physical power to climb hundreds of meters.


    If she died, it would be the end of her.


    She glanced at the man. He was watching Ye Jiao''s reaction as he nodded his head and pointed to the cliff. \"You have to climb this cliff. As you have just started, you can climb on the right side. It''s shorter.\"


    Shorter?


    Ye Jiao looked up. The fog above them was not too thick, allowing her to see quite far into the distance. However, even with that she was still unable to see the peak of the cliff. It meant that the cliff must be extremely long.


    \"You should start.\"


    With the cue he gave, Ye Jiao didn''t have any choice but to approach the wall. Her hand gripped the rock and tested it to find out if it was strong or not. She didn''t want to fall down in the middle.


    ''Here we go¡­''


    Pushing her body up, Ye Jiao slowly climbed the rocks. Her heart was filled with anxiousness, but she showed none of them. Right now, her attention was fully focused on the wall before her.

 80 Survival of The Fittes

    Calling this place as hell was indeed suitable. Ye Jiao could feel that her hand has started to feel numb as she climbed up. This was the first time she climbed a wall this high, but she knew that she had to make sure her body was located as close to the wall as possible because the inertia might make her fall.*


    Both her legs and arms were numb, but she didn''t want to give up. She continued to climb up when she heard a sudden shrill scream not far from her.


    \"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.\"


    She could guess that someone must have fallen down. She didn''t dare to imagine what had happened to the boy as she focused her attention to the wall before her. Her arm and legs continued to move, forcing her muscle to move her body up.


    Right arm, right leg, left arm, left leg¡­


    Ye Jiao didn''t know how long time had passed when she finally saw the top. Her heartbeat increased slightly as she realized that the torment would be over soon. She sped up a bit while maintaining her form and reached the top faster than before.


    A man was already waiting for her on the top. He passed her a glance.


    \"You have better physique, but you''re still very weak. Lunch is over there, your time is one hour before the next step.\"


    \"Thank you.\"


    Ye Jiao propped her body up. Her muscles were screaming to her because of the strain she gave, but she didn''t really care. Sitting on the ground, she focused her attention to absorb Eon Energy in the surroundings.


    As she had guessed, this place was abundant with Eon Energy. The amount of Eon Energy that needed more than one hour to collect before could be pulled inside in mere minutes. It was amazing, yet she knew that it was also because her body was taking the initiative to pull them in to recover her body.


    The man watched Ye Jiao training while waiting for other children. He nodded his head lightly.


    ''She''s a bit smarter than the rest.''


    Most children would run to the table to eat first, but this girl chose to recover her energy. In the world, it was extremely important to recover their Eon Energy because anything could happen to them. As for food, it was not going anywhere and they were given much more time than before.


    Rather than worrying about their stomach, it would be better to nourish their body and strengthen their muscles.


    After around 50 minutes, Ye Jiao opened her eyes and stood up. Her muscle still felt sore, but she didn''t have much time left. She ran to the table and picked up the bread and meat before stuffing them to her mouth. Her way of eating was uncultured, but right now, who would care about manners?


    \"Three more minutes.\"


    Ye Jiao nodded her head and swallowed her food as fast as possible. She picked up the nearby glass of water and quenched her thirst. The water felt bitter, but it felt really good for her.


    Before the time was up, Ye Jiao had stood before the man. She was ready to depart for the next training.


    \"For the next six hours, you have to survive on yourself,\" the man explained generously. He didn''t usually like to explain things to new children, but Ye Jiao caught his eyes with her performance. It might be subtle, but it was already more than enough to tell him that she was different from other children.


    \"Where?\"


    \"I''ll bring you there. You can do whatever you want in the forest,\" the man replied. He picked up Ye Jiao with one arm and jumped to the other side of the cliff. Using his Eon Energy, he slowed himself down and landed with ease.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened as she scanned her surroundings. Seeing the shape of the cliff behind her, she realized that this mountain like cliff must be in the shape of circle with a separate forest in the middle. It meant that they could only get out after the time was up with the help of these people.


    After all, climbing up the cliff again was clearly not a good option.


    The man put Ye Jiao down before disappearing once again. By manipulating his Eon Energy, he could easily climb up the cliff and return back to his post, leaving the children in the middle of the forest.


    ''What should I do now?''


    Ye Jiao looked around, trying to find out anything that could help her answer her question. In the next second, she heard the sound of howl not far from her.


    Her body tensed up while her mind was screaming.


    ''THERE ARE WOLVES HERE? Are those people crazy leaving us in the middle of a forest full of wolves?''


    If only the voice of the wolves was far from her, Ye Jiao would surely speak out her mind. It was no wonder her senior told her that the most important thing for her here was to survive. Trying to pick a fight with numerous wolves as a kid who had just formed their core was simply insane.


    From what she remembered, most wolves were rank 1 or even unranked. Unranked beasts would be easier to handle, but wolves were the exception. It was not because they were strong or fast, but because of their number.


    Yes, wolves always stayed in a pack.


    Ye Jiao swiftly climbed one of the trees as she scanned her surroundings. There was no trace of wolf nearby, but they would surely come to her direction not long after this.


    \"I can''t fight against them because I''m too weak¡­\" Ye Jiao murmured.


    Running was also not an option because she knew that she couldn''t beat their speed. If she was caught in the middle of a pack of wolves, the only option for her was to climb trees because wolves couldn''t climb trees.


    But, what would be the purpose of this training if she just hid for six hours?


    Ye Jiao leaned on the tree as she sat down. \"Never mind, I better train my circulation while thinking.\"


    With that, she started her training.


    ---


    (A/N):


    *Basic law of physic: inertia and gravity.

 81 Free Training Time

    Ye Jiao stayed on the tree for the next few minutes, pulling Eon Energy to nourish both her core and body. Her eyes were watching her surroundings as she wondered what kind of training would be the most suitable.


    \"This is assassin training, what kind of practice does an assassin need?\"


    She had heard that assassins were people who were good at killing people. They were able to kill people stronger than them because they used some kind of tricks such as poison, traps, hidden weapons¡­.


    \"I should have learned more,\" Ye Jiao sighed to herself. \"I don''t have any of those, not even the knowledge to make one.\"


    However, asking the children to make them would be a bit too much. There must be another reason for the men to push them into the large pit of fire in the forest filled with wolves like this. There was no way they wanted to kill the children.


    Ye Jiao opened her eyes as she looked to the front. All she could see was trees around her. She could guess that the wolves might not be near her because she couldn''t sense them. Occasionally, she would hear their howl, but nothing more than that.


    \"Maybe they want us to kill the wolves?\"


    It was not impossible, but it would be hard for them to kill the wolves without getting cornered. They didn''t have any weapon with them. Most importantly, how could they fight against numerous beasts that were stronger than them?


    That would be insane.


    Ye Jiao pulled the branch near her and broke it. Her finger played with the small and thin branch. \"I can make a weapon by sharpening the end of a branch, but can this kill numerous wolves at once?\"


    Numerous wolves?


    How about just one? Ye Jiao''s mind spun hard as she thought about it. At this moment, she realized that it was not impossible for her to fight back and kill the wolves. She would be unable to fight back against all of them, but she should be able to lure them one by one.


    \"Alright, time to hunt.\"


    Ye Jiao jumped down and carefully walked around. She tried to suppress her own breath as it might give away her position while trying to find the wolf pack.


    Awooooo!


    ''They are near.''


    The sound signaled that they must be not far from her. With agile movement, Ye Jiao stepped on the ground carefully and approached the wolves. She could see that they were scattered around in a large area. It would not be impossible for her to approach the furthest one.


    ''Here we go.''


    Ye Jiao sprinted from her position and used the branch that she brought as a stick. The wolf not far from her was startled, but Ye Jiao had reached him before he could react. The branch hit the wolf''s neck, but Ye Jiao could feel the hard resistance from the skin and muscle inside.


    The wolf glared at Ye Jiao as he jumped to the back. Blood trickled down from the wound on his neck that Ye Jiao made.


    Awoooooooo!


    ''This is bad,'' Ye Jiao turned around and climbed the tree not far from her as the wolves pounced at her direction. Her heart was beating fast as she tried her best to calm herself down.


    With numerous wolves pouncing on the tree, it started to shake, so Ye Jiao jumped to another tree. She had done this a few times in the past to escape the Wei siblings, so it was not hard for her to continue jumping on the trees.


    One way or another, she managed to escape from the wolves.


    \"That''s a close one,\" Ye Jiao looked at the broken branch on her hand. She still remembered the feeling of this thing stabbed into the wolf''s neck. From the blood stain that remained, she realized that it was not enough.


    \"I have to use a longer and sharper stick.\"


    Ye Jiao broke another branch and used her hand to clean the smaller ones. She frowned when she saw the end of the branch didn''t look sharp. It would be hard for her to fight if she didn''t find a way to sharpen it.


    However, she couldn''t think of anything right now.


    \"Right, the force from my run is not enough, so I have to use another way,\" Ye Jiao pondered about her method. \"How about if I try to jump down?\"


    Gravitation would accelerate her fall. If she focused her fall on the attack, it should be able to pierce through the wolf''s neck. Well, if she failed, the end result would be her death.


    \"It''s worth a try.\"


    With that, Ye Jiao tried to search for another pack of wolves. She made sure that she moved as slow as possible without leaking her intention outside. Even though her method was clumsy, it was enough to fool these unranked wolves.


    It didn''t take long for Ye Jiao to find another pack of wolves, which made her sure that this place was filled with wolves. However, it seemed that most children adopted the same way as her, which was to hide and only attack occasionally.


    She inched closer to the wolf as her mind calculated the wolf''s movements. Sweat trickled down on her forehead as she anticipated the wolf getting closer to the designated place. When the wolf reached the place, Ye Jiao jumped down from the tree straight to the wolf''s body.


    She made sure that her hand was at the bottom, but when it reached the wolf''s neck, she could feel the strong force to her hand. Despite it was painful, she kept her hand firm and the stick pierced straight to the wolf''s neck. Her aim missed a bit, but it still pretty good.


    Her body crashed down to the wolf''s body. Thanks to the fur and meat pillow, she didn''t suffer any wounds.


    Ye Jiao realized that the wolf was still alive, so she pulled up the stick and stabbed it at a different angle to the wolf''s neck. The wolf died right away. After that, she jumped to the back and climbed back up the tree as the other wolves pounced on her direction. They didn''t succeed as Ye Jiao managed to climb high enough.


    ''That was close.''


    Ye Jiao wiped the sweat on her forehead as her eyes were looking at the wolves with curiosity. Will they follow her by climbing trees? She had never heard that wolf could climb tree, though¡­


    \"AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa!\"


    Loud scream came from a nearby place. The wolves decided to disregard Ye Jiao as they dashed to the source of the yell. Left alone on the tree, Ye Jiao blinked several times. Now she realized why the children decided to keep their mouth shut most of the time. The wolves were attracted to their voices too.


    ''Weird wolves, those men must have arranged it.''


    Keeping silent must be something important for an assassin, so they were trained to not speak at all. Reminder would not be enough, so the best way was to make the wolves to be attracted to voice. It was really brutal, but she and the other children would never forget to not speak this way.


    Ye Jiao chose to not think too much as she climbed down the tree and started to clean up the meat. There was no knife around, so she made use of thin and sharp rock to cut some meat and skin them.


    She could only eat a bit of meat, so the rest would be left behind to attract the wolves back here again.


    \"Time to practice again.\"

 82 Poison Resistance

    In the end, Ye Jiao managed to kill three wolves in her first day by trying several methods. She didn''t want to use the risky move of jumping down the tree anymore because she nearly got killed in the process. There were a lot of various methods, and she got better a weapon from the wolf''s corpse, which was the bone.


    She kept the corpse inside the spatial bracelet that her master gave her, but she didn''t have any time to take care of them.


    When the time was up, the man appeared before her immediately. \"I''ll bring you back. You can have lunch before resting. Tomorrow, it''ll be the same again.\"


    \"Ok,\" Ye Jiao replied softly.


    It only took a few seconds for her to arrive back in the house. Thanks to Wang Jun, she has gotten used to travelling at a speed that her eyes couldn''t follow, so she didn''t make any ruckus. Some new children were afraid that their faces turned pale.


    Ye Jiao got into the building. Different from the breakfast and lunch, the dinner was porridge, so they had to stand in the line to get their portion. She took a bowl and waited patiently for her turn.


    ''It''s tasteless.''


    Thinking how these people could survive with these kinds of foods, Ye Jiao sighed to herself. She tried to not think about the taste too much because this would be her meal for the next few months or even years. It would depend on how fast she could reach the first rank.


    At night, Ye Jiao would sit down on her bed and practice her circulation while sending more Eon Energy to her body. She wanted to make sure that she didn''t have any problem in her body because it would be detrimental to her body.


    ''It''s indeed easier to train.''


    Ye Jiao was delighted to find out that it has become much easier for her to train her body. She was sure that by forcing her muscle to work to the fullest, she had allowed her body to be able to absorb more Eon Energy.


    The training might be brutal, but it could be said to be the best way to train one''s body.


    The cycle stayed the same for the next few days, but after a few days, she realized that there was something different.


    \"They didn''t call us today,\" the other new girl in the room commented.


    Ye Jiao was also wondering. Although she had gotten used to wake up before the designated time, the yell still caused her to be surprised at times. This time, they didn''t wake them up as early as usual.


    \"WAKE UP!\"


    ''Oh, it''s still there,'' Ye Jiao jumped down from her bed before running to the bathroom and washed her face. There was no need to wash her body because it would surely become dirty thanks to the insane practice they had.


    However, when Ye Jiao came to the field, she realized that on the table was not the usual meat and bread but a bowl filled with liquid. Her brow creased slightly, but she didn''t dare to ask anything.


    After the children had walked out, the man started speaking. \"Line up based on the time you come here. The youngest one will stay at my left.\"


    The children scurried to their designated place. Ye Jiao followed after her friends to the very left. Her eyes widened when she realized that their number seemed to decrease. It seemed that the training for the past few days had pushed some of them to lose their life.


    \"You''ll have to drink this. Come forward one by one.\"


    Ye Jiao watched the children step forward. They accepted the bowl and drank before returning back to the back of the line. Every line would be given a different bowl from one another.


    The first child on her line had only walked for a few meters when he coughed hard.


    *cough* *cough*


    Spat!


    The children sucked up the air when they saw the blood that the child spat out. The kid continued to cough until he stopped moving. One of the men stepped forward and took the kid without saying anything.


    \"He''s dead, right?\"


    \"What''s in that bowl?\"


    The children in her line whispered in a low voice as the second child stepped forward. This time, he seemed to be hesitant, but he still drank the liquid from the bowl. Afterwards, the kid walked to the back. Even though he could walk just fine, it was clear from his expression that he endured great pain.


    Ye Jiao watched them carefully. Her eyes landed on the bowl for she finally understood what that was.


    Poison!


    They were forced to drink poison to develop immunity against the poison. This method was pretty harsh because she could see that the amount of poison inside the bowl was too many. However, this was probably the fastest method to develop immunity.


    With the prerequisite that they didn''t die first.


    Before long a familiar face came to her vision. She could see that Lin Jie was much calmer than the others. He drank the liquid calmly. Even though his face distorted a bit, he still walked unhurriedly. His composed attitude made the children admire him greatly.


    ''He''s not a disciple of a master for nothing.''


    When she saw that Lin Jie looked at her with a challenging look, Ye Jiao smirked slightly. It seemed that the boy was unconvinced that she could beat him back then. Very well, she would show this boy that she could still contend against him.


    Ye Jiao''s turn came as she walked forward. She looked at the bowl for a second before drinking the poison. The liquid gave her an itchy sensation on her throat, but she ignored it as she drank everything.


    Turning around, Ye Jiao started to circulate her Eon Energy to ease the pain. The liquid made her feel pain in her stomach. Slowly, she circulated the Eon Energy and allowed the poison to blend into her body. At the same time, she glanced at Lin Jie with a stubborn expression.


    However, the two of them soon forget each other as they have to focus on their own condition.


    As she walked and stood on the line, Ye Jiao focused her entire attention on the liquid inside her body. There was indescribable pain coming from her stomach, yet she stood quietly to bear with them. She didn''t know how much time passed when the man told them that they could rest and tomorrow they would train like usual.


    ''I want to puke.''


    Ye Jiao dragged her body to return back to her room. She looked at her bed before dragging her body up. At this time, she really hoped that her bed was the one at the bottom.


    That way, she didn''t have to climb the stairs.


    ''I better make sure that my body can handle this.''


    With determination, Ye Jiao focused her attention to her body and dissolved the poison into her body. She had to make sure that she would be able to move well tomorrow or the training might send her straight to her grave.


    She didn''t want to die yet. Dying because of training would be too much for her. She will survive and get out of this place alive.

 83 Eon Energy Master Rank 1

    Time passed swiftly.


    Ye Jiao spent her day by following after the torture of practice every single day. When it was winter, the temperature dropped tremendously, forcing them to adapt to the new situation as fast as possible.


    As spring came, Ye Jiao spent her night training in her room as usual. Over the past few months, she had gotten used with the harsh training they gave. Unfortunately, they would certainly increase the difficulties once she thought she got better. In the end, she had to suffer every single day.


    ''A bit more.''


    Ye Jiao controlled the circulation as she pressed the Eon Energy to the edge of her body. She learned how to push them further because of the wounds she received from the battle every single day and the strain of her muscle. By controlling her Eon Energy to the fullest, she would be able to reach every single detail in her body.


    It took time to be able to master them, but she had done this for a long time. Right now, she was pushing to reach the very edge of her body.


    Tep.


    When she reached the edge, Ye Jiao could feel that her core and body seemed to resonance with one another. It was a weird feeling and hard to describe. All she knew was that her body was brimming with power which started from her core to every fiber of her body.


    At the same time, her core grew slightly in size as if it wanted to squeeze the space in her abdomen without leaving any space at all. Eon Energy flew to her body at rapid speed from outside. By this time, the leftover Eon Energy Pill rank 3 that her mother left her was already used up during her training.


    Power filled her entire body. Ye Jiao felt extremely comfortable as she continued to absorb the Eon Energy in her surroundings. After an unknown amount of time, Ye Jiao opened her eyes.


    \"Ai Jiao.\"


    The voice startled her as she turned her head to the side. Seeing a man standing there, Ye Jiao hurriedly stood up to bow down. Unfortunately, the ceiling was too close to her head, resulting in her knocking her head.


    Duk!


    ''Ouch!''


    The man shook his head lightly. \"You have reached rank 1, so you''ll be allowed to go out. However, the ship will only come in around a month''s time. During this time, you have to stay here and continue to follow the practice.\"


    \"Yes.\"


    \"Just for today, you can practice by yourself. It''s already afternoon,\" the man said again.


    Ye Jiao''s lips twitched when she heard that it was already afternoon. Did it mean she spent the entire night and morning to reach rank 1? She never knew that it would take this long because her sense of time was dulled during the time she reached the first rank.


    \"I understand.\"


    As the man disappeared from her vision, Ye Jiao jumped down from her bed and stretched her body. Her mind circulated as she counted the time she had been staying here. Right now, she is already nine years and two months old. She spent around seven to eight months on this hellish island.


    Ye Jiao got out of the building after she had finished stretching her body. She went directly to the field and started to do basic movements that she used to practice with Mu Xin. After months of spending her time in this place, she started to miss the only friend she had.


    In the end, she spent the entire day to make her body familiarized with the newfound strength she had.


    \"You''re good.\"


    The boy''s voice caused Ye Jiao to turn around. She saw Lin Jie walking to her with an ashen expression. The two of them have been covertly competing against one another and so far, Ye Jiao won them all.


    \"Thank you for your compliment,\" Ye Jiao smiled.


    Lin Jie looked at Ye Jiao in annoyance. In the forest, Ye Jiao always managed to hunt more wolves compared to him. Even in the climbing section, Ye Jiao had managed to use the higher ones. Comparing himself to Ye Jiao has been extremely taxing to him.


    And now, she has reached rank 1 faster than him.


    Even though Lin Jie has used all kinds of means to reach rank 1 faster by practicing his circulation often in the forest, Ye Jiao still surpassed him.


    \"When you come to the headquarter in the future, I''ll show you that I''m not lacking behind you at all,\" Lin Jie proclaimed.


    After they reached rank 1, they would return back to their master and learn from them directly. They could also choose to start doing the mission once they reached the second rank, which was why Lin Jie wanted to challenge Ye Jiao again when they started to do missions.


    Ye Jiao smiled. \"We shall see later.\"


    \"Don''t worry. I won''t be lagging behind too much,\" Lin Jie snorted and turned around to the dining hall. It was the time for dinner.


    Towards this boy, Ye Jiao just shrugged and followed after him. She was not sure that she wanted to become a full-fledged assassin that did their work in the organization and pledge her loyalty completely. After all, her dream was to enter the academy at the northern side of the four kingdoms.


    Well, she had to reach rank 3 first before anything.


    Right now, all Ye Jiao wanted was to grow even stronger in order to leave this place. Slowly but surely, she was making her way to the top of the ladder.


    ¡­


    The ship took longer to reach the island than what the man said before. Ye Jiao still did the same training as before, but this time, she could clearly sense the difference. She was able to move her body faster and used much more power than before.


    At the same time, she had learned how to hide her presence much better. The wolves wouldn''t be able to detect her even if she stayed near them. This allowed her to have a much more relaxed hunt, so Ye Jiao could focus her training on pushing her Eon Energy from her body outside.


    Eon Energy Master rank 2 would be able to use their Eon Energy outside their body. It was the most defining characteristic of the next rank, so Ye Jiao just started learning to push them out of her body slowly.


    \"Ai Jiao, the ship is here,\" the man said to the girl. Even when waiting, Ye Jiao closed her eyes and circulated her Eon Energy.


    \"Yes.\"


    Ye Jiao looked at the approaching ship with a smile on her small face. At last, she could leave this hellish place. Now, it was the time for her to see the result of her training in the first mission.

 84 First Mission

    On the ship, Ye Jiao used her time to train practicing her moves when she was standing on unstable footing. This time the number of children has reduced, so the training room was free to use. She didn''t have to deal with troublesome children anymore.


    ''It''s amazing.''


    Ye Jiao was glad that she could start fighting on top of a ship. Although it was only basic moves, she has learned how to make sure that her footing was stable. Since she had reached the first rank, her control over her body has gotten far better than before.


    \"We''ll be reaching the third dock. Ai Jiao, this is your destination.\"


    \"Yes,\" Ye Jiao replied as she ran to the deck. Her eyes were fixated on the familiar land before her. Finally, she returned back to Chen Kingdom.


    \"You''ll be given a mission by the old man and you have to finish it within a month''s time.\"


    \"I understand. Thank you very much.\"


    After receiving the instruction, Ye Jiao disembarked from the ship. This time, she was the only one to get out in this place as the other children came from different docks. There were numerous docks around the lake, so she didn''t find it weird.


    \"Oh, someone finally returns.\"


    The voice startled Ye Jiao as she bowed down immediately. \"Ai Jiao is here to receive her mission.\"


    A familiar old man looked at Ye Jiao with arched eyebrows. He scrutinized the girl up and down before sighing to himself. With just one look, he could guess that Ye Jiao had stabilized herself in rank 1, which meant that she didn''t reach this rank just yesterday but already pretty long.


    ''That Zhan Jing really had such good luck.''


    Whenever he thought about this, the old man felt that it was such a pity that Zhan Jing found this girl first. If any of the other two masters found her, they would surely fight over her. After all, finding one at her talent was extremely hard.


    The old man lamented for several minutes before taking out a piece of paper and handed it to Ye Jiao.


    \"This is your mission. You have one month to bring his head to me.\"


    His head?


    Ye Jiao''s heart jumped as she took the paper and read the content inside. Even though she could guess that her mission would be to kill a person, her heart was not ready yet. She had killed numerous beasts, but they were all animals and not a person. Asking a young girl like her to kill someone was a bit¡­


    Pushing the thought to the back of her head, Ye Jiao continued to read the content. This was the path she had chosen, so she would tread upon it no matter what. Besides, she didn''t want to let the Chen and Wei Family unscathed after killing her mother and father. There was blood debt she had to settle with them.


    Sooner or later, she would surely kill her enemy. This was only the first path.


    Ye Jiao read the description of the man that she had to kill. It was a middle-aged man with an unclear picture. He was only Eon Energy Master rank 1, but he has been stealing from the village not far from here for a long time. The villagers grew restless because recently, the man attacked one villager in their place.


    \"You can depart anytime you want,\" the old man interrupted Ye Jiao. \"I''ll be waiting here.\"


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. \"I understand, thank you very much.\"


    She put the paper into her spatial bracelet before departing into the forest. Based on the map on the mission''s paper, she knew that the location was not far. She should be able to arrive in that place in around a day''s time.


    The old man watched as Ye Jiao rushed into the forest. His eyes were focused on her steps as he nodded his head in satisfaction. Even though Ye Jiao was still young at age, she had learned the importance of masking her run to make sure that they wouldn''t be able to catch up to her.


    She was pretty good for a kid her age.


    As Ye Jiao dashed in the forest, she made sure that she didn''t make any unnecessary movements because it would slow her down. In addition, she tried to erase her presence as much as possible.


    In this forest, there was not only rank 1 beast, but also rank 2 and rank 3.


    If she met with rank 2 beast, she still has the chance to run away. But facing against rank 3 beast would spell her death. Her small body and capabilities wouldn''t allow her to do anything against them. Their absolute advantage was too much for her.


    Time passed slowly.


    Ye Jiao was pushing her concentration to the limit as she watched the surroundings while running at high speed. By circulating her Eon Energy, she would be able to converse much of her energy, but it was still taxing to run for hours with maintaining her stamina.


    Back then, she never lasted long because of the high pressure they gave.


    This time there was no pressure, so she just made use of the circulation technique to stabilize her condition. Using this method, she managed to reach the village right before it turned dark.


    ''I''ve arrived.''


    Ye Jiao''s eyes lit up when she read the board at the front. It was telling her that this place was the right one. There were a lot of people walking here and there. From their clothes, it was easy to guess that they were mostly farmers with some guards here and there.


    ''It seems that in the village, the most important occupation is farmer.''


    Because of the limitation in their talent, not everyone could become Eon Energy Master. Some of them would just train their body to reach the first rank to help in their daily work and all. Only those who had good talent would surely train to reach the third rank or even above.


    \"Hey kid, what are you doing there?\"


    The sudden voice startled Ye Jiao. She could see a middle-aged man looking at her with inquiry. He was dressed in coarse clothes and the short sleeve allowed them to see his well-toned muscle.


    Ye Jiao opened her mouth. \"I¡­I got lost.\"


    Honestly, she was never good at talking with other people. Her previous experience of them evading her and talking bad at her emerged in her mind. Only a few of them would treat her well.


    The middle-aged man frowned. He looked at the forest with confusion. Where did this brat come from?


    This village was far from other villages, so it would be hard for this girl to travel in the forest alone. After all, there were a lot of beasts roaming around in the area.


    Ye Jiao continued to stare at the middle-aged man. She was unsure what she had to do in this situation, so all she could do was look back.


    Growl~


    It was at this moment Ye Jiao''s stomach made a voice. Her face turned red in embarrassment. She could not believe that her stomach betrayed her in this crucial moment.


    It was so embarrassing!


    The middle-aged man chuckled when he heard it. \"Come with me, brat. I can''t possibly let a stranded kid starve to death.\"


    \"AH, thank you!\" Ye Jiao exclaimed happily, showing a wide smile.


    The middle-aged man''s body stiffened for a moment. He had just realized that the dirty stranded kid looked cute too.


    \"Mister?\"


    \"Follow me,\" the middle-aged man turned around while beckoned for Ye Jiao to follow after him.


    Ye Jiao smiled happily and ran to the man''s side.

 85 The Thief

    After following the man, Ye Jiao found out that he was the owner of a small restaurant. He gave her some food to eat, which she finished in mere minutes. She didn''t rest in her journey at all, so her stomach protested a lot.


    \"It''s rare to see a kid around,\" the middle-aged man commented.


    Ye Jiao scratched her head. \"I got separated from my parents.\"


    \"They''re travelling in the forest?\"


    \"Yes.\"


    Seeing the disbelief look of the middle-aged man, Ye Jiao just smiled wryly. In truth, she was the one who traveled alone in the forest. But hearing that would surely be harder to believe compared with telling him that she got separated from her parents.


    Internally, she sighed to herself as she realized that she had started to learn lying.


    \"They must be very strong to travel in the forest,\" the middle-aged man continued. He crossed his arm.


    \"Yes! They''re really strong!\" Ye Jiao recalled her parents as a proud yet sad expression emerged on her face. In her eyes, no one could be stronger than her parents.


    The middle-aged man nodded his head. \"I''m sure they''ll find you soon enough, but for now, you should just stay here. It''s dangerous outside.\"


    \"Dangerous?\"


    \"Yes,\" the middle-aged man scrutinized Ye Jiao. This girl should be only nine or so years old, so it would be strange that people willingly let someone this young alone. \"There are some bad people outside. Also, there''s a thief that roams around lately.\"


    Ye Jiao''s eyes blinked in astonishment. \"Can''t you catch that thief?\"


    \"It''s impossible.\"


    \"Why?\"


    \"That thief is Eon Energy Master rank 1,\" the middle-aged man shrugged. \"I''m also rank 1, but I don''t have any combat skill. At best, I have greater strength than most people.\"


    \"Eon Energy Master rank 1!\" Ye Jiao pretended to be surprised. \"If he''s that great, why don''t he work?\"


    \"I don''t know myself and I''m not interested in that person''s business. Well, many of us here are Eon Energy Masters, but we don''t have any combat skills that will allow us to fight. Thankfully, the one who fought him before is a guard, so we realize that he''s Eon Energy Master rank 1.\"


    \"I see.\"


    Ye Jiao took the information to her heart as she pondered about that thief. She knew that he must do his operation at night because it was the most suitable time. Unfortunately, she didn''t know where he would appear or who his target would be. Besides, killing him wouldn''t be easy.


    \"Just stay inside and you''ll be safe,\" the middle-aged man smiled. \"I''ll be sleeping now. You should go and sleep too, little girl.\"


    \"Ah, before that,\" Ye Jiao pretended to pick out something from her pocket while in truth it was from the bracelet. A bronze coin appeared on her hand as she showed it to the middle-aged man. \"For the food.\"


    The middle-aged man looked at the coin for a few seconds before laughing. \"Most of us live here by exchanging goods. I don''t really need your money, little girl.\"


    \"But I can''t eat freely.\"


    \"Fine,\" the middle-aged man sighed and took the bronze coin. \"Now, sleep little lass.\"


    Ye Jiao smiled brightly. \"Yes!\"


    With that, she scrambled down the chair and headed to the room that the middle-aged man had provided. He shook his head lightly and returned to his own room, not caring for the little girl anymore.


    As time passed, Ye Jiao slipped out from her room and scanned the surroundings. She made sure to always stand under the shadow to hide her body from the view. Even though there was no one around her, she still stayed outside and roamed in the village to search for that thief.


    ''There''s really nothing special in this place.''


    The village itself was not too big, so it didn''t take long for Ye Jiao to cover the entire place. However, the thief didn''t show his nose, so Ye Jiao returned back to the restaurant and slept when it was nearing dawn.


    As people started to work, Ye Jiao only woke up after several hours. She got out of the room, cleaned up a bit and headed down the stairs.


    \"You have woken up, Brat?\" the middle-aged man asked with a laugh.


    \"Yes,\" Ye Jiao smiled embarrassedly. \"Shall I help out?\"


    \"If you want, sure.\"


    \"Ok!\"


    Ye Jiao spent the day helping out the middle-aged man in the restaurant. There were not many people who come, but it was pretty lively. They also seemed to take interest to the little girl that appeared that day.


    By the time it was night, Ye Jiao resumed her previous day work and roamed around the street.


    ''I never know this work is going to be this hard.''


    She sighed internally. Normally, she should have known the face of her target because it would make things easier. However, this was just a small an unimportant mission to train the newly trained children.


    As the result, the details of the mission were lacking.


    ''I really want to know if they really intend on raising the children or not,'' Ye Jiao thought to herself as she moved to the next place. Her movements were swift without any sound at all. It was the movements that she had practiced for a long time in the forest to avoid the wolf''s detection.


    Ye Jiao was about to return back when she heard a scream coming from a place not far from her.


    \"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Thief!\"


    In just a moment, Ye Jiao dashed from her position to the location. She came right to see a shadow coming out of the room with a man throwing a chair to the shadow. The shadow, which was actually the thief, evaded the chair and rushed to the nearby alley.


    Ye Jiao''s mind spun hard as she dashed to a different alley, intending to catch the thief at the intersection.

 86 First Kill

    When Ye Jiao arrived by the intersection, she could see a shadow dashing in front of her. The man was running faster to the other side.


    ''He''s fast.''


    Ye Jiao headed to the other side, determined to overtake the man and ambushed him. Her experience was still extremely low. Except hunting some wolves, she had never killed anything else.


    While making sure that her steps didn''t alarm anyone, Ye Jiao traveled the street. Her eyes widened when she saw a shadow climb the gate. At this time, she realized that he must have wanted to get out.


    ''Let''s ambush him outside.''


    Kicking the wall of a house nearby, Ye Jiao used the force to push her upwards. Her hand was holding the wall that separated the village to the forest. With light movement, she pushed her body up and jumped off the wall to the forest.


    The moment she landed, Ye Jiao dashed straight to the direction of the shadow. At this time, the man had just landed on the ground.


    Stab!


    Ye Jiao used the wolf''s rib that she brought along with her as the weapon. The shape of the bone has allowed her to kill a lot of wolves in the past. In the end, she got accustomed to the curve and could use them easily.


    The bone pierced straight to the man''s shoulder and part of his neck.


    ''I miss!''


    Slash!


    The man swung his dagger as he stepped bad. Blood flowed out from the wound on his shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw the person who wounded him was nothing more than a small kid.


    \"You-!\"


    Right after he retreated, Ye Jiao dashed forward once more. Her height didn''t allow her to attack the man''s neck again, so her target changed to the man''s stomach. The curve bone pierced through the man''s stomach, right at his core.


    The core shattered inside his body, sending violent Eon Energy out of his body.


    The man was shocked, but he swung his dagger once again to hit Ye Jiao. Stepping to the back, Ye Jiao avoided the attack in an extremely short distance. The dagger''s tip basically passed in front of her eyes.


    After he had swung the sword, Ye Jiao took another rib out of her bracelet and stabbed the man''s thigh. Because of the pain, the man moved back and stumbled.


    \"Aaa!\"


    He swung his dagger aimlessly, trying to hit Ye Jiao. Unfortunately, Ye Jiao had moved to the side and pierced the bone straight to the man''s neck.


    Stab!


    Blood splattered all over from the wound she made. As Ye Jiao pulled out the bone, blood flowed out like a river from the man''s neck, flooding the ground red with blood. The man''s eyes stared back at Ye Jiao in disbelief as light slowly faded out of his eyes.


    He had died.


    \"It''s done¡­\"


    Ye Jiao murmured to herself as she looked at the corpse before her. Her hands were trembling in both fear and anxiousness. She had seen wolf corpses a lot of times in the past, but this was the first time she saw a man die right in front of her.


    The way he looked at her, full of grievances and disbelief, was embedded right into her eyes.


    \"Ugh!\"


    Ye Jiao turned around and vomited right on the spot. Her hand was clenching on the tree nearby as she trembled badly. Right now, she was trying to come in terms with her actions and decisions.


    She had killed someone.


    The feeling was hard to take for her, which took Ye Jiao a long time to calm down. She continued to vomit until there was nothing left. Ye Jiao struggled to move and sat down on the ground not far from that place. Only after an unknown amount of time did she calm down.


    ''I¡­ have to cut his head.''


    Ye Jiao turned around to the man''s corpse. Her only weapon was only the curved bones from the wolf''s rib plus some other bones that she had sharpened back then. She hadn''t had the chance to get a proper weapon, so she just made do with anything she had.


    Pushing her feeling down her throat, Ye Jiao worked on cutting off the man''s neck. The supposedly short job took a longer time than she thought.


    ''I can do this.''


    ''Don''t worry.''


    Ye Jiao didn''t know how many times she chanted calming sentences for herself. The minutes like hours finally passed and she bundled the head with the wolf''s skin that she had with her.


    After she had finished, Ye Jiao put it inside her spatial bracelet and tried to forget everything. She dragged her body back to the restaurant. At the very least, she had to bid goodbye to the kind restaurant owner.


    It took a long time for her to return back, but Ye Jiao chose to clean herself first before lying on the bed. She slept for a long time until the middle-aged man came to wake her up.


    \"Hey, brat, it''s already midday. What are you doing sleeping like a log all day?\" the middle-aged man asked with annoyance.


    \"Ah, sorry,\" Ye Jiao sat down and rubbed her eyes. She noticed that the middle-aged man looked pale. \"Is there anything wrong?\"


    \"The thief worked again last night in the mayor''s house, but this time there''s someone who killed him brutally,\" the middle-aged man sighed. \"I don''t know why, but I feel that the city has become unsafe lately.\"


    Ye Jiao smiled wryly. The so-called brutal killer was actually her, but there was no way she could say that to this kind restaurant owner. She stood up.


    \"Mister, I''ll be going from this town, my parents must be worried about me.\"


    \"Ah? Are you sure you''re going to go when there''s someone as dangerous as this outside?\"


    \"Yes, I don''t want to worry them anymore,\" Ye Jiao replied. In any case, she only had a limited amount of time to finish the mission, so she didn''t want to waste any more time in this village.


    The middle-aged man sighed. \"I really can''t calm down if I don''t see your parents.\"


    \"There''s no need to worry. I''ll be alright,\" Ye Jiao grinned.


    Even though the man was unconvinced, he didn''t have any other choice but to let Ye Jiao off. After forcing herself to eat lunch, Ye Jiao departed to submit her mission.

 87 Running Away

    Ye Jiao ran swiftly inside the forest as she thought of her first mission. After this, it was inevitable that she would have to accept more missions. Even though she could delay the time by practicing a lot, there will come a day when she would have to take other people''s life with her own hand.


    ''Eon Energy Master didn''t have it easy.''


    If she just wanted to use her Eon Energy to help with an ordinary job, it was not impossible. However, Ye Jiao knew better than anyone how she wanted to reach the peak and how her talent would make people go after her. Her mother had taught her the difference in talent.


    She didn''t know what her talent was since the stone didn''t light up, but it shouldn''t lose even if she compared with her father.


    Roar!


    Ye Jiao snapped back from her daydream when she felt thick bloodlust coming from behind her along with the large roar.


    ''It can''t be.''


    Turning her head around, Ye Jiao could see a large tiger coming from behind her. From the massive pressure she could feel, she knew that this tiger must be rank 2.


    Ye Jiao paid no heed to other things as she stomped on the ground and ran as fast as possible. She pumped her Eon Energy to her feet in order to be able to run faster. Thanks to her own experience, she had gotten used to having a beast running after her.


    But this was a bit different.


    The tiger that ran after her was rank 2, which meant it was much faster than her.


    Roar!


    ''Why in the world are you chasing after me?''


    Ye Jiao wanted to cry. She had just finished a battle against a thief a few hours ago. Granted, the thief was not skilled, but the shock of having killed a person for the first time was not small. Now, she had to face a tiger far stronger than her.


    The pressure behind her came closer as Ye Jiao forced herself to run.


    ''He''s going to catch up.''


    ''What should I do?''


    Her mind spun hard as she looked around in despair. She didn''t know why the tiger chased after her so wildly. All she knew was she had to run as fast as possible before the tiger caught up to her.


    Should she run back to the lake?


    It was still several hours'' journey, so she doubted that she could last that long. She had already run at the highest speed possible for herself. The distance between her and the tiger had lessened considerably.


    Any longer and she would die.


    Ye Jiao quickly scanned her surrounding, trying to find something that would help her.


    Roar!


    The pressure from behind her pushed her to the brink as she thought of every possible thing to do. Her mind recalled how there were no other beasts around here. Well, she didn''t really pay close attention because she was forcing herself to run at the highest speed possible.


    However, seeing how there were no beasts nearby, Ye Jiao could conclude that there should be another rank 2 or 3 beast. Her eyes scanned the surrounding, trying to find any mark that could lead her to the beast. From the corner of her eyes, she managed to see a trail on the grass.


    ''Let''s go.''


    It would be a gamble because she didn''t know whether this tactic could succeed or not. As the pressure behind her intensified, Ye Jiao also felt pressure coming from her front. Her eyes locked to a goat shaped beast several meters in front of her.


    Ye Jiao smiled.


    She initiated her Eon Energy and dashed madly straight to the goat''s direction. The goat turned to look at her direction and tried to push her away with its horn. At that moment, Ye Jiao dashed to the side and evaded the attack.


    The goat wanted to chase after Ye Jiao, but the tiger had arrived before him. The two beasts clashed with one another.


    Roar!


    *pant* *pant*


    Ye Jiao stopped after she had run several meters. She didn''t want to get caught in the battle between the two beasts. Leaning on the tree, Ye Jiao focused her attention to the surroundings while absorbing Eon Energy. Her core was empty thanks to her struggle to escape the tiger.


    Warm Eon Energy flowed into her body. Ye Jiao stayed still on her place and ignored the massive battle that occurred between the two beasts. When the ruckus died down, her eyelids fluttered open.


    \"It''s successful,\" Ye Jiao heaved a sigh when she looked at the bloody field not far from her. There was some bone remains, which she guessed must be from the goat. After the tiger ate his fill, he left the bone there.


    Ye Jiao strode to the pile of bones and picked up some of them. She could sell the horn for a decent price since this was part of rank 2 beast. There was barely any meat left, so she should be satisfied with only the bone remains.


    ''Time to go back.''


    After she secured them all inside her space bracelet, Ye Jiao dashed towards the dock''s direction. She wanted to submit her mission and returned back to the capital to meet with Lu Wan again. It was already the time for her to start learning more things.


    Hours passed swiftly.


    By the time Ye Jiao arrived by the dock, it was already night. Despite that, she didn''t have any problem seeing her surroundings. The time she spent in the forest before has a time period where it was extremely dark because the mountain range caused the night to come earlier.


    Tep.


    \"Excuse me,\" Ye Jiao called out to the house. She didn''t dare to come inside without permission.


    From the hut, the old man walked out lazily. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Ye Jiao. From what he remembered, he had just given the task for this young girl a few days ago. Did she want to give up?


    It was still early.


    \"What do you want?\"


    \"I come to submit my mission,\" Ye Jiao replied. With a wave of her hand, she took out the head of the thief and handed it to the old man. Despite feeling the urge to throw the head out as fast as possible, she kept herself calm and composed.


    The old man took the head and inspected it. He didn''t give any picture for Ye Jiao because they had to learn how to identify some enemies. This degree was still rather easy, but it was already good for a young girl.


    \"Good. What''s your name?\"


    \"Ai Jiao.\"


    \"Here,\" the old man threw a badge in Ye Jiao''s direction. \"That''s the badge that shows that you have passed the entrance examination. In the future, you can head to the base to accept a mission.\"


    \"Thank you.\"


    The old man watched the young girl for a moment before adding a few words. \"It''ll be wiser for you to wait until you reach rank 2 before accepting any mission because it''s dangerous. If you want to hurry and accept a mission, you can form a team.\"


    \"I can work together?\" Ye Jiao was astonished. This was the first time she learned that she could work with other people to do her mission.


    \"Yes. It''s fairly normal to work with other people if the mission is hard. I''ll notify your teacher. You can choose to wait here or return back alone.\"


    \"I''ll go back. Thank you for your teaching,\" Ye Jiao decided to return back. Before she returned to the capital, she wanted to visit her mother''s grave and paid her respect.


    The old man nodded. \"Stay here for tonight and depart tomorrow. It''s already late. I have a spare room at the back.\"


    Ye Jiao smiled as she followed the old man''s finger. It was pointed to the right side of the hut. \"I understand. Thank you very much.\"


    \"Go to sleep.\"


    \"Yes.\"

 88 Meeting Again

    After staying in the old man''s house for the night, Ye Jiao departed back to her own house. Thanks to the map she had, she managed to reach the destination after several days'' walking. This time, she didn''t encounter any powerful beast and also evaded those weaker ones because she didn''t want the blood to attract more beasts on her way.


    \"I''m home.\"


    Looking at the familiar house in front of her, a smile formed on the corner of her lips. This was the house that she built with her father. Well, she only watched while her father built it back then.


    Stopping for a few seconds, Ye Jiao reminisced about the time she had with her father here. She really missed him, but there was no trace of him at all. Her mother said that he had died, so she knew that it would be hard for her to meet with him again.


    ''I''ll go visit Mom first.''


    Ye Jiao turned her legs to the side of the house. There was a grave she built a few months ago for her mother. Her eyes widened when she saw the lush flowers around her mother''s grave.


    \"There are a lot of lilies flowers here,\" Ye Jiao recalled that she placed a stalk on top of the grave, but she didn''t remember that she buried the seed. Perhaps they were all wild flowers that grew here.


    Ye Jiao shook her head and sat down by the grave''s side.


    \"Mom, Ye Jiao has returned back from my training. The training is hard, but it''s not outside my capabilities,\" Ye Jiao started to tell her experience. She recounted everything that she could remember on the island. Even though her mother wouldn''t be able to answer her anymore, she continued to tell her story.


    \"Mom, I really wish that you''re still alive and can listen to my story,\" Ye Jiao muttered. \"Ye Jiao missed you.\"


    She gazed at the grave beside her before dropping her eyelids. Her eyes were wet, but no tears dropped down.


    \"Ye Jiao has become Eon Energy Master rank 1, Mom. I''ll surely grow stronger faster and when the time comes, I''ll head to the north and attend that academy for genius. I''ll continue to pursue my path in martial arts and reach the peak,\" Ye Jiao added. \"But before that, I want to repay the debt of blood that this kingdom has to you and dad, Mom.


    Mom¡­


    You won''t stop me, right?\" Ye Jiao asked hesitantly. She could feel that wind blow to her direction suddenly. It was gentle and comforting as if telling her that it would be fine for her to follow her path without the need to worry for her mother.


    Ye Jiao raised her head to look at the sky. She smiled. \"Thank you, Mom.\"


    After staying there for another hour, Ye Jiao returned to the house and cooked for herself. There were a lot of wolves'' meat in the bracelet, so she would not lack food. Well, the menu would always consist of meat, though.


    The next day Ye Jiao woke up early and cleaned up the house. Since there was no one who stayed in the house, there were a lot of dust scattered around the area, making it dirty.


    \"Mom, I''ll be going now. Next time I return, I''ll be much stronger than now,\" Ye Jiao smiled brightly.


    She turned around and started to walk towards the capital city. From her position, she couldn''t see the city yet, but she knew the direction very well. There were some beasts around, but she evaded them by using another route and hid her presence.


    After a long time walking, Ye Jiao could see the familiar wall in front of her. Her eyes were locked on the wall for some time.


    ''I have returned, Chen Kingdom Capital City.''


    Ye Jiao was about to continue walking when she heard a faint voice of conversation not far from her. From the presence, she guessed that there must be two people coming to her direction.


    Within seconds, she had hidden her body on the tree near her.


    \"Miss, please don''t walk too fast.\"


    The man''s voice traveled to her ear. Ye Jiao''s body trembled when she heard this voice. This was the same voice that she had heard countless times in the past when she was training with Mu Xin.


    \"Jun Ge, I''m already rank 1. It should be fine if it''s just the area around the city,\" a girl retorted with annoyance.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes glistened when she heard the voice. There was no way she could forget Mu Xin''s voice. The only person who treated her without regards to their difference in status was this person alone. After enduring harsh training together, she would always remember this young woman''s voice.


    \"Miss, I know that you''re anxious to search for her. But it''s already 8 months and no one ever see her again,\" Wang Jun reasoned.


    Mu Xin glared at the man behind her. \"That''s all the more reason for me to search for Jiao''er. The longer the time, the lesser the possibilities for her to survive.\"


    Wang Jun felt the faint pressure coming from Mu Xin as he sighed to himself. After becoming Eon Energy Master rank 1, the cold aura around Mu Xin seemed to intensified further. Whenever this young girl was emotional, she would surely emanate invisible cold pressure to people around her.


    \"But searching blindly like this won''t result in anything.\"


    \"Her old house is located not far from here. There''s no sign that it''s been used, but it should be the first place that she might visit after entering the forest. Unless I see her body, I won''t be convinced that she''s dead,\" Mu Xin replied coldly. Her eyes were showing her stubborn disposition.


    Wang Jun smiled wryly. He knew that there would be no way for him to persuade Mu Xin anymore. The only thing that mattered for this girl was finding that girl. Her father managed to persuade her to wait and deployed the soldiers secretly, but who would have thought that this girl would reach rank 1 so quickly?


    Ye Jiao felt warmth was spreading all over her body when she heard Mu Xin''s words. After she lost her mother, she had completely forgotten that she had someone else who cared for her. Even though it was impossible for her to stay with Mu Xin forever, she was glad that there was someone who cared for her.


    When everyone else wanted her dead, Mu Xin wanted to find her alive.


    At this point, Ye Jiao stepped out of her hiding place and stood quietly. She could see Mu Xin walking not far from her with Wang Jun followed loyally.


    The girl''s long hair fluttered along with her large strides. It was apparent from her behavior how impatient she was.


    \"Senior Mu,\" Ye Jiao called out.


    Mu Xin flinched.


    She turned her head and looked to Ye Jiao''s direction. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared intently at Ye Jiao.


    Behind her, Wang Jun''s condition was not any better. He looked straight to Ye Jiao''s direction with his jaw dropped open. His current appearance showed them how surprised he was.


    The three of them were locked in stalemate as they stared at one another, finding it hard to believe the situation.

 89 A Reunion

    \"Ye Jiao,\" in the end, Wang Jun was the one to break the stalemate. He found it hard to believe that Ye Jiao was standing before him right now. It has been a long time since the last time he saw her. However, he had to believe that she was truly standing before him right now.


    Ye Jiao smiled. \"How are you, Jun Ge?\"


    The familiar voice of a young girl shook the young man''s heart slightly. He had to admit that he kind of missed this young girl because of how much Mu Xin frustrated all these times.


    It took him some time to smile. \"I''m fine, Miss Ye Jiao.\"


    \"Jiao''er,\" Mu Xin stepped forward and slowly walked towards Ye Jiao. Her eyes were filled with disbelief, yet joy stemmed out from the bottom of her heart. She missed her little friend. They were not only training friends but also genuine friends who cared for one another very much.


    \"Senior Mu,\" Ye Jiao called once again.


    Before Mu Xin could reach her, she dashed forward and hugged the girl. It has been months since the last time she saw Mu Xin. She couldn''t help but missing the girl very much.


    For the past few months, she was busy training to make sure that she could grow stronger. When she lost her mother, she thought that she didn''t have anyone else who would care for her. But it was wrong.


    She still has her friends.


    They cared for her and wished for her wellbeing. Even though her situation was not the best, they were willing to stay behind and help her.


    The two girls stayed in each other''s embrace for a long time as if they wanted to make sure that it was real. Wang Jun didn''t dare to join in as he only watched from the side with a warm smile plastered on his face. He felt glad that the two of them could meet with one another again.


    \"You''re always making other people worry, brat,\" Mu Xin chided as she pushed back and tried to regain her composure.


    Ye Jiao flashed a cheeky smile. \"Isn''t that what I''m best at.\"


    \"You!\" Mu Xin poked the girl''s forehead. She smiled warmly, a kind smile that rarely appeared on her usually cold and detached expression. \"I''m glad that you''re still alive, Jiao''er.\"


    \"I''m sorry,\" Ye Jiao apologized.


    \"It''s not your fault, you didn''t have to apologize.\"


    \"I''m still alive, but I didn''t tell you about that, so it''s normal that I have to apologize,\" Ye Jiao felt guilty that she didn''t let Mu Xin know she was still alive. All these times, her mind was only preoccupied by the thought of her own wellbeing and condition to the point that she forgot about her friends.


    In the first place, she didn''t have many friends. The word seemed so strange for her until she met with Mu Xin some time ago.


    Mu Xin shook her head slightly. \"It''s not your fault. You have a lot going on at your side, so it''s normal for you to forget about me.\"


    \"Mhm,\" Ye Jiao nodded her head in agreement despite still feeling a bit guilty.


    Wang Jun cleared his throat to gain the two girl''s attention. \"Miss Ye, do you want to come together with us to Mu Family Residence?\"


    \"Can I?\" Ye Jiao''s eyes lit up when she heard the suggestion.


    \"Why not? You always go there in the past and I''m sure that my father wants to make sure that you''re alright too,\" Mu Xin explained. Even though she was not the type of person who liked to talk a lot, this time she took the chance to explain things for Ye Jiao. If it was for Ye Jiao, she didn''t mind spending more of her time for her.


    \"I understand.\"


    \"Before that,\" Mu Xin paused for a moment. \"Do you want to tell your mother that you''re going?\"


    She had heard from her father that Ye Ai Xia was Ye Jiao''s real mother. Even though Ye Ai Xia was known to be Ye Xiao''s sister, they were only sworn sisters without any blood relation whatsoever. By now, a lot of people have already heard the real truth of Ye Jiao''s condition.


    Still, it made people wonder how two young geniuses could produce a trash.


    Of course, Mu Xin would never tell Ye Jiao those rumors from the street that she heard. It was already enough for her to just tell the important points for her.


    \"Ah,\" Ye Jiao flashed a sad smile. \"Mother has passed away and I already tell her that I''m going not long ago.\"


    \"Ah,\" Mu Xin was startled. She didn''t expect to hear that Ye Jiao''s mother has passed away. Some people did think that way because the two of them seemed to disappear into thin air. After all, Eon Energy Master rank 3 was quite rare in other cities other than the capital.


    Considering that Ye Ai Xia reached rank 4, it could be said that she would be at the forefront should she was alive.


    \"I''m sorry.\"


    \"It''s fine.\"


    Wang Jun crouched down to look at Ye Jiao at the same eye level. \"If you''re sad, you can just tell me. I''ll surely help you.\"


    \"There''s no need to talk to him,\" Mu Xin cut off the words harshly. \"Just tell me and I''ll be the one to console you.\"


    Ye Jiao smiled. \"It''s fine. I''m already over it.\"


    \"If your mother has died, how did you manage to survive in the past 8 months?\"


    Hearing Mu Xin''s question, Ye Jiao merely smiled. There was no way she could possibly explain that she spent the last 8 months in Hell Island, right? The fact that she got into an assassin''s organization alone would surely bring trouble for her.


    She might be young, but she is not stupid. She knew that some things were better left unsaid.


    Mu Xin seemed to understand Ye Jiao''s stand as she nodded. \"Since it''s like that, let''s go to Mu Family Residence. There are a lot of things that changes in the city because of that attack.\"


    \"Please do tell.\"


    \"Sure~.\"

 90 Teacher from Faraway 1

    As they walked, Mu Xin and Wang Jun told her the situation of the city. Apparently, the fact that the two most powerful people in the kingdom got hurt reflected badly because the number of crimes increased by several folds. Many people no longer got scared because these people needed a long time to recover.


    At the same time, many people started to show their sides to the two powerhouses. They didn''t want to get left behind. The chance to gain favor when they were down rarely come by.


    \"I thought that there are 3 Eon Energy Master rank 4 in this kingdom,\" Ye Jiao expressed her doubts.


    Wang Jun nodded politely. \"There are indeed 3 Eon Energy Master rank 4, but Lu Family Head didn''t participate in the battle because he didn''t have any involvement. As the result, many people are still not sure regarding the extent of power he had.\"


    Lu Wan''s father?


    Ye Jiao had heard that Chen Kingdom was led by three powerhouses, which were the Imperial Family, Wei Family, and Lu Family. However, this was the first time she knew that Lu Family Head also has the same level of strength. From what she knew before, Lu Family was a scholar family.


    \"If there''s not at least three Eon Energy Master rank 4, this kingdom won''t be in peace,\" Mu Xin added.


    She didn''t need to elaborate for Ye Jiao to understand. This kingdom was surrounded by other kingdoms and each of them have three Eon Energy Master rank 4. The balance of power allowed them to coexist with one another. There might be some clashes at the border, but it never escalated to the point of waging war.


    \"If the balance is broken, do you think there''s going to be a war?\"


    Wang Jun shook his head. \"Things are not that simple. If they want to start a war, they have to make sure that the other kingdom didn''t try to take advantage of them. This place is not called four kingdoms for nothing.\"


    Right, there was that complicated thing named balance of power.


    Ye Jiao chose to not think too much anymore as she looked at the large wall before her. Capital city was the place that she had come to hate very much because of what had happened in the past. At the same time, this was the very place she met with her first friend.


    \"Do you want to take a walk on the street?\" Mu Xin suggested.


    \"Is it alright?\"


    \"Yes. I''m sure that no one will be able to recognize you anymore.\"


    To be honest, Ye Jiao''s appearance didn''t change too much. She had only gone for a few months, so she only grew slightly taller and probably a bit fatter thanks to the additional meal she made for herself. These changes were not apparent, so people wouldn''t be able to notice the difference.


    Wang Jun nodded. \"They never pay any attention to you too in the first place. I believe that they mostly only pay attention to your father''s appearance.\"


    \"I see.\"


    Her father was very famous because he was known to be the genius in this kingdom. If not because of some incidents, Ye Jiao knew that her father would have gone outside and become a powerful Eon Energy Master no one could look down on.


    \"Let''s go,\" Mu Xin took out her family token and showed it to the guard. Seeing the familiar Lu Family token, the guard bowed down and allowed them to pass without any question.


    This was the power Mu Xin''s father had over the military in the Chen Kingdom.


    Except Wei Shang, no one has higher authority.


    The two of them entered the bustling street as Ye Jiao watched her surroundings in excitement. There was still some worry in her heart, but she was glad to see that no one paid any attention to them. Even though Mu Xin was quite famous because of her father, she herself rarely went out. This made it rare for people to recognize her.


    \"Are we going to the market?\" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    Mu Xin nodded. \"I promised Jun Ge that I''ll buy him a belt.\"


    \"Belt?\"


    Hearing the confused tone, Mu Xin thought for a moment. \"This annoying man is going to leave the kingdom, so I''m going to give him an item to make sure that he won''t forget me.\"


    Wang Jun smiled wryly. \"Miss Mu, there''s no way I can forget a beautiful lady like you.\"


    Mu Xin didn''t reply and strode into a nearby stand. Her cold aura started to come out of her body, making the owner stiff in fear.


    \"Jun Ge,\" Ye Jiao suddenly called.


    \"Yes?\"


    \"Where are you going?\"


    Wang Jun paused for a moment. He smiled warmly. \"I''m just going to an academy because I got accepted not long ago.\"


    \"Really?\" Ye Jiao''s eyes glimmered in astonishment.


    \"Yes. I reached rank 3 a few months ago then I took the test. The teacher is General Mu''s friend, so he came here personally to allow me to bid my farewell to the two of them,\" Wang Jun explained.


    From the way he said it, Ye Jiao has the feeling that getting into the academy would make him unable to return here anymore. Shouldn''t they be able to visit one another in the future if they wanted to?


    \"Can''t you make a visit in the future?\"


    \"I can,\" Wang Jun replied. \"But I don''t know how long it''ll take.\"


    Ye Jiao looked at the longing on the man''s expression as she silently looked away. She saw that Mu Xin had returned with a brown leather belt on her hand. From his sparkling eyes, Ye Jiao knew that this man was satisfied with the present she had prepared.


    \"This is for you, Jun Ge,\" Mu Xin handed the belt. \"Let''s go back before your new teacher starts nagging my father for his missing disciple.\"


    \"I''m not missing, Miss Mu.\"


    \"It''s the same.\"


    Ye Jiao blinked several times as she watched the two interacted. In the past, the two of them were polite to one another with some banter at times, but now it seemed as if the two of them had discarded courtesy to the back of their mind.


    Did she miss something?


    Even though she was not totally sure, Ye Jiao felt that there was something she missed during the past nine to ten months. Trying not to think too much, she jogged to their direction.

 91 Teacher from Faraway 2

    Mu Family Residence


    Mu Hong sighed to himself as he sat down in the living room. Before him stood a large man with a rowdy appearance. He had long hair and a beard that seemed to be purposely left messy. His green robe showed his status properly, but he looked more like a rogue rather than a teacher.


    \"You seem down, Mu Hong,\" the man laughed.


    Mu Hong glared at the man. \"Sheng Ming, you should know how stubborn that lass is. I have told her that it''s impossible to find Ye Jiao when even the best expert couldn''t find her, but she just didn''t want to listen.\"


    The man called Sheng Ming shook his head. \"It seems that your daughter is attached to the person named Ye Jiao. She wouldn''t want to believe the word circulated outside without any filter.\"


    \"I know that.\"


    \"Besides, who would know if she somehow manages to find that girl. From what you say, I can deduct that Ye Jiao is quite interesting,\" Sheng Ming added.


    Mu Hong didn''t rebut the man''s words as he sighed to himself. That girl was the only person who didn''t falter in the face of hardship despite the young age she had. Many people lived in a sheltered house, so the girl''s peculiarity was noticed by Mu Xin right away.


    \"Anyway, I want to thank you for accepting Wang Jun as your disciple.\"


    \"It''s not a big deal,\" Sheng Ming waved his hand. \"With his talent, he wouldn''t have any problem to become an inner disciple in multiple academies.\"


    \"I''m glad to hear that.\"


    Sheng Ming paused for a moment before adding. \"Your daughter too.\"


    \"I know.\"


    The two of them stopped speaking as a servant walked in. \"Master, Miss has returned from her trip.\"


    \"So quick?\" Mu Hong was astonished. He thought that Mu Xin would surely search until it was late at night, but it has only been an hour or so since that girl left home. Why did Mu Xin give up so quickly?


    He was still confused until he saw the three of them enter the living room. The sight of a young girl in front of him made him freeze as he didn''t expect to see her again. Many people reported that she had died because of living in the forest alone, but now she stood in front of him.


    \"Ye Jiao,\" Mu Hong muttered her name.


    Ye Jiao quickly bowed down formally. \"Ye Jiao greets General Mu.\"


    \"You¡­ There''s no need for formality,\" Mu Hong tried to suppress his astonishment as he inspected the girl''s body. There was no abnormality whatsoever that he found from her as she just stood quietly.


    \"I understand General Mu.\"


    Ye Jiao straightened herself and looked back at the general. For the first time, she saw the large man standing not far from Mu Hong. Sheng Ming was looking at Ye Jiao with eyes full of interest while Ye Jiao frowned internally. She couldn''t understand why someone like Sheng Ming would pay any attention to her.


    \"Mu Xin greets Senior Sheng.\"


    \"Wang Jun pays respect to Teacher Sheng.\"


    \"Ah¡­ Ye Jiao greets Senior Sheng,\" Ye Jiao followed suit when she saw the two greeted the man.


    Sheng Ming waved his hand to allow them to stand up again. He scrutinized Ye Jiao up and down while the girl stood stiffly.


    \"You''re Ye Jiao?\"


    \"Yes,\" Ye Jiao replied.


    Wang Jun stepped forward. \"Ye Jiao, this is my teacher, Master Sheng Ming. He''s a teacher in one of the academies in the north.\"


    Because of some reasons, he was not allowed to tell the name of the academies to other people. This was the reason why he only told Ye Jiao that Sheng Ming came from an academy in the north.


    Sheng Ming nodded. \"You''re truly a troublemaker, little lass. My old friend here is worried about his daughter so much that he cries.\"


    \"I didn''t cry!\" Mu Hong rolled his eyes. \"Don''t spout nonsense when you don''t mean it.\"


    Mu Xin stood quietly and formally. \"Father, may we return back to our room first? I still want to spend the day talking with Jun Ge and Jiao''er.\"


    Mu Hong recalled that Wang Jun would leave soon enough. He hadn''t asked Sheng Ming when they would leave, but he knew that his friend would never allow Wang Jun to stay for a long time.


    Time is extremely precious for Eon Energy Master.


    \"Sheng Ming, do you have any plan to return¡­.\"


    \"We''re going to return back tomorrow,\" Sheng Ming cut off Mu Hong''s words. \"Before that, may I have a talk with this little girl?\"


    \"With Ye Jiao?\"


    \"Yes.\"


    Mu Hong didn''t have any reason to refuse. He nodded his head and beckoned for Mu Xin and Wang Jun to follow after him. As soon as the two of them left, Ye Jiao looked up to see the man better.


    Sheng Ming waved his hand and Eon Energy flew to cover up the entire room. He looked at Ye Jiao with interest.


    \"It''s hard to believe that a young girl like you managed to survive in the forest filled with beasts for a long period of time, Ye Jiao.\"


    \"I''m lucky that I can stay in a secluded place,\" Ye Jiao racked up her brain and came up with the most plausible excuse. She didn''t know what Sheng Ming wanted from her, so she tried to be cautious.


    \"You seem to be very careful with your action,\" Sheng Ming nodded his head. \"It''s not without reason that you can survive in Wei Family despite living there for a long period of time.\"


    Ye Jiao didn''t answer. She knew that many people already heard her story inside Wei Family Residence as it was not a secret anymore. What she didn''t understand was why Sheng Ming brought it up.


    \"You see, I''m already surprised when I hear how a young girl like you can stay alive in the forest. But after seeing that you''ve become Eon Energy Master rank 1, I can say that I understand a bit.\"

 92 State of Mind

    \"You see, I''m already surprised when I hear how a young girl like you can stay alive in the forest. But after seeing that you''ve become Eon Energy Master rank 1, I can say that I understand a bit.\"


    Ye Jiao''s body tensed up when she heard the man''s statement. She thought that she had hidden her rank very well by not using Eon Energy at all in the man''s presence. Who would have thought that he could catch her real rank so easily?


    The necklace her father gave her should be able to protect her from other people''s probe until Eon Energy Master rank 3.


    Rank 3?


    Realization struck Ye Jiao. Sheng Ming must be Eon Energy Master rank 4 or above to be able to recognize her real rank immediately. Her body turned stiff as she thought of various ways inside her head to get out of this dangerous situation.


    Sheng Ming laughed when he saw the stiff expression on Ye Jiao''s face. \"There''s no need for you to be so stiff, brat. I don''t mean any harm for you. Do you think I''ll still stay here and chat with you if I want to harm you?\"


    Ye Jiao didn''t put down her guard. Even though she knew it would be suicidal to challenge Eon Energy Master rank 4 with her measly rank 1 strength, she would never give up without fighting.


    \"What do you want, Senior Sheng?\"


    \"I''m not interested in the dispute Wei Shang had with your father. If anything, Ye Xiao used to be an acquaintance of mine,\" Sheng Ming explained. \"Anyway, I can see that you''re a false trash.\"


    \"False trash?\"


    Sheng Ming nodded. \"I heard that the stone didn''t light up when it''s your turn, is that correct?\"


    \"Yes,\" Ye Jiao acknowledged it. \"Isn''t that mean I shouldn''t have been able to use Eon Energy?\"


    \"Normally yes, but there''s another meaning for some rare people,\" Sheng Ming looked at Ye Jiao. \"Those who have talent above A (purple) won''t be able to light up the stone and instead destroy it.\"


    Ye Jiao was stupefied to hear the word ''destroy.'' She was pretty sure that nothing had happened with the stone as she didn''t even make it move.


    Seeing her confused expression, Sheng Ming smiled. \"You might not know, but people with this talent, which we call S talent, could make the stone lose its power. It''ll turn into a fragile stone and got destroyed even with the slightest force.\"


    \"Really?\"


    \"Yes,\" Sheng Ming replied. \"But this fact is kept a secret since a long time ago because it''s not appropriate for people in secluded places to know.\"


    \"Why?\"


    \"Why? You can say that it can be dangerous,\" Sheng Ming answered calmly. In a place where the normal talent was at the lower one, the existence of an oddity could destroy the balance. The difference between each rank could differ greatly, allowing someone to become stronger so much faster.


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. \"Why are you telling me this, Master Sheng?\"


    \"The first reason is because talent S is extremely rare,\" Sheng Ming answered. Even in the academy where he stayed, those with the same talent as this girl could be counted with one finger. \"Before I forget, how old are you, Ye Jiao?\"


    \"I''m 9.\"


    \"9 huh, so it''s the upper one,\" Sheng Ming murmured. He sighed. \"Ye Jiao, do you have any interest in joining an academy in the north?\"


    \"I plan to go there after I reach the requirement rank.\"


    \"What if I tell you that you can go there directly and there''ll be a lot of academies opening their arms to welcome you?\"


    Ye Jiao froze in her place. Slowly, she looked back at Sheng Ming, who was looking at her with solemn expression. From the way he told her, she knew that someone with the same talent as her was rare. There would only be a handful of people who have the same talent as her in the academy.


    However, her conversation she had with Wang Jun made her hesitate. If she decided to leave, she would surely gain the best protection and support as possible. However, did she truly want it that way?


    This place might be a place that she hated so much because of what they did to her family, but this was also the place where she met her friends. There were still people she cared for and she didn''t want to leave yet. She wanted to settle the scores with those people before she left and spent her time with her friends.


    Given how the requirement to enter the academy was Eon Energy Master rank 3, she knew that she would find it hard to see someone close at her age if she went now. Not just her age, those people there would be at higher rank compared to her. Living here might be hard as she would have to face a lot of dangers, but isn''t that the point of becoming an Eon Energy Master?


    Going on adventure, overcoming danger, and obtaining the opportunities behind the dangers.


    \"I still won''t go,\" Ye Jiao replied somberly.


    Sheng Ming stared at the girl''s face for a moment before nodding his head. \"I''m glad that you think that way.\"


    \"Master Sheng?\"


    \"A lot of people always want to take the shortcut for everything, including power,\" Sheng Ming said. \"But there''s no real shortcut for power because there''s always a price to pay for the power you obtain.\"


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. \"Isn''t someone''s power depend on their talent?\"


    Sheng Ming chuckled. \"It''s normal to think that way since you live in a place where the highest stage is only Eon Energy Master rank 4. However, talent only gives you the advantage in the beginning because later on, the one that you need the most is not only a capable body, but also strong mind.\"


    \"Mind?\"


    \"Yes, to overcome the barrier in the martial path, you have to have the heart that''s suited to follow the path as a martial artist. A lot of people have the necessary talent to grow, but they didn''t have the suitable mind and path,\" Sheng Ming paused for a moment. He thought that this might be hard for a young girl to digest.


    \"For example, a lot of people already have enough Eon Energy to advance to rank 4 from rank 3, but only a handful of them succeeded because it depends on their state of mind.\"


    \"State of mind,\" Ye Jiao said the word again as she thought of what Sheng Ming said. She recalled that her mother once mentioned that she could reach rank 4, but her mind was not suited for that. She was still not entirely sure about that, but she knew that it would be something hard to achieve.


    Sheng Ming raised his hand and patted the girl''s head. \"There''s no need to think too much for now. You still have a long way to go before you face that wall.\"

 93 This is My Decision

    \"Thank you very much for your teaching, Master Sheng,\" Ye Jiao said from the bottom of her heart.


    Sheng Ming nodded his head. \"Do you still think that talent is everything now?\"


    \"No, I don''t. I know now that there are a lot of other important things,\" Ye Jiao answered immediately.


    \"One more thing. Do you know what my talent is?\"


    \"Master Sheng? Is it Blue?\"


    \"It''s green,\" Sheng Ming answered. \"Or in other words, my talent is just C.\"


    Ye Jiao''s jaw opened wide at the answer this man gave her. She thought that he must be at least blue talent because of how he managed to reach rank 4. There were a lot of people with blue talent that she knew in this city and most of them were extremely cocky. They seemed to hold the thought that they would be able to reach rank 4 without any problem in the future.


    Sheng Ming smiled. \"This might be harsh, but if I try to put it in comparison, I can compare myself with your father. Ye Xiao has purple color talent or A talent. He should have been able to reach rank 4 from years ago, but he didn''t because his state of mind is not ready.\"


    \"I see.\"


    \"Don''t be complacent because you have higher talent than other people,\" Sheng Ming patted the girl''s head again. She looked so cute and innocent. \"Stay low and grow little by little, brat. I hope that I can see you at the test in a few more years.\"


    \"Thank you very much Teacher Sheng!\"


    Ye Jiao felt that her mind had become clearer as she tried to see things from a different perspective. Talent was surely important because it determined the limit she could go in the future and the speed of her growth. However, talent alone was not enough.


    They needed the resource, will and hard work to accompany it.


    Only with these things together would they be able to grow better and reach the limit of their talent.


    Sheng Ming opened the door and revealed Mu Hong behind it. The general looked at his old friend. \"Do you have to set up a barrier? I can''t listen to anything.\"


    \"It''s not supposed to be something that you listen to,\" Sheng Ming replied candidly. He put his hands on the back of his head. \"Let''s go and eat, it''s already passed the time for lunch.\"


    \"Fine.\"


    [This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l . c o m (without spaces) If you read this somewhere other than w e b n o v e l . c o m, it means the novel is stolen. It''s discouraging to see readers support thieves in stealing my hard work]


    They called Mu Xin and Wang Jun before having late lunch together. During the meal time, Sheng Ming also explained the academy regulation, which was the fact that Wang Jun wouldn''t be able to return until he reached a certain rank. From the growth speed that he showed so far, it was apparent that he wouldn''t be able to reach it in near future.


    It would be quicker for Mu Xin to reach rank 3.


    \"Let''s go to the training room,\" Mu Xin dragged the other two to the training room. Neither one of them voiced out their protest as they entered the door. Upon entering, Ye Jiao was astonished to find out that the place seemed to be filled with Eon Energy even more.


    \"Jun Ge, you have to reach rank 4 before I enter academy in the future,\" Mu Xin suddenly spoke up.


    Wang Jun was stunned. \"I''m afraid that I won''t be able to fulfill that request, Miss Mu.\"


    \"Don''t let me catch up with you too quickly. You have to grow faster and reach the sky, Jun Ge. I''ll chase after you.\"


    \"I understand,\" Wang Jun smiled. \"I''ll do my best.\"


    Mu Xin turned to look at Ye Jiao. \"What''s your plan from now on? If you want, you can stay in here while concealing your identity. My father will think of a new identity for you if you want.\"


    \"There''s no need for that,\" Ye Jiao recalled her promise with Lu Wan. \"I''ll be staying in Lu Family Residence starting tomorrow.\"


    \"LU FAMILY RESIDENCE?\" Wang Jun yelled in surprise. He didn''t expect to hear those words coming from Ye Jiao. From all places, why would she choose that place in specific?


    \"I met with Young Master Lu Wan in the forest a few months ago. He helped me a bit and I promised that I''ll stay in his residence as his servant,\" Ye Jiao explained. Even though they wouldn''t be a genuine master and servant because they only stayed together in order to allow them to train together, Ye Jiao couldn''t say that to anyone.


    From outside, they have to be no different than an ordinary master and servant.


    \"There''s no need for you to become a servant, you can¡­\"


    \"Miss Mu,\" Wang Jun cut off Mu Xin''s words. \"If you owe a debt, you have to repay it, so I think that it''s not weird for Ye Jiao to go there.\"


    Mu Xin knew that, but she couldn''t accept it because it was Lu Wan. In the capital city, this young man''s name was famous as the greatest genius even better than Ye Xiao. No one could contend with him in terms of talent except a handful of people. But the worst of them all was the young man''s attitude.


    He was famous to be a willful brat that was arrogant and could only make trouble. No one liked it when the young man visited them as they only felt relaxed when he was in secluded training.


    \"If Lu Wan bully you, you can tell me and I''ll give him a lesson.\"


    Ye Jiao truly wanted to tell Mu Xin how impossible it was. Since Lu Wan was her senior brother, she knew that he must have survived Hell Island too. During that time, everyone on that island has to face dangers every single day. Trying to pick a fight with someone who has plenty of experience at the same rank was the same as suicide.


    Unfortunately, Ye Jiao wouldn''t be able to say that to her senior in front of her.


    \"I''ll be fine, Senior Mu.\"


    Mu Xin still looked unconvinced. \"Let''s have some spar again. I''ll try to control my strength, but you still should be careful.\"


    \"I understand.\"


    [This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l . c o m (without spaces) If you read this somewhere other than w e b n o v e l . c o m, it means the novel is stolen. It''s discouraging to see readers support thieves in stealing my hard work]

 94 Sworn Sisters

    Taking the wooden sword, Ye Jiao swung it a few times to grasp the feeling. She had been using curved bones as her weapon for the past few months to the point that she felt comfortable using it rather than a normal weapon. Of course, she would have to pick a different weapon later.


    \"Let''s start.\"


    Ye Jiao purposely didn''t circulate her Eon Energy and made sure that she only used physical power as she withstood Mu Xin''s attack. Despite saying that she had held back, Mu Xin''s blow was still as powerful as ever.


    From the side, Wang Jun watched the two of them calmly. If there was anything wrong, he would step in, but he found out that Ye Jiao was relatively fine under the barrage of attack that Mu Xin gave.


    Tak! Tak! Tak!


    Time passed swiftly as the two of them exchanged blows by blows. They didn''t seem to be willing to stop even though it was already the time for dinner.


    \"Mu Xin, Ye Jiao, you two should stop training,\" Mu Hong stood on the door with his arm crossed. He knew that his daughter loved to train, but she shouldn''t neglect her food because it was important.


    \"Yes, Father,\" By now, Mu Xin has managed to restrain her feelings and returned back to the aloof young woman. Her polite speech also has returned as she stopped her attack obediently.


    At the same time, Ye Jiao also put down her sword. \"I understand, General Mu.\"


    \"Let''s go eat.\"


    They headed to the dining room and ate together. Wang Jun also joined in the same table as he sat down beside Mu Xin.


    \"Miss Mu, I think that it''s already enough?\" Wang Jun looked at his plate, which Mu Xin filled with plenty of food, as if he wanted to cry. There were salted fish, pieces of roasted meat, fresh vegetables, and many others stacked together.


    Mu Xin used her chopstick to pick up a piece of tofu. \"You''re going in a journey, so you have to eat a lot.\"


    \"Miss, I''m afraid that I can''t¡­\"


    Seeing Mu Xin glared at him from the corner of her eyes, Wang Jun gave up and ate his food quietly. He quite liked the attention she gave ever since she found out that he would leave, but it felt a bit too much at times.


    Ye Jiao held back her laughter as she stuffed her mouth with the food. Seeing the two of them quarreled like that, she felt that it was really funny.


    Time passed slowly as they enjoyed their dinner time.


    \"Father, I''ll sleep in the same room with Ye Jiao today,\" Mu Xin declared before pulling Ye Jiao to her room.


    Mu Hong sighed to himself. He didn''t really have much qualm if the two of them wanted to sleep in the same room because he knew that it was quite common. As a soldier, he had to sleep in the barrack and in that place, there were several people.


    As long as they didn''t share the bed, he didn''t mind.


    \"They''re quite close to one another,\" Sheng Ming commented.


    Mu Hong nodded. \"I don''t know if it''s a mistake to bring the two of them together in the past. I feel that I''m the one who dragged the two of them.\"


    Sheng Ming shrugged. He picked up a chicken drumstick with his hand and bit it. \"I don''t think it''s wrong for them to be close with one another. They''re still young and it''s normal to have close friends.\"


    \"They remind me of our friendship when we''re still young,\" Mu Hong rubbed his forehead.


    \"Well, we''ll spar with one another without caring for the time, creating mischief after mischief¡­\" Sheng Ming started to recount everything that they did in the past. Compared to Mu Xin and Ye Jiao, the two of them created much more trouble and earned a lot of scolding in the past.


    \"They''re girls, so it''s normal that they won''t create as much trouble as us,\" Mu Hong stood up. \"I just hope that they won''t become sworn sisters like the two of us become sworn brother.\"


    \"Why not? Don''t tell me you''re worried that they''re going to get drunk like you,\" Sheng Ming grinned.


    Mu Hong glared. \"I just didn''t want to put the two of them in a difficult position because of their differences.\"


    In his eyes, Mu Xin would surely leave this place in the future. If she got attached to Ye Jiao, he worried that there would be a lot of problems. After all, Ye Jiao''s enemies were numerous.


    \"Oh, you''re worried for their safety?\" Sheng Ming chuckled. \"There''s no need to worry so much. I believe that if they become sworn sisters, it''s something worth celebrating.\"


    \"What?\"


    Sheng Ming didn''t elaborate further because he didn''t want to leak out the fact that Ye Jiao was actually a once in a million people kind of genius. Trying to find someone with the same talent as Ye Jiao would be hard and from the temperament that Ye Jiao showed to him, he has a lot of hope for that girl.


    She will surely become someone important in the future.


    While the two adults were talking, Ye Jiao and Mu Xin were preparing another bedding for Ye Jiao to sleep. They placed it near Mu Xin''s bed to make sure that they wouldn''t stay too far from one another.


    \"The bedding makes the room slightly cramped,\" Ye Jiao commented. \"Are you sure it''s fine for me to sleep here? I can sleep in the guest''s room if you want.\"


    \"No way,\" Mu Xin refused flatly. \"I want you to stay here and sleep with me tonight. After you stay in Lu Family Residence, I don''t know when we''re going to meet with one another again.\"


    \"Young Master Lu Wan goes to school, right?\"


    \"He loves to skip.\"


    Ye Jiao forced a smile out as she didn''t know that Lu Wan had that bad habit. But if she thought of it again, the young man''s reputation in the kingdom was extremely bad that people wouldn''t be able to believe that it all pointed to one person if they hadn''t heard it themselves.


    Mu Xin looked at Ye Jiao. \"I don''t want to lose you again. You''re an important friend for me just like a family member.\"


    Family


    The word caused a pain to appear from the bottom of Ye Jiao''s heart. She knew that she had longed for a family again because she had lost everyone she had. Her mother and father had died, leaving her alone. She had her master and senior brother, but they were not really a family.


    Perhaps, not yet.


    \"I really want to be a family with you Senior Mu,\" Ye Jiao expressed her thoughts. Even though Mu Xin seemed hard to get along at first, Mu Xin genuinely cared for Ye Jiao. No matter how much other people said that she had died, Mu Xin didn''t believe it right away.


    Mu Xin smiled. \"Then, I''m going to be your sister.\"


    \"Is it possible?\"


    \"We can become sworn sisters just like my father and Senior Sheng,\" Mu Xin smiled brightly once again. \"I''ll bring wine.\"


    \"Wine?\"


    \"To seal our promise as sworn sisters, we''re going to drink a cup of wine together. That''s how it is normally from what I heard.\"


    Ye Jiao was stunned to see Mu Xin run out of the room. She giggled to herself as she recalled the expression on Mu Xin''s face. From the bottom of her heart, she was glad that she met with Mu Xin.


    It didn''t take long for Mu Xin to return back with a bottle of wine in her arm. She smiled widely.


    \"Let''s drink and make a promise with one another.\"


    \"Ok.\"


    Mu Xin also brought a glass with her as she poured the wine into the glass. She looked at Ye Jiao warmly.


    \"I, Mu Xin, swore to be Ye Jiao''s sworn sister and forever protect her.\"


    Ye Jiao also smiled warmly. \"I, Ye Jiao, swore to be Mu Xin''s sworn sister and never leave her.\"


    They clinked the glass and drank the wine before laughing. Tasting the wine, Ye Jiao''s face scrunched a bit. She never knew that wine would taste so bitter. Why did the adults love to drink them so much? She couldn''t understand.


    Thankfully, she only needed a sip before giving back the glass to Mu Xin. Afterwards, Mu Xin secretly returned the bottle and glasses because the two of them were underage.


    If Mu Hong found out¡­. They didn''t dare to imagine it.


    [This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l . c o m (without spaces) If you read this somewhere other than w e b n o v e l . c o m, it means the novel is stolen. It''s discouraging to see readers support thieves in stealing my hard work]

 95 Separate Ways

    It was morning when Mu Hong noticed his wine bottles had moved from its original place. He rebuked himself silently for telling Mu Xin regarding his youth in the past. Considering Mu Xin''s personality, he never expected the little girl to do this before today.


    \"She had truly taken a liking to that lass,\" Sheng Ming yawned as he walked out, not caring about his appearance at all.


    Mu Hong nodded his head. \"I think that she has started to take her path without me in the picture anymore. It''s kind of relieving to see her grow up and at the same time, I miss her when she only sees me in her world.\"


    \"I don''t know you''re that kind of father,\" Sheng Ming laughed. \"She''s not going to disappear anytime soon. You can spend more time with her if you want.\"


    \"I''m busy.\"


    \"Yeah, yeah, General Mu is extremely busy to the point that he neglects his work on the day his friend come~.\"


    \"Sheng Ming,\" Mu Hong warned in a stern tone.


    Sheng Ming grinned. \"I''m going to leave Brother Mu. Take care of yourself in this den filled with malicious people.\"


    \"I know.\"


    The two of them stopped talking because Wang Jun had walked inside. He greeted the two of them formally.


    \"Good morning, General Mu. Good morning, Master.\"


    Sheng Ming waved his hand. \"No need to be so formal. Where''s the two girls?\"


    \"They''re going to come soon.\"


    True to Wang Jun''s words, Mu Xin and Ye Jiao arrived into the living room not long afterwards. The two of them were rather cheerful, but Mu Xin''s expression faltered a bit when she saw the wine bottle on her father''s hand.


    He didn''t find out, right?


    \"Good morning General Mu and Teacher Sheng,\" Ye Jiao greeted first. After talking with Sheng Ming, she had regarded this man as her teacher too albeit not really formally.


    \"Good morning,\" Sheng Ming nodded his head. \"We''re going to depart after breakfast, so if you two have anything to say to Wang Jun, you can say it now.\"


    Ye Jiao smiled. \"Jun Ge, please take care of yourself and work harder to become stronger. When we meet again, let''s practice together again.\"


    \"I understand,\" Wang Jun nodded. \"I''ll do my best.\"


    \"You should just focus on your practice and don''t do anything unnecessary,\" Mu Xin said slowly. \"If you don''t grow stronger, I''ll catch up to you and beat you up because you''re breaking the promise.\"


    Wang Jun wanted to cry. Was that something someone usually said when they said their farewell. Still, he knew that Mu Xin just wanted him to stay stronger than her.


    \"I''ll continue to practice and become even better.\"


    Mu Hong tapped the table. \"Now, let''s just eat first or the food is going to become cold. Also, Mu Xin, I want to have a talk with you later.\"


    \"Yes, Father.\"


    The breakfast was quick because Sheng Ming didn''t want to take a long time here. The journey was long and he didn''t want to camp outside.


    \"We''re going to depart, Wang Jun.\"


    \"Yes, Master,\" Wang Jun replied somberly. He turned to look at Mu Xin. \"Don''t forget to take care of yourself. Resting is an important part of training and I don''t want to see you exert yourself.\"


    \"Even I know that myself.\"


    Ye Jiao tried her best to not laugh when she heard Mu Xin retorted. The three of them were very familiar that once Mu Xin was absorbed in training, nothing could get in her way. Wang Jun had to stop her on several occasions or Mu Xin would have completely forgotten about eating.


    Right at that time, a servant came inside. \"Master, Lu Wan from Lu Family is here.\"


    \"Lu Wan?\" Mu Xin asked.


    \"I ask him to come here after I hear that Ye Jiao is going to leave with him,\" Mu Hong explained.


    Ye Jiao smiled. \"Thank you very much, General Mu.\"


    \"It''s nothing much.\"


    They walked out and Ye Jiao quickly spotted Lu Wan stood in the courtyard. His green hair was extremely conspicuous as there was barely anyone who has the same hair color as him.


    He looked at Ye Jiao. \"Let''s go back.\"


    Mu Xin frowned slightly when she saw his rude attitude. \"Ye Jiao, if he treats you badly, you''re free to come here anytime.\"


    [This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l . c o m (without spaces) If you read this somewhere other than w e b n o v e l . c o m, it means the novel is stolen. It''s discouraging to see readers support thieves in stealing my hard work]


    \"It''s fine, Xin Jie,\" Ye Jiao changed the way she called Mu Xin because they have become sworn sisters. \"He won''t treat me badly.\"


    For this, she was extremely sure that he wouldn''t mistreat his junior sister because she still recalled how he treated her before. He might be blunt and rude, but he didn''t treat her impolitely and helped her to understand many things regarding Hell Island. It should be said that he would surely take care of her well.


    Besides, the real reason she had to stay in Lu Family Residence was because it was the last place Wei Family could possibly search for her. With the relationship between Lu and Wei seemingly like fire and water, the Wei Family would never try to search for her in that residence.


    Even if they managed to find out, the protection inside the place was very tight. It would give her the necessary time to protect herself and run away.


    \"How I treat her is not your business, Mu Xin,\" Lu Wan spoke up. \"There''s no need to concern yourself of her.\"


    \"Ye Jiao is my sworn sister. I advise you to not try to do anything bad to her,\" Mu Xin rebutted back without fear.


    Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. He sneaked a glance at the girl for confirmation and saw she nodded her head. Knowing that the two of them have a good relationship, he didn''t want to make things difficult for Mu Xin.


    \"I''m not going to harm her, so you can rest assured,\" Lu Wan turned to Mu Hong. \"Thank you for informing me, I''m going to take my leave now.\"


    Mu Hong was dumbfounded when he heard the formal speech Lu Wan used. Given by how this rude brat always scolded people and hit them with his foul mouth, he thought that Lu Wan would still treat him harshly.


    \"It''s not much, be careful on your way, Lu Wan.\"


    Lu Wan nodded and turned around with Ye Jiao followed behind him. She sneaked a glance behind and waved her hand to bid her farewell.


    Sheng Ming patted Wang Jun''s shoulder. \"Let''s be on our way too, Brat.\"


    \"Yes, Master.\"


    As the two groups went their separate ways, Mu Xin''s gaze was fixated on them. Each of them have their own different path that they have to tread for their future. Now, they went their separate ways, but she believed that they would surely reunite together again.


    \"They''ve left. You should prepare for school, Mu Xin,\" Mu Hong reminded his daughter. \"I''ll talk to you about the matter of underage later at night.\"


    \"Yes, Father.\"


    Mu Xin silently clenched her fist. She would surely chase after Wang Jun and make sure that she could stay with her friends.


    [This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l . c o m (without spaces) If you read this somewhere other than w e b n o v e l . c o m, it means the novel is stolen. It''s discouraging to see readers support thieves in stealing my hard work]

 96 Lu Family Residence

    On their way to Lu Family Residence, Lu Wan didn''t speak at all. He was merely following after the road while the people made ways for him to pass. They didn''t want to get into trouble with Lu Wan.


    Seeing the scene, Ye Jiao was amazed by how much hate her senior brother managed to gather. It felt as if the name ''troublemaker'' would always stick in his body without the possibility to wash it away at all.


    \"Don''t speak at all.\"


    Ye Jiao was startled to hear the warning from Lu Wan''s mouth, but she realized that they had arrived in the Lu Family Residence. The guard straightened their posture when they saw Lu Wan and immediately opened the door.


    \"Welcome back, Young Master.\"


    Lu Wan didn''t reply and walked inside directly. However, none of the guards dared to show their dissatisfaction as they understood how high Lu Wan''s position in the family was. All they could do was swallow their displeasure and continued to treat Lu Wan with the utmost respect they could give.


    As they opened the door, Ye Jiao could see the beautifully made stone path in front of her. There were a lot of potted plants and flowers at the edge, creating the harmonic scene. From the way the servants behaved, it was clear that this was the house of a high ranked official as they followed the etiquette perfectly.


    While Ye Jiao was astonished by the layout, Lu Wan stopped his movements.


    Ye Jiao nearly crashed on him, but she managed to stop in time. Her eyes followed after Lu Wan''s gaze and she could see a young man around the age of 15 years old standing not far from them. He has black hair with countenance that was similar to Lu Wan albeit much mature.


    \"Lu Su,\" Lu Wan said the young man''s name directly.


    The young man, Lu Su, didn''t seem to be bothered by Lu Wan''s lack of manner. \"Where have you been, Lu Wan?\"


    \"I believe that I didn''t have to report all my activities to you,\" Lu Wan replied harshly.


    Lu Su looked at the young girl behind Lu Wan. He didn''t know what was inside Lu Wan''s mind, so he never interfered much with the boy''s activities. \"It''ll be better if you tell me in advance so I could prepare a carriage for you.\"


    \"Carriage?\" Lu Wan sneered. \"I don''t want to use those filthy carriages from the Lu Family if it''s not necessary. I''m just taking a walk on the street, so you don''t have to worry about me dirtying the already filthy name of Lu Family.\"


    \"I''m not worried that you''ll make it more dirty but I hope you can follow the rules when it''s necessary,\" Lu Su had long given up on Lu Wan''s behavior.


    Lu Wan shrugged. \"I''m not a law abiding young master like you. Besides, trying to gain favor from those greedy whales who only see people from their appearance is a big no for me.\"


    \"Rule and etiquette is important¡­\"


    \"I know them and you don''t have to repeat it over and over,\" Lu Wan started to walk again. \"I''ll behave if it''s needed but don''t expect me to act that way all the time. Now, please excuse me, Lu Su.\"


    Lu Su watched Lu Wan walk away. \"Rules are important because you need them to make things in order.\"


    \"Too many rules are just going to make your life hard. I prefer to have a life where I can live the way I want,\" Lu Wan retorted without looking back. It didn''t take long for him to disappear from the sight of his older brother.


    Ye Jiao didn''t say anything because she didn''t understand the relationship Lu Wan had with his brother. It would be better for her to stay quiet lest that she only made things worse for them.


    Lu Wan turned in several more pathways before entering a large quarter. There were only a few servants around him, but they all quickly bowed down the moment they saw Lu Wan.


    \"I''m going to train, do not disturb me.\"


    \"Yes, Young Master.\"


    There were two large buildings in the quarter. Ye Jiao believed that one of them was Lu Wan''s residence while the other was a large hall used for Lu Wan''s training. Lu Wan entered the hall and locked the door before sitting down on the ground.


    \"That annoying brother, he''s always trying to pick on my mistakes,\" Lu Wan complained as he leaned on the wall behind him.


    \"Do you have bad relationship with him?\"


    \"I don''t have any good relationship with anyone in this family. They just want me because of my talent, so why should I treat them with care?\" Lu Wan shrugged, unwilling to reveal the detail of his feud with his own family.


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes in confusion. \"What do you mean by they want your talent?\"


    Lu Wan thought for a moment before sighing. \"Do you know that people with higher talent could reach greater rank in the future? For example, those with talent below green would never have the chance to become Eon Energy Master rank 4 no matter how much they tried.\"


    \"There''s restriction?\" Ye Jiao was astonished. This was the very first time she heard something like this.


    Lu Wan nodded. \"To reach a certain rank, you have to reach the previous rank under the designated age. I don''t know the specific, but because those with yellow, orange, and red talent take too long to reach a certain rank, they will never be able to reach rank 4 in their entire lifetime.\"


    Lu Wan noticed that Ye Jiao was contemplating and he sighed. \"This is why talent is regarded as something important in this world because without talent, you can never reach a higher rank.


    Still, if you''re just trying to live an ordinary life, these are not that important. There are a lot of jobs that you can do without the need of high rank Eon Energy. But these are rare in this kingdom.\"


    One way or another, the kingdom was built with Eon Energy at the very center of everything. This made those who could only reach low rank in Eon Energy or didn''t become masters to only have low jobs without high pay. Some people were satisfied with their lives as they could live in peace, but some wanted to reach greater height.


    This was what caused a lot of crimes to happen.


    Ye Jiao looked at her senior brother. \"It sounds unfortunate.\"


    Lu Wan nodded. \"Chen Kingdom is regarded as a low ranked kingdom because the highest level in our place is just rank 4. Still, it''s a high rank for us.\"


    \"You''re right.\"


    \"Oh right, tell me about your experience in Hell Island.\"


    \"Ok.\"


    [This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l . c o m (without spaces) If you read this somewhere other than w e b n o v e l . c o m, it means the novel is stolen. It''s discouraging to see readers support thieves in stealing my hard work]

 97 Curved Dagger 1

    Ye Jiao proceeded to tell Lu Wan everything that happened to her in Hell Island. Her story was not detailed, but she still told him most of the things that she knew.


    \"You get out of the island pretty quick,\" Lu Wan pondered. \"I think that your poison training is not over yet.\"


    \"Not over?\" Ye Jiao''s mind blanked for a moment. Recalling her painful experience when she had to forcefully drink those poison and endured their violent reaction in her body, she wanted to cry. Did it mean she still has to continue those training?


    Lu Wan nodded his head. \"It''s just going to be painful in the beginning. Before long, you''re going to get used with them.\"


    \"Senior Brother Lu, do you know how much I hate that training?\"


    \"Even if you hate it, you still have to continue the training,\" Lu Wan grinned. \"It''s not known whether you''re going to face poison in the future. Without any immunity, you''re going to die when facing them.\"


    Ye Jiao groaned. She didn''t want to continue the training from that time again, but she knew that it would be inevitable. It would be better for her to suffer during training rather than get poisoned to death.


    \"Fine¡­ but why are you so interested in them?\"


    \"I have great interest in poison and find them extremely interesting. Do you know that I have just developed another combination of a light feather...?\"


    As Lu Wan revealed his research, Ye Jiao could only stare blankly. She had never realized that her senior brother was a genuine poison lover. No- he was truly a maniac. Without the need to stop, Lu Wan continued to reveal the characteristic of the poison that he recently developed.


    \"I also test it to myself, but it seems that it''s too potent,\" Lu Wan rolled his sleeves and showed his arm, which was filled with multiple colored skin. There were also some bandages that were used carelessly. \"The new poison makes my skin turn blue, so I know that it''s going to kill someone if it directly enters someone''s blood vessel¡­\"


    \"Wait, Senior Brother Lu, are you telling me that you try the poison on yourself?\" Ye Jiao was stunned.


    Lu Wan nodded. \"Do you think my family is going to leave me alone if they know that I''m developing such a dangerous poison? It''s not over yet, though, as it''s too unstable that I have trouble holding it together for a long time.\"


    \"If you test it on yourself, don''t you worry that you''re going to die?\"


    \"I''m not that careless,\" Lu Wan said in a relaxed manner. \"Besides, the boundless possibilities to create the poison only make me feel excited.\"


    Ye Jiao was speechless at Lu Wan''s answer. She knew that he loved to play with poison, but it would surely be dangerous if there was any mishap. Seeing his excited face, somehow Ye Jiao had the feeling that he would be happier to die because of his poison rather than by other people''s hand.


    \"Oh yeah, we''re talking about experience before, right?\" Lu Wan recalled that he was asking Ye Jiao about Hell Island.


    \"Yeah.\"


    \"How''s your experience in the forest? Those wolves are quite a handful, right?\" Lu Wan grinned. He used to have a hard time dealing with them at first before he got used to them and didn''t have any problem killing them. Even though the wolves were unranked beasts or rank 1, they lived in a group and proved to be quite a handful for the children to deal with.


    \"Yeah, but I can kill them in one strike after a while,\" Ye Jiao admitted.


    \"One strike?\" Lu Wan was astonished. \"Well, you''re Eon Energy Master rank 1, so it''s not that weird. Right, what''s your weapon?\"


    \"This.\"


    Ye Jiao took the wolf''s rib from her storage bracelet. The one she took was the one that she hadn''t used, so it was clear. Besides, she didn''t sharpen all of the ribs she had because it would take a long time. Only those that she used that she sharpened the edge to make sure that it could be used as a curved dagger.


    Lu Wan stared at the bone on Ye Jiao''s hand before looking at the girl in disbelief.


    \"Ye Jiao.\"


    \"Yes?\"


    \"Don''t tell me you''re using the wolf''s bone as your weapon.\"


    \"I do,\" Ye Jiao replied innocently. \"Is there anything wrong with it?\"


    Is there anything wrong with it? There are a lot of problems!


    Lu Wan didn''t know whether he had to curse Ye Jiao for her foolishness or praised her from her creativity. She didn''t tell them that she didn''t have any weapons at first, so their master hadn''t given her anything. If only she told them, they would surely prepare the best weapon for her.


    \"You¡­ Don''t you have any other weapon?\"


    \"I don''t,\" Ye Jiao admitted directly. \"My mother never prepares any weapon for me because I''m too small. I also don''t know that I have to fight there, so I never bring any weapons with me.\"


    Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao in disbelief. \"You''re an idiot.\"


    \"¡­\"


    \"I''ll prepare a weapon for you until Master comes. What kind of weapon do you think is suitable for you?\"


    Ye Jiao raised the bone on her arm. \"A dagger with a shape similar to this is enough. I have gotten used to use them and I find it rather fun.\"


    \"Curved dagger, huh? It''s quite a rare choice for a weapon,\" Lu Wan muttered. Most people would pick a sword as their weapons and it had become a standardized weapon in this kingdom. As a result, majority of Chen Kingdom''s residents knew how to use sword properly.


    \"I think that it''s the most suitable one for me,\" Ye Jiao replied. Originally, she also had the chance to sharpen the other parts of the bones. After a few trial and error, she managed to make a small sword out of the leg bone. Unfortunately, she decided to discard it because she preferred the curved dagger she made herself.


    Lu Wan smiled. \"Everyone has their own preferences for weapons. Even though I study swords from young, my main weapon is not that.\"


    \"What''s your weapon, then?\" Ye Jiao''s eyes lit up in curiosity.


    \"I''ll show you after you have gotten a proper dagger. For now, let''s train with a wooden sword.\"


    \"Aw, ok.\"


    Even though Ye Jiao was disappointed that she couldn''t see Lu Wan''s weapon, she agreed to his request and the two of them traded blows with wooden swords. Both of them knew the basic stances and use of swords, so they didn''t have any problem in using it.


    ---


    (A/N): Clarification regarding the two different conversations. Master Sheng is green talent, which is the lowest qualification to reach rank 4. He said it''s not everything because not everyone can reach the rank even when they have the necessary talent. He didn''t want Ye Jiao to be complacent because of her extraordinary talent.


    Lu Wan was teaching Ye Jiao the limitation and importance of the talent. Those under green rank will never be able to reach rank 4 normally.


    It''s not contradictory as it has different context.

 98 Curved Dagger 2

    The day passed quietly as Ye Jiao spent the day to practice fighting with a sword. By night, Lu Wan asked the servants to prepare a room for her in the main residence. Even though the servants were surprised, they prepared her a room near Lu Wan''s.


    \"I don''t understand what you''re thinking with this order,\" Ye Jiao sighed.


    Lu Wan shrugged. \"It''s not like they''re going to criticize me because of a small matter. If I want a servant to live close to me, they can''t refuse because my order is absolute.\"


    \"You''re absolutely arrogant, Senior Brother Lu.\"


    \"Thank you for the compliment,\" Lu Wan stretched his body. \"I''m going to rest, so you should rest too. If there''s anything you want, just tell me and I''ll ask them to prepare it.\"


    \"There''s no need. Thank you.\"


    Ye Jiao refused flatly and entered the room. Even though it was only a small room, she still found it to be rather large. She had gotten used with her life at the bottom of the ladder where she was treated worse than trash, so the simple room was already too much for her. She was glad that there was barely any accessory in the room or she might think that she was a guest rather than ''servant.''


    In the eyes of the others, she was just a small servant that had Lu Wan interest. The two of them didn''t try to correct the mistakes as it was better for her to just be known as a small servant. The misunderstanding would pass as there will be much more interesting events that happened.


    While thinking of her plan, Ye Jiao cleaned up her body and rested on the bed.


    ''It''s really soft.''


    Comparing the bed with the one she had in Hell Island, Ye Jiao giggled for a bit. There was simply no way to compare them at all.


    By morning, Ye Jiao felt refreshed. She prepared herself and wore the servant''s clothes that other servants gave to her last night. As her build was still too small, she decided to wear her usual clothes underneath or the clothes would look too big on her.


    \"Servant clothes didn''t seem suitable for you,\" Lu Wan commented when he saw Ye Jiao stood not far from his door.


    Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. \"At least, no one will find me weird in this residence again.\"


    Lu Wan merely shrugged and headed to the training hall. If he had to say, Ye Jiao''s disposition made it hard for him to see her as a servant. She looked more unrestrained and carefree, which was unsuitable for the image of a servant.


    \"I''m going to train, so don''t bother me,\" Lu Wan said to the nearby servant in his usual stern tone.


    \"Yes, Young Master.\"


    Lu Wan entered the training hall with Ye Jiao. He pointed to Ye Jiao''s clothes. \"Change it to your training clothes. It''ll be more convenient to use.\"


    \"Fine,\" Ye Jiao took off the clothes. She had worn her usual clothes underneath, so it only took several seconds to take it off.


    Seeing that, Lu Wan''s lips twitched. He had forgotten that there were no servants around the age of Ye Jiao in this residence. There were some child servants who worked here because of their family background, but most of them had to enter the training first. As the result, the children here usually already reached the age of 11 to 12 at the youngest.


    The clothes Ye Jiao had were simply too big for her.


    \"Ye Jiao¡­\"


    \"Brats!\"


    Before Lu Wan could finish his sentence, the two of them heard the familiar voice. They turned their head to the other side of the hall as they saw their master entered leisurely. He waved his hand.


    \"Master!\"


    \"It seems that I underestimate your progress,\" Zhan Jing commented as he swept his gaze on Ye Jiao. The stable Eon Energy inside the lass''s body told him that she had already consolidated her rank.


    Ye Jiao smiled. \"Master, you flatter me.\"


    \"I heard your progress from my pals over there,\" Zhan Jing showed a stack of paper that he took out of his storage bracelet. \"And I have to admit I''m surprised to hear that you didn''t have any proper weapon.\"


    \"Eh? That¡­\" Ye Jiao scratched her head feeling embarrassed. She didn''t know that they would have to fight against a pack of wolves every single day, so she didn''t ask for a weapon from her master. But if she thought about it again, Lu Wan had warned her to be careful and yet, she didn''t think that way.


    Zhan Jing shook his head. \"Now, what kind of weapon do you want?\"


    \"I want a curved dagger that''s similar with this,\" Ye Jiao took out the rib bone from her storage bracelet. \"I hope that it can be a thin blade that''s easy to use, Master.\"


    \"Curved dagger?\" Zhan Jing was rather surprised. \"You have weird taste.\"


    \"Right? I tell her that too¡­\"


    Bletak!


    \"You''re not any better,\" Zhan Jing hit the boy''s head. \"Do you think that weapon like the one you ask is easy to find?\"


    \"Eh? Master, don''t reveal that!\" Lu Wan protested. \"I want to surprise her after she had picked her own weapon.\"


    \"Fine, you brat.\"


    Ye Jiao looked at her master with a hopeful expression. \"Is it possible for me to have a curved dagger?\"


    \"Yes,\" Zhan Jing replied curtly. He waved his hand and three curved daggers appeared before him. The first one was red in color. It has numerous engravings on the blade and looked scary from the first look. The second one was silver in color. It didn''t have any engraving as it looked plain, but the might it showed was not any less from the red one. The third one was a black dagger. There was a faint layer of mist covering it, making it hard for anyone to see the true appearance beneath it. In addition, Ye Jiao could faintly feel a hint of bloodlust from the dagger.


    \"You have more weapons than I thought, Master,\" Lu Wan commented.


    Zhan Jing ignored the boy as he pointed to the first dagger. \"This is a dagger made of firestone and extremely suited for someone with a fire element. As for this one, this is one of the sharpest steel in the world that can possibly cut everything,\" He paused for a moment. \"The last one is from Valley of Death. It''s said to be cursed.\"


    \"Fire element?\" Ye Jiao asked the unfamiliar term she heard.


    Lu Wan put his hand on the back of his head. \"Haven''t you heard that those who become Eon Energy Rank 4 have the possibilities to use element energy?\"


    Rank 4?


    Recalling her mother and those two''s fight, Ye Jiao recalled that they indeed used three elements: earth, water, and wind. She never gave it much thought, but it seemed that there was a chance to control elements when they reached rank 4.


    Zhan Jing Nodded his head and looked at Ye Jiao. \"I don''t know what your element will be if you ever have the chance to earn the ability, but if you want to choose it, you''re free to do so.\"


    Ye Jiao was not entirely sure what element she would have, so she turned her head to the third blade. \"Master, you say that this is cursed, why?\"


    \"Death Valley is the place where numerous people had died,\" Lu Wan explained. \"It''s a very dangerous place and every weapon retrieved from that place is called to be cursed because of the looming dark intent around it.\"


    Looking at the dagger carefully, Ye Jiao could notice that it was surrounded by dark mist. Still, she felt as if the dagger was the perfect one for her. Slowly, she reached out her hand and grabbed it. The cold touch on the dagger didn''t scare her away as she pulled it near her body.


    \"I''ll pick this one, Master,\" Ye Jiao decided.


    Zhan Jing didn''t seem to be surprised as he nodded his head. \"The dagger seems to choose you too, so it''s your fate?\"


    The dagger chose her?


    Ye Jiao didn''t understand what her master meant, but she had come to like this dagger very much. The cold touch had disappeared as she could feel how light this dagger was. She took a few swings of the dagger to test it.


    It felt really convenient!


    \"I like it, Master. Thank you very much!\"


    Zhan Jing nudged Lu Wan. \"It seems that your little junior has more luck compared with you.\"


    \"Master¡­.\" Lu Wan showed an aggrieved expression. \"Are you going to remind me of how the cursed chain rejected me?\"


    \"Chain?\" Hearing that word, Ye Jiao was astonished. She looked at her senior brother with inquiry as she was surprised to hear that he chose a chain as his weapon.


    [This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l . c o m (without spaces) If you read this somewhere other than w e b n o v e l . c o m, it means the novel is stolen. It''s discouraging to see readers support thieves in stealing my hard work]

 99 Insane Master

    Lu Wan noticed Ye Jiao''s look and he grinned. \"That''s right. My weapon is a chain with a blade at the edge of it.\"


    As he spoke, he took out his weapon from his storage bracelet. The blade appeared on his palm with its long chain spread out to the back of his body while the end of the chain was a metal bracelet that was strapped to Lu Wan''s left hand. The chain was black in color with several silver lines along the body.


    \"It looks cool,\" Ye Jiao was amazed. She could faintly sense that there was a might behind this seemingly ordinary chain.


    \"Chen Kingdom is a bit behind in terms of weapon, so I don''t know the ranking system,\" Lu Wan clicked his tongue. He might not have much knowledge regarding weapons, but even he could tell that this weapon should have quite a high rank. \"I really want to know more about this weapon.\"


    Ye Jiao nodded. \"It''ll be good if we can find out later.\"


    \"Also, that dagger is going to make me envious.\"


    \"Oh right, you say something about rejection before,\" Ye Jiao recalled that Lu Wan said that the cursed weapon rejected him.


    Lu Wan nodded. \"There''s a chain connected to a blade from Death Valley that master showed to me, but I can''t touch it. It hurts me the moment I touch it.\"


    Ye Jiao was astonished when she heard that Lu Wan couldn''t touch it. Zhan Jing himself didn''t really touch it as he floated the dagger in front of them with Eon Energy, so she didn''t know that it was possible for a weapon to reject someone. For herself, the dagger only felt slightly cold, but it was still at the range of normal temperature.


    \"Now that you already have the dagger, it''s time to review the training you have to do for the next few months,\" Zhan Jing chose to change the conversation.


    Hearing that, the two children turned solemn and looked at Zhan Jing in anticipation.


    Lu Wan has been training for the past few months, but he also slacked off a lot because he spent a long time experimenting with his poison. Due to the months he went away to train in Hell Island, he had lost a lot of time to do his hobby, so he often sneaked out to do the experiment.


    As for Ye Jiao, she was not sure what kind of training would be suitable as Eon Energy Master Rank 1. She only trained the same way as she had trained in Hell Island and hadn''t continued anything after she left.


    \"First of all, Ye Jiao is going to continue the poison training. I''ll leave it up to you for the list of the poisons and here''s the list of the immunity she had so far,\" Zhan Jing handed a scroll to Lu Wan, who checked it.


    \"Hey, she''s already far better than me when I exited Hell Island.\"


    \"She has a better body constitution and will, but don''t try to exceed her limit,\" Zhan Jing reminded.


    Lu Wan grinned. \"Who do you think I am? I''ll surely make sure that Ye Jiao will have great immunity against these poison without endangering her life.\"


    \"But make me suffer?\"


    \"That''s obvious isn''t it?\"


    Seeing the ''innocent'' smile on Lu Wan''s face, Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. She could guess that her days in Lu Family Residence would be filled with hardship as this boy would surely push her body to the limit. Well, it was not that bad as long as she could grow even stronger.


    \"As for your training, there''s no need to make it much different with your training when you just form your core,\" Zhan Jing said leisurely. \"The intention of those at rank 1 is to make sure that they could control their Eon Energy outside their body and the best way to do that is by making sure that you have great physical coordination.\"


    \"Physical coordination?\" Ye Jiao thought the term was strange for her.


    Lu Wan groaned. \"It means that we have to make sure that we can control every part of our body to the very limit. We already learn how to control Eon Energy inside our body, now we have to use it to sense our body and make sure that there''s no gap between our reaction and mind.\"


    \"That¡­ is it possible?\" Ye Jiao was dumbfounded. She might not attend school, but she knew that there was a gap between their reaction speed and their mind. After all, the response gathered from their sense still needed time, albeit only for 0.0001 or so seconds before it could reach their motoric body parts.*


    Lu Wan grinned. \"It''s not possible normally, but Eon Energy Master has to make use of every second because even a split second action means everything. Just imagine you''re slower by a split second in a battle, you can possibly get wounded fatally and died.\"


    Ye Jiao shuddered when she thought about it. She had numerous battles with the wolves, so she knew very well that she had to train her physical reaction because she had gotten several wounds in the past because of reacting split second too late.


    Fortunately, there were no deep wounds so far.


    \"I believe that I already instructed you to train to your very limit, Lu Wan,\" Zhan Jing flicked a glance at his disciple. \"However, it seems that your progress is too slow.\"


    Lu Wan froze at his master''s words. He smiled sheepishly. \"My talent is not too good, so I''m taking a longer time to train, Master.\"


    \"Is that so? Then, this is the list of training you two have to do starting tomorrow.\"


    The two of them looked at the list as they nearly cursed out loud from the long list and inhuman training their master imposed on them. They truly couldn''t imagine how their master could come up with such a long list.


    \"Push up, sit up, running,\" Ye Jiao looked at Zhan Jing. \"Master, are we going to train our basic physique first?\"


    \"Yes,\" Zhan Jing nodded his head. \"There are several ways to train once you reach rank 1, but I feel that this training is the most suitable one for you two.\"


    Lu Wan nearly vomited blood when he heard his master''s word. The most suitable one? He would not fall for that lie. This training was the hardest one to master, but it would also bring the best result.


    However, this kind of training would make them take much longer time to reach the next rank.


    \"I can''t stay here for long, but I can supervise your training for one day,\" Zhan Jing rubbed his forehead as he recalled his mission that he had to finish. \"When I return one day, I hope that the two of you can become much better.\"


    The two of them could clearly feel the threat their master gave them. They gulped before nodding their head and rushed to start their training.


    Even though they were internally cursing at their inhumane master, they still followed after his direction.


    ...


    A/N: *In case you haven''t learned in school, when you see, smell, hear, or sense something, it''ll take time for your brain to process them into something you understand. Afterwards, it''ll be transmitted to other body parts responsible such as hand or other things.


    You can search this in google for the detail as I''m not majored in biology, so I can''t really say much about them (as for lessons from school¡­. I think I already buried them too deep in my brain that I can''t find it anymore :p)

 100 Lu Zhi

    Tak! Tak! Tak!


    The sounds of wooden weapons clashed against one another reverberated in the training hall. Before long, there was a loud thud sound as if someone fell down.


    \"You lost, Senior Brother Lu,\" Ye Jiao was holding a wooden curved blade that was directed at Lu Wan''s neck. She grinned happily.


    Lu Wan rolled his eyes. \"For your first win, you sure are happy.\"


    \"Of course, I''m happy. This means that I''m starting to catch up with you, Senior Brother Lu.\"


    Lu Wan wiped his sweat as he picked up his wooden blade. It might be connected with a chain to his arm, but the end blade was wood, so it wouldn''t be able to harm them. This was the weapon Zhan Jing gave him to practice before using the real one because it would be dangerous.


    For the past few months, the two of them were training in the training hall. Lu Wan had instructed the servants to not bother him at all and locked up the place. They didn''t worry about food as they could cook roasted meat from the wolves'' meat that Ye Jiao had in her storage bracelet.


    They had to admit that they no longer cared for the taste after the second week, though.


    Eating the same thing for months was hard, so they always roasted the meat to soften the texture before eating them all. The taste might be slightly raw and bitter, but the two of them no longer cared.


    At least, they didn''t starve.


    That was more important.


    \"Since you manage to get a win from me, it means that we can finally take a break from this hellish training,\" Lu Wan said in a relieved tone.


    Zhan Jing instructed that they had to stay in this training hall and didn''t get out at all until Ye Jiao managed to win a spar against Lu Wan. So far, they had to do physical exercise three times in a day and after each session, they had to spar against one another. It was tiring, and Ye Jiao could barely catch up at first.


    Now, she finally managed to win against Lu Wan.


    \"I hope that you didn''t go easy on me,\" Ye Jiao joked as she took a towel to wipe her sweat.


    \"Like hell I''ll go easy on you,\" Lu Wan rolled his eyes. \"Even though I want to get out of this place, I don''t have any plan on going easy on you.\"


    He had to admit that Ye Jiao grew faster than his estimation. He didn''t give her any handicap and always fought with his all, but Ye Jiao slowly maintained her pace and position against him. Their battle lasted longer and longer to the point that they barely had any sleep every single day because of the sparring session.


    \"It''s time to get out,\" Lu Wan stretched. Thankfully, it was still morning because they had only finished one training session today and Ye Jiao already beat him. This meant that they could finally rest and no longer pushed themselves to the limit.


    \"Are you going to play with poison again, Senior Brother Lu?\" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    Lu Wan nodded his head. \"Yeah. I''m not going to just stay here and practice every single day. It''s not like my entire life is just training, right?\"


    \"I know, but what are you going to do with your guest?\"


    The two of them were Eon Energy Master, so they have keener sense. It might be due to the training they had in the forest, but it was easier for them to detect if there was someone near them.


    Well, it would be a different story if that person was a master hiding his strength.


    \"I guess, I''ll have to entertain them first,\" Lu Wan changed his clothes while Ye Jiao moved to the dressing room to change hers. He kept the chain and wooden blade into his storage bracelet. \"Don''t leave a trace of your weapon here.\"


    \"I already keep it,\" Ye Jiao returned. This time she already wore the servant clothes on top of her own clothes.


    \"It''s still too big for you.\"


    \"I can''t help it. I''m still 9.\"


    Lu Wan sighed and changed his expression to the proper one. He proceeded to open the door, revealing a young girl around the same age with him standing there. The girl had dark brown wavy hair with a pair of enchanting eyes. Her countenance was fair with some similarities to Lu Wan.


    \"Brother Lu Wan,\" the girl called out.


    Lu Wan''s gaze was cold as he crossed his arm. \"I believe I have told you to not bother me, right Lu Zhi.\"


    The girl named Lu Zhi didn''t seem to mind Lu Wan''s rudeness as she smiled sweetly. \"Brother Lu Wan, Father is home and he''s waiting for you make your report.\"


    \"It''s already the time?\" Lu Wan frowned. \"Fine, I''ll go there, so you can scram from my place.\"


    \"I''ll go as I don''t really have any intention to stay here for long, Brother Lu Wan.\"


    Lu Wan didn''t bother to look at Lu Zhi anymore as he jogged out of his residence. He knew that his father would find out that he had gotten out of the training hall very soon, so he had to meet with the latter as soon as possible. He didn''t wish to create more troubles from his father.


    Without Lu Wan around, the smile and amiable smile on Lu Zhi turned frosty. She looked at Ye Jiao and scrutinized her up and down.


    Despite feeling uncomfortable by the girl''s gaze, Ye Jiao stood quietly. She changed repeatedly inside her mind to ignore the young lady before her. Right now, she didn''t have any status and acting without knowing the other party''s identity was only looking for trouble.


    She clearly didn''t want to make more trouble for herself.


    \"You''re the new servant that Lu Wan picks again. You''re truly small,\" Lu Zhi criticized. \"Forget it, it doesn''t matter. From now on, you should leave this residence.\"


    Ye Jiao was stunned by the woman''s order as she felt that this girl was truly ridiculous. Was she the decision maker in the Lu Family? She had heard that Lu Family Head had lost his main wife a few years ago, but the one who held the highest power should be the other wives, right?


    At least, that was what she learned from these noble families'' rules. A man might have several wives and the one who managed the household was the main wife. If the main wife passed away, it was usually conducted by the wife he favored the most.


    This Lu Zhi should be his daughter from the way she addressed Lu Wan, right?


    \"This servant apologized, but I don''t understand,\" Ye Jiao replied in a humble way. She really wished to call for Lu Wan right now to have him explain the condition of this household.


    Lu Zhi clicked her tongue, an action that was actually unbefitting for a lady. \"That damned Lu Wan, he didn''t even tell the basic rules in this household. Listen to me, you''re not going to stay alive if you follow after Lu Wan. If you want to survive, you have to follow after me.\"


    Hearing this girl''s claim, Ye Jiao was speechless.


    [This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l . c o m (without spaces) If you read this somewhere other than w e b n o v e l . c o m, it means the novel is stolen. It''s discouraging to see readers support thieves in stealing my hard work]

 101 The Deal to Live Freely

    Hearing this girl''s claim, Ye Jiao was speechless.


    \"Miss, I''m sorry but I''m Young Master Lu Wan''s servant,\" Ye Jiao decided to reply politely. In any case, she assumed the identity as Lu Wan''s servant right now, so her words were not wrong.


    Lu Zhi crossed her arm. \"Are you dumb?\"


    \"Thank you for your compliment, Miss.\"


    \"¡­\" Lu Zhi was not complimenting her, she was asking a question. Seeing the calm look on Ye Jiao''s face, she felt that this little girl was more annoying than any other servant she ever met.


    \"Change your master and pledge your loyalty to me, brat.\"


    This was the first time Ye Jiao met someone so rude after Lu Wan. Even then, Lu Wan never forced anyone as he only expression his displeasure and pointed things out in the most direct way possible.


    \"I''m afraid that it''s impossible,\" Ye Jiao replied.


    Lu Zhi sneered. \"Do you really think that Lu Wan is all powerful in this residence. He''s just treated like that because he''ll leave this place soon and once that happens, all the servants have to follow my will.\"


    Leave this place soon?


    Ye Jiao had heard from Lu Wan that the boy made a deal with his father, but she hadn''t heard anything regarding him leaving the house. If anything, the two of them were capable of living outside as they could protect themselves or stayed within Bao Fu Organization territory. There might be a different meaning of that phrase?


    \"I''m sorry Miss Lu, but I''m not the one making the decision,\" Ye Jiao decided to push the blame to Lu Wan. After all, this mess happened because of him in the first place. She had no qualm pulling him into the problem as well.


    Lu Zhi clicked her tongue. Despite having an annoyed face, her face still looked as beautiful as ever, which made one wonder if this girl''s appearance could become bad. Right now, Lu Zhi was certain that everything she said would never enter Ye Jiao''s ear.


    \"Don''t say that I never warn you,\" Lu Zhi turned her body around. If she spent more time here, Lu Wan would surely return and catch her. \"If anything happens to you, you have no one to blame but yourself.\"


    It was a threat.


    Ye Jiao knew it very well, yet she put on a smile on her face. \"Many thanks for the reminder, Miss Lu.\"


    As Lu Zhi walked away in an elegant way, Ye Jiao sighed to herself. She was thankful that she had seen how her mother dealt with these annoying women in the past, so she could imitate them. Still, she felt extremely annoyed at that woman.


    If not for the fact that this place was Lu Family Residence, where experts were abundant, she might not be able to hold back her anger.


    A few seconds later Lu Wan returned. His face was dark as if he had just eaten the worst food possible in the world. Ye Jiao corrected her posture and greeted him just like how a servant would.


    \"Welcome back, Young Master Lu.\"


    \"Follow me to the training hall,\" Lu Wan only gave an order as he walked ahead. There were some other servants around them, so he didn''t dare to talk a lot. The training hall was made soundproofed, which allowed them to have a secret conversation there.


    The moment the door was closed, Lu Wan slammed his fist on the ground.


    Bang!


    \"That damned man, he just wants to make things difficult!\" Lu Wan cursed in annoyance.


    \"Is there anything wrong?\"


    Lu Wan sighed. \"He wants me to uphold Lu Family name and appear in the school again because I already skip months. But really, I hate the lessons. They only teach you history of this place, etiquette, manner, and useless things.\"


    Ye Jiao just smiled wryly. In Lu Wan''s eyes, those were incredibly useless, but Ye Jiao thought otherwise. She would still stay in this kingdom for who knows how many years, so having knowledge was important. After all, she wouldn''t be able to stay alive without them.


    \"Don''t you need to at least have some basic knowledge?\"


    \"I already have them,\" Lu Wan rolled his eyes. \"I still know some basic manner and etiquette for important events. But I''m not going to bother with them if it''s unnecessary.\"


    \"I see.\"


    \"By the way, did Lu Zhi create any trouble for you when I leave?\"


    \"Oh,\" Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows. \"It seems that you''re sure that she''s going to create trouble, Senior Brother Lu.\"


    Lu Wan averted his eyes. \"I just want to know your condition?\"


    \"Senior Brother Lu, it''s better for you to just say the truth. Didn''t you promise me that you''re going to tell more about your family after I return back from Hell Island?\" Ye Jiao crossed her arm.


    \"Fine,\" Lu Wan gave up. \"I told you before that I made a deal after I formed my core with my Father, right? In this kingdom, it''s rare for anyone to form their core under the age of 12 and only some geniuses managed to do so. One of them was your father, but even he only formed one when he was 11.


    When I managed to form my core at the age of 10, that''s when I realize that there''s a chance that my talent is better than many geniuses in this kingdom. I use it as a bargaining chip to gain freedom in this residence and I''ll bring the family name by getting accepted into an academy when I reach rank 3.\"


    Academy!


    Ye Jiao had heard this a few times that those who could manage to enter the academy have the chance to reach higher rank above rank 4. If Lu Wan managed to enter the academy and obtained the necessary study he required, it was possible for Lu Wan to enter an even higher stage.


    It was no wonder that the Lu Family listened to his every demand and allowed him to act as he wished in the residence.


    \"That means, you''re going to leave the residence in the future?\"


    \"Whether I succeed or not didn''t matter for them,\" Lu Wan shrugged. \"I don''t really have anything to tie me down to this family, so I just stay here out of convenience. Since I''ll certainly leave the residence, the battle for the family head is passed down to my two siblings, Lu Su and Lu Zhi.\"


    \"Lu Zhi?\" Ye Jiao was astonished. From what she knew, the people in this kingdom preferred men over women. What made them allow a girl to become their family head?


    Lu Wan seemed to understand what was going on in Ye Jiao''s head. He shook his head. \"It''s not like what you think. The one that has the chance to be the family head is Lu Zhi''s husband.\"

 102 Going to School for the First Time

    "It''s not like what you think. The one that has the chance to be the family head is Lu Zhi''s husband."


    Lu Zhi''s husband?


    The phrase seemed stranger in Ye Jiao''s opinion because Lu Zhi was clearly only 12 years old or so. She knew that some girls married young, but she had never heard of them getting married at the age of 12 and still stayed in their parent''s residence.


    Lu Wan pondered for a moment. "What''s your impression of Lu Zhi?"


    "She''s pretty." As long as she didn''t open her mouth.


    Ye Jiao only has a short time to observe Lu Zhi, so she still didn''t know much regarding Lu Zhi''s capabilities. What she had seen so far was only the girl''s appearance and foul mouth that didn''t reflect on the girl''s pretty face.


    "That''s correct." Lu Wan shrugged. "When I''m in the Hell Island, it seemed that someone powerful took a fancy of her and proposed a marriage. In short, she''s the fianc¨¦e of a high rank official in Chen Kingdom. Once she reached adulthood, she''ll be married away and the position of Lu Family Head can be taken by her husband or my brother depending on who''s more capable."


    Ye Jiao was truly speechless at the words that Lu Wan uttered. She knew that Lu Zhi seemed to be so confident, but she didn''t think that this would be the case.


    "Is she also a genius in Eon Energy?"


    "The opposite," Lu Wan replied. "She''s worse than average people in the capital city, so she doesn''t have much hope in this field."


    "I see."


    The two of them stayed silent for a short period of time. Ye Jiao was trying to digest everything she could into her brain while Lu Wan just tried to relax. From what he said, she could infer that Lu Zhi only has the potential to inherit the position because of her face.


    Right, she had completely forgotten a woman''s weapon.


    "Now, you''re going to help me with my experiment," Lu Wan suddenly changed the conversation. His face turned sour. "Starting tomorrow, I''ll have to go to school, so you have to stay here today to accompany me creating new poison."


    "School?"


    "Like I said before, My Father wanted me to uphold the Lu Family name. First of all, I have to start attending school again," Lu Wan replied. The thought of attending school again aggrieved him. He longed for the freedom he could get after the training schedule was over, but now it was impossible.


    "I understand. It seems that I need to learn more about etiquette first."


    "Wait, you have to help me in my experiment."


    "I don''t have any knowledge in herbs. Besides, it''ll be better if I train my acting skill lest that I make it hard to believe that I''m your servant."


    The last time Ye Jiao acted in her mission, she was so awkward in her movements. It was all pure torture for her, which she hoped to forget for her entire life. Because of that, she had been trying to engrave the acting skill into her bone whenever it was possible. Of course, her level was still low.


    The only persona she could act out was only an ordinary servant, which was intended for her to survive in this residence. It was still in training, but she had become better as the thought that Lu Wan was her senior brother made it easier for her to act.


    "True enough," Lu Wan sighed. "We''ll have a break from our training from now, so there''s no need to bother me too much."


    In training, knowing when to train hard and rest was important. As their body was still developing, it would be impossible for them to train all the time. They needed proper rest to let their body absorb the training they had.


    With the new arrangement, the two of them have a peaceful day for the first time in a few months. Ye Jiao headed to the servant''s quarter and asked about the rules and regulation while Lu Wan spent his time in his room to make new poison.


    The day passed quietly.


    The next day, Lu Wan woke up early. He glanced at the window as he sighed deeply. "Ye Jiao, you''re there, right?"


    "I''m here," Ye Jiao replied. She was standing by Lu Wan''s door. As her room was located in front of his, she could reach this place quickly.


    "You should think of a name for yourself. I can''t possibly call you with your real name in front of the Wei Family," Lu Wan said. He prepared himself and walked out after a few minutes. Seeing Ye Jiao was contemplating, he patted the girl''s shoulder.


    "I truly didn''t know what name to use," Ye Jiao admitted. If she used a random name, she was worried that she wouldn''t be able to get used to it.


    Lu Wan scratched his head. "Certainly, you''re not allowed to use Ye surname."


    "Why?"


    "Didn''t you realize that you''re the only person with Ye surname in this kingdom?"


    Now that Lu Wan mentioned it, Ye Jiao had never heard of anyone else around them with the same surname as hers. She thought it was because her grandfather had died, but if that was the case, was the Ye Family so small that it only has one successor?


    "Ye Family is a small family?"


    Lu Wan shrugged. "Don''t ask me, I''m not good at history. But at least, I know that this surname will grant you instant death. Not only Wei Family, the Imperial family also issues an order to kill everyone with Ye surname."


    What?


    Ye Jiao shuddered when she heard Lu Wan''s words. She thought that they had been too much when they pressured her father and chased after her mother. Now they didn''t give any leeway and gave an order to have her dead.


    While Ye Jiao was in deep thought, Lu Wan entered the main hall. He turned his head to the nearby servant. "Bring my food to the carriage. I''ll eat there."


    "Yes, Young Master."


    "Xiao''er, come follow after me."


    "Ah- yes, Young Master," Ye Jiao was startled, but she followed after Lu Wan. Hearing the name that he used to call her, she didn''t know whether to cry or laugh. It was her father''s name with a different tone as this one was the one used for girls.*


    The two of them headed outside the residence where a majestic carriage was ready. It was coated in brown color with beautiful engraving around it. Not only that, there was also character Lu on the front door.


    "Tsk, I hate this carriage," Lu Wan muttered.


    Lu Wan entered the carriage while Ye Jiao hesitated. Only after Lu Wan beckoned for her to come inside did Ye Jiao move. She ignored the eyes of the servants around them, who seemed to wish to make a hole on her head.


    As the carriage moved, Ye Jiao sighed in relief.


    "I feel that there are a lot of people who wish to share the carriage with you, Young Master," Ye Jiao remarked.


    Lu Wan shrugged. He picked up the bowl on the table that the servants have set up in the carriage. It was a large carriage and the table itself was luxurious, though the two of them paid it no heed.


    "They''re just trying to gain my favor because they know that whoever can gain my trust will be given an important role by my father," Lu Wan sneered. "That old fox just wants to tie me up to the residence."


    Ye Jiao blinked several times as she tried to digest the word that Lu Wan said. It seemed that the lives of people in a large family was more complicated than what she had thought. They lived by making use of other people around them.


    "Just eat, Xiao''er. They always prepare too much for me."


    "Ah, right," Ye Jiao picked up the chopstick. Then she remembered something. "Right, why did you call me Xiao''er?"


    "It''s normal to use Xiao as a girl''s name, so I think that this will be good. If you''re against it, you can suggest a different name," Lu Wan replied.


    It was indeed a common name, so Ye Jiao found Lu Wan''s reason to be normal. She didn''t have much qualm to use this name as it also helped to remind her of her father.


    "It''s fine. I''ll just use this name."


    "Good, now eat."


    "Ok."


    The two of them cleaned up the food on the plates as the carriage going to the school. When it was already near, Ye Jiao took a sneak peek from the window. Seeing the large gate in front of them, she sighed to herself.


    If she was alone, she would never have a chance to enter the school''s ground.


    "There''s no need to worry. Try not to catch any attention and you''ll be able to escape unscathed."


    "Yes."


    ¡­


    *Chinese pinyin can have multiple tone and have several different writing even with the same tone.

 103 Looking Towards the Future

    The gate opened and Ye Jiao got the full picture of the school. It consisted of several large buildings. The main building has the shape of a box with four floors inside. It was also the place for students to go to class as multiple students could be seen walking in and out. The courtyard was large and there was even a place for the carriage to park not far from the main building.


    The carriage stopped and the driver spoke to Lu Wan.


    "Young Master, we have arrived."


    Ye Jiao opened the door and walked out. She stood quietly by the side of the carriage and wondered whether she should crouch at the front. Some nobles have their servants acted as a stepping stool for them. Even though most of them were women nobles, there were also some males who did this practice.


    As Ye Jiao didn''t really have the complete picture of how nobles in this kingdom work, she was still wondering.


    "Why are you daydreaming?" Lu Wan already got out of the carriage and waved his hand carelessly in front of Ye Jiao.


    "Ah, I''m just thinking what I should do."


    Lu Wan followed after Ye Jiao''s sight and sighed. "You just have to stand by the carriage and close the door after I get out. Is that clear?"


    "Yes!"


    Ye Jiao hurriedly closed the door while Lu Wan stretched his body. For him, staying inside that annoying carriage was a torture as he hated to become a spectacle from Lu Family.


    "You''ll need to learn the rules if you don''t want to have the servants watch you," Lu Wan remarked.


    "I''ll do that."


    "Don''t force yourself too hard," Lu Wan tilted his head. "I''ll find a way to make my father ground me at home."


    What?


    While Ye Jiao was stunned at Lu Wan''s remark, Mu Xin was making her way to them. She had seen the carriage from Lu Family arrive, so she could guess that Lu Wan must be coming over. After all, the carriage that Lu Su and Lu Wan used were completely different.


    "Good morning, Young Master Lu Wan," Mu Xin greeted.


    "Mu Xin," Lu Wan nodded politely. "Is there any problem?"


    "No," Mu Xin''s eyes were fixed on Ye Jiao. From the girl''s complexion, she knew that Lu Wan didn''t mistreat Ye Jiao at all. This made her feel glad.


    "If you''re going to criticize my behavior, I think it''s time for you to stop. No matter what you say, I''m not going to change."


    "You''re as impolite as ever, Young Master Lu Wan."


    The two of them looked at one another. They knew that they were just keeping up appearances as Lu Wan gave her an excuse to approach him. On the other hand, it has been known that Mu Xin was strict at rules, so she occasionally would reprimand other students if they misbehaved.


    Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao. "I''ll be going to class. You can wait here or just walk around. The servants are allowed to walk around the area."


    "I understand, Young Master."


    Mu Xin passed a glance at Ye Jiao again, but she knew that it would be too eye catching if she talked to a servant. Sighing to herself, she headed to the class.


    ''I''ll have another chance later.''


    As the bell rang, the courtyard became empty. Ye Jiao leaned on the nearby tree as she watched the other servants talk to one another. They were already familiar as they used to escort their master or miss. This was the best time for them to relax as they just have to wait for their master.


    Ye Jiao was not used to talking with other people as most of them avoided her before. Looking around, she took the chance to walk to the other side of the school where there were not many people.


    ''The school''s area is vast,'' Ye Jiao thought to herself.


    She carefully stepped on the grassy ground and looked over to the classrooms not far from her. From the window, she could see the students listening to their teacher. Some of them were laughing while some others played by themselves.


    Seeing that, she really wished she could get in and listened to some of the teaching as she was curious about the lessons that children normally had.


    "What are you doing here?"


    The voice made her startled. Ye Jiao hurriedly bowed down and avoid making eye contact. "My apologies, I''m walking around without paying any attention."


    The old man looked at Ye Jiao for several seconds. "Raise your head."


    Ye Jiao did as he said. This allowed her to be able to see the old man''s appearance. He looked quite old and ordinary, but there was a faint threatening presence around him.


    The old man suddenly muttered. "Ye Xiao."


    "!"


    Hearing her father''s name, Ye Jiao instinctively readied her stance. Even though she was still a mere Eon Energy Master rank 1, she wouldn''t give herself up without any fight. Her eyes were showing dangerous glint as she was prepared to make a run should she need it.


    "There''s no need to tense up," the old man laughed as tears started to form. "Ye Jiao, you''re truly your father''s daughter. Your appearance is truly similar to him."


    Ye Jiao didn''t know what to reply as she didn''t really have the chance to properly look at her appearance in the mirror. Since she was her father''s daughter, they should look similar, no?


    "I don''t mean any harm. I''m just an elementary school principal," the old man introduced himself. "I used to teach Ye Xiao, so I''m familiar with his appearance. You don''t have to worry other people will be able to recognize you as you have changed a lot from the last time I see you."


    "The last time?" Ye Jiao was stunned. She didn''t recall meeting the principal.


    "I saw you from my office when you visited the school years ago," the principal sighed. His eyes turned moist. "It''s truly a pity that you have to end up this way."


    "Mr. Principal? I''m fine," Ye Jiao smiled reassuringly. She didn''t know this man, but the concern he sounded out sounded genuine for her. Probably due to the fact that she has been living while receiving malicious gazes directed at her, she has become sensitive to other people''s gaze.


    And this old man''s gaze was filled with concern and guilt.


    The principal sighed once again. "If only your father is still alive, I''m sure he''ll be proud of you. You manage to survive and live by yourself."


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly.


    She was not sure that her father would be proud that her daughter got involved in an assassin''s organization. However, she didn''t want to leave as it was the path she had chosen herself.


    "Are you a servant? This clothes seems to be coming from the Lu Family."


    "Ah yeah, I''m serving Young Master Lu Wan from Lu Family. I''m living well there," Ye Jiao explained her condition partially.


    The principal nodded his head. The Lu Family would be a good choice as neither the Imperial Family and Wei Family would want to mess with them. Besides, Lu Wan was said to be the future of the Lu Family, so Ye Jiao''s position would be safe.


    "I see. It''s good for you, but if you have the chance, it''ll be better for you to leave this kingdom. I don''t want to see you suffer the same fate as your parents," the principal raised his hand, intending to stroke the girl''s head, but he decided against it. "The future is still unknown, so you should never lose hope, little girl."


    "Yes!" Ye Jiao acknowledged it.


    "Alright, take care of yourself."


    After looking at the girl once more, the principal walked away. He hoped that he could help the girl as he had failed to protect Ye Xiao in the past. If there was a chance, he would not hesitate to help her.


    This time, he didn''t want to leave regret behind again.


    Seeing the principal walking away, Ye Jiao never realized that there were more people who actually cared for her family.


    ''The future, right? I''ll change my fate and get them back for what they have done to me.''


    For a moment, Ye Jiao''s eyes glinted ruthlessly. It disappeared as soon as it appeared as Ye Jiao appeared tranquil and walked around once more. She still couldn''t move as she was not strong enough.


    She needed time to grow.


    Until she had enough power, she had to restrain her movements.

 104 Training Method

    In the end, Ye Jiao just wandered around the school without any clear direction. When it was time for a break, she returned to the carriage and spotted Lu Wan walking over to her direction with a gloomy face.


    "Welcome back, Young Master¡­."


    "Get in," Lu Wan entered the carriage without any explanation and Ye Jiao also entered inside. Seeing the boy''s sour expression, she could guess that he didn''t have fun in class just now.


    "Is there anything wrong?"


    "Just talk normally, the carriage is protected with a barrier," Lu Wan messed up his own hair. "The classes are terribly boring. The teacher basically repeats what they had taught as if we''re idiots. I can''t believe that they treat us as a fool."


    "¡­" Ye Jiao couldn''t say anything as she didn''t know the content of their teaching.


    "For the next lesson, you''re going with me. I''m going to die with boredom there."


    "Can I?"


    "I''ll just ask for permission," Lu Wan replied. "Even if they didn''t permit it, I can just make a scene and use this chance to not come to school again."


    It was truly the troublemaker Lu Wan''s style to not back down until he got what he wanted. As Lu Wan didn''t really have anything he cared for in this kingdom, his father couldn''t really control him while other people were afraid of offending him.


    "Nothing could stop you, right Senior Brother Lu?" Ye Jiao struggled to hold her laugh.


    "Anyway, I''m thinking of developing new poison again, so you''ve to cover me by talking to others on my behalf."


    "Is there anyone brave enough to approach you?"


    "No, but they''re noisy," Lu Wan scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, the next topic is about training as Eon Energy Master rank 1, so you might find it interesting."


    Ye Jiao blinked as she saw Lu Wan opened the door and jumped out. She smiled as she understood that Lu Wan wanted her to listen to the teaching, which was the reason why he wanted her to come.


    Well, the reason that he was bored should be true too.


    With that, Ye Jiao followed after Lu Wan. They entered the corridor with other students looking in their direction. In the first place, Lu Wan''s green hair already stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd. Added with a servant following behind him, it started to become a hot topic that they discussed.


    Entering the classroom, Ye Jiao looked around in curiosity. The classroom itself was large with around 100 or so chairs in the direction of the board. The chairs at the back were placed higher, allowing the students to be able to see the board clearer. It looked like a classroom that was suitable for a seminar.


    "I''m bringing her in," Lu Wan said to the teacher. The teacher nodded his head without any intention to refute as Lu Wan started walking to the back. Other students made way for the boy as if he was a plague.


    ''Senior Brother seems to be famous for his notoriety.''


    Lu Wan sat down and patted the seat beside him, telling Ye Jiao to sit beside him. As soon as Ye Jiao sat down, she could painfully feel the gaze of other students landed on her. It was good that she had gotten used to people''s gaze upon her, so she could ignore them.


    "Young Master, is it alright for me to sit here?"


    "If they want trouble, I don''t mind accompanying them," Lu Wan replied uncaringly. He leaned on the chair as his eyes followed after Mu Xin, who approached the two of them.


    "Are you not going to adhere to the rules?"


    "I don''t recall any rules telling me that I can''t bring other people inside the classroom," Lu Wan smirked. "Did I remember wrongly?"


    Mu Xin frowned, but she didn''t pester him anymore. She sat down in front of Lu Wan, which meant that it was adjacent to Ye Jiao. This would allow her to see Ye Jiao easier in case it was needed.


    ''Your sister is more annoying than I thought she''ll be,'' Lu Wan whispered to Ye Jiao.


    Ye Jiao just smiled wryly and didn''t answer. She appreciated the concern Mu Xin had, but this would make them stand out too much. Unfortunately, she didn''t have any chance to talk with either one of them as the teacher had come inside.


    "Good afternoon, everyone."


    "Good afternoon!"


    The teacher stood up at the front and smiled brightly. "Today, we''re going to review the lessons about how to practice Eon Energy after you reach rank 1. As you have known before, the mark for those who reach rank 2 are their ability to form Eon Energy shield outside their body."


    As he spoke, he utilized his Eon Energy and formed a layer of Eon Energy outside his body. It enveloped his body perfectly, covering every spot. As the teacher moved his hand, the Eon Energy stuck around his body.


    "It seems easy, but I''m sure you know how hard it is to push Eon Energy outside your body after pulling it into your body and moreover, your core. It''s a design of your body that makes it possible for you to form your core, but at the same time, it makes it harder for you to utilize Eon Energy.


    To be able to push it outside your body, there are various ways. First is by pulling it out from small parts of your body such as fingers."


    The teacher lifted up his finger and imbued it with Eon Energy. As it was normally colorless, he purposely added more energy to make it visible by the students as he played it around his fingers.


    "This is common practice because it''s easier to start with small parts. However, there are many other types of training such as pulling them all out of most of your body parts at once little by little. This training takes a considerably larger amount of time, but the stability is far higher than doing it little by little.


    The other type of training is by using Eon Energy inside your body while you train physically. This is the hardest one, but this gives double results because you''ll be able to grow stronger both physically and have better control. The last method usually takes longer time for Eon Energy Master as it''s much harder¡­."


    As the teacher continued his explanation, Ye Jiao felt like banging her head on the table. This was the first time she realized the types of training possible for Eon Energy Master rank 1 and realized something.


    ''Master, why are you picking the hardest one for us?''


    Under Zhan Jing''s guidance, the two of them were tasked to train Eon Energy by training their body. It was the hardest type of training possible and took a considerably larger amount of time to reach rank 2.


    "Master is a genuine sadist," Lu Wan remarked as if he knew what was inside Ye Jiao''s mind. His hand was still busy writing the name of strange herbs, but his mouth spoke other things. "He''ll pick the hardest route for his students because it''ll give the best result. Even though the route is filled with pain and takes much longer."


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. She didn''t know if it was her luck or bad luck to encounter a teacher like Zhan Jing. However, recalling her dream to reach the peak, she knew that it would be better to have a stable process.


    Slow but steady.


    Organizing her thoughts, Ye Jiao returned her attention back to the teacher. She wanted to know more about the training and all.


    Like that, the two of them spent the afternoon in the class.

 105 Provocation

    "Did it satisfy your curiosity?" Lu Wan asked after the teacher finished his lecture.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "There are a lot of things that I never knew before. Thank you, Young Master."


    "Like I say, I''m bored," Lu Wan stretched his body. On his desk, his books were scattered as he had just finished making a formula. The notebook and his scribble were placed on top of one another messily.


    "I understand, Young Master."


    "Clean up my table for a bit."


    Ye Jiao was surprised at the task because she knew Lu Wan was capable of putting them all into his storage bracelet. However, she saw the young man walking to the front of the class where a familiar face was standing there.


    A young man with upright appearance and long dark brown hair was standing near the door lazily. As an adolescent, he had a handsome face and elegant air that came from his standing in this kingdom.


    ''Wei Cheng.''


    Unknowingly, Ye Jiao''s fingers were clasped into a fist. She couldn''t forget how this young man treated her worse than trash. He always beat her up and with her measly power back then, she couldn''t even fight back. All she could do was run and hide.


    "That trash is as arrogant as always."


    Ye Jiao raised her head and locked her gaze to Mu Xin. It seemed that her sworn sister noticed her uneasiness and spoke up on her behalf. She smiled. "He has backing and people around him, so it''s normal to be arrogant."


    "His strength is not half bad, but I''m going to surpass him and become far better," Mu Xin said full of determination. "I''ll never let him bully you anymore."


    "Thank you."


    Her eyes felt a bit wet as she listened to Mu Xin''s promise. She felt the warmth from Mu Xin''s care for her.


    Mu Xin hesitated for a moment before placing a brown thin bracelet on Ye Jiao''s table. "I asked this from my father a few days ago. This bracelet is capable of withstanding full power attack from Eon Energy Master rank 3 and will protect you automatically. It''s for you, Jiao''er."


    Ye Jiao blanked for a moment. "Senior Mu, this is too precious, I¡­."


    "Take it, it''s my present as your sister," Mu Xin insisted. "I don''t want to hear words that you died somewhere suddenly. I''ll grow stronger and protect you, so you have to stay alive."


    "I understand," Ye Jiao smiled and took the bracelet slowly. She knew that Mu Xin cared for her a lot and wished for her wellbeing. This bracelet just showed them all perfectly.


    "Someday, I''ll repay the kindness that you show me several fold, Senior Mu."


    "There''s no need," Mu Xin smiled, showing the rare warm expression on her usual cold face. "I''ll be content as long as you can stay alive and live happily."


    However, Ye Jiao wouldn''t want to take advantage of Mu Xin. When there was a chance in the future, she would surely repay what Mu Xin had given to her by several folds. This was a promise she had to herself.


    While the two girls talked, Lu Wan had approached Wei Cheng.


    "I thought that you''re too afraid to come out, Lu Wan," Wei Cheng said to Lu Wan without caring for greeting.


    Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. He smirked. "Do you think that I''ll be afraid of your childish provocation?"


    "Who do you think is more childish? You or me?"


    "Do you think I don''t remember how you used to run away because you can''t defeat me in the arena?" Wei Cheng asked.


    Lu Wan smiled. "And here I thought you''re just some bully who always challenges those younger than you because you''re jealous."


    Their words were extremely harsh to one another as the atmosphere between the two of them turned sharper. It was apparent that their relationship was extremely bad that they couldn''t stay in the same picture.


    "What do you want, Lu Wan?"


    "I just want to see you after a long time. It seems that you didn''t have any progress whatsoever," Lu Wan smirked. "The title as a genius is just a fake title, huh?"


    Wei Cheng''s face darkened at Lu Wan''s words. His talent was only above average at best as there were still a lot of people with better talent. Even in his residence, there were two people who had better talent, so the provocation that Lu Wan gave him clearly hit him at the sore spot.


    "You-!"


    "Brother, I don''t think it''s wise to attack people randomly."


    The crisp and melodious sound caused Wei Cheng to halt his movements. Not far from him, a young girl around the age of 14 years old stood calmly. Her sharp gaze told others that she was not someone to be trifled with, yet her beautiful face would surely attract others to her.


    "Wei Yin," Wei Cheng uttered the name of his younger sister.


    Wei Yin and Wei Cheng were half brother and sister. They have the same father but different mothers. At the same time, Wei Yin was known to have better talent than Wei Cheng because she formed her core and advanced into Eon Energy Master rank 1 faster.


    Lu Wan shrugged. "Look, the real genius has appeared."


    "Lu Wan, you should be careful with your speech," Wei Yin said with a hint of warning in her tone.


    Lu Wan didn''t really care for this woman as he turned around. "I only say my greetings to an annoying friend of mine who never knew when to stop bullying those younger than him. There''s no need for you to glare at me with that eyes as I don''t want to bother you anymore."


    Wei Yin planned on rebuking Lu Wan, but the young man had walked away. She turned her head to her brother.


    "It''s time to return, Brother."


    Wei Cheng sneered. "Don''t think that your talent will grant you a higher position. You''re nothing but a concubine daughter."


    Facing the provocation from her brother, Wei Yin was expressionless. "Father is waiting for us."


    "Tsk, let''s go," Wei Cheng turned around and left the classroom with Wei Yin behind him. Other students let them pass without making any ruckus as they knew that the relationship between siblings in Wei Family was filled with thorns.


    Lu Wan saw that his books were placed neatly, so he waved his hand to put them inside his storage bracelet. "I''ll be going back."


    "Will you come again tomorrow?" Mu Xin asked.


    "I have to go to school for the time being because of my father," Lu Wan explained. "You can talk more later."


    "I see. Take care."


    Knowing that they still have more time tomorrow, Mu Xin didn''t force Ye Jiao to stay and returned back home too.

 106 The Real Plan

    For the next few days, Lu Wan diligently came to the school. Even the teachers were astonished to see Lu Wan attend the school as they knew how hard it was to convince him to come.


    Only Ye Jiao knew that Lu Wan merely put on a fa?ade while he was actually busy making new formulas to test at home. The two of them still practiced occasionally, but Lu Wan would be busy making new poison again after a spar. It seemed that the boy was determined to do his hobby no matter what.


    In school, Lu Wan would do nothing but listing out the experiment he hadn''t done. At times, he would approach Wei Cheng and provoke the other party, making their relationship worse. On the other hand, Ye Jiao listened to the class and used the chance to interact with Mu Xin as much as possible.


    With that, their days passed quietly.


    "You look sleepy again, Senior Brother Lu," Ye Jiao remarked on their way back.


    Lu Wan yawned. "I didn''t manage to find the correct composition for the new poison and that annoying Wei Cheng just have to bother me at this time."


    Not long ago, the two of them clashed again because Wei Cheng wanted to flaunt his new position in the military. Lu Wan didn''t care about that and he was in a bad mood because he failed to find the solution, making his speech extremely harsh.


    "I wonder if Wei Cheng will find trouble for you."


    "If he did, it''ll be for the best," Lu Wan leaned on the chair. "It''ll make things easier for me."


    "What do you mean?"


    Lu Wan didn''t bother answering as he fell asleep. As he was with Ye Jiao, he knew that the girl would surely help him out, so he could relax without any care.


    ''If you''re tired, you should just sleep from a long time ago, Senior Brother Lu!''


    Ye Jiao stayed silent as the carriage returned to Lu Family Residence. It didn''t take long for Lu Wan to lock himself up in his room to do his experiment. On the other hand, Ye Jiao strolled in the garden as she digested the new poison Lu Wan gave to her. By circulating her Eon Energy, she made her body get used to it.


    "First Young Master!"


    The sudden exclaim startled Ye Jiao as she turned her head to look at the entrance of the quarter. From there, she could see a young man walking inside. His scholarly disposition was apparent from his stance. He has black hair with countenance that was similar to Lu Wan albeit much mature.


    It didn''t take long for her to recognize him as Lu Su, Lu Wan''s older brother.


    "First Young Master," Ye Jiao bowed down and hid her face.


    Even though the servants called the two of them ''Young Master'' in normal times, they changed it when the two of them were together. As Lu Su was older, he became ''First Young Master'' while Lu Wan was ''Second Young Master.''


    Lu Su looked around. "Where''s Lu Wan."


    "Replying to First Young Master, Second Young Master is in his room," Ye Jiao answered in an unhurried manner.


    "Call him."


    "This servant understands."


    Ye Jiao headed back into the room as she reviewed her answer to Lu Su. Did she pass as a servant in his eyes? She didn''t act suspiciously, right?


    "Young Master Lu Wan," Ye Jiao knocked the door.


    Hearing his junior sister, Lu Wan stopped what he was doing. If it was any other servant, he would not hesitate to throw another tantrum as he hated being disturbed when he was working. "What is it, Xiao''er?"


    "First Young Master is here and he asks to meet with you."


    "I got it," Lu Wan opened the door and strode to the courtyard while Ye Jiao followed behind him docilely. He reached the courtyard pretty quick as he could see his older brother standing there.


    "Lu Wan," Lu Su greeted first. "I can see that you''re doing well."


    Lu Wan crossed his arm. "Cut off your nonsense and say your point. Why are you coming here?"


    "I heard from the teacher''s report that you and Wei Cheng have a large clash today. Not long after that, Wei Cheng plans on issuing a formal challenge to you. Have you heard any of this, my little brother?" Lu Su''s tone didn''t change, but there was a hint of danger beneath his peaceful speech.


    Hearing his question, Lu Wan sneered. "Isn''t it just a formal challenge, if he wants it, he can come to me anytime."


    On the back, Ye Jiao felt like face palming. Even though she hadn''t heard much from her senior brother, she knew very well that formal challenge. It was the type of challenge that represented their family in a life and death arena. The stake was their family honor and those who lost might even forfeit their lives.


    It was such an important arena that no one dared to flaunt lightly.


    "Lu Wan, what did you provoke Wei Cheng with?"


    "Who knows?"


    The two brothers glared at one another. Neither side was willing to back down as they just looked straight at each other''s eyes. Lu Wan never cared for the family''s honor. As for the challenge, he knew very well that he could win with ease without the need to worry so much.


    On the other hand, Lu Su always placed the family''s honor before everything else. He couldn''t accept the half-hearted answer from Lu Wan.


    "Father gives you instruction to stay in your quarter until the matter is resolved. He didn''t want to hear any sudden challenge from Wei Cheng and you again. Do you understand?"


    "Tch, that annoying man," Lu Wan clicked his tongue. "Tell him that I''m going on another closed door training. Don''t bother me until I get out."


    Lu Su stared at his younger brother''s eyes. "Is that so?"


    "I don''t care what other people say, but I want my peaceful training session," Lu Wan spread his hand. "is it that hard?"


    It took Lu Su several seconds before he answered carefully. "Not at all. May you have good luck in your training, Lu Wan."


    "Your concern is unneeded."


    The two of them looked at one another for a moment before Lu Su walked away. On the back, Ye Jiao did nothing but listened to their bout as her mind was thinking of many things.

 107 Sneaking Ou

    "Xiao''er, to the training hall."


    Lu Wan''s instruction woke Ye Jiao up from her thoughts. She hurriedly followed after Lu Wan as she replied softly. "Yes, Young Master."


    Lu Su was watching the two of them depart as he furrowed his brow. He had never seen Lu Wan get close with anyone before, so the sight of Lu Wan purposely asking a servant to the training hall was rather strange.


    However, he didn''t linger any longer as his expression turned stoic. Turning his body, he retreated back to his own residence without caring for the flustered servants around him. The clash between him and Lu Wan was never a secret as everyone knew how bad their relationship with one another was.


    "Senior Brother Lu, is it alright to be like this?" Ye Jiao asked after she closed the door, providing them with the hall that could block any type of sound.


    Lu Wan stretched his body. "Why not? It''s perfectly normal for me to train in seclusion. Besides, it''s far better than seeing their faces."


    "It''s not that. I mean, is it alright to follow their order and let the outsider see you as someone who follow the rules?"


    That question startled Lu Wan to his core. He looked at Ye Jiao in surprise because he didn''t expect the girl to understand the meaning of Lu Family''s move this time.


    "You''re very smart, Jiao''er."


    "Senior Brother Lu, that''s not the point."


    "It doesn''t matter," Lu Wan replied as he took out a bag that he placed at the corner. "Lu Family needs to keep in the appearance that they still have me under their reign. If I act while ignoring their order completely, the Imperial family is going to see me as a threat and possibly try to eliminate me."


    "Imperial Family?"


    Lu Wan nodded. "Imperial Family always want themselves to be the strongest one. Be it in the past, present, or future, they always want to tie the strongest person to them and never let anyone get away. If there''s someone outside of the imperial family who has better potential and power, they''ll surely pull them to their side.


    And if they fail, they''ll destroy that person no matter what the means. That''s what happens to your parents."


    My parents?


    Ye Jiao''s body turned cold as she recalled her family. In the last battle, she had seen for herself how the Imperial family and Wei Family forced her mother to the corner. She had never thought that the Imperial Family would do that far just in order to secure their power in this kingdom.


    "Don''t you know the backstory of your parent''s feud?" Lu Wan arched his eyebrows.


    "No, I don''t."


    Lu Wan pulled out several clothes from the bag and handed it to Ye Jiao. "Wear these clothes. Just doubled it since you''re so small."


    "Ok and do you know the backstory?"


    "I don''t know the details, but I know a bit since my talent also threatened my wellbeing in this kingdom. Ever since a long time ago, the Imperial Family is holding the forefront of everything. They''re the strongest one and even if the highest realm is rank 4, they still stand at the very front.


    They''ll never allow anyone to be stronger than them and would force anyone stronger to be loyal to them. I still manage to get away because I''m from the Lu Family, who had pledged loyalty to the Imperial Family since a long time ago. On the other hand, your family, Ye Family, never pledged loyalty and were seen as a threat to them."


    Without Lu Wan told her the rest of the story, Ye Jiao could imagine that the Imperial Family must have ordered for people to bring her family down.


    "They''re disgusting."


    "It''s fairly normal for people who''re thirsty for power," Lu Wan said calmly. By now, he had finished wearing the clothes he prepared at the outer layer. "They''re greedy and selfish people who''re afraid of other people getting stronger than them."


    "Yeah, but why didn''t they kill my parents when they''re young?" Ye Jiao found it weird that they didn''t kill her parents before they could grow. After all, it was known that it would be easier to kill someone young rather than those who managed to grow like Ye Xiao.


    "I don''t know the details but it should be because of a woman from another kingdom."


    "Woman from another kingdom?"


    "Yeah, Ye Xiao''s fake wife," Lu Wan answered. "She''s coming from a prominent and powerful family. I think she must have done something to prevent Ye Xiao from getting killed and let him grow stronger before destroying everything."


    Yeah, that woman destroyed everything.


    Ye Jiao could perfectly remember the desolate expression her father showed at times. It was an expression full of sorrow that she wished to never see in her father.


    "I see."


    "I don''t know the exact detail, so you should try to ask other people later. Now, let''s go."


    "Go where?"


    "Outside of this residence," Lu Wan grinned. "These are the clothes for outer servants that''s usually tasked to go out. With this, we can pretend to be servants and get out of the Lu Family Residence."


    Ye Jiao laughed when she listened to her senior brother''s explanation. As Lu Family Residence has quite a tight security, it was hard for the two of them to get out considering their measly power. The best way to get out was surely by pretending to be servants. This way, they could get out without attracting any suspiciousness.


    "You''re really smart, Senior Brother Lu."


    "I have done this countless times in the past when I''m tired of their action. Come to think about it, I also met with Master when I sneaked out of my residence in the past."


    "Can you tell me more?"


    "Let''s prioritize getting out of here first."


    There was a backdoor of the training hall and the two of them used it to get out before locking it again. During Lu Wan''s closed door training, no servant would dare to get close to the training hall, so it was safe to assume that nobody would find out that they had disappeared.


    Following the stone path, they quickly reached the outer layer of Lu Family Residence and sneaked out into the town after passing the guard, who didn''t feel suspicious of their appearance at all.

 108 First Group Mission 1

    "Where are we going, Senior Brother Lu?" Ye Jiao asked as they strolled the market.


    Lu Wan placed his hand on the back of his head. "Do you remember Master''s instruction that we should gain more experience? We''re going to Bao Fu Organization''s Headquarter and receive the mission that Master has entrusted to us."


    "Mission?" Ye Jiao''s eyes lit up at the mention of mission. It has been a long time since her first mission, so it was obvious that the time has come for them to do another mission. This time, it would be a completely different mission from before.


    "Yes, group mission."


    "Do you think we''re ready to accept a mission?"


    Zhan Jing had instructed them beforehand that they were not allowed to accept mission before they reached rank 2 because accepting mission when they were still rank 1 could be proven to be dangerous.


    "Don''t worry, two Eon Energy Master rank 1 defeating Eon Energy Master rank 2 is common."


    Even though Ye Jiao was doubtful, she decided to follow after her senior brother in his decision. Passing through the market, they reached the gate and Lu Wan showed a plate. It was Lu Family''s servant plate that was designed for them to pass through the gate on occasion.


    "Open the gate."


    As it was Lu Family, the guard didn''t dare to neglect their job. With that, Lu Wan and Ye Jiao passed through the first hurdle without any difficulties.


    "By the way, do you know the location of Bao Fu Organization''s Headquarter, Senior Brother Lu?"


    "I don''t know, but Master gave me this map."


    Seeing the poorly made map, Ye Jiao smiled wryly. "Can you read the map, Senior Brother Lu?"


    "Don''t underestimate me, this kind of map is nothing in my eyes."


    "Really?"


    "Yes!"


    Even though Lu Wan said it like that, the two of them spent around a week in the forest as they didn''t manage to find the headquarter quickly. As their strength was only at rank 1, they only battled against rank 1 beast and ran away from anything higher than that. They didn''t want to risk it as rank 2 beasts were known to be stronger than normal Eon Energy Master rank 2.


    "Senior Brother Lu, where should we go after this?" Ye Jiao asked with a hint of impatience in her tone. They have been going in a circle for the past few hours and battled against a rank 1 beast just now.


    Lu Wan scratched his head. "Wait a minute. It should be somewhere around here, but I''m not sure where we should go."


    "If you don''t decide soon, another beast is going to come again."


    "Just wait for a moment!"


    The two of them took turns in defeating the beast that came to them. Fighting against rank 1 beast was nothing to them as they could do it with ease. Thanks to the beasts, they also have plenty of meat to eat each day.


    Ye Jiao sighed. She spotted a sturdy tree not far from her and climbed it speedily. In mere seconds, she had reached the peak as she used it to study her surroundings, which was filled with trees all around. However, one direction seemed to be different from the rest as Ye Jiao could see faint layers of smoke as if there was a village.


    "There''s a village nearby," Ye Jiao said as she landed on the ground. "Let''s head there and try to ask around."


    Lu Wan looked at the poorly made map once again before sighing. "Fine."


    The two of them walked in the direction of the village before they stopped suddenly. The so-called village that Ye Jiao mentioned didn''t seem to exist as the two of them didn''t see anything. All they could see was forest.


    "There''s no indication of village around here too, though," Lu Wan studied the map once again, feeling confused at the result of their search.


    "There''s a higher concentration of Eon Energy around here," Ye Jiao stepped to the left slightly. She raised her hand and tried to feel the air. As she had higher sensitivity to Eon Energy, she could confidently say that this place was filled with Eon Energy.


    "Really?"


    While Lu Wan was trying to feel it, Ye Jiao started to walk again. Her eyes scanned the surroundings as she tried to find out the source. After a few minutes, she stopped in one place and smiled brightly.


    "I found it, Senior Brother Lu."


    "What do you find?"


    "Here," Ye Jiao pointed to her front. As Lu Wan reached Ye Jiao''s side, he could see that the scenery changed considerably from before. If he could only see forest before, right now he could see a beautiful small town.


    There were several small buildings in front of them and at the center of the headquarter was a large circular building. It was carved with peculiar engraving all around. Just one look was enough to make them feel awe.


    "If we''re not standing here, we won''t be able to see the building. It''s truly spectacular," Lu Wan said in amazement.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "They must have placed some barrier or the like to prevent anyone from seeing it. This way, not many people will be able to find this place."


    "This is just one of the numerous Bao Fu Organization Headquarters in the four kingdoms and they already make it this luxurious," Lu Wan muttered. "I''m truly amazed."


    "One of the numerous?" Ye Jiao was stunned.


    Lu Wan nodded. "Don''t you know that Bao Fu Organization didn''t belong to this place? The one in Four Kingdoms is just one of the various branches that they have. The size of their organization is so large that we can''t even try to imagine it."


    Hearing that, Ye Jiao was dumbfounded. She thought that this organization was already big enough because it could cover up the entire four kingdoms, but it was actually not everything. Now, she really wanted to know the extent of the organization''s size.


    "Just¡­ how big is this organization?"


    "How should I know? Anyway, let''s take our mission."


    Ignoring the dumbfounded Ye Jiao, Lu Wan jogged to the entrance of the large building. Thankfully, they would be able to reach the place if they walked from this point.

 109 First Group Mission 2

    Following her senior brother, Ye Jiao noticed that there were a lot of people walking around her. Their ages varied as there were some adults and children. Most of the adults were covering their faces, though. It was as if they were worried that other people would see them.


    "Hey, you''re so slow."


    "I''m sorry."


    "Assassin is just a side job for some people and they don''t wish to be found out because it can tarnish their reputation," Lu Wan started talking as if he could read Ye Jiao''s mind. "They want to keep their daily lives but at the same time, earn money from the mission in the organization. Some of them even do this because they want to have revenge on certain people."


    "Revenge?"


    "Yeah. For example, they post a mission for a certain person''s assassination and then pretend to be the assassin itself. If he''s incapable of doing it himself, he can just form a temporary party and if he''s far stronger, he can just use this organization to mask his crime."


    The way Lu Wan told it made Ye Jiao wonder whether her senior brother was truly normal. He talked about these methods very casually. However, this was the first time she heard of these things. It seemed that a human''s mind was extraordinary to think of various methods just to mask their crimes.


    "They''re amazing."


    "It''s fairly normal," Lu Wan pushed the door open. "In this world, only the strong can survive, so the weaker one have to think of various methods just to survive. Think of it from your perspective, didn''t you also employ some tricks just to be able to stay alive?"


    Tricks?


    Yeah, Ye Jiao herself knew that she was also doing whatever possible to hide her presence and live while growing stronger. Granted, there were various ways that she could pick, but she ended up picking one that allowed her to stay in the kingdom while hiding her identity as someone unimportant.


    "What kind of mission do you think Master chooses for us?" Ye Jiao changed the subject as they lined up.


    The hall was spacious and there were several counters at the front. They just have to line up in one of them if they want to accept a mission. The two of them didn''t think too much as they just lined up in one of them.


    "Knowing him, I wouldn''t be surprised if he picked a dangerous mission," Lu Wan smiled bitterly.


    "You''re right¡­."


    That sadistic master of theirs would surely pick a hard mission for them. He wouldn''t care for anything at all.


    Even though the line was long, it didn''t take long for the two of them to reach the front.


    "Welcome, is this the first time you come here?" the man on the counter asked politely.


    "Yes," Lu Wan replied.


    "If that''s so, state your name and your master''s name if there''s any."


    "I''m Yu Shui and my master is Zhan Jing. This is my junior sister, Ai Jiao under the same master," Lu Wan took out his badge and placed it on the counter while Ye Jiao followed suit.


    The man nodded his head and took the two badges. He transmitted Eon Energy into the badge to identify it before returning it back to the two children in front of him.


    "Master Zhan Jing left a group mission for the two of you to deal with the case of a murderer in this village. Here''s the culprit and the information about him," the man handed a scroll.


    "Thank you. Is there anything else that we need to know?" Ye Jiao asked since this was the first time she came here.


    The man shook his head. "Unless you can finish the mission and deliver his head back here, there''s nothing else that you need to know. Also, the time limit for the mission is one month. Please keep that in mind that you have to finish the mission or you''ll be punished."


    Hearing that answer, Ye Jiao knew that it would be impossible for her to ask anything more from the man. Still, it was not weird for him to not answer any of their questions since they were nothing but children who came for their first mission. Until they proved themselves to be capable, they wouldn''t want to answer any of the questions.


    "I understand, let''s go."


    The two of them moved to the side as Lu Wan opened the scroll and read the content. His face scrunched up the moment he read the list.


    "That damned master."


    "Is there any problem with the mission, Senior Brother L-Yu?"


    Lu Wan handed the scroll to Ye Jiao. "Just read it yourself."


    Taking the scroll, Ye Jiao started to read it in curiosity. Upon landing her gaze on the information list, she didn''t know whether to laugh or cry.


    In short, the man they had to kill was a local governor in a village. He was already Eon Energy Master rank 2 since a few years ago and has a lot of Eon Energy Master rank 1 as his guards. If it was not worse, he rarely got out of his protected residence unless he wanted to find his new prey.


    "This is troublesome."


    "Not only troublesome, but if he didn''t get out of his residence, we''re going to be forced to enter that fortress," Lu Wan said in an annoyed tone.


    The two of them smiled bitterly. They have the confidence that they could defeat Eon Energy Master rank 1 if they were given time. However, defeating Eon Energy Master rank 2 after fighting against a bunch of Eon Energy Master rank 1 was surely out of the question.


    They were only Eon Energy Master rank 1, so their energy and power was limited.


    "We should just do our best."


    "Yeah, you''re right," Lu Wan sighed and put the scroll into his storage bracelet. Internally, he still wanted to curse their master, but time was tight. They had to finish the mission before the time was up. It was not the time to curse his master.


    The two of them walked out as Ye Jiao''s eyes landed on a group of people who came not far from them. A familiar youthful face was found among the group of youngsters.


    "Lin Jie," Ye Jiao unconsciously muttered.


    The boy in question stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened and he called out her name. "Ai Jiao."

 110 Bad Acting Skill

    "Lin Jie," Ye Jiao called out his name as she smiled wryly. "It seems that you have reached rank 1 at last."


    Lin Jie rolled his eyes at Ye Jiao''s tone. The two of them have been competing against one another when they were in Hell Island number 4. It was actually just a competition from his side as Ye Jiao didn''t care, but for Lin Jie, it was a pure torture. No matter what he did, he couldn''t surpass Ye Jiao at all.


    "Of course I''ve reached rank 1. I won''t stay on that island forever!" Lin Jie replied.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Are you here for your first group mission?"


    "Yeah. I just reached rank 1, so my seniors are accompanying me for my mission," Lin Jie replied proudly. "Are you going to do a group mission too?"


    "Yeah."


    "This time I won''t lose!"


    Ye Jiao just waved her hand. "Then good luck. I''ll be going first."


    "Hey! Don''t cheat!"


    Ignoring the boy''s call, Ye Jiao headed to Lu Wan''s side. She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, it''s just an acquaintance that I have from Hell Island."


    "It''s fine, but what did he mean by he won''t lose?"


    "He''s just comparing me to everything we did before," Ye Jiao replied. "Somehow, he tries to defeat me in every aspect, but the result is not in his favor."


    Recalling Ye Jiao''s stories of her experience in Hell Island, Lu Wan felt slight pity for the boy named Lin Jie. He had heard of how quick Ye Jiao''s progress was and how she treated the wolves as her sparring partner. Any ordinary children would surely faint if they were in the same situation as this girl.


    However, Lu Wan didn''t mention any of it as he already felt his pride crushed when he heard her experience. Compared to her, his achievement seemed so small that it was negligible.


    "He''s truly an idiot."


    "Aren''t you speaking of yourself, Senior Brother Yu?"


    "W-what are you talking about? I''m not an idiot!"


    "Forgetting to eat, forgetting to sleep, forgetting to change clothes, putting on the wrong robe¡­."


    "Stop! Stop! Why are you listing them out!"


    As Ye Jiao was staying with Lu Wan, she had seen numerous sides from her senior brother. One of the things that she remembered the most was how Lu Wan seemed to forget everything once he was engrossed in thinking of his poison. One time, he even wore his robe upside down, nearly making himself a laughing stock if she didn''t stop him from getting out of his house.


    Ye Jiao just laughed. "Let''s go to the destination village, Senior Brother Yu."


    "Yeah. Don''t be lagging behind."


    "I should be the one saying that to you."


    "By the way, what are you going to do with your hair? Are you planning on using that lame hat all the way?"


    "Oh, I''ll paint it brown on our way. No worry."


    The two of them completely forgot about Lin Jie as they travelled in the forest. As they have a time limit and their master was so ''considerate'' that he picked a location several hundred kilometers away from the capital city, they had to spend more than five days to reach the destination.


    "Even after running for 15 hours a day, it seems that the village is just that far," Lu Wan remarked as they arrived by the village.


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "At least, we finally arrived by the village."


    The two of them barely have any rest during the time they traveled in the forest. They only stopped for a while to eat and sleep before running again. From the time the sun rise until it set down, they spent the entire time running.


    "I''m amazed that you can match up to my speed, though."


    "Your junior sister is not worse than you at all," Ye Jiao stuck out her tongue. "Anyway, what''s your plan for our identity?"


    "Do we need it?"


    "Senior Brother Lu, don''t tell me that you didn''t act when you''re doing your first mission before?"


    "I¡­"


    "Hey, what are you two kids doing over there?"


    The two of them turned their heads to see a man walking in their direction. From the clothes he wore, they could guess that this must be a farmer in the village. As the village itself was rather small, most of the villagers were rather poor and they didn''t have many who became Eon Energy Masters.


    "W-we''re lost," Ye Jiao stammered as she tried to reply.


    "Lost?" the man was confused.


    As she saw the man''s expression, she just recalled the terrain of this village. The nearest village was located more than 20 kilometers away from this village. If they said that they were lost, the first assumption would be they came from the nearby village.


    To get lost for over 20 kilometers would be an achievement in itself.


    "Ah, I mean, our parents are adventurers and we got separated from them when we''re in the forest¡­"


    Ye Jiao felt that her skill in making up a story was too bad. Even she herself felt that it was hard to believe her story. Even though this place was filled with Eon Energy Masters, there were not many people who would travel along with their family unless they wanted to move.


    The forest was dangerous and without enough power, they wouldn''t dare to bring along children. Ye Jiao and Lu Wan''s appearance didn''t help either as they wore ordinary training clothes. Ye Jiao didn''t have any expensive clothes while Lu Wan just used the one he was most comfortable in.


    "Adventurer? I think that this place is not a place for adventurers, though," the man remarked. "There''s barely any ranked beast around here."


    Ye Jiao felt like digging a hole right now.


    She completely forgot to study the terrain of this place. Even though this was a remote place, it was relatively safe, which was one of the reasons for the lack of Eon Energy Master. The villagers felt safe enough until the recent murder case, so there was no need for Eon Energy Master.


    "This is why acting is difficult."


    "Ah, Brother Yu."


    Lu Wan stepped forward and took out a bottle, which he opened the lid. Sweet fragrance originated from the bottle filled the air in the next second. The man''s eyes slowly turned lifeless as he stared blankly.

 111 Investigation 1

    "Senior Brother Lu! What are you doing?!" Ye Jiao exclaimed in surprise when she saw the man suddenly looked like he lost his soul.


    Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "This is a hallucination fragrance that can make you control other people."


    "Control other people?"


    "It''s not that amazing as it can only affect people who never learn how to use Eon Energy, but it''s fairly effective. For around an hour to two, you can order the person who got affected by this poison," Lu Wan pointed to the man before him. "He''ll return to normal after the effect disappeared."


    Ye Jiao was dumbfounded. It was no wonder that her senior brother didn''t seem to worry in the slightest regarding acting and all. He has already decided from the beginning that he would use the poison to solve everything.


    "Senior Brother Lu, I know that it''s convenient to use poison, but you can''t possibly use it forever, right?" Ye Jiao asked with a smile on her face, yet it was apparent that she emitted a murderous aura.


    "I can just make more effective poison¡­"


    Smack!


    "Think more for your socializing skill! You can''t possibly live by yourself and rely on poison every single time, idiot!"


    Lu Wan rubbed his head, which Ye Jiao hit. "I know. I just think that this is more convenient."


    For a split second, Ye Jiao could feel a sad tone coming from her senior brother. She didn''t understand what made him feel sad, but she knew that there might be something that happened to him in the past.


    "Anyway, we should practice our acting skill and only use the poison when it''s absolutely necessary. Talking to other people is also an important skill to have," Ye Jiao stressed her point once again.


    Lu Wan nodded. "Fine. I''ll practice."


    "That''s good!"


    "But this time, I think it''s better to use the poison," Lu Wan pointed to the man. "You can''t expect him to believe your poorly made excuse, right?"


    Ye Jiao felt like hitting her senior brother once again. She knew that she was not good at making excuses, but was there any need to point it out once again? However, she restrained herself as she saw him starting to give orders.


    "Take us to the nearest inn and order a room for us. Tell them that our parents entrust us to you for the time being. I''ll be the one to pay."


    The man only stared blankly before he walked in the direction of his village. His steps looked normal that if one didn''t pay close attention, they wouldn''t be able to see the difference between him and his ordinary self.


    Ye Jiao studied the man as they walked. She had to admit that her senior brother was truly an excellent poison maker. The way he controlled this man was so perfect that she didn''t know what to say anymore. Perhaps, he would be able to make much better poison in the future if this continued.


    The village was small, so they soon arrived by the nearest inn. The man walked straight into the inn while the two of them followed after him.


    "Welcome, oh, it''s rare to see you here."


    "I need a room for these children."


    "Children?" the inn owner looked at the two behind the man. "Did you just have children these big?"


    "They''re not mine," the man replied. Despite his lifeless eyes, he still spoke in a normal tone. "Their parents entrusted them for me to take them to settle in."


    "I see, but do you have any money?"


    "I''ll be the one to pay," Lu Wan stepped forward and placed a silver coin on the counter as he smiled brightly. "Is this enough, Mr.?"


    The inn owner''s eyes lit up when he saw the silver. He hurriedly took it as if he was worried that Lu Wan would change his decision. "Of course it''s enough. I''ll surely prepare the best room for you."


    "Many thanks," Ye Jiao was the one to reply as she gave a smile too.


    Internally, she was thinking of how much of a spendthrift this Lu Wan was. As it was a small village, the price for a room and a meal should be 5 copper coins. A silver coin was of equal value with 100 copper coins. It was as if the two of them would stay for 20 days in this inn.


    There was that possibility, but she didn''t want to think of it as she hoped for them to finish the mission early.


    The inn owner clapped his hand. "Please wait a moment. I''ll make sure the room is prepared."


    "Ok."


    After the inn owner left, Lu Wan passed a glance at the man. "Return back to your house and do your work. You don''t know anything that happened here."


    The man didn''t reply as he walked out of the inn in steady steps. His eyes didn''t change, but it seemed that he looked more normal compared to before. It seemed that the poison had started to wear off.


    The inn owner returned back soon afterwards and took the two of them to their room. They prepared two rooms that were connected with a door inside. The size of the room itself was pretty large considering that they were just children.


    "How''s the room?"


    "It''s plenty, thank you," Ye Jiao smiled and the inn owner excused himself with a magnificent smile on his face. It seemed that he was happy that he managed to find rich people to stay.


    Lu Wan sat down on his bed after the inn owner left. "There''s no need to worry about me not knowing how to act. I''m still a noble who knows how to act around other people."


    "But you didn''t act when you first met that man."


    "Because it''s troublesome to act as a lost child," Lu Wan answered. "Rather than acting, it''s faster to deal using poison for people like that man."


    "But you act like a good kid just now."


    "That''s because we''re going to stay in the inn for a long period of time. Anyway, I''ll try to reduce the amount of poison I use. It''ll do no good if people find the trace of the poison," Lu Wan sighed and laid on the bed.


    On the other hand, Ye Jiao was surprised. "There''s a trace of the poison?"


    "Yeah, this poison is not perfect, so there''ll be some residue left in human''s body. As the herbs that I pick are quite rare, it''ll incur suspiciousness if a doctor sees it in that man''s body," Lu Wan yawned. "I want to create a better one for this poison, but the herbs are too rare."


    "I see," Ye Jiao didn''t know that poison could leave residue like that. She paused for a moment. "Did it mean there is poison''s residue in our body?"


    "Oh? Yeah, but it''s barely affecting us because we''re Eon Energy Master. The Eon Energy we have is more than enough to cancel the effect for weaker poison," Lu Wan replied. "Even if you smell this poison for days, you won''t get affected because this can only affect people without Eon Energy."


    Ye Jiao nodded in understanding.


    "I plan on making one for Eon Energy Master, though. Would you be the first one to try it once I make it?"


    "No thanks. You should just try it to yourself! I''ll clean myself and then we''re eating," Ye Jiao refused immediately. "Don''t forget to take a bath, Brother Yu."


    "Ah, ok."

 112 Investigation 2

    The two of them headed down after they had cleaned up themselves. The inn owner treated them especially well as he saw them as the great source of income for him. Of course, Ye Jiao and Lu Wan would not reject his hospitality.


    "It''s rare to see youngsters come into a remote village like this," the inn owner said with a tone of admiration. "Your courage is remarkable."


    Ye Jiao smiled. "Thank you, but we''re just coming to visit because our parents are busy outside."


    "Ah yeah, I heard that your parents are adventurers, right?"


    "Yes," Lu Wan nodded his head. He followed after their lies that they had prepared. "They''re clearing up the route for a safe journey, so we have to stay here for the time being."


    "It''s still amazing for you to travel alone at your age."


    Ye Jiao giggled. "Mr. Owner, we have told a lot about us, so now it''s your turn to tell us more stories about this village."


    "Ah, of course!" The inn owner hit his chest. "Just ask me anything that you want to know. I''ll surely be able to answer them all."


    "Really?"


    "Yes! I''m the one with the most knowledge in this village," the inn owner bragged.


    A servant served a bowl of potato soup as he smiled. "Don''t listen to him, we, servants, also know much more compared to him."


    "Hey! You''re talking to your superior!"


    "My bad," the servant laughed.


    Ye Jiao smiled at the warm atmosphere these people presented to them. It seemed that the people in the village were not bad people. "I want to know what this village is good at."


    "This village is known for our farm. Even though there are not many people here, we live our life by farming. There are various vegetables that we cultivate with one of them is this potato," the inn owner pointed to the soup in front of them.


    "Let me try!"


    Ye Jiao scooped the potato and put it into her mouth. The savory taste brought a smile to her face. Considering the village''s condition, she didn''t expect that their cooking would be this good.


    "It''s really good, Mr. Owner."


    "Isn''t it? This village also has¡­"


    With hearty talks, Ye Jiao and Lu Wan could get information easily. As the two of them were children, the adults didn''t even filter their speech as they talked about many things. It seemed that the advantage of being children was that most adults didn''t put their guard up around them.


    It didn''t take long for the topic to head into the direction they wanted too as the sun started to set.


    "It''s already late. We have to quickly finish our work," one of the servants suddenly said.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "Is there no light when it''s night?"


    In the capital city, they have basic light formed from a device that was powered up with Eon Energy. It was quite costly, but since the kingdom was thriving, the street was filled with those devices that would lit up for three hours after the sun was set. In smaller villages, there was usually just one device placed at the center of the village to lit up the way for people.


    "There''s one light device that will lit up for a few hours at night," the inn owner smiled. "But that''s not the main concern."


    "What is the problem, then?" Lu Wan also asked.


    "The new governor implemented rules that we''re not allowed to get out after the sun sets or he''ll personally give us punishment. This is why no one dares to come out even though the light is still enough for us to walk around."


    The device was capable of providing enough light for them to see as long as it was not blocked by buildings. For villagers, the main street was usually enough, so they never asked for more. After all, charging up the device took a considerable amount of energy for them and there were not many Eon Energy Masters who were capable of doing that.


    "It''s late, so the two of you better have some rest."


    Seeing that they were in a hurry, Ye Jiao and Lu Wan stopped asking. They politely excused themselves and returned back to their room. Just like before, Ye Jiao stayed in Lu Wan''s room once again.


    "We need to find out more about the rules that the new governor gives," Ye Jiao said as she peered outside. The servants hurriedly ran on the street as the sun was setting down.


    Lu Wan nodded. They managed to find out that there was a new governor a few months ago. This new governor placed a new rule for them to not stay outside their house after sunset. Those who broke it would be punished.


    From the servant''s expression, they could guess that the punishment must not be normal.


    "From their words, we also know that the killing case started from the moment the new governor took charge," Lu Wan sighed. "It''s safe to say that the villagers also know that the new governor is the killer."


    "They issue the mission, so of course they know."


    If the villagers didn''t know who the killer was, there wouldn''t be any information regarding the governor in the mission''s scroll that they had before. Just like their first mission, they would have to investigate who the one did the crime first.


    "They''re not going to tell us that easily, are they?"


    "There''s no way they want to leak it out to an outsider in case it''ll affect us," Ye Jiao turned her body around and leaned on the wall. "If we want to find out more, we''ll have to ask various questions and do some observations of that governor. We''re going to be fairly busy, Senior Brother Yu."


    "We''ll take turns to get out and stay here to gather information from people who come to eat. It''s convenient that the inn is also a small restaurant here."


    "Who starts tomorrow?"


    "You can stay in the inn first. I want to walk around the village for a few hours then we''ll switch our role," Lu Wan replied. "Now, have some rest. We won''t have any rest when it''s the day for our mission."


    "Got it."


    After arranging their roles, Ye Jiao returned to her room and slept peacefully.

 113 Planning A Trap

    Days passed as the two of them continued to gather information. At the same time, they also came to the governor''s residence to find out of the man''s habit. From their observation, the man never came out of his place even after they spent days in the village.


    Ye Jiao sighed after they finished their breakfast. "I don''t think that man is going to come out anytime soon."


    "He had just attacked someone one day before we arrived," Lu Wan''s face was ugly. Thinking how they could finish it quicker if they arrived one day faster made him feel annoyed.


    "At least, we know his preferences."


    "Yeah, he only attacked young women."


    From the information they managed to gather one way or another, they found out that the governor only attacked young women who stayed out on the street after the time was up. If it was men, he only employed ordinary punishment such as beating them up while women were killed.


    Ye Jiao put down her head on the table. "The governor really hates women, is he not?"


    Lu Wan wouldn''t want to say that the governor hated women from what he saw, but he was not sure if it would be appropriate to tell Ye Jiao since that girl was also a woman herself. Well, a girl would be more correct considering Ye Jiao''s small age.


    "Are you two settling up well here?" a servant asked as he placed a plate filled with pickled herbs in front of Ye Jiao.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Yes, we''re doing well so far. What''s these?"


    "These are some pickled herbs we gathered yesterday. After drying them and adding some seasoning, they taste really good and can serve as both appetizer and desserts. Would you like to try some?"


    "Of course! Thank you very much," Ye Jiao put the herbs into her mouth as she smiled brightly. It tasted really good.


    Lu Wan took out a copper coin. "Here''s the tip for today''s meal."


    "Thank you very much!"


    As the two of them would give out copper coins after their meal, the servants were always trying their best to serve the best desserts. They took turns and the two of them were generous enough to give the coins. In the first place, Lu Wan was rich because he was the young master in the Lu Family.


    Several bronze coins were nothing in his eyes as he got dozens of gold coins from his father each month. One gold coin was equivalent to 100 silver coins or 10.000 bronze coins, so it was safe to say that Lu Wan would not lack money at all.


    "By the way, is it fine for us to stay in the village for days without meeting with the governor?" Ye Jiao asked in a worried tone.


    The servant nodded his head. "The governor won''t care about a small matter like this. Besides, he''s only observing the city once it''s already late at night with his power as Eon Energy Master rank 2."


    "Is he really powerful?" Ye Jiao asked in an amazed tone.


    "Yeah, he''s much more powerful than most adults here."


    "Are there no other Eon Energy Master rank 2 in this village."


    Another servant near them laughed at Ye Jiao''s question. "There are no one who can reach rank 2 here. Our talents are mostly red or even none, so there''s no hope to reach rank 2. There are several Eon Energy Master rank 1, but they''re working as his guard."


    "They must be really powerful to be able to become a guard."


    The servant flashed a sad smile. "They''re just doing what they have to do to stay alive. Every Eon Energy Master rank 1 have to serve as his guard."


    Lu Wan and Ye Jiao wondered if that governor would try to employ them as guards because the two of them were already Eon Energy Master rank 1. However, on the second thought, it would be better to not tell that person. After all, their built would make it harder for them to pass as ordinary Eon Energy Masters.


    They were unable to pass off as an adult with their current appearance.


    "I really wish I''m taller," Lu Wan murmured to himself. He was only 12 years old, close to 13 years old, but his height was still short compared to adults. Even though it was tall for teenagers, it was too short for adults.


    "With your face, you''re still a kid, Brother Yu," Ye Jiao giggled and pushed the pickled vegetable to the young man. "Have some."


    "Yeah."


    The two of them asked a few more questions as they finished up their meal before they returned back to their room. Their observation from the past few days told them that it was no use waiting for the governor to come out of his residence. Besides, trying to attack him when it was daylight would attract too much attention.


    "Senior Brother Yu, do you think we can set up traps?"


    "Trap?" Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. "What do you want to do?"


    "From the villagers, we know that he only makes a move if a young woman comes out. What if I walk around the village at night?" Ye Jiao asked.


    Hearing those words, Lu Wan felt his brain short circuited for a moment. He hurriedly shook his head. "Are you crazy?"


    "I''m not," Ye Jiao rolled his eyes. "He''s only attacking young women and 10 years of age should be considered as young women, right?"


    "You''re still 9."


    "That''s not the point!"


    Looking at Ye Jiao''s figure, Lu Wan knew that it would be hard to imagine this girl as a young woman. She hadn''t started her puberty and her chest was obviously flat. Except for the fact that her hair was long and she had a cute face, no one would be able to differentiate her from a boy.


    "The youngest one that he attacks is an 11-year-old girl," Lu Wan recounted from the information they gathered. It was normal for younger girls to be considered as an adult in this place, so he didn''t find it weird. However, he truly didn''t want to see Ye Jiao placed herself in danger.


    "Just subtracting it by 2 years shouldn''t be a problem," Ye Jiao grinned. "Besides, you''ll protect me properly, right Senior Brother?"


    "Ugh, is there no other way?"


    "Do you want to put the villagers in a dangerous position? Well, if you want to cross dress as a woman, it''s also possible," Ye Jiao smirked. Lu Wan has long hair as he was a noble. If he wore a dress, it would be hard to differentiate him from girls at night. Besides, they have already colored his hair, so no one would be able to recognize him.


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. "No way!"


    "Then I''ll be the one to be the trap."


    "Hey, I''m not finished speaking!"


    "I''m done speaking~!"


    "Ai Jiao!"

 114 Setting A Trap

    "Honestly, this is the first time I regret having you as my junior sister," Lu Wan said in an annoyed tone.


    Ye Jiao just laughed at Lu Wan''s words. The two of them argued for the entire morning until it was the time for lunch. After lunch, she ran outside the inn and Lu Wan had no choice but to follow after her to the streets.


    "So, what''s your plan?"


    "I''m going to play with the children, but only the boys," Ye Jiao replied.


    Lu Wan frowned. "You''re going to make them forget the time limit to return back to their house?"


    "Yes. This way, he''ll have to scatter his guard to chase after the children. Don''t worry, I''m sure that the guards won''t treat them harshly considering that they''re just doing it for the sake of surviving."


    "Honestly," Lu Wan heaved a sigh as he listened to Ye Jiao''s plan. He had to admit that this junior sister of his was exceptionally good at setting up tricks, though. Her ability to think further and planned things were far above what he could think.


    Even though he was the one who told her the stories of people who lived by tricking others before they departed, he didn''t have the capabilities to set up one by himself. Knowing the story of people in the past and using the knowledge he had to plan for a trick was completely different.


    "Oh, you''re here Ai Jiao and Yu Shui," the children were already familiar with them because they had come a few days ago.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. "Are you playing?"


    "Yes! We''re playing tag!"


    "Do you want to participate?"


    "Of course!"


    "I''ll pass," Lu Wan raised his hand. He didn''t feel like following after these children. The thought of running around like an idiot was not something that he liked.


    "Ok, you start to be ''it'' Ai Jiao."


    "Yes~!"


    Watching the children play, Lu Wan sat down on the grass. Ye Jiao was matching up with the children''s speed and didn''t try to run with all she got. With her higher physical strength, it was close to impossible for the children to capture her, so she kept it at a moderate amount and feigned tiredness.


    Seeing how Ye Jiao tried so hard to act, Lu Wan just yawned.


    ''Why are you trying so hard? There''s no use in pleasing these people.''


    For him, trying to act likeable was annoying. People around him would not see him for who he was but for the face that he put on the front. When they didn''t like him, they would just leave him. Such was human nature that he had seen for countless times in the past.


    They fawned over him when he had something they wanted.


    They left him as soon as he didn''t have anything valuable anymore.


    He might be still young, but he already felt tired by their constant nagging and fake face. Rather than having them gather around him like bees, it would be better if he drove them all away by acting unlikable. That way, they would give him the peace he needed.


    "You''re great for keeping up with us," the boys decided to rest.


    Ye Jiao giggled and showed a proud smile. "It''s nothing much."


    "It''s going to be late. We need to hurry back home," one of the children reminded after they had rested enough.


    "Aww, I''m still tired."


    "There''s still enough time, right?"


    "Maybe?"


    The children stayed for a while longer before they started to stand up and walked in the direction of the houses. The field where they play was located at quite a distance away from the houses because it was more spacious.


    "You seem to be having fun," Lu Wan commented.


    Ye Jiao smiled. "When you act, you have to do it until the end, Brother Yu. It''s best to be normal and blend in when you want to be inconspicuous, right?"


    "What are you talking¡­.?"


    "Hey, the light seems dimmer quicker," one of the children said in a worried tone.


    "You''re right. Let''s make a run."


    "Got it."


    Lu Wan pointed to the village. "Let''s run too."


    The two of them kept up at the same pace as the other children as they headed back to the houses. Unfortunately, the sun set before they could reach the houses'' area. As soon as they saw the device lit up, their face paled down.


    "Everyone, scatter!"


    The children scattered immediately and no longer used the main road because they knew that they would be easily spot on if they used it. Lu Wan switched direction to another route while passing a worried glance to Ye Jiao. In the next second, he blended into the darkness and disappeared from the sight.


    On the other hand, Ye Jiao also used the back route as she slowed down her pace. She made it seem as if she was tired as she tried to reach the inn. At the same time, she was keeping vigilant because she knew that the governor usually targeted young women.


    She was sure that his target would be her.


    As she sensed Eon Energy coming closer, Ye Jiao tried to act as if she didn''t know anything and switched direction further from the crowded houses. If they fight, she wanted it to happen in a secluded place.


    A man appeared at the other end of her road, and Ye Jiao changed her direction. She pretended to fumble as she crashed on the ground.


    "Ouch!"


    The man quickly approached her and lifted her up. From his clothes, Ye Jiao could see that the man was a guard and his Eon Energy was only at the threshold of rank 1.


    "You have to return home quickly."


    "Y-yeah!" Ye Jiao straightened her position as she inspected the man''s worried expression. It seemed that he hoped for her to run away as fast as possible.


    "Use the other way¡­."


    "My, my, there''s a girl over here?"


    The guard''s body stiffened while Ye Jiao followed the sound''s direction. She could see a plump man standing at the end of the road while emanating heavy pressure. It was far more than what rank 1 could possibly emit, but Ye Jiao''s heart was exceptionally calm.


    The pressure that Zhan Jing used when he sparred with them was much higher.


    "Master," the guard called out.


    Ye Jiao couldn''t see his face clearly because it was night time, but she could guess that it must be the governor. The only man the guard would call ''master'' should be the governor. Besides, from the picture she knew that he was quite fat.


    The governor waved his hand. "Take care of the other boys. I''ll handle this one."


    The guard''s body trembled in anger, but he didn''t have any other choice. He turned around and left while Ye Jiao stood rooted in her place.


    The governor smiled wickedly. "Now, shall we have some fun?"

 115 Fighting Against Eon Energy Master rank 2

    ''It''s a bit hard to move.''


    Facing the pressure from Eon Energy Master rank 2 aura, Ye Jiao could see why these people were unable to move once this man found them. Even as Eon Energy Master rank 1, she found it hindering her movements. It might not affect her too much, but people without Eon Energy might not be able to move at all.


    Her eyes were watching the man''s movements as he drew nearer to her location.


    "Naughty kids have to be punished," the governor said in an eerie tone. He was not careful in his action as he just walked forward. It seemed that his confidence as Eon Energy Master rank 2 made him think of himself as someone invisible.


    Ye Jiao frowned. From her sense, she knew that Lu Wan was nearby, but he didn''t make a move for a chance hadn''t come yet. She calmed herself and prepared to draw her curved dagger that she placed in her storage bracelet.


    "Come here."


    The moment the governor was close enough, Ye Jiao''s dagger appeared on her right arm as she swung it as hard as possible. Her aim was the man''s stomach as she was not tall enough to reach his neck.


    Slash!


    ''It''s shallow.''


    The sound of blade tearing apart clothes entered her ear, but Ye Jiao was vigilant as the man instinctively kicked forward. He was surprised that a kid could move under his pressure. Moreover, he had allowed himself to get wounded.


    Ye Jiao frowned as she jumped backwards. Her body somersaulted midair as she landed a few steps away from the governor. Her eyes watched the governor''s movements carefully for she understood that she was still far weaker than him.


    ''His instinct is not bad.''


    At the moment the governor was about to summon his weapon, a blade made its way to his direction.


    Tak!


    The governor jumped back in time as the blade landed on the ground. The chain connected the end of the blade immediately pulled the blade back as Lu Wan twisted it to make another attack.


    "You damned kids!" the governor yelled angrily.


    An axe appeared on his arm as Ye Jiao dashed forward. Even without waiting for Lu Wan''s signal, the two of them moved in harmony to attack the governor together. They have sparred against one another countless times to the point that they were familiar with each other''s attack very well.


    Clang! Slash!


    The governor didn''t manage to react in time as he only blocked Lu Wan''s blade. On the other hand, Ye Jiao managed to give him another wound, but she came to realize that her attacks were extremely shallow. It wouldn''t give him more than a flesh wound.


    The two of them didn''t take any rest as they launched another attack. Ye Jiao tried to attack deeper, but it was hard from her position to land any powerful attack. In addition, her small strength and the man''s defense caused it to be hard.


    "Who are you kids?" the governor yelled angrily as he slammed his large axe on the ground, creating a small tremor on the ground around him.


    "You don''t need to know," Lu Wan spat out as he twisted the chain once more. The blade headed to the governor''s direction once again while the latter raised his axe to block it again.


    Clang!


    "Guh," the governor could clearly feel the power beneath the attack grew stronger. The two of them seemed to grow quicker when they fought against him.


    ''I can''t go on like this. I have to finish this quickly.''


    Slash!


    Ye Jiao circled around and made another wound on the governor''s leg. It was still as shallow as ever as she realized that the one that protected the governor was his Eon Energy layer.


    It was a defensive layer that was known to be the trademark of Eon Energy Master rank 2. At this rank, they would gain the ability to form a perfect defensive barrier around their body. It was capable of protecting them just like armor.


    "You brats wished to defeat me? It''s impossible!" the governor twisted his axe to make a circular movement, sweeping everything around him. Ye Jiao quickly jumped back while Lu Wan retracted his chain.


    Clang!


    As she was not fast enough, Ye Jiao blocked the attack from the governor as she jumped backwards.


    ''It''s heavy.''


    The difference between rank 1 and 2 seemed to be painfully clear this time. No matter how many times her attack went in, neither one of them managed to harm the governor fatally.


    "Again!" Lu Wan yelled and launched another attack. His eyes were glaring at the governor as if he wished to tear the man immediately.


    The governor raised his axe and blocked the blade once more. He instinctively blocked every attack from Lu Wan while allowing Ye Jiao''s attack to reach him. It was hard for him to pay attention to two children who attacked in completely different styles and directions.


    As he was not a veteran fighter, he had to compromise and his answer was to let Ye Jiao''s attack reach him because she was smaller compared to Lu Wan.


    "Tsk!" Lu Wan clicked his tongue and twisted his chain midair. He made it move further to allow Ye Jiao to attack first in order to change the blocking order of the man.


    Ye Jiao dashed forward the moment she saw Lu Wan wished to attack after her. She jumped forward and attacked the governor from the side.


    Clang!


    This time, it was blocked and at the same time Ye Jiao jumped back, Lu Wan''s chain blade reached the governor. Pushing the axe backwards, the governor blocked the attack too.


    Clang!


    "Again!" Lu Wan was about to pull back the chain when he felt the governor pushed the blade to the side. The sudden disruption destroyed his tempo as the blade headed to the opposite direction, the direction where Ye Jiao was about to launch another attack,


    Slash!


    "Ai Jiao!"

 116 Reflection

    Slash!


    "Ai Jiao!"


    The tip of the blade hit Ye Jiao''s arm as the girl evaded to the side. From the wound, Ye Jiao felt sudden searing pain as she realized that Lu Wan must have smeared his blade with poison. It was no wonder that Lu Wan wanted her to change the tempo suddenly.


    However, their coordination was still messy.


    "Eat that, you brats¡­!"


    The governor was laughing as he twisted his axe to Ye Jiao''s direction. However, Ye Jiao read his attack as she rolled on the ground and landed on the governor''s side. She raised her blade and used it to pierce straight to the governor''s foot, to be exact, his toe.


    Even though the wound was small, the pain was immense. Humans were sensitive in their fingers because they were used to sense what they touched. With Ye Jiao attacked his weak spot mercilessly, he could feel his soul drifting for a split second.


    It was just a split second, but it was enough to seal his fate.


    After Ye Jiao got hit, Lu Wan pulled his chain back and twisted it to the governor''s direction once again. This time, he made sure that he made the attack nearly at the same time as Ye Jiao''s attack.


    Slash!


    The blade slashed the governor''s shoulder. Searing pain suddenly emerged from the wound''s location and the governor''s face changed considerably.


    "W-what in the world?"


    The pain intensified as it entered his blood vessel. The governor panicked and tried to attack once again.


    Clang!


    Slash!


    Ye Jiao blocked his attack while Lu Wan''s blade reached the governor''s back. It made another wound, a shallow one but fatal as it contained deadly poison.


    With another wound, the pain entered his entire body to the point that the governor was unable to stand upright anymore. His face contorted in pain and he screamed loudly.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"


    Ye Jiao and Lu Wan stopped attacking. The noise this time would surely be enough for the villagers to gather in this place.


    "Yu Shui, can you write the word Bao Fu? I''m not sure how to write the letter."


    "I can."


    Lu Wan held his blade and carved the word Bao Fu on the ground. This was one of the traditions of assassins in Bao Fu Organization as they would leave their mark for every mission they did.


    After the word finished, the two of them tactfully moved to the wall nearby and used it to jump to the roof.


    "Is it over?" Ye Jiao asked, her breath uneven.


    "Once you digest this poison, it''ll enter your blood vessel and destroy your organ. After 10 seconds, you won''t be able to stay alive anymore," Lu Wan explained.


    Ye Jiao stretched her hand. "Where''s the antidote?"


    "You already have it," Lu Wan smiled wryly. "I gave the far weakened version to you from a long time ago, so you already have some immunity. Don''t worry, you will only feel slight pain, but it won''t destroy your organ."


    "Your poison became even scarier as time passes, Senior Brother Lu."


    "I didn''t make this one. This is one of the deadliest poison available in Bao Fu Organization. Master gives it to me for experiment and fight," Lu Wan pointed to the man before them. "I think he knows that we''re not capable enough to break the defense of Eon Energy Master rank 2."


    "Yeah, you''re right."


    Looking at the man wailing in pain before them, the two of them didn''t feel anything. After hearing what he had done, the two of them thought that it was natural that this man met his end. It might be cruel for them to think that way, but they knew that this was just how the world worked.


    Only the strong would be able to stand at the end.


    The villagers came outside when they heard the sound. When they saw the governor in wretched state, they were surprised but no one was willing to help.


    "Y-you! Medicine! Med-medicine!"


    Smack!


    "So this is the almighty governor. You''re nothing but someone at the verge of death, aren''t you?"


    "You think you can order us again?"


    "In your dream!"


    Instead of help, what the governor got was another harsh beating. The villagers were venting their rage as they were angry with the governor''s treatment to them all these past few months. Seeing him in this condition, no one was willing to help.


    "Look, it''s Bao Fu!"


    "Yeah, I''m glad that they manage to come here and help us."


    "It''s truly the right decision to issue the mission."


    As the governor breathed his last, he finally understood that the children who came here before were assassins from Bao Fu Organization. It seemed that some villagers managed to sneak away and posted the mission, thus bringing his bitter end to him.


    "It''s nice," Ye Jiao muttered as she watched.


    "Yes?"


    "Seeing them happy," Ye Jiao pointed to the people before them. "They might be just strangers, but seeing them happy like this, I think it''s a good thing."


    Lu Wan nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."


    The two of them stayed quiet as they watched the villagers celebrating. It was still early at night, so the people hadn''t slept yet. Right now, they didn''t seem like they were willing to have any rest.


    "Jiao''er, I''m sorry."


    "Senior Brother Lu?" Ye Jiao was stunned. "Why are you apologizing?"


    "The wound on your arm," Lu Wan pointed to Ye Jiao''s arm. The blood had dried and it had started to heal because it was just a scratch. "If only I''m able to control the chain better, you won''t get hurt like this. This is my fault."


    "Ah," Ye Jiao looked at her arm. "It''s nothing much. You don''t have to worry so much."


    "But! I nearly put your life in danger."


    "I''m an assassin, so it''s normal to put my life in danger," Ye Jiao showed her arm. "Compared to the danger we''re going to face in the future as we grow and our opponent also grows stronger, this is nothing."


    Lu Wan was silent for a moment before he nodded his head. "I understand. We''re still growing and we have to face much stronger opponents in the future. This is just the beginning."


    "if you''re sorry, you just have to train again, Senior Brother Lu. That way, you won''t repeat the same mistake again."


    "Yeah," Lu Wan showed a relieved smile. "You''re right. Let''s train hard again when we come back."


    "Ok, now, let''s have some rest."


    "Don''t you want to celebrate too?"


    "No, thank you. I reek of sweat and blood because of the fight, so I want to take a bath and sleep."


    "Ok, let''s go back."


    Silently, the two children returned back to the inn without anyone noticing.

 117 Return Back

    The next morning, Ye Jiao could clearly feel that the poison was making her stomach feel terrible. It seemed that despite her immunity, she was still unable to counter the poison perfectly.


    "Brother Yu, just how much did you put it?"


    Lu Wan smiled wryly. "It''s the most potent one I have because I''m planning on using it as my main weapon."


    "¡­What if you got hit accidentally?"


    "It''ll just raise my poison immunity, so it''s fine. As for the after effect, I''m sure that I''ll be fine," Lu Wan waved his hand. Internally, he knew that it would surely make him unable to leave his bed because of pain in his stomach. After all, his digestive system would be disturbed.


    It was amazing that Ye Jiao still managed to walk around even though she felt so much pain in her stomach. He himself was not sure that he could do it. Probably, he would need to train his poison immunity even more if he wanted to stay well.


    Even though Ye Jiao didn''t fully believe her senior brother, she didn''t pester him any longer as the two of them headed to the restaurant. Seeing the large number of people that morning, the two of them wondered whether these people slept or not last night.


    "Good morning, Ai Jiao and Yu Shui," the inn owner greeted them with a wide smile.


    "Good morning. Is there any good news today?" Ye Jiao asked curiously as if she didn''t know anything.


    "Haven''t you heard that last night the governor died? Everyone is so excited that we celebrate it the entire night," one of the servants chirped in.


    Lu Wan arched his eyebrows, acting as if he was confused. "Is that why the street is so noisy at night? Also, I thought you all like the governor."


    "Not really, we didn''t like his rule and so on," the inn owner glossed over the matter.


    "If the governor died, who''ll be the new one?"


    "We''re planning on selecting one of the Eon Energy Master rank 1 in this village. They''re going to hold the competition not long from now. Do you want to watch?"


    "Unfortunately, we have to return back," Lu Wan refused.


    "I hope that the new governor can be a good person and didn''t abuse his power. He''s not like a child that needs to be watched over, right?" Ye Jiao added with a smile on her face.


    However, her words caused the inn owner to pause in his action for a moment. It seemed that he had just come to the realization of how much power the governor had. Still, he didn''t show it in his face as he was speaking to two children.


    "You''re right, there''s no way that could happen."


    Ye Jiao nodded. "It''ll be nice if he can get along with one another. Just like me and my brother, we always watch over each other."


    "And I''ll scold you if you''re wrong," Lu Wan added.


    Listening to the two children, the inn owner''s body shook as he had just found out that their conversation could be used for his matter. If they had more than one governor, said vice-governor, the governor would never be able to abuse his power. Even though this system was common in cities, it was something new in a secluded village like this.


    "I''ll excuse myself for a moment. Please enjoy your breakfast."


    Ye Jiao giggled when she saw the inn owner dashed out. "Mr. Owner is funny today. By the way, what''s for breakfast?"


    "We have potato soup¡­"


    The two of them sat down after they ordered their food and Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao. "You don''t have to mention anything to them, you know? This is just a small village and one person is already more than enough to lead."


    "I just don''t want someone who reach rank 2 use his power thoughtlessly,'' Ye Jiao yawned. "After all, it''s possible to reach rank 2 with the help of resources."


    For people who have lesser talent and didn''t have any hope to reach greater rank, they would surely try to gain some pill and device to help them. There were some of them who could help them reach rank 2 without the need of talent, but their price was astronomical. Additionally, using them would block their path forever.


    That rank would be the highest one they reached in their lifetime.


    "I doubt this village can afford that."


    "I''m just saying," Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we''re going back right?"


    "Yeah, but I''m sure that Master is going to be angry."


    "Why?"


    "Because we''re going to take a long time to return back."


    Recalling their master, the two of them felt grim. They knew better than anyone that their master would surely not tolerate them arriving late.


    "Here''s the food."


    As soon as the food arrived, the two of them ate in a hurry and filled their belly with food. Even though Ye Jiao was still feeling unwell because of the poison, she ignored everything and just ate and ate. They wouldn''t stop at all until they reached Bao Fu Organization Headquarter, so they had to eat as much as possible.


    "We''ve finished. Thank you for the food."


    They left five copper coins before they ran out of the inn.


    "Do you know where they put the corpse? We need the head, right?" Ye Jiao recalled that they needed proof for their mission.


    "It''s over there."


    The corpse was placed in an abandoned shed. Looking at the beaten up corpse, the two of them knew that the villagers didn''t leave him off even though he had died. No one guarded the shed because they didn''t care for what happened to the governor.


    "We should have taken it last night."


    "It doesn''t matter. It''s good to see the villagers slightly happy because they can vent their frustration to this man."


    "Yeah," Lu Wan took out a blade and cut off the governor''s head. He silently placed it inside a cloth and saved it in his storage bracelet.


    "Let''s go."


    As soon as they left the village, the two of them ran at high speed that was hard to be seen by normal people.


    "Senior Brother Lu, do you think we can cut down the time again?"


    "Let''s just hope that we can cut it down to 4 days."


    "But even then, doesn''t it mean that we still take 13 days to complete the mission."


    The two of them were given 30 days to complete the mission. But knowing their master, Zhan Jing would surely hope for them to finish the mission far quicker than the designated time.


    The question was, by how much?


    "Let''s just hope that it''s enough time to satisfy our master."


    "Why are you talking as if you''re unsure?"


    "¡­"


    Reaching an agreement that they would do their best to avoid punishment, they ran even faster than before.

 118 Punishmen

    Thanks to the two of them running as fast as possible and spending less time resting, they managed to return back in four days.


    "I don''t want to repeat something like that again," Lu Wan said as he entered the main hall. His body wouldn''t be able to survive if he had to run like a madman the entire time.


    Ye Jiao nodded in agreement. Even though they had used Eon Energy to replenish their energy and used it to maintain steady power in their legs, they were still dead tired. It was too much for them to run that much.


    "At least, we learn better control of Eon Energy."


    "Yeah," Lu Wan sighed. "I''m not doing this training ever again, though. I already have enough when I have to climb those cliffs before."


    Ye Jiao couldn''t refute that. The two of them handed the governor''s head as the man in the counter checked.


    "You finished the mission within the time limit, so here''s your reward."


    "Reward?" Ye Jiao tilted her head in confusion. The man in the counter before didn''t tell them that they would get a reward for doing their mission, so she thought that there was none for a disciple.


    The man nodded his head. "We have points system for people registered as our employees. The number of points you can receive from a mission depends on the number of targets and their ranks. For example, the two of you have just gotten the mission to defeat one rank 2 Eon Energy Master, so you''ll have 2 points in total. Because this is a group mission, your reward is split and you get 1 point each."


    Different than before, this time the man took his time to explain the rules and system to the two of them.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Does it mean we have 1 point each now?"


    "Yes."


    "What can we use the point for?"


    "There are several uses for the point. First, you can trade the point with the items we have in the store. For the list of the item, you may head to the side hall on the right. Secondly, you can trade the point for facilities that we have here such as the training hall and many others. If you want to know more, you can head to the side hall on the left."


    Ye Jiao turned her head to the side in curiosity. She knew that there was a door at the side, but she didn''t know that they would lead to another counter for different use. It seemed that there were many things she still didn''t know from Bao Fu Organization.


    "Are there herbs?" Lu Wan asked.


    "Yes, we have a variety of herbs here. However, I''ll suggest that you collect more point before you start trading because they can be quite expensive."


    Both Ye Jiao and Lu Wan smiled wryly. As expected, they would have to do a lot of missions if they wanted to use the point. A single point wouldn''t be able to be of much use for them.


    "Can the point be traded to money?" Lu Wan asked.


    The man nodded. "It''s possible. We allow the trade of point to money but not money to point. If you want to, you can trade one point for 25 silvers."


    25 silvers were a lot for ordinary people, but it wouldn''t help them much if they lived in big a city. In the capital city alone, the price of food could reach 1 silver or even more if they didn''t pay attention.


    "It''s not really profitable," Lu Wan murmured. Since it was impossible to buy the point, he would never trade them to money. After all, the thing he didn''t lack was money.


    "I see. Thank you very much for the information," Ye Jiao added as she took back their badges. "One more thing, will our master be informed of our mission?"


    "Yes, he''ll be informed of your progress in the mission. In addition," the man''s eyes landed on Ye Jiao''s hand. "He''ll receive a report of your medical condition too."


    "I''m dead."


    "Senior Brother Yu?" Ye Jiao was startled to see the pale expression on Lu Wan''s face.


    Lu Wan waved his hand. "We''re going now. Thank you for the information."


    As Ye Jiao ran outside to follow after Lu Wan, she realized that his expression seemed like he had lost his soul. "Senior Brother Yu?"


    "Jiao''er, if Master kills me, please build me a good grave."


    "¡­Let''s just have a rest first, ok?"


    Ye Jiao dragged Lu Wan to the nearby building as she searched for an inn. As she entered, she asked if they accepted normal currency. Thankfully, they didn''t have to use points to stay in the city despite the fact that the price of the room was quite expensive.


    "Let''s sleep for today and eat to our fill," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "We''re going back tomorrow."


    Right now, Lu Wan was not in the mood to eat. The man on the counter''s gaze landed on Ye Jiao''s hand, which meant that he knew there was a scratch in Ye Jiao''s arm. As it was inflicted with poison, the color was different than normal and it hadn''t disappeared even after a few days. With that information alone, Lu Wan knew that their master would be able to find out that the wound was from him.


    Wounding teammate¡­.


    He could guess that their master would never let them off.


    After a day of rest, Lu Wan''s complexion turned better. The two of them set off back to the capital city as they wanted to train in the training hall again.


    "Are we going to sneak in as servants again?" Ye Jiao asked.


    Lu Wan nodded. "It''s the easiest way to get in. It''s not like the Lu Family pays close attention to their servant''s movements around me. Even though they''re one of the prestigious families, they''re quite lacking in monitoring."


    He found this out when he was young and checked the security system. From them, he realized that his father didn''t care for his security at all. Even the number of servants often got mixed up because of mistakes.


    Ye Jiao looked at Lu Wan in confusion. "Is your father didn''t care for a genius like you?"


    "There''s some care, but I doubt that it''s that important in their eyes," Lu Wan shrugged. "It''s quite complicated."


    "Just tell me. There''s still a distance away from the capital."


    "Ok. It all started from¡­."


    The two of them felt sudden pressure as they readied their stance. Upon seeing the familiar figure standing a few meters in front of them at an unknown time, they were shocked.


    "Master!"


    "Brats, I received the report not long ago," Zhan Jing didn''t beat around the buss as he said straight to the point. "What an awesome wound on your junior sister, Lu Wan."


    Lu Wan shuddered as his face turned pale. "Master¡­ that''s unintentional. I¡­."


    "It means the two of you lack training," Zhan Jing smiled. "It''s just convenient that I''m not going to have any mission for the next few weeks. Aside from personal drill, it''s time for you two to spar with me."


    ''We''re dead.''


    There was only one thing inside the two children''s minds as Zhan Jing used his Eon Energy to bring them back to the Lu Family Residence.


    They would not be able to escape this hellish training at all.

 119 Are You Truly Family? 1

    Time passed swiftly and the season changed. It was mid-autumn when the two children heard the news they have been waiting for a long time.


    "I received a new job, so I''ll be going for the time being," Zhan Jing informed the two children.


    Right now, both Ye Jiao and Lu Wan were sitting on the floor while conserving their strength. After training with Zhan Jing for months, they knew for the best that they had to be prepared for battle anytime. Their master changed his tactic to attack them whenever he saw them relax their guard even if it was only a little bit.


    As a result, the two of them tried to not lower their guard at all even when they were asleep.


    Though their awareness during their sleep still needed a lot of improvisation¡­


    "Does it mean our training is over, Master?" Lu Wan raised his head and asked. He tried not to make any unnecessary movements in case their master asked them to do another round of physical training.


    "It''s time to relax your muscle a bit," Zhan Jing looked at the two of them. "But you still have to keep your guard up at all times, understand?"


    "Yes, Master."


    "There''s going to be hunt training in your school soon. You can participate while Ye Jiao will just continue to practice the poison resistance during the training. Try not to stand out too much."


    "Master, I''m a genius here, how can I¡­" seeing the glare on Zhan Jing''s eyes, Lu Wan gulped down the word he was about to say. "Fine, I''ll just use a sword and not any other weapon."


    Lu Wan''s use of the sword was mediocre at best. It was only because he had trained in them when he was younger that he still could use it. After all, he no longer trained the sword for the past year.


    Ye Jiao raised her hand. "Master, can I show my fighting skill or I shouldn''t move at all?"


    "Never show them," Zhan Jing replied immediately. "In the training hunt, the teachers are going to supervise the students, so you shouldn''t make any move if you don''t want to raise suspiciousness."


    With Ye Jiao''s built, it was hard for people to think of her as a child older than 9 years old. She herself was still nine and will turn 10 in the winter, so it was not weird for them to think of her this small. However, this build would be a disadvantage as they would surely recognize her as a genius if she showed her power even once.


    "In Chen Kingdom, it''s rare for children under the age of 12 to form their core," Lu Wan added. "I''m already attracting enough attention as I am."


    "I understand, Master."


    "After the hunt training, you have to finish 10 mission in Bao Fu Organization. I''ll arrange the group mission to fight against Eon Energy Master rank 2 and you have to finish them all before Spring Hunt."


    "Spring Hunt? Is that the same as the hunt celebration that the kingdom usually does?" Ye Jiao asked with hesitation. This was the first time she heard that name.


    "It''s different. Next year spring hunt is also a hunt with children from the four kingdoms to come and participate," Lu Wan was the one to answer. "At that time, every genius will come to hunt in this place and compete for the reward."


    "You''re going to meet with your senior brother in the hunt too," Zhan Jing reminded. "I''ll tell you your next mission through him."


    "Must we meet him, Master?" Lu Wan groaned.


    "With his talent, it''ll be weird if he didn''t participate. Now, I''ll be going and you should prepare yourself to meet your siblings."


    As soon as he finished saying that, Zhan Jing disappeared from his position. Lu Wan sighed to himself and looked at Ye Jiao.


    "Act as my servant again."


    "Yes, Young Master."


    Ye Jiao hurriedly changed her clothes. This time, her movements seemed more refined and careful. Truthfully, the training only consisted of them putting up their guard at every single time, which also included their posture. Ye Jiao found out that it was easier to do in slightly proper posture, which made her look refined.


    On the other hand, Lu Wan found it to be the opposite. His posture looked so bad and rowdy that people wouldn''t believe him as someone from a high ranking official scholar family. However, it was the kind of posture where he could easily move around in case he got attacked suddenly, just like what happened to them for the past few months.


    "Do you want to see?"


    "Senior Brother?"


    Lu Wan pointed to the door. "Their attitude and what''s the meaning of ''family'' in Lu Family?"


    "I¡­" Ye Jiao was curious about their behavior because of how much Lu Wan hated them. However, she didn''t want to force Lu Wan to show it to her as it must be something unsightly.


    "It''s fine if you want to see."


    "Then I want to."


    "Ok."


    Lu Wan opened the door and saw Lu Zhi standing there. The girl was smiling beautifully as if she had just met someone she loved.


    "Good afternoon, Second Brother."


    "What do you want?" Lu Wan didn''t even bother greeting the girl as he asked straight to the point.


    Lu Zhi didn''t pay any attention to the rude behavior of her brother as she replied. "Father is staying at home for the past few days. He gave us instructions that we should inform you to participate in the family meal when you come out."


    "Oh, you sure have a lucky day to meet me this soon," Lu Wan sneered.


    It was not as if Lu Zhi was lucky. She had been waiting outside the training hall for the past few days. However, Lu Wan ignored her presence and continued to practice with his master. Comparing his father and Zhan Jing, he felt more fear and respect from Zhan Jing.


    "Please follow after me, Second Brother," Lu Zhi didn''t even show her grievances as she put on a sweet smile on her face.


    "Fine," Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao. "You all should follow and learn manners."


    "Yes, Young Master."


    The order was actually directed at Ye Jiao, but Lu Wan didn''t want to make her stand out. He chose to just order all of his servants to come and watch the family meal. Even if their view of him worsened, it didn''t matter to him.


    As they approached the main building, Ye Jiao could sense the atmosphere turned tense. Her heart tightened for she wondered what kind of parent the prime minister was.

 120 Are You Truly Family? 2

    Lu Wan didn''t say any word as he entered the building. Following Lu Wan, Ye Jiao could see a finely decorated room with a table filled with food in the middle. It has refreshing cream color on the wall, but the tense atmosphere coming from the center destroyed everything.


    "Father, Second Brother is here," Lu Zhi gave her greeting.


    Ye Jiao secretly raised her head slightly as she moved to the side. The servant''s position was at the edge of the room, far away from the main table. She could see a middle aged man sitting at the other side of the room. He has fine countenance with dark brown hair and well maintained moustache. His robe was well decorated with golden thread, showing his status as the prime minister and the king''s right hand.


    Lu Changqing.


    Ye Jiao has heard a lot of words regarding this man from her mother when she studied the kingdom''s history. It was known that he was a man of rules and always followed after them so strictly that he was nicknamed as rules dictionary. He was a good prime minister with countless knowledge but he was never a good father in his family.


    ''Senior Brother Lu looks stand out here¡­ why is his hair look very different?''


    Ye Jiao had never realized it before, but the Lu Family mostly had brown to black hair. Other than Lu Wan, there was no one else who had the same hair color. Did her senior brother color it?


    She had never seen him do that, so she doubted it.


    "Father," Lu Wan called in a flat tone as he bowed slightly as per the rules.


    Lu Changqing pointed to the chair near Lu Zhi. "Sit down."


    "Yes, Father."


    As soon as Lu Wan sat down, the room was filled with great pressure coming from the prime minister. Lu Changqing tapped the table.


    "I received the report of your activities for the past year from the butler and it seems, you''re all doing very bad this year."


    Past year?


    Ye Jiao was stunned to hear the man''s words. Did it mean he neglected his children for a year and only met them afterwards? Was he truly a father? She knew that he was not a good father, but she had never heard of a father ignoring his children for an entire year.


    Well, there might be other people like him out there, but she didn''t know any.


    The three of them didn''t reply as they just waited for their father to speak. The stifling atmosphere intensified as many of the servants were trembling.


    "Lu Su, it''s already the time for you to take over my work. The amount of paperwork you do for the past year is still insufficient, so increase it."


    "Yes, Father."


    "Lu Wan, you should train harder. The imperial family is waiting for you to perform well in the hunt alongside with the other two."


    Lu Wan''s expression didn''t change as he replied. "Yes, Father."


    "Lu Zhi, you might have secured your engagement, but it doesn''t mean you can neglect your training. You''re already 13 years old, it''s shameful that you haven''t formed your core yet."


    "Yes, Father."


    The three of them didn''t refute their father''s words as they took everything up and just agreed right away. Even from the side, Ye Jiao felt suffocated when she heard the instruction. It seemed as if they were attending the court and the subjects were not allowed to do any mistake.


    Afterwards, Lu Changqing still gave more instruction, but Ye Jiao didn''t listen to him anymore. She felt sick listening to how he treated his children. Even though she had seen Mu Xin and her father looked like the military, their lunch and dinner were always filled with warmth.


    Here, she couldn''t sense it at all.


    After Lu Changqing finished giving his instruction, he started lunch. "Start eating."


    "Yes, Father."


    The way they ate was extremely refined. It was clear that they had been taught how to handle proper manners when they were eating as they didn''t make any mistakes whatsoever.


    Lu Changqing finished eating first and left the dining hall because he still has work to do. Once he left, the stifling atmosphere suddenly turned murderous.


    "Lu Wan."


    "What is it?" Lu Wan asked with his hand still holding a fork. His expression was no longer expressionless like before, but it was one that showed his dissatisfaction.


    "The matter of the challenge has been resolved, but you still have to mend your relationship with Wei Cheng," Lu Su remarked. "It''s almost time for Spring Hunt, so it''ll be better to keep amiable relationships."


    "I''m doing whatever I want, Lu Su. You don''t have the right to dictate me," Lu Wan replied.


    "Lu Wan!"


    "If you''re just worrying about the family''s honor, there''s no need to worry. I''ll deal with it using my way and there won''t be any news of this matter after I have finished," Lu Wan replied.


    Lu Su sighed. "Fine, I hope I can hear good news from you."


    "Yeah, yeah."


    Afterwards, Lu Su turned his head to Lu Zhi. "Lu Zhi, I heard that you spend time alone with your fianc¨¦ yesterday? Even though you''re engaged, it''s still not right to spend time with men alone."


    "I''m not alone. There are servants around us."


    "Lu Zhi, do you want to hear gossip¡­?"


    Lu Wan stood up as he was not interested to hear the two of them clash. "I''m full, so I''ll be going first."


    Without waiting for the other''s answer, he walked out of the room. Ye Jiao sneaked a glance at the other two as she saw a hint of helplessness in Lu Su''s eyes and hint of killing intent in Lu Zhi''s eyes.


    Were they truly family?


    She didn''t understand why family members would try to kill one another like that. In her eyes, family was those who would stay together no matter what happened. This Lu Family was simply too much.

 121 Making a Be

    "It''s tiring, isn''t it?" Lu Wan asked as he returned back to his room.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "Do you mean, having them as your family?"


    "Yeah," Lu Wan laid on his bed. "The Lu Family is nothing more than a family of honor and would always put honor at the very front. Other things didn''t matter as long as they can keep the image of a great scholar and keep everything under control."


    "You don''t have to deal with them if you don''t want to."


    "I don''t have any other choice," Lu Wan smiled bitterly. "I''m still incapable of going outside, so I can only stay here and bid my time. It is tiring, but I guess it''s not that bad at times."


    Now, Ye Jiao could faintly understand why this boy seemed sad at times and angry when he mentioned his family. With each of the family members were only people who thought of themselves and putting on a fa?ade, everyone would surely feel tired. It was a relationship full of deceive.


    "You''re no longer alone, Senior Brother Lu," Ye Jiao put on a smile. "You have Master, me, and your senior brothers if you need company. We''re all your family."


    Looking at Ye Jiao, Lu Wan smiled. "Yeah."


    "Good, now smile."


    "Stop that, I don''t need a kid to take care of me."


    "Ah! You''re saying that now?" Ye Jiao puffed her cheek in displeasure.


    Lu Wan laughed. "Anyway, you should prepare yourself because we''re going to school tomorrow."


    "School? Are you going to talk with Wei Cheng again?"


    "Kind of. I still need to resolve this matter one way or another," Lu Wan shrugged. "After all, I use him to get this time to spend training, so I''ll find a way that will satisfy both of us."


    Somehow, Ye Jiao had the feeling that it wouldn''t'' end as well as what her senior brother said. His smirk was too apparent. Well, since Ye Jiao also hated Wei Cheng, she decided to just wait for tomorrow.


    ¡­


    The day passed quietly without any disturbance. The two of them headed to the academy early in the morning and headed straight to the classroom. This time, the students didn''t even look at Ye Jiao because she had followed behind Lu Wan for a period of time a few weeks ago.


    "You can just talk with Mu Xin. I''m going to wait for Wei Cheng."


    "Ok."


    Ye Jiao headed to their usual chair and noticed Mu Xin sitting in front of Lu Wan''s chair. The cold expression on the girl''s face melted a bit when she saw Ye Jiao.


    "Ji-Xiao''er, it has been some time," Mu Xin greeted.


    "Yes, indeed it has."


    Mu Xin scrutinized Ye Jiao for a moment. "Have you heard the training the school is going to host next week?"


    "I have. Isn''t it training to allow them to get used to the forest environment."


    "Yes. The special spring hunt only occurs once every three years, so they have to prepare the students to the fullest. Not everyone can participate because there''s limitation for strength and age."


    "Limitation?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    "Only those at rank 2 or below can participate. In addition, they have to be under 17 years old," Mu Xin explained.


    Normal people wouldn''t be able to reach rank 2 under 17 years old. This was the limitation to make sure that only those talented students participated in the hunt because it was intended to allow them grow. At the same time, it would help them gain a clearer picture of the kingdom''s condition.


    "I see."


    Mu Xin looked at Ye Jiao. "However, students from higher ranking families can bring servants or friends along as long as that person is under the age of 17. Will Lu Wan bring you to participate in the hunt?"


    Ah, it was no wonder that their master asked Lu Wan to bring her in the hunt. Ye Jiao had thought that it was weird for their master to include her in their list considering she has to keep her identity a secret. With her acting as Lu Wan''s servant, it would be easy for her to sneak inside and participate without anyone getting suspicious.


    "I think so," Ye Jiao replied.


    Mu Xin nodded. "I''ll talk to him later."


    "Huh?"


    While Ye Jiao was surprised by Mu Xin''s sudden remark, she could see Wei Cheng came into the class along with Wei Yin. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Wei Yin because she could clearly feel higher fluctuation of Eon Energy coming from that girl. It seemed that she was already close to break through to Eon Energy rank 2.


    "Wei Cheng, how''s the past few weeks?" Lu Wan greeted in a casual tone.


    Hearing his voice, Wei Cheng''s body froze for a moment. His eyes glinted dangerously as he glared at the young man before him. "You cowards! Because you didn''t answer the challenge, I have to endure harsh training."


    "Are you really having training?" Lu Wan jeered. "With that kind of body you have, I would not be surprised if you just fool around."


    "Lu Wan!"


    "I''m just telling the truth. Besides, do you really want to issue a challenge to someone younger than you?" Lu Wan put his hand on the back and assumed proud stature. "You''re just afraid, are you not?"


    Wei Cheng''s face turned ashen. He really wished he could slap Lu Wan''s mouth right here, right now, because this man truly has poisonous tongue. Unfortunately, he wouldn''t be able to do that or his father might kill him for real.


    Calming his thoughts, Wei Cheng crossed his arm. "What do you want, green hair? Are you going to be the one making the challenge instead?"


    "Are you crazy? Who would want to fight an idiot like you?"


    "Oh? You''re truly a coward, then."


    "I come here today not to issue a challenge but a bet," Lu Wan smirked.


    Wei Cheng frowned. "A bet? Are you planning on fooling me, Lu Wan?"


    "Nah, I would dare not to do something like that to a prestigious first son in a famous Wei Family," Lu Wan sung praise, but his tone was nothing more than mocking. "The question would be would you dare to bet with me?"


    "Why not? State your terms!"

 122 Dealing

    "The question would be would you dare to bet with me?"


    "Why not? State your terms!"


    Beside Wei Cheng, Wei Yin frowned and stepped forward. Her cool expression didn''t change except for the hint of displeasure in her small frown. "Brother, I think it''ll be unwise of you to accept a bet without knowing the content."


    "Wei Yin, you better step back and don''t meddle in my business," Wei Cheng warned his younger sister.


    "If you make another blunder like before, Father won''t forgive you. Consider your option first, Brother," Wei Yin didn''t step back as she reminded once again. Her eyes were showing a dangerous glint as she stared back at her brother.


    Despite being the younger sister, Wei Yin has caught up to Wei Cheng''s progress. Not only that, her overall power was much better than Wei Cheng, to the point that she was capable of beating him.


    "Hey, if you want to have sibling fights, just do it at home," Lu Wan interrupted. He looked at Wei Yin with annoyance as he didn''t want her to disrupt his plan. He never heard that Wei Yin was someone who would meddle in other people''s business, but he knew that this girl was far smarter and knew how to behave. As the one with the highest power in the current younger generation in the Wei Family, she has the highest influence.


    "Stand back, Wei Yin. This is my personal problem."


    Wei Yin looked at her brother for a moment before stepped back. In any case, they were only half-sibling because they have different mother. "If that''s what you wish, Brother."


    "I''m just making a bet for our training," Lu Wan grinned. "We''re going to hunt monsters, right? Why not betting on who will hunt the most monsters?"


    "Training hunt, huh?" Wei Cheng rubbed his palm together. He had been planning on training with the imperial family, so he knew that this would be beneficial to him. Since Lu Wan delivered himself for this, why shouldn''t he take it?


    "Are you afraid?"


    "Not at all, I''m just worried that you''re the one who wouldn''t dare to bet," Wei Cheng smiled. Now, he felt delighted that he had made the arrangement.


    Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. "We''re going to bet with gold coins. I hope you''re not lacking in money, Young Master Wei Cheng."


    He purposely stressed the word ''young master'' to make sure that Wei Cheng was aware of his position in Wei Family. Unlike Lu Wan who rarely used the money he had, Wei Cheng often bought medicine or anything else to aid in his training.


    Wei Cheng furrowed his brows. He only has several golds left and making a bet above his allowance would be impossible. Not that he considered himself would lose, but it would be better to be prepared.


    "5 gold coins," Wei Cheng stated the amount he currently had.


    On his side, Wei Yin''s eyes faltered. She knew that her brother didn''t have that much gold coin left. At most, Wei Cheng should only have around 2-3 gold coins. This brother of hers seemed like he didn''t want to lose his face.


    Lu Wan blinked his eyes. His allowance per month was only 10 gold coins. Since Wei Family invested heavily in the military, he was sure that Wei Cheng''s monthly allowance should be lower. To propose that much gold coin¡­ did he not afraid he would make him poor?


    "Do you have that much money?" Lu Wan asked dubiously.


    Wei Cheng''s face darkened. "Of course, I have!"


    After the practice hunt, he would get his monthly allowance of 7 gold coins. This way, he would have enough money for the bet. If he lost, he would have to reduce his spending, though.


    "Fine, 5 gold coins is it. I''ll be waiting then," Lu Wan yawned and returned back to his seat in leisurely. He himself has more than 100 gold coins thanks to his never ending closed door training.


    Ye Jiao looked at Lu Wan and tilted her head. "Young Master, why don''t you ask for more money?"


    "There''s a high chance that I''m going to lose," Lu Wan replied. "He should be teaming up with the imperial family and their second prince is Eon Energy Master rank 2.??


    "Is he still in the range?"


    "Yeah. He''s just a year older than me, so he should be 14 years old."


    14 years old Eon Energy Master rank 2. It seemed that Ye Jiao could understand where the confidence of the imperial family came from. This age alone was enough to put that young man in the list of geniuses.


    Even Wei Cheng seemed lackluster as that man was already 15 years old.


    "They always use the help of herbs to advance faster in their rank," Mu Xin shared her knowledge. "As you know, Eon Energy is the basic energy in this world and herbs always contain several degree of Eon Energy inside. By mixing them and taking a bath using them, your body can naturally absorb Eon Energy to grow stronger."


    Both Lu Wan and Ye Jiao looked at Mu Xin in astonishment.


    "I never know that herbs can be used this way."


    "If only I know about it before, I''ll just buy herbs," Lu Wan clicked his tongue. He had too much money for his own good and the poisonous herbs he wanted couldn''t be found in the normal market. He had to go through illegal means if he wanted to procure some of the rarer ones.


    Mu Xin shook her head. "Even if you have herbs, you need to know the recipe or you might accidentally poison yourself."


    Ye Jiao sneaked a glance at her senior brother as she knew that this man would rather be poisoned rather than making less effective medicine bath.


    "Do you know any?"


    "Unfortunately, my family didn''t know any. Wei Family and Imperial Family should have a recipe on their own."


    Lu Wan clicked his tongue. "I''m not surprised."


    "Lu Wan."


    "What is it?"


    "I want to talk to you about Ye Jiao''s participation in the training and hunt next year."


    Lu Wan frowned. "I believe it''s not your business whether she participates in the hunt or not, right?"


    "I''m worried for her safety, so I want you to add me into your group," Mu Xin replied.


    "Not a chance."


    "Why not?"


    For a moment, Ye Jiao could feel a cold aura emanating from Mu Xin''s body. She could sense that the two of them might blow this up if they didn''t reach an agreement soon.


    "I don''t want to team up with you. I plan on teaming up with people from different kingdom during the hunt," Lu Wan explained bluntly. "You might be quite good, but I don''t have any intention to team up with anyone from Chen Kingdom."


    Mu Xin frowned. Teaming up with people from other kingdoms was the true purpose of the hunt. Since their capabilities differ, they would try to find people who could work better with them. At times, they also could try to team up with people from different kingdoms to find the style that suited them the most.


    After all, they were still in their growing up period.


    "If I can''t team up with you during the hunt, how about during practice? You''re not planning on going in alone, right?"


    Truthfully, Lu Wan would prefer to be alone as he didn''t have any problem to deal with rank 1 beast. However, he didn''t really want to catch the teacher''s attention while Ye Jiao wouldn''t be able to fight because they would be monitored during their time in the forest.


    "Fine, but I''m the leader."


    "Sure."


    "Now, don''t bother me," Lu Wan took out his notebook and started to write numerous scribbles while Ye Jiao smiled.


    "It''ll be nice to team up with you, Xin Jie."


    "Yes."


    "Don''t talk during lessons."


    "Yes~!"

 123 Buying a Sword

    Days passed while the children were waiting in anticipation for the training day.


    "Senior Brother Lu, are you sure you don''t need to prepare yourself?" Ye Jiao asked in curiosity.


    "Living in the forest while wearing armor is just going to be a hassle. Besides, those armor in the stores are too fragile. I''m sure that it''s not going to last long in the battle."


    "At least, you should buy a new sword. This sword is no longer suitable for you," Ye Jiao pointed to Lu Wan''s sword.


    It was not like the sword turned rusty, but it was because of the size. Lu Wan got the sword when he was still 7 years old. Since he was already 13 years old, this sword was too short for him to use.


    "They''re all trash."


    "¡­"


    Ye Jiao knew that the weapons crafted in this kingdom were pretty low in standard. After seeing the weapon that Zhan Jing showed and gave them, the two of them couldn''t be moved by those weapons anymore.


    "No armor and no sword, how are you going to fight, Senior Brother Lu?" Ye Jiao asked with a smile on her face, yet her aura was simply telling her senior brother to just go and buy a new sword.


    "Why do you care¡­?"


    Bletak!


    "Try to think from other people''s perspective," Ye Jiao rolled his eyes. "If you show up unprepared like this, they''ll assume that you''re not doing your best. When you suddenly show your real skill, they might think that you hide much more because of your flimsy preparation and weapon. Do you want the imperial family to pay attention to you?"


    "Ah! You''re right," Lu Wan slapped his hand.


    "Now, ask your father for a weapon or an armor. At the very least, you can''t possibly show up with this child sword in your arm," Ye Jiao pointed to the sword.


    Lu Wan frowned. "Why should I buy an armor?"


    "¡­We might have better defense because we''re training our body every day, but it''s good to be prepared, right? If a rank 2 beast appear and attack suddenly, you can get wounded fatally, Senior Brother Lu."


    "Ok, ok, I''ll ask the servant to prepare a carriage."


    As her senior brother walked out, Ye Jiao sighed in exasperation. At times, she would think of her senior brother as someone awesome. But most of the times, he was just a big idiot who only knew how to fool around.


    ''I wonder how''s my other senior brother looks like.''


    Ye Jiao pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she went out and found Lu Wan was heading back.


    "Come on, you''re accompanying me."


    "Eh?"


    Ye Jiao was reluctant, but she chose to follow after her senior brother in the end. If she didn''t, she was afraid that he might not even buy a decent sword from the store.


    Chen Kingdom Capital City has several weapon stores. As Eon Energy Master was large in number at the capital city and it was also the place where students gathered, weapons were common. However, there were only two large weapon stores and Lu Wan conveniently picked one of them.


    "Wait here," Lu Wan instructed after he alighted down the carriage. He would prefer to walk to the store, but it would take too much trouble if he did so.


    "Yes, Young Master."


    "Xiao''er, follow after me."


    Ye Jiao followed behind Lu Wan as they entered the large building. Rows of weapon laid out in front of them. However, neither one of them were surprised as they had read about it from books.


    Lu Wan frowned. "They''re all low quality."


    The weapons in front of them were mostly low quality that they would never want to use in their entire life. The build was so fragile that it wouldn''t be able to last that long. Even though it should be considered pretty good for students as they only fought against rank 1 beast, it wouldn''t last in front of the attack of rank 2 beast.


    "Indeed¡­."


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. After seeing the magnificent weapon that Zhan Jing showed to them in the past, these low level weapons couldn''t enter their eyes any longer. The lackluster light and the low material they used only made Lu Wan got the urge to throw them all to the trash bin.


    It was simply too bad.


    "Welcome Young Master Lu," a servant immediately stepped forward. "The weapon at the front row is intended for new students without much experience and they''re naturally cheaper. For someone at your rank, there are better weapons at the back."


    Lu Wan glanced at the servant. "Show me."


    "Yes, Young Master!"


    Seeing how the people around them also made way, Ye Jiao tried to hold her laugh. Among the few young masters in the capital city, it was the easiest to recognize Lu Wan because of his green hair. Even amongst a large crowd, he would surely stand out.


    As they walked to the second floor, the weapon''s quality increased. Ye Jiao could clearly see that the weapons were at a better state and used finer material compared to weapons at the first floor.


    "This is the place for refined weapons," the servant said as he pointed to the back. "The price of the weapon in this place starts from 5 gold coins, but I''m sure that they''re all the finest weapons in this kingdom."


    Ye Jiao stared at the weapons blankly. These were the finest one? Compared to the dagger she had, they seemed to be so lacking.


    Lu Wan held the urge to throw a tantrum as he sighed. "Show me the best sword you have."


    "Yes, Young Master!"


    This time, the manager also came forward as he instructed the servant to bring several weapons from the back. From the way they handled the weapon, Ye Jiao knew that it was the treasure of this weapon store.


    "Young Master Lu, these are the finest weapons in this kingdom. We only have three at the best quality, feel free to see them."


    As they opened the box, the two of them could see the swords inside. It was certainly far better compared to the swords on either the first or second floor, but it was still far lacking compared to their real weapon.


    The first one was a large sword with a bright red handle. With just a look, it was clear that the weapon was heavy. As for the second one, it was a long sword and the third one was a bit shorter as if it was for children.


    Lu Wan picked up the long sword and tried to swing it a few times. He could feel the air got slightly cut from the weapon. Even though it was not too good, it was stable and easy to use.


    "This is not bad."


    He put it back and tried the third one. It was a bit too short for him but the light was comfortable.


    The manager and the servants were waiting nervously. These three were already the best sword they have, so if Lu Wan still didn''t like it, they didn''t know what else they could show him.


    "I''ll take these two. How much are they?"


    "You''re going to take two swords?" the manager was startled, but he became delighted. "Young Master truly have keen eyes. The long sword is 12 gold coins while the short one is 7 gold coins."


    "This one is more expensive?" Lu Wan arched his eyebrows.


    "Yes. Even though the short sword is of the same quality, the maker makes it too short, so it can only be used by children," the manager explained carefully. He didn''t want to offend Lu Wan by saying to this young man that the sword was only intended for children, so he tried to explain.


    Lu Wan nodded. The size was indeed unsuitable for him because of his height. However, he didn''t buy it for himself. "Give me a discount."


    "Ah, since Young Master Lu is buying two swords, we''ll give you 20% discount. This way, Young Master only has to pay 15 gold coins and 20 silvers."


    "Ok."


    Lu Wan didn''t haggle anymore and handed the money directly.


    The manager was delighted and bowed to Lu Wan happily. The sword that they were unable to sell for a long time was finally sold. He could brag about this to his friends without restraint.


    "Thank you very much for your purchase, Young Master! Please come again!"


    Lu Wan waved his hand while his mind was thinking. ''There''s no way I''m going back here.''

 124 Training Day

    "This sword is for you," Lu Wan handed the short sword to Ye Jiao when they were inside the carriage.


    "Ah, Young Master?"


    Lu Wan sighed. "If it''s necessary, you can fight using this sword. But refrain from using Eon Energy because it''s going to be suspicious."


    "I understand," Ye Jiao nodded her head. Even she knew how dangerous it would be if they found out that someone as young as herself had become Eon Energy Master. "By the way, the swords are not that bad, right?"


    "Not bad?" Lu Wan rubbed his forehead. "If it''s not because of the competition, I''m definitely not going to keep this sword around. It''s too expensive with its quality too low!"


    "Well, it''s already the best in this kingdom. Even Wei Cheng''s sword is at this quality, right?"


    "Probably slightly higher since he''s from a military family," Lu Wan shrugged. It was easy for Wei Shang to provide his family with the finest weapon they could gather. "Well, I''m not too fond of showing off, so this should be enough."


    "Alright, since the weapon is ready, how about if we search for armor next, Young Master?"


    "Again?"


    "Don''t tell me that you have no plan on buying armor?"


    Lu Wan scratched his cheek. "If I have the money, I''ll prefer to save them until it''s enough to buy herbs. I don''t really need armor."


    "We''re going to buy armor."


    "Hey, hey, I''m the young master here."


    "You need it."


    One way or another, Ye Jiao managed to drag Lu Wan to buy armor for himself. This time, Lu Wan only brought one as the quality was even lower compared to the weapon he brought earlier.


    ¡­


    When the training day came, the students were told not to come to the classroom but head directly to outside the city. There was a plain not far from the West Gate where the students gathered.


    "They''re all ridiculous," Lu Wan commented when he saw the getup of the students. Many of them wore heavy armor as if they were ready to march in war. For children around their age, these types of armor would only hinder their movements.


    After all, they didn''t have that strong body with their muscles still in development.


    "I think you''re the only one who will say that," Ye Jiao sighed.


    Right now, Lu Wan only wore light armor beneath his dark green robe. Considering that this should be their ''first time'' living in the forest, his getup seemed so laidback. As for his sword, it rested nicely in his storage bracelet.


    Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "Why don''t you say that to yourself?"


    Ye Jiao also wore a light green robe. She tied the sword that Lu Wan gave to her on her hips. As it was still within its sheath, there was no need for her to worry that other people can recognize the worth of the sword.


    "I''m more normal."


    "There''s no other 9 years old girl in this place."


    "I''m not a participant too, just an attendant of a lousy young master."


    "What did you say?"


    The two of them argued in low voices while more students came to gather on the field. It didn''t take long for them to spot Mu Xin coming to their direction. She was wearing light armor while her weapon was inside her storage bracelet.


    "Good day, Lu Wan," Mu Xin greeted.


    Lu Wan nodded his head. He pointed to the front, where the teachers were setting up a small stage. "Relay to me their instruction. I''m going to sleep."


    "Eh?"


    Mu Xin was confused but Lu Wan didn''t care. He sat down on the ground and leaned to the wall, sleeping peacefully. On the side, Ye Jiao really wanted to bury her face on the ground. Her senior brother didn''t take enough rest the day before because he was busy investigating a new recipe. As a result, he decided to take a short nap here.


    "Good morning everyone," before Mu Xin could say anything, the teachers have finished setting up the small stage and stood there. Using his Eon Energy as amplifier, he made his sound reach to every place around him.


    "Today is the day for students to depart into the forest to train. For the first day, you all stay in the camp and try to search for edible foods around the area. Only after you present them to the teacher would we allow you to get inside the forest and stay there for the next month.


    During this month, you''ll face beast rank 1. There are a lot of different beasts, so you have to make sure that you recognize them because different beasts have different weaknesses. We will monitor your movement, so don''t go over 5 km away from the capital city."


    5 Km?


    Ye Jiao wondered whether they would be able to know the distance when they were inside the forest. 5 km was not too far or too short since this was mostly the students'' first time entering the forest. The hardest thing would be to know whether they had bypassed the mark or not.


    "You may hunt as many as possible and gather their cores. When you come out, you shall present the cores to us and we''ll count it. The one with the highest number of cores will be given rewards. There are also prizes for second place and third place, but we''re not going to reveal it too early.


    You also can form group with any students as many as you want. There''s no restriction of the party''s number but remember that in the real hunt, you can only team up to five people the most. These five people would also include yourself."


    "Five team party is a pretty good idea," Mu Xin said in a low tone.


    "Why is that?"


    "A party requires defender, attacker, pillar, support, and also scout. These are usually the compositions for a party," Mu Xin replied. "Of course, it''s not necessary since there are various types of party too and one person may a take double role at once."


    "I see," Ye Jiao didn''t think that there was a way to form a party too. It seemed that a real party should be interesting.


    "Well, I doubt the children can think this far if they''re not educated," Mu Xin pointed to the batch of the children. "This is usually taught in the military family and school, but if you remember the condition of the classroom, I doubt anyone remembers it."


    "Yeah, you''re right, Xin Jie. This is why this is practice, right?" Ye Jiao grinned. "If it''s impossible to push it into their mind, they just have to pound it with actions."


    Mu Xin was stunned then she nodded. "You''re right."


    Afterwards, the teacher still talked a bit about the rules, but the students barely listened as they were busy forming their party.

 125 Ready? Start!

    "So, how is it?" Lu Wan yawned as he looked at the two girls in front of him. "Is there anything important from what the teacher said?"


    "For today, we have to prove to them that we know plants that are edible. We need to gather two for each party," Mu Xin answered. "You can form a party with as many people as you want. Also, after the hunt is over, they''re going to hold an arena competition."


    Ye Jiao nodded. "We''re free to do whatever we want to do in the forest and gather the core of the beast that we defeated."


    "Is that so? Then, let''s start," Lu Wan stretched his body and walked to the direction of the forest. He crouched down and picked up two types of different leaves. "Mu Xin, do you think this is enough?"


    "Huh?"


    "To pass the first round."


    Mu Xin took the two leaves from Lu Wan''s hand and inspected them. She has trained in the forest before with her father, so she has some basic knowledge of edible herbs. It took her a few seconds to recognize the two of them.


    "This is Dew Grass and Yellow Leaf. We can eat the two of them without the need to worry."


    "Pass it to the teacher," Lu Wan pointed to the teacher. "Just say that you find it nearby, so we want to get inside the forest. Don''t forget to say that you''ve formed a party of two people."


    "O-ok," Mu Xin was still surprised that Lu Wan could have knowledge over the herbs this great. If one saw Lu Wan on a daily basis, they would only associate him with the word ''crude,'' but this time she saw a different side of this young master.


    It was weird of Lu Wan to not want to get recognized for his skill, but Mu Xin knew better than to ask unnecessary questions. She formed a party with him just because she wanted to protect Ye Jiao and nothing else.


    When Mu Xin walked away, Ye Jiao shook her head. "There''s no need to show off your ability to recognize plants, right Young Master Lu?"


    "It''s just a stupid request after all," Lu Wan yawned. "Recognizing these plants are a piece of cake for me."


    "Young Master Lu, you may say that it''s easy for you to recognize them, but can you say the same for other children. Not everyone has the experience of seeing these plants in their real life until today," Ye Jiao warned.


    Lu Wan paused in his action as he thought about it again. Thinking it that way, it was indeed true that the children shouldn''t have any experience since they normally lived in the city. Their parents would provide them with everything they needed, so there was no need for them to study everything.


    Only some of them would have the basic knowledge ready.


    "Xiao''er."


    "Yes?"


    "Sometimes, I can''t see you as a 9-year-old girl. You seem to be very knowledgeable and more mature compared to me," Lu Wan said solemnly.


    Ye Jiao turned her gaze to Lu Wan. "I''m still the same. I just learn much more compared to you and try to apply it in my life."


    "Is that so?"


    "Yeah," Ye Jiao clenched her small fist. She was also in a hurry to grow up and become stronger, so she tried to take in everything she could study to help her grow.


    "By the way, here''s the portion for today''s poison," Lu Wan handed a bottle to Ye Jiao.


    "Why do I feel that the dose just increases every day?"


    "That''s just your imagination."


    Ye Jiao put the bottle away in her pocket as she didn''t want to use her storage bracelet. Using it would only make them realize that she could use Eon Energy.


    "I have finished," Mu Xin returned and handed a wooden plate to Lu Wan. "That''s your plate. If you''re in danger, you can destroy it to call for the teachers."


    "Even if you use it, they''re not going to come too early," Lu Wan turned around and headed to the forest. "In any case, I''m sure that a mere rank 1 beast is going to be nothing for us."


    "During the Spring Hunt, they''ll allow rank 2 beasts to roam around. It''s going to be dangerous without this," Mu Xin warned.


    "Rank 2 beast, huh? It''s just going to be interesting," Lu Wan chuckled and tucked the plate into his storage bracelet. He was not afraid of rank 2 beasts because he knew that he and Ye Jiao has the capability to run away from it.


    In any case, they had already experienced it once before in the forest because of their mission.


    The three of them soon entered the forest. The number of teachers were far lesser compared to the students, so it would be impossible for them to watch over the students every single time. Still, they were staying in certain points to watch over the students and help out in case there was someone who needed it.


    "You''re awfully calm," Mu Xin remarked.


    Lu Wan shrugged. "Don''t worry, there must be a way to deal with them. Besides, Eon Energy Masters are those who walk on the path of martial arts. It''s normal to face danger and grow stronger in the process."


    Mu Xin paused for a moment. She nodded her head in agreement. "You''re right. Eon Energy Master will face against those stronger than them."


    "¡­ I feel like I have heard that sentence before."


    "Must be your imagination."


    "Really?" Ye Jiao looked at her senior brother suspiciously while Lu Wan tried to get away. He couldn''t possibly say that it was Ye Jiao who said them, right? Right after the mission finished, Ye Jiao said similar words because of her choice to become an assassin. Right now, Lu Wan just changed it to be a martial artist.


    The two of them were about to argue again when they sensed sudden presence coming in their direction.


    "There''s a beast coming," Lu Wan summoned his sword out of his storage bracelet.


    "Prepare for battle, Xin Jie."


    Mu Xin also took out her sword as she furrowed her brows slightly. "Are you sure that there''s a monster coming? I can''t sense anything."


    "Yes," Lu Wan answered. "Be careful!"


    Swoosh!


    Something suddenly headed to Mu Xin''s direction.

 126 Strolling Around�

    "Yes," Lu Wan answered. "Be careful!"


    Swoosh!


    Something suddenly headed to Mu Xin''s direction.


    Raising her sword, Mu Xin blocked the attack. Her eyes widened when she saw the white stone that fell down.


    Tak!


    "What''s that?" Mu Xin asked. Despite got caught off guard, she kept her composure and tried to assess the situation.


    The three of them looked at the front as they saw a large spider coming in their direction. It was red in color with its web tangled around its legs. Its eyes were looking at them as if it wanted to issue a warning.


    "Can you handle it?"


    "You want me to fight alone?"


    "Yep," Lu Wan replied right away. "It''s just a rank 1 beast. Even though it can attack from a range by throwing its web, you might be able to win in terms of agility."


    "Agility? I don''t think so."


    As Mu Xin dashed forward, Lu Wan went to another direction. At the same time, Ye Jiao moved back from her position in order to avoid getting involved with the battle. She might be able to fight, but she didn''t want to show her skill to anyone.


    The spider made another ball of its thread and flung it to Mu Xin''s direction. Mu Xin evaded it to the side and reached the spider''s side in a second. Her sword moved and cut off the spider''s leg.


    Slash!


    The spider spun its body and used its legs to attack Mu Xin.


    Tak!


    ''It''s quite hard, but it''s still not too much.''


    Focusing her strength on her hand, Mu Xin pushed the spider back. She lunged forward right when the spider raised its legs to attack.


    Scree!


    Mu Xin rolled beneath the spider and used her sword to thrust the spider''s stomach. Blood and other liquid splattered from the place where she pierced her sword. Pulling it to the side, Mu Xin made a large slash on the spider''s stomach.


    Splash! Bruk!


    As Mu Xin moved back, the spider''s blood filled the entire ground. Its leg shook hard and it fell flat on the ground, unable to move after twitching for a bit.


    "You''re not bad," Lu Wan commented.


    Mu Xin wiped her sword and sheathed it before putting it back to her storage bracelet. She summoned out a small knife. "I''m a general''s daughter, so I already learned a bit about hunting from him."


    "Is that so? Then it''ll be better for us to just take turns battling. The next battle would be on me. What do you think of it?"


    Looking at the beast, Mu Xin knew that it was not hard for her to deal with one by herself. If they didn''t encounter any rank 2 beast, which was supposed to be none in this forest, there was no need for teamwork. It was already enough if one of them moved to deal with the beast.


    "I don''t mind, but can you fight that well?"


    "You''re doubting me? Fine, you shall see my prowess in the next beast that we meet. Anyway, have you finished taking the core?"


    Mu Xin shook her head. Her hands were still busy rummaging the spider''s body. "I can''t seem to find it. Is there no core?"


    "That''s impossible. The strength of the spider is more than ordinary beast," Lu Wan jumped to the top of the beast. He carefully examined the spider''s corpse before taking out a small knife and pierced it. Making a circular movement, he made a small hole and put his hand in before taking a small ball out.


    "Here''s the core."


    Mu Xin took the core carefully. "Are you going to be the one to keep it or me?"


    "You can be the one to keep it."


    "Ok."


    Ye Jiao stepped forward and glanced at the spider''s corpse. "By the way, can you eat their meat?"


    "¡­ Even if it''s possible, I''m not going to eat it."


    "I''ll pass too."


    "Eh?" Ye Jiao took another glance to the spider before leaving it and followed after the other two. It seemed that the spider''s meat wouldn''t be able to be eaten since they seemed to hate it very much.


    She wouldn''t pursue the matter too.


    "There''s another beast nearby," Lu Wan stopped and took out his sword. He dashed to the nearby bush and swung his sword as hard as possible.


    Slash!


    Blood splattered and the other two could see a beast like dog laying on the ground with its body cut off in two. That one slash from Lu Wan was enough to kill in it and decapitated it into two parts.


    "You''re faster," Mu Xin mumbled.


    Lu Wan grinned. "It''s easier than I thought. With this speed, I think we''re going to have leisure time in the forest."


    Ye Jiao didn''t know whether to laugh or cry seeing how Lu Wan could finish the beast so easily. The two of them already instantly killed numerous beasts when they were in a hurry before. With their superior weapon, it was extremely easy to cut the beast and wound them fatally in mere seconds.


    Even though he was using a sword, Lu Wan didn''t have any problem with the beast.


    ''In the first place, we only come here to show Lu Wan''s face to them. After all, he still has to keep up his reputation.''


    Lu Wan threw the beast''s core to Mu Xin. "Is the arrangement settled?"


    "Yes, but Ye Jiao won''t fight, right?"


    "No, she''s not. Oh right, starting from now, you''re the one to collect the core from the beast, ok?"


    "Alright, leave it to me."


    "Great, now let''s get moving."

 127 Clash in The Fores

    Lu Wan and Mu Xin worked to defeat the beasts day by day. Ye Jiao was only responsible for gathering the core, which she did leisurely. The beasts at rank 1 didn''t pose any challenge to the two of them, so they barely faced any danger.


    "This is getting boring," Lu Wan commented.


    At night, he and Mu Xin would take turn guarding their camp. Even though they called it a camp, it was actually just them sleeping outside. The two of them didn''t return back to the camp as they knew that the students were tasked to live outside on their own. Naturally, that included sleeping outside.


    "There''s still 2 more weeks before the training ends," Mu Xin said. "They''re going to stop it before it gets too cold."


    "It''s autumn, so it''s not cold at all."


    "At the end of autumn season, the temperature would drop drastically. Don''t tell me that you don''t know something so simple like this?" Mu Xin retorted in a relaxed manner.


    "Uh¡­"


    Lu Wan chose to shut his mouth. He never paid any attention to things other than poison and herbs, so his knowledge in overall was lacking. Even though he could safely face ordinary people, against someone who strives to perfection like Mu Xin was practically impossible. With a few sentences, Mu Xin would make Lu Wan unable to retort at all.


    "With this amount, is it not possible to win?" Ye Jiao asked.


    "Not possible. Wei Cheng won''t be that confident if he''s not sure that he''ll win," Lu Wan yawned. "With the greater sense of Eon Energy Master rank 2 and a powerful lineup, they won''t even have trouble facing a pack of wolves."


    "Don''t underestimate our own lineup," Mu Xin berated.


    Lu Wan shook his head as he walked on. He mumbled silently. "I don''t have any intention to win in this round. I just make that bet for appearance."


    "Did you say something?"


    "Nothing."


    Their master had instructed them to not show their real strength when they were in the forest because it wouldn''t do them any good. Those teachers have to report to the Imperial Family and neither one of them have the luxury to show their real prowess. They knew very well what fate awaited them if they were not careful.


    That bet was just to put up with his appearance as a rowdy and insolent young master of Lu Family. It would be better for him to have this fa?ade on because it would be easier to do things when they knew how much he loved to break rule.


    Ye Jiao followed after the two of them before she stopped her movements. She could sense someone or something powerful coming at their direction. Her eyes trailed to the other side of the forest.


    "Xiao''er?" Mu Xin asked.


    "There''s someone over there," Lu Wan replied on Ye Jiao''s behalf as he also sensed something. The girl''s senses were far sharper compared to him, so he knew that she would surely detect things faster than him.


    "There are four people," Ye Jiao pointed to the bush.


    "Prepare for a fight," Lu Wan frowned and summoned his sword. His eyes were vigilant as he didn???t know whether the other students would be willing to create trouble for him or not.


    Mu Xin also summoned her sword. "I don''t think students are allowed to fight for one another for the cores."


    "It''s prohibited?"


    "During the training, we''re not allowed to take others. But if you''re talking about the real hunt, then we''re allowed."


    "That''s more interesting," Lu Wan smirked.


    The three of them stopped talking as they saw the bush moved. Slowly, four people appeared within their sight and Lu Wan frowned.


    "What in the world are you doing here, Wei Cheng?"


    "I can ask exactly the same thing to you, Lu Wan!"


    From hundreds of students who participated in the training that month, he just had to stumble into the person he didn''t want to see the most. Lu Wan''s mood turned sour as he glared to the other party, showing his hostility.


    On the other hand, Ye Jiao was inspecting their party. She instantly recognized Wei Yin because she had met with that girl not long ago. However, she didn''t know who the other two people were at Wei Cheng''s party.


    One of them was a young man, slightly younger than the rest of them. He has dark red hair with fiery red pupils. Cladded in purple robe with golden embroidery, Ye Jiao could guess that he must come from the Imperial Family. Except people with high status, no one was allowed to wear purple robes.


    As for the other one, he looked like the man''s servant because he was standing behind to protect him.


    "It seems that fate wants us to fight against one another very much," Lu Wan swung his sword. "Do you want to have a bout?"


    "Do you think I''m a coward like you?" Wei Cheng retorted as he summoned his sword and readied his stance.


    "You two, stop," the young man in purple robe spoke up.


    "Why should I¡­"


    "Lu Wan, do not disobey the imperial family," Mu Xin reminded from behind. She knew how this young man behaved after two weeks staying in the forest together. There was no doubt that Lu Wan would dare to clash with the imperial family if he was irked.


    "Tch," Lu Wan returned back his sword. "No wonder you''re so confident with the bet. You''re teaming up with His Highness Prince Chen Zi Quan."


    Wei Cheng smiled. "There''s no rule regarding the team for practice. It just shows that I''m much more influential compared to a troublemaker like you."


    "You should behave in front of His Highness!"


    "Behave?" Lu Wan showed a trace of mock. "Do you think we''re in the city right now? There''s no need to bother with formalities because we''re all just students of the same school."

 128 Forced Cooperation 1

    "Behave?" Lu Wan showed a trace of mock. "Do you think we''re in the city right now? There''s no need to bother with formalities because we''re all just students of the same school."


    "You!"


    "Stop it," Chen Zi Quan raised his hand to block his guard from charging forward. He looked at Lu Wan. "Interesting, so you mean that we''re at equal grounds?"


    "We''re just students in the school, so during that time, there''s no use of status and background."


    "If you say so, would you like a bout with me instead?"


    Lu Wan frowned. Challenges were normal for people with age differences around one year. Chen Zi Quan was 14 while he was 13, which means that they only have one year difference. If he refused, it would make him look rather weak as they were supposed to be on equal grounds.


    While Lu Wan was contemplating, Ye Jiao was looking at the prince while pondering. She had heard a lot of things regarding this second prince from Lu Wan and other rumors. Aside from Lu Wan, he was the one acknowledged as someone with the greatest talent in this kingdom.


    Forming his core at the mere age of 11, he proceeded further to reach rank 1 by the age of 12. Then two years later, he broke through to rank 2 at the age of 14. Right now, there was no one who could rival him in terms of achievement among the younger generation.


    "If you insist, I don''t see any reason to refuse," Lu Wan finally replied.


    Chen Zi Quan took out his sword. The sword shone slightly when it was in the young man''s hand. As the prince took his stance, Ye Jiao could feel some invisible pressure coming to her direction.


    ''What''s this? It feels different than the normal pressure from Eon Energy Master rank 2.''


    Ye Jiao was about to ask when her body jolted as she looked at one direction. Her pupil contracted in worry.


    "Young Master, we have to move from here!"


    "Ji-Xiao''er?" Lu Wan was startled. He furrowed his brows as he followed Ye Jiao''s line of sight. In that moment, he could feel his hair all over his body standing up in sudden fright.


    Not only Lu Wan, Chen Zi Quan also followed the girl''s sight. At the same time, his body perceived the great danger they were facing as they could see the trees shook and fell at high speed. From the way it looked like, the beast was coming to their direction.


    "RUN!"


    All of them immediately ran in the other direction. However, they realized that the speed of the beast was much faster as the rumbling drew nearer. Their heart tightened in worry because they knew what it represented.


    "We''ll have to fight."


    "I already call the teachers!" Mu Xin informed. "But I think they won''t come here that quick."


    Chen Zi Quan frowned. His long hair fluttered along the wind as he run at high speed. With his maximum speed, he would be able to shake the beast and escaped, but if he did that, he would have to leave these bunch to their death.


    "What''s the estimation of the beast''s strength?"


    "It should be rank 2."


    Rank 2 was not impossible to beat with their current strength. They might need to overexert themselves a bit, but it should be enough to defeat the beast.


    "What''s the race?" For the first time, Wei Yin spoke up.


    Mu Xin looked to the back. "It''s a boar."


    "Then we''re going to fight it."


    "There''s an open field a few meters ahead. We''ll fight the boar there," Chen Zi Quan assumed the leader''s position and gave out his instruction.


    "Ok."


    "Fine."


    "Yes."


    All of them scattered around the open field as soon as they entered it. Ye Jiao stepped to the other side and hid her figure behind the trees while trying to erase her presence. It would be better if she could just hide because it meant that she wouldn''t have to show her strength.


    It was not the time for her to fight.


    Lu Wan landed near Chen Zi Quan, making the prince annoyed.


    "Why are you over here?"


    "I''m just worrying that someone might break their words and disappear in the middle of the fight," Lu Wan smirked.


    Chen Zi Quan frowned. "I have my pride as the second prince of Chen Kingdom. There''s no way I would want to run away."


    "So you say."


    Lu Wan''s provocative remark earned him a glare from the young prince. However, they didn''t have the luxury to fight against their own because the boar had broken through the last tree, entering the small open field.


    "Charge!" Chen Zi Quan took the initiative and used his sword to block the boar''s advance. Using his Eon Energy to form a defensive layer around him, he has the highest defense among the group. As it was still filled with momentum from the run and the fact that it has massive power, Chen Zi Quan was pushed to the back several meters before the boar started to slow down.


    *Cough!*


    "Your Highness!" Wei Cheng rushed forward and attacked the boar with all his might. His eyes showed traces of worry as he saw the second prince''s pale face.


    At the same time, the other three also started to attack the beast altogether. Their sword and blade reached the boar???s body. However, the tough defense of the boar made their attack barely made any scratch on the surface.


    "Attack again!"


    With that order, all of them mustered their greatest strength and attacked the boar again. Their blade reached everywhere on the boar''s body, but not a single one of them managed to wound him fatally.


    ''Too shallow!'' Lu Wan furrowed his brows. If it was in normal times, he would have fetched out his poison and coated his blade with it before attacking relentlessly. But it was impossible to do so in front of so many others.


    Not to mention, poison would surely leave residue.


    Roar!


    The angry boar shook his front head and pushed them back. He cried angrily as if saying that no one should stop him in his way.

 129 Forced Cooperation 2

    "Your Highness, are you alright?"


    Chen Zi Quan waved his hand and wiped his blood on his mouth. That force from the boar forced him to the back as he forcefully stopped it.


    "I''m alright. We''ll have to cooperate better if we want to kill the boar," He looked towards Lu Wan. "Don''t just attack blindly and aim for the weak spot."


    "Where''s the weak spot of this large boar?" Lu Wan frowned.


    "The neck at the back is relatively weaker compared to other part of his body," Mu Xin was the one to reply. She had learned of the beast''s stature when they were in the school, so she could mention them perfectly.


    "¡­ How do you aim for something up above like that?"


    "That''s why we need to cooperate," Chen Zi Quan said once again. "Wild boar have relatively weak vision, that''s why it destroys a lot of trees along its way. However, it has extremely keen smell and quite stupid."


    Lu Wan listened to the second prince''s explanation as he frowned. He had to admit that this prince has much better knowledge compared to him. If it was him, he would just force his way forward and attacked with his poison without caring for the beast''s characteristic nor weakness.


    Wei Cheng readied his sword. "We''re going to distract it. Wei Yin, you''re the lighter ones among us, so you''ll be the one to deal the fatal blow."


    "Do you mean, jumping up and try to attack from above?" Mu Xin interjected.


    "Yes."


    "Why is it not His Highness?" Lu Wan asked.


    Chen Zi Quan rolled his eyes in displeasure. "I have to hold the front or do you think anyone of you is capable enough to stop the beast from moving forward?"


    "¡­" facing rank 2 beast when they were still in rank 1 would be courting death. Neither one of them wanted that because of their relatively weaker physique.


    "Good then," Chen Zi Quan coated himself with Eon Energy as he locked his gaze to the boar. The boar was already restless and about to charge forward once again. "Time to attack!"


    All of them hurriedly stepped forward and used their sword to attack the boar''s neck. Even though it was still hard, this time they used a completely different method. Their sword and blade pierced straight to the boar.


    Stab!


    "It can''t go any deeper!" Wei Cheng yelled as he pulled his sword back and rolled to the side. The boar was raging because of the sudden pain.


    "Use greater force!" Mu Xin also replied as she slashed her sword to the boar. The result was still the same as it merely scratched the surface.


    Slash! Stab!


    Ye Jiao watched their fight while keeping herself hidden. She knew that boar relatively has higher defense compared to other beasts. With the boar at rank 2, it would have higher defense because it was known that rank 2 would increase their defensive ability.


    Bam!


    Chen Zi Quan blocked the sudden charge with his sword once again. Despite being coated in Eon Energy layer around his body, he could feel his organs clamoring inside his body. They were shaken deeply by the attack this boar gave.


    At the same time, the other students started to move and attacked the boar rapidly on the side. Wei Yin took the chance to jump up the boar''s body and used her sword to stab straight at the boar''s neck.


    STAB!


    The sword went in without any resistance as the boar cried in anguish. It shook his body so hard and flung Wei Yin away from its back.


    *Cries*


    "Wei Yin!" Wei Cheng yelled his sister''s name as the prince''s guard hurriedly headed to the girl''s direction and caught her. Because of the momentum, the two of them fell down on the ground.


    *Growl*


    The boar growled loudly and charged forward once again. The sword on his back nape didn''t stop him from his aggressive movements. This time, he charged straight to Wei Cheng''s direction. In panic, Wei Cheng raised his sword horizontally and blocked the attack.


    Bam!


    *Cough*


    Wei Cheng flew to the back and vomited blood on the spot at the impact. Blood flowed from many places around his body because of the crash.


    Slash!


    Lu Wan took the boar''s attention away as he attacked the boar''s back. His expression was grim because he realized how much of a disadvantage they had compared to this boar. Fighting against rank 2 beast was much harder compared with Eon Energy Master rank 2.


    Before the boar could turn around to attack Lu Wan, Chen Zi Quan also stepped forward to attack from the side.


    Slash!


    Their attack stopped the boar momentarily on his attack and this time, Mu Xin was the one to jump up on the boar''s body. Her legs quickly brought her to the boar''s neck and she stabbed her sword right beside Wei Yin''s sword.


    Stab!


    The boar cried again at the pain as Wei Yin pulled her sword. Her footing was not stable, but her eyes were determined to not fall before she killed the boar. Ignoring the blood that flowed out from the spot where she stabbed her sword, Mu Xin stabbed her sword once more on the side.


    The other two tried their best to stop the boar''s movement, but Mu Xin''s attack made it enraged once more. Using the last bit of his strength, the boar shook his body rapidly, throwing Mu Xin away from his back.


    "Xin Jie!" Ye Jiao realized that Mu Xin came to her direction. She stepped out of her hiding place and let herself stand on her sister''s fall''s path.


    Crash!


    The two of them crashed against one another with Ye Jiao at the bottom. The collision hurt both of them as they stumbled on the ground, but it was better than letting Mu Xin crash on the hard ground.


    Chen Zi Quan and Lu Wan used their sword to attack the boar once again. As the boar had lost too much blood, the last attack from the two boys stopped it completely. It lost the strength and fell on the ground with a loud thud.


    Bam!


    *Pant* *pant*


    "Has it finished?" Lu Wan asked with rough breath.


    "I think so," Chen Zi Quan stood in his place as he looked at the boar''s corpse. It was truly a long fight.

 130 The End of the Training

    "Has it finished?" Lu Wan asked with rough breath.


    "I think so," Chen Zi Quan stood in his place as he looked at the boar''s corpse. It was truly a long fight.


    The two of them were still standing in their spot when they heard a rustling sound and saw a teacher come to them. The teacher''s face was filled with surprise when he saw the condition of the students.


    "You''re late," Lu Wan blurted out.


    The teacher''s face turned red. "My apologies. There are a few students calling for help at the same time."


    "Never mind that, give us medicine," Chen Zi Quan ordered.


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    Even though they were students, the teacher still has to treat the second prince with more respect. After all, the difference in status was painfully clear.


    While Chen Zi Quan checked Wei Cheng and Wei Yin, Lu Wan headed to Mu Xin and Ye Jiao. After the crash, Mu Xin moved her body to the side and sat down while inspecting her own wounds. There were only some scratches here and there with no life threatening wound.


    "Are you alright?"


    "Yeah," Ye Jiao nodded. "There''s just some scratches on my arm and legs. I''m sure they''ll heal by tomorrow."


    "Still, use this," Lu Wan gave the medicine ointment to Ye Jiao and Mu Xin. "Also, try to rest and recover your Eon Energy, Mu Xin. You use quite a lot in the battle just now."


    "You should say that to yourself."


    Ye Jiao was busy applying the medicine ointment as she could see the two of them sitting down. They were busy recovering their Eon Energy to care for other things. That battle just now forced them to use a lot of Eon Energy.


    Her eyes landed on the side where she saw the similar scene on Chen Zi Quan''s side. Wei Yin and Wei Cheng were wounded, but they also had gotten first treatment before they were busy recovering their Eon Energy. The teacher headed to the boar''s corpse and retrieved the sword while assessing the boar.


    After an unknown amount of time, Lu Wan opened his eyes.


    "This feels much better."


    "Have you recovered, Young Master?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    Lu Wan nodded. "Yeah. I''m already feeling much better right now. Let''s check the spoil this time."


    As Lu Wan stood up and walked to the teacher, Chen Zi Quan also did the same. It seemed that the two of them took around the same amount of time to recover their strength and Eon Energy.


    "Is there supposed to be any rank 2 beast in the forest?" Chen Zi Quan asked straight to the point.


    The teacher shook his head. "We already drove them away from the area two weeks ago. They shouldn''t be able to return because we place a barrier at the outer layer."


    "Then, how do you explain this?"


    "This¡­" the teacher was tongue tied. He looked at the two of them with dejected expression. "The principal asks us to call all the students back to the city because this is the third time we encounter rank 2 beast."


    "Call the student back? What about the hunt?"


    "It means the hunt is over," Chen Zi Quan translated. "Rank 2 beast is more challenging, but it''s too hard right now."


    The fight just now showed how much they needed to learn how to cooperate with their teammates and the difference in strength. Even though Eon Energy Master rank 2 was supposed to be able to fight on equal grounds with rank 2 beast, Chen Zi Quan was unable to do so because of his lack of strength.


    "A few more teachers will come to escort you back. Before that, you may divide the spoils first."


    The two of them looked to the boar and then turned to look at one another. "Who''s the leader in your group?"


    "I am. Your group?"


    "Me," Lu Wan pointed to himself. "How do you feel about dividing it? There''s no way we can present half a core, right?"


    "One of us takes the core and the other one takes the body," Chen Zi Quan replied.


    Lu Wan frowned. "It''ll be unfair for the ranking. They only count the core and not the body when they count the ranking."


    "How many cores have you got so far?"


    "I have 142 cores," Lu Wan replied.


    "We have 153 cores. Even if you take the core, it''ll only give you additional 10 point, so we''ll still win," Chen Zi Quan replied.


    "¡­" with the difference of one point.


    "What''s your decision?"


    Lu Wan knew that he didn''t really have any use for the core. Even though it could help them in their training, it took a long time to process even just one core. He was not patient enough to wait for the expert to process it.


    Besides, he preferred to just use places with large concentrations of Eon Energy rather than using cores.


    "Fine, I''ll take the body, but you should give me something else as the compensation," Lu Wan haggled.


    "What do you want?"


    "Just give me 10 beast''s bodies. Those rank 1 that you hunt before, you should have kept their body, right?"


    Chen Zi Quan looked at Lu Wan with an indifferent expression. "Indeed. Here you go."


    With a sweep of his hand, ten beast''s bodies appeared on the ground. Lu Wan nodded satisfied and put them into his own storage bracelet.


    "I''ll take the core first, then you can take the body."


    "Got it."


    Chen Zi Quan moved steadily and picked out the core before leaving back to his group. Putting the body into his storage bracelet, Lu Wan gleamed. Some kind of beast could be eaten and this boar was clearly one of them.


    As he walked back to his teammate, he thought about what kind of food he would like to make from it.


    On the side, the teacher didn''t know whether to laugh or cry when he listened to their transaction. It was known that the meat of lower ranked beasts didn''t have much value except for commoners, so it was weird for him to see the boy traded it for something like that.


    Well, it didn''t really matter for him, though. He just has to do his job.

 131 Eaves Dropping

    It didn''t take a long time for the teachers to come. As Chen Zi Quan was the second prince with great talent, a lot of teachers were deployed to protect him. Within minutes, they returned back to the camp near the city.


    "Please have some rest here first. After we have gathered all the students, you can return back."


    Lu Wan and the other two picked up a place to rest. There were a lot of tents ready since a lot of students were wounded. They conveniently picked one of the tents and rested inside it.


    "The boring hunt is finally over," Lu Wan yawned. "I''ll just take this time to sleep. What about you two?"


    "I want to train my Eon Energy with circulation," Mu Xin answered. "I''ll be staying in the tent."


    "I want to walk around."


    "Ok."


    While the two of them were resting, Ye Jiao took the chance to walk around. Her servant''s clothes made the people around her ignore her, so Ye Jiao could walk unhindered. As more and more students came, Ye Jiao found the place to be quite crowded.


    Her legs brought her to the nearby trees, and she climbed it before sitting down on the tree. Slowly, she tried to erase her presence and tried to observe the people who walked around the tree. She wanted to know whether it was successful or not.


    ''They seem to be unable to see me.''


    A smile made its way to her face as she realized that they wouldn''t be able to detect her presence unless they were purposely searching. If they just passed by, they won''t be able to find her.


    She still needed a lot of training for this as she was not sure that she could keep this up perfectly when she was fighting. As he pondered what would be the best way to practice, her eyes noticed Wei Cheng and Chen Zi Quan walked to her direction.


    ''Did they sense me?''


    Her body was ready to move in case they tried to attack her, but it seemed that her imagination went too far. The two of them just stopped near the other tree beside hers, so Ye Jiao could see them perfectly from her position.


    "How''s your wound?" Chen Zi Quan asked.


    "I''m fine, Your Highness. It is not me who has the deeper wound," Wei Cheng said humbly.


    Chen Zi Quan shook his head. "It''s not necessarily true. I''m just using too much of my Eon Energy, so I would need more rest."


    "Then, should we¡­" Wei Cheng stopped his words midway because he saw Chen Zi Quan raise his hand, telling him to stop. His eyes were filled with curiosity at the second prince''s action.


    "I want you to make another bet with Lu Wan for the hunt."


    "Lu Wan?" Wei Cheng''s tone was suddenly filled with murderous intent. His bad relationship with Lu Wan has progressed until it could be called irreconcilable. If not because of the situation just now, he would never want to work together with Lu Wan.


    "Yes," Chen Zi Quan said calmly. "He may be an idiot, but he''s still a threat."


    "Did you finally see him as a threat?"


    "No."


    "Then?"


    Chen Zi Quan flicked a glance at Wei Cheng. "If you see someone like him as a threat, it just shows that you''re weaker."


    Even though the words were harsh and blunt, Wei Cheng didn''t look angry. On the contrary, his eyes held deep curiosity. "Please elaborate, Your Highness."


    "During his fight just now, he just shows how much of an idiot he is. First, he didn''t have any prior knowledge regarding the beasts. He only knows how to attack randomly without thinking of his action. Secondly, he''s an amateur in using the sword. It''s a good sword without doubt, but it''s in the hand of someone who couldn''t even use a sword properly.


    Third, he has a higher amount of Eon Energy compared to his peers. It''s still lower than mine, but it''s undoubtedly higher. He probably spends too much time to train his Eon Energy, making his physical skill relatively weaker," Chen Zi Quan explained.


    Wei Cheng''s eyes widened. "Your Highness, did you observe them all when we''re fighting just now?"


    "I have only ever seen his fight just now, so it''s obvious, isn''t it?"


    "Yes. Yes, it is."


    On the tree, Ye Jiao was listening to their conservation as she could feel her heart tightened a bit. She had never thought that this prince''s real skill lied in his observation skill. If one fight already allowed him to see that much, she couldn''t imagine what he could see when he saw Lu Wan every day.


    The fact that Lu Wan was an idiot was something that Ye Jiao also knew. The sword was not Lu Wan''s main weapon, so the boy barely developed it. The only thing that was wrong was the third one. Even though Lu Wan had more Eon Energy, Lu Wan didn''t specifically train in that field.


    It was all thanks to his natural talent and also his training to make his body stronger, allowing him to absorb more Eon Energy despite his lower rank.


    "But Your Highness, if it''s that much, why do you want me to make another bet with him?" Wei Cheng asked again.


    "He might be an idiot, but he''s still a threat. Lu Family manages to avoid him doing the pledge back then, so we''re trying to find another chance to call him. Before he swears his loyalty to Chen Kingdom, he''ll be a threat."


    "Swears his loyalty? Children didn''t have to take the pledge, right?"


    "Yes," Chen Zi Quan nodded. "However, someone who has great talent will be forced to take the pledge because it''ll be dangerous if they grow up and become a threat to this kingdom. Rather than allowing them to become a threat, it''ll be better to force them to take the pledge and become the subject of this kingdom."


    "You''re right. No one would want to raise a traitor in their kingdom," Wei Cheng expressed his agreement. "But why do you see him as a traitor."


    "He didn''t have anything to tie him down to this kingdom. Even if he decides to leave someday, he won''t have any obligation to return back. In order to ensure the longevity of Chen Kingdom, it''s necessary for us to retain everyone with high potential that came from this kingdom."


    "Everyone?"


    "Yes, everyone," for a moment, Chen Zi Quan''s eyes glinted with ruthlessness. As the prince of Chen Kingdom, he had learned many things that the imperial family did to ensure their safety and the prosperity of the kingdom. Things that he learned were not only limited to mere surface knowledge, but also those deep secrets that the kingdom tried to hide from outside people.


    Those were the dark side of the imperial family.


    Wei Cheng looked at the second prince with hesitation. "Does it mean, back then, Ye Xiao is also included?"


    "Why are you mentioning him now?"


    "I just want to know."


    Chen Zi Quan passed a glance at the young man. "It''s not really a secret too that the imperial family is vying for his power, so of course, he''s included."

 132 Dark Side of Imperial Family

    Chen Zi Quan passed a glance at the young man. "It''s not really a secret too that the imperial family is vying for his power, so of course, he''s included."


    On the tree, Ye Jiao could feel her blood boil at the words that Chen Zi Quan uttered. She had guessed that the imperial family was longing for power, but she never thought that it would be this much.


    "But the imperial family kills him in the end," Wei Cheng frowned.


    "It''s because we can''t control him," Chen Zi Quan replied in a flat tone. "Ye Xiao is known as the greatest genius and also very powerful ever since he''s young. Even when he was still growing up, he already showed them all in his action and achievement. There''s no other youngsters that can compare to him."


    "Once he graduates middle school, is it not possible to ask him for pledge?"


    "He refused to take the pledge because he wanted to travel the world. The imperial family can''t force him because the public opinion would surely side with him and protect him. They won''t allow any mishap to happen to the genius that they love so much.


    We can only take a passive stance and wait for the right time to rule him in. If it''s still not possible, we can only take the opposite side. Rather than letting him grow into someone we can''t touch, it''s better to destroy him completely. Both inside and outside."


    As Chen Zi Quan talked, his tone was filled with a murderous tone. In his eyes, everyone in this kingdom has to serve the kingdom and protect it with their lives no matter what happen.


    "How do you know so much?"


    "I''m the second prince, so I also learn about them when they ask me to take a pledge," Chen Zi Quan replied in an indifferent tone. "Everyone with purple talent will surely be watched tightly because they can''t let us go to other places."


    Wei Cheng nodded his head. He understood that the kingdom was only trying to keep their standing and existence. Without powerful experts protecting the kingdom, there was no doubt that the kingdom would be destroyed.


    The method was cruel, but it was their way to maintain their power and rules.


    "It means that they also want Lu Wan to be on their side?" Wei Cheng asked once again.


    "Because Lu Wan is still underage, it was his brother who takes the pledge in the past. We''re just waiting for the right time to call Lu Wan to the palace and force him to take the pledge," Chen Zi Quan raised his hand and tapped the tree beside him. "If he''s unwilling, we won''t hesitate to kill him."


    "It''ll be hard to coerce him when he reaches rank 3."


    "It''ll be before that. With his rash way, there''ll surely be a way to force him. Besides, he doesn''t have the people''s support like Ye Xiao, so it''ll be easy to coerce him," Chen Zi Quan started walking in the other''s direction. "He might not be a threat, yet, but I want to make sure of that."


    "What is your plan, Your Highness?"


    "Make a bet with him¡­"


    Ye Jiao couldn''t listen to their conversation any longer because they moved to a different place. However, she herself didn''t have any intention to listen to their conversation any longer. The bits and pieces she heard just now was already more than enough to make her blood boil in rage.


    The way Chen Zi Quan said it made it easy for her to understand their viewpoint and why they were forcing talented people to stay. However, the method was simply too cruel because they basically forced everyone with better talent and potential to stay loyal to this kingdom forever.


    Tying people to this kingdom just in order to ensure they longevity.


    She understood everything perfectly, but she couldn''t stop her raging feeling. She was angry at the method they used and the fact that her father was included in that list.


    ''With power, there''ll be danger and responsibility.''


    It was not easy for people with greater talent to survive in this world. They might have a better start and smooth journey in their Eon Energy''s mastery, but they would have to face much more danger. Other people would aim to have their talent and try to control them.


    ''It''ll be far better if we were born ordinary.''


    As Ye Jiao tried to calm her feelings down, she thought of her father''s words to her. Now she understood why her father wanted to be born as an ordinary person. Those who have greater talent just have to face too much.


    Without a suitable background, they wouldn''t be able to life. Many talented and genius people died in their youth because they were unable to grow up.


    That just showed how harsh this world was.


    For a moment, Ye Jiao thought of how fortunate it was for her to be a trash in this kingdom. Even though they still ordered to kill her, they didn''t try to search for her intensively because they knew that trash would never be able to become powerful.


    Afterwards, Ye Jiao was not sure how she returned back to the tent. All she could remember was the fact that the students returned back home when it was evening. Mu Xin went her separate ways because her father sent soldiers to pick her up. Apparently, he was worried when he heard his daughter was wounded.


    "Ye Jiao? You look like you''re spacing out a lot," Lu Wan asked when they were in his carriage. It was made soundproof, so he was not worried of other people finding out what he talked inside.


    "Uh, sorry," Ye Jiao apologized. "I just hear the talk of Wei Cheng and Prince Chen Zi Quan, so I''m not feeling that well."


    "Oh, I bet they''re trying to scheme something for me again since they didn''t manage to get anything from now," Lu Wan yawned.


    "You knew?"


    "It''s common practice."


    "Common practice?"


    Seeing that Ye Jiao was confused, Lu Wan smiled bitterly. "The Imperial Family surely won''t let anyone get out of their watch, especially someone with a talent like mine. I don''t know what they''re planning to do, but I''ll face them."


    "You sound awfully confident."


    "Worst case scenario, I''ll die," Lu Wan shrugged. "When it comes to that, I''ll just use a lifesaving method and escape. From that day, the name Lu Wan will disappear from the world."


    Ye Jiao knew that her senior brother was confident with his power. Even though Lu Wan was a complete idiot at some matters, he was also a genius at other things.


    "I believe in you, Senior Brother Lu."


    Lu Wan nodded. "Take a rest for today. There''ll be an arena competition tomorrow. Do you want to come along?"


    The thought of seeing that prince and Wei Cheng again made Ye Jiao shook her head. She didn''t have the intention to see them after hearing the talk. It would only make her angrier and sadder.


    "No thanks. I''ll just stay in your residence."


    "Got it, just stay and rest. You need it."


    "Ok."

 133 They Just Wouldn’t Leave Me Alone

    The next day Lu Wan went by himself while Ye Jiao stayed in the residence. She was not worried about her senior brother because she knew that Lu Wan was pretty powerful. Even without a suitable weapon, Lu Wan should be able to be amongst the top of the students.


    Ye Jiao headed to the backyard as her eyes scanned the surroundings. It was filled with flowers and grass plus many other plants. There was no trace that the place was tended. Considering the fact that Lu Wan wouldn''t walk there, it was obvious that the servants ignored it.


    "I guess I''ll just clean up a bit."


    Taking a shovel and a knife, Ye Jiao worked to cut down the grasses and cleared the dirt. She had done this a few times in the past when she helped out her mother, so her movements were smooth. After an unknown amount of time, Ye Jiao finally stopped because her stomach was rumbling.


    ''I''m hungry.''


    Putting the tools away, Ye Jiao walked to the kitchen. She saw the servants were talking to one another. They didn''t have any reservation because there was no one else but them in that place.


    "Is there anything you need?" one of the servants noticed Ye Jiao.


    "It''s already past the time for lunch. Is there any food left?"


    "There is a lot of food over there, you can take whatever you need," the servants didn''t make things difficult for Ye Jiao because they knew how Lu Wan always picked this girl to accompany him. They didn''t understand Lu Wan''s decision, but they also didn''t want to court problems.


    "Thanks."


    Ye Jiao picked up some bread and stuffed them into her mouth. They tasted bitter, but she didn''t care too much. After taking some other food, Ye Jiao left the kitchen and resumed her work in the backyard.


    Time passed swiftly and soon the sun went down.


    "Xiao''er, Miss Lu Zhi has come," a servant ran and informed Ye Jiao.


    Ye Jiao was startled. She put down the stalk bundle she brought and walked to the front. Right now, her appearance was messy because of the dirt and grass, but she didn''t care about it.


    "This servant greets Miss Lu Zhi," Ye Jiao greeted. "May this one asks why Miss came to this residence late at night?"


    It was unsuitable for women to visit a man''s place when it was already nighttime. Even though the two of them were still children, the rule still applied. Well, they were siblings, but it was still quite improper as they were not close to one another.


    Lu Zhi passed a glance at Ye Jiao. Her eyebrows knitted in displeasure and disgust. Ye Jiao''s current appearance was simply too bad. "I just come here to give something to my brother."


    "Miss, I''m afraid Second Young Master won''t return until it''s late."


    "It''s fine. I''ll just leave my servant here."


    The other servants looked at one another uneasily, but they didn''t have the power to reject Lu Zhi. Looking at the female servants by Lu Zhi''s side, they could guess what this woman aimed. It was just¡­ they would never think the method would success considering that their young master was truly a training maniac.


    "Is there any problem?" Lu Zhi asked.


    "No, there''s none, Miss."


    "Good. I''ll be leaving now."


    As Lu Zhi left, Ye Jiao rubbed her forehead. She looked at the female servant and waved her hand. "Just put her in the living room to wait for Young Master. The others should return back to their work."


    "Yes."


    The female servant watched the other servants'' attitude before turning her attention to Ye Jiao. She had heard from her missus that Lu Wan started to pay more attention to a certain small servant. Looking at Ye Jiao''s small built and appearance, she couldn''t understand why Lu Wan would want to keep her close to him.


    Not knowing what the servant thought, Ye Jiao headed to the back and moved the grass bundle away. The garden was still a mess, but some part of it looked far better because Ye Jiao cleaned it up.


    ''Senior Brother Lu hadn''t returned yet," Ye Jiao headed back to her room and took a bath after instructing another servant to tell Lu Wan about Lu Zhi. Somehow, whenever Lu Wan was outside the training hall, she was the one who had control over the servants.


    A few minutes afterwards Lu Wan returned.


    "Young Master has returned," a servant bowed in front of Lu Wan. "Young Master, Miss Lu Zhi came to this residence not long ago."


    Hearing the report, Lu Wan frowned. "What is it that she wants?"


    "She wanted to give you something, Young Master. As it is inappropriate for her to stay too long, she left her servant here."


    "Oh?" Lu Wan felt suspicious about Lu Zhi''s action, but he didn''t say anything more. He walked inside the living room where he saw the female servant waiting. Upon seeing him, the female servant came closer and bowed down. Her sonorous voice traveled along the air.


    "Young Master."


    "Get up, what is it that Lu Zhi wants to give me?"


    "Young Miss wants to give me to you, Young Master," The female servant smiled. She smiled attractively as her body moved closer.


    "You? I don''t need any other new servant," Lu Wan replied harshly.


    "I can serve you, Young Master," as she said that, the female servant started to take off her clothes.


    By now, Lu Wan''s expression turned dark. He summoned his sword and swung it without any second thought. With a slash, the woman was cut off into two.


    "Ridiculous," Lu Wan spat out.


    The female servant was filled with disbelief as she fell on the ground. She thought that she could take this chance to reach a higher place, but it just ended like this.


    "Young Master," Ye Jiao called out as she opened the door. Her eyes landed on the female servant. "Is it alright to kill her, she''s also Eon Energy Master?"


    "She''s just a trash who only had just formed her core," Lu Wan replied as he kept his sword back. "It doesn''t matter too. By coming here, she has brought it for herself and there''s no punishment for killing servants."


    Ye Jiao knew that. The status of servants in this kingdom was extremely low, so there was nothing wrong for a master to kill their servant if that particular servant misbehaved. This was the reason many servants tried to raise through rank using any kind of means possible.


    "Should I dispose of her?"


    "Just ask the other servant. I''ll have a good talk with Lu Zhi tomorrow. They just wouldn''t leave me alone," Lu Wan clicked his tongue. "I''m tired, so I want to eat and rest."


    "I''ll bring the food."


    "Ok."

 134 You Should Stop

    "Young Master, I bring the food."


    Ye Jiao noticed that Lu Wan was already busy experimenting, so she placed the food on the side. "Did you find anything interesting, Young Master?"


    "Oh, not really," Lu Wan replied. "I''m just thinking that I probably should research some kind of poison that I could use to Lu Zhi."


    "¡­" you want to poison your own sister?


    Lu Wan glanced at Ye Jiao. "I just couldn''t find the type that I want to use against her."


    "Do you want to kill her?"


    "No."


    "Maybe some kind of poison that inflicts pain but not killing?"


    "I don''t know her poison tolerance, so I''m still wondering," Lu Wan shrugged. "Never mind then, let''s just eat and rest for now. After dealing with Lu Zhi, we''ll be going to the headquarter and finish our mission."


    Ye Jiao nodded. She picked up the tray and passed it to Lu Wan. It was already nearing winter. Doing mission in this kind of weather might be tiring, but at the same time, it would surely train their body.


    The two of them rested for the day and Lu Wan got out early in the morning. He looked at the living room, which had been cleaned up and nodded his head in satisfaction.


    "It''s rare to see you wake up so early," Ye Jiao commented as she approached Lu Wan.


    "I want to deal with that woman quickly."


    Ye Jiao nodded in understanding. "I''ll ask the kitchen to prepare the food."


    After the quick breakfast, Lu Wan cleaned up himself. He wore his robe that he rarely touched and headed out of his quarter. The location of Lu Zhi''s quarter was not that far from Lu Wan''s. Even though the residence was large, Lu Wan has memorized the layout from a long time ago.


    "Y-Second Young Master!" the servant in front of Lu Zhi''s quarter hurriedly greeted Lu Wan when she saw him.


    Lu Wan''s expression was frosty as he looked back at the servant. "Where''s Lu Zhi?"


    "Y-Young Miss is inside. I-This servant will call her," the servant stuttered. Apparently, she was too afraid to face Lu Wan.


    "There''s no need. I''ll go inside and greet her myself."


    "S-Second Young Master?"


    Ignoring the servant, Lu Zhi pushed the door open and strode inside. Even though it was impolite to barge inside like this, he didn''t care in the slightest bit. Right now, his mind was filled with nothing but finding Lu Zhi as fast as possible to settle this problem. His own reputation was already in tatters, so there was no need for him to worry about it so much.


    Ye Jiao was astonished when she saw the residence. It was filled with beautiful decorations here and there. As a scholarly family, the Lu Family residence did have decoration, but Lu Zhi''s residence was clearly overflowing. It was as if she was thoroughly pampered with everything that she has.


    "Second Brother?" Lu Zhi looked up with a bright smile on her face. "It''s rare to see you early in the morning, Second Brother."


    "Yeah and I believe you know why I come here," Lu Wan replied coldly.


    Lu Zhi chuckled. "Is it because of the servant yesterday? Do you enjoy it, Second Brother?"


    Lu Wan looked back at Lu Zhi with indifferent expression. "The next time you do something like that again, don''t blame me for massacring every servant that you have."


    "Second Brother, did she do anything wrong?" Lu Zhi''s tone of voice didn''t change in the slightest. She looked at her brother with confused expression as if she truly didn''t understand what her brother was saying.


    Seeing the girl''s acting, Ye Jiao got the urge to throw up. She couldn''t believe that someone would be this daring like Lu Zhi. It seemed that the lives of those women who lived in the large family was not as simple as she thought.


    "In the first place, it''s not appropriate for a servant to have thoughts of getting into their master''s bed," Lu Wan said in a flat tone.


    "But she seems like she wants it so much."


    The two siblings looked at one another. At this time, Lu Zhi''s servant came to bring a tray of food. Lu Wan suddenly summoned his sword and swung it in the direction of the servant. Even though the servant herself was Eon Energy Master rank 1, she couldn''t sense Lu Wan''s attack until it was too late.


    "Second Brother!" Lu Zhi stood up from her place and dashed to the servant''s location. For the first time since she met with Lu Wan, her eyes showed her real feeling, which was fear and worry.


    Lu Wan kept his sword back. "It''s useless. She''s dead."


    "You! How can you¡­!"


    "Servants have to live for their master and give their life for their master," Lu Wan uttered the rules calmly. He might not look like it, but he had memorized the family rules from a long time ago. "The one I really want to kill is actually you, Lu Zhi. But since I can''t break the rules any further, I decide to kill your servant. Besides, their lives meant nothing for you if you can just send them away to me like yesterday, right?"


    "You''re wrong!" Lu Zhi reacted strongly. Her eyes were filled with hatred when she saw her brother. The servant just now was someone who had accompanied her ever since she was young, so she was very fond and close to that particular servant.


    Seeing her got killed in front of her eyes made Lu Zhi angry.


    Lu Wan shook his head. "I might be the troublemaker of the Lu Family, but do you think I''m ignorant of the rules? Do not forget that you''re not the only one who learned them when you''re young."


    "But¡­"


    "There''s no need to care for a servant so much. You should stop bothering me unless you want me to direct my rage to you. Even if you''re already engaged to an official, I''m not afraid of you," Lu Wan said.


    In that moment, his killing intent, which he had honed through the training he had in the forest, leaked out. Lu Zhi could feel foreboding feeling that she would surely die if she dared to refuse. The pressure was simply too big for her to retaliate against. It planted fear into her bones.


    "F-Father won''t let you off!"


    "Thanks to you, I already have an agreement with him," Lu Wan turned around. "Stop interfering in my life, Lu Zhi. You''re nothing but a trash."


    The word trash shook Lu Zhi so deeply that her eyes shook. Glaring at her brother she pointed to Ye Jiao. "Can you say the same thing if I try to kill that servant of yours?"


    "Why don''t you try?" Lu Wan taunted without any hint of fear. Given his current power and Ye Jiao''s strength, they wouldn''t have any problem to run away if they couldn''t beat the servant. After all, the servants around Lu Zhi were only Eon Energy Master rank 1 and one guard at rank 2.


    Lu Zhi''s body shook in desperation. She knew that if Lu Wan blocked the way and the servant wounded him, the one who would get punishment would be her. After all, her father had given clear instruction that they were not allowed to touch Lu Wan at all. They have to leave him to train.


    Ignoring the frustrated Lu Zhi, Lu Wan got out of the residence. He turned to look at his own servant, who was waiting before the door. "I''m going to have another closed door training. No one is allowed to bother me in this period of time."


    "Yes, Young Master."


    "Let''s return back."

 135 Two Children with Different Fate

    "Jiao''er, do you think that my action is excessive?"


    Inside the forest, Lu Wan suddenly asked Ye Jiao. The two of them slipped out of Lu Family Residence after disguising as servants once again. As they traveled in the forest, Lu Wan suddenly asked.


    Ye Jiao looked at her senior brother. "I do not want to judge you too early, but your words when you talk about the servants bother me."


    "I see," Lu Wan smiled wryly. "I just can''t help it. If I don''t do something like that, I won''t be able to cut down the number of trusted servants that Lu Zhi had."


    "Why do you want to do that?"


    "If I don''t, she''ll continue to scheme for my life," Lu Wan shrugged. He looked at Ye Jiao''s back for a moment before continuing. "There''s a short story that I want to share with you."


    "Yes?"


    "There was once two children born in a noble family one male and one female. They have different mothers, but their mothers were just a lowly concubine and a servant for the family head. As they hold the family''s bloodline, they''re taken in by the family head as his descendant.


    The two of them met in coincidence and started to become friends with one another. They played together every single day. But one day, the routine was broken because of an event."


    "The testing event for six-year-old children?"


    "Yeah. The two of them are of the same age, so it''s normal for them to be tested together. But the result of the test brought them apart. The male has exceptional talent, a genius in a million people while the female has lower talent, ordinary without any remarkable trait whatsoever."


    "Is that you and Lu Zhi?"


    "Yeah," Lu Wan admitted.


    "Even if you have different talents, you shouldn''t have aim for each other''s life, right?" Ye Jiao didn''t understand.


    "Normally, it wouldn''t happen. I don''t even know how things begin to go wrong. I received training from Lu Family and studied with Lu Su about many things. When I have time, I''ll still visit Lu Zhi and play with her."


    Lu Wan smiled bitterly. "That''s my routine until around three years ago."


    "What happened?"


    ***


    *Three years before*


    "Lu Zhi! I sneaked out again!" the ten-year-old Lu Wan waved his hand cheerfully.


    Not far from him, Lu Zhi was sitting on the grass, reading a book. As a young girl, she has tender skin and a beautiful face. It was apparent that the girl would surely grow into a remarkable young lady once she grew up.


    "Second Brother," Lu Zhi replied sweetly.


    Lu Wan sat down beside Lu Zhi. "What do you want to play today?"


    There were no servants or guards around them because Lu Zhi was practically ignored in the residence while Lu Wan ditched his guards.


    "How about if we play outside? It''s spring, so the warm weather is really nice."


    "Sure! I''ll ask the guard to open the door."


    "I''ll come after you, Second Brother. Can you please wait for me in the Blue Alleyway?" Lu Zhi asked with an excited voice.


    Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. "Are you sure that you want to go there? It''s quite secluded and empty."


    "It''s fine."


    "Ok."


    Lu Wan dashed to the front gate and talked to the guard. He told him that he wanted to go to the market for a while. There was also no need for an escort as he could take care of himself. Besides, his green hair made it easy for other people to recognize him as the young master of the Lu Family.


    After he got the permission, Lu Wan ran outside and met with the villagers. They greeted him warmly as he was the young master of the Lu Family and an acclaimed genius in this kingdom.


    "Young Master Lu, where are you going?"


    "I''m going to play with my sister, but don''t tell anyone," Lu Wan blurted out his plan. "I''ll be waiting for her."


    "Have fun, Young Master Lu!"


    "Take care!"


    It didn''t take long for Lu Wan to arrive by the Blue Alleyway. He leaned on the wall as he thought about what game they would play that day. Usually, it was just a hide and seek or tag game. Other times, Lu Wan would buy some games in the market and play it together with Lu Zhi.


    While he was deep in thought, Lu Wan noticed that several men suddenly came. His brow creased.


    ''Did I come at a bad time?''


    "Are you Lu Wan?"


    "Who are you?"


    "He has green hair, so he should be Lu Wan," the other man said with certainty.


    The leader nodded. "It seems so."


    By now, Lu Wan was incredibly alert. He looked at the group as confusion and worry filled his eyes. What did they plan to do to him?


    "What do you want?"


    "We have an order to cripple the Second Young Master of the Lu Family."


    "Who gave you the order?!"


    "There''s no need for you to know that, right?"


    The young Lu Wan hadn''t learned much about fighting. Even though the men were only Eon Energy Masters who hadn''t reached rank 1, their strength was not something a young kid like him could contend with.


    "Catch him!"


    "Don''t let the kid run away!"


    Lu Wan struggled and tried to run here and there. He was not familiar with the structure of the alley in the city, so he just ran everywhere he could. There was no way he would want to let them capture him.


    Bam! Thud!


    As he didn''t pay any attention, he crashed into a man when he tried to take a turn. His eyes widened when he saw the large man in front of him.


    "I''m sorry, I''ll move away!"


    "Brat! Come over here!"


    The man didn''t move from his place as he grabbed Lu Wan''s hand. "Green hair, are you Lu Family Second Young Master?"


    Hearing that question, Lu Wan felt his heart grow cold. Did he just encounter another enemy?

 136 Lies and Getting New Teacher

    "Green hair, are you Lu Family Second Young Master?"


    Hearing that question, Lu Wan felt his heart grow cold. Did he just encounter another enemy?


    "Hey! Hand over the kid!"


    "Yeah! Don''t stop us!"


    The man looked at the group of people in front of him and waved his hand. Eon Energy from his hand immediately hit the group of people, sending them back without any capabilities to wake up again.


    Lu Wan''s heart thumped wildly. There was no way an ordinary Eon Energy Master could possibly produce energy like that. The man in front of him must be someone who was already rank 3 or above. Facing this man, he would never be able to have any chance to get away.


    "Green hair, you haven''t answered my question."


    "I''m Lu Wan, the second son in Lu Family," Lu Wan decided to push the matter into the back of his mind. He answered truthfully and looked back at the man without any hint of fear in his eyes.


    Seeing the child''s lack of fear, the man was intrigued. "It seems that you''re in quite a trouble."


    "I just plan to play with my sisters, but these men suddenly came to interrupt us," Lu Wan defended himself. It was not like he purposely created trouble.


    The man looked at the group of thugs. He turned to look at Lu Wan. "They purposely come for you. Do you tell anyone that you''re going here today?"


    Lu Wan frowned. He did talk to some of the villagers that he was going to play with Lu Zhi, but he never told them the location of this place. The only one who knew that he would come here was Lu Zhi.


    "That''s impossible¡­" there was no way Lu Zhi would scheme for his death. The two of them have been brothers and sisters, friends since a young age. He couldn''t believe that Lu Zhi would want to have him dead.


    The man shook his head. "You shouldn''t trust other people so easily."


    "What do you know?"


    "I just know that if you trust the wrong person, you''re betting with your life," the man replied. He put Lu Wan down. "My name is Zhan Jing. If you''ve any interest in becoming my disciple, you can call me anytime."


    "Who would want to become the disciple of a stranger like you!"


    "You''ll see, Lu Wan."


    Lu Wan frowned, but the man had disappeared from his sight. Recalling that the man''s power was unfathomable, he felt slightly glad that he was still alive. He didn''t understand why, but he felt that the man didn''t have any intention to harm him.


    He returned back to the Blue Alley as he waited for Lu Zhi. However, no matter how long he waited, Lu Zhi didn''t come.


    ''It''s almost the time for my evening lesson. If she still didn''t come, we won''t have any time to play,'' Lu Wan thought to himself. Even though he was just about to get killed, his mind has returned back to his original plan to play.


    Just as he was about to leave the alley, he heard the sound of people talking.


    "It''s true, I see Second Brother taunt the thugs. He looks so cool that it seems that he wants to show off."


    The familiar girl''s voice fell in his ear as Lu Wan''s body turned rigid. His eyes were locked on the entrance of the alley as he felt that it was incredulous. What did she say?


    "I''m afraid that he won''t be able to hold on, so I call you all. You''re not going to be angry, right Father?"


    Right now, no matter how much Lu Wan wanted to deny it, he knew that the one who arranged the group of men to attack him was surely Lu Zhi. The little sister whom he cared so much actually wished for his downfall. He felt that he was truly laughable. Trusting someone like Lu Zhi, he ended up getting stabbed on the back.


    "He should be over he¡­.re," Lu Zhi paused for a moment when she saw Lu Wan stood quietly in his place. There was not even a trace of fight in his body as the boy only looked back quietly.


    "You''re late, Lu Zhi," Lu Wan said in an indifferent tone. "Didn''t you say that we''re going to play?"


    "S-Second Brother?" Lu Zhi finally found her voice back, but her tone was filled with fear. For the first time in her life, she saw her brother glared back at her. It was different from the usual warm gaze that he gave her. However, she regained back her composure as she looked at her father.


    "Father, I¡­"


    PLAK!


    Lu Changqing didn''t hesitate when he slapped his daughter''s face. Even though women prized their faces the most, he didn''t care about it in the slightest. "What is your plan for lying to me, Lu Zhi?"


    "Father, I''m not, I¡­"


    Lu Wan watched from the side as Lu Changqing walked to his direction and swung his hand.


    PLAK!


    "You have to study. Do not waste my time on anything unnecessary again. Remember that Lu Wan?"


    "Yes, Father," Lu Wan replied expressionlessly. Right now, he was trying his best to not think of anything. He didn''t even want to look at Lu Zhi because he knew that it wouldn''t do him anything good.


    He returned back to the residence and finished his study before returning back to his own room.


    "Zhan Jing, are you there?"


    "You should have called me politer, Brat," Zhan Jing appeared and flicked the boy''s forehead.


    Lu Wan didn''t mind in the slightest as he looked at the man. "Have you already know about their scheme?"


    "More or less. It''s too apparent."


    "Why are you helping me?"


    "I''m searching for someone interesting to become my disciple," Zhan Jing answered calmly. "You just caught my eyes."


    "Why do you want a disciple and what will it be for me if I become your disciple?"


    "Let''s see, if you become powerful, you can help me out. As for you, I''ll give you a path where you can become a true powerful warrior and not just someone with a lot of Eon Energy in his disposal."


    Lu Wan looked at Zhan Jing. "How powerful?"


    "Eon Energy Master rank 4 or 5."


    It was quite a far etched dream for him to reach that rank right now, but it was his goal. At that moment, Lu Wan decided that it would be better rather than staying in this residence where he was treated as nothing but a tool.


    "I agree. Lu Wan greets Master."


    ***


    "In short, your own sister schemes for your death?" Ye Jiao was speechless. She didn''t expect that Lu Wan would have that complicated family.


    Lu Wan nodded his head. "Thanks to her, I met with my master. However, I can never treat her the same as before anymore. For me, she''s someone who has betrayed me and lost my trust."


    Ye Jiao nodded. "I never knew that brother and sister can have their relationship changed so greatly."


    Lu Wan laughed, yet there was no mirth in his eyes. "Laughable, isn''t it? Well, I guess it should have been expected when I no longer played with her so much anymore. For us, children without parents who cared, the one closest to us are the servants.


    But servants are also people with their own mind. Many came to serve just because of their family condition, but here there were a lot who had their own schemes. I''m sure you knew how servants often bullied their master if the master is weak, right?"


    Ye Jiao nodded. Not just their master. They would bully those who were weaker than them simply because they could. Even if she asked, she might not understand their reason. Sometimes, it was simply because they didn''t want to be at the very bottom.


    "Maybe she got influence from the servants when some of them took advantage of her weak condition when everyone looked down on her because it''s impossible to change that much." Lu Wan gave a sidelong glance to Ye Jiao. Just like this little junior sister, she still didn''t know so many things about how the world worked. It would take time for her to learn the complicated world.


    Well, she was still 9 years old, nearing 10, so there would be enough time. The mission that they would do will surely bring them to meet various people.


    "But what if it''s because she had always been like that?" Ye Jiao''s mind thought of different possibilities.


    "That''s also possible, but I don''t want to know. I plan on leaving her alone on the account that we used to be friends or close siblings. Living our lives separately without meddling in other people''s lives. But she didn''t want to let me off even now. If she continues, I''ll not hesitate to kill her," for a moment, Lu Wan''s killing intent leaked out.


    Ye Jiao didn''t say anything. She just continued the travel in a steady pace as they rushed through the forest.


    "Sorry, I didn''t mean to rant out. I just feel annoyed by her action."


    "There''s no need to be sorry. I don''t mind listening to them," Ye Jiao replied. "Besides, it''s better to talk with one another in our long journey. We''re going to have a lot of time running here and there because of the missions."


    "Yeah, cold winter missions," Lu Wan''s face darkened. As the temperature dropped, it would be harder for them to move around.


    "In a way, it''s training."


    "Yeah, training¡­"


    The two of them talked about many things as they sped up their pace to reach Bao Fu Organization headquarters.

 137 Method to Recover the Core? 1

    Time passed swiftly. Winter came and passed as the two children were busy to do missions one after another. It took them a long time to finish all the missions as the winter season was almost over.


    "Here you go, you have eleven points inside," the receptionist returned back the badge after she had finished adding the point.


    "Thank you."


    Lu Wan and Ye Jiao took their badge back as they retreated to the side. Lu Wan sighed to himself when he looked at the pitiful point they have.


    "I should have known that Eon Energy Master rank 1 couldn''t earn too many points," he got the urge to pick a mission with higher reward, but he knew that it would be close to impossible.


    "At least, this is enough for us to get access to some of the facilities here," Ye Jiao consoled.


    "I want some herbs, but there are simply too many strange ones there," Lu Wan pointed to the side hall. "Also, the price of the herbs is astronomical that it''s close to impossible for me to buy the necessary amount with my points."


    "How much?"


    "The lowest one is 1 point, but I have seen those that has price above 100 points."


    "¡­" that was so expensive.


    Ye Jiao pointed to the other hall. "I want to visit the library before returning back to the capital city. Do you want to come along? There might be an encyclopedia about the herbs and their use there."


    "How much is it?"


    "1 point for four hours for the first floor," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. It was quite expensive if they didn''t use it sparingly, but she longed to know about some things.


    "Fine, I''ll go there."


    The two of them headed to the left hall and met with the receptionist. After asking for direction, they headed to the stairs and entered the library. The size of the library was exceptionally big that it might be hard for them to find the book they wanted.


    "Welcome," the librarian greeted them. "May I help you?"


    "We wish to use the first floor of the library for four hours please," Ye Jiao replied as she showed her badge.


    "It''ll be 1 point."


    "Thank you."


    After the two of them got their point deducted, the librarian took out a stamp and pressed it on the back of their hand.


    "The mark will disappear when the four hours'' time is up. It''ll start to fade around 10 minutes before the time is up, so you can determine the time better. When you''re finished, do not exceed the time limit or you''ll be kicked out forcefully."


    "We understand."


    "Here''s the map to help you find the books category that you wish to find."


    Taking the map, the two of them studied it. There were several categories such as herbs, occupation, Eon Energy Master rank, and many other. It was apparent that the library that the organization had was filled to the brim with many kinds of book.


    "The herbs'' section is over there," Lu Wan pointed to the side of the room. "I''ll be going there. If you need me, just call."


    "Sure."


    While Lu Wan headed to that section, Ye Jiao headed to the area for Eon Energy Master training. There were many kinds of different training. Some focused on the development of their body, some focused on the Eon Energy, some even focused on the mental.


    ''There are so many books.''


    Ye Jiao headed to the back to see the other shelves when she noticed a young man was also browsing the book. He turned to look at Ye Jiao as his pupil contracted.


    "Ai Jiao! What are you doing here?"


    "I can ask you the same, Lin Jie," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. She felt that she kept on encountering this young man over and over again. Thinking of the one sided challenge that the young man kept on uttered, she wondered whether he would try to ask for another one again.


    Lin Jie pointed to the books. "I''m searching for the best training method to help me in my training because I want to reach rank 2 as fast as possible."


    "I see. Good luck, then."


    "Hey! Are you going to leave me after winning the challenge last time?" Lin Jie crossed his arm. "I can''t believe that you can be faster than me and my group even though you don''t have any rank 2 in your group."


    "It''s the difference in the mission''s content," Ye Jiao just shrugged it off. She didn''t want to tell him about her own experience. For the past three months or so, she was already tired because of doing 10 consecutive missions.


    "How many missions have you finished so far?"


    "11."


    "El-What?"


    Ye Jiao looked at Lin Jie with a confused expression. Did she say anything weird? She was sure that it was fairly normal to do a lot of missions here. After all, many assassins came here because they wanted to do jobs.


    On the other hand, Lin Jie has black lines on his face at the response he got from Ye Jiao. It was already bad enough that he lost in terms of time, now he lost in terms of missions'' number too? So far, he had only done seven missions and they too were all a group mission with his senior brothers and sisters.


    "Have you been here a long time, Lin Jie?" Ye Jiao decided to change the conversation.


    Lin Jie shook his head. "Just around half an hour. Well, I''ve more or less already looked through some books. What do you want to find, Ai Jiao?"


    "I''m searching for some books regarding training too. I also want to know if there''s anything regarding a special kind of core or body," Ye Jiao was curious as to why she couldn''t make the stone react when she was a kid, so she wanted to know if she could find the answer here. In addition, she wanted to find out some training method for daggers since it was quite unusual.


    "You''re not going to find any over here. Information regarding special body is on the second floor and it''s far more expensive than here. Anyway, there are books regarding broken cores and some other impairment over there," Lin Jie pointed to the right side.


    "Broken core?"


    "Yeah, it''s detailing the training one can do after their core is broken."


    "Can you show me the book?"


    "Uh, sure?" Lin Jie was confused as to why Ye Jiao suddenly got interested, but he didn''t think too much.


    "Thank you."

 138 Method to Recover the Core? 2

    Lin Jie walked to the direction he pointed at and stopped before a rack. "There are a lot of them over here, but I think you should have known the method, right?"


    "Is it normal?"


    "Yeah, you can just start over and absorb Eon Energy from your surroundings," Lin Jie spread his hand while Ye Jiao browsed the book and took out one of them that has an interesting time title.


    Unusual Method to Recover One''s Core


    "It''ll take a long time."


    Lin Jie shook his head. "You''ll use less time when you build your core again. It''s like, your talent increased after you lost your core."


    Ye Jiao nearly dropped the book on her hand as she looked at Lin Jie incredulously. "Are you telling me that the method to raise one''s talent is by losing their core?"


    "I''m not telling you to destroy your own core obviously," Lin Jie rolled his eyes. "After all, the time limit to reach one''s rank still exists and if you don''t reach it before the certain age, it''ll be impossible for you to break through to the next rank."


    "What''s the age?"


    "I don''t know."


    "What?"


    "There''s not enough information in this kingdom for something like that. Besides, it''s not like they''re going to tell children about the limitation," Lin Jie replied while shrugging. "Anyway, even if your talent increases, it''ll still take a long time for you to form your core. After you have formed your core back, you can regain your previous rank by assimilating your strength for a set period of time."


    "Do you mean I don''t have to start over from the very beginning?"


    Lin Jie stared at Ye Jiao in confusion. "You''re not losing your core, right?"


    "Of course not! I''m just asking on someone else behalf," Ye Jiao lied through her teeth. In truth, she just wanted to know because she was worried that she might one day have her core destroyed. After all, she has too many enemies to count and each of them were more powerful than her.


    "Nope, you don''t have to start from the beginning because you can just strengthen your core to reach your previous rank. After all, when you build it again, it''ll be based on your previous rank. This should be applicable for below rank 3 from what I know, so I''m not totally sure what''ll happen if you break your core above it."


    "Do you know how it is possible?"


    "Nope, I just know that when you build your core again, the amount will be what your previous rank has because the space in your abdomen is the size of your rank. I don''t know the detail as I have never experienced it."


    Ye Jiao nodded. "There''s a qualitative difference between rank 3 and above. But why have I never heard about this?"


    "It''s not really the type of information that got spread out in this region," Lin Jie replied. "Besides, when you start over, you''ll be placed at your weakest state. How many people do you think can still live without being an Eon Energy Master in this place unless they were living in remote location?"


    It made sense. Ye Jiao had seen the brutal treatment for those who were not Eon Energy Masters. Even in the capital city, those who had become Eon Energy Master rank 1 still got bad treatment at times. It was all due to the fact that there were a lot of rank 1 in the capital city, making them worth less.


    "I see."


    Opening the book in front of her, Ye Jiao browsed through the index. Her eyes widened when she caught a sentence.


    "Lin Jie."


    "Yes?"


    "It''s possible to take other people''s core?"


    "Ah, yes," Lin Jie took another book and walked to the nearby table and chairs. "It''s uncommon in Chen Kingdom because of the rules, but you can find it almost everywhere in the Barbarian Kingdom. You can take a newly made core from other people. However, once you take it, you won''t be able to surpass your previous rank no matter how much you tried it."


    "Barbarian Kingdom?"


    "Yeah, East of Chen Kingdom is Barbarian Kingdom. That place is filled with hardship and not many of them managed to reach high rank. However, they all rely on their great physical power and when they lose their core in battle, they would just take a slave child''s newly formed core. Mind you, if that kid reached rank 1, you can''t take his or her core."


    In short, the time period when someone has just formed their core to the point they reached rank 1 would be the most dangerous period. During that time, there was a possibility of other people taking their core for themselves.


    "It''s pretty scary."


    "All you have to do is protect yourself. Besides, there are reasons why we are gathered on a secluded island," Lin Jie sat down and leaned on the chair. "It is known that the Bao Fu Organization always recruits talented students. If they tried to take us for our core, they''ll get a superior core."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. "Wait, you mean that different talents have different cores?"


    "Yes, the higher the talent, the bigger and better the core you can make compared to those at the same rank. Haven''t you studied this in school?"


    "Not really."


    Lin Jie looked at Ye Jiao weirdly. "I wonder what kind of rock did you grow up under."


    "I didn''t live under a rock."


    "¡­" don''t take my words literally.


    Noticing that Lin Jie had started to read his book, Ye Jiao also read the book she had in her hand. It was discussing the advantages and disadvantages of having one''s core destroyed, taken away and also the peculiarity of each people''s core. As Ye Jiao read, she noticed that there was a passage at the end of the book.


    ''For People from Dark Faction, they have the technique to absorb other people''s core for themselves. This technique imposes harsh characteristics on the Eon Energy Master, but this is the fastest way to become a genius. However, the success rate is below 10% because of the possibility of incompatibility.


    The technique is rare and only certain people knew the way. In addition, that particular Eon Energy Master also need to have Innate Specialization Talent in Illusive. This technique was developed by those at the lower rank to be able to become stronger¡­.''


    Reading the book, Ye Jiao finally understood that there were truly a lot of ways to recover one''s core. Many of them were dangerous and hard to do, but these two were the cruelest that she had seen. After all, it involved taking other people''s and cut off that person''s path of martial arts.


    ''I guess that''s enough. I still need to find another book.''


    Putting the book back on the shelf, Ye Jiao headed to the weapon area to find out the training method and skill for a dagger user.

 139 Returning Back

    Four hours passed swiftly. As their time was almost up, both Lu Wan and Ye Jiao walked out of the library. Lin Jie had gone out first because his time was up earlier compared to the other two.


    "Did you find what you want to know?" Lu Wan asked as he walked out of the door.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "I do. How about you, Senior Brother Yu?"


    When they were posing as assassins, she always called Lu Wan using his other name: Yu Shui. This was done to make sure that no one would be able to trace them back to their real identity.


    After all, the Lu Family was quite famous in this Kingdom and using it would give away Lu Wan''s identity right away.


    "I found something interesting. We''re going to the right hall for a few minutes."


    "Alright."


    Lu Wan walked to the counter and approached the shopkeeper. "Excuse me."


    "Is there anything I can help?"


    "I want a stack of Moon Dew Grass."


    "Alright," the shopkeeper headed to the back and returned with blue grass on his hand. Lu Wan''s eyes sparkled a bit when he saw the Moon Dew Grass on the shopkeeper''s hand. "It''s 3 points."


    "You can take it from here," Lu Wan passed his badge and the shopkeeper worked swiftly to take the necessary point. He returned it soon afterwards and the two of them walked out of the hall as the next people headed to the shopkeeper.


    Ye Jiao eyed the grass curiously. "Why do you want this grass?"


    "There are a few combinations that I want to try. Normally, Moon Dew Grass is not poisonous, but with a bit tampering, I can change the core essence. This grass is quite famous for making many kinds of medicine and poison," Lu Wan explained.


    "I see."


    "Let''s return back home. It''ll be spring soon."


    "Got it."


    When it was spring, the spring hunt would start. There was less than a week for the season to change, so they had to hurry. Even though the spring hunt wouldn''t start immediately, there were still some preparations they had to do.


    One of them was obviously Lu Wan''s training in swords. If he showed up with that mediocre skill, there was no doubt that his father would skin him alive. He would become a disgrace of the Lu Family, so it would be better for Lu Wan to learn at least a bit.


    When the two of them returned back to the capital city, it was already the beginning of spring season.


    "People from the other three kingdoms are going to come here," Lu Wan sighed. "It''s going to be busy here."


    "The three kingdoms are Cao Kingdom, Chi Kingdom, and Barbarian Kingdom, right?"


    "Yes. It seems that you do have some knowledge about them."


    Ye Jiao scratched the back of her head. Her mother did teach her a bit of geography, but she didn''t know that much about them because there was only a short period of time for her to study back then. Even now, she hadn''t had the chance to study them again.


    "My brother will surely ask me to learn again. At that time, you should join in."


    "Got it."


    The two of them strolled on the street as Ye Jiao looked around. Compared to the previous time, there were a lot of people walking around. The temperature was still low with some snow left, but the people already came out of their residences and busy with their activities.


    "Xiao''er, let''s¡­."


    "You insolent! Do you think that I would want to pay for this trash with 5 gold coins? Are you taking me for an idiot!"


    The two of them froze in their place when they heard the sudden yell. Their head turned to the source of the voice as they saw a woman yelled with a young girl by her side, trying to calm her mother down.


    "isn''t that Su Lian?"


    "Yes," Lu Wan nodded his head. "That woman''s temper seems to grow worse over the past few years."


    Ye Jiao looked at that gorilla like woman with confusion. She knew that Su Lian was short tempered, but it seemed like this woman has fallen even lower with her attitude.


    When she was about to walk away, she heard the whispering of people around her.


    "That madam of the Wei Family is really too much."


    "She''s truly a spendthrift and always makes things hard for everyone around her."


    "Yeah, even after she fell from grace, she always acts like she''s above everyone. If not because there''s Wei Family behind her, I doubt that she''s going to survive."


    "Right! Doesn''t she realize that power rule over anything else?"


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes when she heard their conversation. She turned her head to Lu Wan as confusion filled her eyes. "Can you explain to me what they mean by falling from grace?"


    "Don''t you know that your mother destroyed Su Lian''s core when she departed from Wei Family Residence?" Lu Wan asked back.


    "What?" Ye Jiao was stunned. She did try to search for a method to recover one''s core because she was afraid that it would happen to her. Little did she know that there was truly a case like that near her.


    Lu Wan yawned. "Anyway, with her talent, it''ll be a miracle for her to become Eon Energy Master again. Recovering one''s core takes a long time and her talent is simply too poor for it¡­Hey, Xiao''er, are you listening?"


    Right now, Ye Jiao''s mind was thinking of something as her vision was staring blankly. Even though she had never learned how to scheme to other people, her mind worked naturally to think of a method to make use of this information for her advantage.


    However, the result from her scheme might even affect everyone in Wei Family, including those innocent ones if there were any.


    "Ah, yeah?"


    "Why are you suddenly blanked out?" Lu Wan waved his hand in front of Ye Jiao''s face. "Are you perhaps thinking of something important."


    "I''m just thinking that it''s good that Su Lian lost her core," Ye Jiao replied in a low tone. If that woman heard her, she feared that things wouldn''t end up too peaceful.


    "She deserves it."


    "Yes?"


    "There are a lot of people who hate Su Lian because of her arrogance, so not many would sympathize with her. Instead, they''re glad that the woman experienced this," Lu Wan said calmly as he started to walk again. In truth, even he himself felt glad when he heard what had happened to Su Lian. It was because he also hated her and how that woman treated others were horrible.


    "I won''t even find it weird if everyone in the Wei Family Residence experiences a disaster. In fact, I''ll be glad if that happened. There''s not a single one of the people over there who''s decent. They would bully the weak and take advantage of those who couldn''t fight back."


    As Ye Jiao listened to Lu Wan, she recalled how she was also bullied back in Wei Family Residence. The helplessness she experienced as she was too weak was something printed clear in her mind and heart.


    Even the servants purposely treated her badly.


    They wanted to be the superior one, so they put someone who couldn''t fight back to the bottom. And her, without any ounce of strength couldn''t possibly fight back. They were Eon Energy Masters, capable of fighting and at that time, she was nothing more than a young girl who had only started her path in martial arts.


    "Yeah, you''re right. I won''t find it weird too."


    Lu Wan didn''t take the matter to the heart as he continued walking. Little did he know that the conversation he had with his junior sister that day would be the fuse needed to start the girl''s revenge.


    The type of revenge that would make people shuddered when they heard it in the future. It was the story that they passed down to their children and warned them over and over again to never bully the weak.


    But now, nothing has happened, yet.

 140 Forced Meeting

    Lu Family Residence


    It was easy for Lu Wan to slip back to the residence. He walked into the training hall and took out the wooden sword before facing Ye Jiao.


    "Let''s have a light spar. I don''t want to be that bad when we meet with the others."


    "Sure."


    As she said that, Ye Jiao dashed from her position and picked up the sword along the way. She swung it from the side, aiming for Lu Wan''s side stomach.


    Clack!


    Blocking the attack, Lu Wan used his power to push Ye Jiao''s sword. In the next moment, Ye Jiao already headed back to him with her wooden sword ready to attack him. There was no time for rest as Lu Wan was forced to defend again and again.


    Tak! Tak! Tak!


    Sound of wooden swords clashing against one another filled the hall. After a while Lu Wan jumped to the back.


    "Hey! Pause for a moment! Why are you keep on attacking me?" Lu Wan was annoyed.


    Ye Jiao smirked. "I''m used to fighting at close distance, Senior Brother Lu. Unlike you who fight from a distance, I always rely on speed and maneuver to attack my opponent as fast as possible."


    "¡­. Damn you."


    "Don''t curse your junior sister, Senior Brother Lu," Ye Jiao grinned. "Anyway, if you want to switch, sure."


    "Prepare for my attack."


    Tak! Tak! Tak!


    This time, it was Lu Wan''s turn to attack. However, he found out that it was impossible for him to break through Ye Jiao''s defense as the girl perfectly defended herself. If anything, he was continuously getting pushed back.


    "Senior Brother Lu, you''re too slow and weak," Ye Jiao commented after Lu Wan stopped attacking due to exhaustion. She looked at her senior brother with questions filled her small face. "Is it because you always attack from distance?"


    "Shut up! I already use all my strength to attack you!"


    The two of them did fight with all they got, but Lu Wan was no longer Ye Jiao''s match if he didn''t use his original weapon. If he had to use a sword, there was no way he could possibly win against his junior sister.


    "You should just use your chain, Senior Brother Lu," Ye Jiao laughed. "But at least, your attack speed seems to increase a bit after a while."


    "Yeah, I adapt," Lu Wan acknowledged it. He asked Ye Jiao to battle him because the two of them were not used to swords. However, as a sword was similar to a dagger, it didn''t take long for Ye Jiao to be able to use it well. Besides, she already has the foundation.


    "Let''s continue to train like this until it''s the time for hunt. We can''t possibly let them see your weak skill in sword, right?"


    "Wipe that grin from your face!"


    "I''m not smiling."


    Lu Wan got the urge to throw the sword in his hand to Ye Jiao. He stood up from his place and walked to the door before opening it. In front of the door, Lu Su was standing not far along with his guards.


    "You finally come out, Lu Wan."


    "I just feel your presence is annoying," Lu Wan replied coldly. "Tell me what you want from me. I''m still training."


    Lu Su''s eyes landed on the wooden sword on Lu Wan''s hand as he nodded in approval. "It''s good that you''re training well, but there''s something that you have to do before the people from the other kingdoms come."


    "What is it?"


    "You have to go to Wei Family Residence and make a peace pact with Wei Cheng."


    "I''m WHAT?" Lu Wan raised his voice as he glared at his brother with incredulous expression. "NO! I''ll never go to that accursed residence my entire life."


    "You have to! There shouldn''t be any dispute¡­."


    As the two brothers were in their own world, Ye Jiao cleaned the training hall. She didn''t have any interest to join in their dispute as she was busy putting the sword back in their place. Afterwards, she took a broom and swept the floor.


    Aside from cleaning the mess of their fight, she also cleaned the dust that has gathered because it was left behind for over three months. If other servants saw it, there was no doubt that suspiciousness would grow.


    ''Wei Family Residence, huh?''


    Just this morning, she was thinking about something incredulous and now Lu Wan had to make a visit to that residence. If he truly came there, could she take a look at Su Lian and judged whether she should make a move or not?


    While thinking, Ye Jiao finished cleaning up. It was then she realized that the two brothers hadn''t finished their debate.


    "¡­." Just how long do you want to argue with your brother?


    "You have to come into terms with Wei Cheng, and this is final. Father doesn''t want any dispute to happen because it''ll affect Chen Kingdom''s result."


    Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "The hunt is for us to team up with people from different kingdoms. Why should I come into terms with him?"


    "It''s for the image, Lu Wan!"


    "I don''t care for the kingdom image!" Lu Wan yelled back. He crossed his arm. "I''m not going to have a peaceful bout with someone who wants to bring me down."


    "This is an order."


    "You can''t order me!"


    "Lu Wan, are you going to defy Father''s order and place our family in a hard position against the Imperial Family?"


    Before Lu Wan could retort again, he felt a sudden killing intent directed at him. He turned his head and saw Ye Jiao looking back at him. She smiled gently, but Lu Wan could sense that she was actually directing killing intent.


    ''Even my junior sister wants to kill me?''


    Lu Wan wanted to cry. He looked at his brother again while grumbling. "Fine, I''ll talk to him. But if he''s the one who didn''t want peace, I''m not going to take the initiative."


    "Good. You''re going to Wei Family Residence tomorrow."


    "Fine."


    As Lu Su walked out, his mind replayed the sudden pause Lu Wan had before. He didn''t sense anything wrong, but he knew that Lu Wan became alert at that time. Also, the way Lu Wan behaved around that particular servant seemed to be weird. There might be a need for him to investigate further.


    "First Young Master?" his servant asked worriedly.


    Lu Su forced the matter into the back of his mind. "What''s my schedule for today?"


    "There''s going to be a meeting with the minister¡­."


    While Lu Su already returned back to his work, Lu Wan turned his head to look at Ye Jiao. He scrunched his face. "What''s that for?"


    "Are you planning on debating with your brother for hours?"


    "That¡­"


    "Let''s get back to train," Ye Jiao threw the wooden sword. "Don''t you want to show off how much of a ''genius'' you are?''


    Hearing that taunt, Lu Wan genuinely wished to beat up Ye Jiao. Unfortunately¡­


    "Hey! Stop it, you''re supposed to be defending!"


    "Defending alone is not enough. You also need to learn how to defend with your sword, Senior Brother Lu."


    "Give more respect to your senior!"


    "I already did~."


    "#$%^\u0026*(!"

 141 The Deal

    Lu Wan no longer remembered how he ended up finishing the training the day before. He thought that it was already bad enough that he was losing against his junior sister, but it turned out that he also got beaten up. Thankfully, the bruises were all parts that were covered with his clothes.


    It didn''t mean the pain too, though.


    "Are you still angry, Senior Brother Lu?" Ye Jiao truly had fun beating her senior brother up yesterday. Well, she might get slightly overboard, but it was rare for her to be able to beat up her senior brother like that. After all, it used to be the opposite because Lu Wan was stronger and more experienced than her.


    Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "I think that anyone will be angry. But still, thanks to you I''m getting better at handling swords."


    "There''s still around a week until they start coming, right?"


    "Yep, it''s already far warmer, but even if they depart early, they wouldn''t come here that quick," Lu Wan replied. The distance between the capital kingdom to other kingdoms was pretty far from one another.


    "Are we going to train the same thing over and over?"


    "¡­" you''re just having fun, right?


    Ye Jiao smiled. "I''m sure that you''re going to get used to the sword soon after, Senior Brother Lu."


    "Yeah, yeah," Lu Wan said halfheartedly. "Let''s go to the market a bit. There''s still some time before I need to meet that annoying man."


    Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows. "Why do you want to go to the market, Young Master?"


    Lu Wan showed a list of herbs he had complied. "I need to make some preparation for the hunt. And that obviously included increasing my poison resistance because we''re not allowed to bring our storage bracelet to store many things."


    Hearing that, Ye Jiao''s lips twitched. Did her senior brother just say that he wanted to increase his poison resistance again? Come on! What he needed the most was to train his physical body and not more poison resistance.


    However, Lu Wan didn''t bother to talk with Ye Jiao as he strolled to visit his brother. He wanted to get permission to buy some herbs with the excuses of making medicine, which was a total lie.


    Even though Lu Su didn''t really want to, he gave the permission as long as Lu Wan visited Wei Cheng afterwards.


    "Come on, let''s go."


    "Ok."


    Lu Wan didn''t bother asking the servants to prepare the carriage as he stormed out of the residence. Some servants looked in his direction, but not even one of them tried to speak out. They didn''t want to dig their early grave by offending Lu Wan.


    "Is it fine for us to let Second Young Master Lu left?" one of the newer servants asked.


    Her friend nodded. "Yes. Whatever Second Young Master Lu wants to do, he''s allowed to do so unless there''s a direct order from Master."


    "How nice."


    "Nah, it''s not that nice."


    "Why?" The new servant tilted her head, not understanding why it was not nice. Having the opportunity to do whatever one wanted should be something enjoyable, right?


    The servant shrugged. "He can only act willfully as long as he fulfills his responsibility. If he fails even once, Master will put him in his place."


    The new servant blinked. What kind of family relationship was it? She could not believe that there was a father who would force his son to make a deal with him. It didn''t even look like something weird based on the way her friend spoke.


    Another servant walked to the two of them. "Stop chatting. It''s normal for noble families to have complicated personal lives. Don''t ask anything unnecessary. You just have to make sure that you do your job properly."


    "Yes!"


    "I''m sorry!"


    The servants scurried to do their task while Lu Wan and Ye Jiao walked out to the market. Ye Jiao''s eyes scanned the stalls curiously, but Lu Wan didn''t even stop. He walked directly to the square where there were several intersections.


    "What''s that, Young Master?"


    "That''s the notice board. They usually put on some kind of wanted poster there or mission. The one behind it is a small organization. You haven''t gone to this part of the city before?"


    "Not yet," Ye Jiao replied.


    Lu Wan thought for a moment. "Want to take a look? You might see something interesting."


    "Like?"


    "Come here."


    Jogging to the location, Lu Wan browsed the paper placed there. He recognized some of the news, which was common. When his eyes landed on the wanted section, his eyebrows arched.


    "Damn it, I didn''t expect them to put children too."


    "Eh?"


    Ye Jiao felt her heart turned cold. She walked to Lu Wan''s side and peered. There were two picture and description of children there. One was a young boy at the age of 10, which was unfamiliar to her. The other one was her picture back when she was eight years old. The name ''Ye Jiao'' was written in bold, telling everyone there that she was nothing more than a criminal at a young age. It also gave description of her eyes and hair, which was uncommon.


    ''Green eyes are rare in Chen Kingdom.''


    At this time, Ye Jiao felt pain from the bottom of her heart. She understood that her eyes, which she inherited from her parents, had become something that they would use to try finding her. It was good that her bangs were quite long, hiding her eyes when she looked down.


    But how long would it last?


    She didn''t know until when she could hide before someone could recognize her. Dreadful feelings began to swell up in her heart.


    "You''ll be fine." Lu Wan patted Ye Jiao''s back. "Let''s go. I need to buy the necessary herbs. You should avoid looking up."


    "Yes," Ye Jiao replied through gritted teeth. Her eyes landed on the huge sum of money that was stated as the prize for whoever could find her.


    Internally, Ye Jiao laughed coldly. There was no such thing as mercy in this world. Only the strong reign. Whether it was women or children, everyone has to be strong if they wanted to survive.


    It was the law in this world with no exception.

 142 Close Call

    Lu Wan proceeded to one of the intersections and headed to several different stores. He needed to make sure that no one would be able to find out what he wanted to make. Those herbs could be made into either poison or medicine depending on the amount used.


    "This should be enough," Lu Wan said after he checked on his money. There were still quite a lot left. He didn''t need to buy anything else too.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Should we head back?"


    "Yes. My father should have already prepared a carriage for me to go to Wei Family Residence."


    Thinking about that family only made Lu Wan''s mood soured. He was just about to leave when he saw two people walking in this direction. Instinctively, he pushed Ye Jiao behind him and said in a low tone, "Don''t look up."


    Ye Jiao''s body tensed up. She sneaked a glance from the side and saw Wei Liao along with her mother, Su Daji. Those two were among the few people who have interacted with Ye Jiao personally, so they have a greater chance to recognize her. Though, Ye Jiao was sure that she had changed a lot from the time when she was eight.


    Wei Liao noticed Lu Wan, who was very eye catching with his green hair that stuck like a sore thumb in a crowd. "Oh, it''s the genius from Lu Family."


    "And you?" Lu Wan crossed his arm. "I don''t think I know anyone with no name like you. Who are you to call me by my name?"


    For a split second, Ye Jiao nearly hit Lu Wan''s head. His way of talking was very arrogant, which was one of the acting he had learned for their missions during the winter. Ye Jiao had to be honest, though, Lu Wan is really good at playing the bad boy if he wanted to and since he disliked anyone from Wei Family, his acting became even more natural.


    Wei Liao''s face flushed. "You! I''m from the Wei Family!"


    "Wei Family?" Lu Wan tilted his head, acting as if he found it strange. His eyes looked straight to Wei Liao in interest. "I only know Wei Yin and Wei Cheng from Wei Family, and I''m sure that you''re neither of the two."


    Hearing that, Wei Liao''s face flushed red. He knew that his name was not as famous as his brother and sister. They were already famous Eon Energy Masters, while he was trailing far behind. His skills and capabilities couldn''t be compared to them at all.


    On her side, Su Daji''s expression grew dark. She might marry Wei Shang because she wanted the position, but it didn''t mean that she would let anyone bully her useless son. At least, in public, she needed to keep her image.


    "Please be polite, Young Master Lu."


    "And you''re?"


    "I''m Su Daji."


    "Never heard that name."


    Su Daji''s lips formed a thin line, but she could keep her composure better than her son. She had already faced a lot of humiliation from Su Lian, who used to be so high above because she''s the princess. Because of that, she vowed to herself that she would be much better than Su Lian.


    "Mother¡­"


    "Quiet," Su Daji ordered in a harsh tone. Hearing that stern voice, Wei Liao shut his mouth unwillingly. He closed his eyes and talked to himself that he needed to control his temper because he was still nothing here.


    Lu Wan yawned. He looked at the two of them. "Do you have any business with me?"


    "We''re just greeting you, Second Young Master Lu. It''s truly a coincidence for us to meet here."


    "Indeed. Meeting right before I go visit Wei Family house."


    Su Daji''s body froze a bit when he heard that. Su Lian didn''t say anything about Wei Liao coming to Wei Family residence. No wonder that that cripple looked so happy when she asked permission to get out. She wanted to make trouble for her in front of Wei Shang later.


    Gritting her teeth, Su Daji bowed slightly. "We''ll take our leave now. Sorry for bothering you, Young Master Lu."


    "Yeah, yeah."


    "Come on, Wei Liao."


    Wei Liao followed Su Daji as they walked towards Lu Wan. The direction of Wei Family residence was on the other side of the road, so they needed to pass Lu Wan.


    Lu Wan frowned slightly and pointed to his other side to Ye Jiao behind him. He also started walking with Ye Jiao behind him. Even though it was nothing more than a small talk, he could sense Ye Jiao''s tense body behind him. She was worried that Su Daji might find out.


    In this part of the city, it would be hard for her to escape.


    As they passed each other, Su Daji''s eyes landed on Ye Jiao. Her black hair caused a frown to appear on her expression. There were a lot of people with black hair in this kingdom, so she was not that surprised. However, the servant''s small body and frame made her recalled a certain young child whom she hated from the bottom of her heart.


    ''Ye Jiao. No, she should have died along with her mother.''


    No one should be able to stay alive after they ran to the forest unguarded like that. For a newly advanced Eon Energy Master rank 4, they still needed time to consolidate their rank, so it would be hard to stay alive while protecting an ordinary child.


    Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, Su Daji passed a cold look to Ye Jiao once more before she walked faster. She needed to reach Wei Family residence before Lu Wan came to visit if she didn''t want to face Wei Shang''s wrath because of leaving the house when there was an important guest.


    Tap! Tap! Tap!


    Ye Jiao''s body eased its tension after she heard the footsteps going further. Lu Wan stopped near the intersection to the square and turned around.


    "You okay?"


    "Yeah."


    "Don''t worry. I don''t think she realized that it''s you. But it''s also quite dangerous, though."


    "Indeed." Ye Jiao agreed. She didn''t like Su Daji. Even though Su Daji was nothing more than a concubine, she often created trouble for her and her mother back when she was still staying in Wei Family Residence. It was very annoying.


    "Let''s go back and just avoid her."


    "I don''t think I can."


    "Jiao''er?"


    Lu Wan noticed that Ye Jiao was staring back at him with a faint cold smile on her lips. His expression dropped. He had seen it a few times back when they were doing missions. When she had that kind of smile, it meant that she was determined to bring someone down from their place.

 143 Visiting Wei Family Residence

    "You.. what''s your plan?"


    "I can''t tell you now. But I have a favor that I need to ask to you, Senior Brother Yu."


    Lu Wan''s expression changed when he heard Ye Jiao used his codename. Even though they were alone in this place because there was no one around, he was wary.


    "Don''t call me using that name."


    "Would you help me?"


    "That¡­." Lu Wan sighed. "Fine, tell me what you want."


    Ye Jiao smiled.


    ¡­


    Before long, Lu Wan returned back to Lu Family Residence. Lu Su was standing at the front gate with a few servants around him. From the way he talked, it seemed that he was giving some kind of instructions for the servants. When Lu Wan came near, he stopped talking.


    "You''re going to be late for the appointed time."


    Lu Wan creased his brows. "The store is far."


    "You can just take the carriage."


    "And flaunt Lu Family''s name? No thank you."


    Lu Su sighed and pointed to the carriage. "Get in and go to Wei Family Residence. I want you to settle the problem."


    "Yes. Yes."


    Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao and pointed to the carriage. "Come follow after me."


    "Yes, Young Master."


    Even though Lu Su was baffled that Lu Wan would bring a young servant girl with him, he didn''t say anything. It was known that Lu Wan always acted on his own will without any regard for others, so he merely sighed and signaled the driver to start.


    Inside the carriage, Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao with wronged expression. "There''s no need for you to come along with me to Wei Family Residence, right? What are you going to do if they recognize you?"


    Right now, the two of them were in the carriage heading to Wei Family Residence. There was no need for Ye Jiao to come along as Lu Wan wouldn''t have any problem to deal with his matter alone.


    "Actually, I''m thinking of doing something to them."


    "¡­. You''re not planning on assassinating them, right?"


    "Of course not! Do you think I''m as stupid as you?" Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. She sighed. "I''m just thinking that I might do something to make them fight against themselves."


    "Even if you do nothing, they already did. Do you think the relationship between the main mother to her husband''s concubine is that good?"


    It might not show on the surface, but every woman wanted their children to be the one to be the best. With Wei Shang having children from four different women, there was no doubt that the clash in Wei Family Residence was harsh. Every single one of them surely wouldn''t want to give up the right.


    "I know."


    Lu Wan looked back at Ye Jiao. "Master is not going to like this."


    Ye Jiao just smiled bitterly and didn''t reply. She knew that she was too hasty, but she couldn''t help it. The hatred and rage she felt when she heard their plan the harsh memories she had drove her to move forward even more. She wanted to make them pay for what they did.


    "Senior Brother Yu, you need to be careful of Wei Cheng. If he tried to bait you to make another bet¡­"


    "Nah, I''ll be fine," Lu Wan replied while waving his hand. He looked at Ye Jiao with a faint grin on his face. "They always try to trap me. Do you think I''m going to fall for their cheap trick? I''ll just slap his face when he saw that his plan failed."


    Ye Jiao blinked. "Do you even know their plan?"


    "I don''t know the detail, but I''m sure it''ll be the same with¡­" Lu Wan wanted to say Ye Xiao but he didn''t think it would be appropriate because it''s Ye Jiao''s father. "I mean, it''s always the same. They''ll want to make the genius stay in this d*mn kingdom through the so called oath something. Heh, they''ll be dreaming if they think that they can trap me so easily¡­."


    As Lu Wan began to brag, Ye Jiao decided to stay silent and reviewed the plan she had made for herself. She hoped that she would not get captured while doing what she wanted to do.


    As the carriage got nearer, Lu Wan stopped talking. He looked outside. "I don''t like this residence. If you want to do something, is there anything I can do to help?"


    "You''re going to help, Senior Brother Lu?"


    "At the very least, I shouldn''t leave you alone to die, right?" Lu Wan replied calmly. "So, is there any?"


    "if it''s possible, I wish to sneak out when you''re talking with Wei Cheng. Also, please try to stay in the residence as long as possible until I return back."


    "It''s not too hard."


    "Will you do it?"


    "Sure," Lu Wan agreed immediately. "But you don''t expect me to do it for free, right?"


    Ye Jiao looked at her senior brother with a ''I should have known this'' look. "What do you want in exchange?"


    "I want your body."


    "¡­. For a poison experiment?"


    "Of course, what else?"


    Internally, Ye Jiao groaned as she could recall the day Lu Wan asked her to drink the newly made poison he created. It was painful all over her body and this annoying senior brother of hers did nothing but only helped her to rest while watching her over.


    "You''re truly treating me as your guinea pig, aren''t you?"


    "You have better adaptability compared to me, so it''s easier to watch the effect. Don''t worry, I''m not going to give poison that can kill you," Lu Wan reassured her junior sister. He wouldn''t want to let Ye Jiao die because of him. Those poison would be measured before he handed it to her to make sure that the amount wouldn''t kill her and only helped to increase her resistance.


    "Fine, I agree."


    "Good.""You''re not asking this to make sure that I''ll move slower during the fight, right?"


    "I don''t understand what you''re talking about."


    Seeing how Lu Wan evaded her question, Ye Jiao knew that Lu Wan wanted to make sure that he could adapt at a moderate pace. If it continued like yesterday, it would be complete hell for Lu Wan.


    As they reached an agreement, the carriage arrived by Wei Family Residence. Ye Jiao got out of the carriage and stood beside the door as she waited for Lu Wan to get out. This time, Lu Wan didn''t jump directly and stepped down slowly.


    "Welcome, Second Young Master of Lu Family."


    Lu Wan frowned at the familiar sound. He turned to look at Wei Cheng. "It has been some time, Wei Cheng."


    "Indeed it has, Lu Wan," Wei Cheng tried to hold back his urge to taunt this young man as he spread his arm to Wei Family''s Gate. "Let''s talk inside."


    "Sure."


    Without any need for pleasantries, the two of them walked inside. Ye Jiao''s body stiffened for a moment. She still has bad memories of this place as Wei Cheng, Wei MI, and Wei Liao loved to beat her up. They seemed to find it amusing to see her unable to fight back and tried to run away.


    ''It''ll be fine. No one will recognize you.''


    People with similar stature with Ye Jiao were common. Right now, she had used skin darkening to make her look tan. In addition, she used a hat that Lu Family servants usually used to cover her black hair. It was no longer that apparent, so they shouldn''t be able to recognize her.


    Entering the residence, she was greeted with unfamiliar stone path. Granted, she had never entered Wei Family Residence from the main gate, so she had never seen it before. Slowly, she followed after Lu Wan as they entered the residence.


    After the destruction her mother caused to this residence, the Wei Family had built it back again. The buildings looked brand new and imbued with the gallant color and atmosphere. As the family of generals, it was apparent that they picked the color that was more suitable for them.


    Wei Cheng brought them into the main building with the very first room was the guest room. He beckoned for Lu Wan to sit down before sitting down himself.


    "Now, let''s get straight to the main point."

 144 Sneaking Out and Meddle

    "Let''s get straight to the main point."


    "Sure," Lu Wan replied leisurely. "First of all, I don''t really want to meet you, but my family is not going to let me off if I don''t make a deal with you."


    "It''s the same with me," Wei Cheng replied coldly. He didn''t like Lu Wan, not in the slightest bit. Having to stay in the same room with this boy alone made him felt like he wanted to puke.


    "My father wishes for us to make a deal with each other, but I''m sure that¡­."


    Ye Jiao didn''t listen to their conversation as she could sense that the two of them were faking their politeness. Their eyes were glaring at one another as if they wanted to kill each other right here, right now.


    As she had another goal to do in this residence, Ye Jiao sneaked out of the room towards the other side of the room. Her eyes caught the nearby kitchen and she slowly made her way there.


    "Where''s the food for Madam? It''s almost time for breakfast!"


    "Over here!"


    "Quick!"


    It was still early in the morning, so the kitchen was hectic. They had to prepare food for several people as there were a lot of madams in this residence. Ye Jiao''s eyes noticed the familiar clothing on the female servant.


    Even concubines have their own rank, which also means that they have different servants assigned to them. She only knew a bit, but she recognized this particular servant because she had seen her a few times. Su Lian only has a few servants following after her and this was one of them.


    ''I''ll try to follow after her.''


    Ye Jiao used her technique to erase her presence as she followed after the servant. Her technique might not be perfect as she developed it herself because it was needed, but it was more than enough to fool the majority of these servants. They have never seen a real fight and only stayed in this residence, so she had a great advantage against them.


    Detecting other people''s presence was not easy if they had never practiced it beforehand.


    The servant walked deeper until it reached a grand quarter. The wall was decorated nicely with several guards guarding. Some of the guards had Wei Family crest on their armor, but some others have Su Family crest instead.


    ''Ah, I forgot that Su Lian is the princess in Su Family.''


    Ye Jiao recalled people talked about how Su Lian was the princess of Su Family. As the daughter of direct lineage, Su Lian has an important position and would be given the best of everything. There was nothing that she asked that wouldn''t be given to her. This resulted in this woman always acting on her whim and forming a lot of hate.


    Well, in the first place, it was not weird to see a woman got jealous when she saw her husband favored another woman.


    "Su Daji! What''s the meaning of this!"


    Before Ye Jiao could get closer, she heard the sudden yell from Su Lian. Her body flinched in place as her eyes wandered around, trying to find a perfect place to watch over.


    ''That tree''s leaves are right outside the wall.''


    With a swift movement, Ye Jiao climbed the tree and used the leaves and leftover snow to cover up her presence. By making sure that she didn''t move too much and kept her presence to the minimum, no one would be able to find her.


    "Sister Su Lian," Su Daji, Su Lian''s cousin, smiled sweetly. "I''m just worried that you''re going to get sick because of the weather."


    "It''s already spring!"


    "It''s still rather cold, and I have a lot of spare fabric. There''s nothing wrong for me to send some to you."


    Su Lian''s eyes were filled with rage as she pointed out. "Scram! No matter how talented your son is, he''ll never be able to surpass my children."


    It was a fact that Wei Liao''s talent was not as good as the others. Wei Liao was still 12 years old, so there was still some time for him to form his core. Even though there was some sign, she knew that it was not the time, yet. Still, she was a bit impatient as it would become an embarrassment for the Wei Family if Wei Liao turned out the be same as Lu Zhi, unable to form the core even at the age of 13.


    Su Daji frowned slightly. Her son was the weak point he had. He couldn''t believe that Su Lian, who has lower talent than hers, could possibly bore talented children. On the other hand, she, who had greater talent, only had an ordinary child.


    "At the very least, I''ll be able to protect him well," Su Daji smiled. She turned around. "I won''t bother you anymore because I have to protect my son. Rest well, Sister Su Lian."


    Watching the proud back of Su Daji, Su Lian got the urge to smash the nearby pot around her. She was angry that she couldn''t do anything to retort back. After she had lost her core, she no longer has enough strength necessary to protect her children. Added with the sneer and jeers she received all this time, she was angry.


    "Madam, it''s time to eat."


    "Scram!"


    "Madam, please have some food. It would do you no good to not eat anything."


    As Su Lian was throwing a tantrum, Ye Jiao climbed down from the tree into the residence by jumping down the roof and sneaking into the bush. She saw the departing back of Su Daji as her heart was filled with hatred. She still remembered how that woman tried to kill her back then.


    If not because of her mother, she would have died in that woman''s hand.


    Her eyes landed on the nearby servant who has similar stature to her. That servant was tending the garden, trying to make her presence as small as possible in fear of getting seen by Su Lian.


    ''Perhaps¡­ I can make them turn against one another.''


    After waiting for Su Lian to go quite far, Ye Jiao approached the servant. She moved to the girl''s back and hit the back of her head with swift movement, she put on the outer layer of the servant''s clothes. Her face darkened when she realized that it was still slightly too big for her.


    Her stature seemed to be extremely small compared to the average people.


    Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, she moved to the direction of the other servants. They were all also trying to tend the garden because Su Lian had unintentionally let her great strength destroy part of it. Even though she was no longer Eon Energy Master, her strength was still more than that of ordinary people.


    "You, help over here!"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao changed her voice and moved to the designated spot. Seeing the crater on the ground, she sighed to herself. It seemed that Su Lian was still the same as before. That woman''s strength was simply too big.


    "I really wish Madam can reign her temper," one of the servants murmured.


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly, acting as if she was also feeling that it was hard to accept. Thanks to the mission she had done so far, she had learned how to act better. Well, they still relied on Lu Wan''s enchanting poison most of the time, though.


    "Yeah, do you think that if Madam recovers her core she''ll become better?"


    "I don''t know," the servant sighed. "You''re new here, right? You should have seen her when she still has her core."


    "Isn''t it better than now?"


    "Yeah," another servant admitted. "But how do you expect for her to build one again? It takes years just to build one''s core."


    Children normally took six years to form their core. Some of the more talented one formed it in four years like Lu Wan or if they were oddballs, they would be like Ye Jiao and formed it within two and half a year.


    "Well, in my village I heard that it''s possible to take other people''s core."


    Ye Jiao''s words caused the servants to be surprised. They looked at Ye Jiao with incredulous expressions.


    "How is it possible?"


    "Yeah, if it''s possible, there will be a lot of children dying by now."


    "My village is located near Barbarian Kingdom, so I heard about them on the passing," Ye Jiao immediately lied. "Because their areas are filled with fight, there are high possibilities for them to lose their core. This is the reason that they start to take slave children''s core."


    She had just learned this around two weeks ago and now she was retelling it again. Internally, she was glad that she listened to Lin Jie''s explanation or she might not be able to know so much.


    "Is that true?"


    "Do you truly know how?"


    "Are you telling the truth?"


    When the servants heard the last question, their body froze. This time, the one who asked the question was their Madam, Su Lian.

 145 Road of Blood

    "Are you telling the truth?"


    When the servants heard the last question, their body froze. This time, the one who asked the question was their Madam, Su Lian.


    The servants quickly bowed their heads in fear that Su Lian would take any attention to them. Ye Jiao also followed suit and tried to make her voice quiver as much as possible. "Y-yes, t-that''s true, Madam."


    Ye Jiao was still not that good at controlling her expression, so she looked to the ground, acting all timid. Besides, she needed to hide her green pupil. Her long bangs alone might not be enough. It was known that Su Lian was short tempered, so there was nothing weird with her acting like this.


    Su Lian frowned. "Tell me everything you know."


    "Y-yes, Madam," Ye Jiao still didn''t look at Su Lian as she started to simplify the knowledge she had. "O-once someone lose t-their core, they should have b-been unable to train anymore. However, the b-barbarian kingdom develops a technique that allow them to get other people''s core. The method is a secret of their kingdom¡­"


    Trying her best to act like a timid servant, Ye Jiao told the general knowledge of the method to Su Lian. She didn''t say anything regarding the actual method as if she didn''t know. The book she read did specify the method, but it would be weird for a small servant to know so much.


    Su Lian listened to the conversation as her heart thumped harder. This was the first time she heard of this method.


    "A-also, it''s not a secret that newly formed core can be taken away by other people," Ye Jiao added at the end of the sentence. "This is the reason many parents never allowed their children to get out once they form their core and only let them come out after they reached rank 1."


    Hearing that, Su Lian recalled that she too was not allowed to get out of her house when she just formed her core. At that time, she didn''t understand and her father never explained everything. Even when her first son first formed his core, Wei Shang instructed strict order to keep him in the residence.


    Now everything makes sense.


    "You, take your reward from the head maid later."


    Ye Jiao raised her head as if she was surprised. A wide smile appeared on her youthful face. "Many thanks for your generosity, Madam."


    Su Lian merely waved her hand and walked away as she thought of the method. As she didn''t pay any attention, she didn''t realize that beneath the smile that the ''servant'' had, lied a ruthless glint.


    "How nice."


    "You''re really lucky."


    "Don''t forget to share with us later."


    The other servants immediately fawned over the servant to make sure that they also took part in the joy. No one wanted to be left behind as they were excited. Ye Jiao just smiled and didn''t say anything before picking up her broom.


    "Let''s quickly finish our work."


    "Yes!"


    The girls swiftly moved. Ye Jiao waited for a few more seconds before she retreated behind the bushes. The servants were too busy to care for her because they knew that they had to clean up as soon as possible. Finding the servant from before, Ye Jiao swiftly changed her clothes once again.


    "I''m sorry for using your identity, but no one will be able to find me anymore," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. If they tried to find her for another questioning, they would surely find out that the servant they met before was not someone from this residence.


    ''Forget it, it''s for my future worry.''


    Ye Jiao sneaked out of the quarter and headed to the main front. From there, she could see Lu Wan and Wei Cheng were fighting against one another. She was dumbfounded. Didn''t he come here for a peaceful talk?


    Tak! Tak! Tak!


    Lu Wan suddenly retreated to the back and raised his hand. "I think that''s enough for today. Our real battle will start in the hunt."


    "Fine," Wei Cheng harrumphed and kept his sword away too. His eyes were filled with irritation and at the same time, satisfaction.


    "Don''t worry, this time I only use 10% of my power," Lu Wan grinned. "You''ll see my real power when we meet later."


    "What a coincidence, I only use 5% of my power too."


    "Oh really?"


    Wei Cheng snorted. "Don''t you ever dream of beating me up. You''re 10 years too early to defeat me."


    Lu Wan just smiled, yet his eyes glinted with killing intent for a split second. If he was not afraid of the hidden expert at rank 3 around them, he would surely kill this young master right here, right now. He was confident that he could reach Wei Cheng faster than them, but he wouldn''t be able to get out of here alive.


    He didn''t want to die just for someone like him. "Xiao''er, let''s go."


    "Yes, Young Master."


    No one paid any attention to the small servant on the side as the main attention was Lu Wan. Little did they know that the one that would cause their servant to be in total chaos was none other than the little servant that they ignored.


    After Lu Wan got into the carriage, he grabbed Ye Jiao''s shoulder. "You take too much time, Idiot! Do you know how hard it is to convince that block head to agree for a match?"


    "I''m sorry. I didn''t realize that it takes so much time."


    "Forget it," Lu Wan sighed. "At least, I get what I come here for."


    "What will you compete about?"


    "First, we''ll compete on who will break through to rank 2 faster. Secondly, we''ll compete on the number of beast cores we can get during the hunt. Thirdly, we''ll compete in the arena ranking."


    "What about the race?"


    "There are too many factors in a race," Lu Wan shook his head. "He didn''t want to compete in something he didn''t feel confidence in."


    Rather than speed, Wei Cheng focused his attention more into power. Even if Lu Wan wanted to compete in terms of speed, Wei Cheng wouldn''t want it.


    "I see."


    "What about you? What are you doing that takes so much time?"


    Ye Jiao proceeded to tell everything she did to Lu Wan. Listening to Ye Jiao''s story, Lu Wan was astonished. This was the first time he found out that Ye Jiao''s capability in using her brain was far higher than what he thought. She was not just slightly good; she was very good!


    However¡­


    "You''re too reckless to show your face to them. You might have darkened your skin color, but your feature is still the same as before. If you meet with someone who has keen memories, you won''t be able to get out of the place alive," Lu Wan remarked.


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "I know that, Senior Brother Lu."


    "Then, why¡­?"


    "I think I''m just too impatient. When I get the idea on how I could get back at them, I couldn''t stop myself from doing it even though I know the consequences of my rash action. I¡­I just can''t let them go."


    Hearing the tone filled with heartache and pain, Lu Wan didn''t know what to say. He himself knew very well the pain of a betrayal, but he never got too bad of a beating when he was in the Lu Family Residence. The servants might not like him because of his lower status as someone born from a maidservant, but they still behaved because he was the young master.


    But Ye Jiao didn''t have any of that. They didn''t hold back at all when they treated her. Even the servants, who have lower status, would trample on her. No one would care for a trash with her father had offended someone so powerful.


    In the end, Lu Wan raised his hand and patted Ye Jiao''s head. "Master won''t like it when he hears that you do something like this."


    "I know."


    "I won''t stop you because I don''t have any right to interfere in your matter," Lu Wan retracted back his hand. "And I won''t meddle because I know that you must want to do it yourself."


    Ye Jiao smiled gratefully. "Thank you."


    "I didn''t do anything. In fact, I''m still surprised that you can think of a plan like that. That''s quite an unusual and cruel plan, though I know that I''ll do the same if I''m in your situation," Lu Wan murmured.


    She might not hear him clearly because Lu Wan spoke in low tone, but Ye Jiao knew what Lu Wan meant. Her plan would surely cause bloodshed to happen and at that time, there was no one who could tell what the end result would be.


    Ye Jiao just smiled. "It seems that I have just taken another step in the road filled with blood."


    "Blood, huh? You have a peculiar way to call it."


    Ye Jiao didn''t reply and looked outside the carriage. She was no longer the same girl as she was before. The hesitation and the tie that blocked her from doing her work was no longer present. Ever since the missions, she had learned that there were so many different people in the world. Hesitation and compassion often only led in their own misery.


    Sometimes, they still could forgive others, but not every single time. Many times, they should just cast away any of the hesitation they had and pushed forward. Right now, she was no longer just an ordinary trash girl, but rather an assassin who was walking on a road tainted with blood.


    ---


    A/N: Thank you for following this far! \\(^v^)/


    This is the end of Volume 2~

 146 The Four Kingdoms

    Days passed swiftly as Lu Wan spent the day practicing in the training hall with Ye Jiao. Thanks to the poison, Ye Jiao was unable to move properly at times, granting Lu Wan several chances to attack her. Still, the end result would be her victory.


    "Tsk, if I know this, I would never agree to the training," Lu Wan complained as he looked at his junior sister.


    Ye Jiao grinned. "You have become better, Senior Brother Lu. I''m sure that you''ll be able to fight well when it''s time."


    With the two of them already having numerous fighting experience fighting outside, Lu Wan no longer has any trouble to fight using the sword. Even though he didn''t completely master it, it was already pretty good. Besides, the troublemaker second young master of Lu Kingdom was supposed to be someone who had never left his residence, so this was already more than enough for them.


    "Let''s get out. Today my brother is going to come here," Lu Wan wiped his sweat. They had just finished their morning training as the last preparation before the representatives started to come the next day.


    "What''s the occasion?"


    "He told me that he''s going to teach me a bit regarding the rules of the four kingdoms in order to behave better," Lu Wan sighed. He turned to look at Ye Jiao. "Do you have any knowledge regarding the four kingdoms?"


    "At the east of Chen Kingdom is Cao Kingdom while the west is Chi Kingdom. There''s Barbarian Kingdom at the south of Chen Kingdom. At the north of each kingdom, with the exception of Barbarian Kingdom because there was a trail that belonged to it between Chen Kingdom and Cao Kingdom, there''s an academy."


    "How about the geography?"


    "Chi Kingdom is famous for its large lake. Cao Kingdom is famous because it''s filled with swamp at the south and hills at the north. Barbarian Kingdom is desert and sea at the very south," Ye Jiao replied with everything she could remember from her mother. There were not many, but the variety of the terrain was the one who caused the division of these four kingdoms.


    Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao in disbelief. "You''re better in study than what I thought."


    "I''m not stupid like you, Senior Brother Lu."


    "¡­" I feel like beating her up if possible.


    Seeing that it was no longer early in the morning, Lu Wan walked out of the training hall. His eyes landed on his brother, who had just arrived but his servants hadn''t announced yet.


    "You''re early."


    "It''s already late," Lu Su replied in an indifferent tone. "Also, it seems that you''ll need another servant that will do better work."


    "No need. I''m the one who tells them that they''re not allowed to give an announcement when I''m still in the training hall. Their voice is too annoying for me," Lu Wan walked to the nearby stone chair and sat down. "So, how much time do you have to teach me today?"


    "I have until lunch, so you better prepare yourself."


    "Uh, that''s pretty long?"


    Lu Su arched his eyebrows. "I won''t let you off if you become an embarrassment of the Lu Family, so you have to study properly."


    On the back, Ye Jiao stood quietly by Lu Wan''s side. She was listening to Lu Su as the young man explained the fighting style of each kingdom. In addition, he also told his younger brother the relationship the kingdoms had with one another.


    As the detail was complicated, Lu Su had to summarize everything for Lu Wan.


    "In short, Chen Kingdom only has amicable relationship to either Chi and Cao Kingdom. The two of them border our kingdom, so occasional clashes are inevitable. As for Barbarian Kingdom, Chen Kingdom has a bad relationship because they''re all unlawful people who wouldn''t follow the rules."


    "What about Chi Kingdom to Cao Kingdom? Don''t they have an amiable relationship and try to attack the other two since we''re in the middle?"


    Lu Su shook his head. On the table was the map of the four kingdoms. Lu Su directed his index finger at the bottom of the map towards the south of Chen Kingdom. "Barbarian Kingdom is the only kingdom that border the sea. It might seem advantageous, but their location is only dessert and nothing else.


    Even their border with our kingdom is filled with both grassland and desert, around the area where they''re connected. There''s not many resources you can find in the desert, so we all came into the consensus that it would be better to leave it alone."


    "Chen Kingdom?"


    "The forest is naturally good as it''s filled with resources, but at the same time, it''s filled with beasts. There are already a lot of beasts in their area, so they have to take into calculation the manpower needed to protect their kingdom and for invasion," Lu Su explained patiently.


    Lu Wan nodded and put his head on the table. "The kingdoms are truly complicated. Isn''t it better to just let them become one kingdom so there''s no conflict."


    "If it''s one kingdom, there''ll be internal conflict. Also, there''s no possibility for that because the four kingdoms would only want to follow after someone who has the greatest power. Unfortunately, someone who has absolute power and is recognized by the people didn''t exist."


    Each of the kingdoms have their own expert at rank 4, protecting the kingdoms. They always tried to gather as many masters as possible, so there was no telling how many each kingdom has. No one would divulge the secret information because it would surely leak out their weakness.


    It took Lu Su a long time to make Lu Wan memorize them all. Even though the two brothers seemed to be in a bad relationship, Lu Wan still listened to Lu Su as the brat memorized everything.


    "The representative is going to come tomorrow, so you should rest early. Remember to not forget everything I teach you," Lu Su gave his final warning before he bid his farewell and departed.


    Lu Wan sighed. He picked his books and returned back to his room. Right after he entered, he headed straight to the table, putting his books, then walked to the bed and plopped down.


    "I''m not going to do anything else today, so you can leave."


    Ye Jiao was trying her best to stifle her laugh. Right now, Lu Wan looked extremely funny because she knew that the boy wouldn''t feel anything even when he didn''t sleep for several days, yet he already felt tired because of a few hours'' lesson.


    "How many representatives do you think they''re going to send?" Ye Jiao tried to start a conversation as she sat down on the chair.


    "There''ll be a lot of them because they also have a lot of genius. Just like in Chen Kingdom, at the peak there''s Chen Zi Quan and me. After that, there are Wei Yin, Wei Cheng, and many others," Lu Wan yawned.


    "Do you think they''ll send their best seedling?"


    "It''s obvious. Genius can only become a true genius if he''s able to stay alive after facing countless dangers. In any case I''ll introduce you to your senior brother after he comes later."


    "Ah, he''s among the representatives?"


    Lu Wan buried his face on the pillow. "Yeah, but you wouldn''t like him."


    "Why?"


    "You''ll see later."


    "Hey! I''m curious."


    "Like I say, you''ll know."

 147 Representatives from Other Kingdoms

    The next day, Lu Wan woke up early and forced himself to dress up. Ye Jiao also followed after him as they headed out. Three carriages specifically prepared for the three of them parked in front of their residence.


    "Lu Wan, make sure that you behave," Lu Su warned without any expression.


    "Yeah, yeah, I''ll just do what I usually do."


    "Lu Wan."


    The tone his brother used was sharper than before, but Lu Wan just glared back. "What? Are you expecting me to treat them like royalty? I''m not going to act overboard, so you don''t have to worry."


    Ye Jiao peered to the side while the two brothers continued their clash. She could see Lu Zhi was getting ready to climb into her carriage too. This time, the young lady looked extremely beautiful as she wore a light pink dress. Her hair was tied partially into two sides yet still left enough to flow freely. Added with her light makeup, no one would think that this was a 13 years old girl.


    ''She grows up quite nicely.''


    As she was still 10 years old (she had her birthday in the winter), Ye Jiao knew that she still needed some time to start her puberty. Still, she was hoping that her chest would start to grow at least a bit.


    "Xiao''er, let''s go."


    "Yes, Young Master."


    Lu Wan''s call woke her up from her daydream. It seemed that the two brothers have finished their clash with one another as they got into the carriage to start moving.


    They headed to the wall where there were already a lot of people around. They all filled the street and the wall while dressed properly and wore a smile on their face. Some of them even brought their children out as if they were celebrating.


    "Don''t put your face too close to the window," Lu Wan reminded.


    Ye Jiao pointed outside. "This is the first time I see them so close like this and so many of them filled the street."


    "That''s because the hunt signifies the peace treaty between the four kingdoms. Even though some of us might have bad relationships or at least, slightly worse, we all still gather together to compete and exchange pointers."


    "I have never seen it before."


    "The last hunt three years ago is in Cao Kingdom," Lu Wan remarked. "While the previous one before that is in Chi Kingdom and the other one is in Barbarian Kingdom. The last time it''s in Chen Kingdom is around 9 years ago and at that time, you should be only one-year-old."


    "¡­Right."


    There was no way she could possibly remember things when she was only one-year-old.


    Watching from above the wall as the Lu Family could occupy the special seat, Ye Jiao could see the long procession. Seeing the large number of children along with their parents or guardian, she was astonished. She had never expected that there would be this many people coming.


    "Don''t be surprised so early," Lu Wan reminded. "This is just one kingdom. There''s still two other."


    "Two more like this?"


    For the first time in her life, Ye Jiao felt that she had gotten the picture of how big the four kingdoms were. They all occupy land that encompassed thousands of kilometers wide with different terrain. It was no wonder that they all have a large amount of population.


    The procession lasted for a day with the people filling the street. They all welcomed the representatives with open arms.


    ***


    A few days afterwards, all three kingdom''s representatives come to Chen Kingdom Capital City. It signified that the Spring Hunt would officially began after the top geniuses of each kingdom met with one another.


    "In short, you have to greet them?" Ye Jiao asked the busy Lu Wan. As it was formal meeting, the boy was trying his best to look as tidy as possible.


    Lu Wan nodded. "The leading figures are those who''re actually the youngest but with the greatest talent among the children they send. The Spring Hunt is for us to make friends and relationships, so it''s expected that they want us to be friendly with one another."


    "Friendly?"


    Ye Jiao felt the word rather foreign. Considering how Lu Wan and Wei Cheng''s relationship was already like fire and water, it was clear that there was not even the slightest bit possibility for them to stay in the same roof with one another.


    Lu Wan passed a sideway glance. "Everyone they choose to meet will be the greatest genius who they''ll sent to the academy once we reach rank 3. There might be a need for us to cooperate, so they want us to meet with one another first."


    "Do you know how the test was conducted?"


    "No, I don''t."


    "Then¡­"


    "Even though I don''t know, it doesn''t mean that we don''t have to collaborate," Lu Wan answered back. "After all, there''s no way we can live alone."


    "I see."


    Lu Wan finished preparing himself and showed his neat robe to Ye Jiao. "How do I look?"


    "At least, you don''t look like a troublemaker."


    "¡­"


    Ye Jiao grinned when she saw her senior brother''s dark expression. Standing up from her position, she pointed to the door. "You''re going to be late."


    "You''re coming with me."


    "What?"


    Lu Wan grinned. "Do you think I''ll let you stay at home when I have to act all formal all day long? Clean up your clothes and we''re going to go."


    "Uh, I''ll not let you off in the training today, Senior Brother Lu!"


    "Heh, we''re not going to train again because the hunt is coming soon."


    "¡­" let me smack this young man.


    After taking care of her clothes for a bit, Ye Jiao followed after Lu Wan as they departed to the palace.

 148 Meeting with Other Geniuses

    The palace was known to be the place filled with glory and gold. After Ye Jiao saw the palace with her own eyes, she was convinced at how true it was. The large palace was coated in gold and silver color. It was as if they wanted to flaunt the wealth Chen Kingdom has.


    Lu Wan was greeted by the guard as soon as the carriage entered.


    "Second Young Master Lu Wan, we have been waiting for your arrival."


    Seeing the guards, Lu Wan was expressionless as he nodded his head a bit. "Take me to the meeting room."


    "Yes!"


    The two of them were brought by the guards into the palace. There was much more decoration in the hallway, but Ye Jiao didn''t pay much attention anymore. She felt that her eyes would go blind if she tried to look at those shiny items.


    "We have arrived, Second Young Master Lu Wan."


    The door was opened and they could see the large room inside. It was a pure white room with a large table in the middle and several chairs surroundings it. There was some other furniture inside, but their attention was locked in the five children who were sitting down.


    First, there was a young man with tall stature. His appearance clearly told them that he was around the same age as Chen Zi Quan. His dark brown hair was long and tied to the back loosely. Upon seeing them, he gave an amiable smile.


    "It seems that the last guest has come. I''m Cao Ren, the third prince of the Cao Kingdom."


    Beside him a woman with similar appearance and brown hair creased her eyebrows. She was wearing a fine dress that didn''t really suit her current age as it made her look like a child who stole her mother''s dress.


    "Brother, people from lower rank should introduce themselves first!"


    "Ah, my name is Lu Wan from Chen Kingdom. It''s my honor to be able to meet with you all."


    The woman''s brow creased even harder. "I''m Cao Mei, the second princess of the Cao Kingdom."


    After they had introduced themselves, another young man spoke up. "I''m Qi Huan, the first prince of Chi Kingdom."


    Ye Jiao peeked from her position at the back to see the young man''s appearance. The young man looked even younger than Lu Wan with clear blue eyes and silver hair color. If one should say, he truly looked like a perfect prince.


    The last one was a man with a large build. From his appearance, he should be already 15 years of age. He had an indifferent expression and seemed unapproachable. "My name is Bai Xiang. I come from Chi Kingdom."


    Lu Wan nodded his head. The fifth person was Chen Zi Quan, so there was naturally no need for them to introduce themselves to one another.


    As Lu Wan picked one of the seats, Ye Jiao noticed that they only prepared six chairs. It was as if they already knew that Barbarian Kingdom wouldn''t send anyone as the representatives for this meeting.


    ''Considering their lower talent and how they focus in physical talent, it''s not that weird.''


    Even if they sent someone here, she was sure that their talent wouldn''t be able to match with the other children in this room. It was apparent that the Barbarian Kingdom wouldn''t want to waste his important time for such pointless meeting, thus they didn''t even try to send one.


    The atmosphere in the room was stifling as each of them was trying to assess one after another. They might be told to be friends with one another, but no one could actually pull it out immediately.


    "I think we''re not going to go anywhere if we just stare at one another," Cao Ren, the brown haired boy, suddenly started the conversation. "We have introduced ourselves to one another, so should we also introduce our rank?"


    "I think it''s obvious that every kingdom will send one rank 1 and one rank 2, so the older one is rank 2 and the younger is rank 1," Chen Zi Quan replied.


    "That''s true."


    As the conversation died down once again, Lu Wan looked at the pile of food in front of him. It was only some cookies and cupcakes, but he found them more pleasant to look at compared to these geniuses.


    "If no one wants to talk, we can just eat," Lu Wan remarked as he picked up the closest cookie to him.


    Qi Huan, the silver haired boy, looked at Lu Wan with interest. "Are you not afraid of getting poisoned by eating strange food?"


    "Are you telling me that Imperial Family Chen will do something as low as poisoning a representative?" Chen Zi Quan''s voice turned cold.


    Cao Ren raised his hand. "There''s nothing wrong with being cautious. No one knows what each other''s goals are today."


    Hmph!


    Chen Zi Quan harrumphed and took a cake as he stuffed it into his mouth. He knew that his father would never try to poison them. Their relationship with one another was already bad enough that there was no need to worsen it even more.


    Lu Wan finished the cookie before turning his head to Qi Huan. "There''s no need to worry. I doubt they''re going to play dirty at the very beginning of the hunt that''s supposed to represent peace."


    "Hmm, you''re correct," Qi Huan nodded his head.


    In truth, Lu Wan wasn''t afraid they would try to poison him. He had immunity against most of the poison available in this kingdom. Except they tried to use high grade poison with deadly effect, he wouldn''t have any problem eating them.


    "I don''t like sweets," Cao Mei, the only woman in the group, remarked.


    Qi Huan picked up a cupcake. "To truly begin our meeting, let''s just talk about anything you want. We all might come from different kingdoms and have some hostility, but as our young friend that I forgot the name of say, this hunt is intended for peace. It''s not like we''re going to have a life and death battle against one another, so let''s just enjoy our time."


    "My name is Lu Wan, silver haired prince."


    "Right, Lu Wan," Cao Ren nodded his head amusedly. He knew that Qi Huan must have purposely said that he forgot the name because their capabilities as Eon Energy Master was already enough to make them have superior memory. Trying to memorize the name of four new people at once shouldn''t be a problem.


    "Yes, Prince Cao Ren???


    "There''s no need to use honorifics. I''m not here as a prince but as a participant," Cao Ren said. "Since it''s better to enjoy ourselves, how about if we talk regarding your goal in the Spring Hunt."


    "That sounds interesting," QI Huan nodded. He turned to look at Bai Xiang. "What do you think, Bai Xiang?"


    The large man merely nodded his head. "I don''t mind."


    "Ok," Lu Wan agreed.


    "I agree," Chen Zi Quan also responded.


    "Alright, let''s all start from the ladies."

 149 Team and Competition

    "Alright, let''s all start from the ladies."


    Cao Mei''s face darkened when she heard that sentence. She looked at the silver haired prince. "Why are you targeting me, Prince Qi Huan?"


    Qi Huan flashed a smile, showing his handsome countenance. "You''re the last one to answer, so I think that it''s better for us to start from you."


    "Fine. I just come here because my father asks me to," Cao Mei replied unhurriedly.


    "Let''s add one more thing."


    "What is it?"


    "Age and rank," Lu Wan grinned. "Isn''t it more interesting to know each other better like that?"


    Chen Zi Quan frowned. He thought of it as something impolite because it was unusual to ask for someone''s age. It was not like they were inside an academy where each student has to give their profile.


    "I don''t mind, but I think that girls don''t tend to give out their age," Qi Huan responded.


    Cao Ren nodded too. "I also don''t mind. It''s not like you couldn''t gather information by yourself as it''s easy to ask the children."


    Cao Mei frowned, but she still responded. "I''m 12, Eon Energy Master rank 1."


    "Nice!"


    "For the next one, how about if we go to the next youngest one?" Cao Ren looked at the silver haired prince.


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. "It seems like you already have some prior information. My goal is to use this chance to breakthrough to rank 2 and train my body in real life situations. Also, I''m a 12 years old Eon Energy Master rank 1."


    "Next one should be me, right?" Lu Wan pointed to himself. "I want to have fun in the hunt without any restrain. I''m still rank 1 and I''m 13 years old right now."


    "Have fun?"


    "Yes~."


    "I''ll be next," Cao Ren crossed his arm. "My goal is to find out the geniuses around my age from this area and learn to collaborate with them. Right now, I''m a 14 years old Eon Energy Master rank 2."


    "Shouldn''t I be first?" Chen Zi Quan frowned.


    "I believe that I''m a few days younger."


    "I see. My goal is to finish the hunt well. I''m 14 years old Eon Energy Master rank 2."


    The last one was Bai Xiang. He returned back their gaze and opened his mouth. "I just do what I''m tasked to do. Right now, I''m 15 years old Eon Energy Master rank 2."


    After they had finished introducing themselves to one another, the room turned silent again. On the side, Ye Jiao realized why they were all called genius. With their age and current rank, there was no doubt that not many people could possibly reach the same.


    Cao Ren caressed his chin. "Since it''s like this, how about if we all team up with one another?"


    "What are you talking about, Brother?" Cao Mei furrowed her brows. "We''ll naturally become a team together."


    "I mean, we make team with people from a different kingdoms," Cao Ren looked at Qi Huan. "How about it, do you want to team up with me?"


    "You''re just going to carry me around with our difference in rank," Qi Huan refused with a reason.


    "Then, team up with me!" Cao Mei excitedly raised her hand.


    "Princess Cao Mei, how many times have I told you that our fighting skill didn''t match with one another?" Qi Huan was smiling but somehow, the others could feel the cold temperature around him. He turned to look at Lu Wan. "How about teaming up with me?"


    "With you?" Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. "I don''t mind. It''s going to be interesting."


    Cao Ren watched as the two of them agreed immediately. He turned his head to look at Chen ZI Quan and then to Bai Xiang.


    "Your name is Bai Xiang, right? Do you want to team up with me?"


    "Ok."


    "Wait, it means I have to team up with Prince Chen ZI Quan?" Cao Mei raised her voice suddenly. Her brows were creased to show her displeasure.


    "Do you want to team up with Bai Xiang?"


    In terms of built, Bai Xiang did look far scarier. After a look, Cao Mei decided to just team up with Chen ZI Quan. She might not be able to stand it if she had to stay near this giant all the time.


    "Do you mind, Prince Chen Zi Quan?"


    "Not at all," Chen Zi Quan replied calmly as if their decision didn''t affect him in the slightest. "It''ll be my pleasure to team up with you, Princess Cao Mei."


    "There''s no need for so many pleasantries," Cao Ren laughed. "Let''s just eat and talk about other things. This time, how about our kingdom''s specialty?"


    "In that case, Chi Kingdom¡­"


    Ye Jiao stayed silent as she listened to the group talking continuously. She had to admit, their ability to socialize was clearly top notch. Even though each of them were competition, they still maintained the amiable relationship at the surface level, making it hard to guess their real intention. At the same time, she had started to gain the picture of these four personalities and habits from watching their movements.


    They didn''t talk about anything serious anymore and the meeting ended in a lighthearted tone. Each of them departed when it was the time and Lu Wan also didn''t try to stay any longer. He didn''t have any interest in staying with Chen Zi Quan and saw that annoying prince''s face continuously.


    "I''m surprised that Wei Cheng is not here," Lu Wan said to the guard as he walked out.


    "With all due respect, Young Master Wei Cheng is not selected for the meeting because there is a limit of two people from each kingdom."


    "I see."


    Lu Wan was not surprised that they limited the number of people. When they met with each other like this, it was easy for one another to try gauge the other party''s strength. Neither one of them wanted their lineup to be found out so easily, which was the reason they built this system.


    "Stop the carriage," Lu Wan suddenly gave his order when they have gotten out of the palace.


    "Young Master, is there anything¡­?"


    "I''m going to have a walk in the market. There''s no need for a carriage," Lu Wan informed as he opened the door and walked out. He took out a hat and used it to cover his hair. "I''ll return back at noon. Xiao''er."


    "Yes, Young Master."


    The guard felt like crying when he saw Lu Wan walking away. However, he knew better than to have a bout with Lu Wan. With resigned feeling, he directed the carriage back to Lu Family Residence.

 150 He knows?

    "Why are we stopping in the market?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    Lu Wan took out two cloaks and handed one of them to Ye Jiao. "We''re going to visit the black market for a while. I want to check whether they''re adding more precious herbs to this city since there''s a hunt going on."


    Putting on the cloak, Ye Jiao followed after Lu Wan closely. He traveled across the labyrinth like alleyway until they reached a wide area. There were several intersections that headed to several directions.


    "Wait for me here, I''ll be back."


    "Ok."


    Ye Jiao moved back and leaned to the wall. Her eyes were scanning the surroundings curiously as it was the first time Lu Wan brought her along to buy herbs. In the first place, Lu Wan rarely came here because it was inconvenient for a young master of Lu Family to stroll the street.


    Suddenly, Ye Jiao could feel a presence coming to her direction. She quickly stepped back and looked in the direction of the presence. Her eyes immediately got attracted to the silver hair the young man has.


    "Oh, you''re that girl near Lu Wan before," the young man, Qi Huan, said in a relaxed tone. He looked around. "It seems that brat is not here."


    "This servant greets Prince Qi Huan."


    "Servant?" Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao up and down. "For a 10-year-old Eon Energy Master rank 1 to become a servant, it seems Chen Kingdom is truly peculiar."


    The moment Ye Jiao heard that, her body stiffened and she looked at the young man before her with wariness. Her instinct told her that this man was not to be underestimated. She still wore the necklace that her father gave her, but he immediately found out that she is Eon Energy Master.


    How?


    Qi Huan smiled brightly. "Very interesting. Now that I know your secret, what are you going to do, little girl?"


    Ye Jiao didn''t reply. Her eyes were locked onto Qi Huan as her mind spun harder. This man knew that she was Eon Energy Master, but he came from another kingdom. Would he try to take her into his side or eliminate her?


    "Since you don''t want to answer, let me force the answer straight from you."


    As soon as Qi Huan finished talking, he had summoned his sword out of his storage bracelet. Dark bluish long sword came into the view, sending off large pressure outwards as if saying that every other weapon should bow down in front of him. It was suffocating to stay in front of the sword.


    Swish! Clang!


    Qi Huan swung the sword to Ye Jiao''s direction and the girl immediately took out her dagger to block the attack. As Eon Energy Master rank 1, she was still unable to infuse her Eon Energy to her weapon, making it impossible to use a lower ranked weapon against such a powerful sword.


    "Oh, it''s a powerful dagger," Qi Huan retreated as he remarked. His kind expression and amiable smile he had in the meeting had long gone. Replacing it was the eerie kind of smile filled with bloodlust.


    Ye Jiao gripped her dagger tighter. This was the first time she encountered someone who has so much bloodlust. The pressure that came from the man was suffocating, but she maintained her stance.


    The two of them stared at one another for a second before they dashed off their position and locked their weapons for clash again.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Sound of metal clashing filled the area. The two of them moved forward and retreated back over and over again. Qi Huan tried to push Ye Jiao to the back using his power, but the girl didn''t back down so easily.


    Twisting her dagger, Ye Jiao made a horizontal movement against Qi Huan. Her dagger didn''t connect as Qi Huan jumped backwards with a wide grin on his face. It was clear that he enjoyed the fight he had with Ye Jiao.


    "Come on, let''s go faster!"


    ''He''s insane!''


    Ye Jiao truly wanted to curse in her mind as she raised her tempo to block the sudden barrage of attack from Qi Huan. The way the boy fought was simply madness. He didn''t care for the so called defense and went on all out frontal fight. His barrage of attacks would be able to kill anyone who was not prepared.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Using the last attack, Ye Jiao pushed her own dagger to it. She positioned her body right behind it and managed to create a distance between her and the young prince. Her breathing had started to become rough because of the intense fight they had just now.


    Qi Huan smiled as he looked at Ye Jiao curiously. "Normally, anyone would die when they face my attack just now."


    "Apparently, your attack is not completely effective against me," Ye Jiao replied.


    Most people would be helpless and had to defend themselves under the barrage of attacks. They wouldn''t have the time to think for countermeasure. However, it was different with Ye Jiao as she still managed to get away from the attack by shifting her body''s position.


    "You''re not bad at all."


    "Many thanks for your compliment."


    Ye Jiao was still wary of Qi Huan. As she had expected, the young man sprinted from his position with his sword ready to hack her down. She swiftly moved to the side, evading the surprise attack.


    Tak!


    The sword landed on the ground, piercing the hard surface and made a crack. Slowly, Qi Huan pulled it back up.


    "You can even evade a surprise attack."


    Ye Jiao didn''t reply back. She had been attacked by surprise attacks from Master Zhan Jing countless times in the past. Thanks to him, she had to stay vigilant at all times and nearly unable to sleep. Her eyes followed after Qi Huan''s movements warily, wondering what he would do after this.


    To her surprise, Qi Huan sheathed his sword back. He looked at her with an amiable smile on his handsome face. "I should have expected that Master would only recruit monsters as his disciples."


    "Huh?" Ye Jiao''s eyes widened when she heard the young man''s word. Did he just say ''Master?'' She had heard from Lu Wan that they have a senior brother from another kingdom, but wasn''t Qi Huan a year younger compared to Lu Wan?


    Seeing Ye Jiao''s confused expression, Qi Huan seemed to understand. "That brat Lu Wan must have not told you before. Anyway, let me reintroduce myself again. My name is Qi Huan but I''m known as Shan Dian in Bao Fu Organization. Lu Wan is my junior brother, so you should be my junior sister."

 151 Peculiar Senior Brother

    "I''m known as Shan Dian in the Bao Fu Organization. Lu Wan is my junior brother, so you should be my junior sister."


    Ye Jiao''s mind was blank when she heard the young man''s words. Did he just say that she was his junior sister? It meant that the senior brother that Lu Wan mentioned before was truly referring to this young man?


    Seeing that Ye Jiao was still in the state of disbelief, he added. "I may be younger than Lu Wan, but you can be rest assured that I''m stronger than him."


    "Are you really my senior brother?"


    "Yes, you can call me Senior Brother Shan Dian*."


    "Senior Brother lightning?"


    Qi Huan smiled. "It seems that you have quite a large vocabulary. Yes, you can say that to me."


    "Ye Jiao, I have finished¡­" Lu Wan appeared from one of the alleyway, but his word stopped when he noticed that Qi Huan was standing there. Frown appeared on his forehead. "Didn''t I tell you before that we''ll only greet each other when the hunt has started?"


    "Both of us are the representatives of our kingdoms, so it''s not weird for me to greet you first," Qi Huan has returned back to his calm and amiable demeanor as he put away his sword.


    Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "That''s that, but you don''t have to follow me here."


    "I can see that you''re still researching poison," Qi Huan noticed the faint smell of herbs on Lu Wan. "It seems that you have improved a lot ever since I last saw you. Even your acting skill gets considerably better."


    "Thanks to my junior sister, I have to learn how to act," Lu Wan pointed to Ye Jiao.


    "No wonder."


    If it was the usual Lu Wan, he would not care for any acting and immediately used poison to finish his task as an assassin. But because of Ye Jiao''s interference, he had to make sure that he behaved and learned how to act several roles.


    "Senior Brother Lu, why do you never tell me that your senior brother is younger than you?" Ye Jiao couldn''t wait any longer as she asked.


    "Ah¡­" Lu Wan face palmed. He truly didn''t want to tell that to Ye Jiao.


    On the other hand, Qi Huan was amused. "We met master at around the same time. At that time, we decided to determine seniority using our power, so naturally, I become his senior brother."


    "Don''t recount that!"


    "I''m just telling our little junior sister. She deserved to know," Qi Huan shrugged.


    "Anyway, with you staying alone in Chi Kingdom, how''s the progress of your mission so far?" Lu Wan relented and asked.


    "I don''t do any mission."


    "You what?"


    Qi Huan smiled. "I''m the first prince of Chi Kingdom and naturally, I''ll inherit the throne if not because of my talent. If I manage to pass the exam and become a disciple, the next in line will be my brother, but if I don''t manage to pass, I''ll be the king. Because of this position, many people are after my life. There''s no need for you to worry that my experience is lacking compared to you."


    Listening to this young man, Ye Jiao was speechless. It looked like Qi Huan was truly born with a silver-no gold spoon. He was given two different choices from birth, either to become a king or become an expert. And either one of them would be a high position with lots of people envied him.


    "Fine, I believe you," Lu Wan waved his hand. "I''m going back first. We can have a hearty talk in the forest later."


    "Sure. I just came here to meet with our junior sister since Master says that she''s really interesting," Qi Huan responded.


    "Oh right, what''s our mission?"


    "Master asked me to tell you that during the hunt, we have to hunt 10 rank 2 beasts. Aside from that, we have to breakthrough to Eon Energy Master rank 2 and stabilize our rank through arena competition and doing individual missions."


    After they reached rank 2, they could start to take individual missions and no longer had to form a group with one another.


    "I have a bad feeling about the next mission," Lu Wan furrowed his brows.


    Qi Huan smiled. "Afterwards, he''ll prepare a mission for us to assassinate Eon Energy Master rank 3."


    Ye Jiao and Lu Wan: "¡­" master, do you want to kill us?


    The difference between rank 2 and 3 were extremely large. As Eon Energy Master rank 2 had only started to use their Eon Energy outside their body, Eon Energy Master rank 3 would learn how to use it for their weapon and further distance. In a fight, Eon Energy Master rank 3 would have a better weapon, larger area of control, and obviously more amount of Eon Energy.


    Even though they were three people, they doubted that they could survive.


    "He didn''t give the details, so we''ll have to wait."


    "I want to return back first. I feel that I need to ingest another portion of poison once again," Lu Wan rubbed his forehead. "Let''s go back, Jiao''er."


    "Yes."


    Qi Huan also didn''t linger around any longer. He sneaked out because he wanted to know more about Ye Jiao, so he had to return back before his guards started to search for him.


    As Ye Jiao walked back, she asked. "Senior Brother Lu, is the reason you don''t want to tell much about Senior Brother Qi is because of his age?"


    "Of course not," Lu Wan''s face darkened. If it was just that bet, he could just say that Qi Huan was better because that prince has trained since young. It was a plausible excuse he could use.


    "Then why?"


    "¡­ Don''t you feel bothered by his change of personalities?"


    Personality?


    Now that Lu Wan mentioned it, Ye Jiao did feel a shiver of fear when she saw Qi Huan start to show his killing intent. It seemed that the boy was thirsty of blood and would never stop until he was satisfied. Compared to his dignified appearance as the prince, it was a stark contrast.


    "Everyone has their own reason to become who they''re, right?"


    Lu Wan chose not to comment and buried his face on his palm. Rather than telling this girl of how much change Qi Huan had, it would be better if she just saw it for herself.


    ¡­


    A/N: Shan Dian (third tone on first and fourth tone on the second word) mean lightning in Chinese words.

 152 The Hunt Begins 1

    The next day, children and teenagers under the age of 17 gathered on the field outside the city. The same field that was capable of holding the capacity of hundreds of students looked even more packed today. Many of the students have to cross the perimeter to the forest because the space was not enough.


    "Even though the number has decreased because they lack qualification, this is still quite a sight to behold," Lu Wan commented. Just like the previous training, he wore light robes that didn''t seem to have any defensive properties. It made one wonder whether he was overconfident or just plain stupid.


    "More than half of them wouldn''t be able to pass the first stage," Ye Jiao said from behind. She was dressed in her training clothes because it would be hard to move if she used her usual clothes. Her long black hair was tied to the back in a simple bun, making her look similar to boys.


    "Of course they won''t," Lu Wan yawned. "The only quest to finish this stage is to provide rank 2 beast''s core and the limit of a group member is just 5. Unless they have some strength, they wouldn''t be able to pass."


    Normally, no matter how strong someone was, it would be impossible for Eon Energy Master rank 1 to defeat rank 2 beast without the help of Eon Energy Master Rank 2. There might be some Eon Energy Master rank 2, but their number was not as much as the rank 1 because of the age limitation.


    In addition, trying to carry other people to win was simply too hard. They would have to work much harder to hunt.


    "Well, I don''t have to worry about that, though," Lu Wan grinned and put his hand on the back of his head.


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "It''ll be better if you can hunt by yourself, Senior Brother Lu. The mission clearly stated that you have to hunt one."


    "¡­Let''s pick the weaker one."


    The two of them might still stand a chance to win a fight against rank 2 beast if they used their original weapon. However, they would have to make sure that they bypassed the surveillance first. It meant they had to travel further compared to other students to be able to stay alone.


    "Young Master Lu Wan!"


    The two of them saw Mu Xin came closer. After not seeing her for a few months, Lu Wan was stunned. The reason was no other than the fact that Mu Xin has reached rank 2!


    Mind you, he betted with Wei Cheng that he would reach rank 2 faster. Now, he saw it for himself that someone had used lesser time than him. He clearly remembered that Mu Xin only used slightly above one year to reach rank 2 while he had been in this rank for nearly two years. This made him feel that the harsh training he had all these time was for naught.


    ''Damn! Now I also lose to her?''


    While Lu Wan felt despair at the realization, Mu Xin had reached the two of them.


    "Congratulations for breaking through, Miss Mu Xin," Ye Jiao nudged her senior brother and gave her congratulations.


    Mu Xin smiled. "Thank you. I use a bit of help to reach this rank, so I doubt that I can advance faster."


    There was some help that they could have to advance faster. It would make them reach the rank faster, but their strength would be slightly weaker compared to those at the same rank.


    "Why?"


    "My father worried that I won''t be able to survive if I don''t raise my rank," Mu Xin replied honestly. "Rank 2 has higher defense and that''s what he wants me to achieve. However, it means that I have to make use of this hunt to stabilize my rank and strengthen my foundation."


    "I wish you good luck, Miss Mu," Ye Jiao expressed her heartfelt feeling.


    Mu Xin nodded. She looked at Ye Jiao with worry. "If you''re not confident enough, you shouldn''t come to participate in the hunt. I don''t want anything to happen to you."


    "Don''t worry, I''ll be alright, Miss Mu."


    Lu Wan rolled his eyes at these two''s politeness. He had heard for himself how casual they usually talked to one another that it sounded irritating. Unfortunately, it couldn''t be helped as there were too many ears around them.


    "Let???s get going. The long speech is over now," Lu Wan noticed that the group of students started to enter the forest after they came to the teacher at the front.


    "Ok."

 153 The Hunt Begins 2

    The two of them lined up while searching for Qi Huan while Mu Xin headed in different ways to search for her teammate first. Ye Jiao looked around and noticed that there were a lot of students who brought their servant into the hunt just like Lu Wan. It seemed that the number of noble students was quite a lot.


    "So you''re already over here," Qi Huan approached them and smiled. His silver hair attracted a lot of attention from their surroundings as many students were curious as to who this person was.


    "You should cover your hair."


    "That''s too much hassle. I like leaving it like this."


    Lu Wan yawned. "That''s the royal family''s color, right? Do all your brothers and sisters have the same hair color as you?"


    "More or less yes," Qi Huan pointed to the teachers. "By the way, did you listen to the explanation or just loiter around?"


    "It''s hard to listen from the back," Lu Wan gave his excuse.


    "He''s using Eon Energy to amplify his voice. There''s no way you wouldn''t be able to hear his voice," QI Huan narrowed his eyes. "You''re truly an idiot."


    "Shut up! It''s not that bad."


    "Anyway, our task in the forest is to hunt rank 2 beast. Because the two of us are still rank 1, it might be a disadvantage, but there''s no need to try searching for another teammate. I''m sure that we''ll have fun," for a moment, Qi Huan''s eyes lit up with excitement as if he was impatient to start the hunt.


    Lu Wan shuddered a bit. As the closest to Qi Huan, he could clearly feel that split second bloodlust. "You should try to hold back a bit."


    "I''ll be fine."


    "Is there anything else I should pay attention to?"


    "The time limit is two months, so during this time, we have to properly count the time to return back or we''ll be late."


    "Got it."


    As the two of them talked, they reached the front of the line. Qi Huan showed his identity paper and Lu Wan also did the same. Seeing the name, the teacher was stunned speechless.


    These two were the most talented from the Eon Energy Master rank 1 with one of them came from Chi Kingdom while the other one came from Chen Kingdom. He had just approved Chen Zi Quan and Cao Mei, now this?


    "Does your group only consist of two people?"


    "Yes."


    "Ok, this is your group badge. If you''re in trouble, you can crush the badge to call us, but it''ll mean that you forfeit the hunt."


    "We understand. Thank you very much."


    "Also, you''re not allowed to bring the beast''s core from outside," the teacher pointed to the side. "You have to get your storage bracelet checked.


    Qi Huan took the plate with the number 4444 that the teacher gave. Seeing the number, Ye Jiao didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. 4 were always associated as bad because it sounded similar to die.*


    "Wow, even the plate is cursing the beasts that will come to meet with us," Lu Wan punched his fist forward. "This is going to be interesting!"


    "Where''s your storage bracelet?"


    "Here you go."


    The two of them already knew that they would check the storage bracelet, so they prepared a different one. Their weapon was kept in a secret small storage pouch that they bought. It was usually not checked because someone at their status shouldn''t have used the pouch. Besides, the pouch could only bring one large item or several small items, which made it extremely inconvenient.


    So far, Lu Wan''s storage bracelet only consisted of some bottle of poison, money, and herbs. It was very easy to mistook the poison bottles for medicine as many other students brought them. As for Qi Huan, he only brought some daily necessities, money, books, and some others.


    The teacher only scanned to find the beast core, so he didn''t try to check the others. Besides, he knew that the students wouldn''t like it if they tried to pry too much.


    "Here you go. After the hunt has finished, you shall report the number of beast core that you get."


    "Ok," Qi Huan took their storage bracelet back and handed one of them to Lu Wan, who took his time to wear it. He arched his eyebrows. "It would be better if you don''t slow me down."


    "Heh, who do you think you are? I definitely won''t be any slower than you!"


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. "Oh? Is that so?"


    As soon as he finished talking, Qi Huan initiated his Eon Energy and sprinted into the forest. It didn''t even take one second for Ye Jiao to ran after Qi Huan. She had sensed his sudden Eon Energy movement, so she prepared herself and chased after him. On the other hand, Lu Wan cursed out loudly while chasing after them.


    "You! Wait for me, you silver hair!"


    ---


    *in Chinese, the two of them read as ''shi'' with the difference in tone. Even in the same tone, there are several words that have different meanings because they''re written differently.

 154 Defeating Rank 2 Beasts

    "I defeated 16 and you just 8 today," Qi Huan concluded.


    They had traveled in the forest for several days. The three of them kept on going deeper into the forest in order to escape from the monitoring and to search for rank 2 beasts. So far, they only managed to find rank 1 beast and defeated them along their way.


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. "I''m not a killing maniac like you! Besides, I have to use this crappy sword."


    If he could use his real weapon, Lu Wan was sure that he would become a better challenger to compete with Qi Huan. Unfortunately, this sword limited his movement, making it impossible for him to fight too fast.


    "There''s not much monitoring over here," Ye Jiao returned while dragging a beast. Her clothes were stained with blood, but she didn''t seem to care in the slightest.


    "You also hunt?"


    "I need exercise. Don''t worry, I always search for the one outside their range of vision."


    The three of them have keener sense because of training. The teacher didn??t really hide their presence that well, so they found out where the teachers were watching them. The number of students compared to the teacher was completely uneven. Adding with a lot of incompetent student, the teacher had to work harder.


    Because of that, at times, there wouldn''t be any teacher who watched over them.


    "They''re paying more attention to us because the two of us are quite important in our respective kingdom," Qi Huan pointed to the alley hundreds of meters away from them. "Let''s head over there. We''re already days away from the capital city, so the number of teachers lessened."


    There was no restriction of how far they could go. The consequences would be the teachers couldn''t rescue them right in time if they were too far.


    "If there''s a rank 2 beast, it''ll be for the better."


    "We have to hunt 10, right?" Ye Jiao recalled their mission that Qi Huan told them not long ago.


    Qi Huan smiled. "Right. Let''s go."


    The three of them dashed through the forest again. A teacher, who was located several dozen meters away from them watched helplessly. He felt that there were too many reckless students lately.


    As they headed deeper, they made sure that there was no teacher nearby because they planned on defeating rank 2 beast by using their original weapon. The corpse of the beast wouldn''t be checked, so there was no need for them to worry so much.


    "There''s strong pressure coming from there," Ye Jiao''s keen sense immediately detected the difference in the air.


    Lu Wan nodded. "Got it. There must be rank 2 or rank 3 beasts over there. Let''s go."


    "How do you know?"


    "Our little junior has a keen sense of Eon Energy. Because beasts above rank 1 already used much more Eon Energy, she can detect it from afar. I already tested it a few times before and it''s true."


    When they were in the forest, Ye Jiao would be the one to lead them because she could sense the beasts. If they needed to hurry, they would surely pick the route that avoided the beasts and only fought some lower rank 1 that was far weaker. That way, they could save a long time journeying.


    Qi Huan''s eyes flashed in interest. He never knew that there was that kind of ability to be able to sense the movements of Eon Energy in the air so keenly. They always have the ability to detect Eon Energy around them because they would absorb them, but the distance between Ye Jiao and that beast was still quite far.


    "Ah, I can sense it now," Lu Wan''s face turned grim. "Prepare for a battle."


    "I can''t detect anything," Qi Huan frowned.


    "It takes me a long time of practice to be able to detect them too, so it''s fine. I think you''re more used to dealing with concealed killing intent compared to the faint movements of Eon Energy from beasts."


    He couldn''t refute that. Before he could say anything else, there was sudden pressure coming at them. This time, there was no way Qi Huan could miss it.


    "Prepare for battle!"


    The three of them already took out their weapon when they saw a massive spider coming to their direction.


    "Ah, spider, huh?" Lu Wan grinned. "It''s time for a battle then."


    As soon as the spider saw them, it spread its web at rapid speed to their direction. The three of them scattered to several directions before heading straight to the spider.


    Slash!


    From a distance, Lu Wan started the attack by using his chain blade. He has gotten much more proficient as he could control it well despite the distance.


    Scree!


    The spider was angry. It turned around to chase after Lu Wan, but Ye Jiao and Qi Huan had arrived. Her dagger and his sword immediately hacked down the spider''s leg. It was hard as if they were meeting a metal.


    "Jump back!" Lu Wan yelled.


    His blade returned back and this time it also attacked the leg.


    Clang!


    Their face turned grim when they realized that the spider has higher defense than their expectation. It was as if the legs were made of steel metal. Even with their weapon that they got from their master, it was extremely hard to break the defense.


    "I''ll attack its body."


    Qi Huan dashed to the other side while Ye Jiao headed to the legs once again. Her eyes were locked on the joint as she swung her dagger as hard as possible with its point of contact right at the joint.


    Clang!


    ''It''s swallow, but it cuts.''


    Compared to the attack to the legs that the spider repelled immediately, this time Ye Jiao could sense that the attack worked. A smile made its way to her lips as she jumped back because the spider had attacked with its web.


    Stab!


    Qi Huan focused his attack and stabbed the spider deeply. His eyes widened when he realized that his sword couldn''t go any deeper.


    "Watch out!"


    The spider spun around with its leg aiming for Qi Huan. He swiftly pulled back his sword and dashed to the back. At the same time, Lu Wan''s chain blade was swung to the spider''s direction once more.


    "Attack the joint! It''s weaker than the legs."


    "Got it."


    Spider''s legs were made of a joint between the outer and inner legs, similar to that of humans. The two of them quickly moved to attack the joint of the spider to make sure that it couldn''t move.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    With three slashes, the attack penetrated the joint and cut it off!


    "it works!"


    "Watch out!"


    Scree!


    The angry spider was still able to move properly with its seven legs. It was so quick that the front leg nearly cut down Qi Huan if he didn''t move fast enough.


    "The blade on its leg is so sharp," Qi Huan informed when he realized that part of his clothes were cut.


    "I got it."


    It was not only hard to break; the legs were also sharp. Lu Wan kept on making the spider busy by attacking with his chain blade while Ye Jiao and Qi Huan attacked the other legs, trying to cut them off the main body one by one. It was good that the spider didn''t have any regeneration ability because it would surely make things harder.


    Two, three, four, five, six.


    When Ye Jiao cut off the sixth leg, the spider was unable to balance itself any longer. It swayed and fell down on the ground. It was still trying to move and attack with its web, but it was no longer able to move.


    "Qi Huan, hurry!"


    By now, Qi Huan jumped up above the spider. He raised his sword and made thrusting movements to the center of the spider''s body.


    Jleb!


    Green colored blood splattered all around as Qi Huan repeated his movements several times until the spider stopped moving.


    Their first hunt together was over.

 155 Sensing Gazes

    "Whoohoo, we all manage to cooperate very well!" Lu Wan swung his chain blade around in happiness. In his first battle together with Ye Jiao, he screwed up a lot, so this smooth cooperation made him extremely happy.


    Qi Huan wiped the green blood on his hand and sword. He took out a small dagger and used it to pry open the spider''s body. A small ball was visible to them. His eyes widened when he saw the color.


    "It looks like this spider is a variation beast," he commented and climbed down.


    "Variation beast? What''s that?"


    Qi Huan showed the core to the others. "Variation beasts are beasts that manage to use Eon Energy and enchant their strength further. You can say that they have evolved from ordinary rank 2 beast to have their own weapon. Rank 1 beast core has black color while rank 2 beast core has blue color. However, this core has both colors, which means that the spider we met must be a variant."


    "That explains why the legs are much stronger than normal spiders!" Lu Wan clasped his hand together. From what he knew, rank 2 beasts shouldn''t have that hard legs. It was no wonder that they found it very difficult to break it.


    "Yes."


    "Does it worth more than ordinary rank 2 beasts?"


    Qi Huan nodded. "This is worth 15 points because variants are usually harder to defeat compared to the ordinary ones."


    "Let''s go search for another variant beast!" Lu Wan cheered and started running again.


    Both Qi Huan and Ye Jiao just laughed when they saw Lu Wan getting all excited. It was not easy for the beast to form a variant because it required a lot of Eon Energy and precise control. Because of that, they were even rarer to find.


    Still, there was nothing wrong to hope.


    With that, the three of them continued to search for rank 2 beasts one after another while still defeating rank 1 beast that they found.


    Slash!


    "That makes it 17 and 16 with my wins," Lu Wan puffed his chest in proud manner.


    Qi Huan looked at Lu Wan with a sidelong glance. "After more than 2 weeks in the forest, you only manage to defeat me once. What a great win."


    "Hey! That''s because you already use your prominent weapon from the very beginning!"


    "You also use your chain blade since we''re in this area. There''s nothing you could use as an excuse now," Qi Huan smirked.


    "Tch, you''re not fun."


    "Are you two fighting again?" Ye Jiao asked as she returned to their place. She opened her hand and gave 13 cores that she had collected from her hunt.


    Lu Wan looked at the cores. "Now this truly feels like cheating."


    The three of them hunted rank 1 beast like they were drinking water. The number of cores they gathered was simply insane. Not to mention they have been steadily defeated rank 2 beasts and increased their cooperation.


    "It''s good that the beasts'' number have decreased," Qi Huan responded. "This hunt is intended to clean up a kingdom''s area from the excess of beasts because of their fast regenerative ability. Within nine years, their number must have soared so much."


    "Isn''t this hunt for the young generation to practice?" Lu Wan kept the core inside his storage bracelet.


    "Both. They want to train the younger generation and at the same time, eliminate the monsters. For this reason alone, they will surely hold the hunt in different places and give rewards to groups who hunt the most beasts."


    As Ye Jiao thought about it, she knew that it must be true. They were eliminating beasts around the capital of Chen Kingdom''s area. There were regular hunters every single day, but the increase of beasts was extremely fast. Massive cleaning like this hunt was clearly needed.


    "Anyway, there''s also a seasonal hunt for adults to hunt rank 3 beasts. That''s also to clean up the excess number of beasts and make sure that we don''t have to face beasts higher than rank 2," Qi Huan explained.


    "I see. You''re smarter than you look, Qi Huan."


    "If you pay attention in your lesson, you would know this, Lu Wan."


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. "Don''t remind me of that."


    The three of them were still chatting around when they sensed that they were being watched. Qi Huan frowned and looked at the direction where they felt it. "It feels as if we''re being watched by other people."


    "I sense it too."


    Ye Jiao nodded. "There are four people watching in our direction right now. They must be on that hill over there."


    The landscape around Chen Kingdom Capital city was filled with forest, but it didn''t mean there was nothing else. Some grounds were higher than the others, creating small hills here and there or even lower than the others, creating a valley.


    "¡­ You can even sense their number?" Qi Huan turned to look at Lu Wan for explanation.


    "Don''t ask me. She''s always very keen at other people''s gaze."


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. He could sense their location because he was used to see other people''s gaze directed at him. As the first prince, he had to study a lot of things and became the center of attention. It was important for him to detect the gazes of other people and recognize their intention because it might affect his life and death.


    "You''re truly a peculiar young girl."


    "I''m just used to people''s gaze that I can sense them even if they''re from afar," Ye Jiao replied. Gazes filled with malice and mockery were something she had faced since a long time ago. Added with her training to avoid people''s line of sight as an assassin, her senses grew keener.


    "We should just move then."


    "Do you know who they are?"


    "Nope, my vision is not that good to be able to see someone at this distance," Qi Huan laughed. "But whoever it is, it must be someone powerful."


    This place was located quite far from the capital city. To travel this distance, they needed courage and power.


    Lu Wan frowned. "I just hope it''s not those two."


    "It shouldn''t be, right?" Qi Huan''s mind also pictured the same person as Lu Wan. "He''s being watched by someone else, so he shouldn''t try to make his move against you anytime soon."


    "I hope so."


    The three of them didn''t wait anymore as they started to run again. This time, they headed straight to the valley below. It was filled with trees too, but there were several other landscapes surrounding it.


    ¡­


    On the place where Ye Jiao and Lu Wan looked at


    "Oh? It seems they realize our presence very quickly."

 156 Evil Scheme to Eliminate Competitors

    "Oh? It seems they realize our presence very quickly."


    On the nearby hill, four people were standing there while looking in the direction where Lu Wan and the others went. If Lu Wan was there, he would surely curse them all for tailing after them.


    "It takes quite a long time to chase after them, Your Highness," Wei Cheng said from the back.


    Chen Zi Quan nodded his head. "They''re pretty quick to run. It looks like they''re rushing to the deeper place in order to be able to encounter more rank 2 beasts."


    "That''s why Prince Qi Huan is amazing!" Cao Mei snorted. Her eyes were locked straight to Qi Huan''s back as if she wished to be with him right this instant. The people around her looked at the girl with a weird expression.


    "Since we have finally managed to catch up, Wei Cheng."


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    As soon as he got the order, Wei Cheng dashed to the bottom and gave his instruction to Chen Zi Quan''s servants who followed after them. There were also his guards, but they were not allowed to help the prince in his mission to collect the beast.


    There was, however, no restriction whatsoever about them doing other things in the forest.


    "What are you planning to do?" Cao Mei creased her brows. From spending the last several days with him, she came to see that this prince was anything but ordinary. The way he moved and calculated everything seemed strange in her eyes.


    Chen Zi Quan gave the young girl a sidelong look without the intention to answer. His gaze was directed to the three people who were running to another direction. Their appearance was hard to see as the forests covered their track.


    On the side, Wei Yin stayed quiet and didn''t do anything. All this time, she only did what the prince told her to do just like a servant. There was not a single hint of happiness nor unwillingness on her indifferent expression. She looked like a doll.


    "Your group seems to exist solely for you, Second Prince Chen," Cao Mei decided to talk about something else.


    "Is that so?"


    "Yeah, they''re following your order and protect you every single time. It doesn''t look like you''re their friends either."


    "Friends, huh?" Chen Zi Quan snorted. He never thought of Wei Cheng and Wei Yin as his friends. They only stayed close to him because of his father''s order and at the same time, because of his status. There was no way he would treat them as his friend.


    "You''re a weird prince."


    The three of them descended into silence before the earth started to shake. Cao Mei''s expression turned solemn. She shifted her line of vision to the other side and got surprised when she saw the large horde of beasts coming to their direction. To be precise, towards where Lu Wan and the others went.


    "They''re slow," Chen Zi Quan commented.


    "You! Are you the one who changed the course of the horde?" Cao Mei immediately turned her head to look at Chen Zi Quan.


    Chen Zi Quan arched his eyebrows. "You''re slow at the uptake. Hadn''t you seen me ordering my servants all this time to keep track of them and make them follow after us slowly?"


    "You! Why are you doing this?"


    "Why?" Looking at the direction where Lu Wan went, a glint of ruthlessness appeared within his eyes. "Because those that can''t be mine shall be destroyed."


    Cao Mei could feel a chill crept up on her back. Her eyes caught the sight of the second prince''s servant on the bottom of the hill. They didn''t manage to catch up because of the horde''s speed and got trampled down in the process.


    In Chen Zi Quan''s eyes, there was not even the slightest bit of emotion seen.


    "You''re insane! You have never even met Prince Qi Huan before!"


    "Ah, you''re right," Chen Zi Quan clapped his hand. "That''s why, it''s just unfortunate for him to get caught up in my feud with my fellow citizens."


    From his words and actions, Cao Mei could see that this man cared nothing for human''s life. She brandished her sword and charged straight to Chen Zi Quan.


    Clang!


    "Move! Why are you protecting a man like him?" Cao Mei yelled in desperation.


    "Because he''s the prince," Wei Yin replied with an indifferent tone. She switched her stance and pushed Cao Mei back using her sword skill.


    "I''ll finish this," Chen Zi Quan disappeared from his position and reappeared behind Cao Mei. He thrusted his sword from behind straight to the girl''s stomach.


    Jleb!


    "You!" *cough*


    Pain like nothing she has ever experienced assaulted the young girl. Her eyes were filled with hatred and unwillingness as she glared at Chen Zi Quan.


    "There''s no teacher nearby, so you won''t be able to call for help," Chen Zi Quan patted his clothes and looked at the direction of Lu Wan. "It''s unfortunate. I want to see his downfall, but it doesn''t seem to be so wise. The horde is going to reach this place soon."


    "Your Highness, everything is done," Wei Cheng returned back from his mission.


    "Have you killed everyone who knows?"


    "Yes, they all got buried within the horde."


    Cao Mei''s eyes widened when she heard Wei Cheng''s words. This was the first time she realized how ruthless this prince was. He didn''t even care for the lives of his servants when he ordered them to die for him.


    She struggled to reach her sword again, but she realized that strength has left her body. Soon afterwards, the beasts reached that place and trampled on everything until nothing was left.


    Only dust and destruction was what left behind the horde of beast.


    "Your Highness, is it alright to kill Princess Cao Mei?" Wei Cheng expressed his uncertainty. He was worried that Cao Kingdom would find trouble with them.


    "There''s no need to worry. Everything is within my control."


    "But¡­"


    "What His Highness meant is he had purposely waited for Cao Mei to attack him. This way, he can say that he did attack her but it was only for defense purposes in case they suspect him," Wei Yin explained solemnly.


    "I see," Wei Cheng came to understand that this way, it would be easier for them to blame him. Even if they did, they would also associate it with Cao Mei''s temper that was easy to get angry.


    Chen Zi Quan assessed the two people behind him as they dashed through the forest to reach the area where the horde wouldn''t pass. His mind continued to think of other things while the sound of the horde came closer.


    Wei Cheng looked to the back as he pursed his lips. The ability Chen Zi Quan had to calculate everything so thoroughly was rather scary. Even though they didn''t run at their highest speed, there was not even the slightest bit of worry in the second prince''s eyes. And soon afterwards, the horde''s sound no longer sounded near their place.


    "It''s time to hunt. Each of you continue to hunt rank 1 beast. If there''s any rank 2, call me."


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    The two of them swiftly departed while Chen Zi Quan strolled leisurely.

 157 RUN! RUN! RUN!

    "Do you think they''ll follow after us?" Lu Wan asked as they ran to the valley.


    Qi Huan frowned. "They shouldn''t be following after us. There''s no need to tail after us because they want our hunt, right?"


    It was not impossible to steal other people''s hunt, but it was harder to do than said. If they were not powerful enough, trying to take other people''s hunt would only result in their demise. In addition, it was impossible to access other people''s storage bracelet because it was tied with their Eon Energy.


    In other words, they have to make sure that the other party was willing to give them the core. Killing each other here was prohibited unless it was self-defense.


    Which was ridiculous.


    "Maybe it''s just a coincidence that they reached here?" Ye Jiao tried to speculate.


    "It''s possible," Qi Huan replied. "But if that''s the case, there''s no need for them to pay attention to us, right? We''re in the middle of the forest and naturally it''s harder to detect us if they didn''t try hard enough."


    "You got a point there."


    Lu Wan pointed to the front. "The valley seems to be bigger when we''re inside."


    "Yeah."


    The three of them hadn''t stopped when Ye Jiao suddenly sensed a huge increase of Eon Energy from behind. Her face turned pale.


    "Senior Brother Lu, Senior Brother Qi, I think, there''s a beast horde coming to our direction."


    "Huh? It should be impossible. The teachers already drive most of the beasts outside. We shouldn''t have seen any when we''re just a few days away from the capital city," Lu Wan was shocked.


    As soon as he finished talking, they could feel the earth shook below their feet. The other two''s faces changed as they increased their speed rapidly. They knew that in a horde, there might be a dozen rank 2 beasts or even rank 3. If they had to face them, it would be a certain death for them.


    "Did we travel too far?"


    "That''s impossible!"


    "Did someone provoke the beasts?" Ye Jiao asked as she ran. Jumping across a fallen tree, she swiftly landed on the other side. Her expression was grim as she knew that the earth shook even faster.


    "That''s possible."


    "I think I could guess who would plan something like this," Lu Wan gnashed his teeth. He recalled that Ye Jiao told him in the past that she accidentally heard both Wei Cheng and Chen Zi Quan talked about harming him. The girl didn''t manage to hear the detail, but there was no doubt that this must be their plan.


    Qi Huan frowned. "Did he pay with his life to provoke the beasts?"


    "There''s no need for him to move by himself. He has dozens of guards who are willing to die for him," Lu Wan said. His pupil contracted when he realized that they had entered the rocky area as there were several rocks around them.


    "The beasts are going to get faster."


    Bam!


    In the next moment, the three of them could hear the sound of something smashed down. To their horror, they saw a tree coming from behind them.


    "DODGE!"


    They scattered in several directions as their eyes were looking towards the tree in front of them. Dust filled the air as the tree smashed down the sandy rock. They turned their head and saw a massive bull behind them. Its horn had just directly torn apart a tree that blocked its way.


    "Get out of the way!"


    The bull charged at high speed to Lu Wan''s direction, the poor boy hurriedly changed his direction to the side as he madly circulated his Eon Energy. His hand summoned out his chain blade in worry.


    Slash!


    Right this time, Ye Jiao used her dagger and cut the bull''s side to attract its attention. Her legs were prepared to run if it was needed.


    "We need to hurry before the rests catch up with us."


    The bull was a rank 2 beast and it had directly destroyed everything on his way. The other beasts hadn''t arrived yet, but it would take less than one minute for them to charge here and possibly trampled everything beneath them.


    Moo!


    The bull made a loud sound. It was similar to that of a cow, but sounded more terrifying and heavy compared to them.


    In the next second, it charged straight to Ye Jiao''s direction as the girl changed her direction.


    Thud!


    The bull''s horn hit her leg as Ye Jiao rolled on the ground. Qi Huan took this chance and charged to the bull, stabbing his sword from the side.


    Jleb! Slash!


    At the same time, Lu Wan also directed his blade and wounded the bull''s side. The two sharp blades made a deep wound on its body as blood spurted out madly from its side.


    "Don''t stop!" Ye Jiao yelled. Her face contorted in pain when she put weight on her legs, but she continued her charge to the bull.


    As if sensing her, the bull suddenly changed direction and headed straight to Lu Wan. Its head directed the horn straight to Lu Wan! There was no time for him to retreat.


    Clang!


    Using his chain like rope, Lu Wan blocked the bull''s charge. He could feel his bone crushed because of the pressure, yet he continued to use his Eon Energy to his entire body to make sure that he would still be alive.


    It was at that time, he felt a barrier was crossed and Eon Energy poured out of his body, protecting him.


    "Senior Brother Lu!" Ye Jiao yelled and chased after the bull. Her curved dagger was stabbed on the bull''s back.


    MOO!


    The bull tried to move back, but Qi Huan had appeared by his side.


    "Oh no, you don''t."


    Stab! Stab! Stab!


    The boy stabbed his sword to the bull in several movements, aiming for the heart. As blood gushed out like a waterfall, the bull created another noise again before it fell on the ground.


    THUD!


    "Is it over?" Lu Wan asked. In the next second, he could feel inside was burning and his stomach was twisted.


    *cough* *cough*


    "You have internal bleeding!" Qi Huan raised his voice in alarm.


    "Uh-what?"


    "We have to treat you fast!"


    Before they could move from their position, they could see large amount of beasts coming out from the forest. They were running to their direction as if their lives depended on it.


    Their expression turned grim. Could they survive this?


    One has a twisted ankle, one has internal bleeding, and only the last one was fine.


    --------------------------------------------------------------


    ~~~ANNOUNCEMENT~~~


    Hey everyone, Thank you for reading up until now and I''m really grateful for all the support you have shown me thro the comments, the votes, and the gifts all this times. \\(^_^)/


    It has been more or less four months ever since the novel first published until now. When I first try to write this novel, I never expect that I could have a lot of readers. After all, I pick up quite an unusual route of story (with a female character that started as a child). The comment and the constant support shown to this novel keeps me going on because I know there are readers out there waiting for new update of the novel.


    Don''t worry, I''m not making an announcement to end the novel (There are still a lot of chapters that I want to write and share). I''m making this announcement to tell you that POTL will be premium, which meant that the chapters will be locked.


    I know that many of you didn''t like the premium, but I have spent hours working to create this novel. As some of you might have known (from the author''s note regarding exams before), I''m still a student and writing is my hobby plus side work, so I also wish to gain some income from it.


    I do hope that you can continue to support me in this journey with the characters. Still, if you choose to drop the novel because it becomes premium, I respect your choice since I know that many of you have other novels you would prefer to spend your coins. It has been a pleasure to spend all these times with you.


    Once again, I sincerely thank you for supporting me all this time. After all, I can''t get this far without all of your support no matter how insignificant you thought they were.


    (As for the price of the coins (I really want to write spirit stones, but *sigh*), it''ll depend on the word count. 200 words is 1 coin. With the amount of words that I usually write, the price should be around 6-8 coins per chapter, sometimes might be more or sometimes lesser, but it shouldn''t stray too far)


    As the start of premium, which is the next chapter, I will give a mass release. I can''t give you the exact date, yet, but it won''t take too long (~_^)


    Hope you will enjoy them~ (And don''t worry, I will keep my usual chapter release of one chapter each day plus some bonuses as I''m still in holiday). You don''t need to give me gifts if you can''t, just use them to unlock the chapter after this if you still choose to continue reading.


    Thank you!


    With Love \u003c3,


    Sorahana


    ...


    P.S: Just to make it clear, I won''t relock any of the previously free chapters. The locked chapter will start from the next chapter, which is chapter 158 and onwards.

 158 Don’t Die on Me!

    Their expression turned grim. Could they survive this?


    One has a twisted ankle, one has internal bleeding, and only the last one was fine.


    "We have to run!" Ye Jiao yelled. She turned her body, ignoring the scream that her ankle gave her. It was so painful that she wished for nothing more than to cry and yell, but it would never solve the problem.


    They have to run from here.


    As fast as possible.


    Lu Wan also tried to move. He knew that internal bleeding required him to stay in his place or it would just get worse, but there was no one who could possibly help him right now. They have to run or they would die underneath the beast''s rampage trampling.


    "Come on!"


    Qi Huan pulled Lu Wan and ran to the other side. Their speed had decreased a lot because of their wounds. Pushing their Eon Energy to the limit, they dashed through the rocky areas to find a safe place. Even though they were at the limit of their body, neither one of them complained. Their mind was filled with nothing but finding a save place that could allow them to stay alive.


    "They''re getting nearer," Lu Wan could sense their pressure coming from behind him. It was close, only a few meters away.


    "Damn it! Hang on! We''ll head to the higher place!"


    "The beasts are practically everywhere!"


    The valley itself was located lower than the normal ground. However, the beasts'' horde didn''t pay any attention to them because it was easily within their reach. As they reached rock areas, there were no more trees that could slow them down.


    Lu Wan gritted his teeth. "Just leave me, I''m slowing you down."


    "Not possible," Qi Huan refused immediately. "Do you really think that I''m going to leave my junior brother when he''s in pinch?"


    "If there''s anyone who''s slow, it''ll be me," Ye Jiao responded as her eyes watched a monkey leap on the rocky walls. Its movements brought some rocks to fall into their direction, which could possibly hurt them.


    Looking at Ye Jiao''s swollen legs, Lu Wan knew that the girl must have done everything she could to withstand the pain and used Eon Energy to propel themselves. However, there was not much Eon Energy left in their body because of their constant run and the fight just now.


    "Dodge!" Ye Jiao yelled.


    Both Lu Wan and Qi Huan rolled to the side as rocks fell to the place where they stood before. Dust covered their clothes but no one paid any attention as they straightened themselves, looking towards the location where they stood before. Their expression was grim. Rocks at various sizes filled the area as if telling them that they would have died if they didn''t dodge it.


    "Let''s go!"


    "Uh!" Lu Wan felt sudden pain from his core. His eyes widened when he realized that there was no Eon Energy left in his core to help him. Pain assaulted him as his inner organs were in extremely bad condition. The raging Eon Energy inside his body worsened his condition.


    "Senior Brother Lu!" Ye Jiao called out in panic.


    "Just leave me and run!" Lu Wan yelled again. His expression was that of despair. Right now, he knew that he wouldn''t have the time to run away anymore. Without Eon Energy, he wouldn''t be able to run.


    Even though it might be possible to rely on his physical condition, he no longer has the strength to do so. His body was hurting so badly, and even moving just a little finger already sent him into a fit of pain.


    "Don''t joke with me, get into my back."


    "What are you-!"


    "I said, shut up and get on my back!" Qi Huan yelled once again. Among the three of them, he was the one who was in the best condition after the fight. As the senior brother, it was apparent that he had to be the one to take care of the two of them. No matter what, he would never let either one of them die in this place.


    They would get out of here alive.


    "Ugh."


    Lu Wan stretched out his arm and climbed on Qi Huan''s back. His face contorted in pain, but he didn''t utter any other words as he silently stayed there. Every single movement caused his body to cry in pain, so he didn''t want to aggravate the situation. Just by staying silent, he would be able to minimize the damage that was done to his body.


    *cough*


    He started coughing once more when Qi Huan started moving.


    ''This is bad,'' Qi Huan felt despair. The two of them were in extremely bad situations. If they forced themselves any longer, they wouldn''t be able to survive. Ye Jiao has been trying to run, but she was also using a large amount of Eon Energy to make sure her angle didn''t give up on her.


    Once she ran out¡­


    "Jiao''er, can you see anything that can help us get away?"


    "What?" Ye Jiao furrowed her brows as she shook her head. She was also trying her best to find out a way out of this situation. However, there was no way out of this valley aside from the front. And from their current speed, there was no way they could outdo the beasts in front of them.


    "Anything?"


    "Watch out, behind you!"


    Qi Huan swiftly dodged the sudden attack from behind. Normally, he would try to fight back, but this time he had to make sure that Lu Wan was fine. He could only stomp his legs on the ground and propelled himself to move faster.


    Their mind was only filled with the thought of how they could get away from the beast''s horde.


    "How much Eon Energy do you have left?" Qi Huan asked while dodging another attack.


    Ye Jiao''s face was grim. She was also trying to run faster but her angle has been screaming loudly at her. "Only for about one minute."


    One minute?


    Qi Huan felt like cursing out loudly. He himself could only last for a few more minutes, but it might be shortened because he had to carry Lu Wan and dodged the attack of the beasts.


    Bruk!


    The sudden sound alarmed Qi Huan as he noticed that Ye Jiao stumbled and fell. The beast behind her ran to her with its teeth ready.


    "Jiao''er!"


    Slash!


    The teeth slashed through part of her skin as Ye Jiao rolled to the side. As she stood up, her eyes noticed a different color of rock in front of them. The rock was black in color while the rest was brown.


    Wait, black?


    "Senior Brother Qi, there should be a cave up front!"


    "We should head there!" Qi Huan immediately changed his direction as he sensed that Lu Wan had started coughing once more.


    Behind her, Ye Jiao gritted her teeth as she initiated Eon Energy to her legs and used everything she could to catch up. They couldn''t die here yet!

 159 Escape from Horde, Enter a Nes

    "Just run!" Qi Huan yelled to Ye Jiao when he saw the girl struggled. He couldn''t do anything to help because he has Lu Wan on his back.


    "I''m coming!"


    The two of them dashed to the cave''s direction as the beasts were tailing before them. Their body was tired because of their excessive moment, but they didn''t care. Right now, their only choice for survival was the cave in front of them.


    Swish!


    Qi Huan dodged the attack from behind him as he ran to the cave. It didn''t take long for him to reach the cave and headed straight inside. His eyes looked around carefully and only after he noticed that there was nothing around them that he placed Lu Wan on the ground. He took out a pill and shoved it to the boy.


    "Ate this and focus on recovering your Eon Energy."


    "What are you-?"


    "Your junior sister is still in dire condition," Qi Huan didn''t explain any further as he dashed to the cave''s door. From there, he saw Ye Jiao rolled on the ground to evade a tiger behind her. Summoning his sword, he quickly made his way to the young girl''s place and slashed the beasts behind.


    Slash!


    "Thank you, Senior Brother Qi."


    "Quickly enter the cave."


    "Yes!" Ye Jiao pushed her body once more and entered the cave. As soon as she saw Lu Wan and the empty cave, strength left her body and she plopped to the ground.


    Thud!


    "Are you alright?"


    "Yeah, I''m fine," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. She took out a medicine and quickly spread it on her angle, which has grown in size due to her forcing it just now. The swelling would take some time to heal, and she wouldn''t be able to move so much with it screaming at her every second.


    "We still have to guard the door," Qi Huan had returned. His clothes were wet because of blood and sweat, but he looked relieved. At the very least, the three of them were still alive after facing that beast horde.


    "Sorry, but can you do that first?"


    "I doubt I can move anytime soon," Lu Wan also replied with a bitter smile.


    Qi Huan nodded. "It''s fine, just focus on recovering your Eon Energy. I''ll stay here and chop down any beast who dare to come inside."


    "Thank you, Senior Brother Qi."


    "Thanks."


    Ye Jiao and Lu Wan focused on recovering their Eon Energy as they forced the Eon Energy in their surroundings to enter their core. It was painful to do it so quickly, but they didn''t really have any other choice.


    It was this time Lu Wan noticed that his core seemed to grow in size. The amount of Eon Energy he could absorb also increased.


    Thanks to the medicine that Qi Huan gave him, his organ no longer acted up. Now, he could clearly sense that his body has grown much stronger than before. The control of Eon Energy, which was extremely difficult before seemed to be nothing much in front of him now.


    Slash!


    The two of them spent the next couple of minutes focusing on their recovery. Lu Wan opened his eyes and saw Qi Huan was standing with numerous beast''s corpse in front of him. The young man''s eyes were filled with bloodlust as he eyed the beasts that tried to come inside.


    "Senior Brother Qi, let''s change places."


    "What are you talking about? You''ve internal bleeding, so you-."


    "I have recovered," Lu Wan smirked. "Your medicine works extremely fast."


    "It shouldn''t be this fast," Qi Huan frowned. His eyes lit up as a conjecture was formed inside his mind. "Did you reach rank 2?"


    "I think so," Lu Wan was not totally sure because he was not in the top form, but he could clearly feel the change in his body.


    "That''s great!"


    Lu Wan nodded his head. Normally, when Eon Energy Master rank 1 blocked an attack from rank 2 beast, they would surely be pushed back and faced between life and death. When Wei Cheng got hit before, the boy was fed with a large amount of medicine to recover or he wouldn''t be able to stand up anymore. He guessed that because he had a breakthrough, his body managed to recover much faster.


    With the help of the medicine, he had recovered quite well to be able to fight again.


    "Then, I''ll leave it¡­"


    "What is it?" Lu Wan turned his body around when he saw QI Huan froze. Seeing the large number of bats in front of them, he was also stunned. The bats they saw were not at normal size. They were all around the size of a five years old child.


    Qi Huan looked to the back once more. This time, a monkey had entered the cave, looking around in curiosity.


    "I think we''ll have to divide our work."


    "Can you still fight?"


    "Even if we can''t fight, we have to fight," Ye Jiao opened her eyes. She looked at the direction of the bats with a grave expression. "We''re invading their territory, so we should fight them if we want to stay here."


    Looking outside the cave, there was no sign of the beast horde would stop anytime soon. The three of them knew that if they were outside, they might get trampled until they were dead without any chance to live.


    Here, they still have a chance.


    A slim chance.


    Ye Jiao stood up and prepared her dagger on her arm. Her eyes were filled with determination. "There''s no turning back anymore."


    "Then, you two should fight against the bats."


    Qi Huan dashed to the monkey with his sword ready. His body was screaming at him because of his excessive movement, but he didn''t care in the slightest as he chased after the monkey.


    Forcing his body in position, he swung his sword and killed the monkey.


    At the same time, Ye Jiao also moved to stand at the center. The bats came swarming to her direction and she focused completely to defend herself.


    "Senior Brother Qi, please take care of your back!"


    "Don''t worry!" Qi Huan turned around and swung his sword. A bat was slashed into two in that instant.


    Lu Wan was standing at the very front with his chain blade kept on attacking relentlessly. Ye Jiao stood in the middle, defending herself against the bats that came to her while at the front Qi Huan defended against the beasts that came from outside and the bats around him.


    They were exhausted, but they couldn''t stop.


    No matter how painful it was, they had to move. As long as they still could more, they would do it.


    Because in order to live, they had to fight.

 160 This is The Only Way

    Slash! Slash! Slash!


    The bats kept on coming at them without stopping at all. It seemed as if they were determined to chase the three intruders out of their territory. At the same time, the three of them also defended with everything they had as they continued to fight on their grounds.


    "Can you still fight?" Qi Huan asked as he pulled the beast''s corpse and placed it on the front door. He intended on using the beasts'' corpses to block the way for other beasts to come swarming here.


    "Don''t worry."


    "Of course!"


    Hearing the two of them replied, Qi Huan felt relieved. He was worried that one of them might have fallen because of the beasts, so he tried asking. Fortunately, it seemed that they still managed to stay on their grounds.


    Slash!


    Ye Jiao used her dagger to attack every bat that came closer to her. She was using her Eon Energy to nourish her ankle, so she didn''t move from her position at all. Because of that, an uncountable number of bats fell around her legs.


    She watched them carefully as she would attack any bat that came within her attack range.


    "Do you still have any energy left?" Qi Huan asked from the front door.


    Ye Jiao looked at the beast around her. "I don''t know how much time have passed, but I think that I''ll be fine if it''s just against these rank 1 bats."


    The bats might be bigger in size. However, there was not much difference in the attack pattern and the power behind it compared to the normal bats. Their large size only made them look scarier without much increase in the attack power.


    "Try to not use Eon Energy too much."


    "I barely use it."


    The three of them didn''t have any Eon Energy left after using so much of them. Right now, they completely relied on their physical endurance and stamina to fight against the beasts. It was not like it would get any easier, but they didn''t have any other choice. Without Eon Energy, it was much harder to move around and produce a lot of strength, but the three of them have gotten used to it.


    In Hell Island, they have to use up their Eon Energy before they start to climb a cliff. Climbing a cliff with only their physical power and stamina trained their body to be much stronger than ordinary people.


    "Just hold on. This will end eventually."


    "Yeah."


    Even though they said that, the bats didn''t seem to come to an end as they swarmed to their direction and attacked them rapidly. The number of bats on the ground was already more than enough to form a 30 centimeters deep lake. No matter where they moved, they would surely step on the bats'' corpse.


    *pant* *pant*


    Fighting without Eon Energy drained their stamina completely. Even with Eon Energy, they still could feel tired and all. Now that they no longer used Eon Energy, the toll on their stamina increased even more. They have to push themselves to their limit over and over in this place.


    "Is there no medicine that can help us have a lot of Eon Energy in an instant?" Lu Wan asked. He felt his vision start to turn blurry due to the exhaustion he experienced.


    "There''s no such thing," Qi Huan replied. "At least, not in our kingdom."


    "One of us has to rest and recover his/her Eon Energy. At this rate, we will all die in the cave," Ye Jiao remarked.


    "We can use Eon Energy Pill, but I don''t bring any with me," Qi Huan felt like cursing his carelessness. They were not allowed to bring medicine that recovered Eon Energy into the forest because it would be counted as cheating. That was the reason why he didn''t bring them.


    If only he knew that things would end up this way, he would surely bring it.


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly at her senior brother''s words. Even if she knew that Eon Energy Pill could recover Eon Energy in their body, she didn''t have the means to buy it. She was so poor that even her food on a daily basis was provided by Lu Wan or came from the beast''s meat that she had saved.


    "I don''t have the strength to protect you anymore¡­" Lu Wan said weakly. He swung his chain again and slashed several bats at once when he realized that there was a sudden pressure coming at him.


    This pressure was oddly familiar to them.


    "There''s rank 2 beast here!"


    "The leader?" Qi Huan turned alert as he dashed to Lu Wan''s side. At the same time, Ye Jiao was following behind him as she tested her legs. There was no more problem with her ankle as she could start to move around freely. The medicine that she used seemed to be quite effective.


    Scree!


    The large bat seemed to be angry as it scratched its claw that was located on its wing to Lu Wan. The boy immediately pulled his chain and used it to block the attack and twisted it around the wing.


    Slash! Slash!


    Both Ye Jiao and Qi Huan immediately attacked the bat. Their expression turned grim when they realized that their attack barely caused any harm to the bat. It should have been expected that their raw strength without Eon Energy was still far lower than what was capable of breaking the defense of rank 2 beast.


    Scree!


    The bat flapped its wing, generating wind that pushed the three of them back. Without sufficient strength, they didn''t have the energy needed to stand on their ground to face the attack.


    Brak!


    Crashing on the ground, Ye Jiao could feel her back was hurting like crazy. She slid down to the ground as her eyes looked at the bat with despair. There must be something that they could do right now.


    "Stand up!" Qi Huan yelled suddenly.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened when she saw the bat headed straight to her direction. She rolled her body as the claw of the bat reached the rock and scratched the rock. It trembled a bit as if it was about to fall down. Her eyes widened as she studied the cave layout.


    The cave itself has several pillars that helped prop up the ceiling.


    "Senior Brother Lu! Do you have any poison that can melt rock or destroy them or whatever?"


    Lu Wan was surprised, but he gave an affirmative answer. "I do."


    "Pour them on the pillar."


    "Are you sure?"


    "Just do it!"


    As soon as Lu Wan took out a bottle, Qi Huan snatched it and ran to the nearby pillar. He opened the lid and poured the content into the rock, which immediately made a sizzling sound as it turned into dust.


    Slash!


    Ye Jiao evaded the bat''s attack once more at it hit the pillar behind her. Ye Jiao made sure that she was standing near the pillar as the bat kept on attacking her, intending to bring her down first.


    Lu Wan headed to the other pillar and poured the poison too. The cave''s ceiling suddenly started to tremble as it lost its foundation. The bats were alarmed and swarmed to Lu Wan and Qi Huan while their leader continued to attack Ye Jiao.


    Slash!


    As the last hit reached the pillar, the pillar snapped and fell down. At the same time, the ceiling started to collapse.


    "Get away!"

 161 I Want to Res

    "Get away!"


    Qi Huan and Lu Wan swiftly ran from their position to avoid the center of the cave. There were still some other pillars on the deeper side of the cave, providing them the protection they needed.


    Crash!


    The rocks fell down to the ground at a rapid speed, completely filling everything with rocks. It stopped after a while as it seemed that only part of the ceiling collapsed. At the same time, it killed the majority of the bats there.


    "That''s the leader!" Lu Wan swung his chain and attacked the leader once more. The bat was struggling to get out of the rubbles, but the attack prevented it from moving.


    Qi Huan took the chance and jumped to the bat''s direction. Positioning its sword vertically, he pierced it straight to the bat''s body. By making use of the gravity effect and also his own power, the sword pierced the bat''s body.


    Stab!


    Scree!


    The bat struggled and Lu Wan swung his chain blade once more, killing the bat. He looked around as he frowned.


    "Where''s Ye Jiao?"


    Qi Huan looked around with a grim expression. "Jiao''er!"


    There was no sign of the young girl everywhere, causing them to be anxious. When the rocks started to fall, she was right in the middle. Could it be, she didn''t manage to escape?


    "I''m here."


    The faint voice eased their tension. The two of them immediately headed to the rubbles and found Ye Jiao sitting underneath the rock. Somehow, the pillar broke at the height slightly above her and was propped by the rest of its body that stood firm. That position provided enough space just for Ye Jiao to sit down there.


    Ye Jiao didn''t have any strength to move anymore. When the rubbles started to fall, she had just escaped from the leader''s attack. Just when she thought she would get hit, she realized that the space where she was sitting was safe from the fall. There were some smaller rocks around her, seemingly destroyed by something.


    "You''re truly one lucky girl," Lu Wan relieved a sigh. He was worried that she might have been wounded. Thankfully, she was small enough to fit in this narrow space.


    "I''m not that lucky."


    "Hmm?" Qi Huan bent down. His brows furrowed as he looked at the area where Ye Jiao sat. It was not a normal crate formed when the rocks fell.


    Ye Jiao raised her hand, showing pieces of broken bracelets. "The bracelet activated just now. It protected me from the falling rocks."


    "What''s that bracelet."


    Taking a closer look, Lu Wan picked one of the pieces. He founded the design to be slightly familiar. "It''s not your storage bracelet, right?"


    "Storage bracelet can''t protect you, Lu Wan." Qi Huan rolled his eyes.


    "I''m just saying!"


    "It''s the protection bracelet that Xin Jie gave me. I didn''t expect it to activate just now." The sudden fall of the rocks was dangerous. Ye Jiao was extremely glad that she wore the bracelet even if she was not totally sure how it activated just now.


    "Xin Jie? Your Sworn Sister?"


    "Yes."


    Qi Huan nodded in understanding while Lu Wan looked at the bracelet with gratitude. It was lucky for Ye Jiao to be able to activate it just now. If not¡­


    She might have already died here.


    Not wanting to think about that, Lu Wan placed the piece back to Ye Jiao''s hand who lowered the pieces of the broken bracelet into a pouch before keeping it in her storage ring. Even if she couldn''t use it anymore, she would keep it as memento. It was truly a close call just now.


    Bam!


    "Whoa, careful there," Qi Huan remarked. He looked at Lu Wan tiredly as he slowly sat down on the ground. His body also felt so heavy, but his pride as the prince of Chi Kingdom didn''t allow him to act in disgrace.


    Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "I don''t have any energy left."


    Ye Jiao smiled. "It seems so."


    "I can see that."


    "If you have so much energy, how about if you help me out here a bit."


    "No," Qi Huan replied almost immediately.


    "Stingy."


    "I can barely move as I am. I''m sure that Ye Jiao also felt the same."


    Still sitting in her original position, Ye Jiao nodded her head. She didn''t want to move from this position at all. The constant battle and also the unexpected turns of the battle left her completely exhausted. Fighting without Eon Energy was even harsher. Her muscles were completely sore.


    "There''s no enemy left, right?"


    "As long as the beast horde didn''t come into this cave, there shouldn''t be anything left."


    "How about the inner cave?"


    At Ye Jiao''s question, the other two remained silent. They didn''t know whether there were still more beasts again or not. But they knew that even if there were still beast around, they didn''t feel like fighting again.


    It was too tiring.


    Their body was already beaten up so badly right now.


    "We''ll check later," Ye Jiao finally concluded when the two didn''t answer her at all.


    Lu Wan turned to look at Ye Jiao with confusion. "Since when you become our leader?"


    "Since just now you don''t want to answer my question."


    "Hey!"


    "What? You can be the leader if you want, Lu Wan."


    "If he''s the leader, I''ll quit the team." Qi Huan frowned. What kind of senior brother would he be if he let someone as reckless as Lu Wan to be the team leader? That would be a huge disgrace.


    Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "Don''t insult me."


    "I''m stating a fact."


    Ye Jiao sighed. "Stop arguing. It''s not the time for banter."


    The other two nodded. They also knew that this was not the right time to argue. Their body was completely battered from the fight they had. Arguing would only waste their stamina even more.


    "We''re also quite lucky to be able to harvest a lot of cores. Probably, we''ll be able to win later," Lu Wan looked at the beasts around them with glee. With the large number of bats around them, most of them should have cores. At that time, they would be able to take the first place easily.


    "I don''t really care about that. Right now, I just want to sleep."


    "Right¡­"


    It was then, they sensed the earth shook. Their faces paled. After battles, now it''s an earthquake?

 162 False Alarm

    Bam! Bam!


    Sounds of rapid footsteps came from outside. The three of them looked at the rubbles nervously, hoping that there was no stupid beast suddenly barging inside uninvited. If that was the case, they would need to fight despite their battered situation.


    Three pairs of eyes were looking in one direction nervously.


    *rumble*


    The earth shook once more, but the three of them didn''t move. Even without any instruction, they came to a tacit agreement that the safest action right now was to not do anything.


    As time trickled, there was no beast coming in their direction. Slowly, the shaking eased until it came to a stop. There was no more sound coming from outside the cave anymore.


    "That''s scary," Lu Wan mumbled.


    Ye Jiao nodded in agreement. "I didn''t expect the beast to turn around."


    "In the first place, there shouldn''t be any beast horde around here. I''m afraid someone is actively seeking harm to us." As he spoke, Qi Huan turned his head to look at Lu Wan. His meaningful gaze was caught by Lu Wan. Even though Lu Wan was slow, he knew that the possibility was there.


    "I might have attracted unwanted enemies."


    "What did you do, Senior Brother Lu?"


    Lu Wan flashed an innocent smile. "Let''s not talk about this now."


    The three of them were exhausted because they continued to fight without using any Eon Energy. Their stamina was drained out because they constantly challenged their limits. First, they had to face a bull, then run away from a horde, afterwards, they fight against an uncountable number of bats and lastly, they fought against rank 2 bat''s leader.


    It was very tiring.


    "Let''s recover our Eon Energy and then have some sleep," Qi Huan suggested. "Whoever has the stamina will guard."


    Even though he said that, the other two didn''t really care about that as they just focused on their place and started to absorb Eon Energy from their surroundings. The area reeked with the smell of blood, but they didn''t have the time to care as they nourished their body with Eon Energy.


    As soon as the energy started to enter their bloodstream, they could feel the warm. Ye Jiao also felt extremely comfortable as Eon Energy started to fill her core once more. She could feel a large amount of Eon Energy around her, which she pulled into her body without any restraint.


    More and more Eon Energy filled her body, providing her with the comfort.


    ''It has been a long time since I enjoy this sensation.''


    When she was small, she would always absorb Eon Energy because of the warmth they provided her. As time continues, she never paid it too much attention because it has become part of her daily activities. It was only now that she sensed their warmth and comfort once more. She enjoyed it much more than before.


    At some unknown point of time, the three of them fell asleep, drowning in the comfort of their Eon Energy absorption and their tiredness. Not even a single one of them managed to stay awake because of their fatigue.


    Thankfully, there was no beast around. The three of them were safe, sleeping peacefully.


    "Mhm," Lu Wan opened his eyes. As he had reached rank 2, his body function has increased significantly, allowing him to be the first one to wake up among the three of them.


    ''I''m hungry.''


    He took out several dried meats that they had prepared on their way and stuffed them into his mouth. Afterwards, Lu Wan looked around and started to collect the core from the bats. Seeing the large amount of core in his hand, he felt extremely happy.


    "Hehehe, we''re going to win the hunt with this."


    "What are you doing laughing like an idiot, Senior Brother Lu?" Ye Jiao opened her eyes and moved from her position. She smiled when she realized that her body no longer felt hurt. There might be some scratches left, but it would surely heal after some time.


    "I''m just happy," Lu Wan defended himself. He showed the cores that he had gathered. "With these, we''re going to win the hunt."


    "There''s no certainty. I''m sure that many students will try to take advantage of the horde and collect the cores of fallen beasts," Ye Jiao pointed outside. Due to the speed and recklessness of the beasts, there was no telling whether they had trampled on their comrade or not. Because of that, a lot of beasts would surely die on the way.


    "You''re right¡­"


    "I''ll search around the cave. It didn''t seem normal for the bats to grow into that size," Ye Jiao pointed to the bats around them.


    "They might have just eaten too much in their life."


    "¡­"


    Ignoring her senior brother, Ye Jiao walked into the cave. There were still some bats left, flying above her head. However, they didn''t have any intention to attack her anymore, so Ye Jiao also didn''t try to create trouble.


    The entrance of the cave was small, then there was the large area where she and her senior brothers fought against the bats. Afterwards, Ye Jiao noticed that there was a narrow passageway into the deeper part of the cave. It was tall enough for adults to pass through, but could be quite narrow if they were fat.


    "There might be something at the back of the cave," Ye Jiao returned and reported.


    Lu Wan. "What did you find?"


    "Passageway. I don''t know where it heads, though."


    "We''ll wait for Qi Huan to wake up before we start heading there," Lu Wan''s hands were still busy collecting the bat''s core. There was no way he would want to miss this opportunity.


    "I''ll prepare some food."


    "Wait, don''t start fire in the cave!"


    "I''ll go near the entrance, so the smoke won''t reach deeper."


    "Still¡­!"


    "Do you want to eat or not?" Ye Jiao rolled her eyes and directly asked.


    Lu Wan shut his mouth and returned back to his work on collecting the cores while Ye Jiao made fire to cook.

 163 Exploration

    Qi Huan woke up at the time when Ye Jiao finished cooking. As she stayed near the entrance, the smoke didn''t reach deeper into the cave and hindered their breathing.


    "Here''s some roast meat," Ye Jiao handed the meat. She didn''t bring too much cooking utensil, so the only one she could do was roasting them and added some spices to make them more delicious.


    "Thanks."


    "How come the two of you wake up first?" Qi Huan rolled his eyes as he started to eat. His eyes scanned the surroundings carefully. "There''s no sound from the beast''s horde anymore. Have they left?"


    "It''s possible. We might have slept for a longer period than our expectation."


    "I see."


    Ye Jiao pointed to the back. "There''s a narrow passageway to the back. Let''s try to investigate what''s there."


    "Shouldn''t we just continue searching for more beasts?" Lu Wan frowned. They had gathered quite a lot of beast''s cores, but he knew that they would need more if they wanted to win.


    "Don''t you want to find out why the bats are that big?" Ye Jiao asked.


    "Not really."


    Qi Huan nodded. "I want to."


    Lu Wan looked at the two of them. His face turned sour. "We''re going by the majority of the voices?"


    Ye Jiao smirked. "What if the reason they become this big is because of a special herb that only grows in this cave?"


    Swoosh!


    As soon as he heard that, Lu Wan put the meat into his mouth and gulped them down without restraint. His eyes were shining as he stood up. "Thwen, what alre you waithing for? Lhests go!" (Then, what are you waiting for? Let''s go!)


    Both Qi Huan and Ye Jiao tried their best to hold their laugh. The mention of herbs and particular effects would always work on this boy. They quickly finished their meal and followed after Lu Wan to the back.


    "If the one who comes here is quite fat, they won''t be able to pass through this passage," Qi Huan commented.


    "Neither one of us is fat, so we should get going."


    "I''m first!" Lu Wan didn''t wait for the other two to answer as the boy rushed into the passageway. Despite the darkness, he kept on moving at high speed.


    Ye Jiao paid close attention to her surroundings. This was the first time she came here and she found the cave to be more refreshing than her first thought. It seemed the air circulation was pretty good.


    "There''s the sound of water ahead."


    "I can hear it too," Ye Jiao nodded her head.


    The sound of water was faint, but it increased as they went deeper. Soon afterwards, they arrived in a wider area with a river right in the middle. It came from one side and disappeared on the other side.


    Splash!


    "This feels really good," Lu Wan commented. By now, he was busy washing his clothes and body at the same time. The river was not deep, so he was able to stand up with the water only reaching his chest.


    Ye Jiao looked at the water before doing the same thing while Qi Huan face palmed. "Don''t you two have any shame?"


    "Why?"


    "You should at least take off your clothes first before going inside," Qi Huan sat down near the river and took off his robe.


    "¡­. There''s a girl here."


    "It''s just a kid."


    Ye Jiao: "¡­" now I''m a kid?


    Lu Wan stuck out his tongue. "You''re the kid one. Anyway, it feels fresher to soak in the water compared to staying on the edge and just washing my clothes. Don''t you feel sticky with all that blood?"


    "I''m not going to take a bath with my clothes on."


    "I''ll head over there," Ye Jiao decided to move away or she might not be able to stand these boys anymore. The river''s shape was curved with a certain part covered with the rocks. In that area, she wouldn''t be seen by the other two boys.


    Lu Wan splashed the water to Qi Huan. "Come on, just swim."


    Splash!


    Qi Huan also did the same. "Do you think you can win against me?"


    "Oh ho, someone is up for the challenge."


    Splash! Splash!


    The sound of water splashing filled the cave along with jeer and laughter. Ye Jiao hurriedly cleaned up her body and clothes before sge got out of the river. Her eyes looked around. It was strange that they still could see the surroundings better than before. It was as if there was a source of light around them.


    "Oh, you''re finished, Ye Jiao?"


    "Yep, I''ll look around again."


    "Jeez, you should enjoy your time more," Lu Wan splashed the water to the girl, but Ye Jiao avoided it.


    "I''ll play later."


    Not caring for her wet clothes, Ye Jiao headed to the other side of the river. Every time she walked, water would drop to the ground form her wet clothes. The ground felt slightly fluffy as if there was a carpet down there.


    On the other side of the river, Ye Jiao found another passageway. This time, she could see green light coming from the other side. It was not far, so she decided to walk into the passageway.


    "Hey, are you exploring again?" Qi Huan called out. He sensed that Ye Jiao''s presence seemed to be further.


    "Yes!"


    "Wait a moment, we''ll be going too."


    "I still don''t have enough fun," Lu Wan clicked his tongue. Seeing that Qi Huan didn''t listen, he had no choice but to follow after the young man. The two of them soon entered the cave to the direction where Ye Jiao went.


    As soon as Ye Jiao exited, she stopped right at the entrance. Her eyes were locked to the view in front of them in disbelief.


    "Hey, why are you stopping there?"


    "Senior Brother Lu, can trees grow in a cave?"


    "Huh? Normally, it would be impossible," Lu Wan replied. He shoved Ye Jiao to the side as the view of the cave entered his eyes. In that moment, his eyes widened in disbelief as he murmured. "Impossible."

 164 Natural Type of Eon Energy

    "Impossible."


    Both Lu Wan and Ye Jiao were stunned by the view in front of them. They would never expect that they could find a tree growing up in this cave. Not to mention, the tree in front of them didn''t seem like an ordinary tree as it glowed in green color.


    In contrast to the two stupefied children, Qi Huan looked much calmer. He rubbed his chin. "I see. Now I understand why the bats have bigger bodies."


    "Is it because of this tree?"


    "Really?"


    The tree itself was not a normal tree with roots, body, branches, leaves, and so on. It was a vine like tree that stuck on the wall with numerous small green colored fruit sprouted all over its body. The fruit seemed to glow as it caused the entire place to light up in green color.


    Qi Huan nodded. "It seems we have just seen a natural grown Natural Essence Fruit."


    "Natural Essence Fruit?" Ye Jiao asked. She had never heard of this name before.


    "Yes. It''s a fruit you can naturally find in dry and rocky areas. It''s one of the fruits that you can easily find in Cao Kingdom because it''s not hard to grow," Qi Huan explained.


    "What''s the use of this fruit? As a light?"


    "No. This fruit is filled with a natural type of Eon Energy. It was the kind of Eon Energy that you can only find in nature and are unable to absorb in a normal way. Because your body can''t absorb it, it''s usually used to cleanse one''s body because it helps get rid of impurities. Normally, it''s used by Eon Energy Master rank 2 or below."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. She pointed to the fruits. "Are you saying that they can help cleanse one''s body?"


    "Yes," Qi Huan scratched his head. "You see, normally people have different kind of Eon Energy suitable for their body. But when you start learning, you can''t differentiate them and just absorb them. When you reach rank 3, your sense will become keener, so you can eliminate them slowly.


    With this fruit, you can do it faster. It helps in stabilizing Eon Energy Master when they haven''t reached rank 3 yet. At the same time, it''ll only circulate in your body and tie the impurities you have in your body because of foods and many others. With this fruit, you can become stronger faster."


    Lu Wan''s face soured. "No wonder Cao Kingdom is the biggest kingdom amongst the four kingdoms."


    With the aid of these fruits, they would be able to become much stronger against experts of the same rank. Their training also became much easier because they could use this fruit to help them out.


    "Is there any harm in ingesting the fruits?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "There''s none, but your body will naturally build resistance the more fruits you eat. There''s the higher level of Natural Essence Fruit, named Natural Essence Energy Fruit."


    "... Who in the world thinks of their lame name?" it''s just different in one word!


    "Don''t ask me. I don''t know either. These fruits can''t be produced in four kingdoms, but I read about them in books. They''re 100 times more effective compared to Nature Essence Fruit."


    Lu Wan plucked one of the fruits. The size was small, just around the size of cherry fruits. It was extremely easy to carry around.


    "Are they expensive?"


    "Not really. You can buy them at the price of 30 silvers in Cao Kingdom, but if you want to buy in other kingdoms, it can reach higher to 1 gold," Qi Huan was very knowledgeable about these matters because he had to study them all. Even if he had to list out their current trade rate, there was no doubt that Qi Huan could answer them all without break.


    "These are practically gold mines," Lu Wan''s eyes shone in interest.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "We should start to eat them and digest them here."


    "Wait, you mean now? We''re in the middle of a hunt."


    "Do you have any better time to consume them?" Ye Jiao asked back. Once they came out of the hunt, they would have to fight against other people in a race and arena. She could be excluded from the arena fight because she was nothing more than a servant, but the other two wouldn''t be able to do the same as her.


    Qi Huan nodded his head. "We''ll soon reach rank 2 while you have reached rank 2. With this fruit, our foundation will become much better."


    "But the cores¡­"


    "You can go out and pick them, but I''ll stay here and train with our junior little sister," Qi Huan smiled with a smile that was not a smile. It looked like his bloodlust was leaking out as Lu Wan could sense the impending danger.


    "Fine," Lu Wan sighed. "But before that, I never knew that Eon Energy has types."


    "There are a lot of types of Eon Energy, but for the basic, it''s enough to know that there''s the normal type, natural type, and dark type," Qi Huan replied. "Normal type are those that we always absorb into our body. There are the division again, but you don''t need to know them until you''re rank 3 to 4 because it''s not truly important now.


    Natural type is Eon Energy that''s produced by nature and is unable to be absorbed by humans. They can be easily found all around us in low concentration and at higher concentration in some fruits like this. Lastly, the dark type is Eon Energy that exists solely for destruction. It''s the Energy that is born due to chaos and destruction."


    Ye Jiao listened attentively. "What do you mean by chaos?"


    "I don''t know the details, but it''s said that there''s chaos in the world," Qi Huan shrugged. He might learn a lot, but it didn''t mean he knew everything.


    "It sounds interesting."


    Lu Wan yawned. "I''m not interested in history lessons. I''ll just start with my training."


    As he ate the fruit, Ye Jiao also picked up one of the fruits. She put it inside her mouth and chewed as a cool and refreshing sensation filled her mouth. As she gulped it down, the sensation filled her stomach into her entire body. At the same time, she could feel that her body started to change.


    "The smell is really bad," Qi Huan took out his handkerchief and glared at the two of them. "What kind of junk have you been eating all these years?"


    "What?"


    Ye Jiao was confused by what Qi Huan said. But when she looked at her body, she realized that her skin was covered in a thin layer of black substance. It was sticky and smell really bad.


    "I''ll be right back."


    While Ye Jiao ran to the river, Lu Wan reached out his hand to pick another fruit. Qi Huan slapped his hand away. "You should digest the fruit you have eaten first before taking another one. Only after the sensation disappears can you take another one."


    "You speak as if you have eaten them before."


    "I have," Qi Huan replied. "I''m given ten of them each year because it''s important for me to be in the best condition at all times. This is one of the best helpful fruits that can aid the younger generation in their journey. Don''t tell me that your family never provides you with any."


    "They didn''t."


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. "There''s no way they couldn''t buy something like this for you. I think Chen Kingdom is not going to let you go peacefully."


    "Yeah," Lu Wan replied in a low voice. His usual playful tone has changed considerably as there was an air of coldness around him. It was not only a disdainful one that he had against his sister, but it was filled with murderous intent. "But I''m not going to let their scheme be successful."

 165 Training

    Starting that day, the three of them stayed in the cave to train their body and also digest the fruit. The soothing effect in their body only lasted for a few hours, so they could take another one after it had ended. Of course, they would take a bath soon afterwards because of the sticky substance that came out.


    While they were waiting for the effect to wear off, the three of them sparred against one another. For Lu Wan, it was the time to stabilize his new rank while Qi Huan and Ye Jiao slowly increased their control to reach rank 2.


    Time passed swiftly.


    "Now, it''ll only take a few minutes before the effect wears off," Lu Wan frowned.


    Ye Jiao passed a fruit to Lu Wan. "Don''t complain. It just means that the fruit is not going to be effective anymore because the amount of impurities in our body has started to exceed the limit it can take."


    "Yeah. But the two of you no longer take any now."


    "There''s no more effect for me. I only feel warm without any impurities coming out anymore. You''re the only one left, Senior Brother Lu," Ye Jiao responded. She stood up and stretched out.


    Qi Huan nodded. "It means this brat is the one who loves to eat random food amongst the three of us."


    "Senior Brother Lu is really a glutton."


    "Hey! I never eat anything random!" Lu Wan yelled in annoyance. He felt that the combination of these two tongues would be the death of him someday. As they stayed together, Ye Jiao started to learn more advanced skills in taunting others from Qi Huan, proving herself to be a quick learner.


    Ye Jiao shook her head. "is it not the poisons that you digest all this time, Senior Brother Lu? I believe they can count as random food."


    "I heard that you already invented a few new poisons again."


    "¡­"


    Lu Wan didn''t want to hear anything else as he continued to eat the fruit and direct the Eon Energy from the fruit all over his body.


    Ye Jiao pointed to the fruits. "How are we going to divide it?"


    "I''ll take around 100 with me," Qi Huan replied. "Even though it''s not that expensive, the amount circulated in the market is limited. Eating them like candies like what we did for the past two weeks or so is clearly impossible in normal times."


    "Right."


    Even if they could buy a lot of them, who would want to spare a lot of money just for something that they could do by themselves when they reached rank 3? It was only those who came from rich families and had great talent would be able to buy them at a large amount.


    Even Qi Huan was only given 10 each year because of the price and the effect. After taking 10, the effect would be greatly reduced until there was none at all, so nobles usually only used 10 or so.


    "What do you plan to do with the rest?" Ye Jiao asked.


    Even if they took all the fruits, as long as the tree was still here, there was no need to worry about it running out. It would surely grow up by itself again and fill the place with numerous fruits.


    "You can take them and sell them at a moderate amount," Qi Huan responded. "They won''t check your bracelet because your age made it easy to fool them that you''re not an Eon Energy Master. Taking some of them shouldn''t hurt."


    "That''s a great idea. Should I share the money with you?"


    "No need," Qi Huan laughed. "I earn more than 20 gold each month, so I have more than enough for my daily expense and training."


    "Right, training. What kind of training do you usually do, Senior Brother Qi?"


    "There are several special rooms in the palace. A place filled with Eon Energy, a place with higher gravity, and even with formation training," Qi Huan explained. "As the prince, I can use them all according to the allocation time and use my money for more time if I want to exceed the designation time they assign for me."


    "I see."


    "I also use my money to buy herbs for medicinal baths every day and usually, they cost 50 silver or more."


    "Per use?"


    "Yes."


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "What''s the use of those baths?"


    "The medicine can help me to absorb more Eon Energy into my body and also make my muscle stronger," Qi Huan punched out. "My stamina and strength become much stronger because the herbs pushed Eon Energy into them."


    Now that he mentioned it, Ye Jiao recalled that Qi Huan has much more stamina compared to the two of them. This prince didn''t even have the time to rest and yet he was still able to fight continuously despite the fact that they didn''t have any Eon Energy back then.


    "You''re amazing, Senior Brother Qi."


    "I have advantage in my talent and background, so I should aim for a better head start," Qi Huan smiled. "I''ll help you gather the fruits. We should be able to leave the cave in a few more hours after Lu Wan finished his training."


    "Ok!"


    The number of fruits left in the cave easily exceeded one thousand. Even excluding the one hundred that Qi Huan took and the two hundred fruits that Lu Wan took, there were still more than one thousand left for Ye Jiao. Plucking all of them took quite a considerable amount of time.


    "There are still some left, but I don''t think we should take them all," Lu Wan stretched out his body.


    "I guess we already have enough fruits," Qi Huan also agreed. The tree has almost become bare because of their attempt to pick them all, so they should leave some behind.


    "How is it, Jiao''er?"


    "Jiao''er?"


    The girl didn''t respond as Ye Jiao was crouching down on the ground. When she gathered the fruits just now, she sensed denser Eon Energy coming from one direction. After digging the dirt a bit, she found a strange rock.


    "Senior Brother Lu, Senior Brother Qi, I found a strange rock."


    "Rock?" Lu Wan approached Ye Jiao. He picked up the rock and scrutinized it with a frown. "Isn''t this just ordinary rock?"


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. "There''s faint Eon Energy coming from the rock. Can''t you sense it?"


    "I can''t," Qi Huan admitted. He took the rock and examined it too as his brows creased. There was not even a trace of Eon Energy he could sense from the rock. "There''s nothing for me."


    "That''s weird."


    Taking the stone back, Ye Jiao could feel the warm feeling of Eon Energy coming from the rock. It was warm and comforting for her.


    Lu Wan scratched the back of his head. "We can try to ask Master about it later."


    "Yeah. Let''s go back and continue to hunt. We''ll be left behind in the ranking if this continues."


    Ye Jiao still wanted to know more about the rock, but there was no one around them whom she could ask. She kept the rock inside her storage bracelet as she nodded her head to the others.


    "Alright, let''s go back to hunt."

 166 Returning Back

    "It feels so nice to see the sun again," Ye Jiao stretched her body right outside the cave. Her eyes were watching the surroundings with happiness.


    "When we''re in Hell Island, there''s barely any sun too because of the fog. You should have gotten used to it," Lu Wan remarked. He had finished taking all the cores from the bats and left their corpses since they couldn''t eat it.


    Ye Jiao shrugged. "That''s that and this is this. Staying underneath the sun is comfortable, so I love it."


    "Anyway, should we travel more?"


    "It''ll be better to return back," Qi Huan looked at the destroyed area in front of them. There was barely anything around them except the remains of beasts and destroyed parts of rocks. It seemed as if everything was turned upside down when the horde reached this area.


    "Why?"


    "We stay in the cave for around 2-3 weeks with the actual time unknown because it''s a bit hard to count it when we all rarely come out. If we bypass the time, our hunt will be useless," Ye Jiao explained.


    The three of them took nearly two weeks to reach this area while hunting before. If they sprinted back with the same speed, they should have already approached the end of the given time.


    "Fine."


    "Don''t look so dejected. We''ll hunt beasts on our way back."


    "Got it."


    The three of them started to sprint forward. As they ran, Ye Jiao realized that it was easier for her body to move now. Even though there was barely any change in her rank, her control of her body movements has become better. In addition, she could sense that her muscles must be growing stronger.


    ''Let''s try going faster.''


    Ye Jiao exerted a bit more Eon Energy to her legs and pushed her body to move forward. It was light and easy for her to run around.


    "You two are too fast!"


    The shout from behind nearly caused Ye Jiao to stop her movements. Turning around, she realized that Qi Huan was already several meters behind the two of them.


    "Sorry, I''ll slow down."


    "You''re the one who''s slow, Senior Brother Qi," Lu Wan grinned. He put on a smug smile as he managed to win against Qi Huan in terms of reaching rank 2.


    Qi Huan''s emitted a layer of bloodlust as he glared at Lu Wan. "Ye Jiao, starting from now, Lu Wan will be the tank."


    "Got it."


    "Hey, wait, I''m a ranged fighter!"


    "You''re the rank 2," Ye Jiao smirked. "Isn''t it natural for those at rank 2 to become the tank because they have higher defense?"


    Lu Wan was stunned. It was then that he realized that reaching rank 2 would mean that they would have higher defense because it enhanced their use of Eon Energy. Seeing the other two were looking at him with a devilish smile, he felt like he had just dug his own grave.


    "Wait, wait, let''s discuss this again."


    "Yes, Tanker Senior Brother Lu?"


    "Jiao''er!"


    As Ye Jiao continued to tease her senior brother, the two of them adjusted to Qi Huan''s pace. Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao''s back as an indescribable glint appeared within his pupil. The two of them were rank 1, but Ye Jiao''s speed was much faster than him. It was even to the point of competing with Lu Wan.


    Qi Huan retracted his gaze as he remarked. "There''s a powerful beast nearby, don''t forget to be the tank, Lu Wan."


    "Argh, noooooooo!"


    ¡­


    The three of them took lower time to reach the camp. By this time, there were already a lot of students who stayed there with some parents crying because of the death of their children.


    "The death''s rate seems pretty high," Lu Wan remarked.


    Qi Huan nodded. "The beast horde must be one of the causes. The other one is the fact that many of them actually didn''t pass the qualification to participate in the hunt."


    Some children who didn''t pass the qualification came here and tried to participate. It ended up badly because they were unable to fight properly. Facing against rank 2 beasts, a lot of them lost their lives.


    "They shouldn''t have participated."


    "They want the chance and this time rarely comes," Qi Huan responded. "Let''s head to the teacher and submit our cores."


    "Sure."


    There were several teachers from the three different kingdoms who oversaw the hunt. From each kingdom, they sent two representatives to make sure that no one cheated during the count.


    "Next."


    "Lu Wan from Chen Kingdom and Qi Huan from Chi Kingdom are here to report our result," Qi Huan introduced the two of them.


    The teacher already noticed the two of them from afar. Due to their special characteristic, it was extremely easy to spot them. After all, people with the same hair color as the two of them barely existed.


    The teacher smiled. "Place the cores on the table, please."


    Lu Wan looked at the table with doubt. "Are you sure? I don''t think it can fit with all the cores we''re going to place here."


    The teachers looked at one another. They immediately called for someone to fetch more tables for these two. There was not even the slightest bit of doubt when they heard that the table didn''t fit.


    Why?


    It was simply because the two of them were already known as the forefront of the younger generation geniuses. Even if they didn''t reach the first, they should have a considerable amount.


    "Here''s the table, you can start placing them."


    "Got it."


    The two of them started to work and put out the cores they had gathered in their storage bracelet. Other children were looking at them with curiosity. Their eyes widened when they saw the pile of cores on the table. Compared to what they had hunted so far, there was simply the sky and earth difference!


    Even the teacher was barely unable to hold his calm. Normal students would have to conserve their stamina and limit the number of beasts they can hunt each day. After all, they would need a break to make sure their Eon Energy didn''t run out. If they ran out of Eon Energy, they would have to fight based on the stamina and physical power they had left. And usually, it wouldn''t be enough to defeat the beast.


    If they knew that both Qi Huan and Lu Wan could kill rank 1 beast with one attack, they might even be more surprised.


    "I''ll start counting," the teacher said when he saw the two of them stopped. The mountain of cores in front of him was simply too much.


    Qi Huan raised his hand. "Should the rank 2 cores be counted among them or not?"


    "¡­" There''s still more?


    "Put them in a different table," the teacher instructed the servant to fetch another table. He knew that it would be a lot, but he didn''t expect it to be this many.


    Lu Wan and Qi Huan waited leisurely. When the table arrived, they placed the rank 2 beast cores they had gathered. The amount was far lower because they were unable to meet with a lot of rank 2 beast during their hunt.


    "16 rank 2 beasts core with one is a variant," the teacher said after looking through the cores. "165 points for the rank 2 beasts core."


    Sound of sucking breath filled the area. The students were looking at the front with disbelief. After all, these two were known as Eon Energy Master rank 1. To be able to defeat that many number of beasts despite only at rank 1 showed that their capabilities.


    "There are 958 rank 1 beast cores," the teachers have also finished counting. His voice shook as he counted the total because of excitement and disbelief. "In total, Qi Huan and Lu Wan''s group got 1123 points."


    More than 1000 points!


    The students were stunned when they heard the announcement. Looking at their number of cores they gathered, they really wanted to cry. It was already good enough if they could achieve 100, yet these two gathered over 10 times.


    Brother, if you have that many, can you share some to us?

 167 End of the First Part of the Hun

    "1123, eh? It''s not too bad," Lu Wan nodded his head. There were more than 400 bats core among the cores they showed to the teachers because their hunt before mostly consisted of bats.


    Not bad?


    The other students felt like throwing stones to this young man. They were struggling so hard just to earn a few cores and these two treated it like it was nothing but practice.


    The differences¡­


    "Didn''t you count it before you submit?" Qi Huan asked.


    Lu Wan shook his head. "I''m too lazy."


    "I see."


    Qi Huan handed their badge back and the teacher put on the number on the badge. At the same time, they also noted the record on their books. The two of them proceeded to take back the cores to their storage ring.


    "Oh, right. Has Prince Cao Ren, Prince Chen Zi Quan or the others returned back or not?" Lu Wan recalled the other groups.


    The teacher nodded his head. "Prince Cao Ren and Bao Xiang returned two days ago. They get 640 points and currently in second position."


    They could guess what Lu Wan wanted to know, so without the boy asking, they listed out all the information. It was not really a secret too because the ranking would be posted up every morning to allow the students to know the top position.


    "How about Prince Chen Zi Quan?"


    "He hasn''t returned yet. There''s still a little over a week before the 2 months'' time is up, so there''s no need to rush."


    A little over a week?


    Lu Wan''s face changed as he turned to look at Qi Huan. "Didn''t you say that the time is almost up? There''s still more than a week more!"


    "Yeah, but I want to rest," Qi Huan smiled. "The second phase of the hunt is much more tiring. If you go without proper rest beforehand, you will surely die out there."


    "But I didn''t feel tired at all!"


    The teachers'' lips twitched when they heard Lu Wan whined like a kid. They knew that these two were extraordinary to be able to hunt these many. But hearing Lu Wan still said that he wanted to hunt because he didn''t exert too much power, they wondered what these two do in the forest now.


    "Oh right, can you report your strength? Did it increase or are you still in the same rank?"


    "I''m still in rank 1," Qi Huan replied.


    Lu Wan smirked. "I advanced to rank 2 around a month ago."


    "I see."


    When they saw that Lu Wan had reached rank 2, part of them calmed down. In their mind, they associated his words to the fact that he had reached rank 2. That way, they could accept the fact more.


    If only they knew that the two of them were already capable of killing rank 1 beast with ease at rank 1, they might not think of Lu Wan that lightly.


    "There are tents ready if you wish to stay outside. If it''s not to your taste, you might return back to the city and come back one day after the first part is over to start the second one and see your ranking."


    "Got it."


    The two of them walked away as the teacher wrote down the note. His eyes landed on the number 1123 for a few seconds.


    "This is the first time there''s a student who achieved more than 1000 points, right?"


    "No, it''s not the first time. I believe that around 12 years ago there''s also a group of students who managed to reach 1000 points."


    "Chen Kingdom seems to be very lucky," the man said as he looked at the number. A strange glint appeared within his eyes.


    "Yeah, it seems so."


    After submitting their cores count, Qi Huan and Lu Wan entered the city and headed to the nearby inn. Fortunately, there were still several rooms empty, so the two of them booked three rooms.


    "For the next week, let''s rest and recover our Eon Energy," Qi Huan instructed.


    Lu Wan frowned. "What do you mean by recover? I only need a few hours if it''s just pushing more Eon Energy to my core."


    "I mean that you should stabilize your Eon Energy. Not only filling your core but also circulating them inside your body to exercise control."


    "Sounds boring."


    "It''s not," Ye Jiao giggled. "I''ll be staying in my room, then. We''ll see each other in a week''s time."


    "Got it."


    Even though they agreed to come out of their rooms only after a week with their meals delivered inside, Lu Wan was unable to stay holed inside for that long. He didn''t bring all of his herbs because it would raise suspiciousness when they checked his storage bracelet, so only a few ordinary ones were there.


    ''I''ll head home and take some more then.''


    Just as Lu Wan got out, he noticed a lot of people rushing out of the city. He blocked the way of one of the people. "Hey."


    "Y-yes, Young Master Lu?"


    "What''s going on outside?"


    "His Highness Prince Chen Zi Quan has just returned and has his beast cores counted. We all want to see the result."


    "Oh?" Lu Wan didn''t block the way for the man as he also came to the field. He could see Chen Zi Quan was standing proudly with Wei Cheng and Wei Yin following behind him. The pile of the cores on the table was extremely eye-catching.


    It was the third time they saw a huge pile of cores on the table.


    "You come, Lu Wan," Wei Cheng was quick to see Lu Wan among the crowds. He furrowed his brows. "It seems that you survive."


    "I''m lucky enough to survive."


    "Is that so?"


    On the front, Chen Zi Quan''s eyes glinted when he saw Lu Wan standing there. His eyes flashed dangerously as he knew how hard it was to survive the beast''s horde. It seemed that Lu Wan''s luck was seriously too good.


    "When did you return?"


    Lu Wan stepped forward and nodded. "I already returned a few days ago, so I just came to see how your result will be."


    "Is that so?" Wei Cheng eyed Lu Wan when he came to a realization. "You''re already rank 2?!"


    "Ah yeah, I broke through around 1 month or so ago," He didn''t know the specific date when he broke through, so he couldn''t say the date.


    "I''m also around a month ago."


    "So it''s a draw?"


    Wei Cheng nodded his head. He had black lines on his forehead because he knew that Lu Wan was still at a higher step compared to him. After all, he was already 16 years old while Lu Wan was still 13 years old.


    "There are 880 rank 1 beast cores and 11 rank 2 beasts core. The total score is 990 points," the teacher announced.


    Hearing that number, Wei Cheng''s eyes lit up. He knew that to be able to achieve that number was already a huge achievement. After all, it was not easy to collect so many beast cores in the span of two months. He looked over to Lu Wan smugly, hoping to see the dejected expression on the boy''s face.


    However, what he saw was Lu Wan''s smile.


    At that moment, a foreboding feeling loomed over him. He had a bad feeling that if he tried to ask the number Lu Wan had, he wouldn''t like it.


    "You-what''s your¡­"


    "What''s the number of cores Lu Wan achieve during the hunt?" Before Wei Cheng could ask, Chen Zi Quan had asked the teacher.


    The teacher from Chen Kingdom stiffened. He knew the number, but it was more compared to what the prince had gathered. Right now, he felt that he didn''t want to be the representative for this hunt because of the realization.


    The teacher and also a representative from Chi Kingdom spoke up. "Prince Qi Huan and Lu Wan achieve 1123 points in total."


    The moment the representative said that, Wei Cheng''s expression sank.

 168 Murder Case 1

    "Prince Qi Huan and Lu Wan achieve 1123 points in total."


    The moment the representative said that, Wei Cheng''s expression sank.


    Not only Wei Cheng, even Chen Zi Quan''s aura turned murderous for a split second. He had purposely made the beasts run rampart in order to kill Lu Wan, but it had failed miserably. Not only that, Lu Wan managed to return back and achieve far greater number compared to him.


    It was unpleasant.


    Looking over at the smug young man, Wei Cheng''s lips twitched. ''Impossible.''


    There shouldn''t be any way for Lu Wan to reach that high number in normal condition. He felt that it was truly unfair. They had created trouble for this man, yet the result just went against them.


    "Congratulations, Lu Wan," Chen Zi Quan gave his congratulations. His expression was unreadable.


    Lu Wan smiled. "Many thanks to you, Your Highness."


    Wei Cheng''s face was even darker, but he didn''t say anything because he knew he wouldn''t be able to stop once he started. Seeing the second prince had turned around, he decided to follow suit.


    "Your Highness," Wei Cheng called from behind.


    "There''s no need to say anything. I just need to work faster on my plan," Chen Zi Quan said coldly. His eyes glinted with ruthlessness for a split second as he sped up his pace. Lu Wan has become a much bigger eyesore than he thought.


    On the other hand, Lu Wan disregarded everything that occurred. He returned back to his residence and retrieved his herbs back before heading to the inn once again. Rather than staying in his residence, he preferred to stay in the inn.


    Days passed.


    There was no more upset to the ranking as there was not even any group that managed to gather cores close to them. The fourth in the ranking reached 503 points, but it was still far etched compared to what Lu Wan and Qi Huan achieved.


    "Has the first part concluded?" Ye Jiao asked as she walked out of her room. During this time, she just focused on controlling her Eon Energy and absorbed much more from outside. It has become far easier and she believed that she would advance to rank 2 soon enough.


    Qi Huan nodded. His hand was holding a paper. "There''s a problem."


    "What is it?"


    "Princess Cao Mei never returned back."


    Lu Wan froze in his place when he heard that. He might be an idiot on a daily basis, but it didn''t mean that he didn''t understand what this implied. Cao Mei was included in one of the geniuses selected for the meeting. There was no doubt that this girl must be one of the most talented Eon Energy Masters from Cao Kingdom.


    Now, this person died?


    "Is it an accident or murder?"


    "No one knows for sure," Qi Huan replied. "There''s no evidence and her body is still out there, unknown where. They''re gathering everyone to interrogate all of us one by one."


    "Including me?" Lu Wan pointed to himself.


    "Yes."


    "Why? I don''t even know that princess."


    Qi Huan beckoned for the two of them to start walking. "It''s not a secret that you and Prince Chen Zi Quan have a bad relationship with one another. They''re suspecting that you might want to harm the prince, but the one who gets the brunt is Princess Cao Mei instead. That''s why they want to try asking you too."


    That conjecture just made Lu Wan speechless. He might have had a bad relationship with Chen Zi Quan, but he knew that it would be a death wish if he tried to harm that prince at this point. There was no doubt that there would be a lot of powerful guards around the young man, protecting him from the slightest harm.


    Trying to harm him wouldn''t do him any good.


    "That''s ridiculous."


    "They''re just desperate because Princess Cao Mei is one of the rare talented female Eon Energy Masters," Qi Huan gave a sidelong glance to Lu Wan. "As you might have known, the number of talented females tends to be lower compared to male."


    "Yeah, I know."


    Ye Jiao, who was listening silently, decided to ask. "What about you, Senior Brother Qi? Did they suspect you too?"


    "Yeah," Qi Huan replied in an indifferent tone. "Princess Cao Mei has a crush with me. She has been trying to get on my side for a long time but I always reject her. They suspect that I might want to harm her because I don''t wish to be bothered by that woman anymore."


    "What? You say that she likes you?"


    QI Huan arched his eyebrows. "Is there anything wrong?"


    "Is there anything wrong? I can''t believe that there''s anyone in this world idiot enough to fall for you. Someone like you is just¡­" Lu Wan found it hard to put into words. He could not believe that there would be a woman who fell for this prince.


    On the other hand, Ye Jiao was confused by Lu Wan''s exaggerate reaction. She knew that Qi Huan could be rather scary at times because of his bloodlust and thick killing intent. But that shouldn''t hinder girls from getting attracted to him, right? On the daily basis, he wouldn''t act that way. He had great self control to the point that one wouldn''t be able to see his true self if he didn''t show it.


    Besides, His appearance was not that bad, though, Ye Jiao might never think of him in that way. It was still far too early for her to think of that kind of matter.


    "At least, I have a better reputation compared to a certain troublemaker," Qi Huan responded calmly.


    "Tch, you''re just a double faced prince."


    Qi Huan smiled without responding. The two of them soon arrived by the field and Ye Jiao retreated to the side, intending to watch the commotion. She was not part of them for now because she had to keep herself hidden.


    For this period of time, she was nothing but a helper while the main characters were her senior brothers.


    "Qi Huan has arrived per instruction," Qi Huan saluted.


    "Lu Wan came to report," Lu Wan followed suit and greeted formally. He no longer tried to put on any air as he knew that they were suspecting him.


    The representative from Cao Kingdom glared at the children in front of him. Right now, he was very angry. With Cao Mei''s power, only those at higher power could possibly harm her, which was these five over here. They were the only ones who kept in contact with Cao Mei.


    He took out a stone from his pocket and imbued it with Eon Energy.


    Qi Huan''s gaze landed on the stone for a moment, but he didn''t care. It was just a stone used to detect lies. While it was convenient, it couldn''t detect the lie of people who were more powerful than the user.


    "Let me ask you, when did you last see Princess Cao Mei?"


    "During the beginning of the hunt."


    "Before the hunt started."


    "Right before we enter the forest."


    "In the forest."


    "it should be when the hunt just began."


    Four of them gave similar answers and only one person said differently. Chen Zi Quan was in the same group with Cao Mei, so there was no doubt that he should be the last one to see her amongst them all.


    On the side, Ye Jiao could hear their conversation because she didn''t stay that far. The representative also looked at her direction for a moment, but they didn''t seem to care that she was there. Her current appearance was simply harmless.


    In the first place, not many would suspect a 10 years old girl to know so many things.


    ''That stone should be a tool to help the representative find out the truth,'' Ye Jiao thought to herself. She could see the representative glanced at the stone from time to time, making sure that it reacted properly.


    At the same time, she could feel the repeated flow of Eon Energy into the stone.


    ''But it used so much Eon Energy.


    The representative was already Eon Energy Master rank 3, so he had much more Eon Energy compared with ordinary people. However, Ye Jiao could sense that he had to use a large amount of Eon Energy to maintain the stone.


    It would mean that the representative wouldn''t be able to ask so many questions.


    ''Can he find the truth with only a limited number of questions?''

 169 Murder Case 2

    ''Can he find the truth with only a limited number of questions?''


    While Ye Jiao was pondering about the matter, the representative continued to ask the next question. His expression was solemn as he asked the next question.


    "Did you harm her?"


    "No."


    "No."


    "No."


    The five of them answered similarly and the representative''s frown grew deeper when he noticed that the stone didn''t react. It meant that they were all telling the truth, but how was it possible?


    The representative glanced on the stone in frustration. Did the stone malfunction or it meant that neither one of them harmed Cao Mei? He was so sure that the one who did it must be among the five of them as they were the only ones who had enough strength to deal with Cao Mei.


    That princess might be annoying, but she was not an ordinary Eon Energy Master. She was very powerful for someone at her age.


    The representative decided to change the tactic and asked them questions one by one. "Prince Qi Huan, did you think of her as a nuisance?"


    "At times, yes."


    "Did you wish to harm her because of that?"


    "Not at all," Qi Huan responded unhurriedly. He did think of Cao Mei as someone annoying, but he never thought of harming that princess. He knew his position well and would just use it to make sure the princess never got her aim to him without using violence.


    The representative looked at his stone. It still didn''t give any reaction, which meant that Qi Huan was telling the truth. He sighed internally and turned to Lu Wan. "Have you ever thought of harming Princess Cao Mei?"


    "Never," Lu Wan shrugged. He had just met with that girl not long ago. Why should he think of harming someone he had never met before? He was not a psychopath.


    The questions continued as the representative tried to find out which one of them told the lies. However, no matter how many times he tried asking, the stone never reacted. It was as if the five of them were telling the truth.


    On the side, Ye Jiao watched as the stone didn''t give any reaction. Her eyes narrowed when the representative started to ask Chen Zi Quan.


    "Prince Chen ZI Quan, have you ever thought of harming Cao Mei?"


    "I have never thought of something like that," Chen Zi Quan replied with a composed tone. He looked straight back to the representative without any hint of fear as if he was truly telling the truth.


    The representative glanced at the stone again and asked another question. "Did you harm Cao Mei?"


    "I didn''t."


    While the stone didn''t light up, Ye Jiao''s keen sense could feel the slight undulation inside the stone. Her eyes flashed in astonishment. She had found out from a long time ago that she could sense Eon Energy better than most people, but she didn''t expect to be able to sense something like this too.


    Could it be that the stone didn''t light up because the reaction was not enough?


    She was not sure how the stone worked, but it didn''t seem to be of that good quality. Chen Zi Quan seemed to be capable of fooling it one way or another.


    The representative frowned when he saw that the stone didn''t light up. He was hoping of catching at least one of them guilty. He couldn''t accept that the princess died because of an accident.


    "When you last see Princess Cao Mei, is she still alive?" this time, he asked all of them at once. He didn''t have much Eon Energy left, so he had to make use of the question well.


    "Yes."


    "She was."


    All of them gave positive answers and the representative could do nothing but give up. He looked at Cao Ren, the prince who he also interrogated. The relationship between princes and princesses in Cao Kingdom was strained, so he also suspected this young man. In the end, none of them was proved to be guilty.


    "Is there any other question?" Cao Ren noticed that the representative looked at him, so he asked politely.


    The representative noticed his Eon Energy almost drained out. It looked like it would be impossible for him to ask any other questions. "There''s none. Thank you for your cooperation."


    "Hey, don''t you forget something?" Lu Wan rolled his eyes.


    The representative blinked his eyes in confusion. What else did they want? Except for Lu Wan who blatantly showed his real feeling, the other four looked relatively calmer without any hint of change in their expression. Considering their position as the prince of their respective kingdoms, it was not weird to see it.


    "It''s almost time for the hunt to start," Qi Huan reminded.


    Cao Ren nodded. "How much longer will you keep us here?"


    With the hint from the two children, the representative realized what they wanted. He sighed internally as he spoke up. "I apologize for the inconvenience I caused by the investigation. The second part of the hunt will soon start, so I''ll take my leave."


    Despite being unwilling, the representative closed the investigation and left.


    The five of them looked at one another before turning around one by one. They knew that it was not an accident and one of them told lies, but no one knew for sure which one it was.


    "I''ll prepare myself, so I''ll excuse myself first," Cao Ren spoke up and retreated to the side.


    Bai Xiang, the other representative from Chi Kingdom aside from Qi Huan, raised his hand. "Me too."


    QI Huan shrugged. "There''s no need for us to stay here anymore. I''ll be taking my leave too."


    With that, the five of them went their separate ways. Lu Wan and Qi Huan headed to a similar location, so they stood not far from each other with Ye Jiao behind them.


    "I think that prince is telling a lie," Lu Wan whispered to Qi Huan after they were already far enough.


    Qi Huan nodded. "It''s not impossible to fool the lying device. All you have to do is completely believe your own lies and treat it as the truth. If even your body already accepts it as the truth, it would not give the reaction to the stone."


    "Sounds complicated."


    "Not really. Those in the imperial family are extremely familiar with this way. Of course, this will only work for low level truth stones like that," Qi Huan pointed to the back.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "He''s truly telling a lie."


    "There''s no way to prove it. The stone is too low in rank that it''s still unable to detect such an obvious lie," Lu Wan yawned.


    Qi Huan raised his eyebrows. "How do you know he''s telling a lie?"


    "The Eon Energy moves inside the stone for a moment. But it''s movements are really faint and hard to detect," Ye Jiao replied.


    "Are you saying that you can sense it?"


    "Yes."


    Both Lu Wan and Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao as if they were looking at a monster. They knew how faint it was the movements of Eon Energy inside the stone. Even if they stood near it, there was no guarantee that they would be able to sense it due to the fact that the amount was too small. After all, their senses were limited.


    Yet, this little girl said that she could sense it?


    Mind you, Ye Jiao was not standing near the rock when they were speaking. There was quite a distance between them, so it should be harder for her to sense it.


    Qi Huan opened his mouth and spoke slowly. "It seems you have far keener sense than ordinary people. Even I''m unable to sense it at all."


    "I think so?" Ye Jiao was not totally sure. She knew that it was easy for her to detect and sense Eon Energy in her surroundings. With practice, she could sense them far better than when she first started training.


    "I''m surrounded by monsters¡­" Lu Wan''s expression contorted. Their master truly didn''t hold back when recruiting disciples. These two were truly monsters.


    "You''re one to talk," Qi Huan rolled his eyes.


    Ye Jiao giggled seeing that Lu Wan was already itching to challenge Qi Huan in another duel. She recalled their conversation from before. "But, why would he want to kill her?"


    "Probably erasing eyewitnesses."


    "What?"


    "You know, the horde from before," Lu wan shrugged. "If it''s truly an intentional one, you would want to eliminate everyone who knows about the matter. Even if that person is someone important, the risk of pulling an intentional horde is larger."


    There was no need for Lu Wan to spell it out as Ye Jiao knew that puling a horde was the same as being responsible for killing numerous children. From the report they achieved, it was known that many unfortunate students were caught up in the middle of the horde and lost their lives in the process.


    "Alright, time to stop talking. They''re starting the second part."

 170 Second Part of the Hunt: Race

    "Alright, time to stop talking. They''re starting the second part."


    "¡­ this part of the hunt is a race to the Southeast border of Chen Kingdom. It''s estimated that you will need to travel for around a month to two in order to reach the border. This time, every rank 2 have to be on their own, but they can pull Eon Energy Master rank 1 if they wish to help.


    The one who reaches the place the fastest will win this race."


    Qi Huan turned to look at Lu Wan. "Well, do you want to pull me along?"


    "Isn''t that obvious? Don''t slow me down, though."


    "We shall see."


    As the two talked, the teacher finished his explanation regarding the rule for the second part of the Spring Hunt. He clapped his hand. "Ready? The race begins now!"


    The moment the teacher said that, the students rushed into the forest towards the Southeast area. Using their Eon Energy to the fullest, they propelled themselves in order to reach the designated location faster.


    "A lot of people seem to be running too fast for their own good," Lu Wan commented. He didn''t run at his highest speed as he was matching with Qi Huan. Ye Jiao was also following behind them closely without any intention to stand out.


    "They didn''t understand the word one month didn''t just refer to the distance, but also the challenges."


    The three of them evaded every beast using Ye Jiao''s keen perception. After eating the fruits, Ye Jiao could sense the beast far better and after a few days training of her energy, she could use them far better. Now, she could even match Lu Wan''s speed without any difficulties.


    Without fighting, they could travel much faster. In just a week time, they had reached the previous valley where they found the fruit and continued further to the Southeast. After the valley, they still have to cross the forest for a while longer before they could reach grassland.


    "Forest terrain is nothing for people in the Chen Kingdom," Lu Wan remarked when he saw Qi Huan pick up the pace because they were out of the woods. "Most of the areas in our kingdom are nothing but forest, so this is an advantage for us."


    Qi Huan nodded. "I know. The challenge to the arena is always filled with the terrain of every kingdom. This will make sure that we won''t have too much advantage against one another."


    "There''s a beast horde in front of us," Ye Jiao suddenly remarked. Her eyes were solemn. "And their number is much more compared to the previous beast horde that the prince gives us."


    "Can you estimate their power?"


    "Probably, there are several rank 3 beasts there."


    Lu Wan and Qi Huan shut their mouths. It was not good news for them if they had to travel across the horde. They turned to look at one another.


    "Is there any way to pass?"


    "Haven''t you joined the one before?"


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. "Three years ago, Senior Brother Qi was 9 years old and Senior Brother Lu was 10 years old. I believe that at that time, you haven''t even formed your core."


    "¡­"


    "Right," Qi Huan smiled bitterly. It was rare for anyone to be able to participate in two hunts in their lives. After all, the limitation was 17 years old rank 2. Given their talent, they might be able to reach rank 3 first before the three years'' limit was up. That way, there was no other chance for them to participate.


    "In the grassland, I might be able to travel better," Qi Huan added. "Chi Kingdom is mostly filled with grassland and small forest at some locations aside from the famous lake. The second terrain we have to face is grassland, right?"


    "After the horde, yes."


    The three of them sped up a bit before they reached the edge of the forest. Their pupil contracted when they saw the large amount of beasts walking around here and there. There were numerous species and it was no doubt that they would have to find a way to evade them if they didn''t want to die.


    ???There''s no limit to their length," Lu Wan looked to the side and frowned. Did they really have to pass the beasts right away?


    Qi Huan pondered. The teachers must have a reason why they have to face the beasts. His eyes dilated when he realized something. "Right, this horde is the most advantageous for the Barbarian Kingdom."


    "Barbarian?"


    "Their place is filled with nothing but sand and beasts all over the place. Beast horde is extremely common in their area because it''s the migration route, so each year there will be two beast horde that they have to face. Children from that kingdom must have been taught how to evade them and face them, which means that this challenge is to give advantage to them," Qi Huan responded.


    "But, they still lose to us in terms of gathering core."


    "It''s the limit of their stamina. Barbarian people mostly rely on their physical power and not Eon Energy. Compared with Eon Energy that you can restore with a few hours of rest, you need a lot of food and sleep to restore your stamina. This makes them unable to fight efficiently unless they were in the large group of people," Qi Huan continued his explanation.


    With the limit of five people per group, it would be hard for them to divide the work completely. Besides, cooking required them to stay in one place, so it would take much longer as they have to prepare larger amounts of food.


    Ye Jiao nodded in understanding. "I see. You''re very knowledgeable, Senior Brother Qi."


    "He''s a walking encyclopedia," Lu Wan pointed to the young man. "So, do you have any suggestion of how we should pass these beasts?"


    "We can try to divert their attention to one point and create a pass, but I''m not sure that it''s plausible with our current lineup," Qi Huan replied.


    "Why?"


    "The fastest one is you, Lu Wan, but you will surely be trapped because you didn''t use your head."


    "¡­I use my head!"


    "You did not."


    Lu Wan glared. "I use my head properly! Stop spouting nonsense."


    "If you end up making us in trouble, I''ll make sure to mince you throroughly."


    Ye Jiao''s speed might be similar to Lu Wan, but they couldn''t use her help. The teachers must be watching somewhere, so they have to use their own power to solve this problem they faced.


    "We can try to erase our presence," Ye Jiao spoke up. "When I''m in Hell Island, I manage to sneak close to the group of wolves by hiding my presence. It''s not easy to do them while moving, but we can try."


    "it''s not a bad idea."


    "Can you erase your presence?" Lu Wan frowned and looked over to Qi Huan.


    The prince nodded. "I can. I also learn them back in the palace because it''s important to travel incognito when it''s needed. How about you, Lu Wan?"


    "I can, just a bit."


    "Then, let''s do this."


    The three of them masked their presence and tried to make themselves blended with nature. As they ran to the beast, they tried to keep their speed moderate because they were unable to sense each other. It was weird to be able to see the person himself but there was no indication that he was there if they closed their eyes.


    Thankfully, each of them had sufficient technique to do this. Their training as an assassin was proven to be very suitable. After all, assassins have to hide their presence when they did their job most of the time to avoid getting killed.


    Slowly, they approached the horde and focused their attention to erase their presence. They walked into the horde and avoided every movement the horde had.


    ''A tail,'' Ye Jiao shifted her position and moved the other way. Her eyes carefully watched her surroundings. This was the first time she ever tried blending with a group of hordes, so she had no choice but to do it carefully.


    The three of them advanced slowly as they didn''t dare to make reckless movements. However, it was proven to be extremely tiring to hide their presence for hours while keeping up their concentration to evade the beast''s movements. Without them knowing, more students started to gather at the edge of the forest with most of them were those at rank 2.


    ''Slowly to the right,'' Lu Wan moved his body. It was at this time he stumbled into a rock and his hand unintentionally slapped a beast''s tail. His face paled when he sensed the sudden killing intent. It was increased as other beasts also noticed Lu Wan''s presence.


    "Sh*t! Run!"


    Slash!


    The moment Lu Wan swung his sword and killed the beast, the hostility directed at him increased by several folds. Not far from him, Ye Jiao felt like cursing her senior brother.


    "Senior Brother Lu, you''re an idiot!"

 171 Escaping from Beast Horde Again

    "Senior Brother Lu, you''re an idiot!"


    As Lu Wan noticed the hostility, he increased his pace and rushed to the Southeast direction at full speed. The other two also followed suit with darkened expressions. They were hoping to get out of this place in one piece and not by getting chased around by a large number of beasts!


    "I''m not an idiot!"


    "Yes you are!" Ye Jiao yelled. She couldn''t hold back her anger when she saw the beast also started to attack her.


    Not only Ye Jiao, Qi Huan also felt like throwing this boy to the river. "Lu Wan, after this, you''re the great tank."


    "That''s for later!" Lu Wan yelled without care. Right now, he could only think of reaching the end of the horde and ran in the grassland to avoid them.


    Roar!


    A Tiger pounced on Lu Wan. Sensing the strength of the tiger was that of rank 2, Lu Wan stomped his feet on the ground and forcefully shifted his direction. There was no way he would let himself get killed just like that.


    "Attack back!"


    Lu Wan raised his sword and made a slashing movement, scaring the rank 2 beast away. He swiftly used this chance to run forward.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes narrowed when she saw the beasts in front of her. Her hand took out the sword that Lu Wan gave to her before as a disguise as she moved quickly. Her sword made slashing wounds on the beast''s legs, cutting them off.


    Thud! Thud!


    The beasts fell down in succession, blocking the route behind her. Her action caused the beasts on the back to slow down as Ye Jiao continued to push forwards. She tried to escape by using the gap between the beasts, but she knew that it would be impossible to do that every single time.


    At times, the gap was simply too small.


    "Careful! There''s a river!" Qi Huan warned from behind.


    Ye Jiao stopped her legs right on the edge of the river. The river was long and deep, so she swiftly jumped to the back of a nearby beast.


    Roar!


    "Sorry, but I can''t swim that long with the river''s current."


    Using the next beast, Ye Jiao jumped to the next beast, treating them as a bridge for her to pass. Her eyes were locked onto Lu Wan, who was following after her steps. His face was grave as he knew how dangerous their situation was right now.


    Because they were rushing, they unintentionally headed to the deeper part of the river. It was far longer and the current was stronger compared to the other one that they intended to use before.


    "Can you swim?"


    "Only a bit," Ye Jiao responded. She was taught how to swim when she was in the last month in Hell Island because she could do the training too well as rank 1. They taught her other important skills. One of them was swimming.


    "Well, it''s a do or die."


    Seeing the beasts already started to catch up, the two of them jumped forward while still using the beast as the pivot. The force generated was enough to send them further, but it still didn''t reach the other side.


    ''The current is really strong.''


    Ye Jiao moved her arm around in freestyle swimming style to reach the other side. It was hard to move around with her wet clothes, but she continued to pedal her arm and legs. After some unknown amount of time, she finally reached the shore.


    Laying her body on the ground, she sighed. At least, they managed to pass through.


    "Senior Brother Lu?" Ye Jiao recalled that she hadn''t heard from her two seniors.


    "I''m here," Lu Wan raised his hand. He didn''t have any energy left as he lied on the ground, unmoving.


    Ye Jiao directed her line of sight to the other side of the river. Her pupil contracted when she saw Qi Huan was still over there, fighting.


    "We forgot Senior Brother Qi!"


    "I''m sure he''ll be fine," Lu Wan didn''t have the strength to worry anymore.


    Qi Huan was trying to catch up to the two of them. He knew that his speed was far lacking, so he has been pushing himself to the fullest to generate a large amount of speed with the use of Eon Energy. The longer he stayed here, the more dangerous it would be.


    The beasts around him have started to kill one another. They looked like they were ready to pounce at him anytime.


    A beast jumped on to him from the side.


    Slash!


    Qi Huan swiftly killed the beast. He saw his two juniors jumped into the water as he also followed suit. As he continued to run, he realized that he could use Eon Energy much better compared with before. It was as if he was breaking through a wall that previously hindered him from using his Eon Energy to the fullest. The feeling was strange, but he enjoyed it.


    "Jump!" Ye Jiao yelled.


    From behind him, Qi Huan noticed a tiger was making its way to him. He quickly jumped to the water.


    Splash!


    Qi Huan quickly resurfaced and used his hands to pedal to the other side. He was a good swimmer because Chi Kingdom was filled with lakes, so their citizens naturally have a lot of time to swim.


    Splash!


    The sound of water splashing made his heart freeze. The only one behind him before was only the tiger. Using his Eon Energy, Qi Huan swam faster to reach the edge. His sense was telling him that the beast was trying to catch up, but he managed to shake it off.


    "Come over here," Ye Jiao stood near the shore and pulled Qi Huan up when he was close. "Are you alright?"


    "Yeah, don''t worry so much."


    "See, I told you he''ll be¡­."


    Clang!


    Qi Huan attacked Lu Wan suddenly and the boy reached equally fast by blocking it. Lu Wan frowned. "Are you going to kill me now?"


    PLAK!


    In the time needed for Qi Huan to attack Lu Wan, Ye Jiao also moved alongside him. She hit the back of Lu Wan''s head. "Senior Brother Lu, you should know better than to attack a beast in the middle of a beast horde. It''s the same as telling our existence and inviting them to kill us."


    "I slipped!" Lu Wan defended himself as he rubbed his head. Before he could react again, he saw a hand coming to him from the front.


    BLETAK!


    "This is for causing trouble for us," Qi Huan said with clear annoyance. "Also, you should try to remember that you''re not alone in the horde. Do not leave your teammates behind next time."


    "I''m sorry too," Ye Jiao also forgot to try searching for Qi Huan in the middle of the horde before. She was too focused on finding the safe way for her to pass, making her forget about Qi Huan, who was slower compared to the two of them.


    "Sorry," Lu Wan apologized. He was still busy rubbing his head as both front and the back suffered from a hit. These two were truly ruthless as they didn''t hold back at all. He was sure that he would have a bump on his head if this continued.


    "Now stand up. We still need to cross this grassland and reach the other side. A lot of students are also heading to the beast''s horde now," Qi Huan pointed to the back.


    It was hard to see with the amount of beasts there, so they were not worried that someone might see them. Unless that person has an extremely keen sight that could see clearly over the distance of several kilometers, they didn''t have to worry.


    "Let''s go."


    On the edge of the forest, Chen Zi Quan was looking at the beast horde with a frown on his face. The disruption nearing the end of the horde told him that there must be someone over there.


    "Your Highness, shall we proceed?" Wei Cheng asked carefully.


    "Have you seen Lu Wan?"


    Lu Wan? Wei Cheng shook his head. Aside from the three of them, only several rank 2 students from Chen Kingdom was there. There was not even a sight of Lu Wan among them.


    "We should hurry," Chen Zi Quan''s eyes glinted as he sped forward.


    Not far from him, Mu Xin has just arrived. She heard what Chen Zi Quan said and her eyes were directed at the beast''s horde. It took her everything she had to arrive here this quick, but Lu Wan was faster?


    ''Also, didn''t Ye Jiao stay with him? How is it possible for her to move this fast?'' Mu Xin felt suspicious, but right now, she had no way to confirm it. Her eyes noticed that the other geniuses from other kingdoms have started to arrive, so she picked up her pace and rushed to the beast''s horde. She didn''t want to be left behind too.

 172 Swamp

    "I''m really glad that the beasts were unable to pass thought the river," Lu Wan remarked after several days crossing the grassland. They didn''t encounter even a single beast, so their speed increased a lot.


    Qi Huan nodded. "The river is too deep for them to pass."


    "I see."


    "By the way, did you reach rank 2, Senior Brother Qi?" Ye Jiao noticed that Qi Huan''s speed seemed to increase a lot. Even though they were in a grassland that people from Chi Kingdom were familiar with, there shouldn''t be any way for Qi Huan''s speed to increase this much.


    Qi Huan nodded. "I think I reach it when we''re in the middle of the beast''s horde before because I have to use my Eon Energy to the fullest.


    "That''s great!"


    "Tch, if you''re able to reach rank 2 because of that, you shouldn''t have hit me," Lu Wan murmured in annoyance. He was happy that Qi Huan reached rank 2, but recalling his punishment by the two of them only made his mood soured.


    "You deserve it."


    "Agree."


    "¡­" you two are heartless.


    The three of them spent their days by either bantering around or just stayed quiet. Running for hours every single day was proven to be very difficult, so they used this chance to also talk with one another and learned many other things.


    "We have encountered each kingdom''s specialty except Cao Kingdom. What do you think they have in store?"


    "Swamp," both Qi Huan and Ye Jiao replied at the same time.


    Lu Wan was stunned. "Are you serious?"


    QI Huan nodded. He started to tell the terrain of Cao Kingdom in detail. "Most of the south area of Cao Kingdom that borders the Barbarian kingdom is filled with nothing but swamp. They''re known to be toxic and hard to pass because of the mud there. They''re hindering you from moving around and if you don''t know it better, there might be a large lake just right below it."


    "Is there any bottomless swamp there?" Ye Jiao asked.


    "There are some of them in Cao Kingdom, but I doubt they will prepare any for the challenge," Qi Huan replied. They would never try to replicate the dangerous swamp too much because it might take the children''s life if they were not careful enough. At most, it must be only made similar to the terrain in that kingdom.


    "It''s still hard to pass, right?"


    "Yeah."


    Ye Jiao looked to the front. A few hours afterwards, the three of them could see the row of trees that came to their view. As they came closer, the stinky smell from the swamp assaulted their nose, causing them to cringe.


    "We should have prepared someone from Cao Kingdom if this is the case," Lu Wan muttered.


    Qi Huan rolled his eyes. "Do you think everyone will want to follow Master? With his method of training, I doubt that anyone could stand having him as their master."


    The other two couldn''t agree more to the statement. Soon, they reached the edge of the swamp as Lu Wan frowned. His frown just got deeper when they came even closer to the swamp.


    "There''s poison."


    "What?"


    Lu Wan pointed to the swamp. "The smell that we have sensed since before is the poison. It''s the type that can cause you dizziness if you inhale a large amount of the poison for a long period of time."


    "Do you have the antidote?"


    "I don''t," Lu Wan''s face was grim. "I don''t know their composition, so I can''t make the antidote. All of us already have a considerable amount of tolerance for this type of poison, but it''s not known whether it''s possible if we have to cross this swamp for hours."


    If they stayed inside for too long, the poison would surely seep into their body and harmed them. They wouldn''t want to pass out in the middle of the swamp as it was not known whether there would be any dangerous beast around or not. They could only survive if they managed to get out of the swamp before it got too bad for them.


    "There''s only one way to find out whether our resistance is enough or not."


    "Yes?"


    "Let''s run," Lu Wan pointed to the swamp.


    "¡­."


    The three of them entered the swamp. It took less than one minute for Lu Wan to fall into a pond of mud.


    Splash!


    "This is hard," Lu Wan pulled his legs up. He cringed when he sensed the smell from his legs. "We can''t possibly go forward too fast if we''re falling like this every single time."


    Qi Huan nodded. "We need to study the terrain as we walk. This is the only way for us to travel faster."


    "Indeed."


    "By the way, isn''t this supposed to be a race?"


    Lu Wan turned his head around as if he didn''t understand what Qi Huan meant. He already knew from the beginning that this was a race. Was there any need to repeat it once more?


    "I can follow after you before because I''m still rank 1, but now that I''m rank 2, I have to travel by myself," Qi Huan explained. "Besides, isn''t it more interesting if we compete on who can reach the finish line first."


    "Hoo, indeed," Lu Wan smirked. "Don''t cry if I''m the first one to arrive then."


    "Hey, what about me?" Ye Jiao raised her hand. The two of them could come out of the forest quickly after they reached the end, but it was not the same for her. She was not a registered participant and could only be said as a ''servant'' that followed after her master.


    However, it would be impossible for her to show herself because of her age and real identity. If they found out that there was Eon Energy Master rank 1 at the age of 10 over here, they would surely turn crazy in their hunt of pulling her over. The attention she could gathered was something she needed to avoid no matter what.


    "You can stay in the forest as we take their attention and then you head into the city," Qi Huan responded. "This might be dangerous if we can''t hold on too long, but this is safer than having your identity known."


    "Wait, city?" Lu Wan was confused.


    "The designation for this race is the grand arena, known as Arena City. There are a lot of lodgings there and the people who wanted to watch were transferred here through the transportation array. You can just blend in with them when we catch the attention of the teachers," Qi Huan explained once again.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "It doesn''t sound like a bad idea."


    "Then it''s settled. See you all on the finish line!"


    Qi Huan sighed when he saw how impatient Lu Wan was. "Take care of yourself, Ye Jiao. This swamp might not be too big, but it''s still dangerous inside."


    "I understand. Many thanks for your concern, Senior Brother Qi."


    The two of them smiled and headed separate ways.

 173 Race Finish Line

    Traveling in the swamp was a new experience for Ye Jiao. She stumbled a lot of times on the unfamiliar ground. It was really hard to move because she repeatedly stepped on the soft ground. It was mud and unable to be stepped at.


    ''It''ll take forever for me to reach the other side.''


    Ye Jiao sighed to herself. Slowly, she tried to make differentiation of the real ground and those who were not. She could faintly hear a cursing sound from the front as she could guess that Lu Wan must be just running recklessly. He was never good at using his brain too.


    ''This one is the real one.''


    Using that way, Ye Jiao tried to guess every single step she took. She paid close attention to the ground below her, so much that she didn''t realize the amount of time she spent there. By controlling her Eon Energy, she could also start to sense the ground below her.


    They looked different when she used her Eon Energy to probe. Just like that, Ye Jiao continued to investigate as much as she wanted too. Her control has become extremely swift that it was so easy for her to move around without any hindrance.


    Contrary to their expectation, the three of them didn''t feel dizzy at all. Their resistance was better, so they could spend their time to focus on the road completely.


    ''That''s the exit,'' Ye Jiao smiled when she saw light in front of her. She picked up her pace a bit and swiftly arrived. Thanks to her observation, she could move faster in the swamp, so she reached the place faster.


    Her eyes noticed the large city in front of her. It was round in shape with height like the great wall. So high that the people below looked like rats. The color was white and grey as it was reflecting the light it received.


    ''Both of them hadn''t arrived yet.''


    Ye Jiao frowned. If it was Lu Wan, she was not surprised that the young man hadn''t arrived. Given how reckless that young man was, she knew that it would take him a long time to reach the finish line just relying on his instinct. On the other hand, she thought that Qi Huan would surely reach the finish line faster.


    But it didn''t seem to be the case.


    ''I''ll just climb the tree and wait for them.''


    Ye Jiao climbed the tree and rested there. Hidden behind the leaves, she watched her surroundings. Her eyes narrowed when she saw someone travel in the forest lightly as if there was no hindrance. The dark brown hair looked familiar to her as Ye Jiao realized who it was.


    Cao Ren.


    The third prince of Cao Kingdom had surprisingly reached this place faster. She knew that he was acclaimed as the genius in Cao Kingdom, but it seemed that he was much more of a genius considering that he could reach this place so quick.


    However, he was not the only person over there as Ye Jiao noticed Qi Huan also stepped out of the forest. It seemed that Qi Huan took a little detour to the other side of the forest, thus making his journey longer.


    "Someone comes out!" The teachers around were surprised. They quickly approached Qi Huan.


    "Your name, rank, and country."


    "I''m Qi Huan, Eon Energy Master rank 2 from Chi Kingdom," QI Huan reported. He proceeded to look around in an inconspicuous manner. His lips curled up slightly when he realized that Lu Wan hadn''t arrived yet.


    "Congratulations Prince Qi Huan, you''re the first one to arrive."


    "Thank you," Qi Huan replied humbly. It seemed that he had already expected that he would come out first.


    "It looks like you''re lucky enough to breakthrough in the race. Congratulations once again, Prince Qi Huan."


    "Thank you."


    It was at that time that there was a rustling sound as Cao Ren walked out. He eyed Qi Huan with surprise. "It seems that I''m a step too late."


    "I have just arrived too, Prince Cao Ren," Qi Huan''s response was humble. He maintained his image as a young prince who knew his place very well.


    Cao Ren nodded. "It still doesn''t mean that I can''t accept my position well."


    "Your name, rank, and country please?"


    "I''m Cao Ren, Eon Energy Master Rank 2 from Cao Kingdom," Cao Ren replied.


    The teacher''s body shook when he realized that these two were the princes from their respective kingdom. It seemed that the growth of the imperial family in other kingdoms were apparent. Right now, he really wished someone from Chen Kingdom also came or they would be lacking behind.


    "I''m finally out!"


    The yell from a student caused the group of people to turn their head to the swamp. They saw Lu Wan, with clothes stained with mud from top to bottom, come out. His appearance was truly hilarious that all of them have to tried their best not to laugh.


    ''Come to think of it, this prince didn''t even dirty his legs,'' Qi Huan''s eyes landed on Cao Ren''s legs. It was clean without any trace of dirt at all. It was as if this prince didn''t come through the swamp but rather another place.


    "Your name, rank, and country?"


    "I''m Lu Wan, Eon Energy Master rank 2 from Chen Kingdom."


    The teacher smiled when he heard the word Chen Kingdom. It seemed that the three kingdoms were still on par with each other. Their difference with one another was small¡­


    "Excuse me, what''s your name?"


    "It''s Lu Wan."


    The teacher''s pupil shook when he heard that name. This person in front of him was not of the imperial family and he knew very well how the imperial family responded to talented people who didn''t come from their family. They have to rope them in or destroy them before they could become a threat.


    Even though each kingdom had their own way, they have similar view as to tie those powerful people to their kingdoms. This teacher understood that things wouldn''t be easy for Lu Wan.


    "I see, congratulations."


    "I still lose, though," Lu Wan eyed the two of them. "Congratulations Prince Qi Huan and Prince Cao Ren."


    "There''s no need for formalities. Let''s head back and have some rest," Cao Ren pointed to the shining city not far from them.


    "That''s a good idea."


    While Lu Wan was oblivious of the teacher''s sudden change of attitude, the other three, Qi Huan, Cao Ren, and Ye Jiao were clear about that. The tragedy that happened to Ye Xiao many years before was deeply printed in their mind, so they knew. It would never end well with his talent.


    ''There''s always sky above the sky*, but the imperial family just can''t accept them,'' Ye Jiao looked at her senior brother with worry. She didn''t know what the imperial family was going to do, but anything it was, Lu Wan might be placed in a dangerous situation because of his talent.


    It was both a curse and blessing to have great talent in this world.


    ¡­


    *It''s a metaphor, meaning there''s always someone better.

 174 A Threa

    "Wow, there are a lot of people here!" Lu Wan exclaimed. He was surprised to see the large number of people walking around there.


    "They have arrived here using a transportation array from a few days ago," Cao Ren said in a leisure tone. "I''m going around to find a place to stay. You might want to find one too, Lu Wan. You will need a bath."


    "Yeah, thanks for the reminder."


    Lu Wan headed to the nearby inn and paid for a room. Qi Huan entered the same inn after a few minutes walking around the city and also took a bath. He was not as dirty as Lu Wan, but he still has a lot of mud on his pants and legs.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Who is it?"


    "Senior Brother Lu, have you finished cleaning up?" Ye Jiao''s voice traveled from outside the door.


    Lu Wan quickly opened the door. He had changed into new clothes and was currently busy drying his long hair. "When did you reach the city?"


    "Not long ago," Ye Jiao smiled. "The three of you gathered so much attention that it''s easy for me to sneak inside when they''re not paying close attention."


    She got out of her hiding place when Cao Ren appeared. With her speed, she swiftly reached the edge of the city and found a secluded place to double her pants in order to hide the mud. The people here came through a transportation array, so it would be weird if they saw her with stained pants.


    Afterwards, she got into the same inn as the other two and took a bath too.


    "You watched us?" Qi Huan asked as he also entered the room. They had unanimously picked Lu Wan''s room as their gathering place.


    "Yeah, I was hiding on a tree not far from the exit."


    Qi Huan frowned and scanned Ye Jiao from top to bottom. "Have you reached rank 2? I can''t really sense it because of the necklace, but you seem to be slightly stronger than before."


    "Ah, it''s possible."


    The breakthrough from rank 1 to rank 2 was always known to happen suddenly. Usually, the person himself wouldn''t realize it because all they could feel was a sudden increase in their ability to control Eon Energy. Other than that, there was no apparent change from rank 1 to rank 2.


    However, they would be able to form an Eon Energy layer around their body.


    "Try to push Eon Energy out."


    "Ok," Ye Jiao did as Qi Huan instructed and pushed her Eon Energy out of her body. She was surprised at how easy they became. In the past, just pushing out a bit was already a large hurdle she was unable to pass for a long period of time.


    "Yep, you''re rank 2."


    "10 year old Eon Energy Master rank 2," Qi Huan shook his head. "I''m sure that every kingdom will try to rope you in if they heard that."


    "You''re one to say," Lu Wan flicked a glance to Qi Huan. "You''re still 12 years old but you have reached rank 2. Even Cao Ren and Chen Zi Quan were already 13 to 14 years old when they reached rank 2. Are you really purple talent, the same with us?"


    "Based on the test I have when I''m young, I''m indeed purple talent," Qi Huan chuckled. "But I heard that there''s actually division in these color. I guess I''m just slightly higher than you three."


    "¡­" will it kill you to not stab us like that?


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "Then, do you know what it means to not have the stone lit up when you test it?"


    "It should be trash without the ability to practice Eon Energy at all," Qi Huan replied. "However, I heard from Master that there''s also a group of people who has the ability far higher than purple rank too. I don''t know the details for sure, though."


    "I thought you would know much more than that," Lu Wan frowned.


    Qi Huan rolled his eyes. "I''m not someone who knows everything."


    "When will the arena test start?"


    "There''ll be a rest period because the children didn''t arrive in the city at the same time. For the time being, I''ll just train and consolidate my rank," Qi Huan stood up and stretched out. "Also, don''t contact me for the time being. They''re definitely going to watch over me tightly."


    "They?"


    "People from my kingdom. After all, I''m still their precious prince that they have to protect with all they got," QI Huan chuckled.


    Ye Jiao stood up as Qi Huan walked out. "I''m going to train too, Senior Brother Lu. Let''s talk again later."


    "Got it."


    Lu Wan slumped on his bed as he sighed to himself. Thinking at how quick it was for Ye Jiao and Qi Huan to form their core, he realized that they must have higher talent compared to him. It seemed that his senior brother and junior sister were truly monsters.


    ''It just meant, I have to train harder.''


    While the three of them were busy in their own matter, the teachers were greeted with more children coming out of the swamp. Those at the top five was undoubtedly the ones who were acclaimed as the geniuses.


    "Name, rank, and country."


    "Chen Zi Quan, Eon Energy Master rank 2 from Chen Kingdom," Chen Zi Quan came out not long after Lu Wan.


    The teacher smiled albeit slightly forced because he knew that Lu Wan had come out first. "Congratulations Prince Chen Zi Quan."


    "What''s my rank?"


    "It''s rank 4, Your Highness," one of the teachers said slowly. He didn''t dare to utter it out loudly as he knew that the princes from the three kingdoms were always aiming for the top 3 if they joined in.


    "Oh," Chen ZI Quan sensed the teachers'' uneasiness. He could guess that Lu Wan must have come out first. "What''s Lu Wan''s rank?"


    "He''s rank 3, Your Highness."


    "Rank 3, huh?" it was just a difference of one rank, but Chen ZI Quan knew what it represented. For him, it meant that he lost in the battle against someone who had just reached rank 2 in Eon Energy not long ago.


    The teachers were glad when they saw Chen Zi Quan retreat to the side without getting angry. They didn''t know that Chen Zi Quan never lashed out if it was unneeded. It was known that he had the best self-control among the princes in Chen Kingdom. However, his means was always the cruelest and harshest.


    Hours passed, more and more children came out from the swamp.


    "Wei Cheng, Eon Energy Master rank 2 from Chen Kingdom."


    "Congratulations Wei Cheng, you''re at rank 16," the teacher directly told them their ranking as many of them asked when they were done. Rather than waiting for the youngsters to ask, they better told the ranking first.


    16?


    Wei Cheng nodded his head. Despite feeling dissatisfied, he curbed his feelings and headed to the area located for Imperial Family Chen. His pupil shrunk when he saw Wei Yin there, practicing her movements in the courtyard.


    "Wei Yin."


    "Brother Wei Cheng," Wei Yin greeted back politely. She was not too respectful to him, but at least, she didn''t act out of her boundaries.


    "What''s your ranking?"


    "I''m 13."


    Wei Cheng felt annoyed when he heard that number. It was only slightly higher than him, but he felt that it meant much more than that.


    "I''ll go report to His Highness."


    "Be mindful of your words. His Highness is not in a good mood."


    Even though Chen Zi Quan never showed it outside, the two of them knew very well that when the prince was in a bad mood, it was terrible news for everyone around them. Slowly, Wei Cheng walked to the door and knocked it.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Come in," Chen Zi Quan responded.


    "Your Highness, your subordinate Wei Cheng has returned," Wei Cheng reported politely.


    Chen Zi Quan looked at Wei Cheng and snorted. "Apparently, you''re even slower than your sister. You''re lacking in training, Wei Cheng."


    "I''ll train much more when I return back, Your Highness."


    "I have an order for you."


    "What is it, Your Highness, this subordinate is willing to do it."


    "Lu Wan is proved to be a bigger threat than before," Chen Zi Quan tapped the chair''s handle. "He''s too annoying. If there''s a chance, you may wound him or kill him under the pretense of practice."


    Wei Cheng''s body shook slightly when he heard Chen Zi Quan''s order. A smile made its way on his lips as he had been waiting for this chance for a long time. Upon hearing that Lu Wan has reached rank 2, he knew that he was already qualified to challenge that young man if it was necessary.


    "I understand, leave it to me, Your Highness."


    "Go and leave me."


    "Yes!"


    As Wei Cheng left, Chen Zi Quan raised the cup on the table as a ruthless glint appeared beneath his eyes.

 175 Planning for Their Future

    For the next few days, Ye Jiao spent her time inside her room. The inn gave room services, so she could always eat in full three times a day. The number of children who arrived increased along with the news of their death. Apparently, a great number of children died when they were on the way to the Arena City because of several reasons.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Jiao''er, are you there?"


    "Yes, I''m here," Ye Jiao stood up and headed to the door. She opened it as she saw Qi Huan standing there. "Has the time for us to ignore each other over."


    Qi Huan grinned. "Let''s go to the next room. The third phase of the Spring Hunt is about to begin."


    "Ok."


    The next room that they meant was obviously Lu Wan''s room. Their rooms were located next to one another because they booked it after one another. Of course, the inn owner didn''t even know that they knew each other.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Who is it?" Lu Wan''s voice emerged from within the room.


    "Lu Wan," Qi Huan called out. "Let''s have a talk."


    "Finally," Lu Wan opened the door. His appearance was messy as he barely took care of himself for the past few days. As he moved away, Qi Huan and Ye Jiao could see the messy room in front of them. Papers, ink, books, and many others scattered on the ground as if there was an earthquake.


    Ye Jiao inched inside and looked around. "Senior Brother Lu, where should I stand?"


    "Just sit on the chair or my bed with QI Huan. I''m going to clean up a bit," Lu Wan said carelessly. He picked up his paper and many others before stuffing them on his storage bracelet. The room turned clean instantly as everything was moved into his storage bracelet.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "You really need someone to take care of your room."


    "Nah, it''s fine."


    "So, what are we going to talk about?" Ye Jiao changed the conversation before Lu Wan told Qi Huan that she was the one who used to help clean up the young man''s room. There was no need to share that to other people.


    Qi Huan sat down on the floor and leaned on the table behind him. "Let''s see. First of all, we still need a year to two before we can reach rank 3 and possibly attend the examination to the academy. It means, we have to stay alive one way or another within the next two years."


    "Why are you talking as if we''re going to die soon?" Lu Wan complained. He didn''t like the way Qi Huan said it. It was as if they would die soon without knowing what happened to them.


    Qi Huan looked at Lu Wan. "Your position is in the greatest danger. If you know what happens to her father, you should know that the same thing can happen to you, right?"


    "What are you¡­"


    "Are you denying that you''re not going to give loyalty vow to the imperial family?"


    Hearing that, Lu Wan kept his mouth shut. He had to admit that he didn''t want to say the vow to stay loyal to the imperial family. Making a vow to the Heaven was seen as the greatest promise and if they didn''t fulfill it, they would have to face the punishment. As for what kind of punishment it was, no one knew for sure.


    Some said that they would die on the spot, some said that they would be cursed by the Heaven, and many others. One thing for sure, once they uttered a vow, they have to follow through until the end.


    For Lu Wan, that was a vow he would never say to the Imperial Family.


    Qi Huan crossed his arm. "Your result in the race is already more than enough for them to pay more attention to you. The result in the forest can be connected to me because I have been known as a young genius, but the second one is solely yours. It wouldn''t take a long time for them to start scheming and having you fell for their trap."


    "I''ll be fine," Lu Wan sulked.


    "What''s your plan after you return back to Chen Kingdom Capital City?"


    "I plan on having another closed door training and after a while, I''ll ask for permission to travel around the area to gain experience," Lu Wan admitted. "I''ll find a way to make them allow me to leave."


    Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows. "Is it possible to travel around when you''re only rank 2?"


    "Normally children at rank 2 start to gain experience outside," Qi Huan explained. "This is the tradition in some kingdoms and applicable to those outside too. I can easily gain permission as I have already completed my study."


    "By study, do you mean the education you usually receive until you''re 17 of age?"


    "Yes."


    "¡­" yep, truly a walking encyclopedia.


    This prince practically finished his education five times earlier compared to normal people. Both Ye Jiao and Lu Wan didn''t know what to say anymore regarding this prince''s capabilities.


    "If you''re that amazing, why do you choose to become an assassin?"


    "Who knows?"


    Lu Wan took out his chain blade while swinging his arm and Qi Huan did the same while Ye Jiao jumped to the back.


    Clang!


    "You''re extraordinarily annoying," Lu Wan uttered out.


    "Many thanks for your praise," Qi Huan smiled with his amiable smile. He pushed the blade back and Lu Wan kept his weapon in his storage bracelet once again. "Let''s back to the topic."


    Ye Jiao was speechless. It seemed that she just found out why the two of them didn''t seem to like each other. They were the polar opposite of one another.


    If Qi Huan was the perfect person who could hide his feelings well, Lu Wan was unable to act and always let his action speak first. If Qi Huan was the knowledgeable type, Lu Wan was the reckless type. If Qi Huan was a very responsible leader, Lu Wan would be the irresponsible one and leave everything up to luck.


    Why did her Master pick up the two of them at around the same time? She truly didn''t understand her master''s decision to pick his disciple.


    "Since we reach rank 2, it means that we can also start doing missions on our own, right?" Ye Jiao recalled the rules that their master told them a long time ago. They were only allowed to start doing missions on their own after they reached rank 2.


    "Yes."


    "You''re correct," Qi Huan nodded. "Does it mean you want to do mission on your own?"


    Ye Jiao nodded in acknowledgement. She had been wanting to do missions on her own because with Lu Wan, she would feel extremely nervous. Lu Wan''s reckless action always made her feel like slamming a rock on his head. But every time it worked out, the boy would be extremely smug to the point she wished to smack him too.


    In short, whatever happened, she wished to hit his head.


    "Then it''ll be better if you didn''t return back to Chen Kingdom Capital City."


    "Sorry?"


    "What?"


    Seeing the two of them didn''t understand, Qi Huan crossed his arm. "You''re going to be under the watch of the imperial family. Even after you start going out to hunt, I doubt they''ll leave you alone. Ye Jiao has a lot of enemies in Chen Kingdom Capital City, so it''ll be better if she roams outside and earns more power before she returns back for her revenge."


    "That makes sense," Ye Jiao also knew that she would be unable to do anything with the strength as Eon Energy Master rank 2. At the very least, she had to reach rank 3 if she wished to contend against those masters. If she didn''t, she might lose her life in the exchange.


    Lu Wan pursed his lips. He had started to get used to have Ye Jiao in his residence. Having her left him so suddenly left a bad taste in his mouth. Yet at the same time, he knew that it was for the best.


    "After the Spring Hunt is over, I''ll return back by myself. You should stay here and head over to the nearest Bao Fu Organization Headquarter. I''ll follow after your step in the future," Lu Wan said.


    "Ok. Don''t take too long, Senior Brother Lu."


    "Heh, don''t worry," Lu Wan grinned. "I''ll definitely head over soon enough that you won''t realize that you''re going first."


    Qi Huan shook his head. "He''s just bragging. Chen Kingdom won''t let you off easily unless there''s a catastrophe in the city. You''re just hoping for something nonsensical."


    "Men can dream, you know."


    "You''re dreaming too much."


    "You-!"


    Clang!


    Ye Jiao sighed to herself when she saw the two of them start fighting. Somehow, it seemed that Lu Wan had left all of his previous restraint and acted as he wished in this place right now.

 176 Third Part of the Hunt: Arena Battle

    After some time, both Lu Wan and Qi Huan finished their battle. The room became messy once again, but neither one of them cared for that. As for Ye Jiao, she was sitting on the bed, waiting for the two of them to end their dispute lazily.


    "What''s the third part of the hunt?" Ye Jiao decided to ask.


    Qi Huan pointed to the large building in the center of the circular city. "It''s an arena battle. All of us will fight against those at the same rank and decide the winner through one on one battle."


    "Just like the training before," Lu Wan added. "You didn''t watch it back then, but it''s also like that."


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "If it''s an event consisting of hunting beasts, racing, and battling in an arena, why is the name Spring Hunt?"


    "It''s literally for hunting. In the first part, you''re hunting beasts in the designated terrain. In the second part, you''re tested for your speed because it is important to be fast when you''re going to hunt. In the third part, they''re competing your strength against one another," Qi Huan replied.


    "When it''s first made, the purpose is to train and judge people for their hunting skill. As a result, they end up naming it as Spring Hunt. Spring because it''s usually hosted in spring and ''Hunt'' because they planned the event to train people for hunting in the first place."


    "I see."


    "It''s good that you didn''t ask so many things to me back then," Lu Wan scratched the back of his head. "I won''t be able to answer any of them if you do try to ask me."


    "I know."


    "¡­Why do you sound so calm."


    Ye Jiao grinned. "Because I could already see that Senior Brother Lu is not good at things related to the brain."


    "W-what? I''m still¡­."


    "Admit it," Qi Huan patted Lu Wan''s shoulder. "You''re not going to improve much if you only care for your poison and their composition. There are much more things that you can learn in this world."


    Lu Wan sighed. He looked at Ye Jiao while sitting on the messy ground. "So, are you going to leave the city right away or wait until the arena battle ends?"


    "I''ll wait. During the time you fight in preliminaries, I''ll be going to Black Market for a while. I''m planning on selling some of the Natural Essence Fruits that we gather back in the forest in this city. I''m sure that I''ll be able to sell it for a high price," Ye Jiao grinned.


    The fruits were useful and those at the lower ranking and unable to advance would use this chance to strengthen themselves. However, they would also need some resources to help their growth. Natural Essence Fruits were naturally one of the best type of fruits that can help them advance faster.


    "That''s a good idea," Qi Huan approved Ye Jiao''s decision.


    "Can you do it by yourself?"


    "Senior Brother Lu, I''m not a kid," Ye Jiao flashed a smile yet it was filled with a hint of threat.


    Lu Wan shrugged. Even though the three of them would say that they were not kid, they were unable to change their ages. Ye Jiao was still only a 10 years old girl, which was obviously a kid. However, Lu Wan didn''t feel like arguing because he knew that it would just end up in another duel.


    And he had the blatant disadvantages in this narrow room.


    "Since you''re going to leave the city after the arena battle is over, I''ll come along with you," Qi Huan remarked. "I already applied for travel and they let me off as long as I keep contact with them."


    "You''ll do missions together?" Lu Wan exclaimed in surprise


    Both Qi Huan and Ye Jiao looked at Lu Wan strangely. Didn''t they have told him that they wanted to do missions on their own?


    "We''re just going to travel together to the nearest Bao Fu Organization Headquarter. After we reach there, we''ll do separate missions," Ye Jiao elaborated.


    "Ah, I see."


    "We''re already rank 2, so it''s time to start doing individual missions and not get tied up with one another," Qi Huan stretched out his body. "Now, I''m going to have some rest. You should go too because tomorrow is going to be a long day."


    "Fine," Lu Wan stood up. "After I clean up the mess, I''ll rest. See you later, Senior Brother Qi and Ye Jiao."


    "See you later, Senior Brother Lu and Senior Brother Qi."


    Ye Jiao walked out of the room and headed back to her own. Sitting on top of her bed, her mind spun hard to think of the matter before. It seemed that she would have to start doing everything on her own too.


    ''Yeah, I''m already a grown up, so I can do it.''


    As she thought about that, Ye Jiao smiled. She rolled her body and closed her eyes, letting herself dive into the dreamland.


    ¡­


    The next day, the race officially ended. Not everyone who managed to reach the city could participate in the next stage because they had surpassed the time limit. The teachers only waited for them in order to give other students time to rest and get themselves familiar with this city.


    Also, it was to make sure those who had just advanced to rank 2 could properly stabilize their newfound rank.


    Ye Jiao stayed in her room while she watched the children flood the street. They were heading to the center of the city where a cylinder building stood. It looked like a smaller version of the city, but it was designated for the arena battle. There, numerous people could come to watch their children and other children participated.


    ''I''m not going to ever battle there, though.''


    She felt a slight sense of loss when she thought about that. If she has been a normal child like any other, she would surely have participated in the hunt and tried to get the best result possible. Unfortunately, it was impossible with her current predicament because she had to keep her identity a secret.


    Her gaze followed after the children and only after their number started to decrease did she get out of her room.


    "Ah, young lady, are you going to eat outside?" a servant was going to bring the lunch to Ye Jiao''s room. She didn''t expect to see the young girl got out.


    Ye Jiao looked at the food. She smiled. "I''m going to leave and probably eating outside. Please just deliver it to others. I''m sorry for the inconvenience."


    "It''s totally fine. Are you going to watch the arena battle too?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao decided to lie. In any case, she would visit them in the end after she had finished with the sell, so it was not going to be a lie.


    The servant smiled. "Then you should have fun. This event is only hosted once every three years, so there''s not much chance for you to watch them."


    "Have you ever watched it before?"


    "I have. I have been staying in this city for a few years, so I had the chance to watch them every three years," the servant smiled. "It has been quite a long time, right?"


    "Yeah. I thought that everyone here will move after the arena battle end," Ye Jiao expressed her thoughts.


    "No, it''s not going to happen. This city is located at the center of three kingdoms: Cao Kingdom, Chen Kingdom, and Barbarian Kingdom. It''s supposed to be four, but Chi Kingdom was pushed back in the past, so they will have to travel quite far if they want to reach this city. Even without the arena battle, this place is always filled with people who want to pass through the border."


    "Why?"


    "Yes?"


    "I mean, why don''t they use other routes and use this city?" Ye Jiao expressed her doubts.


    The servant smiled once again. "it''s because there''s no other cities nearby and the closest one is more than a week''s distance. This place is located at the safe zone, which means that it''s outside the beast''s horde. If they want to pass through to other kingdoms, this is the best transit."


    "I didn''t know that," Ye Jiao was astonished.


    "Yes, in fact¡­"


    "Mei??er! Where in the world are you?"


    The servant''s face changed. "I''m sorry, I still have to go to work."


    "It''s fine. Thank you for the information."


    "No problem!"


    Ye Jiao got out of the inn while pondering what the servant had just told her just now. She never knew that city was actually complicated. The high wall that she thought was used to fight against hordes was actually nothing like that. It seemed, she was thinking too much.


    ''No wonder we didn''t see any sight of cities on the journey here.''


    There was truly no city in sight as far as she could see. Ye Jiao stepped out to the street as she cast a glance to the large building near the arena. It was the building where a transportation array was built. Right now, there was a commotion over there.


    "Excuse me, do you know what happened there?"


    "I''m not sure, but apparently, someone is selected to oversee the matter from Chen Kingdom, but she''s dissatisfied with the arrangement.???


    "I see. Thank you."


    Ye Jiao looked to the side as she pondered. Should she head over there to take a look?

 177 Black Marke

    Feeling curious, Ye Jiao made her way to the building. The moment she shifted her gaze to the building, she could see a woman standing in the middle with a dark expression. Her body stiffened at the familiar face as Ye Jiao could feel her blood boil in hatred and anger. it was a face she could never forget.


    "Madam Su Daji, it''s the arrangement that Madam Su Lian had. Please do not make things difficult for us."


    "Difficult? Who do you think wants to come here in the first place? If not for that b*tch suggesting me to come here at the last minute, I''ll never be here. Stepping my feet on this dirty ground is clearly out of the question!"


    Su Daji was enraged. Right after her son finally formed his core, she was called by her husband to come here. The one who should come was originally Su Lian as the representative from Wei Family. However, Su Lian''s current condition was unsuitable. As the result, they changed it to her.


    "But Madam, activating the array requires a lot of money. Even for Wei Family, it''s a large sum."


    "Does that mean I can''t go home before the arena battle is over?"


    "Y-yes."


    "That''s ridiculous! I need to go home and see my son! If that b*tch know the truth about the fragility of children who had just formed their core¡­ argh!"


    From outside, Ye Jiao listened to her words as her fist slowly relaxed. She had managed to calm down and from what she had seen, it was possible that Su Lian would make her move when Su Daji was not around.


    The seed she sown not long ago has started to grow.


    ''This might be cruel of me, but you all already make my life difficult for years,'' Ye Jiao''s gaze slowly turned determined. ''I''m not a saint who has a kind heart and could forgive you all so easily. I hope that all of you die miserably.''


    Turning her body around, Ye Jiao left the building. She knew that what she had planned for them was cruel, but she didn''t want to care anymore. They were the one who started it. She just retaliated because she didn''t want them to chase after her anymore.


    It would be better if they were destroyed from the inside.


    The city itself was not too large because it was mainly focused on the arena in the middle of the city. Ye Jiao only had to turn around in the alleyway a few times until she reached the area where it was mostly dark.


    ''I better wear a mask.''


    Ye Jiao took out a mask that Lu Wan gave to her before. After their first mission, he decided that it would be better for them to use masks when they did their mission in case there was a survivor who saw them. After all, they didn''t plan on having their identities known as assassin.


    Loitering around the street, Ye Jiao''s eyes caught the signboard of a peculiar store: Herb''s Store.


    "Welcome," a young servant greeted her when she walked inside.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Is it possible to sell herbs instead of buying here?"


    "Yes, it''s possible. Please come over to the counter."


    A man was sitting behind the counter when Ye Jiao came closer. He frowned upon seeing Ye Jiao because he could see that Ye Jiao was still very young. After all, there were not many adults at the same height as this little lass over here.


    "Is there anything I can help?"


    "I want to sell this?" Ye Jiao took out one Natural Essence Fruit from her storage bracelet and presented it to the man.


    The man picked it up and scrutinized it. He was astonished when he sensed the amount of Natural Eon Energy inside the fruit. It was slightly higher than what people usually sell on the street, making it more valuable.


    "I can see that you have quite a treasure over here. Give me your price."


    "1 gold 10 silvers," Ye Jiao purposely picked the price above the market price. She had heard from Qi Huan that this fruit usually only sold at the range from 30 silvers to 1 gold.


    The man raised his eyebrows. "This fruit is indeed better than the normal one you can find, but it''s not by too much. Besides, this place is quite close to Cao Kingdom, so I won''t be able to sell it if you raise it too much. 70 silvers, lad."


    "Too low, make it one gold."


    "That''s above the price market. 80 silvers."


    "95 silvers."


    "85 silvers."


    "90 silvers."


    The man sighed. "Fine, you win. 90 silvers it is. How many fruits are you going to sell?"


    "100."


    "I see," the man nodded. With the large amount of fruits this girl planned to sell, there was no doubt that she wanted to sell it in Black Market. "I''ll take them all."


    "Ok."


    After securing the deal, Ye Jiao received the 90 gold coins while the man received 100 of the fruits. She walked out of the store while the man looked at the fruits in his hand with interest.


    "This fruit can definitely sell for 1 gold," the female servant remarked.


    The man nodded. "There''ll be a lot of geniuses coming here after the arena battle ends because they want to consolidate their power further. For us, this sudden stockpile is a heaven sent. We''ll definitely make a lot of profit from selling them."


    "With their higher grade, it''s obvious."


    Unfortunately, the man didn''t know that Ye Jiao headed over to five more herbs stores in the city after his store. She had more than 1000 fruits in her storage bracelet, which she was sure that she wouldn''t be able to consume all of them. Their effect had diminished so much that it wouldn''t help her too much.


    ''I might still need some, but obviously not this much.''


    The price the shopkeeper offered varied between 90 to 95 golds. In the end, Ye Jiao received 553 gold coins after visiting 6 shops in total. This number of golds were already more than enough to turn her into a rich lady who didn''t have to work for the next decade.


    Of course, that was just by the standard in the four kingdoms.


    But Ye Jiao''s goal was never the gold. She only needed them if she wanted to travel, so they were obviously more convenient. As for the fruits, she still has a few hundreds left in her storage bracelet.


    ''Now, it''s time to visit the arena. I wonder how Senior Brother Qi and Senior Brother Lu fare there.''

 178 Watching the Figh

    Making her way to the arena, Ye Jiao could see many students were dejected. Today was the battle for Eon Energy Master rank 2, so the two people on the stage was both at rank 2. They fought fiercely in hope to win.


    "Excuse me, how''s the match'' progress so far?"


    "The preliminaries are over. Now, it''s the fight to determine the top 16 for Eon Energy Master rank 2."


    "Is there any interesting matchup?"


    "Yes!"


    "Who?" Ye Jiao asked curiously. She didn''t expect that at this point there would be a match between the current leading genius, so she decided to ask.


    "It''s Wei Cheng vs Lu Wan."


    Ah, it was truly an unfortunate match up. The two of them were at the front of the leading figure for the younger generation. They should have the strength to enter the top 16 if only they didn''t have to fight against one another.


    "Have they fought?"


    "Not yet, it''s only the start."


    As she shifted her attention back to the arena, she heard the announcement declaring the next battle.


    "Lu wan against Wei Cheng. Please the two parties come onto the stage."


    Lu Wan smirked when he heard his name. He stood on the arena confidently while looking at the young man in front of him. "Even after the trouble to cancel the challenge before, we still meet against one another in the arena."


    "Apparently so," Wei Cheng readied his sword. "I hope you''re not going to disappoint me because you have been running away so much."


    "No worry," Lu Wan took out his sword calmly. He was never afraid of the challenge from Wei Cheng, but it was because of their family matters that they were not allowed to fight. After all, it would shift the balance of power.


    But now, who cared for that.


    "You''re the one who should worry about that!"


    The moment the teacher said start, the two of them dashed from their position against one another. Their sword locked into one another as they clashed numerous times. Each side was giving everything they got for this battle.


    On the stand, Ye Jiao watched their fight carefully.


    ''One to the right and one to the left. It''s repeated numerous times. The changes in Wei Cheng''s attack is astonishing.''


    As one might expect from the eldest son in the military family, Wei Cheng was extremely proficient in his swordplay. It was executed beautifully with little errors. One who saw it from the side would surely be able to see the beauty in his work.


    ''But Senior Brother Lu is terrible¡­"


    Lu Wan relied mostly on his strength and capability to see through Wei Cheng''s attack. He has been in numerous fights because of his hidden occupation as an assassin, so he was used to facing people stronger than him. After all, their master was not kind enough to let them face people weaker than them.


    With him knowing the attack, he just counterattacked them all in a straight manner. He knew the basics for swordplay, but it was not a fancy one. Still, while he attacked upfront, his attack was fast and powerful.


    ''From physical power alone, Senior Brother Lu is at the advantage. From the control of Eon Energy and weapons, Senior Brother Lu is also at advantage. The only thing that Wei Cheng is good at is his swordplay, but he''s not quick enough.''


    Ye Jiao analyzed the fight from the side. There would come the time when she faced against Wei Cheng, so she knew better than anyone that it would do her no good to come unprepared. This arena battle would be her place to examine the geniuses'' fight and their fighting style.


    Clang!


    Lu Wan successfully pushed Wei Cheng back. He grinned as his white teeth were shown outside. "It''s my win, Wei Cheng."


    "Tsk," Wei Cheng clicked his tongue. He had seen for himself that Lu Wan had great strength and power. The young man''s swordplay was not too remarkable, but he had the ability to see through the opponent''s movements and countered them perfectly. That was what granted the young man the ability to defeat him.


    Still, he couldn''t accept this.


    "What kind of sorcery did you use?"


    "I wonder," Lu Wan tilted his head. "But I''m sure that the difference in our talent is too apparent that medicine could never cross the barrier."


    Despite feeling angry, Wei Cheng couldn''t refute. He knew that Lu Wan has greater talent compared to him. After all, he was two to three years older than this young man, but he still lost in the battle. It was humiliating.


    "You should have accepted our duel months ago," Wei Cheng said through gritted teeth as he stood up. If only Lu Wan accepted it back then, he could make use of his higher rank to push Lu Wan back. There was no way the previous Lu Wan could defeat him.


    The previous¡­?


    Somehow, the phrase struck inside his mind as he realized that he might never be able to defeat Lu Wan in his entire life. Sense of crisis enveloped his body as he was determined to grow even stronger than before. He didn''t want to lose against someone younger than him anymore.


    "I wonder about that," Lu Wan retracted his sword and shrugged. "I''m always more powerful than you, you know?"


    As Lu Wan walked away with ease, Wei Cheng''s eyes glinted with ruthlessness. He turned around and returned back to his place. Slowly, he reached the VIP area and knocked on the door.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Enter."


    The chilly tone that the prince used caused his body to shiver slightly, but Wei Cheng curbed his feeling and stepped inside. He could see his little sister sitting like an ice block while Chen Zi Quan stared at him with a cold and unfeeling gaze.


    "Come over here."


    "Yes."


    As he stepped closer, Wei Cheng was trying his best to stay calm. The moment he got close, he saw something moved in his direction at lightning speed.


    PLAK!


    "What kind of fight is that?" Chen Zi Quan''s tone was murderous. He was angry at the result of the battle between Wei Cheng and Lu Wan. That was truly humiliating because it was clear that Wei Cheng didn''t stand a chance against Lu Wan.


    "I¡­ I already do my best."


    "That''s called your best? Are you a trash, Wei Cheng?"


    The word was harsher and ruder than before, but Wei Cheng didn''t dare to refute. All his life, he was the one cursing other people as trash because of his ability. But in front of Chen Zi Quan, he was not any better than a trash.


    "I''m sorry."


    "I don''t need your sorry. When we return back, you better go and train or I''ll personally engrave in your head that you''re a trash."


    "Yes Your Highness."


    Chen Zi Quan stood up and walked to the door while Wei Cheng stayed in his place. It was his turn to fight after the next battle, so he wanted to prepare himself. Behind him, Wei Yin also walked out. Her indifferent gaze landed on Wei Cheng for a split second, but she didn''t say anything.


    The two of them might be brothers and sisters, but they have a different mother and they never truly interacted with one another.


    They were just strangers.


    After the two of them walked out of the room, Wei Cheng stood upright in his place. He looked at his arm as he wondered what he did wrong.


    ''I just have to train more.''


    He consoled himself as he walked to the edge where he could watch the fight better.

 179 The Discussion

    "The battle finally ends," Lu Wan yawned as he swaggered out of the arena. They only had battle until the top 16 were decided, so there was no more fight for them today.


    Qi Huan also walked out of the arena. He was surrounded by many other children, especially girls, who were enraptured by his fight and appearance. In the battle just now, he barely used his ability and defeated his opponent in a few attacks.


    As the battle ended, Ye Jiao also used the chance to return back. Her eyes lit up when she saw the previous servant there.


    "Ah, young lady, you have returned," the servant greeted.


    "Yes, I have," Ye Jiao pointed to the table nearby. "If I order food here, is it possible for you to tell me more about the city?"


    "I have work¡­" the servant was about to say that she needed to work when she saw Ye Jiao take out a silver coin. Even though her own salary was dozens of silver, getting another one just for telling stories would be worth it. "Sure, what do you want to know, young lady?"


    Ye Jiao smiled. It looked like she was right to exchange the some of the gold coins to silver coins. They were already enough for normal trade.


    "For now, my dinner."


    "Right away, Young Lady."


    The servant swiftly moved to the kitchen and returned back with a tray of food ready. Seeing that their amount has increased, Ye Jiao didn''t know whether to cry or laugh. In any case, she was hungry.


    As she started her dinner by eating the potato soup, Ye Jiao asked a question. "How''s the condition of the city without the arena battle?"


    "It''s pretty good. Some services like us can only flourish once every three years, so our pay is not that big," the servant admitted. Only when it was the time for the arena battle did their wage increase. "At times, traders and travelers will pass through this city because it''s much safer to come here rather than going outside. Occasionally, there might be people who migrate but it''s quite rare."


    "I see. Are all of the stores stay open here even when it''s not competition time?"


    "Not all, just some of them. The rest usually return back to their own cities through a transportation array along with the other citizens. Because it''s expensive, they jointly use it with other people since the transportation array is capable of transporting 100 people at once."


    Ye Jiao nodded. Now she understood why the building was large. It was probably designed in order to make sure that a lot of people could be transported at once.


    "In that case, why don''t you move back?"


    "Some already feel comfortable in this city and more often than not, those who no longer have anyone to return to will choose to stay here," the servant replied. "I don''t have family outside this city, so I just stay here."


    The words from the servants gave Ye Jiao a bit of an idea, but it sounded impossible for the current her. She took out another silver coin. "Thank you for answering my question. You may go to work again."


    "It''s my pleasure!" the servant''s eyes lit up when she saw the silver and quickly pocketed them. For her, it was already a lot because during the times when the arena battle ended, the price for everything dropped since there was barely any customer. At that time, this amount of money was worth a lot for her.


    Ye Jiao finished her dinner before going up. She had seen both Qi Huan and Lu Wan return back at a different time. They acted alone and didn''t try to contact one another as they knew that it would do them no good to be seen by other people.


    They would only talk to one another inside Lu Wan''s room. Of course, when they walked inside, they also made sure that there was no one around them. They didn''t want anyone to know about their relationship.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Come in."


    When Ye Jiao opened the door, she was stunned to see Lu Wan lying on the floor with his chest facing downwards with Qi Huan sitting on top of him right on his back, preventing him from moving around. Seeing Ye Jiao, Qi Huan turned his head and flashed a smile as if there was nothing wrong.


    "There''s no need to be so surprised. Just come in."


    "I think I entered the wrong room."


    "No! You''re not!" Lu Wan yelled underneath Qi Huan. He placed both of his hands on either side of his head as he pushed his body up. "Just help me get rid of this nuisance on my back. He''s going to kill me if this continues."


    "How rude, I''m just teaching my junior a lesson."


    Ye Jiao closed the door and walked over to Qi Huan and Lu Wan. Her eyes were filled with doubts when she saw the two of them. "Are you playing around or something?"


    "No, we''re not," Qi Huan stood up and dusted his clothes. Lu Wan rolled himself to the side, his eyes were glaring straight to Qi Huan. He felt annoyed for letting his defense down and let Qi Huan sit on top of him.


    That was too embarrassing!


    ??I''m just giving a lesson to him because he doesn''t seem to understand that making himself a genius is akin to putting his neck on the edge of a blade. He''s going to kill himself for sure if he didn''t hold back in the slightest bit."


    "There''s no way I can hold back in front of that annoying Wei Cheng! I''m glad that I managed to kick his ass!" Lu Wan roared.


    Smack!


    Qi Huan hit the boy''s head once again. Even though Lu Wan was older than him, he acted far more mature than this troublemaker. "That''s why you''re forever a kid. The balance of power is going to shift in Chen Kingdom thanks to you. I''m sure the imperial family is not going to leave you alone after the arena battle ends."


    "I''ll be fine," Lu Wan scrunched his face. "I''ll just lose in the next battle."


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "If you lose to a more ordinary person, people are going to start wondering whether Wei Cheng is really as strong as they make him to be. It''ll be too obvious if you just lose, Senior Brother Lu."


    "That''s truly a hassle."


    "You''re an idiot," Qi Huan stressed the last word. "Anyway, clean up your own mess. I can''t do anything to help you."


    "Tsk, fine," Lu Wan replied. He could just hope to be matched up against a genius but the chance was rather slim. There were still 16 people including him, so it was possible to be matched against anyone.


    Qi Huan turned his head to Ye Jiao. "How''s your side? Did you manage to sell the fruits?"


    "Yes, I got 550 gold coins or so in total."


    "500¡­." Lu Wan almost vomited blood when he heard that amount. He looked at Ye Jiao in disbelief. "How much did you sell the fruits?"


    "I sell 600 fruits in total to 6 different shop," Ye Jiao responded.


    "Why not 1?"


    "You''re truly an idiot. If she sells it to one, they wouldn''t give her that high price," Qi Huan shook his head. "However, I do feel pity for the shopkeeper in the Black Market right now. They''ll surely experience a huge loss."


    "Yes?" Ye Jiao tilted her head in confusion. Why would they experience a huge loss? They could just sell it normally and earn 1 gold each, right?


    Qi Huan passed a glance to Ye Jiao. "There are many stores who sold the same fruits. With their price too high, people would be dissatisfied and complain. In the end, they''ll have to lower the price if they want to sell them because it''s hard to sell them back in ordinary cities."


    If they continued to lower it, it would soon reach their buying price. In the end, they wouldn''t have any profit but only losses.


    "I didn''t think that far," Ye Jiao was stunned.


    Lu Wan laughed. "One would think whether you have any grudge with them, Jiao''er. They won''t be able to have any good night sleep later."


    "Try to be careful in your conduct next time. It''s rare for the fruits to appear in large number like this unless you''re in some cities in Cao Kingdom. Anyway, don''t try to sell it anymore. I''m sure many shopkeepers are going to hunt you."


    "Aye," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. She truly had to pay more attention the next time she did something like this. It seemed that she had thrown the market in chaos.


    As Qi Huan had expected, the fate of these shop owners would be extremely terrible as they suffered losses because of the fruits. Thankfully, it was not too large as the amount was still in hundreds.


    If it was thousands, they might not be able to survive anymore.

 180 The Arena Battle Continues

    The next day was free time for those at rank 2 because it was the preliminaries for Eon Energy Master rank 1. Their number was not many, but a lot of people still went to watch it. At the same time, Ye Jiao listened to the rumors circulated outside.


    "As I had expected, they''re searching for you," Qi Huan remarked as he looked at Ye Jiao. This time, Ye Jiao just visited him in his room and didn''t include Lu Wan because that boy was busy.


    Ye Jiao looked at Qi Huan. "It''s not intentional, alright?"


    "In any case, it''s their retribution for trying to take advantage of you," Qi Huan crossed his arm as he had an amiable smile on his lips. "Normally speaking, these fruits can get over the market price because of their size and Natural Eon Energy that it contains. However, they''re trying to push the price down into only 90 silvers or so."


    "Didn''t they only plan on selling it at the price of 1 gold?" Ye Jiao tilted her head in wonder.


    "There''s no way they would want to do that. They''ll surely realize the value and try to hike it up until it''s 1 gold and 10 silvers or even more. Though, their attempt will be futile because the children soon realize that a lot of stores sell them. They''ll just boycott it and don''t want to buy it if they don''t lower the price," Qi Huan pointed outside. "These children are not idiots."


    Many of them came from renowned families, so their elders would surely think of this way. If it was only a store selling them, it would be hard to push the price down. But since there were several stores, it was absolutely possible.


    "It''s fine. I''m already satisfied with the amount¡­"


    "You shouldn''t be like that. If you can earn more, you should strive for more. Don''t let other people take advantage of you," Qi Huan stood up. "Anyway, it''ll be better if you start to train again. Consuming a few of the Natural Essence Fruit might be able to help you."


    "Got it, thanks Senior Brother Qi."


    Qi Huan waved his hand. "Now you should leave. My men are going to return back."


    "Ok."


    Ye Jiao slipped out of the room and headed to her own. Since she was uneasy after seeing a lot of people who seemed to search for a small rich lad, she visited his room. Thankfully, Qi Huan had sent his men away to search for something or she wouldn''t be able to meet with that man peacefully.


    As soon as she returned back, Ye Jiao took out the Natural Essence Fruit and ate it. The warmth from the fruit was much bigger than before as Ye Jiao could sense the impurities coming out.


    Soon afterwards, the room became smelly because of her.


    ''I guess I''ll just eat this in the bathroom¡­''


    Just like that, the day passed while Ye Jiao continued to practice her circulation of Eon Energy and used the Natural Essence Fruit to get rid of the impurities afterwards.


    The next day, Ye Jiao headed to the arena and watched from the sidelines. She blended in the crowd and watched as the students took a lot.


    "First battle: Cao Ren vs Bai Xiang!"


    Woah!


    The surrounding people cheered up when they heard the name. It was not a secret that the two of them were the representatives of their respective kingdoms. Because of that, the crowd was yelling even louder.


    "It''ll be a good chance to watch the fight," Qi Huan chuckled and retreated to the side. This time, he didn''t return back to his VIP room because his fight was right next after this. He just conveniently picked a place in the stand near Ye Jiao.


    "Yeah, both of them are powerful."


    "Not just powerful," Qi Huan''s eyes flashed for a moment. "You''ll understand when you see their fight."


    "Begin!"


    As the teacher said that, the two of them took out their weapon. Bai Xiang held a long and large halberd while Cao Ren held a long and thin sword. In the next second, the two of them rushed forward as if they were already impatient to fight.


    Their weapon was moving towards each other as they crashed in the middle.


    Clang!


    Sound of metal clashing filled the arena. The two of them retracted their weapon and continuously attacked each other. Cao Ren''s sword kept on trying to find the gap in fast strike and wonderful swordsmanship while Bai Xiang was defending with his large halberd.


    "Defending?" Ye Jiao was stunned when she watched their bouts. She had seen their fight before, but they ended theirs in mere seconds. With the fight ended that early, there was no way anyone could find out their fighting skill so quickly.


    "It''s weird isn''t it?"


    "Yeah, it is," Ye Jiao nodded in agreement. "People who use a halberd usually use it to attack and not defend. Its size and the various blades at the edge is unsuitable to keep on defending."


    Even though it was not impossible, the degree of Bai Xiang''s defense was simply insane. It was as if he had lived his life to learn how to defend and didn''t attack at all.


    Qi Huan nodded. "It''s true, but his strong defense is the reason why he''s selected as the representative from our kingdom. In the fight he had with other geniuses, he thoroughly crushed them and drained their stamina with his insane defense."


    "How about you, Prince Qi?"


    "Me? Of course, I won," Qi Huan replied confidently. His eyes were locked on the arena as the two continued their bouts. "But you see, I have the feeling that he''s not fighting with all he got."


    "Huh?"


    Clang! Swish!


    Cao Ren''s sword was placed in front of Bai Xiang''s neck. He had an amiable smile on his lips as he uttered his words one by one. "You lost."


    "You win," Bai Xiang readily accepted his loss. "It''s a good fight."


    "Yeah, you still have that insane defense," Cao Ren remarked. He was teaming up with Bai Xiang in the hunt, so he had already seen his fighting skill. It was not remarkable, but the defense was extremely strong that he found it hard to break.


    "Thank you for your compliment."


    "It''s nothing, I''m glad that I have seen your fighting skill before or I won''t be able to defeat you today."


    Unlike Lu Wan''s fight that ended up with hostility, the two of them readily accepted the result. On Ye Jiao''s side, Qi Huan sighed. "That''s what arena battle are supposed to be like. It''s not a place for hostility."


    "It''s not going to be possible to ask them to be friendly."


    "Indeed. It''s my turn, so see you little girl."


    "Next battle: Qi Huan facing against Wei Yin."


    Ye Jiao still watched the fight from the seat as she saw Qi Huan swiftly defeated Wei Yin. Even though that woman was stronger than Wei Cheng, it didn''t take a long time for Qi Huan to defeat her. It seemed that Qi Huan''s strength was already far above the younger generation of the Wei Family.


    ''Doesn''t it mean I can start attacking them?'' Ye Jiao thought about it for a moment, but she decided against it. If she tried to attack them head on, she would be the one to lose because Wei Shang was already Eon Energy Master rank 4. Trying to fight him when she has just reached rank 2 was the same as suicide.


    The battle continues swiftly and soon they already have the top 8. Ye Jiao noticed that Mu Xin lost in the top 16 battle along with many others. After the top 8 was determined, they fought against one another once again to get the top 4.


    After fiercer round of battle, they got the name for the top 4: Qi Huan, Chen Zi Quan, Cao Ren, and Lu Wan.

 181 Meaning of Genius

    "You two stand out too much," Ye Jiao uttered out when they gathered in Lu Wan''s room once again.


    Qi Huan smiled. "Even though you say that, it''s fairly normal for me to be stronger. Even in Chi Kingdom, I''m already much stronger than the majority of Eon Energy Master rank 2. I might not be able to defeat them, but it''s already close to it."


    The people were able to accept the fact that Qi Huan was strong and able to defeat a lot of participants as his fame has spread out. However, they were surprised to see Lu Wan stood at the forefront like that. It was as if telling them that Lu Wan was a great genius comparable to the others.


    "I see."


    "But this brat is too reckless," Qi Huan sighed and attempted to hit Lu Wan''s head again. This time, Lu Wan was prepared as he evaded it.


    "The path of a genius shouldn''t be shrouded in darkness," Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "Besides, how can I lose against those weaklings? They should just match me up against one of you three and I''m sure that I''ll lose."


    "Oh, now you readily admit that you''re weaker?" Qi Huan arched his eyebrows.


    "Uh, no. Not against you, of course."


    "How rude. I''m sure that I''m stronger than you."


    "That''s only because of your weapon!"


    Ye Jiao giggled when she saw the two of them bantered against one another. Outside this place, they restrained their action and always acted a bit differently. Qi Huan would perform his act as the perfect prince while Qi Huan acted as a complete troublemaker. Even though so, in Lu Wan''s case, he was just a bit wilder here.


    "They''ll already pay more attention to you, Senior Brother Lu. You have to be careful," Ye Jiao warned.


    Qi Huan nodded. "Even your little junior understands it more. You''re truly a muscle brain."


    "Stop with the insult, will you? Anyway, tomorrow is the quarter final and also final, so today will be the last time we can gather together. Can''t we end this peacefully?" Lu Wan asked.


    "Sure, we can. But I''m not sure that I want to end things peacefully since we might face one another tomorrow," Qi Huan smiled. "I''m sure that it''ll be a pleasant battle against you."


    Lu Wan had a bad feeling when he saw that gentlemanly smile on Qi Huan''s face. He knew better than anyone that it meant this prince has a bigger plan under his sleeve. Probably, tomorrow wouldn''t end peacefully.


    "There''s just one against three chances for me to fight against you. How are you so confident that we''ll fight against one another?"


    "It''s because I don''t plan on winning," Qi Huan replied calmly.


    "What?"


    "Why?"


    "Too much of a genius will only bring me trouble. Being an unmatched genius meant more attention and also danger in your life. In my current state, I still can''t afford that," Qi Huan replied in a solemn tone.


    There was a saying that a true genius was someone who should be able to carve his path by breaking every obstacle. They will stand at the very front to face everything and lead other people behind them. Nothing could stop them as they were geniuses chosen by the Heaven.


    However, Qi Huan knew that it would be too hard. He didn''t want to create more trouble for himself by making himself stand out when he was still this weak. It was already enough that he had to face numerous assassins for what his status held him so far.


    There was no need to make them increase by adding more enemies.


    Lu Wan raised his eyebrows. "What about your martial path? Isn''t losing meaning that you''re lying to yourself?"


    "That''s your path and not mine," Qi Huan raised his index finger to his lips. "Let''s see, if you should say, I''m more the calculative one rather than the straightforward one. Even if I purposely lost, it doesn''t mean that I''m betraying myself because I have a purpose to lose. I''m losing to protect myself."


    "Hah? I can''t understand," Lu Wan scratched his head. "I''ll never want to lose. I''ll keep on winning and moving forward. I''ll do everything according to what I want without any restrain from other people."


    "Tsk, that''s why you''re a muscle brain."


    "Stop insulting me!"


    Ye Jiao listened to their conversation as she thought about it herself. "Losing doesn''t mean the end. It just meant you''re not ready to face it yet. But if you keep on pushing yourself forward and gather more enemies, there''ll come the time when you will face someone who''s so strong that it''s impossible for you to beat. That''s the real end."


    "Can you speak in human language?" Lu Wan asked.


    "She just said that if you gather more enemies, it might be your grave soon," Qi Huan explained in a more straightforward manner. "Is that easier to understand?"


    "Nah, I''ll be fine."


    Qi Huan and Ye Jiao: "¡­"


    They didn''t know whether Lu Wan was optimistic, knew the future, had complete confidence in his ability, has too much luck or was just a plain idiot. Either way, the two of them unanimously picked the last one because it was the most suitable one.


    "Let''s eat dinner together."


    "Sure, just don''t take a long time, my bodyguard is going to search for me soon."


    "Okay~."


    ¡­


    While the three of them were having a hearty meal, Wei Cheng was waiting outside the residence with Wei Yin beside him. Chen Zi Quan was in a bad mood because Lu Wan managed to enter top 4 so quickly. For someone who had just reached rank 2, his achievement was remarkable.


    "You should train if you''re uneasy, Brother."


    Hearing the female''s voice, Wei Cheng turned his head to look at Wei Yin. He arched his eyebrows. "There''s no need for you to care for me. You should just focus on your own matter."


    Wei Yin shook her head. "You can think of me as a busybody, but I think that rather than mulling over the past, it''s better to keep on moving forward. You can''t change the past, but you can change the future."


    "Future, huh?" Wei Cheng''s eyes glinted as he looked at the room before them. "Even if you say it like that, what kind of future do you think we have?"


    He thought that he was a genius from a young age because of his talent. When he started forming his core, he would flaunt it and used it to oppress many others who were weaker than him. It was very fun and enjoyable. But as time passed by, he was called by his father and given a task.


    That task sealed his future forever. With the oath of loyalty binding him, he could never leave.


    He had his pride as the genius, so he would act with full confidence. Even though in front of Chen Zi Quan, he was nothing, he was still far better than many others. That was what he believed.


    Until the loss he had yesterday.


    "What kind of future?" Wei Yin repeated. "I don''t know, but surely things won''t always be like this."

 182 Quarter Finale

    "What kind of future?" Wei Yin repeated. "I don''t know, but surely things won''t always be like this."


    Wei Cheng looked at his sister as he didn''t understand her words. On a daily basis, Wei Yin would never show any expression as if she truly didn''t feel anything. She acted as they told her, just like a perfect doll. It made it hard for them to know what was inside this girl''s mind as she never asked them for anything.


    Nothing at all.


    She did her training as they asked, she practiced as instructed, and she didn''t seem to have any attachment to anything. Even to her deceased mother, Wei Yin didn''t show any emotion on her cold face.


    "I''ll be taking a walk."


    "Take care."


    As he walked out of the residence, Wei Cheng just loitered around the area. There were a lot of guards from Wei Family because he is the oldest son and Chen Zi Quan was staying here. A lot of soldiers were sent to ensure their safety here.


    "Young Master Wei, do you need¡­"


    "No need to accompany me. I''m just taking a breath of fresh air," Wei Cheng waved his hand to reject the guard''s suggestion.


    He wandered on the street without any clear direction. The size of the city was not that big, so it was not weird to see a lot of people around him. His eyes landed on a man clad in black hood not far from him.


    ''Someone suspicious?''


    Wei Cheng frowned when the man came closer to him. He was about to prepare for a fight when the man raised his hand, showing them empty.


    "No need to be so overly suspicious will you?"


    The voice was unfamiliar, but it clearly belonged to a man. His eyes scrutinized the hand. It might be dark, but Eon Energy Master has a keener sense, so he could see that the size of the hand was large and kind of rough.


    It looked like someone from the Barbarian Kingdom.


    "What do you want from me?" Wei Cheng asked.


    "I have been watching you for some time," the man said. "I just think that the rules of how the Imperial Family has to be the strongest one is truly a nuisance. They always have better talent compared to other people, but talent is not everything. It''s entirely possible to become stronger even when you have less talent."


    Wei Cheng''s eyes narrowed. Everyone who has designs against the imperial family would be seen as a traitor. He has been avoiding it from his youth because his father was also someone loyal. It was natural for him to follow after his father''s path without questioning it so much.


    However, it was indeed true because he had seen for himself how the Barbarian Kingdom''s people fought. Most of them were in the rank 1 section because not many of them could reach rank 2. Those at rank 2 were already eliminated before because they couldn''t stand a chance against the other geniuses.


    "Are you trying to rope me in?" Wei Cheng asked in a low tone.


    The man just waved his hand. "Nah, that''s not going to happen. I''m just going to give you an offer."


    "What kind of offer?"


    "You''re not stupid, so I''m sure you know what our kingdom wants, right?" the man lowered his hand and took out a stone. He shoved it to the front. "If you''re ever interested in cooperating with us, crush this stone and someone from our rank will come over to meet with you."


    Wei Cheng looked at the stone for a few seconds before taking it. As soon as he took it, the man turned around and left without waiting for Wei Cheng''s answer. Clenching the stone, he calmed his feelings before keeping it away.


    Soon afterwards, Wei Cheng returned back to the residence, acting as if nothing happened.


    ¡­


    The next day, the quarter final for the Arena Battle started. The four children that left took the lot to determine their opponents.


    Qi Huan took the lot with red color at the end. He looked to the side and noticed that Cao Ren had also taken the same one.


    "Well, well, this is going to be an interesting fight."


    "You''re right," Qi Huan chuckled. He kept the lot away as he noticed that Lu Wan was staring at the blue color and glared at Chen Zi Quan, who also got the same one. It seemed that the second fight wouldn''t end too well.


    "The red one will fight first. Those who got blue color, please get off the stage."


    Qi Huan readied his sword even before the fight started. Usually, he would be fine with only summoning it right after the battle had started, but he knew better than anyone that Cao Ren''s skill relied on his speed. If he lost in the duel of speed, it would be his end immediately.


    "Getting prepared, are you?" Cao Ren looked at the sword with interest. "But it''s a futile one."


    "Begin!"


    The moment the teacher said begin, Cao Ren dashed forward. His sword danced on the air as it made thrusting movements to Qi Huan''s direction. Countless blades appeared before the young man as he struggled to fend them off.


    From the stand, Ye Jiao''s expression was solemn as she watched their bout. It didn''t seem like things would end so peacefully from the way the two of them crossed their swords. The insane speed that Cao Ren showed had far surpassed any other fight before.


    ''Left, right, up, left, left, right, middle¡­''


    Inside his mind, Qi Huan calmly calculated the movements of the rapid sword attack before him. He blocked them all using his sword as he watched them increase in pace even further as time passed by.


    Cao Ren was truly the fast type of swordsman.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Sound of blade clashing continued to fill the arena. Even the onlookers were unable to follow their speed anymore. It was truly a contest of power and concentration because whoever failed to concentrate would surely lose.


    Clang! Slash!


    The sound that they have been waiting for was heard. At the same time, one of the two people jumped to the back as blood flowed from the location of the wound.


    "That''s a shallow one," Cao Ren murmured. He looked at Qi Huan, who was standing in front of him with his left arm bled. His sword was barely able to break the young man''s defense and the moment he reached the man''s arm, Qi Huan had jumped to the back.


    "You''re really good, Prince Cao Ren."


    "It''s nothing but a sword play," Cao Ren replied. "Are you ready for the next round?"


    "I think I already have enough. Trying to match your speed is too hard," Qi Huan refused. He raised his right arm. "I surrender."


    Waah!


    The crowd broke out in noise when they heard Qi Huan declared his loss. They have been hoping to see another fierce battle, but it didn''t seem that they would be lucky enough today.


    "I''m sure that you can still go on, so why?" Cao Ren arched his eyebrows.


    Qi Huan smiled. "It''s already good enough for me to have this battle. Even if I push forward, I doubt that I can get away unscathed. Afterwards, I won''t be able to have the strength to fight for the final."


    "Ah, final."


    "Please excuse me, Prince Cao Ren."


    Cao Ren nodded. "Likewise, Prince Qi Huan. Many thanks for your consideration."


    "Don''t be so conceited. I didn''t do it for you but for myself," Qi Huan responded as he waved his hand.


    Even though that was what Qi Huan said, Cao Ren knew that Qi Huan held back for him. After all, the one who would get the advantage if this fight ended early was him because it meant he could prepare for a good fight in the final.


    Cao Ren moved his gaze to the stand. He smiled at Chen Zi Quan. "I''ll be waiting for you."

 183 Finale

    Cao Ren moved his gaze to the stand. He smiled at Chen Zi Quan. "I''ll be waiting for you."


    "Hey! I''m still here!" Lu Wan yelled. He looked like a child who has been forgotten by other people.


    "Hahaha, we shall see later, Lu Wan."


    "I don''t have any plan on losing," Lu Wan declared.


    "So do I," Chen Zi Quan stood up and walked into the arena. His eyes were glaring dagger to the young man. "Let''s have a good fight."


    "Sure."


    The two of them soon entered the arena. The atmosphere was tense as the two of them didn''t have any good relationship with one another. If one should say, they were already ready to kill each other if only the rules didn''t prohibit killing.


    "Begin!"


    As soon as the teacher said that, Lu Wan was the first to make a move as he swung his sword forward. Using every ounce of strength he had, he landed consecutive hits to Chen Zi Quan, which the latter blocked using his sword.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    From the stand, Ye Jiao felt her eyes were hurting when she saw the way Lu Wan fought. There was no beauty in his attack as he advanced randomly. It was always a close call for him because Chen Zi Quan continued to exploit his weakness.


    ''it''s still remarkable that he''s able to survive this long.''


    Watching the fight, Ye Jiao was feeling bored. She was hoping that the fight would end quickly, but Lu Wan continued to attack and defend over and over. Compared to the fight Qi Huan had with Cao Ren, this one lasted much longer with the two of them traded blows again and again.


    10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes¡­.


    By the time one hour has passed, the people has started to feel bored. Both Lu Wan and Chen Zi Quan were also at their limit because they have used up their Eon Energy and stamina just to keep up in this crazy battle.


    Clang!


    In the end, Lu Wan retreated to the back when he saw Chen ZI Quan''s blade was aiming to his neck. He jumped several times as he raised his hand.


    "I surrender!"


    However, Chen Zi Quan acted as if he couldn''t hear him as he charged forward. His sword swung horizontally, aiming to hit the boy.


    Clang!


    "Shouldn''t you, imperial family member, learn how to control yourselves better?" Lu Wan grinned.


    For a moment, Chen Zi Quan leaked out a hint of killing intent. However, he restrained it and moved back. "Do not provoke me any longer."


    "I didn''t," Lu Wan acted as if he didn''t care as he walked to the side. His eyes held concealed killing intent. When he sensed the killing intent Chen Zi Quan leaked out, he almost took out his real weapon. It was a close one.


    If he did take out his real weapon and caught Chen Zi Quan off guard, he might be able to wound him. However, there was little chance he could kill the prince. In addition, after that there would be a lot of guards at rank 3 charging at him. It would be the same as suicide for him to step forward.


    "Good job at holding back," Qi Huan remarked.


    Lu Wan glanced back at the prince. "If it''s possible, I really want to shred them into pieces."


    "You''ll have your chance in the future."


    "Yeah, I know."


    The four of them were given the time to rest as they held the other battles. Soon afterwards, Lu Wan and Qi Huan were called back to determine the position of third and fourth.


    "When the battle ends, who do you think will gain the most points?" Lu Wan suddenly asked. There would be a reward for the top three of each section, but the grand rewards were only the combined point at the end of the Spring Hunt.


    Maximum point would be 30 because they could only earn 10 points from each part. First place would earn 10, second would earn 9, and so on. Their points would be totaled in the end to find out the one who got the most points.


    "Oh, that should be me," Qi Huan chuckled.


    "What?"


    "Haven''t you realized that I take first place twice?" Qi Huan asked back. "If I get third place, I''ll be having 28 points, which is the highest because Cao Ren can only get 27 at most if he won."


    Cao Ren was in third position at the first part and second place in the second part. If he got the first one here, he would be able to get a total of 27 points, one point lower than Qi Huan.


    "¡­" no matter whether Qi Huan lost or won, the young man would surely earn first place.


    Lu Wan readied his sword. "Don''t blame me for being ruthless."


    "Then it means, I won''t hold back too."


    "Begin!"


    Just like in the previous fight, Lu Wan charged straight to Qi Huan''s direction. His sword slashed in a horizontal line, but Qi Huan parried it easily. He side stepped from the side and got closer to Lu Wan before punching his punch forward to the young man''s stomach.


    "You-!"


    Swish!


    The sword he swung landed on the ground as Qi Huan had retreated back with a smile on his face. He looked extremely annoying, making Lu Wan wished to hack him down this instant.


    "One hit in."


    "Guh," Lu Wan could sense that his stomach was churning. The punch that Qi Huan gave him was already more than enough to make him felt pain. It was obviously not a normal punch. "It''s not the end!"


    Swish!


    Qi Huan evaded the next sword attack as he moved to the side. He swung his sword this time and it hit Lu Wan''s sword intensely. The strength that he put on the swing was more than enough to make Lu Wan nearly lose his grip on his sword.


    "You-!"


    "I''m what?" Qi Huan was smiling kindly, yet Lu Wan felt like he was seeing the devil itself. From the two hits he received, he realized that Qi Huan was far above him in terms of pure strength alone. Added with the young man''s proficiency in swordsmanship, Lu Wan was clearly not his match.


    Lu Wan gritted his teeth as he raised his hand. "I surrender."


    "So quick?"


    "Isn''t that obvious?"


    "I hadn''t had my fun of beating you up officially yet," Qi Huan clicked his tongue. "It''s such a shame that I can only wait until our next training together."


    "¡­I wish it''ll never come," Lu Wan spat out as the two of them walked out of the ring. The other two were looking in their direction and Lu Wan desperately hid his trembling arm. The impact from the battle with Qi Huan was apparent.


    Cao Ren arched his eyebrows. "You''re truly an interesting prince, Prince Qi Huan from Chi Kingdom."


    "Everyone has their own secret, Prince Cao Ren," Qi Huan replied. "Besides, I''m sure you also haven''t gone all out in the battle with me."


    "Indeed," Cao Ren didn''t deny it as he stepped into the ring.


    On the back, Chen Zi Quan listened to their conversation as he felt dark lines appear on his forehead. It looked like these two were of a much bigger threat than what he expected. The strength of Chi and Cao Kingdom would surely grow rapidly.


    The fight soon continued and Chen Zi Quan lost after a short fight. Cao Ren still held back, but Chen Zi Quan himself was also unwilling to show his trump card. In the end, the battle ended and they announced the ranking:


    Qi Huan: 28 points


    Cao Ren: 27 points


    Chen Zi Quan: 25 points


    Lu Wan: 25 points


    ¡­.

 184 Preparation to Leave

    "Why am I in the lower ranking than him even though we have the same point?" Lu Wan looked at the ranking with an annoyed look. He has been hoping to trample on this man, but it didn''t look like it was possible.


    "Isn''t it obvious?" Qi Huan gave a sidelong glance to Lu Wan. "The three princes have to be on the forefront of the ranking to make sure that it reflects well on their strength. You having the chance to enter the top 10 is already good enough."


    "I still don''t like it."


    "Whatever, it''s not my business," Qi Huan turned around. He walked to the direction of people from Chi Kingdom. His guard was also there, waiting for his order patiently. "I''m going on a journey starting tomorrow, so you all can return back."


    "But Your Highness, your guard¡­"


    "I can protect myself, so there''s no need for guards. Don''t worry, I already got Imperial Father''s permission," Qi Huan responded in fluent words.


    The guards looked at one another. They already got a lot of relaxing time so far because Qi Huan could protect himself very well. Even in the battle against assassins, this prince was not flustered in the slightest and could face them upfront.


    "We understand, take care of yourself, Your Highness."


    "Good."


    Seeing how easy it was for Qi Huan to receive the permission, Lu Wan felt like vomiting blood in anger. He truly wished it was that easy for him to receive the permission to get out of the city and explored the outside world. However, it would be extremely difficult for him to do so.


    Ye Jiao watched from the side before slipping away in the crowd. She would only greet Qi Huan tomorrow when they were about to depart. Right now, these youngsters still have to attend the ceremony to receive their reward.


    For each part, they would be given different rewards and according to their position, their reward will also be different.


    "For the first part, the first place to third place reward is a weapon according to their preferences. For the second part, the reward is Blue Eon Fruit, three for the first place, two for second place, and one for the third place. For the third part, the reward is armor with the highest grade to the first position.


    Lastly, the reward for the combined ranking is Eon Energy Pill rank 3, 2, and 1. For the first rank, they''ll receive one that has been purified three times, rank 2, purified two times, and rank 3 purified one time. Rank 4 will receive normal Eon Energy Pill rank 3, rank 5 will receive Eon Energy Pill rank 2 that has been purified three times and so on¡­"


    As they listed out the reward, Ye Jiao felt her head spinning because of how generous they were. Her eyes landed on the reward that Qi Huan received for his result while Lu Wan also took his.


    It was good that the first place belonged to different people or it would be difficult for them to provide so much goods.


    "Excuse me, is it possible to exchange the weapon for something else? I already have more than enough weapons and armors," Qi Huan asked the nearby teacher.


    "Let''s see. What do you want to trade it with?"


    "If it''s possible, I would like Eon Energy Pill rank 3 that has been purified."


    The teacher knew that Qi Huan got the highest grade for the first part and the third position for the third part. He nodded his head. "I can give you two Eon Energy Pill rank 3 that has been purified once. Is that enough?"


    "Yes."


    "Ok. We''ll take it for you."


    After Qi Huan, the other children also exchanged their reward. For these geniuses, weapons and armors were something they would not lack given their position. What they were lacking would be pills because of how rare they were. Even one of them could easily cost numerous golden coins.


    They finished exchanging their rewards then returned back. From the side, Ye Jiao could see that a lot of people were already rushing to the transportation array. Most of them were the teachers who were assigned to watch over the competition.


    ''I better have some rest first.''


    ¡­


    Chen Zi Quan and Wei Cheng also returned to their residence. Chen ZI Quan looked at Wei Cheng in approval.


    "It''s good that you exchange your weapon''s reward to the pill. You should digest it quickly after your return."


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    Wei Cheng also got second place in the first part of the hunt because he was in the same team as Chen Zi Quan. Thanks to that, he was supposed to get a weapon. He managed to change it to an Eon Energy Pill with Chen Zi Quan''s help along with Wei Yin.


    "But it seems that we''re going to need to deal with Lu Wan sooner," Chen Zi Quan''s eyes glinted with ruthlessness at the mention of that young man. He had been harboring a lot of hate for Lu Wan because of how he acted so far. Now, he felt an even bigger threat when he saw the ranking.


    Fourth place!


    It might be good for their kingdom to have a higher position in total because the third and fourth place were taken by him and Lu Wan, but he didn''t think so. With Lu Wan''s attitude so far, he knew better than anyone that they needed to secure Lu Wan''s loyalty before they could feel safe.


    "Does Your Highness intend to¡­"


    "I''ll ask my father to have Lu Wan do the ceremony," Chen Zi Quan said immediately. "He might be still underage, but his achievement is already enough for him to become a subject of the kingdom and pledge his loyalty."


    As Chen Zi Quan uttered out his plan, Wei Cheng recalled the vow that he took in the past. It was a vow to serve the imperial family, mainly Chen Zi Quan, and never betrayed him or he would be unable to reach greater heights in the future.


    It was an oath of loyalty that every talented person has to take in the four kingdoms for the kingdom where they were born after they reached the age or achieved something to take their interest.


    "I''m afraid the Lu Family is not going to stay quiet."


    "They won''t be able to reason out that Lu Wan is too young again," Chen Zi Quan said calmly. His father had called the Lu Family in the past, but the Lu Family somehow refused their will to call Lu Wan to the imperial palace because he was still too young. Right now, they would have the perfect reason to call that young man again without giving the Lu Family any ability to refuse.


    "Your Highness is wise."


    Bang!


    "Excuse me, Your Highness, there''s an urgent letter from General Wei to Your Highness and Young Master Wei Cheng."


    Their conversation was interrupted abruptly. Chen Zi Quan took the letter and looked over to Wei Cheng. "Your mother is truly a troublemaker."


    "Your Highness! This¡­."


    "We''re going to return back," Chen Zi Quan ordered as he stood up. His eyes glinted with ruthlessness. "You better settle this quickly, Wei Cheng. Su Family is not going to stay quiet anymore."


    "I understand, Your Highness."


    After Chen Zi Quan left, Wei Cheng looked at the letter as his eyes showed trace of tiredness. That foolish mother of his only knew how to create trouble.

 185 Larger Chain Reaction than Expected 1

    Ye Jiao woke up early the next morning. After packing and eating breakfast, she headed out. She found out that there were a lot of people outside, waiting for their turn to use the transportation array. As she walked out to the gate, she saw Qi Huan was there, talking to his guard.


    "You can''t return back?" Qi Huan''s tone sounded strange.


    The guard nodded. "There''s a major upheaval in Chen Kingdom Capital City. Apparently, there are two Eon Energy Master rank 3 that fight to the point that they destroy a lot of buildings. Right now, the transportation array focused on transporting them."


    "Have you found out what happened?"


    "Yes. This occurs yesterday evening right after the arena battle ends."


    From the side, Ye Jiao listened quietly as the guard told her the events that occurred. Hearing what happened, she realized that it was partially her fault that everything happened.


    ¡­


    *The Day Before*


    After the hunt battle ended, Su Daji stood up and looked at the other representatives or teachers. "Since it has wrapped up, I''ll return back first. Thank you for your cooperation so far."


    "Your welcome. Have a safe trip."


    Su Daji dashed to the transportation array. She walked to the guard. "I''m heading to Chen Kingdom please."


    "Would you like to go with others to split the pay? There are a few others who also want to head back to Chen Kingdom."


    "I''m going to the capital city."


    "Ah, then you''ll be alone. Do you have the money needed?"


    "Yes," Su Daji passed the money Wei Family had prepared for her to use as she entered the array. The man activated the transportation array and the woman was transported to the transportation array in the capital city.


    As soon as she arrived, Su Daji didn''t wait for anything as she dashed to Wei Family Residence. Seeing the condition of the residence, she could guess that there was nothing wrong.


    "Su Daji has returned back."


    "Madam, Master is still away."


    "Where is he?" Su Daji asked as she entered the residence. The servants were acting as normal as if there was nothing wrong.


    "Master is going to inspect a city along with His Majesty."


    "I see. Is there anyone who came to my residence over the days I''m away?"


    The servant was startled when she heard the question. She averted her eyes as she started to speak. "T-there is¡­ Madam Su Lian came over a day after your departure."


    Su Daji''s heart was filled with a sense of unease when she heard that news. She quickly returned back to her quarter. Upon seeing the servant''s fearful expression, she knew that something must have gone wrong.


    Bang!


    "Wei Liao! Where are you?" Su Daji yelled with all of her strength, worry filled her entire heart.


    "M-mother, I''m here."


    The weak voice of his son broke her heart. Su Daji dashed to the inner room and saw her son lying on the bed. He looked so weak and sickly, totally unlike the cheerful and proud young boy that she left just a few days before. Her eyes scanned the boy as she approached him.


    With her Eon Energy, she quickly observed the boy''s core¡­. Which has turned empty.


    "Who is it? WHO STEALS YOUR CORE?"


    Wei Liao''s face contorted in hatred as he uttered each word slowly. "Su. Lian."


    The name of her cousin made Su Daji''s heart turn cold. She stood up and walked out. "Stay here and don''t get out."


    "Yes, Mother," Wei Liao responded serenely. He was filled with remorse and hatred because Su Lian suddenly came and attacked him. With his frail power, he was not a match of that woman, so he had to give up his core. It was so vexing.


    Su Daji dashed to Su Lian''s quarter as she banged open the door. With her strength as Eon Energy Master rank 3, it was easy for her to shake off the servants who tried to stop her.


    Bang!


    "SU LIAN! COME OVER HERE YOU B*TCH!"


    "M-madam!"


    Some servant tried to attack Su Daji, but with a flung of her palm, they were sent back. Her eyes were blazing with hatred as she scanned the room before her.


    "Oh, Su Daji, you have returned?" Su Lian swaggered out of her room with a smile on her face. Su Daji''s heart sank when she saw that Su Lian had recovered her power. It meant that there was no chance for her to take the core back from this woman.


    "YOU! How come you know this?"


    "Ah, this method? Thanks to a certain servant, I found out about it," Su Lian chuckled. "Quite a great servant I should say."


    "YOU!"


    "Ah, I should thank you for providing me with your son core. His talent is higher than mine, making it slightly hard to adjust, but because of our blood relation, I can do it faster," Su Lian smiled. "My strength is only 80% at best compared to my power at the peak, but I guess, it''s to be expected because I took other people''s core? At the very least, I''m not a trash anymore."


    Every word that Su Lian uttered just stabbed a knife inside Su Daji''s heart. She has a better talent since youth, but she knew that it was hard to achieve a higher rank. Her training was hard and filled with numerous hardships, but it was all because she wanted to become stronger.


    However, she had to give them all because she found her limitation. In the end, she tried using a different way to achieve power. If she couldn''t, she should just bear a talented and powerful son.


    Yet, fate played with her as her son''s talent was only average at most.


    She was patient with it as she hoped from the bottom of her heart that he could become better in the future. His gender also made it possible for him to inherit the family despite his lower talent because it just meant that he couldn''t go to the academy.


    But now¡­.


    A trash could never become the family head.


    "Because of my low status, I have to work hard to reach where I am now. It''s the pain that someone with status like you will never know. Because of my slightly better talent, I was given a choice and I picked this path. My only hope was just to use my son to live a better life, but now, you take him away," Su Daji spoke with remorse.


    She paused for a moment and gathered her Eon Energy as she looked at Su Lian with despair. "You have taken everything away from me, so now, I''ll do the same to you."

 186 Larger Chain Reaction than Expected 2

    She paused for a moment and gathered her Eon Energy as she looked at Su Lian with despair. "You have taken everything away from me, so now, I''ll do the same to you."


    "You-! What do you think you''re doing?" Su Lian''s eyes flashed in alarm. She knew that Su Daji might do something crazy if she was cornered, so she tried to make this woman calmer. "You can''t touch my children or myself or Wei Shang will never forgive you!"


    "Indeed, he''ll never forgive me," Su Daji chuckled. Her eyes landed on her cousin. "You love yourself more than anyone, so you shouldn''t have realized that he will never care for you. Besides, even if he never forgives me, I don''t care. I never loved nor care for him. It was all just for power and position."


    Right now, Su Daji no longer cared for anything. For her, there was no more hope to get what she wanted. Rather than worrying about her future, she just wished to bring down her enemies with her!


    As soon as she said that, Su Daji activated her Eon Energy. She dashed to Su Lian''s side in a mere second and her hand was holding a long sword.


    Clang!


    Su Lian was not fond of weapon, but she still could use one. Most of the time, it was unneeded though, as she could use her fist to smash through her way. With Su Daji relied on her speed, she swiftly moved her body away from Su Lian''s attack and used her sword from all directions to attack Su Lian.


    "Mother?"


    The voice of a young girl startled Su Lian. She quickly roared. "Wei Mi, get away from here!"


    Su Daji didn''t have any plan to attack the young girl, but she swiftly moved to Wei Mi''s direction. A guard blocked her way, but Su Daji already moved from her position and headed to the young girl. Her sword moved at lightning speed. Before the guard could reach her, her sword made the slashing movements.


    Slash! Swish!


    In the next second, she moved to another side and jumped to the nearby well. Ignoring the cry and wail of the young girl, Su Daji launched another attack and directly killed the guard who blocked her way.


    "SU DAJI! YOU''RE INSANE!" Su Lian roared in anger. These children were those whom Wei Shang loved because of their talent. Hurting them would be equal on making enemies out of the Wei Family.


    "I''m indeed insane," Su Daji didn''t retort. She placed one of her hands on top of her core as she sensed the movements of Eon Energy. "You see, I don''t have anything worth living for anymore. Just like you, our children are nothing but tools for us to use against Wei Shang and gain his favor. But now that I already lose him, I don''t have anything to lose anymore."


    "What are you?!" Su Lian smashed the wall with her fist, but Su Daji moved faster. She moved behind Su Lian as she pierced her sword to the woman''s core.


    "YOU!"


    "It''s better that no one is able to get the core. Also¡­ good bye," Su Daji''s body glowed in green color as Su Lian''s face paled. The guards were also alarmed as they quickly took the wounded Wei Mi and dashed away as far as possible.


    Bam!


    Detonating her own core, the Eon Energy ran rampart on the area, destroying everything around them for more than two kilometers away. As Su Daji was already at the peak of rank 3 with slight hints of breaking into the fourth rank, the explosion it generated was much higher than ordinary ones.


    It even reached outside Wei Family Residence as Su Lian''s quarter was next to Wei Shang and it was the one nearer to the exit. Lots of buildings were destroyed as a lot of people also died due to the explosion. In the middle of the location, Su Lian was standing with ragged clothes and blood flowed out of her chest with numerous scratches all over her body.


    "Sh*t. It''s good that I manage to activate the defense tool or I''ll surely die," Su Lian cursed out loudly. As the Su Family daughter of the main line, she was given a defense tool in case there was an attack of above rank 3 directed at her. It could only block one attack, so Su Lian had never used it before.


    Facing against crazy Su Daji, she knew that it was her only defense line.


    "Call doctors and clean up everything!"


    A lot of servants died, including those most trusted by Wei Shang. By the time he returned, he quickly checked on Wei Mi. The doctor told him that she would be fine, but there would be a scar on her shoulder.


    "A scar?" Wei Mi asked in a trembled voice. Even though many women already thrive because of their prowess, there was no way they wouldn''t pursue beauty. She didn''t want to have a permanent scar in her body.


    The doctor nodded. He said regretfully. "It''s not possible to cure it with this method in this kingdom. There might be one at other more powerful kingdom, but I can''t say for sure."


    "Father?" Wei Mi looked at her father with hopeful expression.


    "Train hard," Wei Shang said in a flat tone. He strode out as his brow creased. Seeing how much the destruction Su Daji caused, he was having a headache. His secret army had a lot of their members killed because of the explosion as the base was right under his residence, his trusted servants mostly died because of that.


    Also, the Su Family sent someone to inquire of what had happened.


    ''The Su sisters are giving me more problems than what they worth.''


    Inside the room, Wei Mi was filled with hatred. She couldn''t accept that she wouldn''t be a beauty anymore.


    "First Young Master has arrived."


    "Brother!"


    Wei Cheng strode into the room. He sighed in relief when he saw his little sister was still fine. He patted the girl''s head as she started to tell him everything that had occurred. However, even without her telling him, he had heard everything from the surviving guards.


    "Brother, I hate Wei Liao," Wei Mi spat out. "If only he''s not here, his mother will not give us this much trouble."


    "Yeah," Wei Cheng just agreed. He knew that Wei Liao was alive because his residence was located far away from their quarter. However, he was not in the right time frame to think about that.


    "Brother, can you do something to him for me?"


    "You should rest first, Mi''er. Brother will talk with Father first."


    Wei Mi sulked when she saw her brother left her directly. Inside her mind, she was determined to make Wei Liao''s life suffer.


    At the same time, Wei Cheng made a round in his residence and found out that his mother was alright. However, she was cursing loudly because her new core was damaged and it could never be repaired anymore because it was not hers from the very first. The amount of Eon Energy she could store only amounted around 40% from her original ones, meaning, she only has the strength at rank 2 or even peak rank 1.


    Seeing how his father still acted indifferent to the matter, Wei Cheng felt tired.


    "Young Master, we have cleaned the residence for you."


    "I''ll head there," Wei Cheng replied. He returned back to his residence and looked around him. There were no longer anyone watching over him because they were too busy to take care of the residence.


    He truly felt tired. Taking out the stone he received from the barbarian, Wei Cheng smiled wryly. ''At least, it''s better than being a puppet in this heartless residence.''


    Crush!


    On the other side of the residence, Wei Liao sat on his bed as he gazed out. He had seen for himself when his mother fought and what the servant told him regarding their fight. From the way Su Daji acted around him, he knew that she had never treated him as a genuine son.


    She never gave him affection and only worried if something happened to him because it would devalue him.


    ''I really should stop trying to gain favor from other people.''


    He was weak and he knew that, so he always tried to gain favor from Wei MI and Wei Cheng. Becoming their lackey that would do anything they told him to, he had gotten accustomed to it. He hoped that they would help him in return.


    But what he got was a cold shoulder.


    ''Trying to gain favor from people like them is ridiculous. It''ll be better for me to just strive to be independent.''


    Wei Liao clenched his fist. He knew that his days would be hard without his mother around and the hatred a lot of people gave him because of what his mother did. But he would survive and someday, he would show them that even someone with low talent like him could reach greatness!

 187 She’s My Little Sister

    In the Arena City, Qi Huan listened to his guard''s explanation as he came to understand what had happened in Chen Kingdom Capital City. It was quite¡­ astonishing to know that a disaster occurred because of an internal feud in a general house.


    "In short, because of Su Daji''s outburst, numerous stores are broken?" Qi Huan could faintly sense Wei Shang''s frustration now. It wouldn''t be easy to compensate them all and trying to negotiate with Su Family might take a longer time because Su Family was located outside the Four Kingdoms.


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    "Good grief, I didn''t think that Wei Family is that much of a problem," Qi Huan shook his head. He glanced over to Bai Xiang, who was standing quietly. "Make sure that our kingdom didn''t have the same trouble. If there''s any problem with the ministers, report it to His Majesty at once."


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    "You may go now."


    Qi Huan rubbed his chin as he thought of the matter in Wei Family. He started walking to the east with Ye Jiao following behind him at quite a distance. Once they entered the swamp, she closed their distance and caught up to the young man.


    "Senior Brother Qi."


    "Did you hear what happened to the Wei Family?" Qi Huan asked. "I can''t believe that someone stupid like Su Lian could induce such a large catastrophe like this. I guess you can''t judge a book by its cover."


    "Uh, Senior Brother Qi."


    "Yes."


    "I think it''s partially because of my interference," Ye Jiao admitted. When she introduced the skill to take other people''s core to Su Lian, she had hoped that Su Lian would be stupid enough to aim for Wei Liao. After all, she had seen how bad Su Lian and Su Daji''s relationships were.


    However, she never expected that things would blow up this big. The incident that the two of them caused has become a major upheaval in the kingdom. It was something out of Ye Jiao''s expectation.


    Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao. "I see."


    "You don''t seem to be surprised."


    "I already kind of expected it because you have a feud with them and if it''s me, I''ll do the same thing with you or¡­ even worse than that," Qi Huan smiled, yet the smile looked rather complicated. A gleam appeared beneath his eyes, something that Ye Jiao had never seen before. It was filled with ruthlessness and darkness.


    Before, Qi Huan''s gaze was often filled with killing intent. However, the one he showed just now was not just killing intent, but also some type of darkness. It was as if he had seen the worst of the world and didn''t hesitate to act cruelly.


    Ye Jiao herself was not totally sure what Qi Huan had seen so far. She would also not pry too much into her senior brother''s attitude. He had his own reason and experience to become who he was today.


    "After all, what they do to you is unforgivable," Qi Huan continued.


    "Yeah," Ye Jiao replied in a low tone.


    "Anyway, what did you exactly do?"


    "Um, that''s¡­"


    In the end, Ye Jiao had to start from the beginning of how she got the idea to make use of Su Lian''s lost core and her interference when she sneaked into their residence to make Su Lian aware of the method. Even though it was actually not a secret method, Su Lian was kept in the dark.


    Probably because those around her knew what kind of idiot things she would do when she was aware of the method.


    ¡­


    While Ye Jiao and Qi Huan had departed, Lu Wan was still waiting for his turn to use the transportation array. There were a lot of people rushing, but the array couldn''t be activated right away after they had sent someone. There was a cool down period before they could use it again.


    "Young Master Lu Wan."


    The voice startled him as he turned around. His eyes turned larger when he saw Mu Xin. "Mu Xin. I didn''t expect to see you here."


    Mu Xin nodded. "We''re heading to Chen Kingdom Capital City, so I don''t think it''s weird for me to be here."


    "I see."


    "Where''s Xiao''er?"


    "She''s not here."


    "What?"


    Lu Wan scratched his head. "Are you seriously thinking that she''s genuinely my servant? It''s just an agreement that I made with her in the past because of her position. She has left the city not long ago to go on a journey."


    Mu Xin frowned. Her icy atmosphere turned even colder at that moment, but Lu Wan couldn''t be bothered with it. If he had to say, Qi Huan''s killing intent was much more dangerous compared to the icy atmosphere Mu Xin emitted. He had to admit that the temperature seemed to drop even further, though.


    "Lu Wan, let me ask you something."


    "Yes?"


    "Can she use Eon Energy?"


    Lu Wan froze in his place when he heard Mu Xin''s question. He turned around to look at the young lady. "What are you talking about?"


    "Answer me honestly," Mu Xin pressed forward.


    "Stop pressing me. You don''t have to continue asking about her. She has her own life to follow," Lu Wan tried to change the subject.


    "She''s my little sister, so I worry about her. No matter what, she''ll always be my little sister that I treasure."


    Seeing the solemn expression on Mu Xin''s face, Lu Wan knew that this woman was dead serious. At the same time, he couldn''t bring himself to answer her question because it would definitely leak out the truth about Ye Jiao''s real talent.


    That she was not a trash.


    "Lu Wan, tell me honestly. Can she use Eon Energy?"


    "Ugh, you''re so persistent," Lu Wan sighed. "I''ll tell you, but you should never ever tell anyone about it, got it?"


    Mu Xin nodded her head in agreement. Her clear eyes were looking at Lu Wan with persistence. She hoped that he would answer to her inquiry and gave her a sense of relief. At the very least, she hoped that her little sister would have a better life with Eon Energy.


    "She can use Eon Energy."


    "I see."


    Lu Wan blinked his eyes a few times. Mu Xin''s response was blander than what he expected. If it was him, he would have screamed to the sky at the disbelief.


    "You seem calm. Have you expected it?"


    "Perhaps," Mu Xin replied ambiguously. When she saw how Ye Jiao managed to catch up with Qi Huan and Lu Wan, she had the thoughts that perhaps Ye Jiao could use Eon Energy. That was the only plausible explanation for her great speed to be able to match up against them. If not, it would be hard to explain how Ye Jiao could possibly match with these two, who were known as geniuses in their respective kingdoms.


    The realization that Ye Jiao could use Eon Energy just made her feel relief. After all, she knew for sure that Ye Jiao would be very capable. The way she trained back in the past had showed Mu Xin that Ye Jiao was full of determination. If she had the chance, she would surely train herself to the bone.


    Now that she had the chance, Mu Xin was aware of what Ye Jiao might do. And she would not stop her little sister from getting back what she deserved.


    "What are you going to do with it?"


    "Me? Nothing," Mu Xin shrugged. "I''ll just count the days until Ye Jiao tells me and watch a good show."


    "Good show?"


    "Wei Family and Imperial Family''s days are numbered now," Mu Xin explained. "With her ability to use Eon Energy, I''m sure that she''ll be the one to bring them to their doom."


    "Their days are numbered? I like this phrase," Lu Wan had to agree. Even just now, the incident was fueled by Ye Jiao because of her interference. He was sure that there won''t be any peace once Ye Jiao decided to go full spree.


    Looking at the calm Mu Xin, Lu Wan found it hard to read the young woman''s expression. She seemed to be covered in a layer of frost that made it difficult for one to understand her. However, there was a hint of relief and pride in Mu Xin''s tone when she spoke just now.


    "You sound awfully confident in her," Lu Wan remarked.


    "Of course, she''s my little sister," Mu Xin stated the fact once again. There was a hint of pride on her eyes when she said that. Even though Ye Jiao was still an unknown person in the world, Mu Xin was confident that her little sister would be extraordinary. "I''ll be going first. Thank you, Lu Wan."


    "Your welcome," Lu Wan replied. He thought about what Mu Xin said and smiled to himself. Well, he was also certain that the little lass would bring them into their doom. If someone asks why, he could just say: ''She''s my junior sister.''

 188 Bandits

    Ye Jiao explained the things she did to Qi Huan, which surprised the prince. Even though the way Ye Jiao calculated it still relied on a slim chance, there was still a chance nevertheless. It wouldn''t be easy to realize such a plan just by observing from afar. He looked at Ye Jiao up and down.


    "I never thought that my little junior can be so cunning and scheming."


    "That''s not true. I never think that it''ll become an incident this big," Ye Jiao explained. She didn''t know the feud Su Lian and Su Daji had with one another. If she had known that many people would suffer along with them, she might not choose this way to gain her revenge.


    "There''s no need to be sorry for the villagers."


    "But¡­"


    "Most of the people who lived around Wei Family Residences are hypocrites. They always try to gain favor from the strong while bullying the weak. Besides, I''m sure that they''ve done worse even just from the sidelines. Sometimes, it hurt even more when even bystander, who didn''t know anything, joined in to create trouble. I have long heard about what happened to Ye Xiao back then, so I know that many people joined in just to mock him," Qi Huan said calmly.


    "For someone who was down, even a little action could hurt them a lot. People who just followed the mass without thinking were idiots and those who followed because they understood, just wanted to gain favor from the strong. Don''t blame yourself for what had happened. They just reap what they had sown.


    Also, you only told her a common method, which she ended up searching for more of that method. Even if you didn''t do it, she''ll know sooner or later from other servants. You merely set a trigger without doing anything else. What you do is just adding a little fuel to push it forward because sooner or later, both women would clash."


    Ye Jiao slowly nodded her head. She did feel bad because she had inevitably involved some citizens in the fight. Even though many of the villagers always treated her father roughly and spoke bad of them, she was sure that there might be good villagers too. However, she knew that it was inevitable.


    Sooner or later, the two women would surely clash with one another. She just brought it faster and on a larger scale.


    "Don''t always try to think whether what you do is right or wrong, it''s just going to hurt your head. In your perspective, it''s something you do because they tried to kill you. In their perspective, it''s their retribution for letting you alive. Battles between Eon Energy Masters often involved those around us, which is why everyone always try to stay away. Those who chose to stay near should have known that if there was a dispute one day, they would be involved."


    Qi Huan knew that their houses would be arranged so that the more powerful people would have bigger lands. This was also to avoid having the repercussion of battle in the residence to hit other peoples. However, there were always some idiots who think that they could gain favor by staying near the residence.


    "I see."


    "Think positive. You have created a large problem for Wei Shang to the point of making that general go bald," Qi Huan said cheerfully. "That''s something to be proud of."


    Pfft!


    Thinking of General Wei with his bald head made Ye Jiao laugh. She never thought of him in that picture, but it just sounded so funny. If he ever became bald, his appearance would surely be extraordinary.


    "Oh right, here it''s for you," Qi Huan handed the Eon Energy pill that he received before. "If after you eat it you consume Natural Essence Fruit; it''ll have better effect."


    "Are you sure you''re giving it to me?"


    "I''m asking them to exchange it because I plan on giving one for you. You''re the one who should have gotten first place."


    Qi Huan knew Ye Jiao''s fighting skill after seeing her fight a few times. It was not an exaggeration if he said that she was very powerful. Even he himself might have a problem if he had to face her.


    Ye Jiao smiled. "Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother Qi."


    "You''re welcome, Ye Jiao."


    Splash!


    "Wait a minute," Qi Huan frowned. He moved his legs away from the mud as he tried searching for the land to step.


    "A little bit to the left, Senior Brother Qi."


    "Thanks," Qi Huan moved a bit and realized that he could stand on the ground perfectly. His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked to Ye Jiao as if seeing a monster. Just before they entered the city, the three of them struggled to stand on the ground, but now she had perfectly told him which one was safe to stand.


    "Is there anything wrong?"


    "Ye Jiao, do you know which one is land and which one is mud?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao replied cheerfully.


    Qi Huan was in disbelief, but when he looked at her legs, he had no choice but to do that. Her legs were perfectly clear without any hint of mud around. It was as if she was not walking in a swamp but rather a grassland. The only mud on her legs was on her shoes'' sole.


    "How did you do that?"


    "I try to find the difference when we''re crossing the swamp before," Ye Jiao admitted. "Now, I can travel in the swamp without worry, though I still need to keep my speed at moderate."


    Qi Huan was astonished. In this swamp, everything looked similar to one another for him. It made it hard to distinguish which one was the real land and which one was the swamp. He had taken a long time to travel before, but didn''t find the way to differentiate the two of them.


    "Can you teach me?"


    "Sure!"


    As they traveled, Ye Jiao started to teach Qi Huan how to differentiate ordinary land and mud. It took Qi Huan a long time to understand Ye Jiao''s explanation and started to try it over and over during their journey. After several days, their speed increased because Qi Huan had become much more proficient in differentiating them.


    "You seem to be rather good at observation, Ye Jiao."


    "Am I?"


    "Yeah. I can''t even see their differences after hours of searching back then, but you manage to find it," Qi Huan replied honestly.


    Ye Jiao smiled. "I guess I''m just used to it."


    Because she had never had a proper teacher, she had to learn everything through observation. The one she observed was her father, her mother, soldiers, and also her environment. By studying them, she had gained a lot of things.


    "You''re amazing."


    "Thank you. You have your advantage too, Senior Brother Qi."


    Qi Huan chuckled. "Everyone has them."


    The two of them continued to travel in the swamp before they stopped. They saw a different type of road in the middle of the swamp.


    "There''s a road here?" Ye Jiao looked at the badly made road with astonishment. She had never thought that there would be someone who made the road here. It was filled with rocks and dirt. Kind of messy, but it was still a road.


    Qi Huan stomped his legs on the stone. "it''s sturdy. A bit uneven in the making, but it''s good enough for travelers."


    "Maybe, this is truly a road?"


    "There should be a city not far from here," Qi Huan pointed to the other side of the road. "Bao Fu Organization is a bit away from the road, so we don''t really have to follow it if we want to arrive at our destination."


    "Aw, that''s too bad."


    "We can try the road if you want," Qi Huan chuckled.


    Ye Jiao shook her head. "There''s no need. I just think that it''ll be too dangerous if we use the road rather than the swamp."


    "Hm?" Qi Huan looked at his back. At some unknown time, several men had appeared with blades ready on their arm. They were looking at Qi Huan as if they saw a large sack of money.


    "It seems that there''s a group of people who want you, Senior Brother Qi."


    "I can see that they''re treating me as an easy target. They seem to be in need to study the word regret," Qi Huan summoned his sword out. "Shall we teach them, Ye Jiao?"


    "Sure."


    When the men saw the sword, they were alarmed. They quickly raised their sword and charged over to the two of them.


    Swish!


    Their sword hit midair as the two of them had moved. Ye Jiao took out her sword and slashed the nearby man near her. Afterwards, she used one of her legs as the pivot and turned around. Her sword immediately slashed the next man.


    "You!"


    Clang!


    As Ye Jiao blocked the attack, the man was stunned. He could faintly see the layer of Eon Energy around Ye Jiao. His eyes widened.


    "Eon Energy Master rank 2?"

 189 Raiding Bandits Headquarters

    "Eon Energy Master rank 2?"


    Ye Jiao''s eyebrows raised when she heard the man yell out her rank. She smiled. "Ah, it seems you found out about it."


    "And here I thought we can hide it," on her side, Qi Huan also remarked. He utilized his Eon Energy too. "Well, it doesn''t matter."


    The bandits'' eyes widened as they almost fell off. The two of them looked like they were only ten and twelve years old, but they were already Eon Energy Master rank 2? They felt that their common senses had fallen through as they desperately tried to run away. No one has the will to fight anymore.


    It was against Eon Energy Master rank 2 ah.


    Even in their group, only a few people ever reached this rank. Not to mention monsters like these two, there were absolutely none.


    Slash!


    "I never say that I give you permission to leave, right?" Qi Huan smiled as he released his killing intent. Dark and threatening aura enveloped the area as the men were unable to move. They were panicked because of the sudden outburst of the bloodlust.


    "F-forgive¡­"


    Slash!


    "You''re all bandits, so it''s obvious that we''re not going to let you off, right?" As Ye Jiao said that, she had rushed to the front and killed several of them.


    The two of them worked efficiently as they cleaned up the men, leaving only one alive. Their movements were extremely swift even though they were up against several people at once.


    "This feels like the hunt," Ye Jiao stretched her body. At that time, she could easily hunt rank 1 beasts without the need to worry so much.


    "You''re right," Qi Huan pulled the last man who they kept alive. "Bring us to your headquarter."


    "I¡­"


    Slash!


    Blood splattered out as Qi Huan directly cut off the man''s arm. He smiled mirthlessly. "Bring us there, alright?"


    "Y-yes!"


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "Why do you want to go there, Senior Brother Qi?"


    Flick!


    "I''m Shan Dian out here," Qi Huan corrected Ye Jiao.


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "Yes, Senior Brother Shan."


    "Good."


    "But, are you sure that you''re going around with that silver hair of yours?"


    Silver hair was known to be the color for the imperial family in the Chi Kingdom. Those who had this hair color were numbered a few. After all, this trait would only appear if they have thicker bloodline or so.


    "Ah, I almost forget," Qi Huan took out a can of paint. He dumped it on his head while controlling his Eon Energy to cover his face and body to avoid the paint getting into them. With a slight tamper here and there, he had perfectly changed his hair color to brown.


    Ye Jiao watched the transformation calmly. She never had to change her hair color because black hair was quite common in the four kingdoms. At least one every 10 people would have this hair color.


    "You and Senior Brother Yu truly have peculiar hair color."


    "It just means that we have special birth," Qi Huan responded flatly. "I''ll explain it to you in the future. Let''s go and exterminate the bandits headquarter first."


    "Got it."


    The man did his work well as he brought the two of them to the headquarter. It was actually a small village in the middle of the swamp. In a way, it was truly a miracle that the people could survive.


    "W-we have arrived," the man said in a quivering voice.


    "Good work," Qi Huan pushed the man to the side. He looked at the group of men in front of him. "So, what kind of bandits are they?"


    "Who is it?" A large man stepped forwards. "Are you another assassin from the Bao Fu Organization? Let me tell you, young people who target our place for practice can never survive."


    "Is there any mission to exterminate bandits?"


    "There are a few of them," Qi Huan smiled. "And they are worth quite a lot because of their number."


    "Let''s split the reward later."


    "Of course."


    The large man got angry when he saw the two children ignored him. He initiated his Eon Energy, which quickly enveloped his body and smashed the ground with it. The men around him hurriedly moved away in fear of getting involved.


    "Ah, it''s getting messy," Qi Huan sighed. "Jiao''er, you should go and defeat the other Eon Energy Master rank 2. Be careful of the small fries."


    "Got it."


    "No, you don''t¡­" the large man intended to block Ye Jiao''s way, but the girl had slipped through. Her speed alone told him that the one he faced was not Eon Energy Master rank 1, but rank 2.


    "You shouldn''t look at other ways."


    Slash!


    Qi Huan moved extremely fast as a long sword appeared on his hand. It was a different sword compared to the one he usually used. The dark bluish color gave off an eerie feeling to everyone who saw it.


    "You-!"


    Slash!


    Before the man could react, Qi Huan had moved forward indifferently. His gaze was cold as he turned around. "For someone who boasts around, you sure are weak."


    "You-!"


    The man tried to attack with his large body, but he was too slow as Qi Huan sidestepped to the side and evaded the attack. He raised his sword and swung it down.


    Slash!


    "Too slow."


    While he took care of the man, Ye Jiao had arrived at the other Eon Energy Master rank 2. It was a skinny man, but he swiftly moved away when he saw Ye Jiao came at him


    "Who are you?"


    "Someone who will take your life," Ye Jiao replied as she dashed forward once again.


    Clang!


    Their blade clashed with another. Ye Jiao switched her weapon midair to that of her dagger. The man''s eyes flashed when he saw the dagger as he moved his weapon to block it. Swiftly, Ye Jiao changed her trajectory and wounded the man''s side.


    Slash!


    The man moved away, but Ye Jiao chased after him. Their blade clashed midair and the skinny man was pushed to the back. It was apparent that Ye Jiao''s strength was higher than him.


    "W-wait, don''t¡­"


    Slash!


    "Sorry, I don''t listen to nonsense. All I know is you''re all bandits in the wanted list."


    ¡­


    "It''s easier than expected," Ye Jiao returned back to Qi Huan''s side after she had cut off their heads. Even though her hands were stained with blood, she didn''t have any peculiar reaction to it. From her mission, she had killed numerous people from the wanted list to the point her heart grew numb whenever she had to kill people for missions anymore.


    As long as it was not citizen or ordinary people and just criminals, Ye Jiao didn''t have any hesitation in her eyes anymore.


    It was scary how much she changed, but Ye Jiao didn''t want to think too much. In this kind of world, having too much heart and compassion would only lead to her doom.


    Qi Huan nodded. "Eon Energy Master rank 2 and rank 1 is different after all."


    "How different?"


    "People always say that Eon Energy Master rank 2 focuses on defense because of the layer of Eon Energy around their body, but that''s not all. We also have better control of our body and faster reaction. It''s not something that you usually see, so not many people realize that their bodies have become much stronger than before," Qi Huan explained.


    "I see," Ye Jiao moved her arm. "I can''t really sense it when I''m doing nothing, but when I fight, I''m much faster and stronger than before."


    Qi Huan nodded. He also sensed it in his body, but the chance was not too apparent. If anything, it was just a slight increase from when he was at rank 1. However, the increase was already more than enough for him to become far stronger than ordinary Eon Energy Master rank 2.


    Besides, he could sense that he was growing stronger and stronger each time at faster rate compared to when he was just rank 1. At the beginning stage, they would be growing faster and then slowed down when they were about to reach the limit of that rank. They needed to stabilize their power and then make a dash to the next rank.


    "Let''s bring them back to Bao Fu Organization Headquarter."


    "Ok," Ye Jiao looked at her senior brother for a moment. "But I never thought that you can be so scary too, Senior Brother Shan."


    "What do you mean?"


    "That thick killing intent. It envelopes the entire area," Ye Jiao explained. When Qi Huan let his killing intent came out, she could even feel shivers. It was so thick, filled with unseen pressure when it came crashing down like a tidal wave.


    Qi Huan scratched his head. "I''m just used to killing people."


    Used to?


    Considering the young man''s age was only two years older than her, Ye Jiao couldn''t imagine what kind of experience he had to be able to gather that much bloodlust. However, she didn''t dwell on the matter anymore as she pointed to the front.


    "Let''s go?"


    "Ok."

 190 I’m Sorry, Master

    The two of them dashed through the swamp again. After a series of instructions from Ye Jiao, Qi Huan no longer has any problem traveling in the swamp area. It took them less time to travel and soon, they arrived by the headquarter.


    The place in this area was similar to the one where Ye Jiao usually went. They have to stand in a certain location to be able to see the headquarter and enter it. If not, they wouldn''t be able to see anything but forest.


    "It''s truly a strong array," Qi Huan commented as they walked into the hall. There were less people in this place, probably because of the remote location in the middle of the large swamp in the South area of Cao Kingdom.


    "Good afternoon, is there anything I can do to help?"


    "Is there any mission to exterminate bandits in this area?" Qi Huan directly asked.


    The man checked on the list and nodded. "There are a few of them. Did you want to accept them?"


    "We encounter some bandits on our way here and they mention having assassins from Bao Fu Organization chasing after them, so we conveniently take care of them," Qi Huan responded. "I believe there should be a reward for that."


    The man looked over to the list before nodding his head. "Yes. If you can show me the proof, I can hand over the reward."


    "Good."


    With a wave of his hand, Qi Huan directly took out the heads of numerous bandits that they had gathered. The man was surprised to see the pile, but he quickly checked them and soon confirmed their points.


    "The reward for this bandit is 50 points," the man looked at the two of them. "Will you split your reward or?"


    "Half and half," Qi Huan handed his badge and Ye Jiao followed suit.


    "Got it."


    After getting their reward, Qi Huan proceeded to take a mission directly while Ye Jiao didn''t because she wanted to use the point to train in the room there first.


    "You can just take your time to train later. These Eon Energy Masters rank 2 are nothing much for us anymore," Qi Huan tried to persuade.


    His words were not loud, but some people who were there were mostly experts. They have keen hearing and the words that Qi Huan uttered kind of stabbed them in their hearts.


    Brats, do you want to seek death by underestimating Eon Energy Master rank 2?


    "Shan Dian, do you want me to give you a mission to exterminate a beast horde?"


    Both Ye Jiao and Qi Huan froze in their place when they heard that cold voice. Slowly, they looked up only to see their master standing there. He was smiling, yet there was a dangerous aura emanating around his body.


    "Ai Jiao (Shan Dian) greets Master!" The two of them immediately bowed down. Internally, they were confused about how their master could find them so quickly. It was too bizarre.


    Seeing the surroundings looking at them, Zhan Jing beckoned for the two of them to follow after him. "We should move."


    "Yes, Master."


    Ye Jiao sneaked a glance to the people and noticed their weird gaze. Even though Zhan Jing was supposed to be one of the greatest masters in Bao Fu Organization, they looked like they were looking at enemies. It was a weird gaze.


    Zhan Jing booked a training room and took the two children inside. He looked at Ye Jiao. "Do you know what you have done?"


    "I know, Master," Ye Jiao looked down.


    Zhan Jing raised his hand and stopped in front of Ye Jiao''s head.


    FLICK!


    He flicked it right to the girl''s forehead. "You''re a genuine idiot! Do you think that they won''t be able to find out if you disguise yourself? When this incident is fully investigated, it can even lead to you as one of the instigators, you brat!"


    "I''m sorry, Master!"


    Ye Jiao bowed down. Her master had warned her before to never show her real strength outside, but she didn''t heed it and decided to appear before the Wei Family. It was only Su Lian, but it would be enough to bring her more trouble in the future.


    Zhan Jing sighed. "Seriously, all of you are nothing but trouble."


    "Master, I¡­"


    "I know," Zhan Jing crouched down to put his eyes at the same level as Ye Jiao. "You''re impatient because you want them to pay for what they do."


    "Yes," Ye Jiao replied timidly. It was not truly praiseworthy, but she just couldn''t let them go for what they had done. When she saw a chance, she just took it without thinking too much, hoping for her little scheme to work. She knew: she''s not a good girl. She''s just a brat who couldn''t even hold back her own emotions and impulse to take her revenge.


    Zhan Jing raised his hand and patted Ye Jiao''s head. "You''re a bit too impulsive, but it''ll be fine. You''re still young and many youngsters make a lot of choices that might end up as mistakes in their path to adulthood."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. "is it a mistake, Master?"


    "I can''t say that it''s a mistake too, but I want you to ask yourself, is it something you regretted or not?"


    Towards that question, Ye Jiao was not sure. She had to admit that aside from feeling bad that she involved some (stupid) villagers who chose to fawn their way, she didn''t feel regret for what had happened to Wei Family.


    Zhan Jing watched Ye Jiao''s expression. He faintly smiled. There was never right or wrong in the matter of revenge. At the very first, nothing was right.


    From the very moment one was greedy of power, money, or women or something else, they have already started to make mistakes. Chasing after other people just because they have something they wanted but couldn''t have, it started this accursed wheel. Those who survived and witnessed might not be able to take it lying down.


    Some would take it upon themselves and deliver the revenge to destroy them. And the cycles continued.


    He had seen it for a long time, so he knew that it was a never ending cycle. The only way to end it was to completely eliminate the possibility of another revenge or if one side chose to forgive. But either chance was awfully low.


    "Will you stop me, Master?" Ye Jiao asked.


    Zhan Jing shook his head. "I won''t. It''s better for you to push forward so that you can learn."


    "Learn?" Ye Jiao blinked her eyes in confusion.


    Seeing her, Zhan Jing shook his head lightly. She was still too young. There were many things that she needed to learn. Besides, one would never stop learning until the day they died.


    How much she learned would depend on what she experienced. He would not shackle her and let her roam free. That way, she would understand that in a cycle of revenge, one side has to be the one to end it.


    Zhan Jing grinned. "Youngsters better be headstrong and reckless rather than submissive and never take risks."


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. "Why do I feel like you''re cursing me, Master?"


    He always calculated his action, making it hard for people to catch his tail. Asking him to act recklessly would be close to impossible.


    "I''m not directing my words to you," Zhan Jing sighed. "You already know your wrongdoing, so you should try to not stand out too much, understand brat?"


    "Yes, Master."


    "Good. Anything else you need to report?"


    Ye Jiao recalled the stone that she found under the tree. She quickly took out it out and showed it to Zhan Jing. The faint movement of Eon Energy within the stone was still clear for her.


    "Master. I found this along with a lot of Natural Essence Fruit. I''m not sure what it is."


    Qi Huan glanced to the rock. Even now, he still thought of that rock as an ordinary rock without any special feature. However, Ye Jiao said that she could sense Eon Energy movement, so he chose to stay silent.


    Taking the stone, Zhan Jing used his Eon Energy to probe. He smiled when he sensed what was inside. "There''s pure Eon Energy inside this stone, sealed in the form of liquid."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes shone. "It means there''s Eon Energy inside?"


    "Yes." Zhan Jing exerted force and destroyed the stone. There was a drop on the air that looked like it was glowing. "This is good for your training. This type of pure liquid Eon Energy rarely forms, so I think someone might have left it there. It''s your luck to find it."


    Controlling his Eon Energy, Zhan Jing brought the liquid to Ye Jiao. As she drank the drop, Ye Jiao could sense warmth feeling began to spread all over her body. At the same time, she could sense that her Eon Energy was growing along with her core.


    Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao with interest. "Is the effect really good, Master?"


    Zhan Jing nodded. "It''ll help you to advance faster, but you shouldn''t rely too much on this type of luck. Finding this pure liquid Eon Energy is too hard. You''ll be better off absorbing naturally from the nature during training. Besides, using this meant that you''ll have to adjust the newfound increase of power inside your body."


    "Oh? There''s sudden increase?"


    "Just a bit."


    By now, Ye Jiao had finished. She looked at Zhan Jing with her eyes sparkled. "Master, it''s amazing! I can feel that I''m growing much stronger."


    Zhan Jing nodded in acknowledgment. "That''s natural. Now that I''m here, I''ll be training you for the time being."


    "¡­" Master, can I just take a mission?

 191 Train Hard

    "Good, now that I''m here, I''ll be training you for the time being."


    "¡­" Master, can I just take a mission?


    Ye Jiao wanted to cry as she turned her head to look at Qi Huan, hoping for him to help her escape this deathly training. Since they had advanced to rank 2, wouldn''t it mean that the training became even harsher?


    Qi Huan turned his head around, pretending to not see Ye Jiao. "Master, I have accepted a mission, so I''ll be taking my leave first."


    "You can leave tomorrow. Today, you''re going to train with me."


    Qi Huan: "¡­"


    "Master, how do you find out that we''re here?" Ye Jiao decided to ask another question. The two of them didn''t inform anyone about their departure, so their master shouldn''t be able to find them in the numerous Bao Fu Organization Headquarters that existed here.


    "Lu Wan told me that you depart to the West, so I know that you should head here."


    "¡­" That traitor.


    The two of them secretly brewed a plan inside their mind to make Lu Wan suffer the moment they met with him again in the future. That brat just blurted out their designation to their heartless master. They knew that they would surely try to make Lu Wan suffer as much as possible, probably to the point that he was black and blue.


    Zhan Jing took out a sword. "Now, shall we start with a spar?"


    Ye Jiao and Qi Huan wanted to cry but no words came out. They silently took out their weapon as they readied their stance.


    Master, please hold back a bit.


    ¡­


    Qi Huan was lucky to be released after a day of training, but Ye Jiao had to suffer for the entire week after that. Zhan Jing didn''t allow her to have even the slightest rest as he grinded her into training over and over again. It was so tiring that Ye Jiao could barely maintain her focus on the seventh day.


    "This should do for your training," Zhan Jing remarked after they had another spar. He stretched his body. "You have improved a lot even though you''re still not a match for me."


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "Master, you''re Eon Energy Master rank 4. How do you expect me to match with you?"


    "True enough, but there are a lot of geniuses out there who didn''t care too much for the difference in rank. They can defeat people who are at higher ranking than them with ease," Zhan Jing looked at Ye Jiao. "Do not be content with your strength. No matter what, rank 3 is just the beginning."


    "Yes, Master."


    Zhan Jing took out a book and passed it to Ye Jiao. "You''re very good at hiding your presence and launching surprise attacks, so I think this can help you in your training."


    "What is this, Master?" Ye Jiao tilted her head as she opened the book. It was filled with the description regarding erasing one''s presence.


    "It''s a secret book of Bao Fu Organization. There are a lot of other books and this one is the one I copied back when I''m still outside the four kingdoms," Zhan Jing explained.


    The book nearly fell to the ground from Ye Jiao''s hand. "Master, are you sure it''s alright for me to have this book?"


    "It''s fine," Zhan Jing waved his hand. "It''s worthless for me because I can only train to the third stage because of my limited talent. Perhaps, you can train into a higher rank since you seem to be very good."


    "Thank you very much, Master!"


    "Train hard."


    "Ah, wait a minute," Ye Jiao recalled the look of the people around them that she saw before. It was weird to see them directing it to Eon Energy Master rank 4 because in the four kingdoms, they were at the peak of the power structure. "Master, can I ask something?"


    "Ask away."


    "Why did it seem that the people from the Bao Fu Organization hate you?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    Zhan Jing''s eyes widened for a moment before sighing. "I should know better than anyone that you and Qi Huan would be able to detect it right away. Unlike that blockhead Lu Wan, both of you have keener sense."


    Ye Jiao grew up with a lot of people sending her malicious gazes. Even when she was doing missions, there were a lot of villagers who would give her suspicious looks because she was unfamiliar. Compared to Lu Wan, who never thought anything about it, Ye Jiao learned how to differentiate them and recognize the type of gazes that they used.


    "Master?"


    "It''s a long story, but if I have to cut it short, I''m not from four kingdoms. I come from a much larger and powerful kingdom with a lot of experts at the higher rank compared to me. In that place, rank 4 is just the average power. No, not just average, it''s even lower than average."


    Rank 4 is even lower than the average?


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. In this place, rank 4 was already the strongest existence. But in that place, it seemed that their standard was much higher. She always though that Four Kingdoms were vast, but it didn''t seem to be the case in real life. The world is much larger than what she thought.


    "Here, I''m called the hidden leader while in truth, it''s the same as cutting away my relation to the organization. They can use me for their mission, but if I''m captured or killed, they''ll deny my relationship to the organization."


    "That-!"


    Zhan Jing patted Ye Jiao''s head. "It might be hard for you to accept, but this is my position in the organization."


    "Is there no way out?" Ye Jiao peered to her master.


    "No. I already pledged an oath of loyalty to the organization, so I''ll never be able to get out of this place unless I die."


    There were numerous oaths or pledges or vows that people could make in this world. They were the promises that one made to an organization, kingdom, or even to other people. Oath of loyalty was one of them and also considered as one of the highest possible oath one could make.


    A person could only make an oath of loyalty once in their life. They would be giving their promise to stay loyal until the end of their life to someone. It was usually forced by master to servant in order to make them stay loyal to him until the very end. Some organizations also enforced this oath to make sure that their disciple should never leave them.


    The only way for them to be released was only if they gave that oath to a person and that person cut off the ties. That way, they would be able to make the Oath of Loyalty once more to other people or organizations.


    If they broke their oath, they would be punished by the Heaven directly. Sometimes, they would die right away, but it also might not kill them directly and only took their power. After all, breaking a promise they made to the Heaven was considered as the greatest crime to the entire world.


    "But Master¡­"


    Zhan Jing just smiled and patted Ye Jiao''s head. "I''m not that good of a master, you know? I have my own reason to pick you all as my disciple."


    "Whatever reason you have, it''s a fact that you''re helping us, so we''re not going to leave you, Master," Ye Jiao said earnestly. "There must be a way for you to get out of the organization, so we''ll try to find the way out together, Master."


    "Yeah."


    Seeing the little girl so adamant on having him released from the organization, Zhan Jing''s lips curled up into a smile. He truly had good disciples. It was truly unfortunate of them to meet him when he was entangled with a mess with his own organization.


    A mess that could never be cleared out.


    "I''ll also start doing personal missions, Master. Is that fine?"


    "It''s good that you can start doing personal missions. Also, you might be able to hone your killing intent the more people you kill. It might not be as much as Qi Huan, but you should be able to gain a considerable amount of them with training."


    "Yes, Master, I understand."


    "Now, I need to get going," Zhan Jing stood up. "Do not neglect your practice. I''ll come over to see you in a few months'' time. Also, do not forget that you three have to gather together for a group mission."


    "Group mission, Master?"


    "Yes, defeat one Eon Energy Master rank 3."


    Ye Jiao: "¡­" master, do you want to kill us?


    Seeing that Zhan Jing had disappeared, Ye Jiao truly wished to scold her master. The difference between Eon Energy Master rank 3 and rank 2 were large. It would be hard for them to defeat even one.


    She sighed to herself as she knew that she would have to do it.


    They just have a too demanding Master¡­.

 192 Cooperation

    Time passed swiftly. Ye Jiao spent most of the days to train and continued did mission to accumulate her points, though most of them ended up being used right away because she continued to use the facilities. Rather than saving them, she made use of the facilities in that place to train and searched for information. It had become her daily routine to do missions, go to the library, and go to the training area.


    Qi Huan also did missions, but he did it separately. There was no need for them to do missions together so far because of their rank. Now, it was already winter and snow started to fall. Ye Jiao also had her birthday, so now she had turned 11.


    Today, Ye Jiao visited her senior brother. She found him using one of the facilities, the highly concentrated Eon Energy room that was useful if they wished to train their Eon Energy.


    "You seem to be dissatisfied with their highly concentrated Eon Energy room, Senior Brother Shan," Ye Jiao remarked.


    Qi Huan nodded. "They''re not as good as the one I have in Chi Kingdom. But forget about it. At the very least, the amount of Eon Energy we have has increased by a lot."


    From only being able to form a thin layer of Eon Energy around their body, they were already capable of forming a thick one. In addition, they had started to stretch it and learned how to control at the distance of around one meter around their body. The result was still horrible, but at least, they have started to be able to do that.


    "Let''s return back to Chen Kingdom and fetch our senior brother," Ye Jiao grinned. "It should be the time for us to do the collaboration mission together."


    "Yeah," Qi Huan agreed. "Let''s head back."


    The two of them departed the day after that and headed back to Chen Kingdom. Because of their increase in Eon Energy, they were able to move their body faster and protected themselves from the wind. It increased their original pace by several fold as they dashed through the swamp and entered into the grassland.


    "This grassland makes me remember the hunt," Qi Huan clicked his tongue. It has only ended a few months ago, so he still has a lot of impression of the Spring Hunt.


    "Come to think about it, I wonder how Chen Kingdom''s condition after the destruction of several places," Ye Jiao pondered.


    "There are several pieces of news. First is the agreement of Su Family and Wei Family, the Su Family pays for half of the damages and ease the citizen rage. Secondly, Prince Chen Zi Quan announced his engagement a few days ago. He''s engaged to Wei Yin from the Wei Family."


    "Huh, engagement?" Ye Jiao''s eyes widened in surprise. Considering that Chen Zi Quan aimed to become a powerful Eon Energy Master in the academy, why would he tie himself down to a woman from Chen Kingdom? It wouldn''t be weird at all if these princes never got engaged because they pursued better strength in the future.


    Qi Huan yawned. "Yeah, it''s not the position of the main wife, but the side one. I don''t know what they''re planning to do, but I can say that it''s definitely not a good one."


    Ye Jiao didn''t reply back. The thought of marrying as a side wife would definitely not a good one. Even though Wei Yin has great talent, it seemed that she was still unable to escape from the clutch of the imperial family as they wished for her to stay loyal to them until the very end.


    "I feel bad for Wei Yin."


    "Really? I don''t feel anything."


    "I guess, it''s a normal thing for you, Prince Qi Huan?"


    Qi Huan frowned. "Don''t call me using my real name out here. I''m not saying that she should become someone else''s side wife, but she''s just too timid for her own good. She never complains and always accepts other people''s arrangements. If she wants to, there should be a way for her to stop this arrangement."


    With Wei Yin''s talent, it was not a surprise if the imperial family backed down. They could just make her gave her oath of loyalty and didn''t force her to get married. If she didn''t want, it could lead to some other problems, but they wouldn''t be able to force her hand into a marriage like this.


    Her submissive attitude just showed that she didn''t even try to voice out her opinion. She looked completely like a doll that the people from the Wei Family and Imperial family used without restraint.


    "Maybe she just doesn''t have a choice?"


    "I don''t know," Qi Huan shrugged. "You seem to be very concerned about her."


    "Well, I just don''t have a bad impression of her," Ye Jiao admitted. From the Wei Family children, only Wei Yin never attempted to bully her directly. She would stay at the back, looking impassive to the situation. It was the kind of eyes that seemed to have given up on life. However, Ye Jiao faintly understood that it was not easy for a woman to become a martial artist. At the very end, they would be used as a marriage tool to other families.


    Qi Huan shrugged. "She''s the type of girl that buried everything in her mind down. That''s my impression of her. At the very least, with the Wei Family busy, they seem to have forgotten about you and your father."


    There was not even a mention of their name on the street anymore. Qi Huan also no longer heard any news regarding the search for Ye Jiao. It was as if the imperial family had determined that she had died along with her mother.


    "That''s good," Ye Jiao nodded in agreement.


    ROAR!


    The two of them stopped on their track as they looked to the front. It looked like there was a fierce battle ahead.


    "Let''s go and take a look," Qi Huan sprinted and soon, they saw a valley filled with numerous beasts.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened in surprise. "I didn''t expect to see a beast horde again."


    "This is a small one and there are only a few leaders at rank 2, Qi Huan scanned the horde, trying to inspect their strength. "Hey, Jiao''er, do you want to try something?"


    "Please don''t tell me that we''re going to fight them?"


    "That''s exactly what I want us to do. We can be considered as half step into the third rank, so we should learn how to use our Eon Energy in the fight more. Let''s just use them to test out our strength."


    Ye Jiao furrowed her brows. It was not impossible to test out their strength using the beast horde because they have a large number. However, the risk of them losing out in terms of stamina was also there.


    "Senior Brother Shan, are you trying to become more reckless like what Master said?"


    "I could make do with some training," Qi Huan shrugged. "Besides, in my estimation, we won''t die with only this number."


    Hearing his words, Ye Jiao felt calmer. Even though Qi Huan might be suggesting something a bit reckless, he would never try to fight a battle he couldn''t win. This prince was too calculative to do that. Ye Jiao knew that she could trust his words because he would not utter nonsense just like Lu Wan.


    "Fine. Let''s go."


    The two of them dashed into the horde. Ye Jiao used the method to erase her presence. After receiving the book, she had been training it wholeheartedly, but she could only master the first stage. Still, it was already more than enough because the way she concealed herself made it hard for those below rank 4 to detect her if they were not trying hard enough.


    Slash!


    The moment Ye Jiao got close, she took out her dagger and slashed the rank 2 beast near her. The beast didn''t even have a chance to react when it collapsed on the ground. Silently, Ye Jiao moved to the next beast and swung her dagger. It made a perfect arc as she continued to kill them all without alarming them.


    Still, the smell of blood caused unease to spread on the horde. They were confused by their companion''s sudden fall and the thick smell of blood.


    ''She''s amazing,'' Qi Huan was astonished when he saw Ye Jiao move. She looked completely different when she was making her move. However, it didn''t mean he couldn''t do anything.


    He reached the nearby beast and used his sword to attack them rapidly.


    Slash! Slash!


    Blood splattered out everywhere, tainting the snowy ground red with blood. It was a scary sight to behold.


    Roar!


    "Silence," Qi Huan uttered a word imbued by his thick bloodlust and killing intent. That one word was already more than enough to silence the beast as they trembled in fear. Many didn''t manage to move when Qi Huan''s blade reached them.


    Even the rank 2 beast was nothing in front of him.


    As he had expected, with their newfound strength, it has turned into one sided massacre.

 193 The Fallen Proud Servan

    "We harvested quite a lot of cores," Qi Huan kept them all inside his storage bracelet while Ye Jiao only stored the rank 2 beasts'' meat. After eating the meat from rank 2 beasts, she no longer felt like eating the meat from rank 1 beast because of their difference in Eon Energy concentration.


    "What do you plan to do with them, Senior Brother Qi?"


    "We can''t consume them directly because it can kill us, but we can sell them for a good amount of price. Rank 1 cores normally sold at the price of 10 copper. It can be used to light up small devices in the household. Rank 2 cores normally sold at the price of 1 silver. If you gather 100 rank 2 cores, you can use it to light up the transportation array to transfer 1 person."


    Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows in surprise. "It means the cost to use a transportation array is just 100 silvers or 1 gold?"


    "No. The one who can activate it must be at Eon Energy Master rank 3 and he''s helped with a lot of rank 1 cores to sustain himself. Every activation is very taxing, so they give the price of 100 gold," Qi Huan smiled.


    100 gold¡­ that was daylight robbery.


    "That''s why they always gather a lot of people to share the cost. After all, not everyone has the necessary requirement to activate the array and if there''s not enough rank 2 cores, they have to use 10 times more rank 1 cores."


    "I see."


    Qi Huan stretched his body. "Do you want to keep these rank 2 beast cores? You might want to use them."


    "No, thanks. Oh right, how about beast rank 3?"


    "If it''s rank 3, you can use just 1 to activate the transportation array and use it to transport 10 people. In the four kingdoms, beasts at rank 3 were fairly rare, so it was quite a luxury to have them."


    Ye Jiao was speechless. It seemed that the amount of Eon Energy inside the cores were much more compared to what she thought at first.


    "Let''s go. There''s still a long way to go."


    "Ah, alright."


    The two of them dashed and left the scene. There were a lot of beasts'' corpses left there, but neither one of them cared. It was already a common sight in the wilderness, though the number itself might be a problem.


    little did they know that when people found out that there was a lot of corpses of beasts in one place, they reported it as there was someone extremely powerful running rampart. After all, it was not easy to defeat a large number of beasts at once.


    Ye Jiao and Qi Huan were oblivious as they made their way to Chen Kingdom Capital City.


    "Senior Brother Shan, what kind of excuse do you think will match us if we want to enter the city?"


    "Let''s just say we''re the children of adventurers. We come to the city to buy supplies because our parents ordered us to."


    "And our parents are waiting in the forests?"


    "That should be a good idea," Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao for a split second. They have some differences in their appearance, but those people shouldn''t pay too much attention. With thick clothes, they should be able to make their appearance a bit unclear.


    "Got it."


    The two of them stopped their insane running speed when they were nearing the edge of the forest. Slowly, they used normal children''s ordinary speed as they ran to the gate. The guards were looking at them suspiciously.


    "Stop, you may not pass!"


    "Ah, Mr. Guard, we''re here to buy some supplies!" Ye Jiao acted cutely on purpose.


    "Supplies?"


    Qi Huan nodded. He acted more mature as he pointed to the forest. "Our parents are adventurers, but they''re tired after fighting a large beast just now. Because of that, we volunteer to buy some supplies for them. Can we pass through? We promise that we won''t take long."


    "Yes! We just need some water for Mommy," Ye Jiao extended her hand and said in exaggerated manner.


    The guards were helpless in front of these children. He signaled the guard to open the gate. ??Fine, but make sure that you don''t create trouble."


    "Don''t worry, we''re already grown up!" Ye Jiao replied as she ran inside like a child.


    On the other hand, Qi Huan smiled. "Thank you, we won''t take long in the city."


    As the two of them disappeared into the crowd, the guards soon forgot about them. There were a lot of people who came to the capital city each day, so they were not able to remember them all.


    "You''re good at acting," Qi Huan smiled in relief. This was the first time he saw Ye Jiao act because they always did personal mission during the last few months that they spent in the West. He had never seen the little girl acted before because it was unnecessary to act when they were in the Headquarter.


    At most, she would act careful around the other people because a lot of them were powerful.


    Ye Jiao smiled. "I practiced a lot from the missions lately."


    "I was worried you''ll be like a certain someone who didn''t seem to have common sense that he needs to act to survive."


    "I''m glad that I don''t have to do missions with him too for the past few months."


    The two of them smiled wryly. They knew how bad Lu Wan could be in acting and it was pure torture to force that young man to act. Even the slightest act was seen as a disgrace for him, so they couldn''t do anything but give up on persuading that young man. He would only do the bare minimum in terms of acting.


    "I can''t ever understand why he decided to be an assassin without any ability to blend in with the crowd," Qi Huan sighed. One of the basic abilities that an assassin needed was not just to hide in the dark. They needed the ability to act and lived in the crowd without anyone suspicious of them. Lu Wan was clearly a large failure for the second part because he was the type that just barged in and did his work then ran away.


    "He''s not the type to think much of his decision," Ye Jiao smiled wryly. She recalled the story that he told her and she knew, he accepted the offer in a spur of moment. It was only later did he realize how bad he would be in terms of acting and blending in.


    Qi Huan sighed. "Back to the topic on hand. Where do you think he will be?"


    "It should be either his residence or school," Ye Jiao responded after thinking for a bit. "Let''s split up. I''ll check the school while you check his residence."


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. Wouldn''t it be better for Ye Jiao to be the one checking the residence with her ability to conceal herself? However, it would be good practice for him because he was rarely able to sneak into a residence. Even if they found him, he could just find a way to get out with his ability.


    Not that he was the kind to make foolish mistake, though.


    "Sure, I''ll get going first."


    "Take care. Don''t get caught."


    "I won''t."


    Ye Jiao sprinted to the school. She easily crossed over the fence from the area that was covered in trees and entered the school ground. Her eyes wandered around as she was looking for Lu Wan. It was resting time, so a lot of students were around.


    She approached a nearby student. "Excuse me."


    "Yes?"


    "Have you seen Young Master Lu Wan from Lu Family? The teacher is asking for him."


    "Young Master Lu Wan is in seclusion ever since his return to Chen Kingdom. I haven''t heard news of him getting out."


    "Oh," Ye Jiao looked disappointed. "Okay, I''ll tell the teacher. Thank you very much!"


    "Yes."


    The student didn''t feel suspicious at all as he walked away. Ye Jiao headed to the other direction when she faintly heard a familiar voice yelling from a distance.


    "You ungrateful b*stard! Do you think that you deserve to be standing on the same page with me? Dream on! You''re just a trash now #$%^\u0026*()."


    Ye Jiao followed after the voice and saw two children on the side of the school. A girl was fiercely beating up a boy, who was crouching on the ground. Every strike she gave out was vicious as it directly hit the boy where it hurt the most.


    "Wei Mi and Wei Liao."


    The sight of the girl beating up the boy seemed unfamiliar in her eyes, but she herself still remembered how Wei Mi used to beat her up along with the others. Wei Liao would follow her order like a proud servant.


    Now, that proud figure has disappeared. Replacing it was the poor and helpless boy who was beaten up viciously.

 194 Regret and Guil

    "It has been around 7 months more or less," Ye Jiao thought to herself. The Spring Hunt ended when it was already the beginning of Summer and now it was already the middle of winter, nearing the end. Calculating the time, Wei Liao would have been staying in that position for a long time already.


    The change that occurred to Wei Liao was very drastic that Ye Jiao could not see any trace of the previous Wei Liao in that boy anymore. He was acting submissive, not daring to look up to the young girl who beat him up at all. His head hung low while his hands were protecting his head with all he could.


    "If it''s not because of you and your b*tch mother, my mother will never be in this situation. You should just die, you #$%^\u0026*(*\u0026^%$#$%^\u0026*(."


    Hearing the line of cursing words coming out from Wei Mi''s mouth, Ye Jiao was stunned speechless. The girl has a fair appearance and looked beautiful, but the words that came out from her words were only vulgarities.


    It seemed one shouldn''t judge a book by its cover.


    RING!


    The sound of the bell stopped Wei Mi''s movements. Her eyes were filled with ruthless glint as she looked at Wei Liao as if he was worse than trash. "You''re lucky because of the bell again. Remember, this is not over!"


    Wei Liao didn''t answer and stayed in the same position for the next several seconds. It was only after Wei Mi left did he raised his head and stood up slowly. His body was aching all over. Since Wei Mi would soon form her core, her overall strength had increased. Compared to him, he was extremely weak.


    Slowly, he dragged his body to the nearby tree and sat down. Leaning on the tree, he sighed to himself.


    "I never know that being bullied is this horrible. How ridiculous," Wei Liao laughed to himself as his eyes turned wet.


    He was always the one who bullied others by relying on his position in Wei Family. Never even once he thought about himself being the one receiving the other end. It was so painful. His heart was filled with desperation as he was unable to fight back. The weakness in his body and the pain they gave, everything was so painful.


    On the side, Ye Jiao was observing Wei Liao. There was a strange light in the boy''s eyes when he looked up. It was a gaze filled with hatred and at the same time despondence. That kind of gaze was something that couldn''t be found on normal children.


    But they were never normal children, weren''t they?


    Wei Liao was unable to sense Ye Jiao as he just stayed in his place. His body was hurting and he knew that if he went to class, Wei Mi would just make trouble for him. Even in the residence, that girl would never leave him alone unless he was unable to move out of his bed just like a dead person.


    "It''s not my fault, but why do they always blame me and never leave me alone?"


    Hearing the young girl''s voice, Wei Liao was alarmed. He looked around him and saw a young girl standing not far from him. She has long black hair that flowed freely on her back. Her clothes were similar to boys but it was made to be slightly feminine. Her green pupil looked straight to the boy.


    "Isn''t that what you think right now?"


    "Who are you?" Wei Liao asked. He couldn''t move from his position without his body hurting, so he could only try to be a little cautious.


    "How rude. Am I really someone you can easily forget?" Ye Jiao chuckled. "But I guess, the situation is completely different as you have never tried to take a good look at the person you bullied before, have you?"


    Wei Liao''s eyes narrowed when he heard the word ''bullied.'' There were a lot of people that Wei Mi oppressed because of that girl''s arrogance, but he didn''t know there was anyone who looked like this person. However, that black hair and green pupil made him remember one person.


    A person who should have been dead.


    "Ye Jiao."


    Ye Jiao smiled. "I see that you still remember me. I thought that you have completely forgotten about me."


    Hearing that Ye Jiao directly admitted that, Wei Liao''s body shook. He thought that this person had died from a long time ago because there was not even a single news about her circulated anymore. It has been more than two years, but the girl in front of him had changed so much.


    She was no longer the small fragile girl who could only run as they chased after her. Her gaze was no longer filled with fear and worry, but it was clear as if she could see pass through him. She looked healthy with simple clothes, yet it was clear that she must have lived a good life so far.


    For the two years, she managed to live while he was treated like dirt over here.


    Wei Liao laughed, a type of laugh that didn''t have any hint of happiness but only remorse. "It''s truly a karma isn''t it? The one who used to bully other people now fall so low that he could only try to live by scraping for things while the one who was bullied now lives well. Truly¡­"


    Tears streamed out of Wei Liao''s eyes. He had been so foolish to follow after Wei Mi''s demand all this time. He had hurt other people numerous times unaware that his action inflicted deep sadness and pain in them. Now that it was his turn, he finally understood what they had experienced.


    It was truly an unbearable pain.


    "Why are you crying?"


    "Why do you come here, Ye Jiao? If they know that you''re still alive, they won''t leave you and hunt you to death," Wei Liao wiped his tears. His eyes were red yet they were filled with hopeless determination. "Do you want to kill me because of what I did before? If you do, then you are free to do so. I can''t fight back and if you have a weapon with you, it''ll be easy to kill me."


    He knew how foolish his action back then was, but he did that because he wanted to have a good use. Now that he had reflected and experienced the harsh treatment, he knew that it was foolish. Those action would only give birth to hate and the satisfaction he felt was just a fake one. Feeling happy on top of someone else''s pain was not something worthy of praise.


    He only understood them after experiencing it himself. Being the one to bully them was fun because he was the one who had the power. But becoming the one getting bullied? That was the complete opposite. If those people wished to fight him back because of what he did, he would accept them.


    It was his punishment for hurting them before. He wouldn''t say anything and accepted it because he deserved it.


    He might just be a kid back then, but these people were also children. Some children could be ignorant of their words and actions. But it didn''t mean they shouldn''t be responsible for what they had done. He understood that, and he readily accepted it. He didn''t want to run away from what he had done.


    "I didn''t come here to kill you," Ye Jiao said calmly. If she wanted to, she could kill him even without showing herself. It was extremely easy for her to do so with her current strength.


    "Then, why?"


    "I want to use you."


    Wei Liao''s eyes widened. He looked at Ye Jiao with disbelief. Did he hear it right? She wanted to use him, but he already had nothing. His core was taken away from him and his strength was nothing much that he could be defeated by someone two years younger than him. How could someone that was nothing more than a trash be of use again?


    This made him genuinely perplexed for he couldn''t understand Ye Jiao''s train of thoughts.


    "Why?"


    "Why you ask? Because you also bore hatred to the Wei Family, specifically Wei Mi," Ye Jiao replied. Her green irises were looking straight to Wei Liao as if she was seeing right through him. "Am I right?"


    Wei Liao looked at Ye Jiao with fear. It felt as if Ye Jiao had managed to see through to his deepest secret. He always tried to hide it because he didn''t want them to know that he hated them for what they did. If they knew, they would surely kill him without hesitation because they didn''t want to keep a threat living.


    But Ye Jiao just uttered it out after meeting him for a few seconds.


    "How?"


    "You want to ask how do I know, right?" Ye Jiao smiled. Her eyes flashed momentarily with sadness and grieve. "It''s because I have seen the same gaze on myself over and over again in the past."

 195 Oath of Loyalty

    "How?"


    "You want to ask how do I know, right?" Ye Jiao smiled. Her eyes flashed momentarily with sadness and grieve. "It''s because I have seen the same gaze on myself over and over again in the past."


    Ah.


    Wei Liao recalled how they used to treat Ye Jiao in the past. It wouldn''t be weird for the girl to start bearing hatred to them because of their action. This kind of gaze, filled with concealed hatred was nothing new to her. It was extremely common for her to see this kind of gaze.


    "I see."


    "Why do you hate her?"


    "Because she uses me," Wei Liao replied right away. "Maybe it''s just my foolishness to follow after her order like a servant, but I just want to have someone to rely on. With my low talent and low birth, I know that I didn''t have much worth. I can only survive by latching onto someone powerful."


    And the one who has the highest prospect was Wei Mi or the other two. Since the other two were older than him, he could only get close to Wei Mi by doing everything she told him to do. But his action was never reciprocated. She treated him worse than dirt and never cared for him at all.


    It was all just a waste of time for him to follow after that girl around all these years.


    He knew that he wouldn''t be able to have good prospects because of his talent, but he didn''t expect that even his sister would treat him that way. He truly misjudged that person.


    "People don''t treasure things that they get without any effort," Ye Jiao shrugged. "Besides, she''s just an ungrateful brat."


    "Yeah. I agree," Wei Liao replied. He looked at Ye Jiao. "You''re already living well with enough food every single day. There shouldn''t be any need for you to come here again, right?"


    "They have a debt of blood and obviously, I''ll ask them to pay with blood too,'''' Ye Jiao smiled mirthlessly.


    Wei Liao knew that it would surely be a bloodbath in Wei Family in the future. With Ye Jiao still alive and kicking, there would be a way for her to reclaim back what she had lost to them. He looked down to his condition.


    "I''m nothing but a trash, but you still want to help me?"


    "Naturally, I have a way to use you," Ye Jiao replied. "The question would be, would you let yourself be used by me?"


    Looking at the girl younger than him, Wei Liao was not entirely sure. However, he didn''t have anything left for him in the Wei Family Residence anymore. Waiting for another five or six years to form his core again and built his strength afterwards would be extremely painful. He was not even sure that they would wait that long before they disposed him.


    After all, Wei Mi would soon become powerful.


    "Are you going to force to absorb other people''s core too?" Wei Liao suddenly asked.


    Ye Jiao was surprised to hear that Wei Liao knew that method. There were three methods to recover one''s core after losing it. The last one was to absorb other people''s core to make their core''s rank higher. It was a cruel method with a low success rate, but it would directly allow someone to have higher talent.


    "You can''t absorb other people''s core unless you have already formed your own core by yourself first," Ye Jiao replied. She recalled that this was not the usual method to recover one''s core, but more like to advance faster.


    "What?"


    "You still have to form one by yourself before you can absorb other people''s core. If it''s taking other people''s core directly, you''ll only limit yourself to the previous rank that you have reached before."


    Wei Liao''s eyes widened when he listened to Ye Jiao''s explanation. He looked back at her for a moment. "Are you the one who leaked out to Su Lian that one can take other people''s core?"


    "I am."


    "I see," no wonder that it seemed weird that the foolish woman suddenly knew so much. He looked at Ye Jiao. "What do you have in plan for me?"


    "You''ll know later."


    "I guess, it can''t be helped, huh?" Slowly, Wei Liao stood up from his position. His legs trembled because of his lack of strength, but it turned firm after a while. He looked at Ye Jiao for a moment before kowtowing in front of her.


    "I, Wei Liao, swear on my name and blood in front of the Heaven that I''ll follow my one and only master, Ye Jiao, until the very end. I''ll obey every instruction she gives me and stays as her servant forever and stays true to her in every word I say. If she orders me to go to hell, I''ll gladly do so. If she orders me to kill my life, I''ll offer my life to her. If I fail to do so, may I die in the most miserable way possible. Heaven shall be my witness that today, I, Wei Liao, pledge my loyalty and give my life to Ye Jiao."


    The moment Wei Liao finished saying his oath, the wind moved as if responding to his oath. Ye Jiao could faintly feel a link was formed inside her mind, linking Wei Liao''s thoughts directly to her. Her eyes showed traces of surprise as she looked at the young man before her.


    His decisiveness was something she didn''t expect.


    "I never ask you to give your pledge to me."


    "If I stay in Wei Family Residence, I''ll die sooner or later," Wei Liao replied. "You''re not the first person who approaches me telling me that I can grow stronger faster using some methods. She wants to use me, you want to use me, so I''ll just decide my path by myself."


    He knew that sooner or later he would be forced into submission. At the very least, he wanted to be the one to pick his master and pledge his loyalty to that person. The pledge he gave would bind him to stay loyal to Ye Jiao forever, but he didn''t mind it at all. She should be someone better than those at Wei Family.


    He wanted to believe that.


    He didn''t even understand why he had this conviction, but he just decided to believe it for this might be his chance to get out of the family.


    Staying in that family and forced to submit to them taught him the meaning of the word ''desperate.'' The helplessness he experienced might not be as much as what other people such as Ye Jiao experienced. But for him, it was extremely unbearable and painful. He wished it to end.


    "There''s someone else?" Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows. "I thought you only ask that question because of Su Lian."


    "No, it''s not her. Wei Family Third Young Miss is also a peculiar lady," Wei Liao looked at Ye Jiao. "She''s also a trash because her talent is green in color or rank C. However, she seems to be rather off for me."


    "is she the one who tells you that you can absorb other people''s core?"


    "Yes. She tells me that if I take other people''s core and combine it with others, I''ll be able to have higher talent. She has tried to ask me a few times, but I never comply with her," Wei Liao answered truthfully.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. She had heard of this Third Young Miss of Wei Family a few times, but she had never seen that person. It was said that the girl was beautiful but because she has lower talent, no one cared for her in the slightest. Just like her before, this young lady was also bullied in Wei Family Residence.


    "She sounds quite interesting."


    Wei Liao''s face changed a bit. "Master, I advise you to be careful around her. She''s not a normal person."


    "I''ll be careful. Now, you should follow after me. It''ll do you no good to stay in Wei Family Residence continuously."


    "Yes, Master."


    "Let me take a look at you," Ye Jiao pulled Wei Liao closer and used her Eon Energy to cover up the boy''s body and inspected his wounds. They didn''t seem to be life threatening.


    Wei Liao''s body stiffened when he sensed the familiar warm energy. His eyes bulged out as he knew that it was Eon Energy, but they seemed to come from Ye Jiao. They came from this young girl in front of him, right?


    Hahaha, his eyes must be playing tricks on him. There was no way that an 11 years old girl can become Eon Energy Master rank 2 or above¡­.


    "Why are you looking at me like that?"


    "It''s just, Master is this yours?" Lu Wan pointed to the Eon Energy around him.


    "Oh yeah," Ye Jiao nodded her head nonchalantly. "I forgot to tell you, I''m Eon Energy Master rank 2."


    Hearing that, Lu Wan felt his mind went blank. Eon Energy Master rank 2 at the age of 11¡­ yep, his common sense had fallen through.

 196 Going Out of Chen Kingdom Capital City

    Lu Family Residence


    While Ye Jiao was busy in the school, Qi Huan reached the residence. He sneaked inside right after a servant came out from the back door. Once he was inside, he conveniently picked a servant''s robe that was hanging plus a hat to cover his hair. Even though he had colored it dark brown, the normal appearance of servants in this place wore a hat all the time.


    He traveled the area and headed to Lu Wan''s quarter directly. He had come here in the past with Zhan Jing, so he still remembered a bit of the layout. Seeing the training hall''s door was closed, he knew that Lu Wan must be inside.


    Qi Huan moved to the back and entered through the backdoor. He saw that Lu Wan was currently training in the middle of the room while sensing that the concentration of Eon Energy inside the hall had increased several folds.


    "You have a good training place, Lu Wan."


    "Who is-," Lu Wan turned around and struck in his place when he saw Qi Huan. He crossed his arm. "What are you doing in my place?"


    "How rude. Is that your greeting to your senior after more than 7 months not seeing each other?"


    Lu Wan rolled his eyes. He stood up from his sitting position and stretched out his body. "I can''t say that I''m happy to see you again. But you should know that the condition of Chen Kingdom is not peaceful, right?"


    "If you''re talking about the fact that the Su Family reimbursed the citizens for their losses, I already heard it. Also, I know that Chen Zi Quan is suddenly engaged."


    "You''re even a walking newspaper," Lu Wan rubbed his forehead. He had the feeling that Qi Huan would be able to collect much more information compared to the best information agency in this kingdom. "Actually, there''s one more thing. They''re planning on calling me to the palace during the new year celebration for me to swear my allegiance. I refuse, so my father locks me down in my residence."


    "Can''t you find a way to get out?"


    "I can, but I''m not sure that I can get out of the city. There''s a strict rule that they have to be careful if they see someone with my stature get out of the city and directly call my father. Because of that, I can''t get out," Lu Wan sighed.


    "You know that you can hire people to sneak you out, right?"


    "I don''t know which one is my father''s lackey, so I can''t seem to find the right time to do it. Besides, what should I do if they try to check me?" Lu Wan rolled his eyes. He had been trying to get out by using Lu Family''s servants'' clothes, but it would be harder when they were keeping watch of Lu Family members.


    "You''re stupid."


    "What are you¡­!"


    Qi Huan threw a set of clothes to Lu Wan. "That''s travelling clothes that people from Chi Kingdom usually wear. I often use it if I want to get out of the city, so you should be fine if you use it."


    "Wow, you prepare it for me!"


    "No, I''m not. It''s my clothes, but since our size is similar, I guess you can use it. It might be a bit tight for you, though."


    "It''s good enough."


    Lu Wan was still a bit taller than Qi Huan. In addition, his overall built was a bit bigger compared to the young prince. He nodded and placed the clothes on the ground first. "I''ll be going out for a moment. You can wait here."


    "What?"


    Ignoring the stunned Qi Huan, Lu Wan got out of the training hall and headed to his brother''s quarter. Lu Su was busy reviewing a paper when he heard that Lu Wan came over.


    "What do you want now?"


    "I need permission to go out into the city."


    "You know that you''re grounded by father. He won''t allow you to get out of the residence," Lu Su replied calmly.


    "I know," Lu Wan grinned. "I just need some time to get out to think. Can you do it for me?"


    "No."


    "Come on."


    Lu Su looked at Lu Wan for a moment. "Just an hour in the city."


    "Got it, thank you."


    Lu Wan dashed back to his residence and smirked to Qi Huan. "Let''s get out of the residence. I''ll change my clothes in the alleyway later."


    "How do you get permission to go into the city?"


    "Just a little persuading to my brother," Lu Wan replied.


    The two of them walked out of the residence and directly entered the dark alleyway. Qi Huan took off the robe and hat, restoring his appearance as a traveler. On the other hand, Lu Wan dumped a can of paint on his head to change his hair color before changing his clothes to the one Qi Huan gave him. The two of them continued their way into the Black Market and picked the route without snow.


    "Winter is so annoying. They can trace our steps with the help of snow," Lu Wan murmured.


    "Some parts are cleaned, so we can use it that way."


    "Yes."


    The two of them circled around for a while before they got out and headed to the gate. Lu Wan tensed up for a bit but Qi Huan still looked the same as before. He took out a small bag and wore it on his body.


    "Who is it?" the guard blocked their way.


    Qi Huan smiled brightly. "I''m the child traveler from before. I just buy some water and food for our mother and now we wish to return back."


    "is that so?" The guard did recall that there were traveler''s children coming in. He couldn''t really remember their faces that well, though, so he moved slightly. "Take care of your mother."


    "I will, thank you."


    The two of them walked away as the guard blocked the way for the next people. They entered the forest before Lu Wan heaved a sigh. "You look really good in acting."


    "I train," Qi Huan replied. He kept his bag away again. "Ye Jiao will come out after she fails to find you in the school, so we should meet her in a bit."


    "She has come out, right?" Lu Wan pointed to the snow. "It looks like the feet mark of a young girl."


    "Right."


    The two of them followed after the steps and soon saw a rundown hut outside. They stopped on their path when they saw Wei Liao was standing beside Ye Jiao.


    "You can stay here for the time being. There are a lot of fruits when it''s summer around here, so you won''t die out of starvation. I''ll leave a lot of meat for you," Ye Jiao waved her hand and all the rank 1 corpses that she had left in her storage bracelet were placed on the ground. "The snow can help slow down the decay so you can eat them a lot. I presume you know how to cook."


    Wei Liao nodded. "I know."


    "I''ll be leaving for a few months and during this time, continue your practice as usual. Train your body and form your core like before. Just relax and use this time to get used to your new condition, understand?"


    "Yes."


    "I''ll teach you when I return back. Do not slack off."


    "Yes, Master."


    "Good."


    After she had finished with all of her instruction, Ye Jiao left in the direction where Qi Huan and Lu Wan were. On the other hand, Wei Liao was looking at the beasts'' corpses in front of him with a wry smile. He should have guessed that Ye Jiao would be able to hunt this many beasts with her current strength.


    There were too many surprises today that he felt tired.


    Well, first of all, he should start by butchering them to separate the things that can be eaten and those that he could throw away. Thankfully, the hunt from before had made the number of beasts in this area lessened, so it should be safe for him to stay in this small hut.

 197 Mission to Assassinate Eon Energy Master rank 3

    "Eavesdropping is not good, you know," Ye Jiao said to the two of them. They were located quite far from Wei Liao, so the boy shouldn''t be able to see and hear them anymore.


    Lu Wan pointed to Wei Liao. "Did you have just revealed your identity to that boy?"


    "Yeah."


    "Don''t just yeah me! You''re going to give our master another reason to drill us!" Lu Wan rolled his eyes. He felt like hitting the young girl''s head for being so thoughtless.


    "Ah, now that you mention it, I recall there''s someone who leak out our presence to Master before."


    "Oh, that''s right. I haven''t had my payback from that time."


    Lu Wan felt a sudden sense of crisis when he saw the two of them looking at him with an annoyed gaze. It was apparent that they wanted to beat him up because he leaked their destination to their master.


    "Um¡­ I''m sorry."


    "I don''t hear you."


    "Let''s beat him up, Jiao''er."


    "Wait!!! Akh! Help meeeeeee!"


    In the end, Lu Wan suffered a lot of beatings before they could depart. He wanted to cry when he saw his pig-like face thanks to his junior sister and senior brother. His handsome face is ruined!


    "Come on, it''ll heal before we reach the headquarters," Qi Huan sighed. He shook his head without the slightest bit of regret. Beating up Lu Wan felt really good because this young man had caused him to suffer for a day.


    "Can you say that if you''re the one who turns ugly?!"


    Ye Jiao giggled. "You should remember to not leak out our location to Master, Senior Brother Lu."


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. "¡­ I should just poison you two with deadly poison."


    "I dare you to do it."


    "If you can bear the consequences, you can try it."


    Seeing that the two of them still responded calmly, Lu Wan swore to himself that he would become the greatest poison master in the entire world. At that time, he would show to the two of them that they should never underestimate his poison.


    "By the way, Junior Sister Ye Jiao, are you actually helping Wei Liao before?" Qi Huan changed the conversation back to the matter.


    "No, I''m not."


    "Are you still feeling bad because of what happened to him? If it''s me, I''ll want him to suffer even more because what he did is unforgivable," Lu Wan showed a dark and evil smile. It was very different from his easy going attitude and carefree plus ignorance expression he always had in his face.


    "I never know that Senior Brother Lu can make this kind of expression."


    "I see. Even an ignorant lamb can be a cunning wolf too."


    "Why are you always comparing me to animals?!"


    The three of them bantered on their way as they just said whatever they wanted to say. At times, they would attack Ye Jiao, at other times it was Qi Huan, but the one who got the brunt the most was without a doubt, Lu Wan. Somehow, it was far easier to strike Lu Wan with some remarks than the other two, which might be because of his action every single day.


    After days of traveling, they arrived in Bao Fu Organization that was located in the south of Chen Kingdom.


    "I can''t believe you two feel nothing when traveling this distance," Lu Wan frowned when he saw how Ye Jiao and Qi Huan were fine. He was already slightly out of breath by the time they arrived.


    "We already travel hundreds of kilometers because of missions for the past 7 months. Unlike you who stay in your residence, we''re very busy," Qi Huan walked into the hall and lined up.


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. "It''s not my fault that they want to ground me because I refuse to say the oath. I truly prefer to give my oath to someone else rather than the imperial family."


    Recalling what had happened during the hunt and how the imperial family always coerced people to follow after their demands, he just felt bad taste when thinking about them. Rather than pledging his loyalty to them, he would be better off saying his loyalty to someone else.


    "I thought you have given your loyalty to your family."


    "I intend to do so, but my father stopped me in the past," Lu Wan shrugged. It was his intention back then, but because his father stopped him, he never tried to anymore.


    "Huh? I thought he''ll be happy if you do that."


    "I don''t know either."


    Ye Jiao approached the counter because the two were busy talking and it was already their turn. "We''re here to accept the mission given by our master."


    The man glanced at the three of them "Your name and badge?"


    "Ai Jiao."


    "Yu Shui."


    "Shan Dian."


    The three of them gave their name and badge. In the next second, the man was stunned when he read the details of the mission for these three. "Here''s your mission. If you can finish it, you will get 60 points altogether. The time limit is 3 months, good luck."


    60 points?


    Hearing the large amount of points, the three of them have a bad feeling. They knew that the harder the mission, the more points they could get. Even though the prize was tempting, their heart could not stay calm. They opened the scroll detailing their mission as they moved away from the counter.


    Reading the details, they felt like bashing their master right here, right now.


    If it is possible.


    Target: A City Governor (Eon Energy Master rank 3)


    The target itself was not really a problem because their master had told them that they would face against someone at rank 3. However, the note at the bottom just caused their heart to fall into a deep pond of water.


    Note: There are already 6 groups dispatched with none of them returned back. Based on the information they sent before their death, the governor has several guards with the strength of Eon Energy Master rank 2 and thousands of Eon Energy Master rank 1.


    "Thousands...."


    "Why did I pick him as my master back then?" Lu Wan really wanted to cry. "He''s so heartless."


    "They''re all just cannon fodder," Qi Huan said calmly. Still his twitching lips betrayed his real feeling. It was apparent that fighting against a thousand people was not easy. They were different than scattered beasts that could be dealt one by one.


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "Let''s head to the market for a while before departing. There''s something I want to buy."


    "Ah, me too."


    "Ok."


    The three of them rolled the scroll back and Qi Huan kept it inside his storage bracelet. In the market, Ye Jiao directly headed to buy some makeup while Qi Huan bought wigs.


    "Why do you buy wigs? You can just color your hair differently," Lu Wan asked in confusion.


    Qi Huan smiled. "It''s better to be prepared."


    Ye Jiao also looked at the wig with confusion. If these two wanted to pretend to be a woman, it would be easy. Their hairs were long, so they only need a little bit of tampering to make it look feminine.


    Though, she was sure that she would have a good laugh if she got the chance to see them dressed like a woman.


    "Also, why do you have to buy makeup here?"


    "I think it''ll be better if I can change my countenance a bit since we''re going to go on a lot of missions in the future," Ye Jiao replied. The other reason was because there were also disguise props in the makeup batch in this city, but she didn''t want to tell this senior brother of hers.


    "Bao Fu Organization is not that simple," Qi Huan directed his gaze outside. "It''s better to be cautious."


    "Huh?"


    Seeing that the two of them looked confused, he just smiled wryly. It seemed a bit too far for the two of them.


    "It''s nothing. If there''s nothing else, let''s go."


    "Ok."


    "Let''s go."

 198 A Locked City

    The time they spent on traveling was cut down even more as they used their Eon Energy and pushed forward faster. Lu Was exhausted while the other two were relatively in a better situation.


    "We don''t have every day to travel, Lu Wan," Qi Huan smiled. "You should get used to this pace."


    "Don''t have my head! We''re traveling hundreds kilometers in mere three days!" Lu Wan yelled angrily. He coughed after he yelled as his breathing hasn''t turned normal yet.


    The three of them had arrived near the designated city after traveling for a long time, but they hadn''t entered it yet because they could see a large number of people in front of the gate. In addition, Lu Wan still hadn''t caught his breath again.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "It''s also useful to train our stamina and control of Eon Energy. I''m sure you''ll get better soon, Senior Brother Lu."


    "I''ll kill you two¡­."


    Qi Huan hit Lu Wan''s back hard. His eyes glinted with a hint of killing intent beneath it as he smiled. "Hm? Did you say anything, Junior Brother Lu?"


    Seeing the threatening smile on the young man''s face, Lu Wan could only back off. He cursed himself internally. Aside from getting an unreasonable demanding master, he also got a hard to handle senior. When would he regain his peaceful life?


    "N-nothing."


    "Come on, let''s look over there. The crowds didn''t seem to decrease in the slightest," Ye Jiao pointed to the group of people in front of them.


    Rather than decreasing, it seemed like it had increased a bit since the time they arrived by the city. The three of them came out of the forest and slowly walked over to the crowds. Their ears could hear what these people were yelling about.


    "Let us in!"


    "Please, it''s already cold winter! We''ll die if we stay here for a long time!"


    "Come on!"


    "Please!"


    Lu Wan was stunned. "What in the world happens here?"


    "It''s city lockdown," Qi Huan was the one who answered them. "At times, some governors will decide to lock their city and don''t allow anyone to come in or out. There are various reasons why a city decides to lockdown and the most plausible reason in the middle of the winter is just one: lack of food."


    "What?"


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. "You''re telling me that this big of a city is lacking food?"


    "Things can happen," Qi Huan shrugged. "It often happens back in Chi Kingdom when the winter is too long, but this is indeed a bit too sudden."


    "Perhaps, it''s an intentional lockdown?"


    "It''s possible. We already receive report that whoever come inside have never make it out, so we don''t know what happened inside."


    Lu Wan cracked his fist. "If they didn''t have any plan to open up the door, then we just have to tear it down, right?"


    Smack!


    "Idiot, if you do that, do you think that we won''t catch any attention?" Ye Jiao felt like she really had a troublesome little brother rather than a senior brother. Every single time he said something, she had the urge to knock a little sense to his head. It seemed that this senior brother of hers wouldn''t stop spouting nonsense.


    Qi Huan sighed. "As he grows, he seems to become more idiot. I have been wondering how you survive in your residence so far."


    "I''m just locking myself away most of the time."


    "Let''s search for another way to get inside," Ye Jiao started walking. If they were unable to get inside through the front gate, there should be a way one or another for them to get inside.


    Qi Huan followed suit with Lu Wan behind him. The two of them were curious as to what Ye Jiao was planning. It wouldn''t be easy for them to get inside a city that was currently locked. Every single passage would surely be cut off.


    As they circled the wall, their eyes landed on a small channel into the city.


    "Even if they lock down the city, they can never close the sewer," Ye Jiao smiled. "Adults won''t be able to get inside, but it should be possible for us."


    "Wait, you want us to get into the city using the sewer? I''m not going inside," Lu Wan shook his head rapidly.


    "That''s interesting."


    "YOU TOO?"


    Qi Huan passed a look to Qi Huan. "You''ve already experienced getting drenched in blood and it''s fine with you. It''s just a little different kind of thing."


    "THAT''S NOT JUST A LITTLE!"


    Seeing how the two of them could act so nonchalant with it, Lu Wan got the urge to yell at them. How could they just accept it so well? He didn''t want to touch it. If it was possible he would just stay outside.


    "Wear the wig first to make sure that you look different," Qi Huan took a wig and wore it. The wig was a short brown hair. With Qi Huan''s face, it made him look like a handsome rogue.


    "All of your wigs are for male," Ye Jiao frowned. She picked the most feminine one and wore it. It was a long brown hair that was tied into a bun to the back.


    "It can be for females. Here''s one for you."


    Lu Wan took the wig and hesitated for a second before wearing it. His was a slightly long wig, but it made him look rather feminine instead. If one didn''t know better, they might even think that he was a female.


    The other two looked away when they saw Lu Wan like that. Since they were still children, their body hadn''t fully developed. It would make one easily thought that Lu Wan in front of them was a female rather than a male.


    However, the two of them chose to stay silent.


    Ye Jiao crouched down and looked inside. "It''s fairly big. I''ll crawl first, then."


    "Ok. I''ll follow after you."


    As Ye Jiao got inside, Qi Huan turned to look at Lu Wan. "You used to be living in a remote village, why are you getting hyped up about these things? Just think of them as the fertilizer one usually uses in the garden."


    "I did live in a village, but I still didn''t come in contact with these items. Do you think I''m crazy enough to touch them?" Lu Wan truly wished to yell once again.


    "You didn''t do any gardening?"


    "NO! It''s weirder that a prince like you instead didn''t mind it at all."


    Qi Huan shrugged. "It''s not like having a sky high pride will grant me the chance to live a long life. If it''s necessary, I don''t mind doing things that ordinary worker usually do. I might be a prince, but I''m also a normal person."


    "What?"


    "You can come over now, it''s empty here," Ye Jiao''s voice sounded from the other side of the wall.


    "Ok," Qi Huan responded as he crouched down. "You can go over if you want, but if you don''t want to, you can try to search for another way to get inside the city."


    Lu Wan stayed still in his place for a few seconds, mulling over what Qi Huan said. He had experienced days when he had to struggle just in order to live. Those days were hard.


    But it seemed that on the back of his mind he still couldn''t shake off the thought that he was still a noble. He didn''t mind doing anything that a servant usually did, but he never thought of putting himself at the very bottom.


    Uh, normal people indeed wouldn''t do something like that.


    "Screw it."


    After pushing his own thoughts away, Lu Wan crouched down and walked into the hole, persevering through the deadly smell as he headed to the other side.

 199 A Scum

    "Ah, you decide that you''ll come over?" Ye Jiao asked in a cheerful tone.


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. "What do you want to say? I should find another way inside? I doubt that I''m going to find any."


    "I''m just saying."


    "But it''s rather clean," Lu Wan looked at his hand and there was barely any dirt there. It was as if the place was well maintained.


    "For big cities, they will splash water after they dump everything. Even though some might be left behind and the smell is really bad, it''s not that dirty. Of course, it''ll be better if we head over to take a bath right away."


    Seeing the smile on Qi Huan''s face, Lu Wan had the feeling he understood why this prince didn''t'' mind. It didn''t like they were jumping into a lake full of¡­.


    Never mind, he didn''t even want to think about it.


    "Let''s head over to the nearby inn. We can just say that our previous inn suddenly closed down, so we have to move," Ye Jiao beckoned for them to follow after her into the city.


    Lu Wan blinked. "How did you come up with an excuse so quick?"


    "I''m already used to it."


    "From the missions?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao replied immediately. The three of them arrived at the nearby inn and the onlooker gave them a glance. After all, they smelled quite bad because of their entrance to the city.


    The manager also frowned when he saw them. "Is there anything that I can help?"


    "Our previous inn closed down, so we''re searching for a new inn to stay," Qi Huan answered. "Is there still any room here?"


    Some people snickered when they heard that. Seeing the children''s appearance, it was apparent that they were kicked out. Probably, they didn''t even have money to afford the inn to stay before.


    "I''m sorry, but¡­" The manager wanted to kick them out because of their smell. There were still some rooms left, but these children didn''t look like they would bring him a lot of money.


    Lu Wan took out a gold coin. "Will this be enough?"


    The manager''s eyes widened. "Yes! Yes! Sure, I''ll prepare the room soon enough."


    "Three rooms please," Ye Jiao also took out a gold coin and place it on the table.


    "Got it, I''ll prepare it right away."


    Right now, the manager understood that these people were not lacking in money at all. They might just have some unfortunate incident to make them smell really bad, but who cares? All he thought was how these people would surely bring him money.


    Lu Wan passed a glance to the people around him. He was in a bad mood because of their entrance and seeing these people belittle them only made it worse.


    They quickly looked away as they knew that these children were rich. No one wanted to offend someone who could possibly have made their lives miserable. It would be better if they just backed away and tried to hide themselves.


    "The rooms are ready."


    "Take us there."


    The three of them got large room on the second floor. As soon as they reached their respective room, the first thing they did was take a bath. Neither one of them could withstand the smell any longer.


    It was too awful!


    By the time they finished, they gathered in Lu Wan''s room as if they had agreed on it beforehand.


    "Can''t we gather in other people''s rooms?" Lu Wan''s face darkened when he saw the two of them in his room. He had just finished taking a bath, so he hadn''t worn his shirt, only his long pants.


    "I think it''ll be impolite to enter a lady''s room," Qi Huan smiled. "As for my room, I''m sure that you wouldn''t want to enter."


    Recalling the traps that Qi Huan set up in his room, Lu Wan rubbed his forehead. He wanted to give this prince a surprise, but it ended up badly instead. He picked up his robe that he placed on his bed. "So, what''s the plan for today?"


    "Investigating the city," Qi Huan smiled. "We should determine which place we''ll visit before we depart."


    "I''ll head over to the streets and ask some punk there," Lu Wan answered.


    "I''ll try to ask the children around. Children tend to be more honest, so I think I might get some good information about the city from them," Ye Jiao replied.


    Qi Huan nodded. "Then I''ll try to ask in the restaurant to the servants and many other customers. Let''s head out."


    As soon as Qi Huan said that, the three of them walked out of the room. Ye Jiao got out of the inn and walked around the city. There were a lot of boys running here and there, but she didn''t see a lot of little girls.


    She stopped when she arrived by the square a she saw a group of children playing there.


    "Hello!" Ye Jiao greeted cheerfully.


    The children stopped playing and looked over to Ye Jiao. "Hello!"


    "Are you new here?"


    "I''ve never seen you before."


    "I''m staying at the edge of the city and rarely come out," Ye Jiao scratched her head in embarrassment. "Can I play along with you?"


    "Sure!"


    "Let''s play together!"


    The children agreed and soon Ye Jiao had joined them to play the ball. Majority of the children were boys, but she could see that there were two other girls aside from her. After a couple of minutes playing around, they stopped to rest.


    "You''re really fast at running, new girl," one of the boys remarked.


    Ye Jiao just smiled. She couldn''t possibly say that she has higher physical strength than them due to her being Eon Energy Master, right? Even though she didn''t use Eon Energy at all, she was not losing in terms of speed.


    "By the way, I have been wondering."


    "Yes?"


    "Why are there so few girls around?"


    The boys looked at one another. "You must haven''t been here for long. It''s known that the governor loves little girls, so the number of girls in this city has decreased a lot."


    "He likes little girls?" Ye Jiao was confused.


    One of the girls shuddered as she nodded. "Yes! My mom says that I shouldn''t get out when the governor makes his trip around the city once a week because every little girl who enters his residence will never come out."


    "That means he''s a bad governor?"


    "Not really. He''s really rich and he helps out people," the other girl chirped in. "It''s just he has weird taste."


    "Do you know what happened to the girls he took?"


    The children shook their heads. Neither one of them knew for sure what happened to the little girls that the governor took in as their parents never told them too. Perhaps it was a way to protect them by keeping them in the dark of the matter.


    "But I overheard the adults saying that he kills them all."


    "Hii!" the girls shrieked.


    "Yeah, he feeds them to the beasts."


    Slap!


    "Don''t scare us!" the first girl yelled to the boys with puffed cheek.


    As the boys chatted around, Ye Jiao was holding back her feelings. When she heard that the governor killed the girls, she wished to kill that man instead. Treating innocent young girls as toys to kill¡­. He''s truly a scum that should go to hell.

 200 Setting A Trap

    It was already night when Ye Jiao returned back to the inn. Her emotions were in turmoil because of anger and rage. The thought that the governor treated the citizens in this city harshly made her feel like she wanted to kill him.


    "It''s a lot worse than what I thought," Qi Huan spoke up first when Ye Jiao sat down on the floor.


    "I want to kill him."


    "You''re not the only one," Lu Wan balled his fist in anger and smashed the floor. "Why in the world every leader we find on mission always like young women? They all have weird taste!"


    "I can''t understand them and I don''t want to understand," Qi Huan rubbed his forehead.


    It was then Lu Wan recalled something. He took out his wig and handed it to Qi Huan. "I''ll better off coloring my hair rather than wearing this."


    "Oh, why?"


    "Why you ask?" Lu Wan nearly raised his voice again. "Because those annoying punks nearly attacked me because they think I''m a girl!"


    Ye Jiao and Qi Huan looked at Lu Wan for a few seconds before they burst out laughing. They had already thought that Lu Wan looked exceptionally similar to that of a woman when he wore the wig. However, they didn''t expect that there would be people who mistook him as a woman.


    Hearing their laughs, Lu Wan was even gloomier. He felt that these two cheated on him. Why didn''t they tell him that he looked like a woman if he wore this type of wig?


    He felt so mad.


    "Can''t you tell me sooner that this wig is for woman?" Lu Wan growled.


    Qi Huan held his stomach and patted Lu Wan''s shoulder. "I know that you truly have divine talent, Lu Wan. Aside from concocting poison, you have the capabilities to turn yourself into a wom¡­"


    Clang!


    Both Lu Wan and Qi Huan had already taken out their weapons. Right now, Lu Wan felt like sending Qi Huan to this prince''s grave because of what he said. He is 100 percent man!


    Ye Jiao only laughed harder when she saw Lu Wan''s darkened face. Even though she knew that he looked so similar with a woman when he used that wig, she didn''t dare to say it out loud. She was waiting for him to find it out through other means.


    His reaction was hilarious.


    If one paid attention, they wouldn''t really suspect him to be a woman, though. His shoulder was broader than young women even though his face still looked childish.


    "Ugh, shall we get out and have a spar?" Lu Wan asked in threatening tone.


    Qi Huan passed a sidelong glance. "If you''re willing to crawl on that place again, I don''t mind at all."


    Lu Wan opened his mouth and closed it back again. He felt wronged. The place they used to come here was truly not meant for human. He didn''t have any intention to head over there again.


    "Come on, let''s go back to our discussion," Ye Jiao said while she straightened her sitting position. Even though she still wanted to laugh more, she knew that they had more pressing matters to discuss.


    Both Lu Wan and Qi Huan kept their weapons away.


    Qi Huan looked at the other two as he began to speak again, "I presume that this is not the first time you two meet with the case of the target liking young girls."


    "Yes."


    "Yep."


    "What do you usually do when you face the leader of a city who like young girls?"


    Lu Wan pointed to Ye Jiao. "I have her stand in as a trap and lure the leader out. After that, we battle against him together and defeat him fair and square."


    "¡­ All of them?"


    "All of them."


    Qi Huan face palmed. "Have you never thought how dangerous it would be? If anything went wrong, she''ll suffer terribly!"


    "Nothing went wrong so far and besides, facing Eon Energy Master rank 2 is not that hard," after several times fighting against them, their cooperation has become far better. It was easy for them to fight the Eon Energy Master, so they didn''t think that their plan was dangerous.


    "Yeah, right."


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "Isn''t it fine to set up that kind of trap? I mean, if they like it, I can just use it to my advantage."


    "What if something goes wrong?"


    "Sorry?"


    "Do you even know what they''re planning to do with the girls?" Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao in inquiry. Seeing the girl''s confused look, he had expected it as much. Lu Wan wouldn''t understand it and naturally, her parents wouldn''t teach her something like that when she was still this small.


    She hadn''t even undergone puberty!


    "Aren''t they just like to kill the girls?" Lu Wan asked back with a confused expression. In his eyes, that was what the leaders would do because he couldn''t really think of anything else. Many of them would dispose of the girl''s corpse later on, so they would be killing the girls, no?


    Seeing the same confused expression on Ye Jiao''s face, Qi Huan knew that the two of them didn''t fully understand them. He felt like face palming right now because of how thoughtless these two were.


    For the Heaven sake, try to study more things first before doing such dangerous work!


    "Jiao''er, I''ll explain it to you later in the future. For now, let''s focus on investigating the security in the governor''s residence."


    "Got it."


    "Ok."


    After setting up their new task, they spent the next few days to find out more about the residence. It was hard work for them because not many people knew the layout of the mansion and only after moving here and there did they gain the clearer picture from the former maid.


    "It''s rather hard," Qi Huan put on the layout on the table. "This is the layout of the residence. The governor will do his weekly routine to walk around the city tomorrow, so we have to memorize this all by now."


    "How many Eon Energy Master rank 2 he has?"


    "Six," Lu Wan answered. "The guards are very proud of it when they share it with me. The six of them are very powerful, so it''s not going to be easy if one wishes to harm the governor."


    "it might be the case for ordinary people, but it doesn''t apply to us," Qi Huan replied confidently. "We won''t have any problem disposing these guards, but the real problem comes next. The governor himself is Eon Energy Master rank 3, meaning that he can use his Eon Energy freely around him.


    That of course included controlling his weapon from a distance.


    "What''s the governor''s weapon?" Lu Wan asked.


    "Twin sword," Ye Jiao replied. "He''s proficient in using two swords at once, so he has good defense when facing multiple enemies. In addition, he has a lot of experience to fighting the frontline when he''s helping the imperial family."


    "Helping the imperial family?"


    Qi Huan nodded. "I also found out that the governor seems to be someone on the Chen Kingdom Imperial Family''s side. He''s a rich merchant, so they give him a city for him to govern while still limiting his strength. However, he''s not always a merchant. There''s a time when he''s just an ordinary hunter.


    Because of his capabilities, it''s harder to take care of him. He has decent fighting skills, so we''ll need to cooperate together if we want to take him down. It''s very plausible that he won''t go down easily even with three people pressuring him."


    "Why did he turn into a merchant if he''s a hunter?"


    "You can easily earn a lot of money by becoming a merchant. At times, the scale is much bigger because it''s rare to hunt beast rank 3. Even if you find them, you won''t be able to kill them easily without risking your life," Ye Jiao explained.


    Living as a hunter would rely on the beasts and environment around them. It was easy for them to lose their lives because of their job. Since the governor has a talent for trading, he better changed his job and lived a luxurious life rather than betting with his life over and over.


    "Alright, so what''s our plan?" Lu Wan asked.


    "Shall I become the trap again?"


    "No," Qi Huan rejected the idea immediately. "We''ll find a way to enter the residence without having you become a trap."


    "They''re not opening the gate except when there''s someone important coming in. The rooftop is protected by Eon Energy Master rank 2, so it''ll be impossible for us to come inside without killing them. If they notice and alarm the others, it''ll be our end because we can''t fight against Eon Energy Master rank 3 while he is surrounded by Eon Energy Master rank 2," Ye Jiao listed out the possibilities that would happen.


    "It''ll be suicide," Lu Wan also remarked.


    Qi Huan''s face darkened when he listened to them all. This was one of the reasons he hated accepting mission that involved dealing with the leader of a city, village, or anything like that. When he was accepting his personal missions, they were all either bandits or some lower ranked nobles.


    "Master is just making things difficult for us."


    "So, what''s the plan?"


    Seeing their expression, Qi Huan could guess what they were hoping from him. He sighed. "The plan is¡­."

 201 Inside the Residence

    The next day, Ye Jiao dressed up nicely and Qi Huan busily fixed her appearance with makeup. On the side, Lu Wan was looking at them with a frown on his face.


    "No matter what you do, she''s still going to be a little child," Lu Wan yawned. "There''s no way you can make this ugly duckling beautiful."


    "You''re the ugly one, Senior Brother Yu."


    "Hey!"


    Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. She felt uncomfortable sitting in one place for a long time without doing anything, but Qi Huan prohibited her from moving. She was wearing a wig that he had given to her not long ago before tying it to the side to make twin tails. He also added a ribbon on her head.


    "Done," Qi Huan took a mirror and handed it to Ye Jiao. "What do you think of your new appearance?"


    In the mirror, Ye Jiao could see a young girl staring back at her. The skin was fair with slight reddish on the cheek part making her look cute. Her large eyes looked sparkling and despite only using the basic makeup that will not make much change, she looked adorable and charming.


    "Is that really me?"


    "Yep," Qi Huan nodded. "You originally had fair skin and a nice complexion. It''s just because you don''t usually dress up that you didn''t take notice."


    Ye Jiao smiled wryly. With her days filled with training, hiding, and mission, where would she have the time to dress up? Even this was unexpected because she didn''t expect to dress up. Well, the scale this time was bigger than before, so dressing up was inevitable. It would be harder to make the governor took an interest to her if she just appeared in her usual appearance.


    "Senior Brother Lu, how do I look like?"


    When Ye Jiao turned around, Lu Wan nearly dropped the small blade that he was playing on his hand. His mouth opened wide as if he didn''t believe the transformation that occurred to the little lady before him.


    "You¡­. Qi Huan, what in the world did you do?"


    "I''m just using a bit of makeup," Qi Huan rolled his eyes.


    "Just a bit?"


    "Yes. Ye Jiao has a naturally cute face. She just didn''t have the chance to show it since she''s just staying around a blockhead like you."


    It was Lu Wan''s turn to roll his eyes. He had to admit that Ye Jiao looked very beautiful in this appearance, though. It was as if she had changed into a completely different person with just a light make up on her face. Well, her hair also looked neater as Qi Huan arranged it to make her charming.


    Qi Huan moved back a few steps and looked at Ye Jiao''s face. He nodded a few times. "This should do. You look far better like this rather than your usual haggard appearance."


    "¡­" So, my usual appearance was haggard?


    Even though it was not as bad as what Qi Huan said, it was definitely rather normal. Hearing the cheer from outside, they peered from the window. A lot of people went out of their house to celebrate it.


    "Seeing how the villagers are happy to see the governor, I can''t really imagine him as someone bad," Lu Wan sighed.


    Qi Huan looked outside. "There are things that they still tolerate because in the face of power and authority, they couldn''t do anything. Besides, this governor is rich and uses his money to help the other villagers."


    "So, this mission will directly destroy their livelihood?"


    "One way or another, yes. With the change of their governor, things would never be the same again. It should be very obvious," Qi Huan replied. "This is why Bao Fu Organization is not simple."


    "What?"


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Yeah."


    Lu Wan crossed his arm. "Hey! What are you two talking about? At least, phrase it in the language that normal humans can understand."


    "You''re just too stupid, Lu Wan."


    "Can you stop insulting me?"


    "Come on, we have to start doing our part," Ye Jiao ran to the door, she flashed a childish smile. "Let''s play, Brother Yu."


    ???Got it!" Lu Wan also ran to the door at normal speed and the two of them quickly headed to the street. Qi Huan sighed when he saw the obvious nervous expression on Lu Wan''s face. That boy still had a long way to go if he wanted to do his mission well.


    "Governor, it''s doing well too over here. May you pay us a visit?"


    "Yes, yes, it''s good that everything is good," the Governor smiled. He was a tall man with large build. However, he had an amiable face and expression.


    The children around the area were all boys because their parents already knew better than to let their girls roam around. It would be better if they just let the boys because this governor only took notice of girls. Many of them supported the governor because of what he had done, but a small portion also hated him.


    Those parents who had lost their daughters still disliked him and unwilling to get out. Some others prayed that they would not get picked.


    The Governor looked at the man before him. "I heard that your daughter is 12 a few days ago."


    The man''s face turned pale. "Y-yes."


    "I want to give her congratulations by myself," he turned to his guards. "Take that one."


    "N-no, Governor, please, I¡­"


    The governor ignored the man''s obvious plea as he strolled on the street. From the back, Ye Jiao and Lu Wan ran on the edge. They were not too obvious since it was crowded, but several villagers were alarmed when they saw them.


    "Brother Yu, please wait!"


    "Come on, we have to hurry," Lu Wan replied in a loud voice, yet he looked as if he just kept on running.


    Ye Jiao ran from behind, acting as if she was unable to catch up. Her eyes stealthily watching the people around them, especially the governor. She could see that he was looking at her way, though she couldn''t be sure if he would get interested since she was a little small.


    "There''s a new girl?"


    "Uh, she¡­"


    "Guard, I want her."


    A guard blocked Ye Jiao''s way. Her head glanced up with eyes that purely hold confusion to the tall man before her. "Mr. Guard?"


    "The governor is inviting you to a tea party. Do you want to come?"


    "Tea party? Are there any delicious sweets?"


    "Yes, there is."


    "Really? You''re not lying right."


    "No."


    "Ok~."


    By this time, Lu Wan had disappeared into the crowd as he regrouped with Qi Huan. The two of them watched as the governor continued making his round and gathered more girls, which the guards guarded tightly.


    It didn''t take long for them to reach the residence. Seeing the large building up close, Ye Jiao knew that it would be the final destination for most girls if they didn''t manage to find a way out. They were brought to a large hall while the governor was still busy greeting the last batch of people who greeted him today.


    "Mr. Guard, can I go to the restroom?" Ye Jiao asked in a coquettish voice.


    The guard nodded. He didn''t really care where these children went in the residence because there was no way out. "The restroom is over there. Return back to here after you''re done."


    "Yes."


    Ye Jiao ran to the other corridor and as soon as she turned around, she erased her presence completely. Rushing quickly to the right side of the residence, her eyes searched for the Eon Energy Master rank 2 who stayed in this area. She quickly found one of them standing near a small shed.


    "Hm? There''s a kid here? Hey¡­"


    Swish! Slash!


    ''One.''


    The man''s eyes widened and he didn''t have the chance to alarm the others. He was letting his guard down, thinking it was only a stray kid.


    As she traveled the residence, she saw the next one waiting near the tree. Her legs brought her to the man''s side as she sliced his neck. Blood spurted out from his throat.


    Slash!


    Pulling the falling guard, Ye Jiao hid him in the bushes. Without these two guards, it would be easier for Lu Wan and Qi Huan to sneak into the residence. After she had finished, Ye Jiao swiftly returned back to the hall and acted as if there was nothing wrong.


    "Have you finished?"


    "Yes!"


    "Good, all of you follow after me. You stay behind."


    The girl who was told to stay behind has her face paled. She knew that she was selected first and from what her parents had told her, she knew that the governor was up to no good. From outside the door, several parents were begging to let their children off, but the guards didn''t pay any heed.


    "Has she taken care of the guards?"


    "She should have," Qi Huan was calculating the time needed for Ye Jiao to clear up one area. He noticed that the door had closed and the governor walked inside. "Let''s move."


    "Aye."

 202 Facing Eon Energy Master rank 3

    The children were brought to a large room. After they had entered the room, one of the older girls headed to the door and tried to shake it open.


    "Use your Eon Energy!"


    "I already use it," the girl replied desperately.


    Most of the girls in this room were around the age of 9 to 12 years old. At most, they would have just formed their core without the suitable ability to use it. Unless they could reach rank 1, they still wouldn''t be able to use too much of their Eon Energy.


    Ye Jiao watched from the back as she waited for the guards to leave. She was glad when she noticed that they were walking far away from here. Her two senior brothers should have entered the residence from the area that she has cleared before. If not because she was worried of alarming others, she would have continued to move.


    ''But I guess I won''t have any trouble to defeat Eon Energy Master rank 2 now.''


    The skill that her master taught her seemed to be very advance. Even when she was near the man, they didn''t realize her presence at all. It was as if she didn''t exist in their eyes.


    "Pull it again!"


    "I already tried to pull it."


    Ye Jiao could feel the sudden disturbance of Eon Energy around her. As she had to be careful when doing missions, she had trained herself to be more sensitive with Eon Energy. With her sensitivity that she had since young, it was honed to the level where she could easily detect when there was something wrong with just their movements.


    ''They have started to fight.''


    When she realized that they had started to move, Ye Jiao stepped to the door. She used her Eon Energy to pull the lock without being seen by the other children. After practicing, she was already proficient in controlling them at around one meter around her.


    Click!


    Bam!


    The door was opened suddenly and the children were thrown to the back. Their eyes lit up as they ran out of the room in disorderly manner. Some of them still remembered the route, so soon they already reached the hall.


    "The children escape!" the guard was alarmed.


    "Run!"


    As the children disperse, Ye Jiao headed straight to the guard and summoned her sword out of her storage bracelet.


    Slash!


    With a single strike, she killed the guard.


    "You-!"


    The other guard was barely able to say anything when he felt pain on top of his stomach. In the next moment, he also fell down to the ground.


    The children were dumbstruck when they saw Ye Jiao stood with a blood stained sword in her hand. She was still around the same age as them, but her appearance at that moment was like a princess who was leading her soldier into the war. Her small back was brimming with power, giving them confidence and protection.


    "I''ll take care of the guards. You just run out."


    "Ah! Y-yes!"


    Ye Jiao ran out to the field with the children following after her. They were awed when the guards who blocked them were sent flying or down in just a strike. It didn''t take long for them to reach the door.


    Clang!


    Ye Jiao frowned when she noticed that her sword couldn''t break the metal bar. She put her hand forward and enveloped the bar with Eon Energy. With it, she lifted it and threw it to the side.


    Bam!


    "You can go out now."


    "Yey!"


    The children cheered as they ran out. One of the girls looked at Ye Jiao with worry. "How about you?"


    "Me? I still have a business with that fat pig."


    Ye Jiao swiftly dashed from her position. Now that the children were safe, she headed into the inner part of the residence. At the same time, she changed her weapon to that of a dagger.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The sound of metal clashing reverberated from the inner chamber. Ye Jiao rushed to the location and saw Qi Huan fighting the Governor head on with Lu Wan on the back, facing the second sword.


    "Over here!" Qi Huan yelled.


    "Got it!"


    Ye Jiao used the pillar on the side and jumped above the man. She swung her dagger down, but the governor blocked it.


    Clang!


    Somersaulting midair, Ye Jiao positioned herself as Qi Huan also dashed forward and ran his quick attack to the man. Numerous sword attacks were directed at the governor, who controlled his sword and used his Eon Energy to block them all.


    Meanwhile, Lu Wan was facing the second sword, who was flying out and trying to sneak attack them. His blade and chain danced as it blocked the sword every advance.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Ye Jiao moved to the man''s side and swung her dagger.


    Clang!


    His sword reached her at the right time to block. Using the curved side, Ye Jiao held the sword firmly as Qi Huan started his barrage of attack.


    Slash! Swish!


    Some of the sword attacks reached the governor''s body, wounding him terribly. His face was ugly for he realized that the children were unordinary. They were attacking him in the manner that he couldn''t predict.


    "WHO IN THE WORLD ARE YOU B*STARD!" the governor roared as he pounced forward with his sword on hand. Qi Huan side stepped to evade and started his barrage of sword attacks once more.


    "Where''s the guard? Guh!"


    Slash!


    The number of wounds on the governor''s body kept on increasing as Ye Jiao and Qi Huan jointly attacked him together. They took turns of who should take the sword and the man''s attention while the other one wounded him.


    Clang!


    Ye Jiao jumped to the back. Her eyes widened when she saw the flying sword heading to her. Her reflex allowed her to roll to the side as the sword pierced into the wall.


    "Hold it there!" Lu Wan yelled as he used his chain to lock the second blade and pulled it away from the man.


    "That''s useless, I can control it as long as my¡­"


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Ye Jiao swung her dagger around the first sword, cutting off the thread of Eon Energy that connected the sword to the man. Eon Energy Master rank 3 only has the advantage of their better control, but it was not the level of invisible. If they cut off the string relating the sword to the owner, he wouldn''t be able to use it anymore.


    "You!"


    Slash!


    Before the governor could try getting his sword back, Qi Huan had attacked him and swung his sword, cutting him diagonally. Blood flowed out from the blade''s wounds as the man lost his energy.


    "Who¡­.?"


    The governor was about to ask, but his body fell down to the ground first.


    Thud!

 203 Bao Fu Organization

    Thud!


    Ye Jiao looked at the large man before moving her gaze to her senior brothers. "Has it ended?"


    "Yes," Qi Huan wiped the blood that splattered to his face. "He has died and there''s no chance for him to return back anymore."


    "I''m not hoping for him to return back again."


    Lu Wan relieved a sigh. "I''m so glad it''s finally over. I''m already dead tired from facing this man. He''s so energetic."


    "Ah."


    Now that Lu Wan mentioned it, the three of them have almost used up all their Eon Energy in the fight just now. It looked like facing Eon Energy Master rank 3 was not that simple at all.


    "We should return back and write down Bao Fu''s name."


    "Eh, wait, how about the girl from before?"


    Lu Wan''s expression turned into that of a disgust. This was the first time he realized why those people always wanted the girl. What they did was truly unforgivable. He pointed to the bed. "She''s over there, but I''m not sure you would want to see her."


    "Why?"


    Qi Huan pulled Ye Jiao out. "It''s not healthy for a young girl to see it. Yu Shui, burn the residence, we''re going to write it on the ground outside."


    "Got it."


    Seeing how the two of them were so adamant to have her not see the sight, Ye Jiao also didn''t pester them any longer. If they didn''t want her to see, then she wouldn''t take a look.


    As they walked out, Qi Huan took out a different sword again. He pierced it on the ground and pull it along to start writing. Ye Jiao headed to the other side and started writing too. Soon, two words appeared on the ground.


    Bao Fu


    The residence has started to burn, so Lu Wan walked out.


    "Let''s go back. The villagers are going to return back soon."


    After the children got out, a lot of the guards tried to handle the matter by going out and pacifying the villagers. They obviously tried to take the children back, but the parents didn''t want it. They were starting to panic because the higher ranked guards didn''t appear even when the situation was this bad.


    "Just where are they?"


    "I don''t know. They should be here anytime soon."


    "Hey, there''s something burning."


    "Holy¡­. Bring water! Hurry!"


    The guards were trying their best to put off the fire while the villagers were confused. What happened today? This entire residence seemed weird.


    One of them suddenly noticed the ground near the door seemed different. It was made with a thick and sturdy layer of rock, so there shouldn''t be anything that could pierce through it.


    "There''s letters over there."


    "Bao¡­ Fu¡­."


    "It''s Bao Fu Organization!"


    "Someone must have reported!"


    The chaos ensued as the villagers had mixed feelings. Some of them were fine with this governor because they didn''t have any daughter. Others wept because they were hoping that this happened earlier while the others were happy because their daughter didn''t have to be sacrificed.


    "Their reaction varies greatly," Ye Jiao observed from the top of a building, along with her two senior brothers.


    "He''s a governor that gives them benefits. If not for that, there''s no way he can be a leader of this large city. Those who didn''t have to sacrifice anything would feel bad that the governor died, but those who had to sacrifice their daughters felt happy instead," Qi Huan explained. "That''s just how human''s nature is. As long as it didn''t affect their life, they would not care."


    "Don''t think too much, you can''t possibly make them all happy because as the scale becomes bigger, their value and consideration are different," Lu Wan grinned. "Just think of the reward that we''ll get from the organization. We''ll be able to use it for a lot of things."


    "Oh right, they have a new herb coming, but the price is 50 points. I heard that it''s filled with Eon Energy and very good for Eon Energy Master rank 2."


    "What? Really? Eh, wait, I''m not searching for herbs that can help me breakthrough to rank 3!"


    Ye Jiao giggled when she saw Lu Wan in a dilemma. She directed her gaze to the people around her. In the village before, the leader was a common enemy for them all because they were unhappy but they were unable to do anything. However, she found a lot of them were already Eon Energy Master rank 2.


    If they started a riot, it would be easy to make a great upheaval in this city.


    So, she knew. They compromised with the decision of the imperial family and accepted the man in this city. Things were not always pure white and black. There were a lot of things that weighed the calculation and created the balance.


    "I''ll have a lot of points. I''m going to trade them for the Eon Energy concentration room," Ye Jiao said to the others. "What are your plans for the time being?"


    "I''ll gather points to buy herbs," Lu Wan answered. "Until I have to return back to Chen Kingdom because they found me or I reach rank 3 and directly head to the north, I''ll continue to do missions and train."


    "I have to return back to Chi Kingdom before it''s Spring," Qi Huan said. "There''s less than 3 weeks until the winter is over, so I better hurry and go back or I''ll be late."


    "Is there any important event?"


    "You can say that. If you come to Chi Kingdom, I''ll take you along."


    Ye Jiao nodded. "I''ll see about it later. I don''t really have any plan to go anywhere right now aside from going back to the headquarter to train again. Besides, I haven''t had the chance to eat the Eon Energy Pill rank 3 that you give me."


    "You hadn''t?" Qi Huan was alarmed when he heard that. Ye Jiao''s growth was so fast that he thought she should have already eaten it a long time ago. After all, her proficiency in using Eon Energy was already above him. In addition, the amount of Eon Energy was nearly double compared to him.


    "Yeah. I was too busy collecting points and doing missions before."


    "You''re a monster."


    "What? Senior Brother Lu, that''s impolite!"


    The three of them departed as they talked to one another. Each of them were discussing their next plan and the time they should meet again in the future.

 204 Thief!

    As soon as the three of them submitted their mission, they went on their own way. Qi Huan returned back to Chi Kingdom while Lu Wan started to accept missions to do them on his own. He wanted to collect a lot of points to be able to buy the herbs he wanted and get used to traveling a long distance.


    On the other hand, Ye Jiao decided to use this chance to use her points. She had a lot of points accumulated because of doing mission sprees for months and practiced without using them.


    ''It''s really increasing at alarming speed.''


    Feeling the amount of Eon Energy in her core, Ye Jiao was astonished. She did use Eon Energy Pill rank 3 in the past because of her mother to form her core, but this was the first time she used it to increase her Eon Energy directly. The amount of Eon Energy she gained from this one session was enough to rival the amount she gathered from a month or so practice so far.


    Standing up from her place, Ye Jiao looked at her body with a sigh. She used Natural Essence Fruit after using the Eon Energy Pill and as the result, her body was fully covered in filth.


    "I never know that the pill can have so much impurities."


    Ye Jiao rushed out of the room and headed to her room she booked. Taking a warm bath, Ye Jiao made sure that she was clean before heading out to the library once again. There were not many exercise she did, but having a warm bath was a bit of leisure she could gave herself occasionally.


    "Four hour is one point."


    "Here," Ye Jiao handed her badge. She didn''t use it for anything else other than the room and this library. As the result, there were still quite a lot of points inside.


    As Ye Jiao walked inside, her eyes caught Lin Jian looking back at her.


    "It seems that we bump into one another very often," Lin Jian furrowed his brows. He scanned Ye Jiao from top to the bottom as astonishment filled his eyes. "I can''t see your Eon Energy rank, but you seem stronger than before."


    At this time, Lin Jian was still Eon Energy rank 1 as he hadn''t managed to increase his rank. Ye Jiao reached rank 2 a few months ago but hadn''t returned back, which was the reason why this young man didn''t know that.


    Ye Jiao smiled. "I''m Eon Energy Master rank 2, Lin Jian."


    "Guh," Lin Jian''s face contorted. "You''re so quick! Just wait, I''ll become one in less than a week. Afterwards, let''s have a spar."


    "It''s better if we don''t have any spar."


    "Are you looking down on me?"


    Ye Jiao didn''t intend to look down on him, but it was the truth that Lin Jian would never be able to defeat her. Even when the two of them were at the same rank, her skill far surpassed him. Only utter defeat awaited Lin Jian should he try to challenge Ye Jiao again.


    Lin Jian pursed his lips. "Don''t underestimate me. Master says that he''s going to teach the secret art to me. This will allow me to grow much stronger."


    "Secret art?" Ye Jiao''s interest piqued up.


    "Yes. Don''t you know that there are two secret manuals in the Four Kingdoms Bao Fu Organizations? These two are part of one technique and this technique will allow one to have better control over their body. Master says that he''ll start training me in the art after I reach rank 2," Lin Jian said proudly.


    Seeing the young man''s gesture, Ye Jiao just shook her head. She knew that there were a lot of secret manuals in this world. Her master has given her one, a different one than the one in this four kingdom. Now, she wondered what the content of the secret manual would be.


    "By the way, do you know where the secret manual is located?"


    "It''s at the top of this building," Lin Jian pointed to the top. "There are two masters of Bao Fu Organization and each one of them has a part of the secret manual. This way, they can''t monopolize it."


    "You''re saying that your master brings it with him all the time?"


    "Yes."


    Ye Jiao had just had the thought of stealing it, but knowing that she had to face Eon Energy Master rank 4, she discarded the thought. Hell, if she had to fight for the secret manual, it would be better for her to forget about it. The opponent she had to face was simply too large.


    Lin Jian smirked. "Don''t ever try to think about getting it without working hard. It''s impossible."


    "I can see that."


    To reach rank 4 from rank 2 required several years of practice. There was no shortcut and even if her talent was higher than the others, it didn''t mean that she would be able to instantly reach that power.


    Ye Jiao pushed the thought into the back of her mind as she started to browse the books around her. She hadn''t had the chance to finish reading them all, so it would be better for her to start reading again or she wouldn''t have the time. As for practice, it would be better if she let her body adapt to the newfound amount of Eon Energy first before advancing further.


    Lin Jie shook his head as he saw how quick Ye Jiao was engrossed in reading those books. If it was him, he would not care in the slightest.


    ''Now, where''s the martial art manual for swords?''


    Ye Jiao paid more attention to the common knowledge such as the use of herbs and many others. They would be very practical once she decided to travel in the forest or any other terrain. Besides, knowing what she could eat would be beneficial because it could keep her alive for a longer time.


    Eon Energy Master still required daily food until they reached a higher rank because at that time they could replace their needs of nutrition through other uses. Of course, many of them still ate just for the sake of the taste.


    Bam!


    Right when she was still engrossed in reading, the door was slammed open. A man dressed in a gray robe rushed inside.


    "Everyone has to go out and help!"


    "What is it?"


    "Don''t be noisy in the library."


    "Hey, what do you think you''re doing?"


    A lot of people expressed their complaint as they looked at the young man who came. They were all currently busy reading. To be able to stay here for a long time was a luxury because of how expensive it was.


    "The secret manual is stolen!" the man yelled.


    "What?"


    "Really?"


    The library was filled with exclaim as Ye Jiao''s eyes shone with interest. Without thinking much, she put down the book that she had in her hand back to the shelf. To think that someone truly managed to steal the secret manual when she had just thought of giving it up.


    How convenient.


    "First Master tells us that whoever takes the secret manual back from the man will be allowed to train in the secret manual and raise rank inside the organization. Also, the one who manages to kill the man will be given White Jade."


    Silence.


    Everyone was astonished when they heard the word ''White Jade.'' If one should say, this white jade was one of the greatest items existed for people under Eon Energy rank 3. Whoever could obtain it would have a higher chance to reach rank 4 because it can help them gain enlightenment.


    It was so precious and rare that almost everyone who managed to get it would be able to reach rank 4.


    Numerous people wanted it, especially those who had reached rank 3 but hadn''t been able to advance.


    "Let''s go!"


    "What are you waiting for!"


    "Where did he go?"


    "I''m first!"


    In that instant, all of them ran out of the library as if their lives depended on it. On the other hand, Ye Jiao silently walked to the young man in grey robe.

 205 Young and Genius Thief

    "Hey."


    "Wha?" The man in the grey robe was surprised. He turned to look at Ye Jiao and momentarily felt relieved that the one in front of him was nothing more than a little girl. "What do you want?"


    "What''s the thief''s strength?"


    "He''s Eon Energy Master rank 3."


    Eon Energy Master rank 3? Ye Jiao''s eyes narrowed when she heard that. The one who guarded the secret manual was someone at rank 4. If this young man managed to defeat him, it was no doubt that this man must be extremely powerful.


    "Have you seen his appearance?"


    The man shook his head. "He''s too fast for me. I''m only here to deliver the news before the thief managed to run far away."


    "Ok. Thanks."


    Ye Jiao sprinted out of the library. She didn''t need to worry about crashing to anyone because all of them had run out the moment they heard the price. The outer layer of the place was filled with numerous assassins as they filled the street like there was no ending.


    Her mouth twitched. ''It seems there are more people in Bao Fu Organization Headquarter than what I usually see.''


    Their gaze was locked on the front, to be exact to the top of the building not far from them. Right now, several men were fighting as Eon Energy clashed to one another midair.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Sound of metal clashing reverberated in the air. A lot of Eon Energy Masters wanted to join in but were unable to do so. The flying weapon controlled by Eon Energy already filled the area that it would be dangerous for them to get any closer.


    "You rotten brat! Stop running away."


    It was only at this time that Ye Jiao managed to see the thief. The thief was a young man wearing dark clothes. He slipped his hand to his pocket and threw several hidden weapons to the people surroundings him.


    Ding! Ding! Slash! Jleb! Clang!


    The weapon hit the pursuer at a different location. At the momentarily lack of attention, the man jumped to the next roof and charged out of the place into the forest. The men around Ye Jiao were enraged when they saw that they were unable to defeat that man.


    "Chase after him!"


    "Don''t let him get away!"


    The men around Ye Jiao started to run. With her keen sense, she knew that many of them were only Eon Energy Master rank 2 or even rank 1. With their current prowess, they wouldn''t be able to defeat that man. What these people wanted was the chance to steal the secret manual.


    Ye Jiao stomped her feet on the ground and propelled herself to move forward. Compared to the group, she was much faster.


    ''He''s heading over there. There''s a rocky area not far from there, so he would be forced to move around,'' Ye Jiao analyzed the thief''s movements as she detoured to another place. Since she has been familiar with this place, it would be easy for her to make her way inside the forest and found the perfect place to catch up to that young man.


    Swish!


    Clang!


    A group of men managed to catch up. They were all Eon Energy Master rank 3, so they had higher speed than the others. The thief''s eyes narrowed when he saw them got closer. He drew his sword as he blocked their attacks.


    Clang!


    Sound of metal clashing entered their ears as the man moved once again. He jumped to the side and swung his sword. It directly killed the nearest man near him. When the other man rushed forward with his sword above his head, the thief jumped to the back once more.


    Swish!


    The sword hit midair and the thief swung his sword, cutting off the man''s arm.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"


    "You''re noisy."


    Slash!


    From the back, Ye Jiao was watching their fight with widened eyes. When she heard the thief spoke, she could sense the coldness within his words. The way he killed the man showed that he was used to kill. In addition, there was no hesitation whatsoever on the thief''s eyes as he dealt the killing blow.


    "YOU!" the other man charged forward.


    The thief side stepped to the side, evading the sword. He twisted his arm and brought his sword upward.


    Slash!


    It directly slashed through the man, leaving nothing behind. The sharpness of the sword alone was enough to leave people astounded.


    The thief didn''t move back and advanced forward. In a split second he arrived before the few people left from the batch. His sword moved at lightning speed as he swung it in their direction, killing several of them in one swing.


    "You!"


    The men''s eyes were filled with disbelief. They were all the experts in Bao Fu Organization, yet they were unable to defeat this little thief. Judging from his build, this man must be extremely young, yet his precision and movements were incredibly scary that it seemed like a devil had come here.


    "Tsk," the thief clicked his tongue. He sheathed back his sword and dashed to the other direction.


    Ye Jiao chased after the man as her mind examined him. From the way the man fought, she could see that there were times when he seemed uncomfortable. It seemed that the young man was actually wounded. Perhaps, he was poisoned?


    Still, the image of him fighting just now made her doubt her conjecture. How could one fight that well when they were wounded?


    Swoosh!


    The thief stopped near a creek and a small waterfall. He inched closer to the rocks and jumped to the rock in front of the waterfall. Afterwards, he stepped inside, into a cave inside the waterfall.


    ''Ah, he knows this place too,'' Ye Jiao stopped not far from the waterfall. She found out about this place when she was on a mission with Lu Wan not long ago. Ever since then, she loved to come here when she had the time since it was quite a perfect place to hide.


    She still concealed her presence and slowly inched closer to the waterfall. Right when she stood on the rock, her mind screamed the word danger.


    A blade suddenly appeared in front of her eyes, flying to her direction at inconceivable speed.

 206 Weird Meeting with the Thief

    She still concealed her presence and slowly inched closer to the waterfall. Right when she stood on the rock, her mind screamed the word danger.


    A blade suddenly appeared in front of her eyes, flying to her direction at inconceivable speed.


    Swish!


    Tilting her head to the side, Ye Jiao narrowly avoided the blade. Her eyes turned sharp as she jumped inside. The moment she touched the ground, she twisted her body as several other blades were flying to her direction.


    In front of her, Ye Jiao could see the young man glaring at her. His breathing has turned uneven as the cloth covering his face has fallen to the ground. Beads of sweat filled his youthful face.


    "You-!"


    "So you''re really wounded," Ye Jiao remarked when she saw the wound on the man''s stomach. It was unclear from the distance, but now that she was standing close to him, she could see that there was blood stain on his stomach.


    The young man''s brow furrowed. "What do you want?"


    "I''m going to heal you," Ye Jiao grinned.


    The young man narrowed his eyes as his hand moved at lightning speed.


    Swish, swish, swish!


    "Is throwing weapons at other people your way of greeting?" Ye Jiao narrowly avoided the next group of blades as she moved to the man''s back. Her arm was stretched out as she touched the man''s wound.


    Clang!


    "Whoa, there," Ye Jiao summoned her dagger in time to block the man''s sword attack as she moved back. Her finger was now stained with the man''s blood.


    The man''s face was red with anger. He couldn''t believe that he had allowed this woman to get close to him albeit only for a split second. In addition, she managed to touch his wound.


    Lick.


    Ye Jiao put her finger that was stained with the thief''s blood to her mouth as she assessed the taste. "It''s bitter and leaves a scorching feeling."


    The young man''s eyes widened. "What are you-?"


    "I have the antidote," Ye Jiao cut off the young man''s words before he could finish his words. She was familiar with this poison because Lu Wan had given it to her a long time ago. Just in case, he had made several bottles of antidotes for them, so she would be able to save this young man if he wanted it.


    The young man narrowed his eyes. "I don''t need yours. Just leave me alone."


    "Don''t want to."


    "What?" at her retort, the young man glared at her dangerously. His chilling aura filled the cave as he glared at the young woman. Right now, he was already feeling extremely annoyed because of how things going on so far.


    Ye Jiao sat down. "I often play here in the past, so I''m going to stay here. You can''t kick me out with your condition."


    The young man looked back at Ye Jiao with hatred and annoyance in his eyes. He didn''t really want to move around too much because it would increase the speed at which the poison entered his body. It was dangerous because if they entered too deep into his organ, he would never be able to stay alive.


    As the young man focused his attention to his own body, Ye Jiao sat down and examined the young man. She didn''t realize it before, but this young man looked extremely young. His small build was apparent, but his childish face was covered in his dangerous aura that he emitted over and over.


    It made one unable to look at him properly.


    "It''s too late to force the poison out," Ye Jiao told the young man.


    The young man glanced back at Ye Jiao. "It''s none of your business. Just ignore me if you don''t want to get involved in my matter."


    "Oh, I want to get involved."


    Ding!


    He threw another hidden weapon to Ye Jiao. His eyes glinted with fury. "Stop meddling, brat!"


    "Brat? I bet you''re younger than me!"


    "Younger? as if I''ll be younger than an insolent girl like you!"


    "At least this insolent girl is not a thief that will steal from other people."


    The young man threw another blade to Ye Jiao, but she evaded it with ease. His control and aim has weakened considerably because of poison inside his body. Looking at how the young man struggled to keep his consciousness, Ye Jiao felt slightly bad.


    "Shut up!"


    His commanding tone was filled with ruthlessness. His body shuddered as a course of pain entered his body. Gritting his teeth, he forced his Eon Energy to move towards the particular point of poison in his body to force them out. It was painful, and he knew that forcing himself to fight in this condition was too reckless.


    Internally, he was cursing himself for his stupidity. He should have known that the Eon Energy Master rank 4 has their own means of keeping their lives. Just because of a moment of carelessness, he was poisoned. With his movements so far, he had worsened his condition.


    Ye Jiao stood up from her position as she took out a bottle from her storage bracelet. It was the antidote that Lu Wan made for her as precaution in case her body was unable to handle the poison when making antibodies.


    "Here, drink this."


    "I don''t want yours," the young man replied stubbornly. His eyes were glaring at Ye Jiao as if he was telling her that it would be better to die than receiving her help.


    Ye Jiao didn''t really understand what made this young boy hate her so much. Well, it was indeed a bit hard to trust someone he had just met, though. She swiftly moved from her position to the man''s side in a split second. Her left arm held the young man''s arm as it was going to throw another weapon while her right arm shoved the bottle into the man''s mouth.


    "MMPH!"


    "Come on, you''re going to die if you don''t drink," Ye Jiao pushed him slightly. As the man tumbled to the back, he inevitably drank the antidote that Ye Jiao shoved to his mouth. His eyes widened when the liquid entered his mouth into his stomach.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes narrowed as she saw the young man tried to push the liquid out. She put her right hand on the young man''s abdomen and used her own Eon Energy to circulate the antidote in his body. The young man''s right arm was holding her wrist tightly, trying to pry her away.


    ''One circulation.''


    Lu Wan taught her this when she was staying in his residence. This was one of the ways to help others dispel poison from their body or deliver antidotes. With this way, they could help and force-fed someone when they were unconscious. Of course, this method only worked on low level poison because the higher one required greater control.


    As soon as she finished, Ye Jiao yanked her arm and jumped to the back. The young man threw the hidden weapon as Ye Jiao parried it with her dagger.


    Clang!


    "Your accuracy increased. Have you felt better?"


    The young man frowned. He inspected his body as he could feel the poison weakened considerably. His eyes shone in realization. This girl wasn''t trying to harm him, but instead truly helping him.

 207 I’m Not That Stupid

    "So it''s truly an antidote," the young man murmured. He sat down and circulated his Eon Energy, trying his best to suppress the poison and dissolve it with the help of the antidote that Ye Jiao gave to him.


    On the side, Ye Jiao sighed to herself. Finally, the boy calmed down. She had just thought that he would never be able to calm down and continued to attack her.


    If one tried to think of this matter in the boy''s perspective, there was no way he would trust a stranger that came to him right away. Not to mention, Ye Jiao knew about the secret manual, which meant that she came from Bao Fu Organization. Unless one was an idiot, they would not trust her easily.


    ''But, he''s really powerful.''


    Ye Jiao moved her arm that she used to parry his blade. It was just an attack, but the force behind it left her speechless. If she was blocking it, she doubted that she would be able to stay alive.


    She didn''t understand. Was Eon Energy Master rank 3 normally has that much physical power in their body?


    Trying not to think too much, Ye Jiao sat down and circulated her Eon Energy to practice.


    "Have you finished?"


    Once the boy opened his eyes, he could hear the girl ask him the question. Seeing the young girl sitting on the edge of the cave without any intention to get close to him made him realize that she didn''t have any intention to harm him. If she wanted to, it would be easy to wound him when he was focused completely on recovering his body.


    "You''re a weird assassin."


    Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows. "Is that supposed to be the first thing you say to me?"


    The young man crossed his arm. "You don''t know who I am, yet you help me. You come from Bao Fu Organization but you let me get away without killing me. Don''t you know how much the reward for my head is?"


    "They prize it for a White Jade."


    "White Jade? Don''t you want it?" The young man narrowed his eyes. This item was something that every Eon Energy Master rank 3 would want because of how it could help them to advance.


    "I do, but not from them," Ye Jiao shrugged. "Besides, I''m still young, so there might be other chances for me to get one during my time traveling. There''s no need to be so fixated in this one."


    "It''s a rare item."


    "I know."


    "You''re a truly weird one," the young man looked at Ye Jiao with furrowed brows. "Also, didn''t you break your vows if you let me off?"


    Vow?


    Ye Jiao didn''t recall any vow she had made in the past. If anything, she had never even made any promise aside from the one she gave to her mother. However, she seemed to have heard about this vow from somewhere¡­


    "Are you talking about the vow that children have to take after they got out of Hell Island?"


    "Yes."


    "I didn''t make one," Ye Jiao shrugged. "I''m a disciple of an Eon Energy Master rank 4, so there''s no need for me to make the vow."


    To ensure the loyalty of the children in the organization, they were forced to make a vow once they finished the first part of the training. The only ones exempted from this would be those who already have master or come because of their master. At times, their master wanted their children to make the vow to them instead.


    The young man looked at Ye Jiao in disbelief. "The one I fought¡­"


    "I don''t know him."


    "The guardian of the other part of the secret manual¡­."


    "Not him."


    At Ye Jiao''s answer, the young man fell into silence. The only two masters known from Bao Fu Organization were those two. If it was not them, there shouldn''t be any other Eon Energy Master rank 4 in this place.


    "Do you mean, Zhan Jing?"


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. "You know my master?"


    "Kind of."


    "I see."


    The young man finally understood why Ye Jiao didn''t even bother following Bao Fu Organization''s rules. Zhan Jing did not originally come from this place and the reason that man came here was more complicated than the others. He wouldn''t bother forcing his disciple to take the oath or vow.


    "Why do you help me?" the young man decided to ask.


    Ye Jiao pointed to the young man''s storage bracelet. "I want to look at the secret manual that you stole."


    "¡­You know that you can access my storage bracelet once I die, right?"


    "if you die, I won''t be able to get the other half," Ye Jiao grinned. "You''re powerful enough to be able to contend against Eon Energy Master rank 4 and since you take the first half, I''m sure that you''re going to take the other one."


    The young man looked at the girl before him. This girl was not as strong as him because he had seen how she was staying careful near him. At the same time, she just has a much better mind compared with many other people.


    The organization said that they would be able to take a look at the secret manual, but they didn''t specify whether it was the first part, second part, or the two of them. If they ended up only showing half, the other party wouldn''t be able to completely study it. In a way, it was actually a trap to let these people return back the secret manual because they would want the other half.


    But at that time, they might not be able to protect it because of the other Eon Energy Master rank 3 or even those masters themselves.


    "You''re really smart for a brat."


    "Like I say, I bet that I''m older than you," Ye Jiao snorted. She couldn''t believe that this young man kept on questioning that thing. Of course, she only thought about this because she heard the young man in grey robe mentioned how this young man was only Eon Energy Master rank 3.


    To be able to face rank 4, it wouldn''t be easy for Eon Energy Master rank 3. Since he could do it, he might be facing some difficulties and unable to fight at full power afterwards. She was a rank lower, so she would try to make use of this chance to make a deal with this young man.


    The young man arched his eyebrows. "I''m 11."


    "I''m 11 too," Ye Jiao retorted.


    "You''re weaker for someone at the same age."


    "Are you picking a fight, Thief?"


    The young man shook his head as he shifted his position. "You shouldn''t say something you didn''t mean. With my current prowess, you won''t be able to defeat me."


    Ye Jiao sneered. "Do you really think that I''m going to let you get away if you try to kill me? I know this area much better than you, so I know what I''m doing."


    If he dared try to kill her, she would not mind destroying this cave. The entrance was only propped by several rocks. Once an imbalance occurred, it would surely destroy the entire area. Besides, Ye Jiao still has a lot of poison in her storage bracelet. If this man tried to kill her, she could just throw them on the ground and poison both of them immediately.


    She won''t be able to defeat him, but restraining him here would be easy for her.


    With that said, the two of them locked their gaze to one another.

 208 Making A Deal

    "Right, it''s not going to be easy to kill you," the young man relented under the heavy stare of the girl. He knew that she wouldn''t be able to kill him easily too, but it didn''t mean that he could. They have their own advantages and disadvantages in this place.


    Ye Jiao smirked. "Besides, are you going to be that ungrateful to the person who saved your life?"


    "If you''re talking about how you nearly choke me to death while saving me, I''ll say that I''m not very grateful."


    "Hey! You''re the one who makes it difficult for me to feed it to you!"


    The young man ignored Ye Jiao''s last sentence and took out the secret manual from his storage bracelet. There wouldn''t be any sane person who believe the words of someone he just met. Not to mention, his life was in danger just now. He would be more suspicious of anyone he met at that time because they would want to take advantage of him. He threw it to Ye Jiao''s direction.


    "There."


    "Aren''t you worried that I''ll take it?"


    The young man flicked a glance to Ye Jiao. "You''re the one who say that you need me for the second half. What''s the use of you taking it away when you already have a chance to do so in the previous hours?"


    "Good point."


    As the young man tended on his wounds because he only managed to take care of the poison, Ye Jiao read the content of the secret manual. It might be incomplete, but it didn''t mean she couldn''t read it. There was a lot of information inside the manual that astonished her.


    Unfortunately, it was not complete.


    Withdrawing her gaze from the manual, she glanced at the young man before her. Right now, he took off his robe and shirt because his wound was located on his stomach. They were placed neatly on the side as he dressed his own wounds.


    Even though he was still young, his muscle''s line has started to form. It was apparent that this young man had trained a lot ever since his young age because it would be impossible to have that much muscle at the tender age of 11. There were also some marks from blades that hadn''t disappeared from his body. Probably, he must have undergone a lot of attacks to have many wounds on his body.


    Even though Eon Energy Master could naturally heal their wounds, sometimes a mark would leave unless they used some medicine to make it disappear.


    ''Tsk, how did he manage to train that much?''


    Recalling her own training, Ye Jiao knew how hard it was for her to train every single time. But her muscles couldn''t form as well as the young man. She was still as slender as ever. Right now, she kind of envied this man a bit.


    Well, having too much muscle was not something she wanted too, though.


    She didn''t want to be a muscle woman.


    The young man finished dressing his wound and found out that Ye Jiao was looking at him. He frowned. "Why are you looking at me so much?"


    "How many hours did you train?"


    "What?"


    "You have firm muscle," Ye Jiao pointed to his body then moved her finger to her slender arm. "I can''t seem to form my muscles even though I have already trained so much ever since I was young."


    The young man blanked for a moment when he heard Ye Jiao''s question. For the first time in his life, someone asked this kind of matter to him. Most of the times, the girls would droll upon the sight of his muscle, making a disgusting face. He always wished to push them away when he saw it.


    He pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he shrugged. "I have trained my body ever since I was young, so they just formed naturally."


    "I see."


    Knowing that Ye Jiao was unconvinced, he added. "It''s not like you can''t form muscle, but normally it takes longer time for women to have theirs show outside. After all, the degree of training for both men and women is usually different."


    "You''re right," Ye Jiao had only started to catch up to the training standard that her master gave her. However, she was not always train her body because she also had to focus her training on her Eon Energy.


    The young man looked at Ye Jiao for a moment. "It''s inconvenient for me to just call you as ''you.'' My name is Zheng."


    "No surname?"


    "I don''t want to tell you."


    "You can call me Ai Jiao," Ye Jiao decided to just give her alias in the organization. This name was still not known to many people. Unlike her real name, with just a few questions here and there in Chen Kingdom, no ne wouldn''t know the girl named Ye Jiao.


    Zheng nodded in understanding. Even he could guess that it must be the girl''s alias in the organization. "The other half of the secret manual is in Chi Kingdom. I''m planning on going there after having enough rest tomorrow. Are you going to tag along?"


    "Yes."


    "You should return the secret manual to me. They''re placing an imprint on the back of the manual," Zheng pointed to the manual.


    Ye Jiao returned back the manual with a frown on her face. "What is an imprint?"


    "It''s a way to track your belongings in case it''s away."


    "What?"


    Seeing that the girl was still confused, Zheng thought for a moment before replying. "You can make a brand with your Eon Energy to mark something that belonged to you. Once it''s placed far away from you, you will still be able to sense it because of the imprint that you left behind."


    "There''s such a thing?"


    "Yes."


    "How do you make an imprint?" Ye Jiao''s interest was piqued up. She really wanted to know how one would be able to make something like that. It sounded extremely convenient.


    Zheng looked at Ye Jiao. "First, you need to have talent in illusive Eon Energy. Secondly, you need to reach rank 4 in Eon Energy or you won''t have enough Eon Energy to form any."


    "Wait, what is Illusive Eon Energy?" Ye Jiao decided to stop the young man''s explanation once she heard an unfamiliar term.


    "It''s one of the specializations you can choose after you reach rank 4," Zheng rubbed his forehead. "Forget it, you won''t be able to understand them at this point. For now, just know that it''s a special talent."


    "Ok."


    "Anyway, with enough practice, you will be able to make an imprint that way," Zheng shrugged. "There might be other requirements, but I don''t really know. I never pay much attention to them."


    "I never heard about them before."


    "That''s because I didn''t hear them from the Four Kingdom," Zheng said as a matter of fact. He kept the manual inside his storage bracelet. "I already blocked the imprint, but it''s better to keep it inside the storage bracelet in case it starts to die down. Now, just take some sleep. It''s already night time."


    As the young man prepared a bed for himself, Ye Jiao thought of his words. Now that she thought about it, her master had told her that someone at her talent was rare. Seeing a young boy who had the same talent as her or maybe higher, she should have realized it sooner that he didn''t come from the four kingdoms.


    After all, if there was someone like him in Four Kingdoms, it was hard for Zhan Jing to not spot him at all. Besides, to grow strong like this without anyone''s notice would be hard. Ye Jiao only managed to do so because she had a supportive master and friends, but she didn''t know about Zheng. And if he was one of the rare geniuses from other kingdoms, she had never heard his name.


    He had admitted it himself, so Ye Jiao didn''t need to try figuring out the young man''s origin anymore.


    ''He comes from the world outside the four kingdoms.''


    The world outside.


    The phrase was so tempting for Ye Jiao. She longed to see a much wider world that was filled with numerous experiences outside. Not just the four kingdoms, but a large world with higher ranks and experts around her.


    It would truly be interesting.

 209 Departing

    Early in the morning, Ye Jiao woke up and took care of her bed. Her storage bracelet was quite large, so she was able to keep the mattress inside. It served as her bed when she truly needed one.


    Walking out of the cave, she noticed that her movements had caused the young man to wake up.


    "Good morning, Zheng."


    "Good morning, Ai Jiao," Zheng replied. His golden iris looked straight at the young girl before him as he scrutinized her. It was apparent that the young girl didn''t seem to have any qualm for sleeping outside, something that many young pampered geniuses lacked when they were young.


    Ye Jiao looked at the young man in confusion. "Why is it your turn to look at me so much? I''m going to cook, you can cook your own food, right?"


    "I can," Zheng retracted his gaze and stood up. He cleaned up his bed before walking out of the cave. The two of them started fire on their own and cooked their own meat. Soon afterwards, the area was filled with the enchanting smell of cooked meat.


    Ye Jiao finished cooking and put off the fire. She sat down on the ground and started eating, not caring for manners at all. After getting used to living freely without anyone to scrutinize her, her etiquette was slowly being forgotten.


    "What do you use when you cook it?" Zheng asked as he picked his own meat.


    "Salt."


    "It tastes better when you use honey."


    "Really?"


    "Yes," Zheng cut a part of his meat and handed it to Ye Jiao. "Just try it."


    Taking the meat, Ye Jiao understood what Zheng meant. Cooking it and adding honey at the end made the meat taste sweet. It was so chewy inside her mouth, a taste that she rarely found when cooking outside.


    "But the salty one is good too," Ye Jiao replied. "If you cook it properly and give enough seasoning, it''s not that bad."


    Zheng nodded. "I see."


    "Want to try too?"


    "Sure."


    No one would reject free food. Since the two of them wouldn''t poison one another, there was no need for them to put on guard continuously. Taking the meat from Ye Jiao, Zheng tasted it. It was not bad. At least, it was far better than what his comrades usually made during his travel.


    "it''s good."


    "Isn''t it?" Ye Jiao beamed. "My dad taught me how to make it delicious like this and preserve the Eon Energy inside. I always love it."


    "I see."


    The two of them didn''t chat too much. As soon as they finished eating their food, they cleaned up the place and erased the trace of their presence. Soon afterwards, they departed in the direction of Chi Kingdom.


    "By the way, how do you know the location for the other part?"


    "This secret manual is always brought by the two head of Bao Fu Organization in the four kingdoms. I recently got the news that he''s visiting the branch at Chi Kingdom, so I know the location," Zheng explained.


    "There are numerous branches in a kingdom, right?"


    "I have insider news."


    Seeing how the young man refused to answer, Ye Jiao didn''t try to ask deeper. They continued their journey as Ye Jiao soon realized that Zheng traveled at higher speed compared to her. The way he moved made her feel as if she would never be able to catch up.


    The difference between rank 2 and rank 3 seemed so large.


    "If you''re going to slow me down, I''m going to leave you," Zheng remarked when he stopped to wait for Ye Jiao for the nth time.


    "We have a deal, right?" Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. She has been trying to catch up with Zheng, but it was so hard. The way he moved seemed to be so fast that it was hard for her to catch up.


    In truth, Ye Jiao''s speed was already similar to normal Eon Energy Master rank 3. Unfortunately, Zheng was not a normal one and he also used technique that allowed him to move faster. This was the reason why he was able to travel at far higher speed than normal Eon Energy Master rank 3.


    "I''m using technique to maintain my speed," Zheng sighed. He threw a pill to Ye Jiao. "Here''s Eon Energy Pill rank 3. Eat it to maintain your Eon Energy because we''re going to travel for a long time."


    "Thank you," taking the pill out, Ye Jiao was stunned to see the perfect pill inside. It was far purer than the one Qi Huan gave to her not long ago. This made her wonder just how large the difference in wealth between her and Zheng was.


    Zheng examined Ye Jiao''s reaction. "It''s too late to regret not killing me."


    "I don''t really need them so much," Ye Jiao shook her head and put the pill into her mouth. It was quite large, so it was much harder to swallow. She looked at Zheng. "Besides, I don''t want to make enemies out of strangers."


    She already has too many enemies in the four kingdoms and even outside too. If she tried to take advantage of every person she met, she would only increase their number. It was said that geniuses could take on all kind of challenge, but she didn''t want to be the stupid one to invite them to her door.


    Living is already hard enough without them creating trouble for her.


    "Good point," Zheng nodded his head. "Let''s go again."


    "Ok."


    As they traveled, Ye Jiao fixated her gaze on Zheng''s movements. She could see that he seemed to move at high speed yet at the same time not. The way he moved his legs seemed to be peculiar as he moved from one point to another in a split second.


    ''I think, it should be like this.''


    Ye Jiao tried to imitate it and nearly fell on the ground because she tripped on the rock. Stabilizing herself, Ye Jiao tried to do it again and again. Along the way, she would continue to try using it while controlling the amount of Eon Energy she took from the Eon Energy Pill rank 3 that Zheng gave her.


    ''To the left¡­I''m a bit too far.''


    From the front, Zheng secretly watched Ye Jiao from the corner of his eyes. This technique was hard to learn because of the high rank and the requirement. For him, it was nothing much as he managed to learn it after a few tries. The girl before him managed to learn it in an even more peculiar method.


    She didn''t even need the manual.


    ''At this rank, it should be impossible to study without the manual. It seems this girl has the natural talent of observation.''


    Zheng executed his movements a bit slower to give Ye Jiao a clearer look as he pondered. While he thought that it was a natural talent Ye Jiao had, it was actually a talent that she polished through constant training. After all, her first teacher was very very very (repeat it by another 999 times) bad at explaining.


    She had to learn by observing along with trial and error.

 210 Creating A Wicked Diversion

    By the time the two of them reached Chi Kingdom, Ye Jiao had grasped the core concept for the method to travel faster. She managed to execute it a few times. She was still slower than Zheng, but it was already far better than before.


    "You''re a quick learner," Zheng commented as he stopped in the middle of the grassland.


    "Thank you," Ye Jiao smiled. Thanks to the Eon Energy Pill rank 3 that he gave to her before, she didn''t run out of Eon Energy on the way to this place. She had almost used them all because she was learning how to do the technique but it was all worth it.


    Zheng pointed to the front. "Let''s hide."


    "Hide in the grassland?" Ye Jiao was stunned. Did this young man eat the wrong medicine? There was nowhere they could hide in this vast grassland unless he meant for them to dig a hole on the ground.


    "I can''t enter the headquarter without a badge."


    "What?"


    Looking at how confused Ye Jiao was, Zheng repeated his words. "One couldn''t enter the organization headquarters without having the badge. The formation outside will reject anyone who didn''t bring the badge with them."


    Ye Jiao blinked a few times. This was the first time she heard that there was actually a requirement to enter the headquarter. When she first entered it with Lu Wan, she hadn''t heard of something like that. Their master also didn''t tell them anything about this matter.


    "You didn''t know?"


    "I didn''t," Ye Jiao admitted. She furrowed her brows. "If you can''t enter without a badge, how did you manage to enter before?"


    "I stole a badge, but I''m sure that the owner already reported it by now. If I try to bring it inside again and the formation recognizes it, I might be walking straight to my doom," Zheng explained.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. They must have a way to recognize each person''s badge because it was tailored specially for them. She was not sure what method they used, but it must be a special one.


    "I''ll just steal a badge for you."


    "What?"


    "I can come in and out easily with my badge," Ye Jiao shrugged. "I''ll just steal another badge for you when I''m inside. Using that, you can enter the headquarters without any problem."


    "You can just lend me your badge."


    "And wait here?" Ye Jiao arched her eyebrow. "Do you want to court death by inviting numerous Eon Energy Masters out again when they alarm the entire headquarter?"


    The previous time, Zheng had caused a large problem in the headquarter because he stole the secret manual. If he used the same method and was unable to get out in time again, a lot of Eon Energy Masters would surely block his way. When that happened, there was no telling whether he could get out alive or not.


    His wound has healed because of the long journey, but it didn''t mean he could challenge Eon Energy Master rank 4 recklessly like that.


    Zheng nodded. "Then you should create a diversion when I take the secret manual and battle that Eon Energy Master rank 4. Make sure that they won''t be able to take notice of me before I get out."


    "Got it."


    "Ok. I''ll wait outside."


    Ye Jiao walked around until she could see the headquarter before walking inside. There were fewer people inside the headquarter at this time. Some of them walked on the street randomly and it didn''t seem like they were going to get out of the headquarter.


    ''No wonder that there''s no trace of this headquarter from outside.''


    If it was the one in Chen Kingdom, she could easily pinpoint the location after a few minutes or so because there would be someone getting in or out. This place seemed to be so desolate and void of life that it was perplexing.


    Turning in the nearby intersection, Ye Jiao headed to an empty alleyway. She noticed a man walked in the opposite direction while mumbling. Hastening her speed, she swiftly bypassed the man while her Eon Energy worked to search his body. Sometimes Eon Energy Masters would keep their badge outside rather than in their storage bracelet.


    Her lips curled up when she found his badge. With her Eon Energy, she brought it to her arm and covered it under her sleeve. The man didn''t seem to notice anything as he was still busy mumbling something incoherently.


    Ye Jiao returned to the entrance. She walked out and swiftly changed the direction of her body as a sword passed by where she stood before.


    Swish!


    "Do you have a hobby of greeting people with your blade?"


    "I have to make sure that the one who appears is not an enemy," Zheng replied as he kept his sword away. "You''re quick."


    "I found a suitable one right away," Ye Jiao tossed the badge she took from the man to Zheng. "Let''s get in."


    The two of them walked into the headquarter as Zheng scrutinized the surroundings. It was smaller than the one in Chen Kingdom. Also, it looked like there was lesser people around the area.


    "I don''t understand why Eon Energy Master rank 4 will visit this place," Ye Jiao commented in a low voice.


    "They have their own reason. One of them is because they have to make sure that the branch doesn''t lack manpower and has a suitable number of assassins. Once it''s lower than a certain number, they need to make up for it."


    They reached the hall as Zheng stood near the door. He was wearing dark cloth that covered his face, making them unable to see him. Similar to him, Ye Jiao also wore one like that because it was the common clothes that assassins used.


    "I''ll be right back."


    Ye Jiao entered the hall. Contrary to the empty hallway, the hall was filled with people. They gathered inside to chat with each other and shared the information they had gathered. As this place was far away from the cities, they needed to trade information.


    Bypassing a group of people, Ye Jiao utilized her Eon Energy to her surroundings. With a little control, she flipped the skirt of a woman who was standing near several men.


    "KKYAAAAAAa! PERVERT!"


    SLAP!


    The angry woman slapped the man''s cheek. The man felt wronged as he tried to explain himself while the girl berated him.


    As the crowd''s attention was focused on the man and woman, Ye Jiao walked to the center. There was a large wooden table placed in the middle with several people sitting near it. With her Eon Energy, she cut off one of the legs of the table. As it turned imbalance, she moved to the side and extended her leg to trip the nearby man.


    Bam! Prang! Clang!


    The man was walking without paying attention. His legs tangled to Ye Jiao''s leg as he crashed to the table. Without the leg supporting the weight, it tumbled on the ground. Several glasses were broken as other utensils also fell on the ground while the wooden table headed straight to the group of people behind them.


    Slash!


    "What the hell."


    "Are you trying to pick a fight?"


    The people surrounding the table were angry. They walked to the poor man, trying to demand an explanation.


    As the tension grew higher, Ye Jiao looked at the front door and winked. Her clothe covered her mouth, but she was sure that the young man would know that she was smiling. She pointed to the stair.


    Outside the hall, Zheng was utterly speechless by Ye Jiao''s work. He knew that she was creating a diversion, but the way she did it¡­


    She''s truly a wicked young lady.


    This was not just a normal diversion; it was a wicked diversion as she made several people to be the target.

 211 Secret Manual: Disguising

    Ye Jiao caused these people to fight against one another in a swift manner. As she used her skill to make her presence lessened, they were unable to pinpoint that she was the real culprit. In addition, most of them were Eon Energy Master rank 2 or rank 1. With their current power, they wouldn''t be able to guess that they were being played by a little girl.


    When she saw Zheng walking upstairs, Ye Jiao turned her attention to the door. She sneaked out as the people were starting to fight against one another.


    "You! Did you hit me?"


    "What are you doing?"


    "Hey!"


    These people were normally assassins who worked alone, so they were not used to the crowd. Some of them have lesser temper than the others, making Ye Jiao''s work extremely easy. She walked out of the hall when she noticed a man standing near the door. From his prowess that Ye Jiao detected, he looked like Eon Energy Master rank 3.


    As she bypassed the man, she utilized her Eon Energy and stole the man''s storage bracelet.


    In that instant, the man moved to attack Ye Jiao.


    Swish!


    Ye Jiao threw the storage bracelet into the hall and slipped into the crowd. Her rapid footstep quickly brought her away from the man.


    "B*stard!"


    The man plunged into the fight as he searched for his storage bracelet while Ye Jiao got out of the hall and headed to the nearby alley. She leaned on the wall quietly, waiting for Zheng to finish his work.


    ''It seems like I have a talent to do covert things.''


    Thinking of the mess she had created, Ye Jiao didn''t know whether to cry or laugh. Apparently, she had picked up quite an interesting skill. Hopefully, she wouldn''t need to use it too much because it seemed to be quite a troublesome skill. Though, it was quite hilarious.


    While Ye Jiao was busy to make trouble in the hall, Zheng made his way up the stairs. He was familiar with the way because he had seen the map. It took him a short time to arrive by the top floor.


    Ding!


    "As I thought, you also specialize in secret weapons," Zheng''s voice sounded calm.


    A large man was standing in front of him. From the aura around him, one could easily guess that he was far stronger than the majority of people around them. His eyes were looking at Zheng with killing intent. He truly wished to kill this young man before him who had disrupted the balance in the other branches.


    "You''re quite brave to come here too knowing that I''m waiting for you, Qin Zheng."


    Qin Zheng smiled. "I''m flattered that you remember me."


    The man drew his sword. His aura intensified as he was prepared for a battle. "I won''t let you take our secret manual."


    "Your little tricks won''t work on me again," Qin Zheng also drew his sword. It was different from the ordinary sword that he usually used as it was coated in blue light. Those who see it wouldn''t be able to stand calm.


    "We shall see."


    ¡­.


    ''He''s late,'' Ye Jiao thought to herself as she watched the ruckus in the hall continue. Several men were flown outside due to the impact of the battle, but she paid no heed to them. They would be fine after resting for some time. Besides, it was not really her business whether they survived or not.


    Swish!


    Ye Jiao''s heartbeat increased when she sensed someone got close to her. Instantly, she summoned out her dagger to attack that particular person.


    Clang!


    "It looks like I''m not the only one who greets other people with their blade," Qin Zheng said calmly. His gaze looked calm as he looked at Ye Jiao in approval. She truly did her job well as he was not disturbed in the battle at all.


    Ye Jiao retraced her curved dagger. She pursed her lips. "It''s your fault for sneaking to me."


    "I did hide my presence," Qin Zheng admitted. "But it seems that your detection skill is lacking compared to your concealment skill."


    "¡­"


    Ye Jiao truly wished to knock this young man''s forehead. He was truly irking her to no end day after day. It was not like her skill was lacking, but it was hard to detect someone stronger than her, especially if that particular person has much more Eon Energy and great concealment ability like this man.


    "Let''s go."


    The two of them didn''t dwell any longer and dashed out of the headquarter. As soon as they got out, Qin Zheng threw the badge to the side because he knew that they might try to detect him through that badge. It would be safer for him to just throw it away right after he got out.


    Ye Jiao looked at Qin Zheng with questions. "Where will we go?"


    If they headed back to the East, to the location of Chen Kingdom, they would have to travel in the grassland for two to three days before they entered a forest. It was a long journey because of the sheer distance. As for the other direction, she was not totally sure because she was not familiar with Chi Kingdom.


    If anything, this was the first time she traveled this far from Chen Kingdom.


    "We''ll head west. There''s city in a couple of hours'' distance away if we''re hurrying."


    "Got it."


    The two of them dashed in the grassland into the location Qin Zheng mentioned. As he had said, they arrived in a town after a couple of hours travelling.


    "Two rooms please," Qin Zheng threw a gold coin to the counter the moment they entered the inn.


    "Over here."


    Seeing how nonchalant this young man acted, Ye Jiao was speechless once again. She had the feeling that everyone she met so far was all filthy rich. Lu Wan is the young master of a large family, Qi Huan is the first prince of a big kingdom, and now Zheng is also someone extremely rich.


    Oh well, she herself was also quite rich after selling those fruits.


    "Here we are. These two are the best room in this inn," the servant humbly told them the location of the room.


    "Ok. You can go."


    "Excuse me."


    After the servant had left, Ye Jiao followed Qin Zheng to his room. The decoration in the room seemed milder compared to the inn in Chen Kingdom. The wall was painted in light blue color with a hint of green hue. There was a bed, table, cupboard, shelf, and several chairs placed neatly inside the room.


    "Here''s the other part," Qin Zheng handed her the secret manual as he sat down on a chair.


    Ye Jiao took it and read the title.


    Secret manual: Disguising.

 212 Studying Together

    Ye Jiao took it and read the title.


    Secret manual: Disguising


    "It seems that this is the first part instead," Ye Jiao opened the book and started reading. She stopped for a moment when she sensed Eon Energy pulling her from behind. Her brows were creased. She stared at the young man before her.


    "Sit down," Qin Zheng said in an authoritative tone.


    Ye Jiao frowned. "I''m fine with standing up."


    "Do you want to start learning while standing up?"


    "Fine."


    She pulled a chair and finished reading. Thanks to her current rank, it was easy for her to memorize the entire book. With just little help, she was able to connect the method from the first part to the second part of the book.


    "It''s amazing."


    "My turn," Qin Zheng took the book and started reading it. On the other hand, Ye Jiao pondered on what she had read.


    The content of the book was similar to the title it suggested. It was a secret manual that allowed the one who practiced it to change their body shape in order to disguise themselves to someone else. They could use makeup, but with this skill, it would be easier for them to move around without the need to worry.


    This skill let them change their skin color to their bone shape. It was a step by step learning because there was a slow method, but with this skill someone could turn into a completely different person in just a matter of minutes.


    It was truly a convenient skill.


    However, the method one needed to train it was not easy. Ye Jiao started to control her Eon Energy inside her body as the young man also finished reading. Qin Zheng directly started training too.


    The room stayed quiet for a couple of hours.


    The two children were completely focused on their Eon Energy as the skill relied completely on their use inside their body. At times, there would be muffled groan because of their failed attempt, but hours passed swiftly inside the room. Neither one of the two tried to disturb one another as they focused on their training.


    Soon, it was night time.


    Crack!


    Qin Zheng opened his eyes slowly. He looked at his right arm, which had slightly different color from his original skin. The first step to learn this disguising skill was to change their skin color by altering the amount of Eon Energy in their body. It was not easy to directly affect them because of the complicated layer underneath the skin.


    It took him quite a long time to be able to change the color a bit.


    ''It''s harder than I thought. It seems that the rank for this secret manual is a bit higher than other secret manuals,'' Qin Zheng thought to himself.


    Ye Jiao opened her eyes soon afterwards. Compared to Qin Zheng, she had an awful expression as she glanced at his arm with unconcealed envy.


    "How did you manage to learn so quickly? I didn''t even manage to do it."


    Qin Zheng looked at his arm. It has slowly returned to normal. He picked the book and opened the middle page before pointing to a certain line.


    Skill requirement: Eon Energy Master rank 3


    "¡­."


    Ye Jiao wished to throw this book out of the window right now. If only she knew it was impossible for her to learn this skill, she would not waste so much time to try doing it. It was no wonder that she only got close, but there seemed to be a huge wall hindering her to learn it.


    "Even though you have good memory, you miss the most important information," Qin Zheng remarked.


    "Shut up," Ye Jiao stood up. "I''ll call for the servant to bring us some food. What do you want to eat?"


    "Fish dish, whatever it is."


    "Got it."


    The two of them have their dinner in the room before Ye Jiao moved to her own room. She was annoyed by the requirement of the skill, so she decided to forget the skill and focused her attention on doing her daily practice.


    By the time it was morning, Ye Jiao felt refreshed. She walked out of her room and found Qin Zheng also walked out of his room. His long hair was tied neatly to the back, allowing her to see his face clearly. As he didn''t really put up his guard around her anymore, there was no murderous aura threatening to kill her anymore.


    For the first time, she realized how handsome he was for a brat. She had gotten used to see Qi Huan and Lu Wan''s handsome faces, but this boy seemed to be slightly better than those two.


    Great, she was not only friends with rich boys but also handsome?


    It was good that she was not one to pay much attention to them or she might not be able to survive living so close to them all the time.


    "Why are you looking at me for a long time?" Qin Zheng asked when he noticed that Ye Jiao looked stunned. It didn''t even cross his mind that this little girl has just realized his handsome countenance.


    "I''m surprised that you still wait for me."


    "Don''t be ridiculous. I don''t have any intention to leave early in the morning," Qin Zheng turned his body around. "Besides, it''s impolite to leave without proper farewell with your comrade."


    Comrade?


    His words just made Ye Jiao surprised. She was quite sure that they were nothing more than strangers that made a deal in the forest. Well, they did talk to each other a lot over the past few days, but it shouldn''t make them that close.


    Whatever, he could be considered as her acquaintances too.


    The two of them headed down to the restaurant place. They just ordered some fish dishes because Chi Kingdom was famous for them. After all, the lake was known to be the place for fishes and many of them were imported to every area around the kingdom.


    "Fish soup, fried fish, and what''s this?" Ye Jiao muttered the food''s name as she looked at the last one. It looked strange because it looked like raw fish. Did the restaurant make a mistake?


    "It''s fish meat," Qin Zheng took one of them using chopsticks. "Fresh fish meat can be eaten raw."


    "Really? This is the first time I heard it."


    "It''s not uncommon for people who live near the lake, river, or sea, but it might not be for you. If you don''t want them, you can leave it to me."


    "How rude! I''ll eat it."


    Ye Jiao tried to take it as she could feel the saltiness from the soft meat. It felt chewy and tasty, so she didn''t hesitate to take more to her plate. In front of her, Qin Zheng also ate unhurriedly.


    They were just about to finish their meal when a group of people walked in.


    "Hey, inn owner, may I take these people''s attention for a moment?"


    The inn owner looked surprised, but he nodded his head. Looking at the group of men equipped with weapons, no one seemed to be willing to contradict them.


    The man smiled and looked around him. "Everyone, let me take your time for a bit. I''m from Fire Mercenary, we''re here to recruit more people for an expedition to Spring Island. I''m sure all of you have heard of Spring Island, right?"


    Most of the people nodded while Ye Jiao was confused.


    What is Spring Island?

 213 Spring Island

    Most of the people nodded while Ye Jiao was confused.


    What is Spring Island?


    Unfortunately, the man didn''t seem to be caring for a little girl as he continued talking. In his opinion, she was just a little kid who didn''t have much importance.


    "In less than a week, the Spring Island is going to emerge from Chi Lake. The imperial family is going to the island this time and they''re recruiting a lot of mercenaries to follow after them. Our mercenaries are included, but since we''re worried that we might lack in numbers, we want to open our application for new mercenaries."


    Ye Jiao turned her head to Qin Zheng. "What is he talking about?"


    "Have you never heard of Spring Island?"


    "I haven''t."


    "It''s an island that only appears every spring in the largest lake in Chi Kingdom, Chi Lake. The island is surrounded by a thick barrier that will prevent anyone from reaching it. Once every three years, the barrier will diminish enough to let Eon Energy Master above rank 1 to enter the island. Coincidentally, this year is the time when the barrier will weaken," Qin Zheng explained carefully.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes shone with interest. This was the first time she ever heard of a peculiar island that could disappear like that.


    "What is on the island?"


    "it''s filled with treasure and inheritance for those who bear the blood of the royal family."


    Inheritance?


    Recalling how Qi Huan seemed to be in a hurry to return back, she was sure that it must be related to this island. Qi Huan is the first prince of Chi Kingdom, so naturally, he has the right to enter the island and fight for the inheritance. Otherwise, he wouldn''t need to return back so quickly to Chi Kingdom.


    Qin Zheng studied Ye Jiao''s face for a moment. "I''m planning on heading to Chi Lake after I get the secret manual. Do you want to tag along?"


    "Yes!"


    "Why are you so excited?"


    "Because I don''t know the way," Ye Jiao admitted directly. "And applying as a mercenary seems to be out of the question."


    With her age still 11 and her inability to disguise herself as someone older due to her height, it would be hard for her to apply as a mercenary. She might be able to tag along with other people, but it would be harder without a definite guide helping her to reach the island in time. After all, she didn''t want to be late to reach the island.


    Qin Zheng''s lips twitched when he saw the glint on Ye Jiao''s eyes. Her honesty truly made him astonished over and over again.


    "Let''s depart now."


    "Ok."


    The man looked at the two children for a moment but paid no heed afterwards. The two of them concealed their real rank using some kind of means, so unless they utilized their Eon Energy outward, no one would be able to detect that they were Eon Energy Masters. With their age and built, no one will try to suspect them.


    As soon as they exited the city, the two of them dashed through the grassland into the north. Chi Lake is located right at the center of Chi Kingdom, making it quite far from their current location. It would take them a few days to reach the lake.


    Days passed swiftly and soon they reached their destination.


    "The lake is visible from here," Qin Zheng stopped to wait for Ye Jiao. Her overall speed was still slower than him as she no longer has a large amount of Eon Energy from the pill to spare. She had to rely on her own Eon Energy she had in her core.


    Tep.


    Ye Jiao stopped near Qin Zheng. Her eyes looked at the view before her. The vast lake looked like a sea with how big they were. The light blue surface looked extremely calm as it reflected the sky and the trees around it. There was nothing on the lake, only water for as far as they could see.


    "It''s really big."


    No wonder that this lake was famous in Chi Kingdom. If one didn''t know better, they would just term this as a small sea rather than lake with how large it was.


    Qin Zheng nodded. "It''s like a sea, but you can drink the water."


    "It''s not salty?" Ye Jiao asked in astonishment.


    "Yes. Why do you think they named it as lake instead of sea? Let''s head to that village. There should be more information regarding the Spring Island there."


    "I thought you already have more than enough information."


    "Not really," Qin Zheng replied as he started to run with Ye Jiao following after him from behind. "Spring Island is a mysterious Island. Not many people manage to survive after they enter the island and only the Imperial family somehow manage to survive. Given their position, they won''t divulge too much information to the others, though."


    Knowing how the Imperial Family worked from her mother, Ye Jiao understood perfectly what Qin Zheng meant. Some information was better kept as a secret to not make unrelated people know about it. Some imperial family members even withheld information when they wanted to take advantage of that particular information.


    It was not uncommon at all.


    The two of them stopped near the entrance as they could see a long row of people waiting to enter the city. Apparently, the appearance of Spring Island drew a lot of people to come here.


    "There might not even be enough room for us inside the city," Ye Jiao commented when she saw the long line.


    "It''s obvious."


    "We can sleep in the forest if you don''t mind."


    "I don''t mind."


    On their way here, they had stopped a few times to sleep in the forest, so it was nothing new for them. Of course, they would not say it out loudly because there were a lot of people around them. Soon afterwards, more and more people lined up as they got closer to the entrance of the city.


    "I need your identification card," the guards said to the group of people in front of them.


    Ye Jiao''s body froze when she heard that. She didn''t have any identification card because the imperial family detested her. The only one she had was the Lu Family''s servant token that she brought with her because it was useful to sneak out in the past.


    As it was their turn, Qin Zheng took out a paper from his pocket. "This is for me and my little sister."


    "Are you here alone?"


    "Our group is in the back. We''re just here to scout first," Qin Zheng said with a smile.


    The guard nodded after checking the content. He returned the paper to Qin Zheng and beckoned for the other guards to open the way. "Clear."


    "Let''s go."


    Following after Qin Zheng, Ye Jiao was curious as to what Qin Zheng showed before. However, it was not the right time to ask, so she scanned her surroundings instead. This city was large and there were numerous tall buildings near her. It was specifically built to allow a lot of people to live in the city.


    "It''s even larger than Arena City."


    "That''s because every year people will still attempt to try entering Spring Island. This place is modified to contain a lot of people at once," Qin Zheng explained. "There might be some room left. If there''s none, we can just get out of the city and enter again afterwards."


    "Oh, right. What did you show them?"


    "It''s an identification paper that I took from the assassin that I killed before in Chen Kingdom. He''s from Chi Kingdom, so it''s convenient."


    "I see."


    Ye Jiao stopped asking as they entered into a large inn.

 214 Preparation

    From the size alone, Ye Jiao could see that this inn must be more expensive compared to the other inns in the city. It was not like they couldn''t go there, but there wouldn''t be any room left since the cheapest must be full. With the current number of people in the city, only those expensive inns could possibly have some room left.


    "Welcome!" the servant greeted the two of them respectfully. After all, everyone who dared to come here were mostly people with money.


    Qin Zheng looked at the servant in front of him. "Is there any room left?"


    "Yes, there are still some of them."


    "How much for a room?"


    "It''s 20 silvers per room," the servant replied.


    Ye Jiao: "¡­" that was daylight robbery.


    In normal times, a few silvers were already more than enough to give them an extremely luxurious room. However, this place hiked up the price even more that it was hard for her to say anything.


    Qin Zheng tossed out a gold coin. "Two rooms. We''ll be staying for two days for now. If we want to extend it, I''ll inform you."


    "Thank you very much!" the servant beamed. "We''ll prepare your rooms right away."


    Ye Jiao flicked a glance to Qin Zheng. "I can pay for my own room."


    "There''s no need. It''s just one gold coin."


    "It''s not ''just.''"


    Shaking his head, Qin Zheng pointed to the counter. "In the world outside, these coins wouldn''t have that much value anymore. They''re only useful to the branch area such as Four Kingdoms like this."


    "Branches area?" Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows. The term was unfamiliar.


    Realizing that he had spoken a secret information, Qin Zheng''s eyes flickered. Those inside these places wouldn''t know the existences of those places until it was the time. After all, there was no need to tell information to unrelated people.


    "You''ll know in the future."


    "If you don''t want to tell, you shouldn''t speak about it in the first place."


    "My bad. As my apology, you don''t have to pay back the money."


    "¡­."


    Ye Jiao gave up talking to the young man as she observed her surroundings. This would be the first time she entered a place this expensive, so she better satisfied her eyes. After all, there wouldn''t be any other place who would charge up to 20 silvers just for a night stay in this place.


    Qin Zheng seemed to recall something. "Oh right, stay in my room for a bit. I need to teach you something."


    "What is it?"


    Before Qin Zheng could answer, the servant had returned. He took the two of them to their designated room. Seeing how large the room was with finely decoration, Ye Jiao felt as if she had just entered the palace. No-even the palace in Chen Kingdom didn''t look as luxurious as this place.


    "They''re wasting so much money for the furniture," Qin Zheng shook his head. He pulled a chair to the table and beckoned for Ye Jiao to sit down.


    "What is it, Zheng?"


    "Don''t call me so closely."


    "You''re the one who didn''t tell me your surname," Ye Jiao rolled her eyes.


    Qin Zheng paused for a moment. He opened his mouth again. "It''s Qin Zheng."


    "Ok, I got it, Qin Zheng."


    "I''ll be teaching you table manners for noble families. You better use them when you''re eating food later."


    Ye Jiao''s face changed a bit. She had seen how Qin Zheng ate before and his movements itself could be called as a great art. On the other hand, she herself looked like a fool in front of him. If she had to study something like that in just mere hours... it would be practically impossible.


    "Do I have to learn it?"


    "You''re in a hotel for rich people. If you don''t have any manners, you''re going to be the center of attention. Do you want to be tagged as a country bumpkin and being watched by the others?


    The thought of having them watching her like a hawk made her mood soured. Ye Jiao knew that they would surely pay a lot of attention to someone like her, who stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of elegant people.


    Ye Jiao sighed. "Fine, teach me the table manners please."


    "Good. First, you have to hold your spoon¡­."


    For the next hour, Qin Zheng kept on correcting her position and engraved the etiquette and rules into her head. It was hard, but she had good memorization ability, which allowed her to learn them in just an hour. But still, habit was hard to break.


    "Eat slower if you can''t remember them perfectly," Qin Zheng frowned. "It helps if you try to do it for real."


    "I understand."


    "It''ll soon be time for dinner, so you''re going to do them for real at that time."


    Ye Jiao got the urge to sigh for the nth time just today. This young man seemed to be so particular in this matter that anything she said just entered his left ear before leaving through his right ear.


    She was not used doing these kinds of things, so there was no doubt that she would have to repeat them for a long period of time before she could do them correctly. It was not easy considering her background as a commoner and her own habit to just eat whenever there was food in front of her.


    Qin Zheng stood up. "Let''s go to the dining hall. It''s time to collect more information from the guests that stay here."


    "It''ll be very crowded. Do you think we can still get a place?" Ye Jiao asked doubtfully.


    "We can hire a VIP room if you want, but that way, we won''t be able to gain any important information. Anyway, it''s not like it''s hard to reserve a place for children."


    The word children made her aware that their age didn''t really differ that much. Considering the trouble that she had to go through just because of acting, Ye Jiao truly wanted to sigh again. From the bottom of her heart, she hoped that she could grow up faster and became an adult.


    Right now, it would be impossible for her to pretend that she was an adult because of her small build.


    With that in mind, Ye Jiao followed after Qin Zheng out of the room.

 215 Coincidental Meeting

    To say that the dining room was crowded would be an understatement. It was practically filled with people that Ye Jiao was speechless. There didn''t seem to be any room left for the two of them to slip in. Wherever she looked, she would see a sea of people.


    "Qin Zheng¡­ where should we go?"


    "You should call me brother," Qin Zheng corrected her. "Also, do not utter my name so loudly in the public."


    "Alright, Brother Qin?"


    "Not my surname too."


    Internally, Ye Jiao rolled her eyes in displeasure. She quickly thought of another way of calling before trying again "Zheng Ge?"


    "Yes, Jiao''er?"


    "Will that do?"


    "Yes."


    Qin Zheng paid no heed to the girl that was about to sigh again. He walked to the servant and showed a silver coin. "Is there any better room for the restaurant aside from this one?"


    The servant beamed. "There''s the second room, but it''s only for VIP quests. To enter the second room, you have to pay 5 silvers. Also, there''s the VIP rooms on the third floor if you''re interested."


    "The second floor will do."


    After Qin Zheng paid another five silvers, the servant was happy and brought them to the second floor without delay. He made sure that the sea of people didn''t block their way until they reached the designated place.


    Ye Jiao followed without making any noise. She was speechless when she saw the partially empty second floor. Compared to the hell on the first floor, this place has much more space. If one thought about it, there was no doubt that it must be because of the fact that people have to pay to enter this place.


    Not everyone can spend five silvers without batting an eyelid like the two of them.


    "Here''s the menu. You can take your time to look at them."


    Taking the menu pages, Ye Jiao almost vomited blood when she saw the prices. They were at least five times more expensive compared to the ones at the first floor. Internally, she sighed at how the owner of this place made a fortune. The cost of the ingredients shouldn''t have reached this height!


    "Jiao''er, what do you want?"


    "I''ll have fried fish, fried rice, meat dumpling¡­"


    When Ye Jiao listed out her order, Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. He knew that she had a big appetite considering how big the meat this little lass ate every day, but this was the first time he saw her order this many. Previously, she was still holding back and just ordered what was necessary in the inn.


    "I''ll have the same," Qin Zheng said after Ye Jiao had finished.


    "Alright, I''ll be right back," the servant smiled widely when the two of them settled their order. He was sure that the owner would be pleased because there were two big eaters in this place.


    Ye Jiao passed a glance at Qin Zheng after the servant had left. "You can eat that much?"


    "It''s not hard to eat that much if you''re already Eon Energy Master," Qin Zheng said unhurriedly. "Food is one of the sources to gain Eon Energy and the higher the quality of the ingredients, the more Eon Energy that you can gain from them."


    Recalling the difference between meat from beast rank 1, 2, and 3, Ye Jiao understood what Qin Zheng said. The higher the rank of the beast, the more Eon Energy inside their meat. Obviously those who were already Eon Energy Master would find the one with more Eon Energy far tastier.


    Even she herself couldn''t really bring herself to eat the meat of beast rank 1 anymore after eating a lot of meat from beast rank 2 unless she had to. It didn''t taste that good anymore.


    "I see."


    As the two of them waited for more people to come, Ye Jiao noticed a group of people entered the second floor. Several servants were guiding them with the utmost respect. Ye Jiao even wondered if those servants would lower their head to the ground considering how they acted.


    "This way, Your Majesty."


    Your Majesty?


    Ye Jiao''s interest piqued up instantly. She looked at the man leading the group. It was a tall man with gray and silver hair with a large beard. He wore a purple robe with some gold and silver decoration all around it. Just one look would be enough to tell that this person must be someone of high status in this kingdom.


    Behind the man, there were several other people following after them. There were several young men and even teenagers aside from the guards and the servants. Some of them have faint silver on their head, which was a mark of the imperial family in Chi Kingdom. The entourage alone was enough to fill a large room with people.


    Her eyes caught on the sight of a 13 years old boy with the brightest silver hair among all of them.


    ''Senior Qi Huan.''


    Ye Jiao didn''t expect to see her senior in this place after bidding her farewell just a few days ago. It seemed that he truly returned back to Chi Kingdom because of the matter of the lake.


    Qi Huan also saw Ye Jiao, but he acted like he didn''t see anything. Their relationship was kept a secret from other people because of their special master and job. It would do them no good if people learned that the prince with the highest status in Chi Kingdom was actually an assassin.


    "Jiao''er, do not look at them directly," Qin Zheng warned.


    "Ah, sorry."


    It was impolite to look at someone directly, so Ye Jiao averted her eyes. She might not know much about etiquette, but even someone like her knew that it was impolite to stare at other people. It didn''t even take a genius to understand that.


    Some people bowed down to the king when he passed. Only those who didn''t belong to Chi Kingdom didn''t have any intention of greeting him like that. After all, they belonged to another kingdom and certainly would only do basic courtesy and give way to him. They respected him, but they would not bow down.


    As the entourage headed to the third floor, the food arrived for Ye Jiao, so she started to eat. This time she had no choice but to eat slowly since Qin Zheng was practically glaring at her, reminding her to mind her etiquette.


    "The lake is the place for¡­."


    People around her talked with one another and Ye Jiao paid more attention to them as she knew that it would help them in searching for more information regarding the lake and the place in general.

 216 Making Plan

    Ye Jiao gained a considerable amount of information as she ate. Apparently, the lake surface was normally calm, but it would turn stormy around the island. If one didn''t pay attention, they would surely die in the water because of their inability to travel a long distance in stormy water.


    It was necessary to have a good boat with good navigation skills. If they didn''t be careful, they would surely die.


    Qin Zheng wiped his mouth as he had finished eating. "First, we''ll need to find a boat that will help us to get into the island. Secondly, it has to be done very quickly because the island will appear anytime from now."


    "I''ll think for a way," Ye Jiao replied.


    "In worst case scenario, we can just slip into a large ship," Qin Zheng said. He didn''t know how dangerous the lake could be, but he didn''t want to take any risk. It would be better if they stayed careful. Unless they were Eon Energy Master rank 4 with the ability to control water, they would be placed in quite a dangerous situation.


    "I see."


    Ye Jiao looked up from her position and saw Qi Huan walking down the stairs. The young man passed a glance at her for a moment before lifting his head to the direction of the verandah. He walked past her to the location he pointed while Ye Jiao stayed still in her place.


    "Jiao''er?" Qin Zheng noticed the girl''s lack of response and called.


    "Ah, yes?"


    "Did you hear what I say just now?"


    "You''re talking about how we should just slip in to a large ship in worst case scenario, right?"


    Qin Zheng''s face darkened slightly. "I''m telling you that you have to make sure that you can search for a way covertly because we''re still just children in their eyes."


    "Ah, I understand."


    Ye Jiao pointed to the restroom. "May I go there for a moment?"


    "Fine."


    As soon as she got his permission, Ye Jiao bolted from her position and headed straight to the restroom. When her position was hidden by a pillar, she made a circular path and headed straight to the verandah.


    Kreet.


    "Excuse me," Ye Jiao opened the door and noticed Qi Huan standing not far from the edge. Slowly, she made her way to his direction and stood near a pillar to hide her from the view of people inside the room.


    "I didn''t expect to see you so soon again, Jiao''er," Qi Huan greeted when they were already close.


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "So do I, Senior Brother Qi. Are you coming back to Chi Kingdom so early because of the island?"


    "Yes," Qi Huan''s eyes flashed for a moment. "It''s an important island for everyone in the imperial family because it''s the only chance for us to gain an inheritance. In that place, we''ll have to undergo a test that''s different from everyone and only by overcoming it can we gain the inheritance."


    "What inheritance?"


    "It''s a bit complicated, but you can say that the Qi Family comes from an important lineage with some special abilities. I''m not sure what they''re but we can have a chance to awaken them before we reach Eon Energy Master rank 4 in this island. Because of that, we always come here whenever the barrier weakens."


    Ah, the barrier.


    "Right, Senior Brother Qi, what''s the barrier? I mean, how can it weaken?"


    "I don''t know the process myself, but I know that once every three years it''ll weaken considerably, allowing us to get in. This way, everyone will only gain one to two chances to enter the island unless they never have a chance to break through to rank 4," Qi Huan replied.


    Those who didn''t have a chance to breakthrough would find it even harder to gain the inheritance. It was designed for the most talented and remarkable younger generation, so the selection would be very strict.


    Ye Jiao pointed to the direction of the lake. "If it''s just for the imperial family, why are there so many people who come along?"


    "That''s because the island is filled with resources and rare material," Qi Huan chuckled. "It''s filled with danger but at the same time, there are a lot of things you can gain from the island. Because of that, a lot of people wish to come into the island and gain these things."


    "What can you find?"


    "Let''s see, Natural Essence Energy Fruit, Fire Grass¡­"


    As Qi Huan listed out the items, Ye Jiao''s lips twitched. Each of them were items that were hard to find in the four kingdoms, making them priceless. Even if they were unable to get the inheritance because they were not part of the imperial family, just one of these would be enough to make them rich or more powerful.


    Qi Huan spread out his hand. "It''s tempting, but you should remember that the beasts in the island are much stronger. In addition, there''s not only beasts at rank 3 there, but also beasts at rank 4 that you might need to defeat if you want to stay in the island."


    "¡­"


    On the second thought, Ye Jiao didn''t really want to come to the island. She really should have brought something to help protect herself well since the gap between Eon Energy Master rank 2 and beast at rank 4 was simply too big. It was an impossible fight, ah!


    "There''s no need to worry, though¡­" Qi Huan was about to continue his words when his atmosphere changed abruptly. He looked at the door with a glare. "It seems that you have brought an interesting guest, Jiao''er."


    From the corner of her eyes, Ye Jiao saw Qin Zheng walking unhurriedly to the verandah. His dark eyes were looking at the two of them deeply, as if wondering how these two could know each other. At the same, there was this icy aura that emanated from the young man''s body.


    "I see. The reason why you''re distracted is none other than this prince, Jiao''er."


    Hearing the way Qin Zheng called Ye Jiao, Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. Did the two of them were really close to one another?


    Swish!


    "If you take another step, I don''t mind having another bout with you, Qin Zheng."


    From the back, Zhan Jing had appeared. Ye Jiao didn''t know where her master has been hiding all this time, but he appeared right in the nick of time. He was looking at Qin Zheng with a dangerous glint inside his eyes.


    Qin Zheng flicked a glance. "Long time no see, Zhan Jing."


    "Yeah, long time no see."

 217 Friend or Enemies?

    "Yeah, long time no see."


    The way the two of them talked made Ye Jiao sure that they had known one another. However, there was this faint stifling atmosphere near them. It was as if they were already impatient to have a bout with one another and couldn''t stand the sight of the other person before them.


    It was weird.


    "Master, do you know him?" Qi Huan asked.


    Zhan Jing nodded his head. "You can say that we''re acquaintances. I can''t say that I know him well, though."


    "I see."


    Ye Jiao looked at her master. "Master, are you going to the Spring Island too?"


    "Yes. Why do you think I came here today?"


    "Then, can I go with you?"


    "Sure," Zhan Jing readily agreed. He was only planning on tailing after Qi Huan, so he didn''t really expect to see Ye Jiao in this place too. There was no doubt that he would have to work harder to protect them.


    Qin Zheng''s eyes flashed as he looked at the two of them. It seemed that the little girl he met by coincidence and also very annoying was someone who has a special connection with these two.


    "Zheng Ge, are you going to come along too?"


    "If this man permits," Qin Zheng flicked a glance at Zhan Jing. "If not, I''ll just search for another ship that will bring me into the island."


    "Jiao''er, how did you meet with this man?"


    "It''s a long story," Ye Jiao scratched her head. She didn''t know where she should start. She kind of helped him and forced him to help her obtain the secret manual. Aside from that, she also kind of leeching on him since he was the one who mostly paid for their lodgings and food.


    Qin Zheng crossed his arm. "She''s just my pet."


    "PET?" Ye Jiao glared at the young man before her. "I''m just your temporary companion, Shorty!"


    Hearing the word short, Qin Zheng''s eyes flashed dangerously. Boys were normally growing taller slower compared to girls when they were teenagers. Right now, he was slightly shorter than Ye Jiao because they were still eleven years old. But he was sure that he would be taller than her soon!


    "Don''t call me shorty. I''ll be taller than you soon."


    "Oh yeah? I bet that you''ll stay the same for the next year," Ye Jiao challenged. "After all, we''re of the same age."


    "I''m slightly older than you."


    "I''m born in Winter and I''ll be twelve this year."


    Qin Zheng smirked, showing a proud smile. "I''m born in Summer and I''ll also be twelve this year. It means I''m older than you by around three to six months."


    Ye Jiao opened her mouth and closed it again. Damn it! She was hoping that she could be slightly older than him so that she could make fun of him for wanting her to call him as older brother. Unfortunately, he truly turned out to be older than her albeit not by too much.


    Qi Huan looked at Qin Zheng with a frown on his face. He couldn''t detect Qin Zheng''s power, which meant that this man should be higher than him. "You''re also eleven years old? Did it mean you also have the same talent with Jiao''er?"


    "She''s still lower."


    "I''ll reach rank 3 soon! Just watch," Ye Jiao pursed her lips in annoyance. This man seemed to have a talent of making her angry. For the past few days, she couldn''t count the time when she hoped to smack his head like today. Unfortunately, he wouldn''t let her hit him for real because they would just end up with a brawl.


    Zhan Jing shook his head as he watched the three of them bickered. He really wondered if they would ever get along based on how they acted so far.


    "Alright, you should return back because your father will search for you if you get out for too long, Qi Huan."


    "Yes, Master," Qi Huan replied. He turned his head to Ye Jiao. "I won''t be going with you because I''ll be with my family. Let''s meet on the island again."


    "Okay, Senior Brother Qi."


    After Qi Huan left, Ye Jiao noticed the atmosphere turned tense. It has lowered slightly due to her banter with Qin Zheng, but it has risen to another degree once more.


    Qin Zheng pointed to the door with his chin. "You can rest first. I''ll go back later."


    "Ok. See you later, Master."


    Zhan Jing merely nodded his head as Ye Jiao slipped out. As soon as Ye Jiao got out, the killing aura intensified as the two of them glared at one another. It didn''t look like they would be having any peaceful talk soon.


    "I''m surprised that you''re still alive despite the number of assassination''s request for your head, Qin Zheng," Zhan Jing returned back to his cold tone.


    Qin Zheng stared back emotionlessly. "If they think they can kill me, they have to think twice. I may not be that strong right now, but my guards are not those that you can touch easily. Even your disciple died under my hand."


    "Tsk, you''re still the same."


    The two of them looked at one another. It would be difficult to say that they were not enemies, but at the same time, they didn''t really want to kill each other.


    "I''m surprised that you still decide to take disciples in this place. Are you that desperate to get out of here?"


    "I don''t have any other choice," Zhan Jing shrugged. "It''s not like you didn''t understand why I want to return back. As the one who make me got sent into this place because of a failed mission is none other than you."


    Qin Zheng''s expression didn''t change in the slightest as he looked back at the man. "You''re the one who wants to assassinate me. Should I just stay quiet in one place and let you decapitate my head to present to the higher ups? Thanks to you, I already lost one of my guards."


    "You lost one guard, I lost one disciple, and the organization lost dozens of excellent assassins," Zhan Jing shook his head. "It''s apparent who has the upper hand."


    "You shouldn''t try to pick a fight with me."


    Looking at how calm Qin Zheng was, Zhan Jing just stood there and looked at the young man. "How''s she?"


    "She''s fine."


    "That''s good."


    "You know that you can return back if you kill me right now, right?"


    "I know, but I don''t want to." Zhan Jing turned around. "I don''t have any reason to make the organization happy by sending your head to them. There''s another way for me to return back, an easier way that won''t place her in a difficult situation."


    Qin Zheng''s eyes flashed. "You''re planning on sacrificing those children just like what you did in the past?"


    "Even if I did, what would it matter to you?"


    "You should have just left Ye Jiao to me. I''ll raise her and make sure that she shines brightly."


    "Her talent might be rare, but there are hundreds of people of the same talent with her in your place. There''s no need to be so fixated on her," Zhan Jing said unhurriedly. "We''ll meet again when it''s time to depart. I won''t kill you but I also won''t protect you."


    As Zhan Jing left, Qin Zheng stayed still in his place for some time. His eyes held a concealed complicated expression. It was only after a while did he leave the place.

 218 Emergence of Spring Island

    "Welcome back," Ye Jiao greeted when she saw Qin Zheng returned back.


    Seeing the young girl in his room, Qin Zheng frowned. "How did you get in?"


    "I have the key."


    "Give it to me."


    "No way," Ye Jiao stuck out her tongue. "I''m keeping this key until you move out. Anyway, here''s some night snacks for you."


    "You come here just to deliver them?"


    "We end the dinner without having any dessert, so I decide to bring some of them to you," Ye Jiao shrugged. "Anyway, I''ll search for the ship tomorrow with Master. You can try to gain more information."


    "Got it," Qin Zheng sat down and pulled the plate filled with fried potato. "You should return back to your room."


    "Ok. Good night, Qin Zheng."


    "Good night."


    ¡­


    The next day, Ye Jiao spent the entire day with her master to select a ship for them to travel. Once they found a suitable one, Zhan Jing directly bought it with a pouch filled with gold coins.


    Ye Jiao couldn''t imagine how rich her master truly was.


    "Master, don''t you need to hire people to drive the ship when we''re going to the island?"


    "There''s no need for that. I can drive it well."


    "I see."


    As they walked on the market, Ye Jiao could feel the earth suddenly shake. People were no longer able to stand properly as the shaking turned even bigger. The building also started to shake and several stalls were upturned. It was a complete chaos in the city. At the same time, people were struggling to find a way to avoid the falling ruins.


    Ye Jiao was also unable to stand properly. She crouched on the ground to make her center of gravity lower as she covered her head with her hand to protect it. After a good half a minute, the shaking finally stopped with a lot of destruction in the city.


    "They have never repaired the building, have they?" Zhan Jing shook his head as he saw the broken building not far from them.


    "Master!"


    "Are you alright, little lass?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao stood up. Thanks to the earthquake, she was pushed around the city. "What''s that, Master?"


    "That''s the signal that the island has appeared," Zhan Jing said calmly. He bent down and picked Ye Jiao up to his shoulder. "It''s going to be a little dangerous, so it''s better if you stay there."


    "M-master?"


    "Even though they already build everything by taking the earthquake into consideration. It''s truly poorly built," Zhan Jing commented while ignoring Ye Jiao''s call.


    Around them alone, there were a lot of buildings that were destroyed. It was not hard to see that the entire place was wrecked beyond repair along with the deaths of numerous people on the street. Disaster at this degree was already more than enough to cause a catastrophe.


    As soon as they finished talking, the city shook once again. This time, Ye Jiao could see a massive volume of earth was coming from the direction of the lake, hitting the large wall that covered it. Some water managed to pass through, flooding part of the street and sent some unfortunate ones washed with it.


    Ye Jiao held her master''s hand tightly in fear that she would fall. However, no matter how bad the shaking was, Zhan Jing stood firm as if there was nothing at all. Looking at the ground around her master, she could see that they were in perfect condition.


    Her eyes widened. "Master, are you¡­?"


    "I''m earth elemental," Zhan Jing said as a matter of fact. He controlled the area around his legs to make sure that they didn''t receive any damage.


    "But Master, can''t you just let me down and protect me from a distance?"


    Zhan Jing''s eyes flashed. He sighed slightly. "I need to control it deep enough to make sure that it won''t move. With my current power, it''s not enough."


    Seeing the sad light on her master''s eyes, Ye Jiao felt a pang in her heart. She didn''t know why, but it made her pained. She didn''t want to see him look so sad, so she raised her hand to his cheek, making him raise his head to look at her.


    "Jiao''er?"


    "Master, don''t be sad. You''ll become much more powerful again in the future," Ye Jiao said with a reassuring tone.


    Zhang Jing smiled. He messed up Ye Jiao''s hair. "Yeah, I''ll be fine."


    The shaking stopped and Zhan Jing walked on the broken street to the wall. It was still standing sturdy in his place because it was made to face the sudden increase of water volume from the lake. Several people were around her, but Ye Jiao paid no heed as her eyes were locked on the island located at the center of the lake.


    On the clear water of the lake, that supposedly has nothing on top of it, now has a beautiful island in the middle. From this distance, it looked so small with green and brown color covering the entire place. There was also faint mist around the island, making it look mysterious.


    "It looks small from here."


    "From what people say, it''s not small at all," Zhan Jing remarked. He put Ye Jiao down. "Do you have a way to contact that Zheng brat?"


    "Uhm, letter?"


    "¡­"


    Zhan Jing pointed to the hotel where they stayed. "You better call him now to meet in the ort. It''s going to be a bloodbath soon."


    Ye Jiao nodded her head and started to run. Using the method that Qin Zheng taught her, it didn''t take long for her to travel several kilometers and reached the hotel. Compared to many other places, it was in far better condition. As she was about to go up, she saw Qin Zheng standing in the lobby.


    "Qi¡­ Zheng Ge!" Ye Jiao called.


    Qin Zheng looked at the young girl with arched eyebrows. "You sure take your time to fetch me."


    "I was looking at the island first."


    "Let''s go. We''re going to be late."


    "Late?" Even though Ye Jiao didn''t understand, Qin Zheng didn''t waste any time to explain as he dashed out. Ye Jiao quickly followed after the young man as they headed to the port.

 219 Departing to Spring Island

    When they were in the port, Ye Jiao could finally understand why Qin Zheng said that they were late. The number of ships alone was already enough to cover the entire place. There was nothing that they could see aside from the ship and another ship and another ship again.


    "It looks as if they''re ready for war."


    "It''s a war. War against one another," Qin Zheng added. "Where''s the ship that your master bought?"


    "Over there."


    The ship that Zhan Jing picked was not that big, but it was slim in built. The intention of the design was to make sure that the ship could maneuver quickly and at the same time, have higher speed because of its smaller built.


    "You''re slow," Zhan Jing said as he pointed to the ship. "Get in."


    "Yes, Master!"


    "Yes."


    The two of them got inside quietly as Zhan Jing began to steer the steering wheel. He quickly brought it away from the other ship and departed to the island. On the other hand, Ye Jiao and Qin Zheng were watching the other ships from the window.


    "That''s a large ship," Ye Jiao pointed to a large yet quick ship.


    "It belongs to the imperial family," Qin Zheng explained. "They must have hired the best ship in the city to make sure they could reach the island without any harm to them because they''re all important people."


    The ship didn''t depart the very first, but it quickly overtook other ships around it. Ye Jiao noticed that many other ships were also traveling around them. They didn''t seem to be trying to fight against one another as they just focused on their pursuit to the Spring Island.


    They had the tacit agreement that they wouldn''t fight on the air.


    As time passed, Ye Jiao noticed the water around them started to change. Her master''s voice suddenly traveled to them.


    "Hold on to something."


    Splash!


    The waves hit the side of the ship, tilting it to the other side. Ye Jiao hurriedly hugged a pillar nearby while Qin Zheng stayed on the corner of the room. The ship shook badly and continued to rock around as they traveled. From the window, Ye Jiao could see the heavy. It threatened to eat them all alive as it kept on hitting the ship.


    Time passed.


    Storm continued to rage on outside the ship while Zhan Jing maneuvered the ship. The two of them stayed quiet in their place as they didn''t have any intention to move. Ye Jiao''s hand had just started to feel numb when she could feel the shaking lessened. Not long after that, it was quiet and the ship slowed down.


    "It''s finally quiet," Ye Jiao sighed and sat down on the floor. Her hands felt so numb.


    Qin Zheng nodded. He stood up. "The island''s appearance disrupts the water current. But this is not over yet."


    "What?"


    In the next moment, Ye Jiao could feel a sudden repelling force. Her body felt like it was pushed by a tidal wave as she hugged the pillar once more. It felt so painful as the pressure covered her entire body. Even though she already used her own Eon Energy to counter it, it didn''t seem to be very successful.


    The pressure lasted for several seconds before it disappeared. Ye Jiao blinked her eyes in wariness, worrying whether there would be another one like that or not.


    "There''s only one barrier, so you don''t have to worry so much."


    "You look fine even though you have to face that barrier too," Ye Jiao frowned as she looked at the young man before her.


    Qin Zheng smiled. "I''m Eon Energy Master rank 3, so naturally I have a better barrier around me. Besides, it''s not that unbearable for me."


    "How enviable¡­"


    "This barrier will prevent anyone who hasn''t reached rank 2 from reaching the island. Even under the weakened state, it''s still very strong and those lower than rank 2 wouldn''t be able to stand against it."


    Ye Jiao nodded in understanding. As she had experienced it herself, she knew how painful it would be for Eon Energy Master rank 1. After all, they couldn''t cover their body with Eon Energy like what Eon Energy Master rank 2 could do.


    "Let''s get out."


    "Is it alright?"


    "Yes."


    Following behind Qin Zheng, Ye Jiao made her way to the deck. The ship had slowed down considerably, and Ye Jiao could see the island very clearly in this distance. It was a beautiful island with a lot of trees covering the front. On the back, Ye Jiao could see a rock mountain standing tall. It looked shining under the ray of light from the sun.


    Not far from them, there was a beach. It was the great place to land their ship as the large ship that belonged to the imperial family was already there.


    "It''s beautiful!" Ye Jiao exclaimed.


    Qin Zheng didn''t reply, but he had to agree. The island itself looked enchanting despite the countless dangers that lurked inside.


    "Master, are we going to land there?" Ye Jiao pointed to the beach.


    "No, we''re not," Zhan Jing replied. "I''ll head into the forest area and find a secluded place. There''s no one who can protect the ship and if we let it stay on the beach, no one will know whether we can see it again or not."


    Ah, she had completely forgotten about it. There were a lot of people who were going to the island and it wouldn''t be easy to stay on the beach unscathed. If they didn''t have anyone who can protect the ship, it would be better if they didn''t leave it unattended because some people might take advantage of it or destroy it to make sure that they couldn''t leave.


    Zhan Jing headed into the other side of the island as more ships appeared from the barrier. They traveled for a long time until Zhan Jing stopped on the shore. Those areas were completely filled with trees.


    "We''ve arrived. Get down first, children."


    "Yes."


    After they had gotten out, Zhan Jing utilized his Eon Energy. He controlled the earth underneath the ship and raised it so high with steep land on the side that headed to the lake. Afterwards, Zhan Jing used his energy to pull some trees to cover the ship, making it hard for people to see it from outside.


    "Master, do you have to pull it so high?"


    "This is the way to make sure that no one can see it," Zhan Jing said calmly. "No one should think of stopping their ship near here."


    With how her master raised the land near her, it would be a miracle if they still could land. The distance alone would make it difficult for them to reach this place.


    "Now, let''s get going."


    "Yes."

 220 I Have My Own Teammate

    While Ye Jiao and the others arrived at the side of the island, Qi Huan stayed with the imperial family. They had arrived much earlier than Ye Jiao.


    "After we get into the island, you all have to go your separate ways. This island is a trial," the king, Qi Huan''s father, instructed the others. As it was an important journey, he was the one to lead the group.


    "Uncle, do you mean that we have to travel to this dangerous island by ourselves?" a young man in teenage age asked. He had brown silvery hair and looked only slightly older than Qi Huan.


    The king nodded his head. "To gain the inheritance, I''m not allowed to help you any further. You may select the guards that I have allowed to get out, but only for protection. They''re not allowed to fight for you if you''re not in grave danger. I''ll be waiting for you inside."


    "Yes, Your Majesty."


    "Yes, Father."


    "We understand, Uncle."


    The king used his Eon Energy and dashed into the forest, leaving the others unable to follow after him. As an Eon Energy Master rank 4, he had more than enough qualification to decide things by himself. He didn''t want to hinder the young generation to gain the inheritance should it be their fate no matter who it was.


    Qi Huan looked at the young man who talked just now. "Cousin Qi Mang, do you want to select the guards first or should I?"


    Even though the king said that they had to travel on their own, he let the guards stay in that place. There were a lot of them because they were tasked to protect the princes if they were unable to withstand the attack of the beasts. After all, some of them were still Eon Energy Master rank 2 while the others were Eon Energy Master rank 3.


    Qi Mang looked over to Qi Huan. He sneered. "Even if you pick first, do you think the guards are going to be willing to follow after you? With your talent, you''ll surely leave this kingdom and might never return again."


    It was the truth that the most talented one would be sent away and more than 99% would never be able to return back. Not just talking about passing the trial, even in the midst of the test, there were high chances that they would die out of carelessness or because of the attack from other people.


    No one would care for them.


    "If that''s so, I don''t really mind picking the last one," Qi Huan said calmly. He had known this truth from a long time ago. The only possibility for him to stay in this kingdom would be if he failed his test and didn''t get killed on the way back. There would be no guard who would protect him anymore.


    This has been the fate of those who were the most talented one in this kingdom. Unless their talent was so heaven defying, no one would pay attention to them. And unfortunately, an A talent like him was not uncommon in the other places. There were at least several of them in each kingdom.


    Only those at Ye Jiao''s level would be extremely rare as one only might appear out of millions of places.


    Qi Mang laughed. "I''ll be going first, then, Cousin Qi Huan."


    Qi Huan stayed quiet as his cousins picked the guards first. They selected those who had the most ability out of the guards available, leaving him with those weakest one. Even the strongest one that he could see was only at rank 2.


    Even though he felt dissatisfied, Qi Huan didn''t show any of that in his face. All they could see was just a calm and unperturbed expression of a young prince.


    "Your Highness, can we just stay here?" a guard asked worriedly. He was selected to follow after the princes, but he was too afraid. It would be better for him to stay on the ship and guard it.


    Qi Huan waved his hand. "Those who want to stay here might stay."


    As soon as he said that, more than half of the guards who left turned around and returned back to the ship. It would be ridiculous if they tried to follow Qi Huan as no one knew what future this prince held.


    Seeing the number of guards around him lowered to six, Qi Huan shook his head internally. These six were only people who wished to gain the treasure for themselves and would surely leave him in times of danger.


    "Let''s get going."


    Qi Huan didn''t speak anything more as he walked into the forest. The humidity of the area was similar to that of a rainforest, but it was easy to see that there was not much water inside. Even though the island submerged into the water most of the time, not even a single bit of sea water left.


    ''It''s truly fascinating how much Eon Energy could do.''


    There was no need for a genius to understand that the mechanism of this island was something that people in Four Kingdoms would never be able to achieve. It was extremely obvious that the difference in power was really great.


    At what rank would one be able to control an entire island?


    Rank 4? It didn''t seem likely, more probably five of even higher. After all, Qi Huan had seen his father''s power with his own eyes, and he understood that it was not to the point of being able to control an entire island to this level. It was fascinating yet at the same time scary.


    The difference in power between ranks was so large.


    As they traveled, Qi Huan paid close attention to the surroundings. He could sense that there were a lot of traces of the beast around him. It made him wary because the atmosphere seemed to be telling him that they were at least rank 3.


    "Are you going to follow after me or not?" Qi Huan asked in a cold tone as he looked to the guards behind him. They started to walk slower and scattered around. Even though he would never rely on them, it was annoying to see them like this.


    "Yes, yes."


    "We''re sorry, Your Highness."


    Their tone has started to change and Qi Huan could see it clearly. The respect they had for the imperial family had disappeared as they only used a relaxed tone. His eyes narrowed as he realized that their number had decreased by one.


    "Where''s the other one?"


    "Ah, he¡­"


    RUMBLE!


    Before the man could answer, Qi Huan could feel the earth shook. He turned his head to the side and saw a man run in their direction at high speed. Behind that man, a large beast was chasing after him. From the aura the beast emanated, Qi Huan estimated that it was at the peak of rank 3.


    "Block it!" the man yelled. "We have to stop the beast!"


    "Don''t! Run!"


    STOMP!


    The man who ran was trampled by the beast as it continued to charge like a bull. Qi Huan utilized his Eon Energy in a split second and moved away from his position to several meters away. In the next second, he climbed the tree. As an assassin, it was easy for him to move quickly because he had trained for a long time.


    "Your Highness, you¡­eh?" one of the men turned to look in the direction where Qi Huan stood before. He was startled when he noticed that there was no one in that place. Before he could move, the beast had stomped him with legs, smashing him straight to the ground as blood splattered all across the area.


    "Your Highness! Come and help us!" another one noticed that Qi Huan had moved to the tree and yelled.


    The beast has an appearance like a bull and it truly acted like one. He charged to the next man and stomped on him, making painful screams that filled the entire area. Blood spilled on the ground as the flesh was flattened to the ground. Intestines and other things scattered on the ground as the beast moved to the next man.


    Swish! Stomp!


    "Your Highness! Help us!"


    Qi Huan watched everything unfold before him with a cold expression. He didn''t even have any reaction when the man pleaded at him. There was only a hint of dullness within his eyes.


    "You''re the one who lured the beast here too. How do you expect me to help you out?" Qi Huan asked in a nonchalant tone.


    When they traveled, he had noticed their weird movements. They wanted to discard him on this island and searched for the treasure by themselves. However, they didn''t want to be found, so they resorted to using this tactic, which was using the advantage this island gave them as beasts were numerous.


    The man despaired as he saw his comrade got stomped. He looked at Qi Huan and pleaded once again. "But if you let it kill all of us, how do you expect to get away from it? You can''t possibly defeat a beast at peak rank 3 with only being at rank 2!"


    "Yeah, it''s true I can''t defeat it alone," Qi Huan knew that he was not that powerful to be able to defeat a rank 3 beast alone.


    "Then¡­"


    "But even with all of you collaborating together, it''s impossible to defeat it," Qi Huan said as a matter of fact. If it was Lu Wan and Ye Jiao, there was no problem for him to defeat a rank 3 together because they had much more power compared to ordinary people.


    "You-!" the man yelled as the beast pounced at him. He rolled on the ground as he could feel a hole was made inside his stomach as his viscera was crushed. "You¡­ll die¡­."


    Qi Huan summoned out his sword, the dark bluish sword that he usually used for his mission. "There''s no need for you to worry so much about me. I have my own teammate."

 221 Island Filled with Beasts

    "There''s no need for you to worry so much about me. I have my own teammate."


    Qi Huan jumped down from the tree as he watched the man flattened by the beast. His face was unrecognizable as there was nothing left from him except from a lump of flesh and blood along with his ragged clothes. Standing before the beast, Qi Huan examined it calmly.


    Roar!


    "I don''t know what type you are since I have never seen any like you before, but if you wish to stand on my path, I won''t let you off."


    Despite his unhurried tone, Qi Huan released his killing intent and filled the entire area with it. For a moment, the beast stilled in his position as he felt as if he was swamped by a dark and large wave, threatening to drag him down to the bottom of the abyss.


    Slash!


    In that moment, someone charged into the beast and attacked from the side. The blade reached straight into the beast''s stomach as its intestines poured out, scattering on the ground.


    "Senior Brother Qi!" Ye Jiao yelled.


    Qi Huan already moved from his position as he swung his sword and cut the beast''s neck. In that one move, the head was cut off from the main body as it flung to the ground.


    Bam!


    The main body fell to the ground as there was no strength left. Standing not far from the beast, Qi Huan wiped his sword and kept it back. He looked to Ye Jiao with a faint smile on his lips.


    "You''re early, Ai Jiao."


    "I didn''t think that you could detect me," Ye Jiao replied. She kept her dagger inside as she peered at the beast curiously. This was the first time she saw a beast like this, which looked like a combination of bulls and tiger with its size a bit bigger than the two of them.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "I didn''t detect you."


    "Then, how do you¡­?"


    "Master sent voice transmission."


    "Voice what?" Ye Jiao blinked her eyes in confusion. Could it be that there was something she missed?


    Zhan Jing walked to their side leisurely. "Voice transmission is coating your voice with Eon Energy and transmitting it directly to someone''s ear. This is a technique that you can only start learning when you''re at rank 3 and only able to master when you reach rank 4."


    "So that means, Master already informed Senior Brother Qi that we come?"


    "Yes."


    Qi Huan took out a dagger and moved to the beast. He used it to cut open the chest part, revealing a small ball inside with blue and black color. His eyes flashed as he picked it up, showing it to the other three.


    "It has two color," Ye Jiao remarked in confusion. She had learned that the beast''s core was normally one color with each rank have different color. Starting from rank 1, their color would be black, dark blue, and blue with their size small.


    "It''s a variation," Qin Zheng walked forward in an unhurried pace. His eyes looked at the core for a moment. "This beast must have mutated when it advanced, causing it to have more than one color. Some beasts like this become far stronger when their mutation compliments their skill, but some others might instead become weaker."


    Qi Huan kept the core. "As usual, I''ll keep the core. You can take the meat, Ai Jiao."


    "Hey, that''ll be unfair!"


    "Don''t worry, I''ll share some of the cores at the end but most of it will belong to me because you already take the meat."


    Ye Jiao frowned. She waved her hand to keep the meat. "It''s better be safe to eat or I''ll demand half a core from you."


    "Hahaha, a core will lose its worth if you cut it open."


    "Still!"


    Zhan Jing didn''t particularly listen to their banter as he inspected the two of them carefully. He was thinking about how these two were able to surprise the beast. Even though it has mutated and might have some limitation, the way these two defeated it together was a bit too fast.


    "Jiao''er, when do you think you''ll advance to rank 3?"


    Ye Jiao stopped bantering and looked up at her master confusedly. "It should be a few more weeks to months. I can still feel that my core needs a lot of energy."


    Zhan Jing nodded. "I see."


    "Is there anything wrong, Master?"


    Seeing that Zhan Jing didn''t want to answer, Qin Zheng replied in his stead. "The amount of Eon Energy in your core is already at the level of normal Eon Energy Master rank 3. Since you say that you still need a lot of Eon Energy, it just means that when you reach rank 3, you''ll be far stronger than a normal Eon Energy Master."


    "Is that true?" Ye Jiao was astonished.


    Qin Zheng nodded. "Yep. That''s the case with me, so you should be the same."


    "Why are you comparing yourself with me?"


    "That''s because I''m the one who has the most similar talent with you."


    "Let''s go, we need to reach the center quickly because in the last month of spring, this island will start to submerge into water again and I''ll be dangerous."


    "Yes, Master."


    "I understand."


    The four of them continued to travel at high speed as they dashed towards the direction of the Rocky Mountains. They only stopped when a beast suddenly appeared and Qi Huan directly cooperated with Ye Jiao to defeat it.


    Qin Zheng didn''t even bother trying to help as he waited from the back. "It didn''t look like you''re raising disciples but monsters."


    "I don''t want to hear that from you."


    "What? I''m just telling the truth," Qin Zheng said without emotion. "Still, they''re at the level below me."


    "¡­"


    The confidence this genius beside him had was truly at the level that Zhan Jing didn''t know what to say. Saying he was arrogant, it was true but at the same time, he truly had a skill to back it up. Compared to those arrogant and mindless idiots, this young man was on a completely different level.


    He was confident of his talent and proud of it.


    "Sometimes, I can''t believe that you''re still 11 years old."


    "Whether you believe it or not, that''s the truth," Qin Zheng crossed his arm as he flicked his gaze to the other side. He could sense another beast coming to their direction. "The reason why my name is at the top of your list is obviously because of my talent."


    "Yeah," Zhang Jing looked over to the two who had just finished their battle. "Kids, there''s another one coming."


    "EH? We have to fight again?"


    "Come on, Jiao''er."


    "Alright!"

 222 Space Barrier in Rocky Mountains

    By the time they reached the rocky mountains, both Ye Jiao and Qi Huan were death tired. They were unable to count just how many rank 3 beasts that they had to defeat along the way. If not because their master gave them Eon Energy Pills, they wouldn''t be able to replenish their Eon Energy in time for the next battle.


    "I can see why this place is hell for other people," Ye Jiao said bitterly. It was truly a hell even for them because of the number of beasts that they had to face.


    "Yes," Qi Huan nodded.


    "But I''m surprised that your killing intent grows so quickly."


    "it grows every time I kill a beast or a person," Qi Huan explained. "After all, it''s not really a skill, but more like my intent."


    "Intent?"


    "It''s a bit hard to explain, but if you want to know, it''s related to one''s path."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes a few times. She still didn''t fully understand what her senior brother meant, but she knew that killing intent was not something one could obtain just like that. She had killed a lot of beasts and people from her mission, but she didn''t have any killing intent.


    Qi Huan looked over to Ye Jiao. "Even you have killing intent."


    "Wait, I do? I can''t sense it?"


    "You can''t, but I can see it around you," Qi Huan smiled. "It''s faint, but the more you kill, the sharper your aura will be. If you''re able to control it and make it your own, it''ll be your killing intent."


    Listening to Qi Huan''s explanation, Ye Jiao was feeling a bit confused. She couldn''t really feel any differences in her surroundings after killing. If there was anything that changed, it would be the fact that she no longer has any hesitation to kill. There was no longer any doubt or even uncertainty when she moved forward to kill someone.


    "You''ll understand in time," Qi Huan raised his hand and patted Ye Jiao''s head. "You''re still a kid, so you don''t have to understand it right away."


    "You''re just 2 years older!"


    "But I''m still older."


    "Hey," Qin Zheng called out. "Have you finished recovering your Eon Energy? It''s time to continue the travel."


    "Yes, we have."


    The two of them stood up and walked to the place where Qin Zheng and Zhan Jing were standing. Originally, Qi Huan wanted to ask Qin Zheng to help, but he realized that it would be a foolish move. After all, it was specified that he should have dealt with the beasts'' alone.


    It was only due to the consideration of his rank that Ye Jiao followed suit and helped him, but every killing move would belong to Qi Huan.


    "Let''s climb up."


    "Yes, Master."


    The four of them started walking. Compared to the forest, there was barely any beast''s presence. It was as if the beasts were avoiding this mountain and unwilling to get close at all.


    "This place is strange," Qi Huan spoke out as he continued to walk forward.


    "Yes. There''s no beast around. Also, it seems as if their presence was wiped out around this area."


    "You can even sense something like that?"


    "From the Eon Energy," Ye Jiao grinned. The warm Eon Energy around her helped her to sense the difference in the atmosphere inside the forest and the mountain. It was hard to explain, but she knew that the presence of the beast didn''t exist in this mountain.


    Qin Zheng looked over to Ye Jiao curiously. "It seems that you have quite a special type of Eon Energy."


    "Huh? Special?"


    "Even I couldn''t sense something like that," Qin Zheng admitted directly.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened in disbelief. Not far from them, Zhan Jing was also listening to their conversation. Originally, he thought that Ye Jiao''s insane sense that she had occasionally was due to the fact that her talent was S. But from the way Qin Zheng said it, he didn''t have the same level as hers.


    "But you have a keener sense than me," she pointed out in an accusing tone.


    "That''s pure sense observation through visual, hearing, and also the movements on the air. I don''t have the ability to sense them through Eon Energy in my surroundings," Qin Zheng said. "I can tell their composition faintly after I reach rank 3, but I won''t be able to know whether they belong to a beast or plant or human being."


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. They felt different for her, which allowed her to know that. However, she still couldn''t do it all the time, so if one at higher rank sneaked out to her, she might not be able to detect them.


    "That''s weird. I thought that you detected them through Eon Energy?"


    "Maybe in the higher rank. I don''t know either."


    "I thought you know everything since you seem to be very knowledgeable."


    Qin Zheng shook his head. He pointed to the front as he changed the conversation. "I know why the beasts avoided this area."


    "Why?"


    "There''s a barrier over there, around 100 meters from us."


    Both Qi Huan and Ye Jiao looked to the front. They frowned as they couldn''t see anything from there. There was nothing but rocks around them.


    "I can''t see anything," Ye Jiao looked over to Qin Zheng. "Are you telling the truth?"


    "Yes."


    As they were traveling at high speed, they had reached the destination area that Qin Zheng mentioned. In fact, as they couldn''t see it, they charged through to the barrier that he mentioned.


    Ye Jiao could feel that she was pushed back by a faint layer of cool Eon Energy. It seemed like a wall made of water was blocking her way, preventing her from getting inside. As she dashed through, the wall broke and Ye Jiao could see a completely different view compared to the rock mountain that she had seen just now.


    In front of her, a flat ground was present. Several meters away from her position, a staircase heading down was located on a circle hole in the middle. She couldn''t see where it directed to, but she knew that it must be heading straight to the center of the mountain.


    "That''s cool," Ye Jiao muttered.


    Qin Zheng was standing not far from her as his hand touched the barrier, which looked like he was touching air. "It''s an array that protects everything inside this place."


    "If it''s a protection array, how can we get in?" Qi Huan asked. The moment he touched the barrier, he slowed down his speed and nearly stumbled on the ground. Looking at the relaxed Qin Zheng, he didn''t understand how he could stay calm in front of this magnificent array.


    "It''s an array that protects this place from beasts and maybe higher ranked Eon Energy Master," Qin Zheng flicked a glance at Zhan Jing. "But rank 4 is not included in the list."


    "You''re looking at me as if hoping that I''ll die, young man."


    "Wouldn''t it be better¡­?" Qin Zheng didn''t continue his words as he realized that there were still two other people around them. It was not the time for him to talk about serious matters with Zhan Jing. "Anyway, if you want to gain the treasures and inheritance, it''ll be better to get inside."


    "Right," Ye Jiao replied.


    "Let''s go."

 223 Water Like Environmen

    As they walked down the stairs, Ye Jiao tried to sense her surroundings. It felt weird when she sensed her Eon Energy stalled. She felt as if she was in a different place, a place where her Eon Energy was restricted, unable to move as she wished. However, they still could see a few meters ahead under a dim light that she was not sure where it came.


    They didn''t know how long they walked when they could see light from below. It was far brighter than the dim light on the stairs. Ye Jiao quickened her pace and entered a large hall. It was a circle place with a lake in the middle of the ground.


    "What is this?" Ye Jiao blurted her curiosity.


    Zhan Jing narrowed his eyes. "There should be another way up."


    Looking around her, Ye Jiao didn''t find anything that could possibly lead them away from this place. There were only stairs heading up from the other sides, which she knew would only lead them back to the original place.


    Her eyes moved to the lake. "Maybe it''s there?"


    "Let''s just take a look," Qi Huan said as he walked to the lake. Upon nearing the designated place, he could see the surface of the water changed. It revealed a stairs heading down and a door under the water. His eyes held a trace of surprise as he turned his head around.


    "There''s something there."


    "What is it? Let me see."


    Qin Zheng arrived at Qi Huan''s side and nodded his head. "Indeed, that door should be the one leading to the secret place."


    "Secret place?"


    "The destination for everyone who comes here," Qin Zheng shrugged. "Didn''t you say that you want to find the inheritance and treasure? It should be inside the door."


    Qi Huan looked at Qin Zheng with furrowed brows. This young man made it sound so easy. They didn''t do anything but battling the beasts on their way here and that was it? Wasn''t it so simple?


    "If you think that it''s the end, then you can''t be more wrong. For the inheritance there should be another trial down there," Qin Zheng pointed to the door under the water. "They won''t let anyone get it easily."


    "They?" Qi Huan narrowed his eyes. "Why do you sound like you know so much."


    Qin Zheng smiled. "I¡­"


    "Hey, kids. Before you two continue your conversation, can you tell me why I can''t see anything even though I''m already this close with the water?" Zhan Jing interrupted. He was standing by the side of the lake, but he couldn''t see anything under the water. There was nothing but dark water that he could see.


    "Only those who possess the blood of the Water Sovereign can see the door. Or in other words, they should be the predecessor," Qin Zheng pointed to Qi Huan''s head. "It''s easy to recognize them because of their hair color."


    Qi Huan slapped Qin Zheng''s hand away. "Don''t point your finger to other people. From your manner, you should be very cultured, yet you make basic mistakes like this."


    "Unfortunately, I''m not a noble," Qin Zheng rolled his eyes.


    "You haven''t told me why you know so much."


    "Let''s talk while we''re walking. There''s no telling when other people will come here," Qing Zheng flicked a glance to Ye Jiao. "Let''s go, Jiao''er."


    "Ah, yes."


    Ye Jiao followed behind the other two as Qi Huan and Qin Zheng directly entered the water. Her eyes bore confusion as she saw something completely different that the other three. It was not like Zhan Jing who couldn''t see anything from the water, she could see a white path. As it was located differently from the one the other two headed to, Ye Jiao stayed silent and didn''t try to move.


    This place was for those who inherited the blood of Water Sovereign, whoever it is. If she was careless, she might not be able to get out of this place alive.


    "I come from a completely different place than this Four Kingdoms," Qin Zheng said unhurriedly as they walked down the stairs. "In that place, it''s common sense to know about these places and the inheritances. And at the same time, there are a lot of people who have the same talent as myself and this little lass."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened when she heard Qin Zheng''s words. It sounded completely different from this place that she knew off. People with her talent could be common in other places?


    Qi Huan frowned. "Then, why are you here?"


    "Oh? I wonder about that."


    "You¡­"


    Qin Zheng flashed a smile. They had reached the door. "It''s up to me whether I want to answer or not. In this journey, we''re only acquaintances who traveled together, do not be too nosy."


    "I can be as nosy as I want to, Shorty."


    Swish!


    The tip of a sword rested near Qi Huan''s lake. Qin Zheng was holding his sword with a small smile on his face, yet there was this dangerous aura around him. The time it took for him to summon his sword and place it near Qi Huan was only split second. Not even Zhan Jing managed to respond.


    "Careful, I don''t like that nickname, Noisy Brat."


    Qi Huan narrowed his eyes. He could see that this young man was far more powerful than him. There was no need for him to make unnecessary enemies out of the blue like this. He might not like this brat, but it was a fact that this boy was far stronger than him.


    Clang!


    "If you don''t want to be called as Shorty, you should stop pointing your sword to other people''s neck," Ye Jiao snarled. "Let''s go and find the treasure. The door is over here, right? I can''t see it, so I need you two to guide us."


    "Good point," Qin Zheng kept his sword away. "It''s over here."


    "Ok."


    Qi Huan caressed his neck as he walked. His eyes looked over to Qin Zheng as questions kept on popping in his head. This boy seemed mysterious and the way he seemed to know everything was strange.


    As they entered the room, Ye Jiao could sense the temperature drop suddenly. Her eyes widened in surprise as she scanned her surroundings. It was a forest, green forest. However, she had the feeling that she was right inside the water at that moment. It was a weird feeling.


    Even though she felt weird, there was no discomfort whatsoever. She could feel the refreshing breeze from her surroundings and at the same time, the cool temperature that kept on hitting her skin.


    "What is this forest?" Zhan Jing was speechless. He did promise that he would accompany them, but he didn''t expect to see a place like this too.


    Qin Zheng looked over to Qi Huan. "It''s your territory."

 224 Treasures!

    "Mine?" Qi Huan arched his eyebrows in confusion. He didn''t understand what Qin Zheng meant with those words.


    Qin Zheng nodded. "You''re someone from the Water Sovereign lineage, so you should be feeling comfortable in this environment. It is said that you will be able to live in the water once you have reached the peak of your power and bloodline."


    It was the first time Qi Huan heard something like that, but he couldn''t deny that he did feel very comfortable in this place. It was cool and refreshing, as if his place was here from the very start. Even though the water should have been restricted for others, there was no such thing for him.


    "I do feel very comfortable."


    "It''s different for the others," Qin Zheng shrugged. "You should walk in the direction where the surroundings felt the most comfortable to you. That should be the location of the inheritance."


    Qi Huan''s eyes flashed as he started to walk around. After a few seconds, he settled in one direction and walked forward. On their side, Zhan Jing followed after the children while being cautious. He could sense that this forest was unusual, but he decided to not give any comment.


    His purpose coming here was only to accompany them and protect them should it be needed.


    Not long afterwards, Qin Zheng''s steps started to slow down. His breathing started to get rough, but his expression showed none of it as he kept his composure. If anything, he only stopped after walking a few more steps.


    "I won''t be able to continue," Qin Zheng said. "It''s getting harder to breathe as we continue."


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. "I thought you''re also someone who has the blood since you can see the path."


    "I use other means to see it. Anyway, if I continue I''m sure I''ll die, so I''ll stay here."


    Zhan Jing still could continue because his base power was higher than Qin Zheng. However, he didn''t want to court death too, so he turned his head to Ye Jiao. The decision would be up to this little girl.


    At this time, Ye Jiao found it strange. She didn''t feel much of the discomfort. Indeed, it was getting slightly harder to breathe, but not to the point that it would hinder her movements. However, she didn''t really want to continue if the other two stopped because there might be danger around them.


    "How about if we wait here?"


    "I''ll walk by myself then," Qi Huan nodded. "Take care when you''re staying here."


    "Yes."


    Ye Jiao watched as Qi Huan disappeared into the distance before looking at the other two again. She tilted her head. "If we can''t advance any further, is there anything we can do while waiting?"


    "Search for treasure," Qin Zheng said without hesitation. He turned his body 90 degrees before he started walking. His eyes scanned his surroundings, trying to find anything that might be precious.


    Looking at the plants around her, Ye Jiao wondered if any of these were precious. She didn''t know their use because they were strange plants in her eyes. However, she could be sure that it would be hard for her to use them even if she knew.


    "If it''s Senior Brother Yu, he''ll surely rummage everything until there''s no precious herbs left."


    "Right¡­"


    Recalling his other disciple, Zhan Jing knew that the young boy would surely try to experiment on everything that he found. To make it worse, he just had to eat them all by himself after he had finished experimenting. He didn''t know how many types of poison that young man had ingested so far with the amount of herbs he had collected and experimented.


    If that man died because of his own poison, Zhan Jing wouldn''t even feel surprised.


    "Ah!"


    Ye Jiao and Zhan Jing turned their head when they heard an exclaim. Seeing Qin Zheng holding up a blue rock with a joyful expression, they were stunned. Compared to the all-knowing and arrogant Qin Zheng that they saw on the usual days, he looked like a child who had just seen a treasure.


    "That''s a rock, right?"


    Zhan Jing recovered his expression as he shook his head. "No, it can also be an ore."


    "Ore?"


    "Yeah, it''s a raw ore to make weapons. That brat is also a Forging Master for your information," Zhan Jing rubbed his forehead. He had forgotten the young man''s other occupation due to the fact that he has been living in this place for some time. After all, the constant update of his information no longer sent here because this place was quite remote.


    Ye Jiao was dumbfounded. "You can be a Forging Master at a young age?"


    "Yes. In fact, a lot of children might learn it from a young age, especially if they have a Forging Master parent or relative."


    "I see."


    Qin Zheng didn''t pay any heed to the other two as he continued searching for more ores. On the other hand, Ye Jiao looked around while wondering. She didn''t know any of them and even if she did, she doubted any of them would have some worth in the Four Kingdoms.


    Besides, she was worried that she would destroy them, instead.


    "You can just take this chance to practice Eon Energy. The surroundings area is filled with water type of Eon Energy. It might be suitable for you," Zhan Jing suggested.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Alright, Master."


    Sitting on the ground, Ye Jiao focused on the Eon Energy around her. It was cool and comfortable, different from the type of Eon Energy she used to absorb. Even though the Eon Energy started to flow into her body, Ye Jiao could sense that her core refused to accept these types as it only absorbed extremely slowly.


    Slowly, she opened her eyes. "Master, I don''t think it''s suitable for me."


    "Oh?" Zhan Jing narrowed his eyes. "Are you telling me that you have already started to sense the differences in Eon Energy?"


    It was Ye Jiao''s turn to look at her master with a strange look. "But, they''re already different from the start of my training. I mean, they sense differently."


    "¡­" he took a long time just to differentiate the energy that he absorbed but she was already able to sense them from the moment she started practicing? Didn''t it mean that she already had a huge advantage from the very start?


    That''s unfair!


    Thinking of the days when he had to lament on himself because of his inability to sense, Zhan Jing wished to curse. It was good that he never asked these things to his previous disciples or he might not be able to continue practice because of this stifled feeling.


    "Master, are you alright?"


    "Yes, I''m fine."


    His heart was still bleeding because of her answer, but Zhan Jing sighed. He looked in the other direction. "There should be some other things that you might find interesting. Let''s just take a walk."


    If they talked again, he was afraid that his heart wouldn''t be able to take it. Some inborn talent was those that were very enviable. Still, he had never heard of the talent like Ye Jiao''s back when he was still living outside this place. There might be some special condition for this little girl.


    He would need to search more if he wanted to find out.


    "Ok, Master."


    ...


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 225 An Egg

    Ye Jiao chose to just pick some weird looking herbs around her. She wasn''t sure of their worth and use, but they might be precious, so she would pick some of them. On the other hand, Qin Zheng was still busy hunting for stones. Apparently there were a lot of ores scattering around.


    People who came to this place didn''t realize that they had ignored a treasure.


    "Why are you picking so many useless herbs?" Qin Zheng frowned when he noticed the batch of grasses, flowers, and many others in Ye Jiao''s hand.


    "Well, I just thought that they might have some use."


    "If you want to create some low level pills, they are pretty useful but the amount is severely lacking," Qin Zheng scratched his head.


    "Wait, you know their use?"


    "Yeah? They''re common in my hometown."


    Now, Ye Jiao was speechless. The herbs that she saw here so far were those rare herbs. Even though she was unfamiliar with many of them, she could guess based on the high concentration of Eon Energy from the herbs she had seen so far. She picked one of the grasses that she picked and showed it to Qin Zheng. "Then, can you tell me what''s the use of this one?"


    "It has the basic water properties and is known as the basic material for water attribute pills."


    "How about this one?"


    "That''s¡­"


    After asking a lot of questions to Qin Zheng, Ye Jiao came to realize that almost all of the herbs she picked were common herbs that can be found anywhere. Still, she decided to keep them all in her storage bracelet should they have some use. There was nothing wrong with picking them.


    Hours passed as the two of them continued this hunting game. Zhan Jing didn''t participate because he didn''t have any interest in herbs or stones. Aside from striding around to look here and there, he didn''t do anything.


    "There''s a lake nearby," Zhan Jing pointed to the front. "Do you want to take a short bath?"


    "Bath?" Ye Jiao''s eyes lit up. She wanted to have a bath if it was possible since they have been traveling for hours without much rest. Thankfully, they have the basic food and water for their necessity.


    Qin Zheng looked over to the direction Zhan Jing pointed. "Sounds fun."


    "You want to take a bath too?"


    "There''s nothing wrong with it, right? Shall we go together?"


    "¡­Excuse me?"


    Zhan Jing didn''t know whether to laugh or cry seeing Ye Jiao''s reddened face, angry and embarrassed. He thought that she didn''t receive any education for a young girl, seeing how she lived by herself for the past two or so years. It seemed like she already had the basic mastered.


    Qin Zheng tilted his head. "Isn''t it normal to take a bath in the lake together?"


    "It''s not for women and men!"


    "Women?" Qin Zheng directed his gaze slightly down. He shook his head slightly. "Can you even be categorized as a woman?"


    Swish! Clang!


    Ye Jiao summoned her dagger far faster than usual as she thrusted it towards Qin Zheng''s direction. He blocked it with ease using a secret weapon that he hid inside his sleeve. His lips curled up into a smirk.


    "Who''s the one who loves to attack other people randomly now?"


    "That''s because you''re insulting me," Ye Jiao glared. "You''re not allowed to go there until I''m finished bathing."


    "Oh? You''re the one who decides?"


    "Yes, I am."


    Seeing the dangerous glint on Ye Jiao''s eyes, Qin Zheng chose to back down. He kept away his hidden weapon as he directed his gaze back to the ground, searching for another rock. In any case, there was nothing interesting with this young girl, so he would not even bother peeking on her.


    "Fine, there''s nothing interesting to see anyway."


    Somehow, Ye Jiao has the urge to strike her dagger into this young man once again. Hadn''t he learned the difference between girls and boys? Well, she knew that she hadn''t undergone her puberty as she was only 11, but it should be normal. This made her wonder what kind of education he had received up until now.


    "Master, I''ll be going now," Ye Jiao bid her farewell as she dashed towards the lake. Looking at the clear water, her eyes sparkled. It was amazing to see that there could be a lake inside this water-like environment.


    While Ye Jiao was enjoying her bath session, Qin Zheng had forgotten all about her as he focused his attention to look for another interesting rock. He came here because he had heard about the existence of these rocks, so he would gather as much as possible before getting out of this place.


    "Qin Zheng, I didn''t know that you like to tease a girl."


    "Tease?" Qin Zheng looked back. "I''m just saying what''s common in my hometown."


    Zhan Jing was speechless. "What''s your age when you take a bath in the river along with the other children?"


    "I should be 3 or so? I don''t really remember."


    "¡­"


    How could you say that it''s common when you don''t even remember?


    Feeling that his mind would be roasted if he pursued this topic, Zhan Jing focused his attention elsewhere. He still had to wait for Qi Huan to finish getting his inheritance. That was only if he managed to get it.


    At the lake, Ye Jiao didn''t take a long time to take a bath. Once finished, she walked to the shore and dressed again. Her eyes noticed a large rock near the lake. It was placed on top of lush bushes and grasses. It was blue and silver in color, looking beautiful and enchanting.


    There was some trace of blood on the ground nearby, but not a single drop was on the rock itself. However, they had dried up as if they were already there for a long time.


    "Is it another rock like what Qin Zheng has gathered?"


    Feeling curious, Ye Jiao picked up the rock. To her surprise, it was quite heavy. With its size nearly half of her own body, Ye Jiao carried the strange ''rock'' to the location of the other two.


    "You sure take your time," Qin Zheng remarked. He arched his eyebrows when he saw the large ''rock'' that Ye Jiao brought. "Where did you find that egg?"


    "Egg?" Ye Jiao was stunned to hear that word. "You''re telling me that this is an egg?"


    "With its shape, I thought you''ll instantly know that it''s an egg."


    "I thought an egg is only at the size of your palm?"


    "¡­Do you think every beast egg is the size of a chicken?" Qin Zheng walked closer and looked at the egg closely. "Considering the thick concentration of Eon Energy inside, it should be an egg, but it''ll still take a long time for it to hatch."


    "What''s inside?"


    "I don''t know," Qin Zheng frowned. Anything could be inside because this place has traces of several kinds of beast. He couldn''t say for sure which beast had left this egg near the lake. Come again, what kind of stupid beast would leave their egg unattended while they were going elsewhere?


    Ye Jiao looked at the egg and then to her Master. "Master, can I keep it?"


    Zhan Jing''s lips twitched. "Don''t blame me if its mother tries to find it and is unable to do so because you already take it."


    "But, it''s left alone," Ye Jiao replied. "And there''s some trace of dried blood nearby."


    "Blood?" Zhan Jing frowned. It might be possible that the egg was left behind because its parents were attacked. He sighed. "Fine, you can keep it by sealing a blood contract."


    "What''s a blood contract?"


    "It''s a contract you can sign between beast and human. Normally, it''s initiated when the beast chooses to submit to you, but if the beast is still in the egg form, you only need to give a drop of your blood to form a connection with it. Once it hatches, it''ll directly recognize you as its master," Zhan Jing explained carefully.


    Ye Jiao frowned. "Does it mean, it can''t reject me?"


    "It can''t."


    "But what if it doesn''t want to be my beast?"


    "You can cancel the contract in the future," Zhan Jing sighed. "You just have to cut off your connection with the beast if you wish to cancel it in the future and then, you won''t be its master anymore."


    "I see. I''m making my contract, then."


    Ye Jiao bit her finger to the point that it bled before she put it on top of the egg. One drop of blood fell on top of the egg before it shone brightly. In the next second, it returned back to normal, but Ye Jiao could feel the connection she had with the egg. It was weird. Kind of similar to the loyalty contract she had with Wei Liao but this time, it was far tighter and warmer.


    "Congratulations on getting your first beast, Ye Jiao."

 226 Coordinated Cooperation

    "Thank you, Master."


    Ye Jiao beamed as she kept the egg close to her. On the side, Qin Zheng shook his head. "You should be careful when making a contract with beasts in the future. You can only have a limited number of beasts."


    "Ah, then how many can I have?"


    "One."


    "¡­" it meant that she could only have this little egg as her beast? Ye Jiao pulled the egg into her embrace as if saying that she didn''t want to get separated from it. No matter what, she wanted to keep it.


    Qin Zheng opened his mouth, wanting to say something else when they suddenly sensed danger. His eyes sharpened. "Ye Jiao, you should keep the egg inside your body for now."


    "What?"


    "Just think of the egg entering your body and it will be because it''s your beast."


    Ye Jiao did as Qin Zheng told her as she thought of the egg entering her. In the next second, it disappeared from her view and she could weirdly find it inside her consciousness. It was as if there was another space inside her body where the beast could reside.


    She quickly refocused her attention as she looked in the direction where she could sense immense pressure. A large dark wolf beast appeared within their view. Its fangs glowed under the light, threatening them along with an invisible layer of pressure it gave off.


    ''I can''t move.''


    The moment the beast came to her view, the pressure grew bigger and it bound her entire body. In that moment, Ye Jiao understood that the beast in front of her was not a beast at rank 3, but a rank 4. The difference was so large that it was terrifying.


    "Ye Jiao, Qin Zheng, you should stay back," Zhan Jing stepped forward. "I''ll take care of this beast."


    "Master!"


    Zhan Jing smiled reassuringly. "Do not worry, this level of beast can do nothing to me."


    Growl!


    The dark wolf beast growled deeply and charged straight towards Zhan Jing. It dashed like lightning. So fast! They can''t even properly see the movements when they heard the sound of a clash.


    Bam!


    Zhan Jing directly made a wall out of the dirt in front of him. He frowned deeply. This beast was pretty fast.


    Growl!


    The wolf jumped to the side and dashed again.


    It had turned into a contest of speed as the wolf kept on trying to reach Zhan Jing, but the man didn''t allow it. He would create a wall to block and then attack with his large sword.


    Slash! Howl!


    "Jiao''er," Qin Zheng suddenly called out. "There''s another one."


    Ye Jiao''s body turned cold when she heard what Qin Zheng said. Since the first dark wolf''s attention was fully focused on Zhan Jing, her body was released out of the pressure. She could move again, but she hadn''t dared to do so because of fear and worry that her movements would gain the wolf''s attention.


    Looking at the side, she could see a beast awfully similar to the first one walking towards their direction. It was emanating an ominous aura as it growled deeply, threatening the two of them.


    "Can you move?" Qin Zheng asked.


    Ye Jiao nodded slowly. "I think I still can."


    "This beast has just advanced to rank 4, so its power should be limited. I need you to attack it together with me."


    "Do you think we can match our speed?" Ye Jiao frowned. They hadn''t fought together because all this time, it was finished with just one of them. In addition, they would rather fight with one another than helping out because of their interaction so far.


    "We have to try," Qin Zheng said unhurriedly. His expression turned solemn as he summoned his sword. This was Ye Jiao''s first time seeing the black sword up close. Compared to the first time when this young man used it when he was chased by the people from Bao Fu organization, the sword looked a bit scary as there was a baleful aura around it.


    Perhaps, it was her who didn''t pay close attention to it back then.


    "I''ll begin."


    As soon as he finished saying that, Qin Zheng dashed off from his place and headed towards the wolf. His sword was swung hard, but the wolf already saw it as it jumped to the side, evading the attack beautifully.


    Swish! Swish! Jleb!


    Howl!


    While his right hand swung the sword, Qin Zheng took the opportunity to pick out his hidden weapon and threw it to the wolf''s direction. One of them missed but the other one directly hit the beast on its stomach.


    Just when the wolf wanted to charge back to Qin Zheng, Ye Jiao arrived by its side and swung her dagger.


    Swish!


    It hit the air as the wolf jumped back. Gritting her teeth, Ye Jiao pushed her legs to move because the beast raised up its body and leg, trying to stomp her to her death. That one attack left a deep crack on the ground as if telling her that she would surely die if she didn''t move from that place.


    ''This is insane.''


    She could barely move under the pressure that the beast emanated from its body, yet she had to fight with it. Readying her dagger, she was about to face the wolf again when Qin Zheng had attacked its leg.


    Slash!


    It cut off the wolf''s back leg directly. The wolf quickly used its other legs to create a distance as it howled angrily. Blood flowed out from the place where its leg was cut.


    "You won''t be able to move as fast as before," Qin Zheng said coldly, a dark killing intent flashed within his eyes for a split second.


    From the side, Ye Jiao''s body froze for a moment when she sensed that thick killing intent. If she had to say, it was far darker and harsher compared to the one that Qi Huan used before. It was as if she was facing a greater killing machine much more frightening than her senior brother.


    It was scary yet fascinating at the same time.


    Growl!


    The beast charged straight to Qin Zheng as the latter used his sword to directly block the wolf''s bite. His eyes narrowed when he sensed the sudden change of pressure around him. Formless wind blade appeared within the air and attacked him directly.


    Swish! Swish! Slash!


    Qin Zheng''s eyes were solemn as he looked at the beast. His left shoulder has a slashing wound as blood flows out.


    "Careful, Ye Jiao. He''s starting to use his power as rank 4."


    "I understand."


    Internally, Ye Jiao wished to escape more than anything. This beast was capable of using elemental power, which meant that she had to face a much stronger and much dangerous beast compared to the one before. With her movements already limited due to the pressure, now she had to make sure that she didn''t die because of his elemental attack.


    Great. She jumped the rank too much¡­


    Couldn''t this beast appear when she already reached rank 3 instead of now? She didn''t want to die yet.


    Growl!


    The wolf growled and summoned several wind blades out of the midair. It was directed at Ye Jiao and Qin Zheng, forcing the two of them to scatter and jump here and there to evade the attack.


    Amidst the barrage of the wind blades, the two of them tried to get closer to the beast. Several wind blades hit their body, engraving wounds on their flesh. Once he was close enough, Qin Zheng directly swung his sword towards the beast''s head.


    Clang!


    It was faced with the wolf''s fangs.


    Ye Jiao slipped into the back and swung her dagger to the wolf''s other leg with all of her power. The thickness of the flesh and bones made her wonder how Qin Zheng managed to slash through it. With her current strength, she was unable to pierce through the bone!


    Clang! Jleb!


    "Coat your dagger with Eon Energy!" Qin Zheng yelled. He threw several small blades to the wolf as it moved to evade them.


    Ye Jiao looked at her sword with widened eyes. She had never learned how to coat her sword with Eon Energy. Seeing the wolf was getting ready to charge at her again, Ye Jiao just pushed out her Eon Energy and covered her dagger with it.


    Slash!


    Qin Zheng attacked the beast from the back, gaining its attention again. The dark wolf turned around and attempted to bite Qin Zheng as it created numerous wind blades again.


    Ye Jiao took this chance and moved nearer to the dark wolf''s leg. She swung her sword as fast as possible, hitting the same wound she caused before. The dagger has increased in sharpness as it cut through the bone. It didn''t cut off the leg, but it was close to it.


    HOWL!


    The angry wolf howled to the sky. It turned its body around as it created numerous wind blades. It was at that time Qin Zheng stepped forward. His sword pierced through the wolf''s neck. The wind blades that were about to form midair stopped as it started to scatter, returning back to its original form as air.


    "It''s over," Qin Zheng whispered as a killing intent flashed within his eyes once again.


    The wolf, terrified with the sudden outburst of killing intent, stopped for a split second. Qin Zheng swung his side to the outside as blood spurted out just like a water fountain. The dark wolf''s eyes turned dim as it fell on the ground with a loud thud.

 227 Insane Absorption Rate

    "Is it over?" Ye Jiao asked while catching her breath. Her breathing was still unstable, but there was a sense of relief that the battle was over. The fight was only several minutes, but it felt extremely long for her. Her body was placed at constant heavy pressure at all times.


    Qin Zheng nodded. He wiped his sword before putting it back. "It''s over. The wolf is dead."


    "That''s good."


    Just a second late and the wind blades would start attacking again. It was fast and deadly since it could easily pierce through their flesh. As for bones, Ye Jiao didn''t know and didn''t have any intention to test it out. The battle just now was already more than enough.


    "We''re lucky that it has just reached rank 4 or it won''t be that easy," Qin Zheng commented. He took out a knife and stabbed the wolf''s chest, taking out a rank 4 core from within.


    "You call that easy?"


    "It''s not that life threatening and we only sustain superficial wounds. Oh right, here''s a pill to heal your wounds."


    Taking the pill from Qin Zheng''s hand, Ye Jiao looked at him with wonder. "How much does this cost?"


    "You don''t have to pay me. Instead, let me take the core while you keep the wolf''s meat."


    "¡­" Ye Jiao had the feeling that everyone around her had started to treat her as a meat collector. It was true that she loved eating meat, but it doesn''t mean that she wanted to collect dozens of beasts'' meats. How long would it take for her to finish them all at this rate?


    "If you skin it, you can also sell the skin for quite a hefty price since it''s a rank 4 beast. Also, the teeth should be valuable too."


    "I get it, thank you."


    Putting the pill into her mouth, Ye Jiao could feel rich Eon Energy filled into her body. It was also covered in medicinal fragrance. Her wounds on her skin healed at a visible rate as Ye Jiao focused her attention on them.


    "Brats, are you alright?" Zhan Jing rushed over. He had heard the sounds of fighting and sensed the beast coming just now, but he was preoccupied with the battle. Seeing the two of them still alive, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    "You''re late."


    "I''m not as powerful as before, thanks to a certain someone."


    Qin Zheng looked at Zhan Jing coldly as he put one of the pills he had into his mouth. Even without focusing on them, his wounds still healed at a visible rate, leaving only his clothes which still have the trace of battle.


    "Why are you using such an expensive medicine just for superficial wounds?"


    "It''s not expensive."


    Zhan Jing wanted to roll his eyes at Qin Zheng''s answer. He knew this young man''s background, so he understood why he said that it was not expensive. Indeed, it was the cheapest one but it was only in the world outside this four kingdoms! In this place, medicine that could cure at a visible rate like that would be priced at thousands of gold coins.


    Though, if they have an internal wound, it would be a different story because the pill wouldn''t work as well.


    "If you''re planning to live here, can''t you learn the culture of this place better?"


    "I''m just making a short visit," Qin Zheng blinked his eyes. "You don''t think that someone like me will stay in this place, do you?


    "It''s not impossible."


    Qin Zheng decided to not reply anymore as he turned his head to Ye Jiao. By this time, the girl had finished consuming the medicine and had fully recovered herself. She opened her eyes and looked at her master.


    "Master, is there any use of these cores? So far, I have been only keeping them and selling them off," Ye Jiao asked. They were taking place in her storage bracelet, so she had been wondering if she could possibly use them.


    Zhan Jing nodded. "You can choose to absorb Eon Energy from the core, but you''ll need to extract it out first."


    "How?"


    "I''ll suggest you do not do this, but if you guide your own Eon Energy to the core, you''ll be able to pull the Eon Energy out of the core."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes in confusion. "Why don''t you suggest this, Master?"


    "Because absorbing Eon Energy from the beast core might not be suitable for your own core. In addition, the Eon Energy inside the cores is violent and might kill you if you''re not careful enough. Because of that, people only use it as Eon Energy''s substitute, especially if they want to use some tools that require Eon Energy or teleportation arrays," Qin Zheng explained.


    Zhan Jing nodded in agreement. Eon Energy Master would choose their specialization when they reached rank 4. Below that rank, it was hard for them to even know their innate talent. Because of that, no one would suggest they blindly use the Eon Energy from beast cores.


    If it was not suitable, their future path wouldn''t be easy.


    "I see." Ye Jiao stayed silent for a moment before she began to ask again, "Qin Zheng, is there any way to help the egg hatch faster?"


    "Why are you asking so suddenly?" Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. This girl''s way of changing conversation was truly peculiar.


    "I can sense the egg seems to take some part of the Eon Energy that I absorb just now, so I''m thinking that if I absorb Eon Energy at this place and direct it straight to the egg, it will be able to hatch faster," Ye Jiao explained.


    Qin Zheng nodded. This girl has a keen observation. "It''s true. The egg needs Eon Energy to mature faster, but it has a slow rate of absorption, so it would surely take a long time to hatch. Even if you help it, it needs to digest it by itself."


    "But I can help?"


    "If you transfer the Eon Energy in this place to the egg, it should be able to cut down a third of the time needed. Then again, it will still take years before the egg can hatch," Qin Zheng pondered.


    Ye Jiao beamed. "I don''t think it''s a problem. Thank you, Qin Zheng."


    "Call me brother."


    "You''re just a few months older, so no."


    "I''m still older," Qin Zheng insisted.


    This time, Ye Jiao paid the young man no heed as she started to absorb the Eon Energy in the surroundings into her core. As she had grown, her rate of absorption also increased several folds. Now that she didn''t hold them back at all and focused on transferring all of them into the lake, her rate of absorption turned even faster.


    Both Qin Zheng and Zhan Jing could sense the movements of Eon Energy around them as it entered into Ye Jiao''s body like an endless stream of water. Normally, it would be impossible because they have to put Eon Energy into their core slowly, but since it was only entering her body to reach the egg, it has become possible.


    Zhan Jing shook his head. "I really don''t understand how you can get so much Eon Energy into your body like this."


    "It''s not impossible," Qin Zheng sat down on the ground. "There''s another part of Eon Energy in this place that''s suitable for me, so I''ll start my training too."


    "Hey, you¡­"


    Qin Zheng started to absorb the Eon Energy too. From the side, Zhan Jing decided to move back as he could feel the Eon Energy around him moving like crazy towards the two children in the middle. Even though Qin Zheng didn''t absorb as fast as Ye Jiao, it was still at an insane rate that normally wouldn''t be seen in this place.


    ''Yep, they''re two little monsters.''


    Waiting for the two of them to finish their training, Zhan Jing decided to rest. He still kept his awareness around him as he carefully watched over the two of them.


    Time passed swiftly. Hours passed and Zhan Jing could sense movements not far from them. As the density of Eon Energy in this place has decreased thanks to these two monsters'' absorption rate, some beasts came over as they were attracted by the energy movements.


    "They shouldn''t attack again," Qin Zheng opened his eyes. He looked over to the beasts near them. "Most of them are only rank 3, so they know that they''re not our match."


    Zhan Jing frowned. "How do you know? Beast doesn''t have intelligence, right?"


    "They have intelligence in a limited amount. In a place like this, it wouldn''t be surprising that they already gain a bit of intelligence. Even if they usually moved by their instinct, the higher their rank, the more intelligence they might possess."


    Like what Qin Zheng predicted, the beasts only lingered for a short period of time before they departed again. Apparently, they could sense that they wouldn''t be able to do anything to these people over here. There was nothing that they could do except to return back.


    Qin Zheng directed his gaze to the other side. "It seems your little disciple has also returned too."

 228 Unwanted Guests

    "Hm?" Zhan Jing looked at the direction where Qin Zheng looked. It took him a few seconds before he started to sense Qi Huan''s presence that was coming closer towards their direction. "You''re correct. How did you manage to have higher detection skills compared to me?"


    "I wonder."


    Qi Huan walked to their direction calmly. The way he walked made one sure that he must have already sensed that they were here. Once he came closer, he directly walked over to Zhan Jing and paid his respect.


    "Master, I have returned."


    "Good work," Zhan Jing narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized the young man''s difference that he could see.


    Compared to before, Qi Huan now had rich Eon Energy within his body. It was more than twice the amount he had before, allowing one to notice that he must have reached rank 3. In addition, the silver hair he had seemed to shine brighter. It was as if the silvery hair had come to life.


    "You have been successful," Qin Zheng commented as he looked at the young man before him. The changes were apparent.


    "Yes," Qi Huan replied somberly. "But this is only the beginning."


    "You have reached rank 3, so you should go to the academy soon. Besides, it looks like you already consolidate your power further too," Zhan Jing nodded his head in approval. This disciple of his has become far stronger in just a few hours. The power that should have taken more than a year was achieved in such a short moment.


    It looked like the power he gained from the bloodline awakening far exceeded his expectation.


    Qi Huan nodded. "I understand, Master."


    Turning his head to Qin Zheng, he could faintly sense that this brat''s power was still far stronger than him. At the same time, there was a trace of authority that he exuded. It was only after he reached rank 3 did he come to realize this minute difference.


    "If you wish to defeat me, you should think twice. Your base power and experience is still nothing compared to me," Qin Zheng remarked, his voice full of confidence.


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. "We don''t know for sure."


    "Ah, you want to try?"


    "Please guide me."


    "If you say so," Qin Zheng stood up slowly. His movements were relaxed, as if he was doing nothing but stretching at home.


    Zhan Jing''s eyes narrowed as he shouted. "Qi Huan, dodge!"


    At that moment, Qi Huan swiftly moved to the side. He could sense something had grazed his cheek as a trail of blood appeared on the surface. His pupil contracted for he realized that if he moved late even just by a second, he would have been dead.


    Qin Zheng didn''t even wait as he moved at high speed towards Qi Huan''s direction. His sword was directed at the young man''s neck. Raising his sword in a hurry, Qi Huan barely managed to block it as the edge of the sword reached his neck. Pain came from the contact he had.


    Clang!


    "If I exert a bit more power, you would have been dead," Qin Zheng said emotionlessly. "If you don''t want to die, you shouldn''t try to pick up a fight with someone above your level."


    "I see," Qi Huan noticed that the other party had retracted his sword. He put his sword down and touched his neck, blood was apparent on his hand. For the first time in a long time, this was the first time someone at the same rank as him had managed to wound him. All this time, he would never allow himself to lose in a one on one fight.


    That speed, precision and decisiveness was not something one could train in just mere days.


    Qi Huan looked at the nonchalant Qin Zheng. "Just who are you?"


    "Me? I''m a stranger who comes to this place for a bit of hunting," Qin Zheng picked up a rock nearby. "Some of the items here are actually treasure, but you people will never know its worth if you didn''t get out of this place."


    "I see," Qi Huan took a pill and ate it to recover his wound. It would take some time, but it was better than letting his neck continue bleeding like this. There was no telling if there would be any beast that came because they were attracted to the smell of blood or not.


    Qin Zheng sat down on the ground. "You should just practice since this environment is the best for you."


    Not replying, Qi Huan sat down on the ground. The Eon Energy''s type in this place was astonishingly very suitable for him. Even without the need for a reminder, he didn''t want to waste this chance.


    Time passed swiftly.


    Zhan Jing could sense the Eon Energy concentration in the place dropped considerably as these three were training like crazy. The amount that they absorbed was simply insane. He wouldn''t even be worried if this place turned dry after they had finished.


    "There''s a guest," Qin Zheng opened his eyes. He turned his head to look at the direction where they first came.


    "Qi Huan."


    "Master?" Qi Huan''s training was interrupted, so he quickly opened his eyes. Upon seeing the solemn expression on the other two''s faces, he knew that something was wrong. In the next second, he could faintly sense that someone or more correct, a group of people was coming in their direction.


    "Your cousin is here?"


    "Which cousin?" Qi Huan stood up with a frown. He came with a lot of family members and each of them would be looking for this place. Considering that the one who came here could see the path, it meant that the one who came should be his cousin.


    "I don''t know their names."


    "Right."


    Qi Huan looked in Ye Jiao''s direction. Sensing the Eon Energy still moved at raging speed to her direction, he knew that those people were trying to find them from the movements of Eon Energy in the air. He sighed internally for he realized that it would be hard to avoid this today.


    "I''ll greet them."


    It didn''t take a long time for the group to appear within their sight. Qi Huan immediately recognized the person at the front to be his cousin whom he talked with not long ago when he departed into the forest.


    "Qi Huan," the man at the front frowned.


    Qi Huan smiled in return. "It seems we have met again, Cousin Qi Mang."


    The one called Qi Mang didn''t even bother to reply as he stared at Qi Huan''s hair intensely. Even an idiot would be able to see that there was a significant change in the young man''s appearance. The silvery hair that Qi Huan had looked like it was glowing, making it look far more enchanting.


    The problem would be, there was only one way to make that change possible.


    Qi Mang''s expression hardened. "Qi Huan, did you obtain the inheritance?"


    Knowing that there would be no way he could lie, Qi Huan nodded his head unhurriedly. "Yes."


    In that moment, a blade appeared in front of him, threatening to kill him.


    ...


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 229 Internal Feud

    Clang!


    Qi Huan immediately blocked the attack and pushed his cousin back. His eyes were cold as he realized immediately that his cousin wished for his death. The killing intent that Qi Mang emanated was painfully clear for him.


    "You shouldn''t have taken it, you b*stard!" Qi Mang yelled. He was frustrated when he learned that Qi Huan had taken the inheritance. It was known that the one who received the inheritance could only be one in every session this island appeared. That would mean that he had to wait for another three years.


    Three years.


    It was a long time for a youngster like him. If he truly waited that long, there was no telling what would happen because he had passed the prime age for him to develop his talent. He would never be able to become a true expert that way.


    "It was right in front of me," Qi Huan said calmly. "Why should I pass the chance when it was in front of me?"


    "You!" Qi Mang gritted his teeth. "You''re just someone who will die and leave this place! You shouldn''t have taken our only hope to get out of here!"


    Without waiting for Qi Huan''s answer, Qi Mang sprang from his position and charged towards Qi Huan''s direction once again. His sword was aimed straight to Qi Huan''s neck, attempting to kill this young man right in this instant.


    Qi Huan slightly raised his sword and blocked the attack. He knew how much of an eyesore he was in the eyes of the others. Just his existence itself was already enough to make them feel hatred for him. After all, except from his father, he had the highest position in Chi Kingdom and naturally had the access to the most resources.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The men behind Qi Mang were confused by the sudden turn of events. They were tasked to protect the princes and naturally, that included Qi Huan. Seeing the two of them fighting against one another, no one knew what they should do.


    Bam!


    Getting pushed to the back, Qi Mang''s eyes glowed dangerously. Just a few days ago, Qi Huan was still slightly below him because of his lesser rank. Now, he couldn''t even hope to try contending against him.


    Gritting his teeth, Qi Mang yelled and ran to Qi Huan again. "I can''t accept this!"


    Clang! Clang!


    Compared to Qi Mang who dealt a vicious blow, Qi Huan was relatively milder and calmer. He knew the consequences of making a serious blow to Qi Mang as the people around his father always hoped to bring him down. If he was charged of killing his own cousin, they would undoubtedly tag him as a heartless person and drive the citizen into pressuring him.


    He couldn''t let that happen.


    "He''s hesitating to kill?" Qin Zheng frowned. If this continued, Qi Huan might run out of stamina first. Even though he had the power as rank 3, he hadn''t familiarized himself with the newfound strength he had. A long battle was not recommended.


    "He has his reason."


    Qin Zheng leaned on the wall. His eyes were watching the people behind Qi Mang. He would not interfere, but if they decided to attack him too, he would not be polite.


    Clang!


    Once again, Qi Mang was pushed to the back. He looked at his men. "ATTACK HIM!"


    "But, Your Highness¡­"


    "I said, attack!"


    The men were looking at their prince helplessly as they drew their sword. But before they could move from their position, the earth suddenly moved as something appeared and pierced their body.


    "Aaaaaah!"


    Blood spilled out from the hole on their body as their eyes were filled with disbelief. Qi Mang watched in horror as his men, whom he had brought here with difficulties, fell one by one. Not a single one of them was alive.


    "What did you¡­?"


    "I didn''t do anything," Qi Huan responded briefly. He tried to not look at his master because he knew very well that it must be Zhan Jing. The only one who could control the earth to such a level would only be his master. As for his father, that man has different capabilities.


    Qi Mang''s eyes turned red. "You liar! I''ll kill you!"


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    As the sound of blade clashing filled the place, both Zhan Jing and Qin Zheng didn''t have any intention to help out. They were watching as the fight unfolded before their eyes in a calm manner.


    Swish! Clang!


    Qi Huan forcefully pushed Qi Mang''s blade as he placed his sword in front of the man. His eyes glowed dangerously. "Do not try me, Cousin Qi Mang."


    Qi Mang sneered. "Just do it, without the inheritance, I don''t have any use again. If you dare to kill me, do you think you''ll be able to get away from it? Everyone will be chasing after you."


    Just when Qi Huan was about to reply, something passed by him, reaching his cousin''s chest in a split second. A large hole appeared on the location where his heart was supposed to be as blood started to drip down.


    Qi Mang''s eyes were filled with disbelief as he fell on the ground with a loud thud. Even until the end, he didn''t know what had happened to him.


    Turning his head to the back, Qi Huan looked at Qin Zheng. "Thank you, I owe you one."


    "He''s just too noisy. I''m not doing it for you too," Qin Zheng said nonchalantly.


    "Would it be a trouble for you if you kill someone from this bloodline?"


    "It''s just an insignificant youth, so it shouldn''t be a problem. Besides, his talent is just B or so, considering his age. Even those people would never want to care for someone at this talent," Qin Zheng shrugged.


    From the way Qin Zheng said it, Qi Huan had the feeling that those who were at B talent or blue color were nothing but trash in front of this man. In this place, they were treated well because their talent was considered as high. But for those true experts, those at B talent were simply too low to enter their eyes.


    "You have a high standard."


    "It''s not like you can''t raise your talent, but their way is a bit unorthodox," Qin Zheng mulled. "Do you want to return back to report to your father? The Eon Energy concentration is already a bit too low."


    "I''ll go after Y-Ai Jiao finished her training," Qi Huan responded. He had almost slipped out Ye Jiao''s real name. Come to think about it, did Qin Zheng know Ye Jiao''s real name or he didn''t?


    "You mean Ye Jiao, right?" Qin Zheng pointed to the back. "She has finished absorbing the Eon Energy for the egg."


    "How do you know her real name¡­?"


    Qin Zheng shrugged without the intention to answer. When he came here, he inquired a bit about Ye Jiao in secret because it should be impossible for an ordinary person to suddenly gain that high of talent. After hearing her background and real name, he came to understand what had actually happened.


    At this moment, Ye Jiao walked over with a tired expression. As all the Eon Energy she absorbed was transferred to the egg, she didn''t really take any for herself. It made her feel tired.


    "Senior Brother Qi, Qin Zheng, I have finished."

 230 Battle on The Lake

    "Senior Brother Qi, Qin Zheng, I have finished."


    "Call me Brother."


    "No way," Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. Having to call Qin Zheng as her brother because of their act was already more than enough. She didn''t want to call him like that anymore.


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "We''re going out of here as brother and sister, so call me correctly, Little Sister."


    "¡­ Are you saying that we still have to act when we get out?"


    "Otherwise, how do you plan to get out of the city with that small build?"


    Ye Jiao''s face scrunched at the thought of that. Because she still looked like a small kid, it would make people wonder who she was and where her parents were. If it was two kids, they would just assume the children were playing or doing an errand that their parents gave them.


    This was the reason she often traveled with the others when she entered a city. A normal eleven-year-old kid wouldn''t be able to travel alone unless they already have a built similar to that of an adult.


    And unfortunately for Ye Jiao, she didn''t.


    "I can say the same to you, Shorty!"


    "I''ll surpass you soon enough, so stop with that nickname."


    Ye Jiao stuck her tongue. "No way! You''re still shorter than me, so you''re a shorty!"


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows and took out his sword. "It seems like you''re getting even braver each day, little brat. Did you forget that I''m far stronger than you?"


    "Will you really kill the person who saved your life?"


    "Save my life? It''s more like you force me to drink the antidote when I clearly can recover by myself."


    "Say someone who was on the brink of death back then!"


    Both Qi Huan and Zhan Jing couldn''t find the right time to interfere as the two kids quarreled with one another. They still hadn''t started the fight as they battled with their words, but the content of their words gave the two of them a picture of how these two met.


    In normal condition, these two would never be able to get along.


    ''He seems to be a bit softer when facing her compared to me,'' Qi Huan frowned. He remembered how Qin Zheng directly attacked him without mercy when he crossed the line once. But towards Ye Jiao, he still took the time to debate.


    Little did he know that Ye Jiao had suffered countless hidden blades that Qin Zheng threw at her because of their little debate every single day. Of course, it was something that neither of them would leak out. Those were just uninteresting stories. After all, those days they spent on the journey were filled with nothing but fighting and studying.


    "You two, if you want to fight, do it later. This place will start to close down in a month''s time," Zhan Jing interrupted when they were about to raise their weapon for real. "And with Qi Huan already getting the inheritance, this island will surely submerge into the water much faster."


    Both Qin Zheng and Ye Jiao stopped their bickering and kept their dagger and sword away. They had their own research too, so they knew that once an inheritor was found, the island would start to close down even faster. It was because there was no point for the island to stay afloat anymore.


    "Let''s go back."


    "Alright."


    The four of them dashed towards the direction of the entrance. It took them less time as they quickly arrived by the entrance and started to climb the stairs again. As they got nearer to the lake''s surface, they could see that a lot of people were already there. Aside from the imperial family members, there were also a lot of travelers and other people who wished to try their luck.


    "If we get out, will they try to attack us?" Ye Jiao asked hesitatingly.


    Qi Huan nodded his head. He could see his other cousins were already glaring dagger at one another. "There''s no doubt that they''ll attack. Afterwards, they might force me to give the inheritance."


    "Is it possible to transfer the inheritance?"


    "Nope."


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. If they knew that, there was no need to say that they would surely kill them.


    Qin Zheng scanned the crowd. "There''s Eon Energy Master rank 4 hidden amongst the crowd."


    "What?"


    "But all Eon Energy Masters are people with high status," Qi Huan frowned. His father was not here because that man actually waited in the ship. After he departed into the forest, his father had turned around and then stayed in the ship because he didn''t want to interfere with their test.


    Qin Zheng shook his head. "This man didn''t come from the Four Kingdoms. He must have come here because of this island."


    "They can do that?"


    "One way or another, yes."


    "Why would they want to come here?"


    "They''re aiming for what you inherit, Qi Huan," Qin Zheng explained unhurriedly. His dark iris showed a trace of ruthlessness for a split second. "Even for people that live outside, the allure of this inheritance is still something that would move them. They would not even hesitate to kill someone just for it."


    "It''s that precious?" Ye Jiao was surprised. "But I thought it''s just for someone who has the bloodline from that Sovereign something."


    "There''s a way to inherit the bloodline, but it''s complicated¡­"


    Clang!


    The three of them turned their heads to the front as they saw the people start to fight with one another. Since they were unable to hear their words, they were not sure what had happened before.


    "Shall we try getting out while they''re all busy?" Ye Jiao asked. If they waited too long, who knew the island would submerge again.


    "That''s a good idea. Let''s wait for a bit," Qi Huan agreed. As he stood there, he was also trying to digest the Eon Energy that he absorbed from the forest before. There were a lot of them and before, he just focused on taking them into his body because he was not totally sure how much would have left with the two children''s insane absorption beside him.


    "Alright. Let''s wait for a bit."


    Watching as the fight escalated, they didn''t directly move. They have to make sure that no one saw how they suddenly appeared from within the lake.


    Splash!


    Someone fell into the water. Ye Jiao quickly turned her eyes in that direction, but she realized that she couldn''t see him. It was as if he was not thrown into the lake but another dimension altogether.


    "This lake itself is an array and there''s only one way to get in," Qin Zheng pointed to the surface above them. "If they fell on the other side of the lake, they would be sent to a completely different place."


    "Do you know what array is this?"


    "I don''t know. I just know the basic use of them and the way they work."


    Zhan Jing coughed to get the children''s attention. "Let''s get out. It''s starting to get extremely messy."


    "Yes!"


    The four of them immediately got out of the water and headed straight to the entrance location.


    Swish!


    A sword made its way to Ye Jiao as she ducked it. In her hand, her dagger appeared and with it, she swung it towards the man. The flesh was torn and blood spilled out. The man died before he could realize what had happened to him.


    "Be careful, they''re attacking randomly!"


    Swish!


    An arrow was directed to Qi Huan''s head. He agilely ducked it as he took out his sword. His eyes were looking at the direction of his cousin, who was holding a bow directed at him.


    "Your silver hair attracts too much attention!"


    "Isn''t it because you two are so small too?"


    "There are other children in this place!"


    "Still¡­.!"


    Bam!


    They managed to avoid the attack, but when they reached the front door, a terrifying pressure came upon them. Their hearts dropped.


    That Eon Energy Master rank 4 has set them as his target.


    Swish! Splash!


    Water blades appeared within their view. Utilizing their Eon Energy to the fullest, the three of them directly throw themselves at the stairs as they begin to climb up crazily. On the side, Zhan Jing was frowning. He could fight with that man, but his element couldn''t work well in this place.


    He would be at an utter disadvantage and might not be able to protect the children.


    "Master, do something!" Qi Huan shouted.


    "Just run!"


    As they were running like crazy, numerous water blades appeared from behind, threatening to kill them all.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    The Eon Energy master rank 4 appeared from within the hall. His eyes were red in rage as he looked at the running children. "GIVE ME THE INHERITANCE!"


    His screams practically filled the area, but they didn''t have the time to care about him. All they cared about was how they could run faster in order to get away from here.

 231 A Large Trap

    The three of them didn''t even pay him any heed as they focused on running away. Several water blades scratched their skin, but otherwise, they were mostly fine. The long stairs seemed to never end.


    "Master, is there nothing you could do?" Ye Jiao asked as she shifted her movements to avoid an attack. The water blade passed by her legs.


    "I''m at a disadvantage here with my element."


    "But¡­"


    "And I''m not good at Eon Energy control."


    Qin Zheng flicked a glance to Zhan Jing. "You''re still as useless as ever."


    "¡­ I don''t want to hear that from you."


    Swish! Swish!


    As they were running away during chaos, it didn''t seem like the others realized what had happened as they were still busy on the lake to fight with one another. The only one who chased after them was only this Eon Energy Master rank 4.


    Slash!


    A water blade grazed Ye Jiao''s arm as she tried to escape to the side. Her eyes widened with happiness upon seeing the light from the outside. It was good that the Eon Energy Master rank 4 behind them was not too fast or it would not end too well.


    "Watch out!"


    Slash! Splash!


    A large amount of water rushed over to them from the back. The children were startled and quickly scattered to every direction in order to evade. Water splashed everywhere, wetting the stairs and the ground on top of the stairs.


    The man had reached their side. His breathing was rough as he looked at them, to be exact to Qi Huan, with fervent eyes.


    "The inheritance! Give it to me!"


    Qi Huan''s eyes were cold as he readied his weapon. The gap between rank 3 and 4 was not something that can be covered with skill alone, but he had no other choice. There would be no way he could give up the inheritance for this man.


    Water blades appeared around the man, but it stopped when several blades made its way to his place.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    "Unfortunately, I can''t let you finish your preparation," Qin Zheng threw several more blades as he ran to the barrier.


    "Come on, Senior Brother Qi!" Ye Jiao pulled Qi Huan''s wrist as she dashed to the barrier as fast as possible. Qi Huan quickly followed after her as they headed out of the barrier.


    Ye Jiao could feel the barrier preventing her from escaping with a light force. Just by running, she managed to get out of the place and nearly stumbled on the uneven ground before her.


    "Careful!"


    Qi Huan grabbed Ye Jiao''s wrist and held her from the back. He couldn''t see things that happened over on the barrier, but they knew that the man would surely chase after them. With how he wished the inheritance that Qi Huan got, there was no doubt that he wouldn''t let them off.


    Zhan Jing had also gotten out of the barrier. He looked at the children. "Now, continue running down."


    "Yes, Master!"


    "Yes!"


    The three of them scampered as they ran down as fast as possible. Their Eon Energy was depleting at an insane rate, but neither one of them cared. Right now, they just hoped that they could get out of the place as fast as possible.


    Just when they were a few dozen meters away, Ye Jiao could hear a loud splashing sound from the back.


    SPLASH!


    Turning her head to the back, she could see a wall made of earth has blocked the barrier. A large amount of water tried to push it back, resulting in the clash between two elements right at the entrance of the barrier.


    Zhan Jing didn''t stay in the place as he controlled the rock below him to transfer him to the children''s location. With his Eon Energy extended to the ground below them, he started to move them faster.


    "Master, he''s chasing after us!" Qi Huan reported.


    "I know."


    Extending his hand, Zhan Jing collected a large amount of Eon Energy and pushed the ground up. It caused the rock to move as if there was an earthquake. That Eon Energy Master rank 4 has just managed to break the wall from before when he noticed that they were already getting away.


    He gritted his teeth and began his chase. "You won''t be able to get away from me."


    Using the water, he chased after them. Ye Jiao could only watch as these two began their chase. Her eyes were looking at the way they fought with deep longing. The first time she saw those at rank 4 fight was over two years ago, but she had been wanting to be able to surpass them since a long time ago. The fight was deeply embedded in her mind as she longed for the power that would allow her to protect those who were dear for her.


    Seeing it again now, she realized that it would still be a long way to go. The power they gave off was not something she could directly achieve.


    There was still a long road to go.


    "Hang on," Zhan Jing instructed suddenly. He utilized a large amount of Eon Energy directly into the earth as he expanded his control to the fullest. Ever since a few years ago, he had never used this much Eon Energy anymore because it was nearing his limit.


    Qin Zheng realized what Zhan Jing was about to do. "Don''t do it. You''re no longer Eon Energy Master rank 5."


    Rank 5?


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened in surprise. She looked at her master, who was smiling bitterly. From their conversation, could it be that her master went down a rank?


    Just¡­ how was that possible?


    "I''m fine. Just hang on."


    At that time, the earth shook badly. The three of them quickly sat down on the ground to lower their center of gravity. As it was also still controlled by Zhan Jing to go down at high speed, they were fine as long as they didn''t move around so much.


    A massive wall of earth appeared behind them. It was so high that Ye Jiao might mistake it for the capital city''s wall of defense. At the same time, there was a massive drop on the ground that their journey no longer became so peaceful.


    "Woah!" Ye Jiao quickly held onto Qi Huan''s arm as the earth shook once more.


    Qi Huan''s eyes flashed with a glint. "Master, we''re going to reach the bottom soon."


    "That''s good."


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Bam!


    The earth wall behind them blasted with a loud sound. The Eon Energy Master rank 4 that chased after them looked ragged, but his eyes were still blazing with fervent. He was determined to get the inheritance that Qi Huan took.


    "You!"


    As soon as he summoned his water to go down again, the earth below him sank suddenly. The moment he fell, the large wall behind him also crumbled. It directly fell into his direction!


    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa!


    All that left was only a painful scream of a man in his end.


    ...


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 232 Separate Ways

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


    The scream of that man filled the area, sending birds away from their location in surprise. Zhan Jing also stopped moving them with high speed as they were only a few steps away from the bottom. His face was pale as beads of sweat filled his forehead.


    "Master, are you alright?" Ye Jiao quickly stood up and approached her master. A hand blocked her way.


    Zhan Jing smiled. "There''s no need to worry so much. With enough rest, I''ll be alright. Let''s return back to the ship."


    "Yes, Master."


    Even though they were still worried about him, they knew that Zhan Jing wouldn''t want to listen to them. He took out an Eon Energy Pill and ate it to replenish his Eon Energy. It was the same as the other three as he gave them one each except Qin Zheng who has his own.


    "After we''ve recovered enough. We have to leave."


    "So fast?"


    Qi Huan nodded. "They''re going to find out that the inheritance for this time is no more. At that time, I''ll be placed in danger because they might aim for me, so I have to return back home as soon as possible."


    "Will your father protect you?" Ye Jiao asked worriedly. Recalling how Lu Wan was treated in his own household, she hoped that it wouldn''t be the same with Qi Huan. After all, it was not good to be treated as air by your own family member.


    "Don''t worry. He will."


    For a moment, Qi Huan''s eyes flashed with a glint. He knew what his father wanted and many others, so he would surely find a way to make sure of his own safety.


    Pat! Pat!


    "There''s no need to worry about him. He''s not termed as the most talented and genius person in Chi Kingdom for nothing," Zhan Jing smiled as he patted the girl''s head. "And that ability is not only limited to his martial art''s talent."


    Ye Jiao glanced at her master''s eyes before nodding her head. She felt unwilling because she knew how complicated things could be in a large family from what she had seen in Lu Wan''s family after staying there for some time. In addition, things in Wei Family also didn''t seem to be so peaceful with how her mother constantly clash with them.


    Those with large families have much more complicated family matters than most people.


    "Now that we have recovered, let''s go."


    "Yes, Master."


    All they could do was walking to the location of their ship. Of course, it was not a peaceful journey because a lot of beasts were going after them as soon as they appeared.


    They stopped when they were only a few steps away from the ship. Zhan Jing pointed to the front. "You two get into the ship and stay there until I return back. I''ll escort Qi Huan back to his family first."


    "Will you come to meet us again, Senior Brother Qi?" Ye Jiao asked worriedly.


    Qi Huan nodded. "I''ll go to Chen Kingdom again after everything is over. You just need to wait for me in the headquarter."


    "Alright, if you say so. Take care!"


    The two of them departed while Ye Jiao and Qin Zheng headed back to the ship. Looking at the fine condition of the ship, Qin Zheng circled it in curiosity. His eyes caught the sight of several weird shapes around the ship that was imbued with Eon Energy.


    "I see, so he used it."


    "What is that?" Ye Jiao tilted her head. She could faintly sense Eon Energy coming from the strange shape that was engraved into the ship, but she couldn''t really see anything special from it.


    "This is runes made of Eon Energy," Qin Zheng pointed to the shapes. "It''s one of the jobs that only Eon Energy Master rank 3 or above could possibly have."


    "Jobs?" Ye Jiao''s eyes glittered. All this time, she has only ever seen the people around her having normal jobs, so it never crossed her mind that there might be other special jobs for Eon Energy Master except for guards and pill makers.


    Qin Zheng straightened his body. "You''ll know about them later."


    "Hey! You keep on saying that!"


    "There''s no need for you to know about them when you''re not even Eon Energy Master rank 3."


    "I''ll break through soon enough!"


    "Say that when you have the breakthrough."


    Ye Jiao pursed her lips. There were so many things about the place outside of the Four Kingdoms that she got from both her master and Qin Zheng. But really, these two always kept a tight lip on them. Was it bad if she wanted to know?


    Seeing the nonchalant expression on the boy''s face, Ye Jiao got the urge to hit him. That way, she might be able to feel a bit better.


    The two of them didn''t have to wait for long for Zhan Jing. Soon afterwards, they departed back to the main island as the island started to sink back. A lot of people were scrambling to return back as soon as possible or they would be trapped in the island for three full years.


    No one would want that.


    After they reached the dock, Zhan Jing got down first. He looked to the two of them. ???I''m going to have some business here. You two can depart first if you want. I''ll check on your training in Chen Kingdom later, Ai Jiao."


    "Got it."


    Qin Zheng waved his hand. "Don''t miss me. You''re not going to meet with me anymore."


    "No one will miss an arrogant brat like you."


    "That''ll be too good to come true."


    Zhan Jing smiled bitterly at the boy''s remark. Fine, he would not try to speak anything anymore. Bidding his farewell, he disappeared from their sight soon enough.


    Ye Jiao stretched her body. "Now that the exploration is over. It''s time for me to return back to Chen Kingdom. Where do you want to go now, Qin Zheng?"


    "Don''t use my surname here," Qin Zheng warned once more. "I''ll be going to Chen Kingdom too, so let''s get going."


    "Wait, I have to go with you?"


    "It''s safer."


    "I can protect myself!"


    "With your small arm?"


    "You-!"


    For the return journey, it was another episode of two children fighting all the way. Both Ye Jiao and Qin Zheng were unwilling to be the one to lose as they kept on attacking the others. However, it was all only at the level of banter.

 233 Guiding Eon Energy

    "Honestly, I don''t want to have a journey with you anymore," Ye Jiao spat out when they were already near Chen Kingdom Capital City. She didn''t know how many times she had thought of strangling this man to death.


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "You''re the one who first asked me to have a journey together."


    "That''s only once!"


    "I''m just giving you bonus. Ask for one and you''ll get three."


    Hearing his words, Ye Jiao was speechless once again. Did he have to make sure that she would be unable to retort every word he said?


    "I''m stopping my journey here. Do whatever you want."


    "I want to know what''s your plan," Qin Zheng replied.


    Ye Jiao glared. "Don''t you have anything to do? You don''t have to pester me to no end like this!"


    Qin Zheng just smiled and didn''t reply. His true destination was Cao Kingdom, but Chen Kingdom was located in the middle between the two kingdoms. He chose to tag along with this little girl because it would be convenient. Besides, he was not in a hurry as he was still busy digesting the Eon Energy that he took from the island. He wouldn''t be able to travel so fast, so he chose to have the journey with her.


    "I''m going to meet with someone," Ye Jiao waved her hand and walked to the direction of her old home. She ignored the young man who followed behind her as she immersed herself in her plan.


    If she had to be honest, she didn''t really have much thought regarding her plan for the Wei Family. All she wanted was to make sure that they paid for what they had done to her before. It was just, she was not totally sure how it should be done.


    Tak! Tak! Tak!


    The sound of wood hitting wood entered her eyes as she got closer. It didn''t take long for her to see Wei Liao, who was training crazily with a wooden sword and a tree before him. He was only wearing his pants because it was hot, so Ye Jiao could see the young man''s well-toned body.


    ''I guess, he''s not the son of a general''s family for nothing,'' Ye Jiao thought to herself before stopping not far from Wei Liao.


    "Wei Liao."


    "Ah? Master?" Wei Liao quickly stopped his action and bowed down politely.


    Ye Jiao rolled her eyes at the sudden polite gesture. She was not someone who paid much heed to something like this as it was unnecessary. "How''s the progress of forming your core?"


    "It''s much faster than before," Wei Liao smiled brightly. There was no trace of despondence that plagued his mind anymore. Even though he had to start over, it was also a good chance for him to make a better foundation.


    "Your talent before is B, so it should be A now," Ye Jiao nodded her head in satisfaction. The result far surpassed her expectation.


    "It''s good."


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows when he noticed the way they talked to one another. Even though Wei Liao respected Ye Jiao a lot and called her as his master, they didn''t seem to have that kind of relationship going by how casual they talked to one another.


    "You have a strong foundation, so you can actually just force the Eon Energy into your body. After all, you have formed your core before," Qin Zheng suddenly butted in.


    Ye Jiao frowned. "What do you mean?"


    "It''s like this. He already has the strong vessel to hold Eon Energy inside his body. All that lack is just the Eon Energy inside his body. Since he only lost his core right after forming it, his body is still ready to accept a lot of Eon Energy at the same time," Qin Zheng explained. "Because of that, he can just forcefully fill in his abdomen with Eon Energy before forming his core once again."


    "That''s possible?"


    "In this case, yes."


    "You mean there are other cases?"


    Qin Zheng looked at Wei Liao for a moment before he nodded solemnly. "This method is only useful to help reaching back to the earliest stage. If you''ve already reached rank 1 and lost your core, you can''t use this method."


    "Will there be any drawback?" Ye Jiao asked.


    "Only pain and there''s possibility that in the future, this might hinder his path," Qin Zheng replied.


    "Why?"


    "Well, it''s a bit complicated, but in short, to be able to reach rank 6, this method might instead hinder his future path and made him take much more time."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes flickered. Rank 6 was incredibly high and if she was not wrong, Wei Liao''s talent in the beginning would prevent him from reaching rank 5. To put it in another words, the greatest rank Wei Liao could possibly achieve in his lifetime was only rank 4.


    But since he had lost his core, his talent increased, so he should be able to reach rank 5 if he worked hard enough.


    "The drawback didn''t affect me that much," Wei Liao said slowly. He furrowed his brows. "However, it''s not easy to pull a lot of Eon Energy at once into my abdomen."


    "I can help you with that," Qin Zheng flicked a glance to Ye Jiao. "But only if your master agrees to it."


    "Are you trying to put me into your debt, Qin Zheng?"


    "I''m repaying the cores that you allow me to take in the journey all this time," Qin Zheng smiled.


    His words only made her recalled how he took nearly every core from the beast that they defeated. She only got their meat, which was already very abundant in her storage ring. There was no telling when she would be able to finish them all considering their amount even though they were all only beast rank 3 and 2.


    Hmm, she should just put the meat from beast rank 2 to a different bracelet and gave them to Wei Liao.


    "You will not ask me to pay anything?" Ye Jiao asked suspiciously.


    Qin Zheng raised his eyebrows. "Why are you distrusting me so much?"


    "Because you can''t be trusted."


    "How rude."


    "That''s the truth," Ye Jiao stuck out her tongue. She looked over to Wei Liao. "So, do you want to form your core faster?"


    "I¡­" Wei Liao really wanted to form his core faster, but he didn''t want to put Ye Jiao in a difficult position. If by agreeing to it led to Ye Jiao be in Qin Zheng''s debt, he would rather pick to not agree at all.


    Qin Zheng took out an Eon Energy Pill rank 1. Different from what was common in this place, it looked much purer and filled with Eon Energy to the brim. "I don''t need too many items, just this and my own ability to control Eon Energy. The cores that Ye Jiao collected for me all this time are already enough."


    "¡­. I feel that you have cheated me by taking their cores, Qin Zheng."


    "I''ll repay you with another item later," Qin Zheng looked at Wei Liao. "So, what do you say about it, Brat?"


    Brat?


    Wei Liao was sure that he was several years older than Qin Zheng. But right now, he was not in the mood to retort at all. All that he wanted was to take the pill and obtain much more Eon Energy for himself.


    "I want to."


    "Good, sit down here."


    As if he was a soldier, Wei Liao directly sat down on the ground. Qin Zheng handed him the pill, which he ate directly. Moving to the young man''s back, Qin Zheng started to utilize his Eon Energy.


    His Eon Energy entered into Wei Liao''s body and directly guide the pill into the young man''s abdomen. Right after that, he started to extract the Eon Energy inside the pill into Wei Liao''s abdomen.


    Bit by bit, it filled the young man''s abdomen with pure Eon Energy.


    From the side, Ye Jiao was watching with astonished expression. She couldn''t see it directly, but her ability as Eon Energy Master rank 2 allowed her to know what had actually happened. It was so amazing that she couldn''t find any words to describe it. This was the first time she knew that it was possible to help others that way.


    Time passed.


    Qin Zheng retracted his Eon Energy and crossed his arm. "It''s finished. You just have to adjust into this state and fill a bit more Eon Energy before starting to form your core."


    As Wei Liao opened his eyes, his pupil was filled with disbelief. He might haven''t formed his core again, but he could sense the amount of Eon Energy inside his abdomen was much more compared to what he had before. It was so full that he knew that it was possible to form a core right here if only he had himself prepared mentally enough.


    "T-Thank you very much!"


    Bowing to Ye Jiao''s direction, he knew that this was only possible because of Ye Jiao. If not, there would be no way Qin Zheng would help a stranger that has no relation whatsoever to him.


    He felt really grateful to her.


    "Alright, I''ll teach you some basic moves for assassination. Don''t form your core yet and when I return back, we''ll head to Wei Family Residence," Ye Jiao instructed.


    Wei Liao''s eyes flashed when he heard the word ''Wei Family.'' He knew that Ye Jiao asked him to not form his core because it would be hard if he had to lose another one and the time taken to reach rank 1 after forming one''s core was not short. It would be saver this way.


    "YES!"

 234 Natural Essence Energy Frui

    "You''re surprisingly dedicated to teaching him. It''s not easy to teach him all of that, right?" Qin Zheng remarked as the two of them walked away from Ye Jiao''s old house, which has become Wei Liao''s place right now.


    Ye Jiao flicked a glance to Qin Zheng. "You just know me for a few days, so you wouldn''t know a lot of things."


    "Such as your revenge?"


    "¡­Did you search for me?"


    Qin Zheng smiled. "It''s not hard to know considering your name and your infamy in Chen Kingdom."


    Ye Jiao eyed the man before her with furrowed brows. "How do you even know my name in the first place? I don''t recall ever telling you my real name before."


    "There''s not many children who get the evaluation of trash in these days. Some of them might be truly trash but the others would be genius, so I pay attention to them. In Chen Kingdom alone, ''Ye Jiao'' is the only one that matches your description."


    "I see."


    "Anything else you want to ask?"


    "Noth- ah wait, how long are you planning to follow me like this? Don''t you have your own business to do?" Ye Jiao asked. For someone at Qin Zheng''s caliber to come here, it just meant that he had some business to do in the Four Kingdoms. After all, there would be no way he wanted to come here if there was nothing he wanted to do.


    Qin Zheng nodded. "Right, I should get going now. But you seem to hate my presence so much."


    "Thanks to you, my ability to detect sneak attacks increase."


    "How rude, you''re the one who launched the sneak attack at me. I would prefer if you didn''t use that dagger, though."


    Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. She stopped in a wide area and took out the meat from her storage bracelet. "I''m going to cook. Do you want some?"


    "Depends on what you''re going to do with that meat."


    "Just grilling and some seasoning."


    "Alright, I want a lot then."


    "Got it."


    It didn''t take long for Ye Jiao to grill the meat on her hand. She had gotten used to cook in the wilderness because there was nothing else to eat. The only thing she could possibly eat would be fruits, herbs, and also meat. Unfortunately, her knowledge over the edible herbs were lacking.


    What she knew would be the poisonous ones thanks to Lu Wan''s teaching. Whenever he had the chance, he would impart his knowledge over the herbs to her. Since she was not too interested in concocting poison, the one Lu Wan talked to her would be herb identification and their uses.


    "Here you go," Ye Jiao handed over half of the meat she cooked for Qin Zheng before starting to eat. The two of them ate in silence until they had finished all of them. From their small built, one wouldn''t expect them to be able to eat so much.


    Qin Zheng stood up and took out a fruit from his storage bracelet. "This is for you."


    "That''s¡­?"


    "It''s Natural Essence Energy Fruit. I can see that you already eat the one with lesser effect. This one has much a better effect."


    Ye Jiao looked at the beautiful fruit speechlessly. It was imbued in blue and green color that seemed to sparkle under the ray of light. Just from afar, one would be able to tell that it must be a very precious fruit that one wouldn''t be able to get easily.


    "Why did you turn generous all of sudden? I''m pretty sure that the Qin Zheng I know is very stingy."


    Qin Zheng''s face darkened. He had the feeling that this girl always associated him with the worst possible words she could think of. After short, now it''s stingy? What else would she term him in the future?


    "I never properly give you my thanks. Also, I can''t stand seeing how weak you are."


    "¡­"


    If it was possible, Ye Jiao wished to smack this boy so hard that he cried. His words always made her feel annoyed if not angry.


    Qin Zheng smiled when he saw that he had successfully made Ye Jiao annoyed. "Thanks to you, I get the valuable experience of controlling Eon Energy inside someone else''s body. This is for that."


    "You already help me by raising his rank. There''s no need to give me anything more than that."


    "I only helped him, but you personally hadn''t gotten anything," Qin Zheng could see that Ye Jiao was still hesitant. "I''m not going to put you into debt or anything. But if you''re still in doubt, I''ll just pick another item."


    "Other items?" Ye Jiao had seen that this man had a lot of precious items that she herself didn''t know the use for.


    Qin Zheng nodded his head. "Yeah, I have some precious pill that can allow you to have a much better body to train martial arts, then I have a secret manual¡­"


    As Qin Zheng listed out some things, Ye Jiao felt her world has been overturned. Every single item that he had would be enough to make anyone feel jealous and greedy. No one would pass the chance of obtaining those items.


    "If you have a secret manual, why are you searching for the one in Bao Fu Organization?"


    "It''s a completely different secret manual. The one I have is to increase one''s strength," Qin Zheng explained.


    Now Ye Jiao got the picture of how this young man could be so strong despite only being in rank 3. His ability to defeat Eon Energy Master rank 4 would be attributed to the fact that he had monstrous strength.


    Qin Zheng noticed the look in Ye Jiao''s eyes. "Don''t look at me as if I''m a monster. It''s not like I already train it to full mastery. It''s not that easy to become strong physically, you know?"


    "I see."


    "So, is there anything that you want?"


    Ye Jiao knew that he would not stop until she picked something. "Why do you wish for me to take something from you?"


    "I don''t want to be in your debt."


    "What if I want you to be in my debt forever?"


    "I''ll find a way to repay it without putting myself in disadvantage," Qin Zheng shrugged. "Don''t you think it''s going to be easy for me to do that?"


    Even though Ye Jiao didn''t want to admit it, she knew that it was the truth. For this young man to make her in his debt, it would be easy. First of all, he was still stronger than her. Secondly, he came from a large or powerful family that would make it easy if he wanted to reach other things. Thirdly, he was so mysterious that she barely knew anything about him except for the fact that he didn''t come from the Four Kingdoms.


    "Fine, I''ll take the fruit."


    "Here," Qin Zheng placed the fruit on Ye Jiao''s hand.


    "Thank you."


    "I''ll be going now. Take care of yourself."


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Let''s not meet again."


    "Are you already tired of me?


    "Don''t speak as if you have been trying to get on my good side," Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. "Besides, with your status, we might not even meet again."


    "You''re sharp," Qin Zheng brushed the dust on his clothes. He gazed to the distance. "Normally, it would be impossible to meet with each other anymore. But who knows what will happen in the future?"


    "Just don''t intentionally seek for me."


    "I can say the same to you."


    "Alright, good bye."


    Ye Jiao turned around and dashed into the forest after bidding her farewell. She wanted to head into Bao Fu Organization to absorb the fruit''s properties quickly.


    As she left, Qin Zheng also departed to Cao Kingdom.


    The two of them didn''t know at this time that they would surely meet again in the future. At that time, it would no longer be a short meeting like this, but rather a long one as they have a completely different status.


    ...


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 235 Competition in Bao Fu Organization?

    With the skill that Ye Jiao learnt from Qin Zheng, she managed to reach Bao Fu Organization in lesser time compared from before. She directly booked a training room and made sure that no one would bother her as she started her training.


    Sitting in the middle of the room, Ye Jiao took out the Natural Essence Energy Fruit that Qin Zheng gave to her. This fruit would only show its remarkable properties if the one who ate it was still in Eon Energy rank 1 or 2. It might be the reason why Qin Zheng chose to give it to her.


    He didn''t have much use of it anymore.


    ''I guess, I''ll just use it now.''


    Eating the fruit, Ye Jiao could feel a vast amount of Eon Energy entering her body. It was so clear and refreshing that words alone couldn''t describe it fully. The feeling was much better compared to when she ate the Natural Essence Fruit. They couldn''t be compared at all.


    Focusing her attention to her body, Ye Jiao directed the clear Eon Energy to every part of her body. She made sure that she fully circulated it inside her body and it reached every part possible. This would be the best way to clear out the impurities that was hidden inside her body.


    Time passed swiftly.


    By the time Ye Jiao finished using all the Natural Eon Energy provided by the fruit, she opened her eyes. Almost immediately, her nose was assaulted by the foul stench that came from the filth all around her body.


    ''... I forgot about this.''


    Ye Jiao quickly stood up and ran to the bathroom before washing herself. When she ate Natural Essence Fruit before, there was not much filth that came out. Now, it looked like there were so much more inside her body.


    Splash! Splash!


    It took her a considerable amount of time to wash them off. Looking at her appearance in the mirror, Ye Jiao was stunned. Her countenance didn''t change that much, but there was a clear and refreshing feeling when one looked at her face. Her skin has also turned much fairer and tender.


    Touching her cheek, Ye Jiao rubbed it slightly. It was so soft that she nearly couldn''t believe to be herself.


    She never knew that one fruit could change things so much.


    "Now, let''s go and meet Senior Brother Lu. He should be somewhere around here if he''s not going for a mission."


    Ye Jiao got out of the training room and searched for Lu Wan. It was extremely easy to find him because he was busy doing research on a new type of herb again. He had booked a room and didn''t get out for more than a week. Apparently, he had managed to obtain a lot of points to buy them.


    "Senior Brother Lu, you look like a zombie," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly.


    Lu Wan glanced up and sighed. He barely slept for the last few days, giving him a dark circle underneath his eyes. In addition, he only ate as much as needed before focusing on his research again.


    "I guess I''m too engrossed in my work."


    "You should eat and properly take care of yourself. Let''s get out and listen to the news outside."


    "I want to sleep."


    "Eat first."


    With Ye Jiao''s nagging, Lu Wan finally got out of the room and headed to the restaurant. They ordered some soup and easy to digest food such as porridge before starting to eat.


    "It''s a bit tasteless," Lu Wan furrowed his brows. He preferred food that could give him a richer taste such as meat.


    Ye Jiao crossed her arm. "If you directly eat meat, you''re going to get a stomachache. Don''t neglect your health!"


    "You speak like my mom."


    "I''m your junior sister!"


    Albeit unwilling, Lu Wan scooped the porridge and continued eating them. He felt really hungry that he no longer cared for the taste after a while. The two of them quickly finished their food with Ye Jiao eating most of them.


    Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao with a frown. "Your appetite increased again. It looks like you''re going to need a lot of meat to eat every single day if this continues."


    "Really? I didn''t really count it."


    "Yeah."


    The two of them hadn''t spoken any other words when the door to the restaurant was opened and a group of men walked in. They all had large builds and also looked quite menacing with their weapons displayed on their back.


    The manager frowned when he saw them. "Sir, please put away your weapons."


    "We''re just here to eat. Don''t nag too much."


    "Yeah, after this we''re going to register for the competition. Just shut up and prepare food for us to eat."


    Before they could finish talking, the atmosphere changed considerably. It felt as if the temperature dropped for several degrees as the manager looked at the group of men in front of him. A mirthless smile was on his face.


    "Sir, please kindly put away your weapon."


    "You-!"


    Bang!


    Before the man could retort again, Eon Energy blasted him away from his place and pushed him to the back. It was so powerful that it directly sent the man several meters out of the restaurant.


    "Get him!"


    The others also tried to attack the manager, yet they were treated the same. With perfect Eon Energy control, the manager kicked them out of the restaurant. Other customers stayed silent without paying any heed to them.


    "They''re all Eon Energy Master rank 3, but it seems that there''s disparity between them," Ye Jiao tilted her head in wonder. The difference in strength was simply too much that those groups of men were unable to do anything in front of the manager.


    Lu Wan nodded. "When you reach Eon Energy Master rank 3, there''ll be division based on the amount of Eon Energy you have in your core. It''ll form a layer inside and become much denser by the time you reach the peak of Eon Energy Master rank 3. Normally, it''s divided into early stage, middle stage, and also late stage. After the late stage, it''s the peak. This stage is the highest in Eon Energy Master rank 3 and also the door before you enter Eon Energy Master rank 4."


    "There''s no such division in the two ranks before, though?"


    "None," Lu Wan yawned. "As long as you meet the requirement, you can reach Eon Energy Master 2. Afterwards, all you need is a considerable amount of Eon Energy and good control of them outside your body to reach Eon Energy Master rank3."


    Ye Jiao nodded. From the way the system worked, she knew that it started slow because it would be the foundation. They would need to spend a considerable amount of time just to reach the next stage no matter how simple it looked like.


    "Also, do you know anything about that competition?"


    "This is the first time I heard about it. I''ll search for it later after I had enough rest," Lu Wan stood up. He felt really tired because of his own action. It took him everything he had just to walk out of the place.


    Outside the restaurant, they could see the group of men were preparing for another attack. Seeing Lu Wan got out, they immediately attacked him.


    "Senior Brother Yu!" Ye Jiao yelled.


    Lu Wan side stepped and evaded the attack. In his hand a small bottle appeared and he directly splashed the content to the man before him. Almost immediately, his clothes, skin, and flesh melt directly. Nothing remained as it seemed to evaporate into the air, giving him a large hole in his stomach.

 236 It is Time 1

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhh


    Painful screams filled the area. Ye Jiao''s lips twitched when she saw the result of her senior brother''s new research. If she was not wrong, he should have bought a few kilograms of those herbs. If he used half of them for research and the rest was made into this medicine¡­.


    Yep, she would be better off if she didn''t antagonist him for the time being. Just a drop of poison might spell the death of her.


    It seemed that Lu Wan had managed to find some lead. Thinking of the books in the library, Ye Jiao was sure that Lu Wan had already spent a long time just in order to study them. When it came to poison, he would spend every effort he could possibly muster to make sure that he would be able to learn them all as fast as possible.


    "Do not attack people randomly. I might be at a lower rank, but it doesn''t mean I don''t know any method to fight back," Lu Wan said coldly.


    The other men gave way for him. Their eyes were filled with fear because they knew that the one in front of them was not a normal assassin. Rather, he was someone who knew how to make a living in this world fully.


    After Lu Wan walked out safely, Ye Jiao also got out of the restaurant. This time, the group of men directly showed their hostility. One of them directly drew his weapon and swung it to Ye Jiao''s direction.


    Swish! Slash!


    Utilizing her Eon Energy to the movements skill that she had, Ye Jiao directly appeared behind the man. Her dagger moved at high speed and directly cut through the man''s flesh and bones. The resistance he had from the Eon Energy layer around his body turned to be futile in front of Ye Jiao''s attack.


    "You should pick a different opponent," Ye Jiao said coldly as the men looked at her in fear.


    Her appearance was no different from an ordinary young girl, but the moment she moved, no one could follow their movements. They could only hope that they were not her target because it would surely spell their death.


    At the same time, their eyes were filled with disbelief. How come a young girl at such a tender age has such power?


    They wanted to cry.


    The two children who looked no different than ordinary children that could be found on the street were actually very ruthless. They were truly wolf in sheep clothing, ah!


    Ye Jiao walked away from the place without the intention to bother with those people anymore. Even though she was annoyed at their action, she didn''t know them. If she attacked them and their friends bore a grudge, it would be bad for her. For now, she could justify her action as a form of self-defense.


    As for enacting a killing blow?


    People like them who only knew how to vent their anger on other people deserved it. If she didn''t do it, the one who died would be her.


    "What do you plan to do now?" Lu Wan asked as he followed behind Ye Jiao. He was yawning hard because he felt really tired after his continuous study and research. The library was very useful for him.


    "I don''t know."


    "Don''t get into trouble."


    "Don''t worry. I''m not you, Senior Brother Yu."


    Lu Wan: "¡­" are you saying that if it''s me, I''ll get into trouble in just a matter of seconds?


    Looking at the face that Lu Wan made, Ye Jiao merely shrugged. When she was staying with Lu Wan, she had encountered several instances where they were dragged into problem. His way of doing things was simply too barbaric.


    "Go and have some rest. You look half dead."


    "Yeah, yeah, that''s my plan."


    Lu Wan waved his hand and yawned again as he staggered on his way back. Looking at his figure, Ye Jiao''s lips twitched a bit. In the next second, she had seen Lu Wan was trying to straighten his body near a wall. Several people tried to harass him, but in the next second all she could hear was painful scream from several meters away.


    ''Well, he''ll be fine.''


    Those who dared to get close to him and took advantage of him would surely die within a few seconds with his poison. Even though Lu Wan was dead tired, he still knew how to use his poison.


    And this time, he wouldn''t hesitate to keep using them because he was not in the condition to fight with his chain and blade.


    Ye Jiao no longer paid any intention to Lu Wan and directly headed to the hall for assassins. There were a lot of people inside, they were also waiting to accept the mission and all. Right now, it was bustling with people who were busy here and there.


    "Is there any new mission?" Ye Jiao casually asked the receptionist.


    The man nodded. "There''s a new mission from someone in the Chen Kingdom. He''s going to pay a lot for anyone who can kill Wei Mi."


    Wei Mi?


    Blinking her eyes in disbelief, Ye Jiao looked at the receptionist. She tilted her head. "Isn''t Wei Mi only a young girl at the age of 11?"


    "Yes. She has just formed her core a few days ago and it seems that someone who sees her as a threat posted a mission," the receptionist shrugged. He understood why it came to this, though. Those who could form their core at the mere age of 11 were not ordinary people. They were all very talented.


    However, the reward was not that big because she was merely a budding seedling. The time needed for her to grow up was still a lot, so only some people tried to put the mission.


    However, the reward didn''t seem to be that proportional considering the number of guards Wei Family had.


    The receptionist noticed that Ye Jiao fell silent. He tried to ask, "Are you interested in taking the mission?"

 237 It is Time 2

    Is she interested?


    She''s interested, but Ye Jiao didn''t think that she would accept the mission. Slowly, Ye Jiao shook her head.


    Her brain was currently processing the information that she had just received. It surprised her that Wei Mi managed to form her core at the age of 11. But if she thought about it again, that girl was known to have great talent in the Chen Kingdom. In just a few more years, she would surely become a threat for other emerging geniuses.


    Only if she survived.


    "That''s too bad. So, are you planning on taking a mission now?"


    "Not now, I want to consolidate my strength first. Thanks for the information," Ye Jiao gave a silver coin to the receptionist before walking out of the hall. Her eyes were filled with complicated expressions.


    As soon as she got out, Ye Jiao looked at the sky. She still remembered how Wei Mi always bullied her in the past. It was so painful because she never had a way to counter that girl. Not to mention the hidden guards around, even she herself didn''t have enough strength to fight back as they were a group.


    Now, the time has come.


    She wouldn''t let her off for what she had done. It might be petty of her, but she couldn''t just forgive that girl for doing what she did before.


    However, she wouldn''t do it through the mission. She had a completely different way to deal with this matter. Rather than death, there was a much greater pain that people could experience.


    ''Time to depart.''


    As Ye Jiao traveled back to Chen Kingdom Capital City, her mind was filled with the plans of what she would do. It was only a few days ago that she taught Wei Liao how to assassinate. Hopefully, he would be more than ready to do what she would task him to do.


    Swish!


    "Master?" Wei Liao was surprised to see Ye Jiao appear before him. Even with his training, he was unable to see Ye Jiao until she was only a few meters away from him and revealed herself.


    Ye Jiao looked at Wei Liao. "How''s your training so far?"


    "It''s good. I can sneak around a bit, but I can''t go undetected if I have to face powerful Eon Energy Master," Wei Liao replied.


    "It''s good enough."


    "Master?"


    Noticing Wei Liao''s confused tone, Ye Jiao added her words. "We''re going to move now. Are you ready?"


    "Now?" Wei Liao was surprised. He had prepared himself to make sure Wei Mi paid for what she did to him, but he never thought that it would come this early. Sure, he had trained his body but without forming his core, he wouldn''t be able to use Eon Energy properly.


    "I don''t need you to fight against the guards and others. I just want you to do what Wei Mi did to you back to her," Ye Jiao replied calmly, yet there was a hint of ruthlessness inside her tone. It was coated in killing intent as if she was impatient to make a move.


    Wei Liao took a deep breath at the task that Ye Jiao gave him. He was thinking of killing that girl in the past, but now that he heard what Ye Jiao said, there should be a completely different plan.


    "Master, has Wei Mi formed her core?"


    "She formed her core a few days ago based on the information I received," Ye Jiao replied. She trusted the information in Bao Fu Organization because they always filter everything to make sure that the mission would be correct. After all, it would affect their reputation badly if they didn''t do so.


    "Can I be the one to¡­?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao replied directly without the need to hear the rest of the sentence. She knew what he wanted to say and the answer would be yes. She took him in because of this precise reason.


    Wei Liao nodded gratefully. "Master, do you have any other reason as to why you decide to help me?"


    Why did she help him?


    She didn''t have any reason to help Wei Liao considering what he had done in the past to her. However, when she saw his expression full of remorse and the slight concealed killing intent, she knew that he was the same with her. He would be biding his time patiently to achieve his goal and didn''t do anything reckless when there was nothing he could do.


    He had experienced both glory and pain, so Ye Jiao decided that she should help him out.


    Even if she could do it by herself easily, she wanted to let him be the one to do the mission because she knew that Wei Mi didn''t only mistreat one person. There were a lot of them and each of them would want revenge. Since she couldn''t show her face, it would be better for her to recognize Wei Liao instead.


    At the same time, she could use this chance to target a completely different person.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes flashed with ruthlessness. "That''s because I need you."


    The way Ye Jiao said it was unclear, but Wei Liao knew that she truly meant it. Well, he didn''t really need to understand too. Her world has been something that he didn''t know well.


    "I understand. Whatever you ask me, I''ll do it, Master."


    If she asked him to go to the west, he would never head to the east. If she asked him to kill his own father, he would gladly do so. Even if she asked him to give his life after this, he would not refuse.


    "I don''t ask you to go there to die," Ye Jiao found that Wei Liao''s look seemed strange. "I''ll be taking care of the guards. All you have to do is make sure that you put that girl into despair."


    There was no need for Ye Jiao to give the order so explicitly because Wei Liao already understood what Ye Jiao wanted to say. He beamed. "Yes, Master!"

 238 Revenge Against Wei Family

    By disguising themselves as travelers, the two of them entered the city. Wei Liao had a large build, so it was easy for him to act as Ye Jiao''s older brother. It was the best way to make sure that the guards didn''t seem suspicious because Wei Liao would find it hard to act as a child anymore.


    "Master, you''re surprisingly good at acting," Wei Liao remarked when they reached the training grounds.


    Ye Jiao flicked a glance. "I''m an assassin, so I also learn how to blend into the crowd."


    "¡­" did it have anything to do with her being an assassin?


    Not minding the confused young man, Ye Jiao made her way to the training ground with Wei Liao following behind her. It was still spring, so a lot of guards were busy training on the field. Using her Eon Energy, Ye Jiao disguised her presence and made her way to the location of the special squad.


    From a distance, Ye Jiao could see Mu Hong busy training the soldier. Seeing him again made Ye Jiao recall a lot of memories from her past.


    This was the place where she first met with that general and met with her first friends. He might be someone from the military, but the kindness that the general showed was much more than what she expected.


    Turning her eyes to the wall, Ye Jiao utilized her Eon Energy and pushed Wei Liao up into the other side.


    Bruk!


    Soon afterwards, Ye Jiao followed and entered the forest. She looked at Wei Liao, who was busy rubbing his back.


    "Master, can''t you tell me beforehand when you want to do something like that?"


    Ye Jiao pointed to the direction of the houses. "They should be there. You should go now."


    "Mas-?"


    Before Wei Liao could finish his words, a guard appeared before them. Ye Jiao swiftly moved to the side and used her dagger to slit the man''s stomach, pulling out his intestines out of his body. Blood splattered on the ground where the man fell and Ye Jiao moved to the other side and stabbed a guard that was about to attack her.


    Everything happened in mere seconds to the point that Wei Liao was unable to believe his eyes. He had seen Ye Jiao''s rank because she used her Eon Energy before, but this would be the first time he saw her use it for real. The way she moved was so swift without any waste movements.


    The guards directly fell on the ground because of her.


    "Move now, Wei Liao."


    "Ah! Yes, Master!"


    Wei Liao quickly moved on the forest trail into the residential area. This was an abandoned place because it used to be the place where Ye Jiao''s mother stayed. Wei Sheng didn''t care for this place and let it be abandoned without anyone to tend it anymore.


    As he was already familiar with the layout, it didn''t take long for Wei Liao to reach Wei Mi''s quarter. He easily evaded the servants as he could remember their schedule and location. Because he wanted to gain favor from Wei Mi, he used to memorize them all.


    Now that he thought about it, his action from before was truly laughable. His own sister never treated him as a family member and only used him for her own advantage.


    "AHHHHHH!"


    The scream of a woman stopped Wei Liao from his track. He quickly headed to the right side of Wei Mi''s quarter when he saw that girl was standing with her arm crossed. In front of her were several servants. One of them was bowing on the ground with tears stained her face, begging Wei Mi for mercy.


    "Miss, this servant was wrong, please forgive me!"


    "Again," Wei Mi instructed the servant coldly. She was getting bored because her father forbade her from getting out of her quarter. Except from training, the only thing she could do would be interacting with her servants.


    Of course, she would only use this chance to torture them.


    Behind the tree, Wei Liao was practically holding in with everything he had. Now that he saw it from another perspective he realized how foolish it was for him to act the way he did before. He had caused the lives of numerous people to be filled with misery just because he followed after Wei Mi''s instruction.


    That girl never changed.


    She always thought of herself as someone above these people and that it would be alright for her to do everything she wanted. No one would be able to stop her to do anything she wished to do.


    Why?


    Well, she is the genius of the Wei Family. No one could be compared to her.


    "Tsk, this is so boring," Wei Mi''s words brought Wei Liao back to his senses. He saw Wei Mi waving her hand to dismiss the group of people before her. It was clear that she no longer has any interest in torturing that particular servant anymore.


    "Miss, the dinner will be ready in an hour. Do you want to wash yourself first?"


    "No, I want to take a stroll," Wei Mi replied. She turned her body around to the other side of the residence.


    Wei Liao was about to follow when he sensed something near her.


    Thud!


    A body fell near him. Seeing the blood stained man, he tried his best to hold on his urge to vomit. The way Ye Jiao killed them was extremely precise as she hit their vital spot and caused them to die so quickly.


    Tep!


    Ye Jiao stood before Wei Liao. Her face was expressionless. "Are you planning on staying there for the rest of the day?"


    "Ah, no, but."


    "I''ll take care of the guards and servants, so you just go."


    "Ok."


    Wei Liao slipped while using the tree to cover his body. Ye Jiao looked at the servants around her as her eyes glinted with ruthlessness. She still remembered the way they also followed along with Wei Mi''s order and directly made things difficult for her. Even though they mostly jeered at her covertly, she couldn''t forget it so easily.


    She would not spare them.


    Slash! Swish! Slash!


    Many of them didn''t even know what had happened when they suddenly felt pain and died. Ye Jiao moved so swiftly and took care of the surrounding servant, leaving none of them alive.


    Soon enough, the smell of blood plagued the entire quarter.


    Wei Mi was walking without thinking much. She was just getting bored of her new situation that her father forced her to do. Even though she understood that it was for her own good, she still didn''t like it.


    "Bring me some water," Wei Mi ordered.


    "Yes, Miss."


    As the servant beside her left, Wei Mi stretched her body and walked to the nearby garden. Her brow creased when she started to smell the metallic tang of blood around her.


    Did the servant kill a beast nearby for dinner?


    In the next moment, she sensed danger and quickly jumped back.


    Swish! Slash!

 239 Battle Against Wei Cheng

    Slash!


    Wei Mi jumped back right at the right time to avoid the attack, yet it still wounded her stomach area. Her eyes widened as pain assaulted her. The wound was deep enough to make blood come out from the wounded area.


    "Who-?"


    Before she could ask anything else, a blade appeared before her. In that very moment, Wei Mi summoned her sword out and blocked the attack.


    Clang!


    The tip of the blade was only a few millimeters away from her eyes. Despite feeling fear, this was not the first time Wei Mi had to fight using real blades. Her father forced her and her brother to train a lot ever since they were young because they were seen as ''his successors''.


    As Wei Mi pushed him back, she could finally gain a clear picture of the man who attacked her. Seeing the one in front of her was none other than her own trash brother, her blood boiled with rage. In the next second, she screamed the name of that assassin with hatred.


    "WEI LIAO!"


    Wei Liao twisted his sword and charged forward once more. He swung it as hard as possible while Wei Mie blocked it.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    As the two of them had received military training, their skills were similar. With Wei Liao no longer feeling that he was someone underneath Wei Mi, he no longer held back in his attack and tried to wound the girl fatally. This caused them to be on a deadlock as their strength was similar.


    "Where are the guards?" Wei Mi yelled angrily.


    Wei Liao looked at the young girl with a solemn expression. "You''re truly a pampered one, aren''t you? Couldn''t you see that they all have died."


    "IMPOSIBLE! You shouldn''t have¡­"


    Clang!


    "I might not be able to do so," Wei Liao''s tone was calm but his eyes were filled with hatred. "But do you really think that I''m the only one who has grudge against you?"


    We Mi''s eyes widened as she raised her sword to block the next attack. Seeing the young man before her was filled with vigor once again, her heart was filled with anger. She couldn''t accept this. She hated him so much! How could he return back to trample on her after all that?


    He was nothing but a trash, so he should stay under her forever!


    He could never be compared with a genius like her!


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    As the battle continued, more guards came because of the commotion. The smell of blood turned thicker as they could smell it from afar. Many people didn''t even dare to come because they were afraid of what they might see in this place. Even though they were paid for this, they knew for sure that they would only die if they headed there.


    Ye Jiao watched the guards coming calmly. She didn''t have the strength to deal with all of them if they put on a fight, so she always dealt with them at the shortest time possible. By dealing the killing blow directly after they appeared, she saved a lot of time and energy.


    Slash!


    "Young Master!"


    The yell from the guards made Ye Jiao turn her head around. She could see Wei Cheng ran to her direction with his sword ready. Twisting her body, she evaded his attack and swung her dagger to his back.


    Clang!


    Wei Cheng blocked it right in time with his sword. His eyes glinted with ruthlessness. He pushed Ye Jiao to the back and twisted his sword to make an arc. It directly headed straight to the young girl.


    Swish!


    Jumping to the back, Ye Jiao evaded the attack. She sensed another attack directed at her from the back, so switched her position and stabbed the person behind her with her dagger. The guard''s eyes widened as he slowly fell down to the ground.


    "You-!"


    Wei Cheng seized this chance and charged to Ye Jiao. Using her movements technique, Ye Jiao swiftly evaded the attack and headed to the back of the young man. Her dagger made a curve movement as it headed straight to the man.


    Clang!


    ''He''s quick.''


    This would be the first time Ye Jiao clashed with Wei Cheng directly, but she realized that this young man was not bad at all. Since he managed to keep up with her, it would be the time for her to speed up her movements.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Slash!


    In the barrage of attack, the dagger managed to wound Wei Cheng''s arm. The young man''s expression was grim as he realized that he was unable to keep up with Ye Jiao. The consumption of his Eon Energy was also insane.


    He wouldn''t be able to keep up without his Eon Energy.


    More guards appeared from behind. Ye Jiao frowned. She quickly switched her direction and attacked those guards. Most of them were still Eon Energy Master rank 2, so they were not her match.


    "Come over here, you damn assassin!"


    Stab!


    Ye Jiao stabbed the guard that headed her way as her eyes flashed with coldness. She pulled her dagger back and pulled the man''s arm to put his body between her and Wei Cheng.


    Slash!


    Wei Cheng''s eyes widened. This was not the first time he fought in a group, but this would be the first time he felt this frustrated. The assassin in front of him could perfectly control the group and even though she had to fight against numerous people, her breathing didn''t even change.


    How hateful.


    Ye Jiao ignored the angry Wei Cheng as she headed to the next guard. Her dagger made a perfect curve as it headed straight to their vital points. Bodies fell to the ground just like leaves, no strength left as it let gravity do its work.


    "I''m your opponent!" Wei Cheng yelled.


    Slash!


    In the next moment, Ye Jiao switched to the young man. Her dagger moved swiftly and made a large arc on the boy''s waist. Just a bit more and it would be deep enough to hit his organs.


    Wei Cheng could feel the chill on his back as he swung his sword to Ye Jiao. However, before it could make contact, he felt pain on his wrist and hurriedly pulled back.


    A red line had appeared on his wrist. It nearly cut to his bone as blood started to flow out.


    "You''re not my match," Ye Jiao suddenly spoke out. Without the guards around, she would be able to focus her entire attention to this man. He was powerful because he was trained so strictly, but she has much more experience and better control of her own Eon Energy.


    For a moment, Wei Cheng felt that the girl''s voice was familiar, but this was not the right time for him to reminiscence. He brought his hand to his mouth and bit his forefinger until blood stained his lips.


    Bang!


    Waves of Eon Energy came from the young man and Ye Jiao put her arm in a blocking position. Her eyes were looking straight at the young man, who now has faint red lines of blood all around his face and hand. There might be on his body too, but she was unable to see it because of his clothes.


    Bloody red mark¡­


    This was the first time Ye Jiao saw it, but she had heard of it a few times in the past. It was the mark of the secret art of Barbarian Kingdom: Blood Berserk Enhancement!

 240 The Main Characters Are All Here

    As soon as Ye Jiao saw that, she dashed to Wei Cheng''s direction as fast as she could. Her dagger was aimed to the man''s stomach, hoping that it would reach him before he could finish his preparation.


    Peng!


    The sound of the metal hitting his flesh resulted in a loud sound. Ye Jiao''s heart sank when she saw the dagger only reached a few centimeters deep into his flesh.


    This¡­.


    Wei Cheng swung his sword to Ye Jiao, which she evaded quickly.


    Slash!


    The edge of the blade hit her arm, creating a long line of wound. Blood seeped out of the line while Ye Jiao''s expression was solemn. The man''s strength has increased by several folds that it would be impossible for her to defeat him in normal condition anymore.


    One wrong move and her head would be the price.


    Wei Cheng''s face was full of smiles. From the last clash, he could sense that Ye Jiao was only at around the same rank with him. With this secret technique that he got from helping out the Barbarian Kingdom, he would be able to defeat this assassin.


    "Come over here, you damned assassin!"


    Ye Jiao''s eyes were cold. Her hand gripped her dagger tighter as she calmed herself down. This would not be the first time she faced someone stronger than her. Even though they might not have this much absolute advantage in strength, she would surely find a way to defeat him.


    Yes, he has become much more powerful, but if he couldn''t touch her, it would be for naught.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    With that in mind, Ye Jiao focused her Eon Energy to her legs and propelled herself to move even faster. Her mind was set. She was determined to make sure that he wouldn''t be able to catch up with her.


    Slash! Clang! Swish!


    Her dagger continuously hit the man''s flesh. They were not deep, but soon numerous wounds were formed all around Wei Cheng''s body. From the way Wei Cheng moved, Ye Jiao could see that he was not used with wielding this much power.


    This gave her an advantage.


    Her mind recalled her mother''s battle with Su Lian back in the past. At that time, her mother also used speed to match up against that woman. Using her agility to the fullest, Su Lian was unable to touch her mother even once.


    The ape like power that Su Lian had was for naught as she couldn''t'' even reach her mother.


    This time, it was the same.


    Wei Cheng was unable to touch her. As his sword continuously swung in several directions and made deep engraves on the ground, not a single one of them hit her. They all hit the ground or other objects around them.


    Slash! Clang!


    "Stop running away!" Wei Cheng roared angrily.


    Slash!


    Ye Jiao twisted her body and attacked the young man''s back. Her gaze was cold as she immediately moved away because Wei Cheng directed his sword to her direction.


    Swish! Slash!


    The blade bypassed her and hit the ground instead. The power that Wei Cheng used caused deep cracks to appear on the ground, creating another long line because of his sword.


    "You-!" Wei Cheng''s breathing has turned rough. As he was using his power to the fullest to match Ye Jiao''s speed with his newfound power, his Eon Energy consumption was large.


    Granted, Blood Berserk Enhancement didn''t use Eon Energy too much, but his movements still required it. After all, he didn''t have the same body as those barbarians who trained their muscles to the fullest because of their lack of talent.


    "You won''t last for long."


    Slash!


    As Ye Jiao''s dagger hit the young man''s shoulder, her eyes lit up. She could feel that her blade had reached even deeper into the young man''s body. The effect of the Blood Berserk Enhancement should be dismissed by now.


    Her lips curled up into a smile as she moved even faster to attack Wei Cheng. She had heard that this secret technique would allow the user to become 300% stronger than usual, but it would only last for a short moment. After the effect was nullified, they would instead feel weakened.


    This would be the biggest weakness of this technique.


    Last for a short moment and there was a side effect afterwards.


    Sensing her coming, Wei Cheng quickly raised his blade and stopped the trajectory of Ye Jiao''s attack.


    Clang!


    The two metals clashed with one another. This time, Wei Cheng could sense that his power has started to decrease. His heart sank. If he still couldn''t defeat this assassin within the short amount of time that the Blood Berserk Enhancement gave him, it would mean that he would die.


    No!


    This couldn''t be happening.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Slash!


    Ye Jiao''s dagger once again hit him. This time, it was his arm. As blood stained his arm, Wei Cheng pushed Ye Jiao back using the last bit of strength he had with him. Blood continued to flow, reaching his hand and sword.


    The two of them stopped moving for one moment. Wei Cheng has lost too much blood that he would die if he didn''t treat himself soon. On the other hand, Ye Jiao also has started to feel the fatigue after fighting with a lot of people.


    All of a sudden, Ye Jiao sensed danger and leaped out of her location.


    Bam!


    A large piece of rock fell on the location where she stood just now. Looking at the side, she could see Su Lian storming in with rage on her eyes.


    "Damn assassin! I''m your opponent now!"


    The moment Su Lian appeared, Wei Cheng retreated to the back as fast as possible. Su Lian looked surprised to see his son''s appearance with red lines of blood around his face, but she didn''t care for it right now. She had to take care of this assassin as fast as possible before she lost her son.


    She might not be as powerful as before, but she was still Eon Energy Master rank 3. With her advantage in strength, she quickly stormed to Ye Jiao''s direction with her fist ready to smash her.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes flashed with coldness. If only Su Lian appeared a bit later, she would have finished Wei Cheng. Now, she was already fatigued because of the continuous battle and Su Lian has much more strength compared with Wei Cheng in his berserk state.


    Bam!


    Swish!


    Kicking on the ground, Ye Jiao evaded the attack. Seeing the crate on the ground, her expression turned grim.


    This would not be easy.


    ...


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 241 Crushing One’s Hope 1

    Bam!


    Su Lian used her fist and tried to attack Ye Jiao once more. Her eyes were filled with anger as she tried to hit Ye Jiao with all of her power. Dust and dirt scattered all over the place. It was to the point that everything seemed to turn into nothing but Su Lian''s hitting practice as the area became messy.


    On the back, Wei Cheng was recovering his power as the blood line disappeared from his face. The time limit for Blood Berserk Enhancement has ended. He felt extremely weak that it was hard to even move his finger.


    This powerless feeling made him extremely annoyed.


    However, Wei Cheng knew that this was the repercussion of using Blood Berserk Enhancement Technique. The barbarian who approached him back then had told him that he had to be careful when using this technique because if he hadn''t finished the fight by the time the time limit was up, he might die.


    Thankfully, his mother appeared at the right time.


    However, Wei Cheng was wondering whether his mother saw the strange state he was in just now or not.


    ''She''s usually quite stupid, so she shouldn''t have realized that it''s Blood Berserk Enhancement Technique.''


    Wei Cheng pushed the thought to the back as he tried to get away from the battlefield area. He didn''t want to get hit as the side effect because of his mother''s brainless attacks.


    Swish! Slash!


    Using the same method as before, Ye Jiao focused her entire attention to wound Su Lian little by little. Her dagger could only reach part of her flesh, which only made it enough to give superficial wounds. However, she didn''t have any other choice.


    Twisting her legs, Ye Jiao jumped to the back and evaded another barrage fist from Su Lian. It was only now she realized why her mother always called this woman an ape.


    Her way of attack was truly bad that it looked like there was no strategy used, similar to that of an ape that kept on hitting without paying much attention whether it hit or not. Hit front and destroy anything in sight.


    Bam! Bam!


    There was not even any rhythm as Su Lian continued her barrage of attack. Her muscle was bulging on her hand as she slammed it down to the places where Ye Jiao stayed as much as possible.


    Of course, her speed was incomparable with Ye Jiao''s speed.


    ''Truly an ape woman.''


    Bam!


    Ye Jiao even staring to wonder where Su Lian used her brain in her attack. Even though Su Lian''s hand held great power, it was not used properly as she merely swung her hand here and there to destroy everything on her sight.


    Sensing that Su Lian had changed her direction suddenly, Ye Jiao also stopped in her tracks. Her dagger was swung in front of her as she twisted her body to the side to evade the attack.


    Slash!


    The dagger created a long wound on Su Lian''s arm. Looking at the wound, Su Lian''s eyes turned red in anger. Even though it was not that deep, she still could feel the pain from the attack. Most importantly, she was annoyed that someone still managed to wound her even though she had been moving this fast.


    If Ye Jiao knew what Su Lian was thinking, she would be speechless. Su Lian had been trying to increase her speed because of her big body all this time. However, her attempt was futile because many times, she failed to increase her speed.


    It was only recently that she felt she had gained a huge improvement.


    But in front of Ye Jiao, Su Lian was still extremely slow. She had faced with many other opponents who were much faster and more powerful compared with Su Lian. Facing Su Lian felt as if she was facing beast.


    However, she had a completely different problem now.


    Bam!


    Su Lian smashed her hand on the ground once more as Ye Jiao swiftly evaded. She twisted her body and swung her dagger on Su Lian''s back before the ape woman could recover herself. Her movement was fast and swift without any additional movement.


    Slash! Swish!


    Another wound was created while Ye Jiao moved away because Su Lian swung her large arm. It was filled with power because of her muscle, so she didn''t want to take the risk and faced it head on.


    *pant* *pant*


    Ye Jiao could sense that her Eon Energy almost depleted completely. No matter how powerful she claimed herself to be, she was nothing more than Eon Energy Master rank 2. Fighting against numerous people and now facing against a weakened Eon Energy Master rank 3, her Eon Energy was not enough.


    ''And it''ll be impossible to fight without Eon Energy.''


    This was a completely different opponent as she wouldn''t be able to fight using only her body''s power. She had received basic training back when she was still in Bao Fu Organization about how she should fight against her opponents with only relying on her physical power.


    But as they grew stronger, the gap between people who could use Eon Energy and those who couldn''t grew. Ye Jiao knew that her physical power alone wouldn''t be able to match her up with Su Lian. Even for a simple task like wounding this woman, she needed to coat her dagger with Eon Energy and circulate more Eon Energy to her arm.


    If not, it wouldn''t be enough to create wound on Su Lian''s thick skin.


    If only Su Lian was at the same rank or even lower, it might still be possible. But now, it would be suicide.


    ''What should I do?''


    Bam!


    Su Lian''s fist hit the ground once more. Her face contorted in annoyance as this fight only made her recall her deep seated enemy. The way Ye Jiao evaded her attack and escaped so far only made things worse.


    Just when she was about to attack again, a scream of a young girl caused her movements to stop momentarily.


    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

 242 Crushing One’s Hope 2

    Turning her head to the side, Su Lian''s pupil contracted when she saw her daughter screamed so loudly.


    Making use of this chance, Ye Jiao quickly dashed forward. Her dagger was aimed straight to Su Lian''s stomach as she pierced deep inside. The curve on her dagger only made the wound worse as the wound was not a straight one.


    Jleb!


    "You-!"


    Bang!


    Using her fist, Su Lian hit Ye Jiao to push her back. Ye Jiao managed to pull her dagger back in time and defended against it, but the force alone was enough to send her to the back. Hitting a nearby tree, Ye Jiao felt her back was crushed by the force.


    ''Her strength is insane.''


    Ye Jiao stabilized herself once more. Her eyes turned to the side as a smile emerged on the corner of her lips. Finally, Wei Liao had done his part.


    While Ye Jiao was fighting against Wei Cheng and Su Lian, Wei Liao was fighting against Wei Mi with all of his power. He was unable to contend against her normally because the two of them used the same type of technique and has similar strength. Their clash turned into a tie.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    "You won''t be able to defeat me, B*stard!" Wei Mi cursed out with hatred inside her eyes. Seeing someone who used to favor her and always stood beneath her facing against her in equal ground only made her mood soured.


    Using the technique that she had learned, she twisted her body and slammed her arm to Wei Liao''s direction. The sword on her hand was rushing to Wei Liao, attempting to take his life.


    Clang!


    Wei Liao put his sword on top of his head, defending himself. His eyes were looking at Wei Mi with both hatred and anger. This girl always tried to use him to the point that it made him sick. Even when Su Lian wanted to take his core, she helped him without remorse, acting as if it was natural for him to be sacrificed for their use.


    He hated them for it.


    Pushing Wei Mi back, Wei Liao charged against the young lady once more. The difference between those who had formed their core and hadn''t would be clear in a fight. However, Wei Mi hadn''t formed her core for long.


    She was unable to sense the difference in power that she wielded, making her no different than a normal kid who hadn''t formed their core.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The two of them were immersed in their own battle. Wei Liao''s attack grew fiercer as he attempted to wound the young lady several times. Using the block that Wei Mi was proficient in, she was able to stop every attack that Wei Liao gave her.


    "Do you really think that you can defeat me? I''m far better than you in these techniques!"


    Clang!


    Wei Liao''s eyes were cold. He had to admit that Wei Mi was far more talented than him in terms of martial arts. When he saw this young girl trained before, he could see that she grasped the movements very quickly. It was to the point that even the instructor praised her to no end.


    But¡­.


    "So what?" Wei Liao swung his sword, pushing Wei Mi back. His eyes glinted with hatred. "You might be far more talented, but you always use them to make fun of others who have lesser talent. You''re not worthy of that talent!"


    Wei Mi''s expression turned blue in anger. "Not worthy? You''re not one to talk when you''re just weaker and less talented than me!"


    Clang!


    Her sword swung with great strength, nearly hitting Wei Liao''s neck. The boy''s eyes glinted once more as he pushed her sword back and swung his own to attack Wei Mi, meeting with her blade too.


    "I might be of lower talent, but that just meant I just have to train harder than you to be able to defeat you!"


    Pushing his body to the limit, Wei Liao attacked Wei Mi even faster and more forceful. Recalling his bitter training just to get to this day, his spirit was fueled up even further as he continued to move his body. More and more.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Wei Mi started to get overwhelmed as their blades continued to clash. Her speed faltered and it was at that time Wei Liao''s sword reached her shoulder.


    Slash!


    "You-!" Wei Mi quickly swung her sword to push him away, but as if Wei Liao had predicted her move, he quickly moved in the other direction and stabbed his sword to the location of Wei Mi''s abdomen. To be precise, the location of her core.


    Crack!


    The sound of something shattered inside her body caused Wei Mi''s heart to fall to the lowest bottom. Her eyes were filled with despair as she swung her sword, yet at the same time, Wei Liao also pulled his sword back.


    Crack! Crack! Crack!


    Eon Energy ran out of her body rapidly. Wei Mi''s heart was filled with despair as she put her hand to cover her abdomen, trying to prevent the Eon Energy from leaking out. She was still unable to control her body too well, making her find it hard to stop the movements of the Eon Energy.


    "No! NO! NO!"


    Wei Liao dashed forward once again to Wei Mi''s back. He swung his sword to the direction of her abdomen, revealing the shattering core inside her stomach. Stretching out his hand, he pulled it out forcefully.


    The girl was surprised at the movements to the point that she was unable to respond in time. By the time she realized what had happened, the core was taken out of her abdomen.


    "What are you-?"


    Wei Mi was alarmed. The sight of Wei Liao taking out the core out of her body and grabbing it in his palm was extremely familiar. She had seen it by herself when her mother took his core around a year before.


    Looking at the young girl before her, Wei Liao''s eyes flashed with ruthless. "This is the payback for what you did, Wei Mi."


    Crush!


    In one movement, he exerted strength and crushed the core in his palm to smithereens.


    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

 243 Family? That’s Rubbish

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


    Wei Mi''s scream filled the entire area. Her eyes were wet with both anger, sadness, grieve, and the most was despair. She had seen what it looked like to lose one''s core and it was something that she never wanted to experience.


    Her body felt weak because there was no longer any Eon Energy source inside her body. Different with many other kids, Wei Mi was considered quite lazy when it came to train her physical power. This resulted in her body was still fairly weaker when it was compared to many other children.


    Wei Mi felt like the entire world was hating her at that moment. Wei Liao''s action of crushing her core was the same as destroying her dream and hope. In this world, those without Eon Energy could never make it far no matter what they did because of that, martial artist''s core is akin to their entire life.


    It would take her a long time for her to form another one. After all, she took five years of time just to form the first one.


    Five years.


    The thought of making another one filled Wei Mi with despair. If only Wei Liao didn''t crush it, they still could put it back into her body and with some medicine, she would be back to normal. Even though there might be some damages left, there would be a way to renege it and helped her to return back to the genius she was before.


    Now, it was impossible.


    She had to start over if she wanted to become Eon Energy Master again. Just like Wei Liao, she had to star over from the very beginning once more. The thought alone made her want to bawl and scream loudly to the Heaven.


    As tears streamed down her face and her small body shook, she looked so pitiful. She looked like a child that had lost everything and for Wei Mi, she indeed had lost everything.


    But no matter how pitiful she looked like, Wei Liao''s eyes didn''t hold even the slightest bit of pity. He already had enough of this girl.


    What this girl had done so far didn''t make him regret his action. He hated her for what she had made him do in the past. Now, he would make sure that she could never do the same thing ever again. The talent she had would be nothing with the passage of time.


    She deserved it.


    That was what Wei Liao said to himself as he stared at the wailing Wei Mi indifferently.


    "You b*stard!" Wei Cheng has just managed to recover a bit of his strength, but he directly charged over to Wei Liao. His action just now cut off the bright future that Wei Mi would have.


    Clang!


    Wei Liao''s eyes flashed with ruthlessness. "You''re not even angry when they took my core. You don''t even try to visit your younger brother, Big Brother."


    "You deserve it!"


    "Heh," Wei Liao snickered. He pushed Wei Cheng back. As Wei Cheng was still in his weakened state, it was not impossible for him to push this young man away. "You''re saying that I deserve it because I''m just a son of a side wife, aren''t you? Don''t you think that you''re putting yourself too high in the pedestal?"


    "Wh-?"


    "In your eyes, I''m nothing but an insect that stand in front of your way. You only keep me around as long as I''m useful to you, but when I''m in trouble, neither one of you try to help me out. Do you really think that I''ll forever stand beneath you?" Wei Liao''s eyes were filled with animosity.


    He would not stay on the bottom forever. Someday, he would show to the world that he, Wei Liao, could also stand at the forefront. There would come the day when he would show them that talent is not everything.


    He might have lower talent, but he would be the one most successful among them all!


    "I''m also a human being with my own fate to follow. I follow you for a means of survival, but as I can see that you never treat me as human, I can''t possibly let you use me for my entire life, can I?"


    Wei Cheng stabilized himself once again. Even though he still felt weakness in his body, he didn''t let it affect him in the slightest. There was a harsh glint apparent on his eyes.


    "You should just stay quiet. You''re nothing but a trash!"


    "Yes, I''m a trash and this trash today has just pulled another person to become a trash alongside him," Wei Liao lowered his sword. "You say that I deserve my situation, then I can say the same for her. She deserved this situation."


    "You will never reach high even if you still have your core, but she''s different!"


    Hearing that, Wei Liao laughed out loudly. Right, in their eyes, he was nothing more than a trash that didn''t deserve their slightest attention. Even if they bullied him until his previous figure couldn''t be seen anymore or even if he fell into the deepest pit in the world, they would not care.


    Why?


    It was simple: they never even regarded him as an equal human being.


    In their eyes, he was nothing more than a tool that they could use to their fullest and once he was no longer useful, they would throw him away. They didn''t even bother to care about his feeling.


    For them, it was only a given that he, as their not so talented brother, had to give up his everything just for them. His future, his power, his time, and even his life. They demanded everything from him and never gave him anything in return.


    It was laughable how he wanted their attention in the past.


    How much he wanted them to recognize him for his effort, yet what he received was a knife on his stomach.


    Heh, what a family.


    From the moment that knife pierced his body to take his core, Wei Liao had never regarded these people as his family anymore.

 244 Escape

    "Why are you laughing?" Wei Cheng roared in anger. He flinched when he felt his body was hurting, but he tried to hold on while trying to channel his Eon Energy to his body once more.


    Wei Liao looked at Wei Cheng. His gaze was indifferent as if he had given up on the world. It was the kind of gaze that make Wei Cheng felt chills running down on his back. He didn''t know why but the gaze that Wei Liao held looked very different.


    It was as if Wei Liao had matured instantly and was no longer the same person as before.


    "Do you think that just because I was born as your brother, it means I have to give everything to you? Just because I was born with weaker talent, I have to serve you with all I got and didn''t pursue my own path as Eon Energy Master?" Wei Liao asked coldly. There was trace of killing intent within his eyes.


    Wei Cheng shouted, "Yes!"


    "Then you should go to hell with you bulls***! Do you think I''m stupid to the point that I want to give my life to *ssh*** like you? In your dream!" Wei Liao said coldly, not bothering to give face to Wei Cheng at all. He turned around, intending to leave. "Continue to live inside your dream, but never ever involve me ever again."


    "You-! Don''t think that you can get away!" Wei Cheng charged once again, but he was too late because Wei Liao had moved to evade and rushing a bit farther.


    Wei Liao momentarily stopped to look at Ye Jiao''s direction and his eyes widened when he saw the young girl was trying to stand up. The fight must have been hard for her too.


    "Ma-!"


    "Get away from here, Wei Liao!" Ye Jiao yelled.


    "But!"


    "The guards are coming," Ye Jiao readied her dagger once more. Her eyes were looking at Su Lian in front of her warily. She might have wounded this woman, but it didn''t mean that the fight has ended.


    Wei Liao''s eyes flashed in understanding. He quickly turned around and dashed away from the place.


    "Don''t think that you can get away!" Wei Cheng roared. He utilized his Eon Energy, but before he could move, a knife appeared in front of him, nearly hitting his cheek if only he was not fast enough.


    Ye Jiao had prepared some knives in her storage ring in case of emergency. Seeing how Qin Zheng would always keep one with him, she knew that it would be convenient. Unfortunately, her aim was still very poor.


    The momentarily pause in Wei Cheng''s movements gave Wei Liao the time he needed to get away from the residence.


    On the other hand, Ye Jiao twisted her body to move from her direction because Su Lian has returned back to attack her. The woman''s face was blue in anger and hatred, but she didn''t stop her movements.


    Her speed has lowered due to the wound that Ye Jiao gave to her, but she didn''t stop.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Bam!


    Ye Jiao made use of her remaining Eon Energy to keep on moving away. She didn''t have enough energy to keep on attacking Su Lian because she could sense that more guards were heading this way. In addition, there was this particularly strong enemy that was making his way here.


    Slash!


    Making the last attempt to attack, Ye Jiao directed her dagger to Su Lian''s back. With exerting enough force, she caused quite a deep wound. It wouldn''t be enough to kill her, but it should be able to stop Su Lian from moving around. This should be enough because she had to move away from her.


    Swish!


    Clang!


    Wei Cheng tried to block her path when he noticed that she was about to run away. His eyes glinted with fury.


    "You''re not getting away!"


    "You won''t be able to stop me," Ye Jiao said flatly. Exerting her Eon Energy, she pushed the young man back and tried to kick him.


    He managed to evade but at the same time, it gave the space Ye Jiao needed to run away. Su Lian wanted to chase after her too, but her body was hurt and her daughter was still crying like it was the end of the world.


    "Call the doctor now!" Su Lian yelled. The servants who were quite a distance away scurried away to call the doctor. They knew that the situation was grave.


    Looking at her daughter, Su Lian was filled with grieve. She knew how much Wei Sheng treasured them and with Wei Mi in this condition, it would be the same as telling him that the treasure has turned into a trash.


    "Momm¡­Waaaaaaaaaaaa...." Wei Mi was crying hard. She knew what it meant to not having a core very well. The thought of being seen as a trash after enjoying her time as a genius only made her despaired.


    No, it shouldn''t be this way.


    She didn''t want it.


    Swish!


    At this time, Wei Shang arrived home. He had heard that there was a commotion in his residence, but he was located at quite a distance away from his home. The only thing he could do was trying to reach home as fast as possible. Looking at the mess in his residence, his heart grew cold.


    "Tell me what happened."


    "Master, there are two assassins who enter the residence¡­."


    Several weaker servants who stayed away from the commotion survived. They started to tell the story with trembling body. The aura around Wei Shang grew dangerously. It was as if he was ready to kill them all.


    Even the guards who followed after Wei Shang didn''t dare to move. They were following after their master when the incident happened, so the number of guards that were left in this residence lessened.


    Still, there should be a good amount of Eon Energy Master rank 3¡­


    "You''re telling me that they''re not a match against one assassin?" Wei Shang asked in a cold tone.


    "Y-yes, Master," the servant stuttered to answer. He knew how much Wei Shang prided his soldiers, especially those whom he trained himself. But now, everything was lost.


    They all lost against one person.


    And that person was not even Eon Energy Master rank 4. It was estimated to be between Eon Energy Master rank 2 or 3.


    Wei Shang turned around to look at his wailing daughter. "Where''s the doctor? Call him here now!"

 245 This is Retribution

    The doctor quickly came over to Wei Family Residence. Upon seeing the mess in the residence, he did everything he could to not ask anything. Ever since one year ago, there were so many troubles in this residence that everyone started to wonder if this family was cursed.


    Except for the good news regarding Wei Yin''s engagement with Chen Zi Quan, there was no other happy news that came from Wei Family Residence.


    All they heard was mess after another mess.


    Seeing the state of Wei Mi, the doctor knew that there was no hope for her. If only the core was still here, there should be a way to recover it. But now, it would be completely impossible. It would be good enough for her if she could keep her life because she has been weakened considerably.


    The fight against Wei Liao had forced her to use a lot of power. Without her core, it drained her too much that she would need a long time to recover.


    "Doctor, tell me, can she recover her core?" Wei Shang asked in an indifferent tone.


    The doctor didn''t know what this man was thinking from his frosty expression, but he tried to be careful in his speech. No one liked to be the one who brought bad news. "This, I''m really sorry. There''s nothing that I could do."


    The apologetic tone of the doctor only made Wei Shang''s heart turn even colder. His daughter was still weeping on the bed with Su Lian beside her, trying to soothe the little girl.


    "Is there truly nothing?"


    "If only the core is still here, even if it''s taken out, there''ll be some hope. But now, there''s none," the doctor replied slowly. He was worried that Wei Shang would burst in anger because of the news.


    Contrary to his expectation, Wei Shang didn''t say anything. His eyes grew dangerously cold, but he didn''t lash out to the person before him. Right now, he was feeling remorse and angry.


    If Wei Liao saw the way Wei Shang acted right now, he would never have a regret for getting out of Wei Family. His mother only wanted him because it would raise her value, his father only kept his children because of their worth as Eon Energy Master. They only thought of their own profit without caring for their lives.


    His worth to them would be nothing more but a tool that they could use however they wished.


    The servants inside the room were trying their best to not say anything. The only sound in the room was Wei Mi''s sobbing and Su Lian''s soothing words, which didn''t seem to have any effect in her daughter.


    ''This is truly a mess.''


    A servant thought to himself. From watching the fight from afar and now this, he could see very well that Wei Shang would be angry. He always prioritized those talented children in his family because they would be the one to lead the family in the future.


    But they fell one by one.


    ''I really don''t understand why Master would want to marry someone from Su Family.''


    Even the servants knew that the problem always stemmed out from this particular family, to be exact from Su Lian. The way this woman conducted herself sometimes made them wonder if this woman has a brain inside her large head. Her every action kept on bringing more troubles to the residence.


    Seeing the crying Wei Mi, the servants didn''t feel even an ounce of pity. They were mistreated by this girl for countless years. Even though they were unable to show it in their expression or it would be the death of them, no one felt sad from the bottom of their heart.


    "Dad, there''s¡­ there''s a¡­ a way, right?" Wei Mi asked with tears stained her face. She didn''t want to lose hope that there would be a way for her to recover.


    No, she didn''t want to live her life as a trash.


    People without Eon Energy would be treated worse than dirt. She didn''t want to be included into that list.


    "There''s nothing I can do," Wei Shang replied calmly. He did treasure her, but it was only because she had some worth. Now that she already lost her core and would need another five years to become Eon Energy Master, he didn''t really want her anymore.


    Five years.


    At that time Wei Mi would already reach 16 years old and Eon Energy Master at the age of 16 was nothing glorious. If anything, she would be placed at the very bottom of the list. Even if she managed to become Eon Energy Master again, she wouldn''t be worth anything and would be seen as burden because it would take her more time to reach higher rank because her age was no longer the golden age to learn martial arts.


    The moment the servants noticed Wei Shang''s expression, they knew that Wei Mi no longer has any value in this man''s eyes. Internally, they sneered because they knew that it would be the time for their revenge. Slowly, he wouldn''t care for this so-called daughter anymore.


    At that time, they could start to bully this master of theirs slowly.


    That would be fun.


    The only one they needed to wary for would be Wei Cheng, but that young man rarely stayed at home because he was always busy. Even though people always said that Wei Cheng cared for his sister very much, he was not here. Even now, that young man was busy tending on his own wounds.


    Unlike Su Lian who prioritized Wei Mi, Wei Cheng still prioritized himself.


    They wondered how long it would take for these two to forget about Wei Mi. It shouldn''t take that long.


    "D-Dad?" Wei Mi''s voice was tinged with desperation.


    No, please, don''t say that there''s no hope.


    She didn''t want this.


    No¡­


    Even though Wei Mi was looking at him with plead and desperation, there was truly nothing that Wei Shang could do. He turned his head away and waved his hand. "You''re all dismissed."


    "Yes, Master."


    The servants, including the doctor quickly scurried away from the place. Wei Shang might look calm, but they knew that he was only controlling himself. If they stayed here any longer they might not be able to stand the consequences.


    "There''ll be a way, Mi''er," Su Lian whispered. She didn''t want to lose hope because she only has two children. They have to be talented or there would be no worth of her to Wei Shang.


    "Mom¡­" Wei Mi couldn''t utter any other words. She could only cry and cry again. The doctor had told her that there would not be any other way. How could she say to him that there would be a way?


    She was nothing but a liar.


    It was Su Lian''s fault in the first place that Wei Liao would be aiming for her. Wei Mi''s heart was filled with resentment because she knew that Wei Liao would never try to take her core if not for Su Lian.


    If only her mother didn''t try to take Wei Liao''s core¡­


    Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to change the past. She knew that her future would be bleak as she had become nothing but a trash.


    At that thought, tears continued to stream out of her eyes.

 246 Begging and Begging

    "It''ll be okay, Mi''er," Su Lian tried to console her daughter once more. She knew that it was not true, but she didn''t want to lose hope.


    Wei Shang looked at Su Lian as annoyance appeared from beneath his clam eyes. "Su Lian, follow after me."


    "Y-yes."


    Albeit unwilling, Su Lian stood up from her position. She followed after Wei Shang quietly, trying to think of a way to salvage this situation. There should be a way for Wei Mi to recover. If not, she knew that Wei Shang would be angry at her family.


    PLAK!


    Just when Su Lian was in daze, Wei Shang palm hit her cheek. Because of the force behind it, Su Lian was flown to the ground. The man''s eyes were cold as he looked at the woman before him.


    "Can''t you even do your job properly?"


    "Wh-?"


    "It''s because of your feud with your cousin that things turn this way. I''ll expect the Su Family to compensate me," Wei Shang said coldly.


    Su Lian held her cheek as tears streamed out of her eyes. She hadn''t had the time to properly tend to her wounds, so she still felt weak. Looking at how Wei Shang treated her, she knew that she was worth very little in his eyes.


    "But¡­"


    "She''s your daughter and you''re at home. If not because of your feud, do you think Wei Liao will turn his hand against his own sister?" Wei Shang asked coldly.


    The moment he learned that the assassin was Wei Liao, he was enraged. He knew that the one that caused this situation was none other than the woman before him. If only she was not stupid enough to aim for that young man''s core, things would never end this way.


    Thinking about that made Wei Shang felt headache. The mess these women from Su Family gave him was too much. They just knew how to create trouble for him.


    "I¡­"


    SLAP!


    "You should properly evaluate your own worth," Wei Shang said coldly. He turned away and walked away, no longer paying any attention to the haggard woman before him.


    It was never anything more than arranged marriage to tie the two families. There was no worth of this woman if not because the Su Family wished for the military power that he held in this kingdom.


    Really, she was nothing but trouble.


    Su Lian held her cheek as she cried silently. She knew that Wei Shang never found her worthy of anything. If not because of her family and her children, he would never even look at her. The one that Wei Shang fancied has been that woman, the woman that already belonged to someone else.


    Knowing that the Su Family would surely place the blame on her, Su Lian wanted to cry once again.


    Why did things turn out this way?


    Tap! Tap!


    Turning her head up, Su Lian noticed that Wei Cheng had come to her place. He didn''t stay with Wei Mi because he was busy tending on his own wound. Right now, he was looking at his own mother with a cold gaze.


    "Cheng, can you help me put up some good words to your father?"


    "Mother, you know that it''s your fault, right?" Wei Cheng asked without restraint. His voice was slightly cold as if he was talking to a stranger and not his flesh mother.


    Su Lian''s lips twitched when she sensed the weird tone that Wei Cheng used to talk to her. Usually, this boy would be polite with her. Even though there was not much love because he had understood from a young age that she only gave birth because she wanted to use him, he would still be polite and respectful to her.


    Now, there was no trace of them at all.


    "But, Cheng, there should be a way to salvage this situation. You will help me, right?" Su Lian pleaded.


    Wei Cheng shook his head. "There''s nothing that I can do to help you, Mother. You have to find a way to get out of this mess."


    Su Lian bit her lower lips. "You''re my son, so you have to help me out."


    "It''s obvious that you''re in the wrong, Mother. Even if I try to talk to Father, there''s nothing that I can do to help you," Wei Cheng replied. He was not a stupid person. Ever since he faced defeat under Lu Wan''s hand, he has been trying to think over his situation over and over.


    He would try to make use of everything around him to his advantage and lived his life to the fullest. This time, he would be the one to make the decision and not other people around him.


    Seeing how Wei Cheng didn''t have the slightest intention to help her out, Su Lian felt despair. Why did it seem that everyone was going against her? Her daughter no longer trusted her words like she did before and ignored her. Her husband was treating her worse than dirt. Now, his own son is treating her as if she was nothing more than a stranger?


    "Cheng, can''t you think of anything?"


    "It''ll be for the best if Mother can try to calm down and solve this mess first. I''m sure that Father is already angry enough because of what happened to Wei Mi."


    Wei Cheng''s tone was calm as if it was not his problem. After mulling about it while tending his wounds, he came to the conclusion that it would be better to stay away from his mother. Everything this woman did was truly brainless that it was tiring.


    From the bottom of his heart, he was hoping that he could have a different mother.


    At the very least, a mother who wouldn''t create trouble every second.


    Su Lian felt bitter. She didn''t know any way to recover one''s core faster. Even she herself didn''t have that capability. From a long time ago, she always spent her time doing nothing but her own things. She never tried to learn because they were so boring and tiring. All she wanted was for her own happiness.


    "Come on, Cheng."


    "Mother, I''m no longer just a person of Wei Family. I''m the subject of Prince Chen Zi Quan. I won''t be spending time too much at home," Wei Cheng tried to reason once more. He was already feeling tired to face his mother.


    No matter what he said, she would never listen to him. In addition, she would just twist his words to her convenience.


    He felt really tired of her.


    ...


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 247 Su Lian’s Death

    Su Lian''s eyes flickered when she heard her son''s words. Right, he was no longer just the eldest son in Wei Family. He was also Chen Zi Quan''s lackey and has to follow that prince most of the time.


    Wait¡­


    "Help me out, Wei Cheng."


    "Mother¡­"


    "Do you want the Imperial Family to know that you learn technique from the Barbarian Kingdom?" After thinking of the blood line from before, Su Lian finally realized that it must be the technique from the Barbarian Kingdom. There shouldn''t be any other way for something to appear on one''s skin except them.


    Even if she was an idiot, she still has that much knowledge.


    Wei Cheng looked at his mother as his eyes flashed with a glint. "I didn''t expect that you''ll use something like this to threaten me, Mother."


    "Do you think that your mother is stupid? I still have the basic knowledge that many other people didn''t know."


    "Really?" Wei Cheng''s tone was skeptical as he walked closer towards his mother. There was a ruthless glint within his eyes. However, Su Lian didn''t realize the difference in the gaze in her son''s eyes when he looked at her.


    Su Lian smirked. Considering the relationship between other kingdoms with the Barbarian Kingdom was anything but good, she thought that this would be good material to force her son to follow after her words.


    Her scheme would have been worked only if she knew her son better.


    But unfortunately, she didn''t.


    Slash!


    In less than a moment, a knife appeared on Wei Cheng''s arm as he directed it to his own mother. A deep wound appeared on the woman''s shoulder, adding to the one that Ye Jiao made before.


    Su Lian''s eyes widened in surprise. "What are¡­."


    Slash!


    Before Su Lian could react, Wei Cheng already added another wound on the woman''s stomach. His eyes were cold as if he was not looking at his own mother but rather a stranger. There was no trace of warmth that he usually showed to his mother or sister but only cold and ruthless glint remained within his gaze.


    "I always thought that you''re stupid enough to not realize that technique, Mother. If only you stay quiet, I''ll let you live. Unfortunately, you know my secret and wishes to use it," Wei Cheng''s tone was cold and indifferent. He looked at Su Lian without any trace of warmth in his eyes.


    "Y-you''re my son¡­"


    "Yes, I am," Wei Cheng acknowledged it. "I''m thankful that you give birth to me, but you''re nothing more than trouble, Mother. There''s nothing more you can do to us anymore. I''m sure that my little sister will be happy to hear your death too."


    Su Lian''s pupil contracted when she heard Wei Cheng''s words.


    No¡­


    NO¡­


    NO¡­!


    NO!


    That couldn''t be. Why did her own children wish for her death? What did she do wrong to them?


    Wei Cheng looked at the remorse on his mother''s expression. He had made sure that no one was around before he came here because he was about to bid his farewell to her. It seemed that his choice was the correct one.


    He wouldn''t want anyone to see that it was him who killed her.


    "Good bye, Mother. Your role ends here."


    "NO¡­."


    Before Su Lian could finish her words, the knife on Wei Cheng''s hand had reached her throat. It created a perfect slit as blood burst out of the wound with nothing could stop it. Wei Cheng had purposely sliced the artery blood in his mother''s throat. Even if one tried to put pressure on top of the wound, it would not stop the flow of the blood at all.


    Su Lian''s eyes were filled with disbelief as she looked at her own son. Her legs lost their strength and she dropped to the ground. Her heart was filled with grief as she watched her son looking back at her with a cold expression.


    Never ever she thought that she would die in the hand of her own son.


    She always thought that she would become someone great in Chen Kingdom as the wife of the great general. With her family pampering her and allowing her to come here, she had high hopes of herself. But nothing seemed to be going on her way.


    Her husband was aiming for another woman and never truly paid any attention to her. He just fulfilled his duty but never more.


    His eyes were locked on that sl*t. Even though she never returned his feelings back, he always wished for her and her alone.


    Her children were very excellent. They were all very good with great talent and boundless futures. However, they were subjects of Chen Kingdom and have to follow the imperial family. Even if she wished them to not become their follower, they couldn''t listen to her request.


    She had to accept that fact.


    With her children so talented, she has always been proud of them. They were her flesh and blood!


    But today, everything she felt proud of and happy all gone. Her own son that she felt proud of and cared for with all she got, told her that she was nothing but a trouble. Trouble?! How dare he!


    She wished to strangle him and reprimanded him.


    But Wei Cheng has grown up. He has started to bare his fangs and created his own decision for his life. Nothing she said would be able to affect him anymore. He had gone out of her control.


    The one she wished to use to build her stable position instead stabbed her in the back. What an irony.


    Filled with remorse, Su Lian breathed her last as she lost too much blood.


    In front of her, Wei Cheng utilized his Eon Energy and destroyed the knife in his hand. He didn''t feel anything for killing his own mother. For him, she was nothing more than the person who brought him into this world. He felt thankful for that, but it was nothing more than that.


    She only wanted his presence to gain favor from Wei Shang. He stayed with her because she''s his mother.


    But now, he no longer has any use of her.


    He no longer cared for her anymore.


    She was the one who taught him that their relationship was nothing more than using each other. Now that she no longer has any use for him, there was no need for him to keep her alive anymore. He just followed after her words and didn''t try to think too much into it, for he was already tired with her.


    It was as simple as that.


    Not caring anymore, Wei Cheng walked away from the location. Sooner or later someone would find her and report to his father. At that time, he wouldn''t be in this residence anymore, so Wei Shang wouldn''t suspect him.


    After all, she''s his mother.


    Logically speaking, no children would try to kill their parents. Wei Shang also knew how much respect he usually showed when he was with his mother. It was nothing more than an act, but no one else knew. As long as he was not in this place, no one would suspect him.


    Convenient, isn''t it?


    In but a short moment, Wei Cheng has departed from Wei Family Residence and headed to the palace to do his work as one of Chen Zi Quan''s men again.


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 248 Eon Energy Master Rank 3

    While the Wei Family was in the mess because of the incident, Ye Jiao and Wei Liao took the chance to get out of the city. They didn''t use the gate because the guards would never let them out because of the mess, so they used the other way to get out of the city. It was not really a pleasant way, but neither one of them had any complaints.


    Wei Liao has arrived in Ye Jiao''s old house as he rested his body. His heart felt both ecstatic and tired.


    He was happy that he managed to enact his revenge and at the same time, he felt tired. The fight was not easy, but it was satisfying. The despair on that girl''s face was the best prize he got from this action.


    ''I get what I want.''


    Before, it was him in the same position. Once his mother left for the Arena City, Su Lian made her move and cornered him. No matter what he did to escape, there was no way he could defeat that muscular woman.


    Once he was cornered, she sliced his stomach open and took out his core. It was not a pleasant feeling and Wei Liao knew that he would never want to experience it again. The despair he felt when that woman took his core was the same as Wei Mi. It felt as if it was the end of the world for him.


    At that time, Wei Mi was there. That girl didn''t help him out, but instead, she beat him up after he lost his core. That way, he wouldn''t be able to go to their father to complain. Because of that, Wei Shang realized the matter too late and there was no way he could get his core back.


    He had to form one from the beginning once again.


    "How are you feeling?"


    The voice of a young girl caused him to shift his gaze. Seeing Ye Jiao walk over to him with a tired face, he smiled back. He was happy that he met with Ye Jiao. If not because of her, he would never be able to enact his revenge.


    Wei Liao kowtowed on the ground. "Many thanks for Master''s help. I''ll eternally be grateful to you."


    "I didn''t do much," Ye Jiao said amusedly. She sat down on the ground and heaved a sigh as she started to absorb Eon Energy into her core. It felt really empty as she had used everything in the fight just now.


    She still hadn''t attacked Wei Shang directly, but right now, she knew that she was not his match.


    The gap between them was still too large.


    It was not the time yet.


    "It''s thanks to you that I can do this," Wei Liao replied solemnly. He would forever be in Ye Jiao''s debt because he knew that no matter what he did, he could never repay the favor she gave him.


    He had wronged her, but she gave him the chance to get his own revenge instead. For him, it would be a favor that he could never be able to repay even if he overturned the world. After all, he could never change the past.


    Ye Jiao smiled. "You don''t have to stay as my servant. I can just erase the pledge that you give me and you''ll be free."


    "If you erase it, I''ll make another one again," Wei Liao replied.


    The pledge of loyalty against one''s person could be broken once that particular person died or chose to erase the connection. This would never be possible if it was a kingdom or organization unless that organization or kingdom was destroyed. At that time, the pledger would be able to form another one.


    "You''re stubborn."


    "I am."


    "Why do you want to stick with me? We might not even meet each other in the future again."


    Wei Liao''s face changed slightly. He looked at Ye Jiao with a solemn gaze. "I''ll chase after you, Master. No matter where you go, I''ll find you and make sure that I do my work well as your servant."


    Wei Liao''s conviction made Ye Jiao unable to say anything more. She knew that he wanted to stay with her no matter what. She sighed internally as she knew that she was very soft when handling him.


    Ye Jiao took out a bracelet and handed it to Wei Liao. "After you have enough rest, you will be able to form your core. There are a lot of rank 2 beast''s meat inside the bracelet. They should be enough for you to sell and also eat if you want to. Their worth should be quite a lot."


    Wei Liao looked at Ye Jiao with doubts in his eyes. The way Ye Jiao said it made him feel that she wanted him to leave. "Master, do you not want me anymore?"


    "You can say it like that."


    "I don''t want to leave you, Master. I hadn''t done anything to you."


    Ye Jiao smiled. Just the fact that he crushed Wei Mi''s hope in front of that girl was already good enough. She still couldn''t show her face, so the one who could make the greatest impact would be Wei Liao. After all, seeing the one whom Wei Mi always treated so lowly get back to her wouldn''t be pleasant.


    "You won''t be able to help me with your current strength," Ye Jiao pointed to Wei Liao''s body.


    Right now, Wei Liao hasn''t even formed his core whereas Ye Jiao has reached rank 2. If he stayed with her in her journey, he would become nothing more than a burden because she would have to protect him. After all, her journey wouldn''t be a smooth one.


    Wei Liao''s expression sank when he heard Ye Jiao''s remark. That was true.


    With his current strength, he still couldn''t do anything to help Ye Jiao. If he wanted to help her, he needed to grow stronger, far stronger. He had to reach the position where there would be no one who could contend against him anymore.


    "Master, I¡­"


    "I''ll head to the academy after I reach rank 3," Ye Jiao cut off the boy''s words. She looked at the young man with a smile on her face. "I''ll be waiting for you, but don''t make me wait for long."


    Wei Liao raised his head and looked at Ye Jiao. He could sense that she trusted him. She trusted that he would be able to reach that rank and followed after her steps. There was not even a trace of mocking or jeer despite the fact that he has much lower talent than her.


    Perhaps, it was because of her genuine feelings that he decided to follow after her.


    ''I swear to the Heavens that I''ll protect Master.''


    Internally, Wei Liao made another vow. He would never let anything happen to his master. She treated him well, too well for what he was his real worth. No matter what, he wanted to repay her with all of his power.


    "I understand, Master. I''ll grow stronger and head over to that location."


    "Good. I hope that you''ll be well," Ye Jiao stood up and headed to the forest. She had recovered enough Eon Energy to travel once more.


    Seeing Ye Jiao disappeared, Wei Liao heaved a sigh. Determination filled his eyes. Now, he had to focus on growing stronger and even stronger. He would definitely become someone whom his master could rely on.


    After departing from her old house, Ye Jiao stopped near the lake and small waterfall. She headed to the cave where she stayed before as she sat down and started to control the Eon Energy to enter her core.


    When she trained before, she sensed that there was something that was different from her core. It was as if the barrier that was always blocking her to absorb more Eon Energy had weakened. This feeling made her think that it might be the time for her to make her breakthrough.


    Slowly, a large amount of Eon Energy entered her body and core.


    Ye Jiao felt so comfortable as she continued to absorb more and more. Then, she could sense that her core had felt full but there was a force that pushed her to absorb more. Thus, she slowly absorbed more Eon Energy and circulated them inside her body.


    Little by little the Eon Energy in her body becomes much denser and purer. Her body felt warm and comfortable because of them.


    Time passed slowly.


    Splash!


    The moment Ye Jiao opened her eyes, invisible Eon Energy emanated from her body, It hit the wall and the waterfall. The water splashed outside in a loud sound, but Ye Jiao didn''t pay any heed.


    She inspected her body as she could sense that her strength has grown even stronger.


    The Eon Energy in her body has become much purer and easier to use. As she waved her hand, Eon Energy came out and reached out. It was several times farther than the distance she could reach before.


    Ye Jiao smiled.


    She had become Eon Energy Master Rank 3!


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 249 Regrouping Again

    As she had become Eon Energy Master Rank 3, Ye Jiao could sense her surroundings far better. It was a completely different feeling than when she was at rank 2. Everything became much clearer as if the fog that surrounded her before was lifted up, giving her a new lease of vision.


    It was no wonder that people always said that Eon Energy Master Rank 3 was the beginning of a completely new path.


    ''Now that I reached rank 3, I''ll be able to head into the academy in the north.''


    At the thought of the academy, Ye Jiao''s mind recalled the discussion she had with her mother. At that time, her mother told her that it was the place where these people wouldn''t be able to touch her. She would be able to stay safe and become much stronger by going there.


    This filled her with hope.


    However, she would need to find out when the selection would begin because she would have to reach there before it began. There was still a lot of preparation that she needed to do.


    Standing up from her position, Ye Jiao tested her ability to control Eon Energy. It was astonishing how she could easily control them even at the larger distance. Before, she would have a lot of problems when she tried it.


    ''It''s great!''


    After a few minutes testing here and there, Ye Jiao departed back to Bao Fu Organization Headquarter. She wanted to meet with her senior brother once again. After all, when they reached rank 3, she was sure that her master would give them another mission.


    The kind of mission that would make them vomit blood.


    Swish!


    The speed at which Ye Jiao could travel increased exponentially. Now, she didn''t have much trouble to reach the headquarters. In but a short time, she would be able to cross the distance from Chen Kingdom Capital City to the headquarters.


    It was extremely convenient.


    "Senior Brother Yu, are you here?"


    "Ai Jiao?" Lu Wan''s words were slurry. Apparently, he has been sleeping a lot after he had finished his research. Getting into the door, he opened it and saw Ye Jiao standing in front of him.


    "Good morning, Senior Brother Yu."


    "Good morning," Lu Wan yawned and got into the room again. His appearance was messy, but he didn''t really care about it. "Where have you been?"


    "I''ve just returned from Chen Kingdom Capital City."


    "Huh? What are you doing over there? I thought that there''s nothing that you need to do anymore," Lu Wan eyed his junior sister suspiciously. If she tried to enact her revenge once more and their master found out....


    "Uh¡­ I¡­"


    "Did you try to get your revenge?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao''s voice trailed at the end of her words. She was trying to avert her eyes from looking at Lu Wan.


    Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao suspiciously. "What did you do this time? Who''s having a bad time because of you?"


    "Wei Mi."


    "That arrogant girl? Did you kill her?"


    Ye Jiao shook her head. She hesitated for a bit before telling Lu Wan what she did with Wei Liao to Wei Family. After she had finished, Lu Wan was speechless. He knew very well the pain of someone who was used to being pampered all the time and praised all the time then they have to face the mockery and jeer from other people. It wouldn''t be easy.


    The mental torture was simply overwhelming.


    It was not even new to hear that someone might break down because of that. After all, not everyone would be able to stand on their ground facing them.


    "You''re quite ruthless, Jiao''er."


    "You can say that."


    "But they truly deserve it," Lu Wan shrugged. "Besides, if it''s me, I''ll do even worse than what you did to her."


    "What?"


    "I''ll disfigure her. I''m sure that I can make the perfect poison for that. Without talent and beauty, I''m sure that she won''t last long," Lu Wan smiled wickedly.


    Seeing the plan that Lu Wan had, Ye Jiao was stunned. She didn''t think that far because she only thought of making that girl feel despair. Now that he mentioned it, she realized that there was another thing that was worth a lot for a girl: her appearance.


    Wei Mi might not be the most beautiful lady, but she was certainly one of the rare beauties in Chen Kingdom. Without talent and beauty, it would surely hit that girl harder than what she had experienced now. However, Ye Jiao had completely forgotten about that aspect when she was planning her attack.


    "I didn''t think that far."


    "You''re still too soft, Jiao''er."


    Ye Jiao nearly laughed when her senior brother called her soft. In her opinion, she was not soft at all. Because of her scheme, the Wei Family has been in constant trouble for the past few months. She might not do everything directly by herself, but she had been affecting things little by little from a long time ago.


    Unfortunately, there hadn''t been any chance for her to attack the Imperial Family as of now. If only there was a chance, she would never let them off.


    "By the way, have you thought about your martial path and whether this will affect them?" Lu Wan recalled that their master had warned them about this in the past. Just like Ye Jiao, he also has his own grudge but never tried to make a move like her. He only ignored them and clashed occasionally.


    Now that Lu Wan mentioned it, Ye Jiao recalled that her master did ask her a long time ago. She never thought about it so much, but she knew that her heart wouldn''t feel at ease if she didn''t do anything to get back to the Wei Family. They had taken everything from her and gave her so much grievance, so she couldn''t just let them off without doing anything.


    "I don''t know."


    "Do you feel bad for making a move against them?"


    "Not at all."


    Lu Wan smiled. "Then you have your answer."


    Hearing his words, Ye Jiao was stunned for a moment. A smile broke out of her lips. Yeah, she didn''t feel regret for making a move against them because she was venting her grievances for what they did to her in the past.


    Becoming a martial artist didn''t mean that she would become a saint who would always forgive everyone. She couldn''t do that, not at the degree of what they had done to her. If she let them off, she knew that they would still chase after her. Even though she didn''t understand why, she realized fully that they would never tolerate her existences.


    It was to the point that either they died or she died.


    If she didn''t become ruthless and attacked them when she had the chance, they would surely try to find out her location and killed her. In a way, it was meant to protect herself.


    Because her heart understood this, Ye Jiao knew that she was feeling at ease. The supposedly contradictory paths before her intertwined because of their actions to her and her own decision.


    "Yeah, thank you very much, Senior Brother Lu."


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 250 Idiot Lu Wan

    "Yeah, thank you very much, Senior Brother Lu."


    Lu Wan waved his hand. "I didn''t do much."


    Even though he said that, Ye Jiao knew that she might not be able to realize it without his hint. Her eyes turned to the stack of medicines on the table. They were grinded into powder and there was a faint smell that seemed to attract her.


    "Senior Brother Lu, what are you making there?"


    "Oh? I''m testing a herb for another different one. Also, the herbs that you gave me before seem to have an interesting reaction when I combine it," Lu Wan replied. Ye Jiao gave him the herbs by leaving them in his room, so he only realized it after he woke up the next day as he didn''t pay much attention.


    "Really?"


    "Yes. I''ll give them to you after I complete it. It''s going to be a good poison to increase your poison resistance even further," Lu Wan pondered for a moment. "But it''s going to be extremely painful."


    Hearing his words, Ye Jiao knew that the kind of poison that her senior brother developed must be very dangerous. For him to say something like that, it could only mean that it must be extremely dangerous.


    "Have you tried it on yourself, Senior Brother Yu?"


    "Me? Of course I have. If I didn''t test it on myself, how can I know that it feels painful?" Lu Wan said with the tone as if it was just a given that he had to test the poison on himself first.


    Hearing his tone and voice, Ye Jiao truly wondered how Lu Wan hadn''t died yet because of his own poison so far. There were guides on poison, but in Four Kingdoms, their numbers were not many. Lu Wan usually experimented on himself to create many other types of poisons that were deadly.


    However, most of the combinations were only based on what he had read from books so far.


    "Will you give it to me and Senior Brother Shan to increase our poison resistance?"


    "Or course, I want you two to experience the same pa¡­ I mean, I want you two to grow stronger."


    Ye Jiao: "¡­" you just want us to feel pain like you, right?


    Both Qi Huan and Ye Jiao were not stupid enough to test on poison on themselves. Besides, they were not confident enough that they would be able to survive without the antidotes. But this idiot Lu Wan just loved to use himself as the testing machine.


    "Don''t you have beasts or can''t you catch beasts to test your poison?" Ye Jiao asked helplessly.


    "I have, but there are not many of them," Lu Wan replied. "It''s not that easy to catch beasts alive, so the most effective mode is to test on my body because I can also detect every change that occurred inside my body."


    "What if you get killed in the middle of your research?"


    "Don''t worry, I hadn''t even managed to create any powerful poison yet."


    Ye Jiao: "¡­" what if you had created them? Would it mean that you have died, then?


    However, Lu Wan was already busy looking at the test tube on his hand. It was as if the tube was very important. It was only a while later did he move it away.


    Ye Jiao rubbed her forehead. "I have the feeling that you''re just having fun with research everyday, Senior Brother Lu."


    "Not really, I didn''t neglect my practice," Lu Wan rolled his eyes. He stretched his body and looked at Ye Jiao. Now that he recalled his practice, he wondered how much stronger Ye Jiao had become. His gaze paused for a moment when he noticed the girl''s clear eyes and strong disposition.


    Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this.


    "Jiao''er¡­. Did you advance in rank?"


    "Ah, you noticed?" Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. "I thought the necklace would prevent anyone from seeing my rank."


    Lu Wan''s lips twitched when he thought about that special necklace that Ye Jiao always uses. What seeing her rank? He only had that inkling when he saw her disposition. It was faint, but it made him feel like he was looking at a master, someone stronger than him.


    And it was true.


    Her admittance just made him feel defeated. How long did it take for her to advance from rank 2 to rank 3? If he didn''t recall it wrongly, she had just advanced to rank 2 around a year ago, right?


    A year¡­


    She''s too quick, damn it!


    "Senior Brother Lu?" Ye Jiao tilted her head when she saw Lu Wan''s weird expression. Did she say something wrong?


    "What did you eat every day?"


    "Huh? Just normal meat and ordinary meals."


    "Then how in the world did you, akh. How did you get to rank 3 so fast? That shouldn''t be possible¡­."


    As her senior brother kept on muttering incoherent words, Ye Jiao''s lips twitched. She finally understood why her senior brother looked weird. It seemed that he couldn''t accept the fact that she had reached rank 3 so quickly.


    Now that she thought about it, Qi Huan has also reached rank 3, right? And it was not ''just reached'' because that young man has consolidated his strength further.


    "Are you alright, Senior Brother Lu?"


    Lu Wan glared at Ye Jiao. "Do you think I''ll be okay when I''m surrounded by monsters like you two? You''re going to be the death of me!"


    "Come on, you can reach rank 3 too if you practice more."


    "Damn it! I''m going to train again!"


    With that, Ye Jiao was kicked out of the boy''s room. He wanted to train more because he had just found out how quick it was for Ye Jiao to advance to rank 3. As her senior brother, he felt ashamed that he was too slow.


    They were told to stay in this place because Qi Huan and their Master would come in a few days.


    On the other hand, Ye Jiao spent the day consolidating her power in her room.


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 251 I can Understand

    Days passed quietly. It was only a few days later that she met Lu Wan again because Qi Huan had arrived. He was late because he had to take care of some family matters before he could possibly come here.


    "Senior Brother Lu, I''m coming in." Ye Jiao pushed the door open.


    "Ah, welcome back," Qi Huan smiled. He was sitting on the chair with Lu Wan crouching on the corner of the room. Apparently, he was sulking when he found out that Qi Huan also has reached rank 3. Not only that, this boy was already in the middle of rank 3, almost reaching the late stage.


    Eon Energy Master Rank 3 was divided into four ranks. First was early, which was the moment they reached that rank and slowly consolidated their power. Second was middle stage. At this stage, they would have much more Eon Energy and much better control. Also, it was commonly at this stage that Eon Energy Master Rank 3 was able to control their weapon well.


    The third one was late stage, which was the time when they had complete mastery of their control. At this stage, they would also start to learn their specialization for when they reached rank 4. The last one would be the peak. This was the highest stage and also the most powerful one below rank 4. Those at this rank only needed the realization of their martial path if they wanted to advance into rank 4.


    With the great disparity in their current strength, it was no wonder that Lu Wan was sulking. He was the oldest, yet he was also the slowest among the three of them.


    "Are you alright, Senior Brother Lu?"


    "How can I be alright when you two appear in front of me with that rank? I feel as if I''m a failure as a genius."


    Qi Huan flicked a glance to Lu Wan. "That''s because you''re never a genius."


    "YOU!"


    Clang!


    Seeing the two of them started to fight again, Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. At the very least, Senior Brother Qi was still holding back because if he didn''t, Lu Wan wouldn''t be able to last even one second against him. The amount of Eon Energy and the power that he could harness was already more than twice what Lu Wan had.


    It was truly a great gap.


    "You two, can''t you stay quiet for a second?" Zhan Jing''s voice traveled from the bathroom.


    Ye Jiao turned her head around and saw her master walked out with an annoyed expression. He turned to look in her direction as his eyebrow shot up. "And I have heard what you have done, Little Lass. That''s quite a ruckus in Chen Kingdom thanks to you."


    "Ah, I¡­"


    FLICK!


    Before Ye Jiao could speak up, Zhan Jing flicked her forehead. "Tsk, it seems that you couldn''t understand the meaning of staying low."


    "Sorry, Master."


    "You don''t look like you regret your decision."


    Ye Jiao pursed her lips. If she tried to act as if she regretted what she had done, she knew that it wouldn''t be the truth. She didn''t have the slightest bit of regret for doing what she had done. They wanted her life, so she would pay them back for what they had done to her and what they wanted to do.


    Seeing her expression, Zhan Jing sighed. He crouched down to reach the same height as the young girl and raised his arm.


    Ye Jiao closed her eyes as she thought that he wanted to hit her. She knew that she was reckless, but she was impatient and the chance might not come twice. Contrary to her expectation, her master''s hand reached her head and rubbed it slowly and tenderly.


    "M-Master?" Ye Jiao opened her eyes and looked at her master. The gaze that he had on his eyes was filled with a complicated expression.


    Zhan Jing continued to rub the young girl''s head. "Stay true to your heart and pursue your path, that''s the path of a martial artist. Your action is reckless, but I know that you have your own reason to do so. Just remember one thing, pursuing revenge solely will only lead to a circle of revenge with nothing good coming out of it."


    It was filled with hatred, grief, sadness, and also anger.


    Ye Jiao had seen for herself how her actions led to that particular circle, so she didn''t want to repeat that. Unless they aimed for her life, she would not kill just anyone because she understood, killing and killing again would only lead to a circle of revenge whereas the survivor stood back to reclaim what was theirs.


    In her heart, she knew that the last people she would chase would be the Imperial Family and also her fake mother. Even though she still didn''t know how to get close to the Imperial Family and find that woman, she would seek the truth. She wanted to know what had actually happened to her parents to make them hate her family so much.


    The bounty for her head was still out there.


    She slowly nodded her head. "I understand, Master."


    "Do not be blinded by hatred and revenge. The world is much more beautiful than that. There are more things that you can pursue as a martial artist," Zhan Jing lifted his hand.


    "Are you angry, Master?"


    ??Angry? No, I''m not angry, I''m just worried about you," Zhan Jing sighed. "But I can understand why you pick that decision. However, just remember that life is filled with a lot of color. You will surely see them more when you grow up."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. She knew that lives were not only filled with revenge. All this time, she never fully focused on that because she had fun with her senior brother and others. She also had her dream that she wished to fulfill. But surely, there would be many more things waiting for her as there would be broader paths in the future.


    "I understand, Master."


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 252 Their Decisions

    "That''s good," Zhan Jing turned his head to look at the other two. "The same applies to you two. Lu Wan, don''t be too focused on developing poison. You''re spending too much time on them."


    "Tsk, I''m researching, Master."


    "You still need to get out of the room and try to search for more things."


    Lu Wan clicked his tongue and averted his eyes. Even though that was what his master told him, he doubted that he would be able to do that. For him, the thing that he liked would be researching poison.


    He was already tired of making relationships with other people because of how fake they were. Staying holed up in his room would be the best for him.


    "Lu Wan," Zhan Jing''s voice grew stern.


    "I''ll see to it later."


    "You''re really a brat."


    Pursing his lips, Lu Wan refused to look at his master. He knew that it was important to build relationships with other people, but he also knew that it would be impossible to do so with the people around him. The moment they saw his green hair, they would surely recognize him and tried to bootlick him.


    It was disgusting.


    The moment he showed that he didn''t have that much worth, they would leave and abandoned him. Pointing their fingers at him for the mistake he never did, they just followed after the mass. In his eyes, spending time to befriend these people would be nothing more than a tiring job without reward.


    For him, it would be easier to just kill them with poison.


    However, he knew that it would be impossible to kill everyone around him. Not everyone would actively try to harm him, which he understood very well. There were also those who would care for him for who he truly was, like his senior brother and junior sister. However, right now, he couldn''t trust anyone but them.


    In Four Kingdoms, no one wouldn''t know him for he had made a name for himself during the competition. They might only know him as a young genius from Chen Kingdom, but it was already a lot for him. Some idiots would surely try to curry favor from him, especially when they noticed his green hair.


    "You''ll surely find more people who won''t see you for your status in the future," Zhan Jing repeated.


    Lu Wan passed a glance. "I would rather wait until I''m out of Four Kingdoms. At that time, no one will know me."


    "Indeed." Zhan Jing stared straight to Lu Wan''s eyes. Green hair might be rare, but in that world, he knew several people with green hair. It was the trait of a family that was quite influential in one of the kingdoms, but he was not entirely sure that Lu Wan had any relation with them.


    In any case, it didn''t really matter right now.


    Zhan Jing took out a book and handed it to Lu Wan. "I don''t have much knowledge regarding poison, but you should be able to do self study with this. There are a lot of poison''s formulas inside the book that you can study."


    "Really? You''re the best, Master!"


    Lu Wan''s eyes lit up when he saw the book in his Master''s hand. In any case, it meant that he didn''t need to fumble around some herbs that he didn''t know because the basic information didn''t include them.


    He extended his hand, but Zhan Jing raised his hand out of Lu Wan''s reach. Even though Lu Wan was already 14 years old, his height was still like that of a brat, which meant that he was unable to reach the book.


    "Master?"


    "Promise me that you''re going to learn how to communicate with more people and learn to associate yourself with others," Zhan Jing gave his order.


    Lu Wan''s face scrunched. "But Master¡­."


    "Promise me."


    "Master, you''re cheating." Lu Wan sulked. His eyes were still locked on the book that his master was holding, but the promise that his master wanted him to say was not something he could agree to right away. He didn''t really want to expand his friends'' circle in this kingdom.


    Zhan Jing sighed. "I won''t force you in Four Kingdoms, but once you''re out of Four Kingdoms, you should start to learn, understand?"


    "Yes."


    "I can''t hear you."


    "YES!"


    Zhan Jing held a satisfied smile as he handed the book to Lu Wan. The moment Lu Wan got hold of the book, he hugged it closely as if it was his dear friend. In front of him, Qi Huan and Ye Jiao couldn''t help but laugh.


    Lu Wan''s action was so funny!


    "Don''t laugh!" Lu Wan suddenly noticed the snicker on his two friends'' face.


    Ye Jiao grinned. "We''re just laughing. It has nothing to do with you."


    "Not if the target of your laugh is me!"


    Qi Huan also smiled. He looked at their Master. "But Master, we''re not doing anything wrong, right?"


    Zhan Jing didn''t know whether to laugh or cry when he saw the two disciples'' innocent expressions. He chose not to say anything as he looked at the other two. "The competition for the Academy at the north will start this Autumn. If you wish to participate this year, you have to go there before the designated time."


    It was still spring right now albeit nearing the end. There was still around three months left before autumn, which was more than enough time for them to get used to their new strength.


    Lu Wan raised his head. "Wait, you two are going to participate in the selection this year?"


    "Yes."


    "Yep."


    "Then what about me?" Lu Wan wanted to cry. He was lagging behind the two of them. Even though there was still around three months'' left, he doubted that he would be able to reach rank 3 in that short time span.


    The qualification to enter the selection was to reach Eon Energy Master Rank 3 ah.


    He was still rank 2.


    Right now, he really wanted to cry.


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 253 Sudden Mission

    Qi Huan and Ye Jiao looked at one another.


    They forgot about Lu Wan, but it didn''t mean that they would want compromise just because of him. They too were already impatient to leave Four Kingdoms because of various reasons.


    Staying here any longer was clearly out of the questions.


    "Don''t worry, I''m sure that you can reach rank 3 soon, Senior Brother Lu," Ye Jiao smiled encouragingly.


    "You just need to continue to train hard."


    Lu Wan''s lips twitched. He wanted to scream. ''It''s easy for you to say that because you already passed the requirement, but how about me?''


    However, he ended up closing his mouth because he knew that complaining wouldn''t help him to advance. One way or another, he had to find a way to help him advance faster to reach rank 3 or he would be left behind by his senior brother and junior sister.


    Qi Huan passed a glance to Lu Wan. "Maybe you would want to participate in the competition in Bao Fu Organization? I heard that there are some interesting rewards that can help you gain more Eon Energy."


    "Ah, right, the competition," Ye Jiao recalled that she heard about it just a few days ago. She has been so busy consolidating her power that she forgot to check on them again. Probably she would have the time to check after they have finished their discussion in this place.


    Lu Wan yawned. "I was told that it''s only held every several years and it''ll happen in around a week''s time from now. They''re going to pit the geniuses in the organization against one another to see who''s the best. Of course, they''re giving some generous rewards to those who managed to win first place."


    "What reward?"


    "They hadn''t leaked out the content, maybe soon."


    "Oh," Ye Jiao tilted her head. "How about the competition itself? What''ll be tested there?"


    "Assassination," Lu Wan turned his head to look at Ye Jiao weirdly. "What are you hoping from assassins'' organization????"


    "I mean the detail."


    "I don''t know. They''re not going to leak out the content before the designated time, but it should be an interesting competition," Lu Wan shrugged. Rather than competing, it would be better if he found a way to train more efficiently. He didn''t want to lag behind the other two.


    Qi Huan flicked his glance to their master. He smiled. "But it doesn''t seem that Master is going to let us participate."


    "Eh?"


    "Master?"


    The other two turned their head to look at Zhan Jing. Right now, there was a complicated expression on the man''s face. It was as if he was facing a difficult decision that could affect his life.


    Sensing the children''s gaze, he took out a scroll. "Here''s your next mission."


    "¡­"


    Master, did you just seriously give us another mission right now?


    They were just talking about participating in the competition and yet their master gave them another mission. Knowing their master, they have the feeling that they wouldn''t be able to finish it quickly because of how hard it was.


    Qi Huan took the scroll and unfurled it. He read the content before arching his eyebrows. "Master, are you serious?"


    "What''s the content?"


    "Let me see!"


    Target: Minister Wang in Chen Kingdom and his entire household (Eon Energy Master Rank 3)


    Minister Wang is one of the most powerful ministers in Chen Kingdom. He has reached rank 3 a long time ago and estimated to be at the peak but without any chance to reach rank 4. He has full control of...


    Note: There are already 10 groups dispatched with none of them returned. Based on the information they sent before their death, the governor has several guards with the strength of Eon Energy Master Rank 3, hundreds of Eon Energy Master Rank 2 and thousands of Eon Energy Master Rank 1. Most of them are soldiers because of his close relationship with the Imperial Family.


    As they read the description for the mission, the three of them became speechless. Did their master always have to pick the hardest mission for them to take? It felt as if he wished for them to die in the mission given by how he always increased the difficulties by several folds.


    "This Minister Wang is also a genius. He''s only twenty something this year," Qi Huan rubbed his forehead. It wouldn''t be easy to contend against someone who has more talent and power. After all, it meant they had to fight harder.


    "Right¡­"


    Lu Wan read the content once again as he felt that the name was awfully familiar. Wang was quite a common surname because there were several families with this surname in Chen Kingdom. However, this man felt particularly familiar for him as if he had met with him before.


    "Also, did assassinating his entire household means that we have to kill the servants too?" Qi Huan turned his head to look at their master.


    Zhan Jing nodded his head. "Yes."


    "Why is it the entire household and not just him?" Ye Jiao tilted her head.


    "That''s because the force that''s inside his house is quite dangerous. They''re seen as a threat to the Bao Fu Organization," Zhan Jing pointed to the scroll. "The secret soldiers of Chen Kingdom are located in that residence."


    The moment she heard that, Ye Jiao''s body froze momentarily. She looked at the scroll once more as her eyes glinted with ruthlessness. The reason why the imperial family has been so strong was because of their secret soldiers. If she could eliminate one of them, their power would weaken considerably.


    "Also, this family is quite famous for monopolizing the market," Zhan Jing added. "They''re always suppressing the lower merchants."


    "So this is a way to distribute the economy in Chen Kingdom," Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. He didn''t know much about Chen Kingdom, but he had heard some rumors here and there. "No wonder that this family gained a lot of hate in this kingdom."


    Minister.


    Merchant family.


    Lu Wan''s head seemed to ring a bell when he heard those phrases. He slowly turned his head to look at Zhan Jing. "Master, this minister is my sister''s fianc¨¦, right?"


    Zhan Jing returned the boy''s gaze as he nodded slowly. "Yes."


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 254 Sudden Mission 2

    Zhan Jing returned the boy''s gaze as he nodded slowly. "Yes."


    "I see," Lu Wan responded. His tone was flat as if he didn''t feel anything despite the clear ripple inside his eyes. He clearly remembered how much his sister bragged to everyone about her engagement. Back when he just got out of the training hall, his sister came to him, bragging at him while mocking.


    It was also the first time in his life he saw that kind of expression on his sister''s face. One that was filled with contempt and satisfaction. She looked as if she enjoyed seeing him annoyed and in pain.


    He never understood her, not that he wanted to. After what had happened, he just didn''t want to interact with her anymore. He wanted to keep the image of his cute and pure little sister in his mind and not the one who schemed and aimed to take his life.


    Ye Jiao looked at her senior brother. "Senior Brother Lu, are you not going to accept the mission?"


    "It''s fine if you don''t want to," Qi Huan shrugged. "We won''t force you."


    The two of them didn''t blatantly show their worry, but Lu Wan could sense it beneath the layer of what these two said to him. Seeing their expression, he knew that these two would want the best for him.


    As for not accepting the mission¡­


    "That''s not going to happen," Lu Wan smirked. "Do you really think that you two will be enough to face that many guards with just two people? If you really wish to kick me out, you have to do so by force."


    Ye Jiao clasped her fists, "That''s a good idea. I haven''t tested my power after I advanced into rank 3."


    "Wait, you''re not going to bully me, right?"


    "Why not? It sounds fun~!"


    The playful tone that Ye Jiao used made Lu Wan nearly vomited blood. He knew that she was not serious, but really, why did her expression have to be so eager? Please tell him that it was just an act, right?


    He truly couldn''t tell whether they were merely acting or they truly wished to beat him up.


    Thankfully, Lu Wan didn''t try to ask this to the two of them because the answer he got would surely make him want to vomit blood. The two of them would definitely readily answer. "BOTH!"


    Zhan Jing waved his hand. "Anyway, you can depart now."


    "Ah, now?"


    "Master, you''re kicking us out now?" Ye Jiao felt like crying. She had just reunited with her senior brothers and master again and now she had to depart for a mission. She hadn''t had enough time playing around with them.


    "Yes."


    "Master, you''re really harsh." Lu Wan''s lips twitched at his master''s immediate reply. He felt that their master no longer cared that much about them because he could just throw them out almost immediately.


    "Don''t waste my time."


    "Eh, Master?"


    The three of them looked up and they could see their Master was looking at them with a complex gaze. Both Qi Huan and Ye Jiao were better when analyzing people''s gaze, so they immediately realized that there was something different in the way their Master looked at them.


    Before they could try to probe deeper, Zhan Jing crossed his arm. "Make use of your time to train well. I hope that you can enter the academy in Autumn."


    "Master?"


    As soon as he finished speaking, Zhan Jing used his Eon Energy and literally threw them out of the headquarters. The three of them were thrown midair, so they have to somersaulted midair to make sure that they didn''t land on their butts on the ground.


    It was good that they were all proficient in battle and managed to maneuver their body midair properly as they landed on the ground properly.


    "Damn! Master sure is heartless," Lu Wan cursed. That was his room alright!


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "I guess, that just means we have to go and finish the mission that he gives us."


    Qi Huan didn''t reply right away. He was looking in the direction where the headquarters was located with a strange glint in his eyes. It was as if there was something that he wished to say yet he was unable to.


    That gaze Zhan Jing showed to them, even though it was only a split second had made him understood the complex intricacies behind the seemingly ordinary organization. If even someone who was so powerful like Zhan Jing couldn''t escape from the system, how powerful one should be in order to oppose this kind of organization?


    From Qi Huan''s estimation, even Eon Energy Master Rank 6 might not necessarily win.


    And for the three of them, Eon Energy Master Rank 6 was a very high figure that they wouldn''t be able to meet easily with their current status. It was also unknown how many years or even decades they needed to spend before they could possibly reach that rank.


    "Senior Brother Shan?"


    "Let''s go. We might need to finish the mission as fast as possible," Qi Huan returned back to his senses as he looked at the other two.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes glinted when she heard Qi Huan''s words. She had guessed that there was something that their Master wanted to hide based on his reaction just now, but she was not sure. It seemed that Qi Huan also came to the same conclusion as her.


    They needed to finish this sudden mission as fast as possible.


    Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. "Why do you wish for us to quickly finish the mission? It''s rare that Master didn''t impose a time limit for us."


    In his opinion, they should take their time and make proper planning before doing the mission. Their crazy master didn''t set any time limit this time, so he preferred to take everything slowly. Doing it so recklessly would only lead them to their death door. There was no need to hurry this time.


    Both Qi Huan and Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. As they expected, only Lu Wan didn''t realize anything was weird.


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 255 Returning Back to Chen Kingdom Capital City

    Considering Lu Wan''s IQ, they really shouldn''t expect him to know anything if it was not about poison.


    Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao as if to ask her to make up a reason on the spot.


    "Well, Master might still punish us if we''re not quick enough," Ye Jiao shrugged, making up a reason to urge her senior brother. "Did you forget our first group mission?"


    Recalling how their master actually wished for them to finish the mission quickly back then, Lu Wan groaned. The painful training that came afterwards was something that he wished to forget. If they had to undergo another training like that, it would be the end of him.


    "Then, what are you waiting for? Let''s go!"


    As Lu Wan immediately utilized his Eon Energy and departed, Ye Jiao sighed in relief. Thankfully, she was quick enough to think of a reason to dupe that slightly idiot senior brother of hers. She turned her head to look at Qi Huan. "Is there anything special about that competition in Bao Fu Organization?"


    "Why do you think so?"


    "Master''s reaction didn''t seem to be normal." Ye Jiao''s eyes flashed with doubt. She had seen how Zhan Jing seemed to be bothered with that competition. Even though she was not totally sure why, she could guess that there must be something wrong with that competition.


    Qi Huan nodded. His junior sister is far sharper than a certain idiot. "Yes, there''s something special about this competition."


    "And that is?"


    "There''s no clear news about it, but from the secret information I have gathered, it seems that there will be representatives of Bao Fu Organization from outside the Four Kingdoms that will come here. And those representatives are at least as strong as Master."


    Ye Jiao''s pupil contracted when she heard their strength. In the Four Kingdoms, those at rank 4 were extremely rare. However, this was not the case for those large and powerful kingdoms out there.


    Did their Master wish for them to not stay here because the representative would be someone that Zhan Jing knew?


    Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao. Actually, there was another piece of news that he found, but he was not totally sure about that. There was no confirmation whether it was true or not, and he hadn''t had the chance to find out more. Besides, what he thought inside his head was still nothing more than a conjecture.


    "Let''s ask Master after our mission."


    "Yeah." Qi Huan was not sure that they would be able to finish the mission so quickly, but they should do their best. The difficulties for the mission were a bit insane as they wouldn''t be able to contend against numerous Eon Energy Master Rank 3. Their own Eon Energy would deplete first.


    That was with considering how those people fought back.


    The two of them utilized their Eon Energy and soon caught up with Lu Wan. After a bit of urging and help, they managed to arrive in Chen Kingdom Capital City faster. Of course, Lu Wan was exhausted because of the journey.


    "You''re going to kill me if we have to travel that fast on our way back," Lu Wan said with a grieving tone.


    He was already dying because of them!


    "It''s not that bad," Ye Jiao laughed. "Besides, it''s good training for you, Senior Brother Yu."


    "Good training¡­." Lu Wan rolled his eyes at the phrase. If that was considered as good training, then what about the training that they had received so far?


    The three of them sneaked into the city using their acting. Even though both Lu Wan and Qi Huan disguised themselves, they could see that the guards seemed to be tenser than normal times. It was as if they were waiting for someone to come.


    "Do you think they''re still searching for you, Yu Shui?" Ye Jiao purposely used Lu Wan''s second name. She knew that it wouldn''t end well if someone uttered the name ''Lu Wan'' in this place. A lot of people were searching for that young man.


    Lu Wan frowned. "They shouldn''t be, right?"


    "Are you sure?"


    "Not really."


    Qi Huan shook his head. If they truly searched for Lu Wan, it just meant that the kingdom treasured Lu Wan much more than what he thought. Of course, the degree of that might be different from one person to another because not everyone knew the real story of Lu Wan''s relationship with the imperial family.


    "The one they look for is a young boy," Ye Jiao flicked her glance to Lu Wan. "Who else would it be if it''s not you, Senior Brother Yu?"


    "There might be another person that escaped."


    "¡­" no one would be foolish enough to escape from the imperial family when they didn''t have enough power like you.


    Ye Jiao shook her head. She pointed to the nearby inn. "Let''s start gathering information. I''m sure that minister is pretty famous."


    "You''re from Chen Kingdom yourself, don''t you?"


    "Did you forget my position?"


    Recalling how Ye Jiao spent most of her time hiding, Lu Wan decided to not think too much anymore. He knew that it would be impossible for this little girl to try searching for information when she was trying not to stand out too much. In this place, she barely did anything other than following after him.


    Qi Huan rubbed his forehead as he thought how these two had to be extra careful. The two of them were chased by some people in this city. If they were not careful enough, they would be captured and that would be the end of their lives.


    ''Master, why do you even send us back here?''


    Thinking of the scroll in his Spatial Ring, Qi Huan''s mind was filled with doubt. Their master wouldn''t want them to die in this place, right? However, if they had to do their mission while staying undercover like this, it wouldn''t be easy at all.


    Their vigilance has to be increased to another level.


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 256 Gathering Information 1

    Inside the inn, there were a lot of people talking. The atmosphere was warm and noisy as usual, but Ye Jiao and Qi Huan could detect the hidden animosity. It felt as if they were only forcing themselves to look friendly on the surface while actually hiding what they wanted.


    The people in the capital city were not in the same state as when they were before. They were trying their best to keep on a cheerful fa?ade while at the same time, not pushing the attention of the higher ups to them. They knew that their ending wouldn''t be good if they pried into the matter of the Imperial Family and other powerful families.


    They had to act as if they knew nothing.


    ''They''re so fake,'' Lu Wan sent sound transmission as he was trying his best to control his emotion. He felt like he would puke if he had to continue watching these people.


    Both Ye Jiao and Qi Huan could only smile bitterly. Even though they knew that the situation was truly bad, they also knew that they needed to keep up appearance to act as innocent children.


    They didn''t want to get into trouble.


    ''Ugh, I really wish I can¡­''


    ''Lu Wan, if you continue to speak like that, I don''t mind beating you up under the pretense that we have an argument.'' Qi Huan tapped the handle of his sword with a smile on his face. However, the content of what he said was nothing more than a threat.


    Lu Wan''s face turned pale as he quickly shut his mouth. He didn''t want to get beaten up in the middle of the street. What''s more, it would increase the chance of him getting found out by the Imperial Family.


    While Qi Huan managed to calm Lu Wan, Ye Jiao scanned the area and sighed internally.


    ''Master¡­. You should have known that the situation in this city is not peaceful, have you?''


    Ye Jiao could guess that people in this city were restless because of Lu Wan. After all, that boy has quite a good prospect with his talent, yet he disappeared like a smoke. Even if the Lu Family and Imperial Family hid the news, there might be still some hint here and there. After all, the number of guards around has increased by several folds.


    However, these people didn''t dare to discuss anything openly in fear that they would be treated as spies or even traitors.


    "Let''s order some food." Lu Wan pointed at the restaurant nearby. He was starting to feel suffocated under Qi Huan''s glare. If it was any more, he feared that there would be a hole in his head because Qi Huan was unable to keep his patience.


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows and nodded in agreement. Most inns have their own restaurant for their customers, so the three of them usually pick inns to eat rather than normal restaurants.


    In this place, it was easier to find more information.


    "Ok."


    "What do you want to eat?"


    The three of them seated and started to order some food. They decided to pick a lot of different types of meals such as soup, roasted duck, fried chicken, and many others.


    "Do you have to order salad?" Lu Wan''s face turned sour when the waiter left.


    Qi Huan crossed his arm. "Vegetables are good for health. Do not try to neglect them and just eat meat."


    Lu Wan clicked his tongue. "I prefer meat."


    "Then you have to eat more vegetables."


    "Are you deaf?"


    Ye Jiao tried to stifle her laugh and turned her head to the side. Some people''s eyes were looking at them. Apparently, it was not normal to see kids playing around without adults around.


    Well, considering that this was the capital city, it was indeed abnormal. The degree of danger in this city far exceeded other cities. Despite being the largest and most prosperous city, it was actually very dangerous.


    Seeing the people that were looking at them, Ye Jiao flashed a bright smile. Some people were stunned before they turned their head away in embarrassment. Ye Jiao had a cute and adorable face. That one smile instantly made them forget what they were thinking before.


    Some of them just thought that the children were going out while their parents were not far away.


    ''It''s better for now.''


    Children who could roam around alone without getting suspicious gazes could only be servants.


    ''But¡­. we can''t really become a servant so suddenly.''


    The only servant''s clothes they had would be those of the Lu Family. If they really wore them, some people from the Lu Family might come to interrogate them. It wouldn''t end so peacefully with the possibility of Lu Wan getting found out.


    Oh well, it would be better for her to begin her acting. The people there would be the start of her conversation topic this time.


    "Excuse me," Ye Jiao called a nearby servant.


    "Yes?"


    "Is there anything wrong with us? I can see that some people are looking in this direction," Ye Jiao pointed to the door blatantly, acting as if she was just a clueless little girl without much knowledge of the world.


    The servant peered over to the door. The men hurriedly turned their heads away when they realized that they made the children uncomfortable. He sighed internally when he saw their actions. The servant then turned his head back to Ye Jiao with a smile on his face.


    "I think they''re just curious since it''s rare to see three children wander around in town."


    "I see."


    Ye Jiao flicked her glance to Lu Wan and Qi Huan. They were already 14 and 13 years old respectively, but their builds were still not too big. She could understand why Lu Wan was still small as he must have ingested too much poison. However, shouldn''t Qi Huan look more like an adult?


    Uh, probably a young adult would be more suitable with his current build.


    Sigh¡­


    Children also had it hard here.


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 257 Gathering Information 2

    As for herself? Ye Jiao didn''t even want to think about it. She wouldn''t even feel surprised if there was someone who guessed that she might be still a little girl. Her build was pretty small for an 11 years old girl.


    "Are there any new rules from the government?" Ye Jiao changed the topic abruptly.


    The servant was stunned. "Why don''t you ask your parents to tell you, Little Girl?"


    "They won''t tell me," Ye Jiao pouted, acting as if she had suffered a grievance because her parents didn''t want to tell her.


    Seeing how cute she acted, the servant chuckled. It looked like she was truly a nice kid. "There''s nothing really new if it''s the rules, but they increase the number of guards around this area. I heard that there''s someone missing, so they want to find that person, no matter what."


    "Ah, is that person someone important?" Ye Jiao''s eyes widened as if she was surprised. Her adorable face just made it harder for the servant to stifle her amusement at the cute little girl.


    The servant shrugged. "I don''t know. No one even knows who''s missing. It''s just, some of us are feeling uncomfortable and always be suspicious of anything out of normal."


    "I see. Thank you very much!"


    "You''re welcome."


    As the servant walked away, Ye Jiao noticed that the other two were looking at her with a strange expression on their face. She smiled cheekily. "What? Is that the first time you see me asking around?"


    "No¡­"


    "I didn''t realize that you''re usually blunt in your search," Qi Huan added. "And you seem to be used to doing that."


    Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. How could she not get used to it when she continuously acts as an innocent and foolish young girl in her mission? She couldn''t count the number of times she picked this role because of how easy it was. No one would be that suspicious of a little girl that seemed to not know how the world worked. They also seemed to be giving her more information when she had this image because they thought of her as a harmless little girl.


    If they knew the truth, they might just want to go away as fast as possible from her.


    "That''s just how I usually do my mission."


    Lu Wan pursed his lips. "You''re getting much better than before. I can''t see you as the same girl who awkwardly made the excuse before."


    "On the other hand, you''re still very bad at it. The way you make the guards suspicious of you is very excellent, Brother Yu."


    "Tsk, don''t remind me of that."


    "I''ll continuously remind you of them until you learn how to act well, Brother Yu."


    Seeing Lu Wan''s face soured, Qi Huan tapped on the table. "Let''s finish eating and try to ask more questions. After this, we still need to survey the area before executing their plan."


    "Alright."


    "Got it."


    The three of them spoke in a low voice. In addition, they also created small barriers around their table to avoid people from listening in their conversation. This way, people could only see the three of them chatting but unable to hear what they were talking about.


    Their food arrived and they quickly ate as fast as they could. Occasionally, they would ask this and that to the servants around them or just eavesdrop on the people who ate around them. This way, they managed to earn quite a lot of information regarding the condition of the city and that minister.


    "They already set the wedding date for her and Lu Zhi," Ye Jiao''s face was strange when she uttered it out. From what she remembered, Lu Zhi should have just turned 14 not long ago or even not yet. Women were considered as an adult when they reached 15 of age.


    The marriage¡­ was pretty quick.


    Lu Wan yawned. "I can guess that she already made her move to make sure that they reached an agreement for the date. There''s no way this can possibly happen if it''s during normal times."


    "Make her move?"


    Qi Huan stood up and placed several silvers on the table. "I forgot to give you that education, Jiao''er. Let''s change places."


    "That education?"


    "I''ll tell you later." Qi Huan rubbed his forehead. He had completely forgotten to teach Ye Jiao about this. On the other hand, it seemed that Lu Wan had learned it by himself one way or another. He wouldn''t ask Lu Wan how he found out too.


    "Got it."


    They stood up and walked out of the inn. From behind them, several people were watching them intently, trying to find out more about them. Of course, they didn''t go undetected by these three.


    Trying to fool two Eon Energy Master Rank 3 with excellent sensing ability when they were just normal Eon Energy Master would be ridiculous.


    "Two people on the left."


    "Another one at the front," Qi Huan sighed. "Even after we paint our hair, it seems that our appearance is still suspicious."


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. "Let''s move to the alley and lose them in the market. They won''t be able to follow if we dive in the crowd."


    "Good idea."


    Lu Wan followed after the two of them with mixed feelings. Because he was too busy lately to do his experiment, he kind of forgot about his own training. As a result, he was unable to detect those people who followed after them.


    ''I''m starting to get left behind.''


    He thought that it was just their rank, but now that he saw how things were, he realized that it was not the case. He was not just lagging behind in terms of rank, but also skill and training. Sooner or later, the two of them would surely reach the height he was unable to follow anymore.


    ''I have to train.''


    Lu Wan didn''t want to get left behind. He had to train much harder and followed after their footsteps. If he didn''t, he knew that there would be no place for him in their world anymore.


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 258 They Found Ou

    "Let''s pick up our pace."


    "Got it."


    The three of them sprinted towards the crowd of people in the market. At that moment, they seemed to have disappeared into the crowd. With their skills and ability as an assassin, it would be easy for them to run faster. Besides, they could slip into the gap between the crowds, losing their pursuers that way.


    Their small build had become their advantage in this chasing game. The three of them slipped into the crowds. Some people looked at them, but paid no heed. It was not that unusual to see children running on the street. Many of them did the same when they were playing around.


    Of course, some areas were prohibited for children to play, but this place was not included because there were simply too many people around.


    In but a moment, the people who were pursuing them had lost them.


    "Where are they!"


    "Damn it! They''re quick!"


    "Those children are too cunning!"


    "I can''t see them anymore."


    After they lost their pursuers, the three of them entered a nearby alleyway. It was still afternoon, yet the alley was dark because of their location. The building nearby perfectly blocked the remaining light from the sun.


    "You''re not bad," Qi Huan turned his head to Lu Wan. "I thought that you would have lost your touch by now."


    "Are you telling me that I can''t work as an assassin just because I spend a long time researching poison?"


    "Well, that''s possible."


    Lu Wan glared. "As if!"


    Ye Jiao looked around. "I''m not that familiar with the alleyway in this place, but there should be a direct way to the minister''s residence from here, right?"


    "Yes."


    "Do you know the way?"


    "I know," Lu Wan pointed to the front. "That alley is connected to a street not far from his residence. There might be some people around because it''s a bit convenient."


    "Is it far?"


    "Not really, we should be able to reach it quickly."


    "Got it."


    Their current speed alone was enough to throw a lot of people on their back. Even though they have to turn left or right a few times, they only needed a few minutes to reach the designated street.


    "That''s his residence."


    "Did you come here often? You seem to be very familiar with the way," Qi Huan pointed to the street behind him.


    "You can say so," Lu Wan looked at the entrance. In the past, he wanted to find out just what kind of man his little sister fancied. Upon seeing him a few times, he understood that she didn''t like him as a person but rather because of his position.


    After all, there was no other reason as to why she aimed for him.


    He might say that he no longer cared for that girl at all, but there were times when he just couldn''t help it. He still felt worried for that girl''s behalf.


    "Let''s try to ask around."


    The three of them went their separate ways. Ye Jiao headed to the back, near the location of the back door. It was the place servants usually passed through, so she wanted to try her luck in finding them and asked some questions.


    Looking at the large residence, Ye Jiao was worried at what they might have to face here. The number of guards that patrolled the area already exceeded 100 even though she barely went in a circle.


    ''He must have a close relation with merchants or military people.''


    To be able to keep a lot of guards in this residence already showed how rich he was. After all, it was not easy to keep them all.


    Though she would not have any problem defeating them because of her rank, it was still not good news when the number reached hundreds or even thousands. She would never be able to defeat them all if that was the case. Her Eon Energy and stamina would be depleted first before they all died. At that time, she would lose or might even lose her life in the process.


    After making a few rounds, Ye Jiao returned back to the alley. She noticed that Qi Huan also had returned with a solemn expression.


    "Brother Shan, how''s it?" Ye Jiao chose the young man''s alias because she didn''t want anyone to know him. His surname alone would be enough to send a lot of people chasing after them because there was only one Qi Family in Four Kingdom.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "This place is basically a fortress with numerous guards around. It''s no wonder that no one manages to infiltrate this place successfully."


    "Well, if we use poison, it might be a different case," Ye Jiao smiled. She had seen some of the new poisons that Lu Wan developed. If she had to say, she would never want to touch them in her entire life.


    She still treasured her life!


    "Right, I almost forgot about him," Qi Huan laughed. "I guess this mission is the most suitable to make the full use of his poison. Also, we''ll gain the chance to see the prowess of the poison directly. Not bad at all."


    Seeing the wicked smile on Qi Huan''s face, Ye Jiao was speechless. She knew that he had some kind of liking when killing, but the transformation still surprised her at times because of how unexpected it was. No one would ever expect that the kind and amiable prince they saw everyday was actually a very wicked man.


    His appearance simply tricked them to believe that he''s a good man. At this thought, Ye Jiao silently nodded to herself. Her senior brother is truly cunning.


    Qi Huan passed a glance to Ye Jiao when he saw the gaze she used to look at him. "Are you thinking of something rude?"


    "No."


    "Really?"


    Ye Jiao refused to look at the young man as she stared at the street before them. Her eyes noticed Lu Wan walking towards their direction. It was at this time that a familiar face appeared from the intersection.


    The two youths stopped and looked at one another.


    "Brother Shan, I think we need to help Brother Yu," Ye Jiao''s body tensed up as her mind spun faster to think of what they should do.


    Qi Huan narrowed his eyes. He shook his head. "Don''t show yourself."


    "But¡­."


    "There''s nothing we can do if Lu Wan didn''t fight back. We can''t risk them knowing that Lu Wan has a connection to us," Qi Huan explained.


    Ye Jiao''s face turned grim, but she understood what Qi Huan meant perfectly. Right now, Lu Wan has the status as someone from the great scholar Lu Family. Being seen together with a bunch of children from unknown origins wouldn''t do them any good. Besides, there was no telling if the others would instead pick them as their target.


    At that time, they would also put their lives on the line.


    "Do you think he wants us to help him out?" Ye Jiao asked again. Her eyes were looking at the two youths worriedly.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "That''s his older brother. I don''t think that Lu Wan is going to fight back."


    "Huh? Isn''t his relationship with his brother not good?"


    "It''s indeed not good," Qi Huan said slowly. "But it''s a bit different from the normal enemies or friends'' relationship. At times, you should learn that not everything is just white and black. There''s grey in the middle of the two."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes a few times. Even though she always claimed herself as a grown up, her thinking processes were still simple. It has gradually grown, but there were still some traces of childishness that left inside her that she herself was unaware of.


    As she had begun to walk her path, she also needed to start learning about many things in this world. There were a lot of things that she had never known before.


    Slowly, she turned her head to look at the two youths once again. All she remembered from their relationship was when they clashed against one another. It looked to her as if they had a bad relationship as they were unable to stand each other''s presence. But from the way Qi Huan said it, she could guess that things were not that simple.


    There were still things that she didn''t know.


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 259 You Must Be Tired of Living 1

    "Lu Wan."


    The voice of a young man entered Lu Wan''s ear. Looking at the youth standing before him, he stopped on his track. Even though they rarely talked to one another, Lu Wan could never forget his own older brother. Their similar countenance was clear to the point that it was easy to recognize each other. Now that they had grown to be older, the similarities were easier to spot.


    ''Even when I''m disguising myself, he can still find me so easily.''


    Lu Wan crossed his arm. "What do you want, Brother?"


    The young man, Lu Su, looked at Lu Wan with a complicated gaze. For the past few months, everyone from the Lu Family has been overturning the city, trying to find this young boy. He didn''t think that during the time he went to check the stores, he would stumble across Lu Wan.


    "You broke your promise. I told you that you can only play for one hour," Lu Su''s tone was exceptionally calm. His eyes were looking back at Lu Wan with seriousness.


    Lu Wan frowned. He did recall asking Lu Su for permission to get out of the residence back in the past. It was just a way to allow him to sneak out of the city and not just stay in this rotten capital city.


    "I still don''t have enough."


    "You have been playing around for too long. Everyone is missing you."


    "Do they really miss me?"


    Lu Su didn''t reply. He was looking straight at his younger brother for a moment then continued, "You already miss so many things. Lu Zhi is going to get married soon, don''t you want to see it?"


    Lu Wan''s lips twitched. If it was in the past, he would really want to see his little sister getting married. But now¡­


    He didn''t have any interest to care about that girl anymore.


    "I don''t want to."


    Lu Su was looking at Lu Wan without trying to force the young boy. Even though the guards behind him were already restless since they basically didn''t manage to find Lu Wan all this time, they didn''t dare to overstep their bounds. The one in front of them was still the young master of Lu Family.


    If Lu Su didn''t order them anything, they wouldn''t do anything too.


    "Let''s return back."


    "What makes you think that I want to return back?"


    "Do you want me to force you or ask you nicely?"


    Lu Wan pursed his lips. Since when did Lu Su ever use force to make him follow what his brother wanted? He had long known that Lu Su would never attempt something like that. He was too fixated with rules and politics to resort that low.


    "Will you even do that?"


    "Come on, even though the guards didn''t recognize you, do you think that you can get out of the city?" Lu Su asked again, his eyes were still locked on Lu Wan.


    Lu Wan''s heart tightened when he heard Lu Su''s question. He did think that the city has become more crowded as of recently, but he thought it was just because of the new policy. Now that Lu Su mentioned it, he could guess that it must be because of his escape.


    No one has been allowed to get out of the capital city without thorough check. If that happened to him, would it be possible for him to get out unscathed?


    Lu Su noticed the change in Lu Wan''s expression as he extended his arm. "Are you going to come or not, Lu Wan?"


    "Are you seriously asking me?" Lu Wan could guess that if he decided not to come, this brother of his would seriously ask the guards to seize him. At that time, it would just create another commotion in the capital city and the news would surely reach the Imperial family. Chen Family wouldn''t hesitate at all to send reinforcements if it was necessary to take him.


    "I just want to know your decision."


    "Fine, let''s go home."


    Following behind his brother, Lu Wan didn''t utter any words. He silently followed after his brother. Looking at the familiar residence, he didn''t think too much as he entered through the door. His father, Lu Changqing, was standing near the door, already waiting for him.


    "I''m home," Lu Wan said in a low tone.


    Lu Changqing looked at him with his indifferent and cold expression. The moment the door was closed, he raised his hand.


    PLAK!


    "I give you freedom to do what you wish in this place, but you''re still this kingdom''s subject. Do not forget your position, Lu Wan."


    "Yes, I understand," Lu Wan replied without emotion.


    "What do you think you''re going to achieve by running away from home? Do you really think so little of Chen Kingdom?


    Think so little?


    Lu Wan raised his head, there was stubborn glare within his eyes when he looked at his father. There was not even the slightest bit of regret visible in his eyes.


    Seeing his stubbornness, Lu Changqing''s expression turned a bit colder. "You don''t even understand the repercussion from running away this time, Lu Wan?"


    "I understand."


    "No, you don''t."


    Lu Wan pursed his lips and looked back at his father. "What do you want me to do, then? Stay here until I die in this rotten place with no hope for anything?"


    "Lu Wan!"


    "I don''t want to stay in the residence all the time, Brother," Lu Wan said each word slowly to his brother. He was looking at his brother''s expression with clarity.


    Lu Su didn''t reply and sighed when he looked at his younger brother. There were so many things left unsaid in their family because it was simply so complicated. It would be much easier to just let nature did their work.


    The matter with his younger brother was precisely one of the things that they could never speak out loudly.


    The three men looked at one another as they stayed silent. It was as if they were communicating without words.


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 260 You Must Be Tired of Living 2

    After a long silence, the one who broke it was their father.


    Lu Changqing turned around. "Return back to your quarters."


    His father walked away again while Lu Wan stayed in his place. He only lifted his head after his father was already far enough. Passing a glance towards his older brother, he headed back to his own quarters. The place was well maintained by the servants, so he didn''t bother trying to make inquiries as he returned back to his room.


    Lu Su sighed at his brother''s attitude, but he didn''t say anything unnecessary. It was as if there were no words to describe the current situation at all.


    The servants were looking at one another. "Do you think Master will punish Young Master Lu Wan?"


    "Why would he punish him?"


    "But Young Master Lu Wan left for so long without even giving any news."


    "Well¡­" One of the servants looked in the direction where Lu Wan left. "He would be, at most grounded. Even if Master wants to punish him, he didn''t usually do it so blatantly."


    "But¡­"


    "That''s just how it is here."


    The servants looked at one another. They felt that Lu Wan was actually quite enviable at times. Even when he did something wrong, Lu Changqing never seriously punish him. He was left to do whatever he wanted with only being locked in his training room for some time.


    However, they also understood that it was not easy for Lu Wan to survive in this place.


    "Stop talking, get back to your work," one of the higher ranked servants ordered.


    "Yes, yes."


    "Sorry."


    From a distance away, Lu Su was watching the servants and shook his head. He could guess what kind of words would be coming out to the street as rumor. Heh, those people from the Imperial Family must be happy when they heard that Lu Wan was found.


    He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that nothing bad would happen.


    At this time, Lu Wan had returned back to his residence. His room was left as it was. The servants only cleaned up the dust in this room.


    ''What should I do now?''


    Lu Wan laid down on his bed as his mind spun hard. From the way Lu Su talked before, he knew that they would never let anyone with similar or bigger built than him get out of the city. Both Ye Jiao and Qi Huan were still smaller, but they had another reason why they couldn''t be inspected completely:


    They were both Eon Energy Master Rank 3.


    If someone found out that there were two teenagers at the age of 11 and 13 years olds were already Eon Energy Master Rank 3, it would be a disaster. After all, he was sure that the one who would check the people who came out or in would be either Wei Shang or Lu Changqing.


    Both of them were Eon Energy Master Rank 4, so it would be easy for them to find that out.


    ''If I stay here, they can get out but I can''t. Maybe, I can just sneak out when it''s already night time and tell them to do the mission without me? After that, I''ll sneak out after they have finished.''


    Lu Wan was still contemplating when a servant knocked on his door.


    "Young Master, Young Miss Lu Zhi is here to see you."


    "What does she want?"


    "She wants to have a talk with you, Young Master."


    Sitting on his bed, Lu Wan sighed. He walked to the door and opened it, revealing a small servant who was afraid of him. Ignoring that person, he walked out of his house and saw his sister sitting on his courtyard.


    Lu Zhi was wearing a long brocade white dress. With her elegant posture and also beautiful face, it should be said that no men would be able to look away. Her rosy lips and charming eyes would be more than enough to enrapture them.


    "It''s rare to see you come and visit me, Lu Zhi," Lu Wan said emotionlessly.


    Lu Zhi flashed a smile to her brother. It was so beautiful that one wouldn''t be able to look away. Many servants were already entranced when they saw her graceful smile.


    "Brother Lu Wan."


    "What do you want?"


    In contrast to the tender voice of the young girl, Lu Wan didn''t pay any heed to her fake act. He had seen them numerous times in the past to the point that he got sick of it. Other people might fall for her because of her beautiful appearance and graceful action that made one feel like it was too bad if they couldn''t touch her. But it was different with him.


    He didn''t have any interest in this little brat in front of him.


    "I heard that Brother came back, so I decided to come and visit." Lu Zhi smiled. "It''s almost the time for my marriage and I want to share this happy news to you."


    "I see. Congratulations." Lu Wan''s voice was still emotionless. He didn''t want to care for this young girl at all.


    Lu Zhi pursed her lips. "Why are you so cold, Brother Lu Wan? Aren''t you happy for me?"


    "I am happy. At least, it means that you won''t come and bother me anymore," Lu Wan replied nonchalantly.


    For a moment, Lu Zhi''s eyes flashed with coldness. The word that Lu Wan uttered was only telling her that he didn''t want her to be here. There was no longer any trace of care that Lu Wan used to show her every single day.


    Lu Zhi pushed back the matter into her heart and picked up a bowl filled with soup that she placed on the table.


    "Brother Lu Wan, how about a soup as a way to be friends again? I don''t want to be in constant clash with you," Lu Zhi said while biting her lower lips, picturing her as the white lotus that has been bullied constantly. If one didn''t know better, they might think that Lu Zhi has been wronged so horribly.


    Even now, the servants were already glaring at Lu Wan secretly. If it was not for the fact that Lu Wan has an important place in this residence, they would surely dare to pick a fight directly. Unfortunately, they still treasured their lives, so they only did it secretly.


    Lu Wan eyed the bowl that Lu Zhi held. With his keen sense, it was easy for him to detect that the soup had been tampered. The familiar smell of herbs and also their diversity entered his mind. He could easily name the herbs that were mixed into this bowl of soup even without the need to taste it.


    He sneered internally.


    ''Trying to poison a poison master, you must be tired of living, Lu Zhi!''


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 261 You Can’t Turn Back Time 1

    "Brother Lu Wan?" Lu Zhi still held the bowl with a confused expression on her face. She didn''t understand why Lu Wan was only looking at her with that indifferent look. Did her face no longer move him?


    Little did she know that Lu Wan never had any interest in her face. Even from back then, he only cared for her because of their similar situation as children from concubines born. They had low status in the family and were unable to have a fulfilling life, so he cared for her because of her fairer gender.


    But his care was wasted on someone like her, who didn''t even care for those around her.


    "I''m not thirsty," Lu Wan said coldly. If he was still his foolish self from back then, he would surely take Lu Zhi''s words for granted and drank the soup. At that time, he knew that he would be dead.


    The poison inside the soup would cripple him for life!


    He had detected the poison it contained, so he knew that it would corrode his body and destroyed his meridian. The worst way to destroy someone''s life was not by destroying their core, but by destroying their meridian. Without the meridian to support the flow of Eon Energy in their body, they would be a cripple for life with no chance to make a comeback.


    Who knew what kind of miracle medicine would be needed to heal a broken meridian?


    However, destroying meridians were far harder than destroying one''s core because it can only be done with poison. If it was done directly, they would need to pinpoint the exact location, which might not be easy for an ordinary Eon Energy Master.


    Lu Wan had been researching poisons for a long time, but there were some types of poisons that he never dared to test on himself. He could only let himself take the weaker and smaller dose in order to build his immunity. However, there was a certain limit that he didn''t dare to break.


    Because it would mean that he would die.


    He was not stupid enough to kill himself with his own poison.


    "But, I really want to make peace with you, Brother," Lu Zhi said again with a pained smile on her face. It made one felt pity for her as if she was trying to plead for her life.


    Lu Wan sighed. He truly felt tired with his little sister right now. Never in his life he thought that this little girl would have this wicked mind. If only he could turn back time, he would surely warn his younger self to never get close with this girl. She would only bring him pain.


    "If you really want me to drink it, you should drink it yourself."


    "Eh?" Lu Zhi''s face paled. She didn''t have the antidote for the poison, so she knew that she would surely be a cripple if she drank it. After a long time of working, she had just managed to form her core, so she definitely didn''t want to lose it.


    "I prepare this soup for you, Brother. How can I drink it?"


    "Oh, really? Why not?" Lu Wan crossed his arms.


    "That''s because this soup is specifically prepared for Brother. How can I dare to drink something that''s prepared for you?"


    Lu Wan truly wondered how Lu Zhi could be so thick-skinned as to say something like that. Looking at the bowl of soup that contained poison, he sighed internally. How many people fall for the same trap that Lu Zhi had set like this?


    If they drank this, their life as a martial artist would be over.


    He scowled and started to speak again, "You speak as if you just want to harm me through this soup."


    "H-how is that possible?" Lu Zhi''s face turned white in fear as she tried to laugh it off. "I would never do something like that to you."


    "Is that so? Then drink the soup."


    Lu Zhi tried to maintain her composure as she shook her head. "If Brother doesn''t want to make peace with me, you should just say it. I''ll not force you, Brother."


    Seeing that she retreated while slandering him, Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. He might not care too much about his reputation because it didn''t really matter for him, but it didn''t mean that he would want to be taken advantage of.


    Did this Lu Zhi think he was the same as those women who cared much about their reputation? The way Lu Zhi handled him through talking in a roundabout way just made him feel utter disgust and fury.


    With a swing of his hand, Eon Energy came out of his body and shook the bowl on Lu Zhi''s hand. With her pitiful strength, there would be no way she could stay calm under the sudden attack that Lu Wan gave to her.


    "Young Miss!" The guards were alarmed and tried to help.


    At that moment, Lu Wan summoned his sword and swung it against them. With just one attack, numerous guards fell onto the ground. Blood splattered all around as their bodies were cut into two.


    Splash!


    "KYAAAAAAA!"


    The soup in the bowl splashed on Lu Zhi''s face. Despite her attempt to stabilize it, Lu Wan only needed to use his Eon Energy to splash it directly towards the girl''s face. He knew the content of the poison, so he knew that even touching it would corrode someone''s skin.


    It was aimed to destroy one''s body and meridian. If it touched one''s skin, the effect would be also similar. It would destroy the skin and corrode it until nothing was left.


    Since she wanted to take the most precious thing from him, he would do the same to her.


    Aren''t women always treasure their face? Since Lu Zhi was someone who didn''t have much talent in martial arts, the only thing she could rely on her life was her face and her beauty that far exceeded many other people in the four kingdoms.


    "AAAAAAAAAAA!"


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 262 You Can’t Turn Back Time 2

    *Warning: The next scene will be a bit gore. If you can''t stand the description, you might want to skip the chapter. It''ll be better if you''re above 13 years of age. Read at your own risk.*


    ---


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


    Lu Zhi screamed as she held onto her face. Scrambling to the side, she bent down near a bucket and directly splashed water onto her face. Her heart was in panic because she knew what effect the poison had on one''s skin.


    If one drank it, their body would be corroded.


    If one touched it, their skin would be corroded.


    Splash! Splash!


    "Hiiii!"


    The moment Lu Zhi looked up from the water bucket, the servant nearby screamed in horror. Right now, Lu Zhi''s face looked extremely horrible. They could see part of her cheek was red with dark lines across it in an uneven manner. The bone on her nose was visible while her lips were gone. One of her eyes was visible without anything around it, showing its round shape.


    The bloodied bones were visible as the surface was red in color. There was faint dark skin etched to her bones, hanging close along with the destroyed layer of skin.


    There was no blood flow, but the corrosion of her face directly destroyed her face. There would be no way to recover it without a suitable medicine. Even then, the degree of the change in her face would surely require a lot of money. How could she survive until then with this kind of face?


    Looking at her own reflection, Lu Zhi felt her heart dropped to the bottomless abyss.


    "No¡­ no¡­NOOOOOOOOOOOO" Lu Zhi screamed as she cried in despair.


    On the back, Lu Wan watched Lu Zhi cry emotionlessly. If this girl didn''t try to kill him today, he would never bother with her anymore. But since she did, then he would not be polite. There was not even the slightest trace of pity on his expression.


    For a woman like her, there was no need for pity. She was only someone who didn''t have a sense of gratitude.


    "What is this commotion?" Lu Changqing walked into the quarter with a dark look.


    "DAD! H-HE TRIED TO KILL ME!" Lu Zhi screamed. Her hands were covering her face that has turned ugly. It was so bad that she herself wanted to puke.


    Lu Wan passed a glance to Lu Zhi. "Are you really telling me that when you prepare the soup for me to drink?"


    From behind Lu Changqing, Lu Su walked forward. He looked at the young boy in front of him. "Lu Wan, are you telling the truth?"


    "What do you think?" Lu Wan looked at Lu Su with an expressionless face.


    "Dad, HE''S LYING! I''m not the one who did it!" Lu Zhi screamed again. "HE''S THE ONE WHO WANTS TO KILL ME!"


    Lu Wan just pursed his lips without the intention to reply anymore. He merely looked back at his father and brother, who were looking at the two of them with a complicated look.


    Lu Changqing waved his hand. "Call a doctor and escort Lu Zhi back to her room. No one shall say any word regarding this matter."


    "Dad?" Lu Zhi was surprised. "DAD! YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME! HE-HE-HE''S TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU¡­.LET ME GO!"


    Lu Wan watched quietly as Lu Zhi was dragged away by the servants. His eyes were looking at his father as if he had guessed that it would turn this way. "I can see that you never place much importance in me, Father. Even when someone wants to kill me, you expect me to stay silent, don''t you?"


    "Lu Wan¡­"


    "Don''t say that you didn''t," Lu Wan cut off his father. For the first time, he dared to so as he always only said that he understood in front of his father. His eyes were looking back at his father fervently. "Am I truly your son, Father?"


    Lu Changqing looked back at Lu Wan. "Yes, you''re my son."


    "But you never want me, don''t you?"


    This time, Lu Changqing didn''t reply. He merely looked back at Lu Wan with an indifferent expression.


    The situation was tense as neither side was talking. It was as if there was a silent battle between the two of them. In the end, Lu Wan turned away his head.


    "There''s no need to think about the promise anymore. I''m going to leave this residence. You don''t have to care for me anymore."


    "The street is not safe, Lu Wan," Lu Su tried to stop the young man.


    Lu Wan looked at his brother. "Do you think it''ll be safer if I stay in this residence, Brother? It''ll be better if I just roam on the street rather than staying here where I know that there are a lot of people who want my life."


    Lu Wan started to walk unhurriedly. He didn''t have any plan on staying in this residence anymore. Even if it might be a reckless move, he no longer wanted to stay here. The future problems that would follow would need a different approach. He might need his senior brother and junior sister''s help for them.


    "Lu Wan," Lu Su called out when the boy walked past by him. "Take care of yourself."


    "Yeah," Lu Wan replied curtly.


    There were no other words uttered anymore as Lu Wan walked out of the residence. All along, Lu Changqing stayed in his place without moving at all. He only spoke out when the boy had left.


    "Call the imperial Family."


    "Master?"


    "Tell them that I will no longer interfere with Lu Wan''s matter. He no longer has any relation with our family, and they''re free to do as they wish. Whatever happens to him will no longer concern me."


    As soon as he finished giving instruction, Lu Changqing walked away heading towards his office. Behind him, Lu Su merely looked at his father''s departing back. He looked back at his own hand and sighed.


    "What''s my schedule for today?"


    "Young Master, today there''s¡­"


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 263 Massacre 1

    Lu Wan walked out of his residence and directly headed to the alleyway near the minister''s residence. He didn''t know where the other two went after they went their separate ways, so he decided to try searching on the place where he last saw them.


    Swish!


    A blade stopped in front of his neck. Lu Wan frowned. "It seems that you have picked up a weird habit, Jiao''er."


    If he was not wrong, Ye Jiao didn''t usually raise her dagger first when they were still busy with missions back then. She would usually make sure whether the one who came was enemy or friend first. He was also the same, though.


    Ye Jiao grinned. "I have to make sure that the one who comes is not the enemy. Anyway, it''s not bad to stay vigilant."


    Lu Wan rubbed his forehead as he thought to himself who was the idiot that taught Ye Jiao those matters. This little girl also has become so quick that he was unable to respond in time. If she didn''t recognize him, he would be dead in her hands. Thinking about it, Lu Wan shudders internally.


    Getting killed by his own junior sister, how embarrassing would that be?


    ''Tsk, I have to work harder.''


    "Are you sure that you''ll be able to stop in time when you realize that the one in front of you is not an enemy?" Lu Wan asked again.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Of course."


    "Really?"


    "You seem to have such a low faith on me, Senior Brother Yu."


    Lu Wan shrugged at that answer. He really wanted to say that he had the confidence, but he knew that it would be hard to recognize the one who came in just a split second like that. This was why he was afraid that if he was not quick enough, he would die.


    Looking at the doubt on Lu Wan''s face, Ye Jiao got the urge to smack her senior brother again. She never aimed to kill him when she directed her attack towards him and only for the threatening purpose. From the very start, she had planned to stop just a bit away from him. Because of this reason, she was confident that she would be able to do just fine.


    Before the two of them could start talking again, Qi Huan arrived.


    "How''s the matter in your family?" Qi Huan asked as he walked over. His expression was peaceful, but there was a sharp glint hidden in his eyes.


    Lu Wan shrugged. "You know, just a bit of a problem here and there. I cut off my relationship with them just now, so I''m no longer part of the Lu Family."


    "Are you going to take your mother''s surname?"


    "Nah, I''ll just use this surname," Lu Wan waved his hand. He didn''t want to bother changing his surname because it would only make things more complicated. "But since I choose to separate myself from the Lu Family, I guess they''re going to let the Imperial Family chase after me."


    Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows. "Do you mean they''ll want you to utter the oath of loyalty?"


    "Yep."


    "And the reason they hadn''t so far is because you have an agreement with your family?"


    Lu Wan nodded his head. "You can say it like that. I make a certain promise with them, and they''ll protect me as long as I keep my promise. But seeing how many people seem to aim for my life even there, I decide to just walk away and cut off my relationship with them."


    "Are you an idiot?"


    "Wh-?!"


    Qi Huan raised his hand and nearly smacked Lu Wan''s head. The boy managed to escape, but Qi Huan tackled him in the next second, sending him to the ground. As Lu Wan struggled to get up, Qi Huan held his hand firmly, his blue eyes were looking towards Lu Wan angrily.


    "You-! What''s your problem?"


    "Haven''t you thought that you''re going to be alright as long as you''re in Lu Family? The guards were pulled back when you returned back to the Lu Family because the Imperial Family trusted them. Now that you separate yourself from your family, don''t you think that the Imperial Family would start making a move now?"


    "T-th-"


    "Also, how do you think they''ll respond once they heard from the Lu Family that you have cut off your relationship with them? Doing it now will only prevent you from getting away from the capital city! You won''t have any chance to get out from here, I D I O T!" Qi Huan made sure that he spelled the last word slowly to engrave them in the brain of this boy in front of him.


    If it was him, he would never make the decision so recklessly and made sure that he had prepared a way out for himself. Doing it like this would be the same as courting death. At the same time, Lu Wan had just invited trouble for the two of them too. Did he think that they would be able to do their mission and get out safely easily like this?


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "We''ll just think for a way to get him out of the city. There must be another way."


    "You seem to be very patient with him."


    "This is not the first time," Ye Jiao explained in one sentence. During her mission, there were countless times she wished to smack Lu Wan because of his idiocy. However, no matter what situation they were in, there would be a way out. She often thought to herself that her senior brother must be very lucky.


    She felt that it was a bit unfair, though. How come the idiot was very lucky?


    Did it mean one had to be an idiot to become lucky?


    At that thought, both Ye Jiao and Qi Huan sighed.


    Qi Huan slowly stood up, releasing his grip from Lu Wan. Even though his eyes still showed his displeasure, the anger had more or less subsided. "So, are you going to participate?"


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 264 Massacre 2

    "What do you think?" Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "Tell me what I should do. I will surely do a good job."


    Qi Huan could sense that there was no longer any trace of hesitation in Lu Wan''s tone. Previously, Lu Wan was unwilling to turn his sister into a widow even before marriage. But now, he didn''t care anymore. That little brat named Lu Zhi wasn''t worth it in his eyes.


    He took out a paper. "This is our route for attacking the residence. The two of us already spread the poison on the guards'' clothes not long ago. In mere hours, they''re all going to sleep if they have inhaled enough."


    Lu Wan was stunned. "You already planned to make a move tonight?"


    "Yep," Ye Jiao grinned. "Once we have finished, we plan on visiting the Lu Family Residence to get you out and then storm out of the city. However, we''ll need to change the plan a bit."


    "Let''s just hope that they won''t lock down the city before we finished doing our work," Qi Huan said somberly. If that happened, they would never be able to get Lu Wan out of this city. There might be some other way, but it wouldn''t be easy.


    "Alright, here''s your part if you participate. You have to head¡­."


    The two of them briefed Lu Wan about their plan and the route they had to take. After getting everything ready, all they waited for was for the sky to darken completely. With the night as their friend, they slipped into the residence.


    Soon, it was night time.


    Ye Jiao made her way to the place once she noticed that many of the guards were sleepy. Their awareness has dropped to extremely low as they barely did their job. The poison powder that she and Qi Huan spread in the evening seemed to work well. She quickly moved deeper into the residence.


    "!"


    Slash!


    A guard was still wide awake, so Ye Jiao directly killed him. She frowned slightly, wondering why the poison didn''t affect him. Probably, some people had some resistance.


    She needed to be more careful


    Traveling into the residence, she started to encounter more guards. Some of them were still alert, but most of them were unable to see well. They only saw blur and before they knew it, they had fallen to the ground.


    "He-!"


    "A-!"


    Before they could utter even a word, Ye Jiao killed each of them swiftly and precisely. Her dagger danced under the moonlight as she continued to travel in the residence, searching for the minister. Smell of blood started to soak the residence.


    On that quiet night, Ye Jiao continued to do her work.


    Clang!


    The sound of metal clashing made Ye Jiao paused in her steps. Her eyes darted around before it locked to one direction where the sound came from. From the direction, it should be the location where the inner part of the mansion was located. Ye Jiao''s mind quickly recalled the experts that the mission stated.


    In the next second, she dashed there.


    Clang! Clang!


    As the sounds turned louder, Ye Jiao sped up her pace. Upon arriving in the scene, she could see Lu Wan fighting against the minister. She was astonished to see her senior brother managed to arrive faster, but her body didn''t give her time to relax. She quickly rushed forward to begin her attack.


    "Dodge!" Ye Jiao yelled.


    At this time, Lu Wan rolled to the side as the blade bypassed him. The minister frowned and changed the trajectory of his sword towards Ye Jiao.


    Clang!


    The two blades clashed against one another. Ye Jiao jumped to the back with her dagger in her hand. Her tiny arm was trembling slightly because of the force, but she stabilized it in the next second. Without hesitation, Ye Jiao dashed forward and started another barrage of attacks along with Lu Wan on the other side.


    "Master?" A guard appeared from the side and yelled in panic. He was about to call for help but Lu Wan immediately killed him by controlling his chain and blade.


    Thud!


    The head of the guard fell on the ground before he could speak any other sentence. The guard''s eyes were glaring as if it was resentful by the sudden ending he received.


    After he had finished taking care of the guard, Lu Wan jerked his hand and the chain immediately directed the blade towards the minister once more. With Ye Jiao keeping him busy, Lu Wan took the chance to find an opening to land a wound on the minister''s body.


    Slash!


    "You! Who are you?" the minister roared in anger.


    "We''re just an assassin," Lu Wan replied in an indifferent tone. It was at this moment Qi Huan appeared from the other side of the room. The young man directly headed to the minister.


    Clang! Clang! Slash!


    The minister was unable to block the attack from three people as Qi Huan''s blade reached his back. In the next second, it was followed by the other two blades which took his life in just a few seconds.


    "It''s easier than what I thought," Lu Wan commented.


    Qi Huan passed him a look as he swung his sword to cut off the minister''s head. "How in the world did you arrive that fast?"


    "This room is located near the back entrance," Lu Wan pointed to the back. "Let''s go back."


    "Wait, we need to write the word."


    "Oh, right."


    Qi Huan took out a brush and dipped it into the minister''s blood. He wrote the word ''Bao Fu'' on the ground near the minister, making sure that there was enough distance between his writing and the man''s blood.


    "Let''s go and finish off the other people in this residence."


    "Right."


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    That night, the entire residence turned into a bloodbath as every single living form in that place was killed.


    Yet, no one realized it as everything happened quietly without any noise whatsoever.


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 265 Who’s More Ruthless?

    "I feel like I''m massacring rather than assassinating," Lu Wan commented as he climbed over the wall and jumped off it.


    Ye Jiao shook her head. "It feels that way because most of them are no longer in any state to fight. Though, I have to say that I''m surprised by the number of guards they have in this residence."


    The other two had to agree with Ye Jiao''s words. The number of guards were simply too many. To be able to train them all shouldn''t have been easy. Even though most of them were only Eon Energy Master Rank 1, it was still a remarkable achievement to gather them all inside this one place.


    It was truly unfortunate that this minister met them and their master. Because of the mission given to Bao Fu Organization, everyone had to die.


    "Right, is your sister going to be sad that her future husband had died?" Qi Huan turned to look at Lu Wan as the three of them dashed in the alleyway.


    Lu Wan shook his head. "Even if he didn''t die, she won''t marry him."


    "Why?"


    "How can you be so sure?"


    "She wouldn''t even dare to walk out with that kind of appearance," For a split second, Lu Wan''s eyes glinted with ruthlessness. He didn''t feel any regret from doing what he had done before. "I''m sure that she''ll just prioritize finding a good medicine to cure her face rather than finding a husband."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes a few times at Lu Wan''s remark. Did it mean¡­ he disfigured her?


    She had just learned from this young man that one of the most important things from a woman was their face. Now, he had practically destroyed his sister''s face? She had just realized that her senior brother was truly extraordinary.


    Lu Wan passed a look to Ye Jiao. "I''m just giving her what she deserves."


    "I know."


    "You should have just destroyed her martial arts too," Qi Huan shook his head in disagreement. "If she becomes strong in the future, you''re the one who will be in trouble because of her retaliation."


    He had heard about Lu Zhi too from Lu Wan and from some other sources. When comparing with her two brothers, it could be said that Lu Zhi''s talent was extremely poor to the point that people would even wonder how someone like her could possibly be born in a talented family like Lu Family.


    But then again, there were always various types of talents inherited. Lu Zhi must have inherited the talent of her mother, who was known to be quite poor. After all, that woman only had beauty and attracted even the immovable Lu Family Head that was known to only have rules in his head that he recited every single day.


    The recited part was only rumor, but many believed it because they had seen how stuck up he was.


    However, Qi Huan understood that even though Lu Zhi couldn''t reach that high in her path as a martial artist, she might be able to gain some unexpected treasure. At that time, there might be a chance for her to grow even more powerful and possibly return back what she had received to Lu Wan.


    Rather than letting her get the chance to return back, Qi Huan felt that he should have just destroyed Lu Zhi''s path until there was not even a chance to recover. That way, she would never have the chance to catch up with him in her entire lifetime even if she was still alive.


    "Is that so?" Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. His eyes flashed with ruthlessness. "If she dares to come at me again, I''ll surely welcome her with wide arms. Let us see who will stand at the top."


    Listening to Lu Wan''s words, Ye Jiao knew that he must hate his sister very much. For the usual playful and idiotic Lu Wan to utter serious words was be rare. Whatever she did to him must be very unforgivable. What she knew was the fact that Lu Zhi had schemed to take Lu Wan''s life. Probably, she had done it again.


    One time, he could let her go. But if she repeated it for the second time, wouldn''t that mean there would be the third time should she fail? There might be a second chance, but there would be no third chance.


    Some people would ask for a mile when given an inch.


    The same applied for hatred and revenge. They would not stop until they achieved their goal even if they knew that the path was not easy.


    "Let''s just hope that it''ll never happen."


    "What? Do you really think that a trash can become an expert?" Lu Wan looked at Qi Huan with a confused expression. "It''s not like everyone you meet can become an expert in the future, you know."


    "I know," Qi Huan said ever so calmly. The confidence that Lu Wan had was good because it meant that he was confident in his path. But at times, it was also showing his foolishness for not thinking that far ahead.


    If it was him, Qi Huan would never let his enemies stay alive because he didn''t want to face troubles in the future.


    However, his eyes flashed with a strange glint for a split second. "It''s just, I already heard the news of someone who managed to become an expert despite only having low talent."


    "Who?"


    "Really?"


    "Yes. I think that you two should have heard about him too from school."


    Hearing this sentence, both Lu Wan and Ye Jiao showed a strange expression. Lu Wan did enter the school, but he couldn''t remember if there was anyone who became an expert despite only having low talent. On the other hand, Ye Jiao had never entered school, so her mind definitely couldn''t think of anyone.


    "The first person who became the emperor." Qi Huan pursed his lips and quickly continued, "His story is famous, you know?"


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 266 Trapped in the Capital City

    Ah!


    At this time, realization dawned on their eyes.


    Both Lu Wan and Ye Jiao had heard of that person when they were little. It was said that when Eon Energy was first discovered and people started practicing, there were no clear rules of their power division. A lot of people trained while stumbling along for decades while the number of experts slowly grew.


    It was then that a person managed to overcome his own talent and become a world expert. Back then, his talent was said to be extremely low that people wouldn''t even believe if he said that he could train martial arts. That person started to train bit by bit and eventually become an unrivaled expert.


    His story has been passed down to the point that everyone could even recite the story in their sleep.


    However, they were not taught this in school because their parents were the one who would tell the story. After all, it was a story that was commonly used to motivate children in order to make them willing to train even more.


    "Unfortunately, we didn''t have the access for the detail of his legend," Qi Huan shrugged. He felt that it was too bad because he wanted to know the details of the greatest genius''


    story. "I believe that the top rank they said in this tale is not just rank 4 but much more."


    "He''s the first person to ever achieve the highest rank, right?"


    "Maybe."


    "I want to reach the peak too," Ye Jiao muttered suddenly. "Wouldn''t it be great to be able to reach the peak and gain understanding of the world?"


    Qi Huan and Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao with a strange expression. They did think of pursuing the peak, but they never thought of gaining understanding of the world. Well, Lu Wan did think that learning was fun but he didn''t really have the path to continue studying. As for Qi Huan, he was more interested in learning things from the books that were already established and learned from their predecessors.


    Their personalities, ways, and paths were all completely different.


    And yet, they all somehow gathered together and could get along. If they had met under different circumstances, it was clear that they could never be able to get along at all.


    "I want to reach the peak," Lu Wan said slowly. "But I don''t plan to understand the world. For me, it''s already enough to gain much more understanding of herbs and so on."


    "I don''t have any interest in them," Qi Huan shook his head. He stopped his steps as they had reached the gate. "What I want is to be able to gain much more for myself."


    "What?"


    "Gain?"


    Qi Huan ignored the other two as he looked at the gate. There was no need for him to explain his martial art path to other people because it was his personal path. His expression turned solemn. "We''re too late."


    Ye Jiao had also realized that the guards have increased in number. Even when they entered the city early in the morning yesterday, the number hadn''t reached this many. They must have received the instruction to not allow anyone to get out of the city without inspection.


    "We can get out through that channel?" Lu Wan asked as he recalled the channel to throw their waste.


    Ye Jiao leaned on the nearby wall. "That''s impossible. They must have known that you''re small enough to crawl through that place, so they must have guarded it with everything they got."


    "¡­How do they know?"


    The other two looked at Lu Wan as if they were looking at an idiot. They had just thought that this brat improved a bit, but it seemed that they were wrong. He didn''t improve at all. If anything, he had gotten stupider.


    Even a child knew that the only access from this city to go outside would be the gate and also those holes. Since Lu Wan was still 14 years old and hadn''t grown up fully, he still could pass those places.


    "Well, we can fight?" Lu Wan suggested, feeling uncomfortable by the two''s gaze.


    "If you want to die, feel free to do so. I won''t stop you," Qi Huan turned around. Only an idiot would try to attack the guards in a city where Eon Energy Master Rank 4 lurked. They might have two Eon Energy Master Rank 3, but it didn''t mean that they were ready to face three Eon Energy Master Rank 4.


    That was without considering hidden experts that might hide in the crowd.


    "Uh, I¡­."


    "This is why your action is so stupid, Yu Shui. How do you plan on getting out of the city this way?" Qi Huan rebuked harshly. He and Ye Jiao could get out since they have smaller built compared with Lu Wan. After all, as Eon Energy Master Rank 3, they could wear more clothes to look bigger but unable to compress their own body.


    There was no miraculous martial art in this kingdom that allowed them to change their appearance.


    Well, Ye Jiao did learn one, but the requirement to study it was Eon Energy Master Rank 3. In that case, they would need to wait until Lu Wan broke through before they could get out of the city.


    Which would be unacceptable.


    "Things will also become messier if they find either me or Jiao''er," Qi Huan sighed. "You''re truly an idiot."


    "Sorry," Lu Wan scratched his head. He did think about this matter but when he saw his sister make a move against him, he couldn''t control his patience and directly attacked that young girl.


    This resulted in this problem.


    "We''ll think for a way." Ye Jiao started to walk into the alley once more. "Let''s just find a place to rest for tonight. Since it''s impossible to leave tonight, we better just have a good sleep on a warm bed."


    "Right."


    "Good idea."


    The other two soon followed after Ye Jiao as they picked an inn to stay for the night.


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 267 The Procession

    "It''s good that this inn stills open in the middle of the night," Lu Wan yawned. He looked at the two intruders in his room with a sour expression. "Or else, we''ll have to sleep on the street."


    "Good morning, Senior Brother Yu," Ye Jiao smiled devilishly. Her legs strode inside leisurely as if she didn''t do anything wrong. "Did you have a good rest?"


    "Yes?"


    "Get up."


    Swish! Clang!


    "Damn you silver hair! Do you have to attack people early in the morning?" Lu Wan cursed because Qi Huan had attacked him mercilessly. Looking at Qi Huan''s smile before him, he felt annoyed. Thankfully, he managed to quickly take out his blade to block the attack because if not, he would have been wounded.


    For the first time in his life, he was thankful that their master was truly demonic in his teaching.


    If not, he would have died in his senior brother''s hand.


    Qi Huan kept his sword back. "We need to think for a way fast. They''re not just blocking the gate but also checking the inn around. Let''s get out of this place before they reach it."


    "What?"


    "They''re adamant to find you." Ye Jiao flicked a glance at her senior brother. She knew that it wouldn''t be easy for them to get out of this place if they didn''t think of a way sooner. Those people wouldn''t stop searching for Lu Wan until they found him.


    "Ugh, they''re so persistent."


    "You''ll know soon that this is just the start," Qi Huan said as he kept his sword again. As part of the Imperial Family, he knew very well just what the Qi Family would do if they had someone they had to capture at all cost. They would surely create an upheaval in the city without caring for the consequences.


    Lu Wan cursed silently. "It''s not my fault¡­"


    "Not your fault?"


    "Do you really think that?"


    The two of them countered back almost instantly. They were not stupid because they understood that the only reason Chen Family made their move right now was because Lu Wan had touched their sore spot. A fallout with the Lu Family was the last thing they wanted to hear.


    Because it meant that they needed to control Lu Wan directly by forcing him to submit or kill him. It was the only possibility that they would accept, no matter what.


    Lu Wan didn''t reply as they got out of the inn. He was still cursing the imperial family inside his head. After all, he felt annoyed because they were so adamant to chase him when he had already told them before that he didn''t want to follow after them.


    Their pride and decision only left a sour taste in his mouth.


    They bought some bread on the way and ate it as they returned back to the alley. Alleys were located at quite a hidden place, and no one would be able to find them easily when they hid in this place. After all, the darkness around the area provided the perfect cover. There was not much light in this area, but it was not a problem for the three of them.


    They have gotten used to travelling around when it was dark, so they never relied on their eyes that much.


    "Lels stalt," (let''s start)


    "First, don''t speak with your mouth full of food," Qi Huan flicked Lu Wan''s forehead. "Haven''t you learned this basic manner?"


    "Staph it!" (stop it)


    Lu Wan evaded Qi Huan''s hand and gulped down the food in his mouth. He sighed when he saw the other two were looking at him. "So, I''m the one who has to think of a way to get out of this city?"


    "Yes."


    "Who do you think dragged us into this problem in the first place? Try to think of a solution first." Qi Huan crossed his arms. He looked at the young man before him with annoyance.


    Lu Wan scratched his head. "Well, I don''t know what we should do¡­"


    Kyaa! Kyaa!


    "They''re here!"


    "Look!"


    "Aweee, look here, Your Highness!"


    The three of them were dumbfounded when they heard the cheers of the girls. Without waiting for each other, they sprinted to the edge of the alley as they saw a crowd of people. Everyone seemed to be in high spirit as they cheered and yelled. They were very supportive to the younger generations who will depart. After all, the younger generations would be bringing glory to this place if they got accepted.


    In the middle of them all, Chen Zi Quan was walking at the front with many others following behind him.


    They walked as if they had just won a large battle. However, it was clearly an impossible scenario. They were all still very young and there was no war lately. Besides, based on their age and power, they were only young men and women who had become Eon Energy Master Rank 3.


    "What in the world?" Lu Wan was dumbfounded. He turned his head to look at the other two only to find Ye Jiao has the same expression as him.


    "I see."


    "What is it, Silver Hair?"


    Qi Huan moved his hand to hit Lu Wan''s head, but the boy evaded it. "Don''t call me like that in public. Today must be the last day for them to stay in the capital city because they''ll depart to the north with the Teleportation Array."


    "Depart to the north?" Lu Wan was confused.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes turned large. "Do you mean, they''ll attend the Academy''s examination that''ll be held in a few more weeks?"


    Qi Huan nodded his head. "This is already summer and the examination begins in early Autumn. If one didn''t want to be late, they have to come before the examination happens, which is now until around two more months. After all, they still need to sign up and familiarize themselves with the examination''s ground."


    "It means, our time is not much too," Ye Jiao turned her head to look at Lu Wan.


    "Why are you looking at me?"


    "You''re the only one who still hasn''t reached rank 3. If you don''t make a breakthrough soon, you won''t be able to attend this year''s examination."


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 268 Risky Plan

    Lu Wan''s face turned sour when he heard what Ye Jiao said. He was trying not to think too much about it, but she just had to remind him about it again and again.


    "I know."


    The next examination would be next year. It might not be too long, but anything could happen in the span of a year. It wouldn''t be good for Lu Wan to stay here for the entire year because no one could guarantee his safety. The two of them were not totally sure that Lu Wan would be able to keep himself safe in Four Kingdom considering how the Imperial Family was adamant to kill him.


    "Do you have any plans to make a breakthrough soon?" Ye Jiao asked.


    "No¡­"


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. "How much time do you think you need to make a breakthrough?"


    "Probably a few more months." Lu Wan''s face was sour. He hadn''t made much progress in terms of his rank so far. It would still take him a lot of time.


    "That won''t do."


    "You need to make a breakthrough faster."


    Lu Wan cringed at the thought of him having to make a breakthrough that early. Did these two think that making a breakthrough is the same as drinking water? It would still take him months in normal time.


    He frowned and tried to interrupt the two of them, "That''s impos¡­"


    "If we force fed him with Eon Energy Pill, do you think he''ll be able to accumulate enough Eon Energy?"


    "Most of them will be wasted, but we can just use this chance to train our Eon Energy control."


    "That might be a good idea."


    "Are you two using me as a guinea pig?!" Lu Wan nearly yelled out loudly. If these two were serious, they would surely be able to help him make that breakthrough, but at the same time, it would seriously hinder his future path. After all, if they weren''t careful and did the circulation carelessly, they would damage his meridian.


    The two of them passed him a look as if looking at an idiot.


    "No."


    "But you can consider it if you don''t want to stay here for another year."


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. "I can''t think of anything right now. It''s impossible for me to just breakthrough whenever I want."


    "If there are some rare fruits or medicine, you might be able to make a breakthrough faster."


    "Those are expensive."


    "Right."


    Lu Wan nearly vomited when he heard their conversation. He had also heard about those medicines and pills that could help him, but where could he find them in this remote place? Not to mention, the price would at least be millions of gold coins.


    They would turn poor instantly.


    Ye Jiao shook her head. "Let''s just think of a way to get out of this place. Mind you, if you still don''t make a breakthrough soon enough, the two of us won''t wait for you."


    Lu Wan opened his mouth, planning for a rebuttal. However, when he saw the two''s solemn expression and also their gaze, he knew that it would be impossible for him to say anything. It was the inevitable fact that the two of them couldn''t wait for him.


    Each of them has their own reason as to why they wanted to become strong as fast as possible. It would be good if they could stay together, but if it was not possible, it was not his place to hinder the other two''s paths. It just meant that he was unable to catch up with their pace anymore.


    "Fine."


    "Let''s get back to the situation on hand. How do you plan to get out of this city?"


    "I can just hijack the Teleportation Array and get transported along with the other geniuses," Lu Wan pointed to the Teleportation Array''s direction.


    Both Qi Huan and Ye Jiao felt like smacking this young man''s head again.


    "If you do that, do you think you could survive? If you''re not in the middle of the Teleportation Array, there might be a possibility that you will not be transported intact. At that time, you''ll surely die."


    "Do you really think the other geniuses will let you off? There are Chen Zi Quan and Wei Cheng over there who prefer to have you died rather than letting you off," Ye Jiao paused for a moment. "Also, Wei Shang will surely be chosen to accompany those children before the examination."


    "That¡­" Lu Wan didn''t think that far. If he truly used the Teleportation Array when they were about to get transported to the north, it would be his grave.


    "We also don''t have enough knowledge to use the Teleportation Array by ourselves. If you wish to be sent straight to your grave, I might have a better solution for you," Qi Huan rubbed his forehead. It would be close to impossible for them to use the Teleportation Array by themselves.


    "Also, there''s no available empty Teleportation Array that we can possibly use," Ye Jiao added.


    Lu Wan scratches the back of his head. "Then, can you just bribe?"


    "Yu Shui, do you think I would know whether they love money or not instantly? We need to make research first."


    "I don''t even think that they''ll be lacking in money," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. The price to use the Teleportation Array alone would be a hundred gold. Just thinking how many times he had to use it every single day, it would be enough to make him the richest man in this capital city.


    She was absolutely sure that those people who could use it would also be someone that the imperial family trusted. After all, they were allowing their younger generation to use the Teleportation Array.


    "Right¡­"


    "If only we could just attack the palace, it would be good," Qi Huan shook his head. "After all, the number of guards will diminish greatly because they''re sending their geniuses out of the capital city."


    "I think that might be a good idea," Lu Wan said unhurriedly. What Qi Huan said just gave him a great yet risky idea. He decided to slowly tell his plan to the other two.


    "Huh?"


    "You got to be kidding me!"


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 269 Game of Chase

    After they had agreed to the plan, Lu Wan went separate ways from the other two.


    Ye Jiao looked at the direction of her senior brother with worry on her face. "Do you think he''s going to be alright?"


    "This is his plan," Qi Huan summoned out his sword. He swung it a few times while his eyes were looking towards the alleyway. "At the very least, he should be able to complete it."


    "I just hope nothing bad will come from it." Ye Jiao was still worried. After all, this was the first time they agreed with the plan that Lu Wan proposed. She had to admit, he can use his brain at times.


    Qi Huan nodded. His clear blue eyes were looking in the direction where Lu Wan left just now. Even though the plan sounded quite ridiculous when he first heard it, he knew that it was the only choice for them to leave this place. However, just a single mishap might cost them Lu Wan''s life.


    That boy was playing with fire.


    And the two of them didn''t stop him. Instead, they decided to help him to make sure that he would be unharmed at the end.


    "This is the first time he decided to settle his problem by himself. Our task is to support him to make sure his crudely made plan can go smoothly," Qi Huan said unhurriedly.


    Ye Jiao nodded in agreement. "You''re right."


    "We have to go too. Good luck on your side."


    "You too."


    The two of them disappeared into the crowd in a matter of seconds. They blended perfectly as if there was no difference between them and ordinary citizens. All people could see was a young girl or young man who was walking around curiously on the street.


    Lu Wan traveled across the alley at high speed, bypassing dozens of areas in just the matter of minutes. It was easy for him to travel a lot because there were two people who had forced him to travel for a long distance in a short time.


    Compared to that, this would be child''s play.


    ''With half of them focused on the prince and his entourage, there shouldn''t be too much who will pay attention to me.''


    Lu Wan reached the north gate, which he found to be filled with guards too. His face darkened. It would be hard for him to get out of the city with each gate filled with numerous guards like this. When they talked about what the Imperial Family would do, Qi Huan had warned him that they would go all out.


    And now, he knew how true it was.


    Just the sheer number alone would make everyone afraid. There were already a lot of people who were trying to keep their distance away from the gate. If it was not absolutely necessary, they wouldn''t even want to approach the guards who were looking around with their menacing gazes.


    ''Time to go again.''


    "HE''S THERE!"


    The thundering voice traveled through the air. Lu Wan hurriedly quickened his pace as he traveled towards the alley. Several guards were following behind him closely, trying to find a way to capture him quickly.


    "HE''S SO QUICK!"


    "OVER HERE!"


    "COME AND CAPTURE HIM!"


    "DON''T LET HIM GO!"


    Yelling and screaming to one another, they called for more help to capture Lu Wan. A lot of guards soon filled the narrow alleyway. It looked as if the place would be packed with guards if nothing was done soon. Even though the space was small, the guards continued to pour in as if their lives depended on this capture.


    Swish!


    Lu Wan evaded an arrow. His eyes grew sharp when he noticed the guards were adamant on chasing after him. Utilizing his Eon Energy, he quickened his pace to far beyond what usual Eon Energy Master Rank 2 could do.


    Even though he was chased by the guards, his face remained calm. It was completely different from what youngsters his age could possibly do. There was not even any trace of panic as he exerted his Eon Energy and controlled his speed in order to make sure that the guards couldn''t chase him.


    Clang!


    Right before he turned, a blade greeted him. Lu Wan took out his sword and not the chain as he blocked the attack. The man''s face turned grim when he noticed that Lu Wan pushed him back with mere strength.


    Slash!


    In the next second, Lu Wan had killed him.


    There was no hesitation whatsoever in the young man''s eyes as he moved again. Several guards had arrived by his place and readied their blade. Their expression was solemn for they had seen how powerful Lu Wan was. Just that one encounter with their comrade had allowed them to see much more.


    Eon Energy Master who just had Eon Energy under their sleeve was nothing much. They would just like an empty barrel without any content. But an Eon Energy Master who could utilize their Eon Energy and kill without hesitation was a completely different matter. This kind of person mustn''t be underestimated or they would suffer.


    ''He''s not just a brat.''


    ''No wonder the imperial family wishes for him.''


    ''His strength is already on par with newly advanced Eon Energy Master Rank 3.''


    The guards couldn''t understand how come a young master like Lu Wan, who was known for staying in seclusion for a long time, could possibly have this high martial arts ability. It was as if they were facing a veteran who had fought countless life and death battles.


    Little did they know, Lu Wan had indeed survived in numerous life and death battles.


    Slash!


    Lu Wan''s use of the sword was crude, but it was precise. He might not be the best swordsman, but he was clearly a powerful Eon Energy Master. Even when he was facing numerous soldiers before him, there was not even a hint of fear in his eyes as he continued to move his body around.


    Slash!


    With each move, a soldier died. At the same time, more and more soldiers continued to pour into the alley.


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 270 Captured

    Slash!


    As more guards surrounded the place, there was no other way Lu Wan could get out. He looked around with a bitter expression. Right now, his hair was still brown because he painted it, yet these guards could find him in just a matter of minutes upon seeing his sight.


    It just meant that the Lu Family had leaked it out to the Imperial Family that he disguised himself by coloring his hair. They also might be quite specific in telling them that his hair color had turned brown, though he couldn''t be sure about it too.


    His countenance was still the same, so it was not impossible to find him in just a short period of time.


    "Do you know who it is that you have been attacking all this time?" Lu Wan asked through gritted teeth. His eyes were looking at them dangerously as he started to emit murderous aura.


    Compared to Ye Jiao and Qi Huan, it was not much. Lu Wan learned how to use it by killing more people during his mission. However, he couldn''t freely control it and usually needed to be angry. Intent could be directed by emotion and Qi Huan taught him the easiest method, which was to focus his entire emotion into the thought that he wanted to kill them all.


    That way, it would be able to produce some kind of killing intent that could intimidate his opponent.


    Even if it was not that strong, it was already enough to send shivers down the spine of these soldiers. They were surprised to see that such a young man managed to obtain this killing intent. After all, it was not easy to develop it unless they have their heart set on killing without hesitation. In addition, their heart must not waver in front of violence and blood.


    It was never easy to develop one''s intent.


    One of the leaders stepped forward. "Of course we know Lu Wan from the Lu Family."


    "Then why¡­?"


    "This is the order from the Imperial Family. Seize Lu Wan and bring him back to the palace alive." the guards focused his gaze on Lu Wan. "And I think you know the reason."


    "You-!"


    "GET HIM!"


    "Capture him! Don''t let him get away!"


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Sounds of blades clashing reverberated in the alleyway. Lu Wan was never proficient in using blade, so his accuracy was off. However, his sheer power gained from constant practice was already more than enough to deal with these people.


    Slash!


    Thud. Thud. Thud.


    Within minutes, the number of guards who fell onto the ground has increased exponentially. Sound of the guards dropping to the ground increased as they became the stepping stone for their comrades. There were simply too many of them that it was hard to find any spot without their corpse. Even though the guards'' faces were pale because they didn''t want to step on their comrade, the space was simply too narrow, so they had no other choice.


    Clang! Slash!


    "Who else?" Lu Wan roared. His clothes and sword were already dirty with blood. However, he still looked at the guards menacingly. There was no fear visible in his expression as only pure anger and displease was painted on it.


    At the same time, there was a pure trace of youthfulness that he showed off. Youths were known to be arrogant and reckless. From how Lu Wan behaved, it made him look as if he was trying to show off and unwilling to back down because he couldn''t accept losing.


    The guards were hesitating. Seeing how Lu Wan dealt with them so easily made them worried that they would just become victims. No one knew how long he would stand there.


    "Continue the fight."


    The cold voice caused Lu Wan to turn around. His pupil contracted when he saw Wei Cheng standing at the back. The pressure that the young man had around him told him instantly that he had reached rank 3. At the same time, the cold gaze on the young man perfectly told Lu Wan that he had been killing people.


    There was no way he wouldn''t be able to recognize the faint killing intent around Wei Cheng''s body. It was just a short period of time, yet Wei Cheng had grown so much.


    ''He''s so quick! Damn it!''


    Wei Cheng stared back at Lu Wan with a cold gaze. He raised his sword and pointed it to Lu Wan. "He doesn''t have much strength left. Continue to fight and seize him."


    "Yes, Young Master!"


    "EVERYONE, GET HIM!"


    "YES!"


    The guards roared loudly as they began to attack once more. This time, they no longer paid attention to what they stepped on as they focused their attention completely to catch Lu Wan. They needed to follow the order.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Just like what Wei Cheng had said, Lu Wan no longer has much Eon Energy in his body. Most of them were already drained because of the fight. After all, his skill in sword was poor, so he had to add up his power and Eon Energy to make the fight turn even more against the guards. For the past months, Lu Wan hadn''t trained his sword again at all.


    Clang! Thud!


    The sword was pushed away from Lu Wan''s hand. Another guard kicked his leg, pushing him in kneeling position before they pulled his hand to the back. Hurriedly, they tied him up as the young man struggled.


    "It''s futile," Wei Cheng walked closer. His eyes were looking at Lu Wan with hatred. He lifted his leg and kicked the young man.


    Bam!


    *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*


    Crashing to the back, Lu Wan''s eyes were filled with hatred. He looked as if he was ready to pounce at Wei Cheng and killed that man. If not because he no longer has any Eon Energy left in his core and his stamina was depleted badly, he would surely do that.


    Wei Cheng sneered. "Bring him back to the palace."


    "Yes, Young Master!"


    *Cough*


    Dragged by the guards, Lu Wan made his way to the place that he hated the most in his life: the palace.


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 271 The Hateful Imperial Family Members

    Chen Kingdom Capital City Palace


    "Your Highness, I have brought him," Wei Cheng reported as soon as he entered the majestic hall.


    Lu Wan was still glaring with hatred to the people around him. This place might be coated with gold and majestic splendor, but it was also the most corrupted place in the entire world. He didn''t know how many geniuses all over the world have been pushed into this hall just to make sure that they stayed loyal to the Imperial Family.


    If not because of that, there would be no way this petty family could stand at the very top with their limited talent.


    In front, Chen Tian was sitting leisurely. Cladded in a purple robe that was put together with golden threads, he looked so majestic. There was an aura of authority glowing from his body, forcing everyone who saw him to submit to him.


    ''He''s still as cocky as ever.''


    No matter how much Lu Wan hated this, he had to admit that Chen Tian was not a nobody. As the king of this kingdom and also one of the strongest experts in this kingdom, no one would be able to contend against him. Under his sleeves were numerous tricks and treacherous plans that he had carefully crafted from a long time ago.


    At the same time, there were numerous experts who were willing to follow after Chen Tian''s orders without any hesitation. They already swore undying loyalty to the king and would follow him until the very end.


    That thought only disgusted Lu Wan even further.


    ''What''s so good about following this ruthless man who didn''t even hesitate to use his own blood-related sister in order to trap other people.''


    At this moment, Lu Wan thought about Chen Tian''s sister, who had left Four Kingdoms a long time ago. The story was not spread out, but Lu Family clearly knew some of them. After all, Lu Family Head was also involved with what Chen Tian had done back then. However, his role was nothing more than to watch and make sure that nothing bad could happen to the imperial family.


    Lu Wan snorted internally when he thought about that. He only heard part of the story, but even that was already more than enough to make him feel utter disgust at Chen Tian.


    "You did good, Wei Cheng."


    Lu Wan tilted his head to the side. He could see Chen Zi Quan standing with his fancy clothes on the side. After the loud cheering on the street, the geniuses headed to the palace to submit their loyalty either to the Imperial Family or their own family. Only a select few would be able to not give their oath.


    "Many thanks for your praise, Your Highness. I was merely doing my job," Wei Cheng responded politely.


    Beside him, Lu Wan felt goosebumps at how formal this Wei Cheng was. He was used to seeing the arrogant and unyielding Wei Cheng that he clashed against every single day. This¡­ he didn''t know this man could be so submissive.


    ''I see¡­ they didn''t even spare the Wei Family.''


    Every single person in this kingdom has to utter their oath of loyalty to the Imperial Family. It was not even an exception for Wei Family.


    Well, in the first place, they had a lot of geniuses. It wouldn''t be weird of them to ask for the Wei Family to give their oath because of worry. If the Wei Family became big in the future, it was certain that no one would be able to stop them.


    Wei Cheng was not an exception. Even though Wei Cheng had already followed after Chen Zi Quan ever since he was young, there was no telling whether Wei Cheng will have a change of mind in the future or not. To avoid any unnecessary problems, they must have ordered him to utter his Oath of Loyalty to the Imperial family.


    ''What a good move from Chen Tian.''


    Lu Wan laughed out coldly in his heart. This was the method that they used to make sure that they would be able to control every powerful person in this kingdom. He was internally hoping that Chen Tian would grow insane because of the connection that he had made with numerous people.


    "Lu Wan." Chen Zi Quan turned his gaze to look at the young man. His eyes were filled with curiosity yet at the same time, disgust.


    "What do you want?"


    "You''re truly stupid. Who do you think would be able to protect you after you have separated yourself from the Lu Family?" Chen Zi Quan asked with a smile that didn''t look like a smile.


    From the corner of his eyes, Lu Wan could see Lu Su standing not far from the edge. There were still some other officials left because they would be the witness for the ceremony. Some of them hadn''t returned back when Wei Cheng came bringing Lu Wan into this disgusting hall.


    He knew that the Lu Family was protecting him to a certain degree. There was no love or care he received from his father or other family members, but at the very least, they didn''t allow the Imperial Family to touch him openly.


    They still protected him.


    Lu Wan sneered, acting as if he didn''t have a care for anything in the entire world. "Do you think that I can''t protect myself? I''m different from a pampered prince like you¡­"


    SLAP!


    Chen Zi Quan''s eyes were glaring dangerously. "It seems that your family hadn''t taught him any manners, Lu Su."


    "My apologies, Your Highness," Lu Su kneeled on the ground. Even though his words were apologizing, there was not even any trace of remorse in his tone. It was clear that he only said that as a front and didn''t really have any intention to apologize.


    Lu Wan laughed. "Heh, do you expect your dogs to¡­"


    Slap!


    Chen Zi Quan didn''t hesitate and raised his hand once more. "My patience has its limit, Lu Wan."


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 272 Oath of Promise

    Spat!


    Lu Wan could feel blood in his mouth and spat it outside. He looked at Chen Zi Quan with his dark brown eyes. There was clearly indignation within his gaze that seemed to be filled with annoyance.


    "Meh, you can only slap me when I''m down like this, why don''t you¡­"


    Slap!


    "Your mouth is really bad. Do you think that I''ll fall for your lowly provocation?"


    "Guh." Lu Wan was trying hard to make sure that he didn''t pass out. He was feeling annoyed when he thought of the slap that Chen Zi Quan gave him. How could a mere slap be so painful like that?


    Lu Su was watching without any emotion in his face. It was as if the one who was slapped just now was not his brother but a stranger. "My apologies for failing to educate my little brother, Your Highness."


    "It''s not really your fault seeing how this brat is already too arrogant," Chen Zi Quan summoned his sword. The moment he used his Eon Energy, Lu Wan''s heart fell. This damned prince was also at rank 3?!


    Did it mean he was the only one who hadn''t reached that rank?


    No wonder the slap was so painful. This hateful prince was actually already Eon Energy Master Rank 3. At this thought, Lu Wan felt even more indignated because he wanted to reach that rank faster. If he failed, he knew that he would have to stay in this accursed Four Kingdoms for another year.


    Tep!


    "Now, do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way, Lu Wan? Give your oath of loyalty to the Imperial Family," Chen Zi Quan threatened.


    Lu Wan paid no heed to the sword that was placed right beside his neck. He knew that the king wouldn''t let his son kill him because someone with his talent was rare. What would the other kingdoms do if they heard that he was getting bad treatment here?


    They would surely extend their hand to rope him in.


    And if they found out that he had died, they would surely try to create chaos in this kingdom by spreading news of how the Chen Kingdom treated their geniuses. No one would want to be killed just because they had better talent. They would surely move away to other kingdoms.


    At that time, Chen Kingdom''s end would be near.


    This was what Qi Huan had explained to him. Even if they wanted to kill him in the end, they needed to wait until the time was right. As for when it was, it would obviously be when everyone had forgotten the name ''Lu Wan.'' Until that time, they would have to keep him away in a secluded place without attracting any attention.


    "Don''t you think it''s useless?" Lu Wan sneered.


    Plak!


    "I can''t kill you, but I can wound you at the very least," Chen Zi Quan said emotionlessly.


    Spit!


    "Just do it," Lu Wan challenged.


    Bam!


    "Zi Quan, stop it," Chen Tian stopped his son right before the young man exploded in anger.


    Chen Zi Quan wiped the spit as he bowed to his father. "Yes, Father."


    "You should go and depart. The Teleportation Array is ready."


    "Yes, Father."


    "Yes, Your Majesty."


    Lu Wan looked at the group of youngsters without much care. He could see Wei Yin, Mu Xin, and some others that he didn''t recognize. It seemed that a lot of young generations managed to reach rank 3 in this short period of time. He was getting left behind.


    "Now," Chen Tian directed his gaze to Lu Wan as he started to exert his power. Tremendous force of Eon Energy filled the hall with the center of them all being Lu Wan. Many other ministers quickly retreated as they were worried that they might get implicated.


    Internally, they cursed out.


    They had just seen Chen Tian angry because of the death of one of the loyal ministers. Now, they had to see this king get angry again because of a youngster. If only they knew this, they would surely depart right away after the meeting was over.


    No one wanted to stay here to see the king angry again ah.


    One is enough.


    Lu Wan gritted his teeth as he endured the pressure. He still could remember the first time Zhan Jing trained them against pressure. The two of them fell flat to the ground because they were unable to withstand the force. It was so heavy that he didn''t feel like doing anything.


    His body started to scream in pain, yet he didn''t speak. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and fell to the ground bit by bit.


    "Lu Wan, will you give your oath?"


    "NEVER!" Lu Wan yelled with all his might.


    Chen Tian waved his hand and the pressure increased once more. It was threatening to bring down the young man, who was trying to stand up once again without result. The pressure was tearing him down.


    Even the officials started to feel sorry for the young man. They knew just how overbearing the Imperial Family was, so they knew that there was no escape from this system. Unless they managed to somehow get out of the kingdom, but even then, there was no one who could say for sure that they would get better treatment.


    "This is not working."


    The sudden voice caused all attention to the one who spoke. They could see a middle-aged man cladded in a grey robe walking unhurriedly in the place filled with pressure to stand before Chen Tian. The way he walked made one wonder if the pressure they experienced was real or not.


    "What is it, Advisor?" Chen Tian asked.


    The man called Advisor turned his gaze to Lu Wan. "Even if you put pressure onto him, he won''t say it with his conviction. It''s better to just use the technique to force him to speak."


    "It won''t do good."


    "Also, you won''t be able to do it now."


    "Why?"


    "This boy is under the Oath of Promise. Unless the time limit was up, you can''t make him say the Oath of Loyalty."


    When Lu Wan heard the man speak, his eyes widened.


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 273 Staged Play

    "This boy is under the Oath of Promise. Unless the time limit was up, you can''t make him say the Oath of Loyalty."


    When Lu Wan heard the man speak, his eyes widened.


    "Oath of Promise?" Chen Tian furrowed his brows. There were so many types of oaths that he couldn''t remember them all. As many of them didn''t exist in the Four Kingdoms, he never heard of that oath.


    The Advisor nodded. "Oath of Promise is the oath made when you want to protect someone. This is usually used by mercenaries for their employees to make sure that they do their job well. During this period of time, those who are still under Oath of Promise won''t be able to say their Oath of loyalty to anyone because the Heavens didn''t accept it."


    "There''s something like that?"


    "Yes." The advisor looked at Lu Wan with a deep and unreadable gaze. The boy was extremely simple-minded, which should have been impossible for him to think of something so complex like this. He was thinking that someone must have helped this boy.


    It seemed that the seemingly ordinary young boy actually hid so deep.


    Looking at the advisor''s gaze, Lu Wan could feel goosebumps crawling on top of his skin. He didn''t know why, but he felt that the most dangerous person in the entire Four Kingdoms was not the king, but this advisor. It was a weird feeling and Lu Wan didn''t entertain his thoughts for long because the others had begun to speak again.


    "Is there a way to break Oath of Promise?"


    "Normally no. You should wait for the time to be over."


    Wait? Chen Tian was not in a hurry. He had all the time in the entire world to wait for Lu Wan to bow down or just become a trash that was unable to reach any higher. Whichever one of them didn''t hurt his interest in the slightest bit.


    Chen Tian shifted his gaze back to Lu Wan. "He''s quite cunning."


    Lu Wan didn''t reply even though there was no longer any pressure around him. He was looking at the advisor as he recalled their discussion about the plan not long ago. Even though Qi Huan and Ye Jiao were against his idea at first, they agreed at the end.


    However, there was not a guarantee that he wouldn''t get hurt in the middle of the process because of the plan that he proposed.


    ¡­


    *A few hours before*


    "Hold on, Yu Shui. Are you telling me that you''ll willingly surrender yourself to the Imperial Family?" Ye Jiao stopped Lu Wan from telling his plan. She was so surprised that she forgot to greet him formally.


    Lu Wan nodded his head. "You say it yourself, right? The defense in the Imperial Family will be lessened because of the departure of the geniuses. With the lesser number of guards, I don''t think it''ll be impossible to infiltrate the palace anymore."


    At normal times, even thinking of getting into the palace without anyone suspicious of them would be ridiculous. There were numerous guards there and everyone who came in and out would be inspected. Lu Wan had seen them for himself when he was summoned to meet with the other geniuses, so he was pretty familiar with it.


    Ye Jiao looked at Lu Wan with an incredulous expression. "Do you really think that it''ll be that easy? Even with a lesser number of guards, there''s no guarantee that they''ll let you in without inspecting anything."


    "Well, I just thought that it''s more feasible."


    If Lu Wan got captured, they would surely open up the gate and no longer tried to restrict it. Also, with Wei Shang out of the picture, there were only two Eon Energy Master Rank 3 that they had to face. It still wouldn''t be good to face them two head on, but if they attacked the palace, there would only need to face one.


    "Do you want to court death?" Ye Jiao was speechless.


    Lu Wan smiled bitterly. "Well, we can also try to wait in the capital city for a long time until they forgot about my existence¡­"


    "That won''t do."


    "Absolutely no."


    The two of them planned to head back to Bao Fu Organization''s Headquarters right after they had finished the mission because they suspected something from their master. Staying here for weeks was clearly out of the question.


    "Then what do you want me to do?" Lu Wan wanted to cry. He felt that he had just dragged everyone into a mess. This time, he felt that his luck didn''t work at all to clean up the mess that he had created.


    Qi Huan rubbed his chin as he pondered. There were many things that he still had to put into his mind when they were about to plan for something so grand. Attacking the palace was indeed possible.


    However, he didn''t want to go over there just to die.


    "I have one question, what''s your father usually do?"


    "Huh? I think he''ll be away to have some rest. When I met with him before, he looked dead tired," Lu Wan replied. His tone showed that he didn''t have much care for his father. However, he still could remember how his father looked like when he met with that man not long ago.


    For Eon Energy Master, they would have a much higher stamina compared to ordinary people. As one that had reached rank 3, even if that person didn''t sleep for days, he would be fine. However, there was still a limit at how much his stamina could hold. He still needed to have rest.


    "They overworked him."


    "That''s for sure."


    The two of them looked at Lu Wan as they felt pity for those people who were working so hard just to look for this young man. They spent months unable to find him because he was actually outside Chen Kingdom Capital City. Not even his own father was spared from the task of finding him to the point that Eon Energy Maser Rank 4 was dead tired.


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 274 Staged Play 2

    "What?" Lu Wan noticed that their gazes seemed strange.


    Ye Jiao shook her head. "It''s nothing. So, you want to get captured while the two of us sneaked into the Palace to set you free and make a run to the gate to escape?"


    "Yes."


    "Do you think it''ll be possible under the watch of Eon Energy Master Rank 4? He''ll surely have a way to keep watch of you so when you try to run, he''ll find out right away and chase after you."


    Lu Wan pursed his lips. He could guess that seeing how no one was able to get out of the palace without pledging their loyalty. He was just trying his luck with this plan since it seemed to be the most plausible one. After all, they wouldn''t be able to escape if they had to fight against two Eon Energy Master head on.


    Plus, their fighting skill would reveal their true identity, which these two tried to avoid at all cost.


    "And, he''ll surely torture you," Qi Huan added.


    "I''ll be fine. He won''t do too much to me because I''m only valuable with my fighting skill and rank. If they destroy me, they won''t be able to receive any benefit from my dead body," Lu Wan shrugged.


    "The way you say it makes it sound like something light."


    "Well, if you want to give up your life, we''ll just support you," Qi Huan brushed off the dust off his clothes. He looked at Lu Wan once more. "How about if you just surrender while we leave?"


    "¡­ Do you want to kill me?"


    "Your plan is not impossible, but it''s very risky. One wrong move and one of us wouldn''t be able to get out," Ye Jiao sighed. "But I guess, it''ll never change, right?"


    "What?"


    "Your recklessness, Senior Brother Yu."


    Lu Wan clicked his tongue. He looked at the two of them, hoping that they would agree to his plan or at least, propose some other feasible plan. Right now, he couldn''t think of anything else that could possibly help him in this situation.


    Qi Huan sighed. "We can go by that plan, but before that it''ll be better for you to give Oath of Promise."


    "Oath of Promise?"


    "What''s that?"


    "It''s the type of oath that has the limit of time. For example, you make the promise that you''ll come back alive, so that oath will be active until the time limit is up. You''ll have to struggle to finish the oath or you''ll suffer divine punishment. Of course, in this case, it''ll be hard to fulfill it," Qi Huan explained.


    "This promise is usually used by a mercenary. They usually give a promise that they''ll protect you until you reach your destination. This way, they won''t be able to betray their employer unless they want to get punished. This is one of the most common methods in Chi Kingdom, but I guess those in Chen Kingdom didn''t know much."


    Ye Jiao nodded. Even though she often pretended that her parents were mercenary or adventurers, she was never clear of their work. It seemed that their system was much more complex than what she thought before.


    Lu Wan blinked his eyes. "It sounds convenient."


    "Yes, it is. But since mercenaries are rare in the Four Kingdoms, this oath is not too popular," Qi Huan looked at Lu Wan. "You also need to be careful. I''m sure that there''ll be someone powerful in the Chen Kingdom aside from the three leading figures."


    "Huh?"


    "There''s someone else?"


    "Yeah. Even in Chi Kingdom, there''s actually someone else who''s already Eon Energy Master Rank 4 aside from the famous ones," Qi Huan looked at the two of them. They truly seemed like a pair of idiots right now. He didn''t really want to leak out the truth because each kingdom usually guarded this kind of information. "Do you really think that we''re going to be that stupid and leak out our real power to the outside world?"


    "Well no," Ye Jiao scratched her head. Having an unknown force hidden in the shadow meant that they would have an additional force. When it was needed, this force would surely be able to help them out to sort out the perilous situation they were facing.


    Lu Wan frowned. It was not impossible, but he didn''t have any inkling of how it would be. After all, his relationship with the Imperial Family was like fire and ice.


    "It''ll be better to stay careful, so you should just use this oath."


    "What kind of oath can I make?" Lu Wan turned his head to Qi Huan.


    Hearing that, Qi Huan smirked with a devilish smile. "Since you ask, how about if you make a promise to become my slave for the next three days?"


    "¡­"


    "Well, becoming a servant will do too."


    "LET ME KILL YOU!"


    Ye Jiao shook her head as she watched the two of them fighting. Her mind was thinking of a way to infiltrate the Imperial Palace. Even though it would have lesser guards and all, it wouldn''t be easy for her to enter the place.


    She needed to find a way.


    "Senior Brother Yu, there''s not much time left."


    "Ah, why?"


    "The guards are starting to enter the alley. Before long, every place will be filled with guards and it will be impossible for us to slip out," Ye Jiao explained.


    "Make your decision, Yu Shui."


    The two of them were confident in their ability to sneak away, but it didn''t mean that they wanted to do that in the middle of the sea of experts at rank 3. They still treasured their lives and wished to live longer.


    "Fine," Lu Wan flicked a glance to Qi Huan. "I''ll just make a promise to help you for the next three days."


    Qi Huan''s face turned solemn, yet his tone was filled with disappointment. "That will do."


    "Why do you sound so disappointed?"


    "I was thinking of making you do something¡­ never mind."


    "YOU-!"


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 275 Sneaked Inside

    "It might not be entirely his idea," the advisor looked at Lu Wan. He had heard many rumors regarding this young man and one of the most famous ones would be at how idiotic this young man was. It was so obvious that he was not the type that thinks too much.


    Lu Wan tried to control his expression. It was indeed not his idea to make that Oath of Promise, but he definitely couldn''t let anyone know about it. He couldn''t let them find out about the other two''s presences.


    "Lu Su," Chen Tian turned his head to the young man.


    Lu Su bowed down deeper. "Replying His Highness, we''re not entirely clear on what he has been doing because we allow him to spend most of his days practicing."


    It was common for parents to let their children on their own because of how common it was for martial practitioners to be born. They wouldn''t interfere and only watched from the sidelines. Of course, the case like Lu Changqing was pretty rare because that man didn''t even try to interfere at all.


    "I see."


    The Advisor took out a pill from his pocket. "In any case, it should be the promise that''s limited with time. Once the time limit is up, we can use that, Your Majesty."


    "Are you going to kill him with that poison?" Chen Tian frowned. He was familiar with the poison in the advisor''s hand. That poison would surely cause pain on whoever ingested it and at higher doses, kill them slowly.


    "This won''t kill him," the advisor looked at Lu Wan. "This boy has a decent poison resistance and this dose will only make him feel pain. He might have some trouble practicing later, but it''ll be easily solved with the antidote."


    "I see."


    "Hold him."


    Lu Wan tried to back away. He didn''t expect that someone would be able to detect that he had a considerable degree of poison resistance just with probing. Since he knew that, it would be hard for him to escape from the pain that the poison would give him because this man would give him a higher dose.


    Just when he started to back away, a guard held him in his place. Lu Wan nearly cursed out loud, but he felt something was pushed into his mouth down to his throat. Almost immediately, he could feel searing pain coming from his stomach.


    "Guh!"


    "Good work," the advisor just took a second to look at the guard. He was surprised to see that the guard has clear blue eyes. From what he knew, that color was rare in Chen Kingdom.


    ''Probably, a mixed.''


    Not thinking too much anymore, the advisor returned back to his place.


    Chen Tian watched the spectacle without any change of expression. He had seen this countless times to the point that he was already bored of it. The only one who managed to escape from this was only one person in his lifetime and he didn''t wish to create another one.


    "Take him to the prison."


    "Yes," the guard behind Lu Wan replied strongly. He proceeded to drag Lu Wan, who was trying his best to hold on roughly.


    It was only outside the area did the guard stop treating Lu Wan so roughly.


    "You must be an idiot to allow them to capture you."


    Even though Lu Wan could hear the mocking whisper, he didn''t reply. He really wished he could give this guard, who was actually Qi Huan in disguise, a good punch. However, his mind was completely focused on the poison inside his body as he was unable to think of anything else.


    Qi Huan also no longer tried to bother Lu Wan. He handed the young man to the soldiers who guarded the entrance to the prison as he slowly made his way to the inner palace once more.


    When the commotion happened, Qi Huan conveniently killed a guard and took over his place. This man was one of the palace guards, so he would be able to enter the palace freely with this new identity. Of course, he had to make sure that no one would be able to recognize him.


    ''I''m really glad that this armor makes me look bigger.''


    As he was still pretty short, Qi Huan was worried at first that he wouldn''t be able to sneak in. Thankfully, he found one that was near his build and also at this convenient position. With it, he would be able to roam freely.


    He glanced at the palace as he recalled how the advisor managed to stand under the pressure.


    There was only one answer as to why that person managed to do that.


    He was also Eon Energy Master Rank 4.


    Qi Huan had guessed that they must also have hidden experts that they didn''t leak out to the outside world and kept hidden. It was out of his expectation that the person was actually standing under the light, but kept on concealing his presence and acting as an unsuspecting subject.


    ''That advisor looks no different than normal Eon Energy Master Rank 3. In addition, he didn''t seem to be remarkable in any way.''


    He had seen that advisor when he came here in the past, but that man didn''t look that remarkable. As Eon Energy Master Rank 3 was common in the palace, no one paid any attention to that advisor, including Qi Huan. It was only today did he realize that he had made a grave mistake.


    ''It seems like I need to pay more attention to the technique to hide one''s rank.''


    As he walked around the palace, he could see several servants were rushing along the way. They were preparing for the meal that was hindered because of the sudden commotion. The ingredients were lacking, so they needed to find a way to buy more in a short time.


    "That guards are truly annoying. We just want to buy ingredients but they have to completely check us up!"


    "Yeah! That was really embarrassing! I don''t want to get out again."


    "Uh, if only we can choose."


    Qi Huan noticed that there were more guards at the entrance area. They must have been stationed there to pay attention to the servants that came in and out. His eyes noticed a peculiar small servant that made her way to the kitchen.


    From her behaviour, there was nothing uncommon. Even though her age would make one feel pity, they wouldn''t think too much. There were a lot of girls being sold to the palace at a young age by their own family.


    ''I see, she has also managed to sneak in here. I need to hurry then.''


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 276 Poison, Antidote, and Letter 1

    "Hey, we need more people in the kitchen!"


    "Where are the servants that should have bought the ingredients? Have they returned back?"


    "Hurry!"


    The situation in the kitchen was chaotic as the servants were having trouble with how the king seemed to order more guards at the entrance. There was simply no way for them to get out of the palace without getting noticed and at the same time, they have to be inspected thoroughly.


    "I feel that we''re already like prisoners in this state."


    "Uh, the King is anxious because it''s already time for the geniuses to depart. There''s no other reason than that."


    As the servants were busy, at one corner, Ye Jiao listened to their conversation carefully. She was paying close attention to what they were saying to make sure that she get more information regarding this place. After all, they did this mission abruptly without any preparation whatsoever beforehand.


    It was dangerous to go into the enemies'' territory without preparing for anything beforehand.


    "Hey you, don''t idle around!"


    "Yes!" Ye Jiao stepped into the kitchen as the servant shoved her in. Looking at the large pots before her, she was stunned. Apparently, they were making soup for dinner and the servants had no choice but to cook them all in one place to make it quick.


    The servant behind her pushed her slightly. "Come on, maintain the fire!"


    "Ah, yes."


    Moving towards the boiling pots, Ye Jiao looked at the content with curiosity. She never worked in the kitchen before, so she totally wasn''t sure how it worked. Turning her head to the side, she noticed another servant who was tending the fire.


    "Excuse me, is this for the Imperial Family?"


    The servant glanced at her. "Yeah, so you have to make sure that they''re cooked well. If it''s not, our heads won''t sit on top of our neck anymore."


    "Ah¡­" Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. Being a servant must not be easy. "How about the servant''s portion?"


    "It''s in the back kitchen. We''ll only start preparing them when this is finished, otherwise, we won''t have much time," the servant yawned. "Did you work in a different division previously? Your attire seemed to be from the inner palace."


    In truth, Ye Jiao just conveniently picked one of the servants that passed by and borrowed her clothes. Since they have similar built, Ye Jiao assumed that it would be safe for her to enter the palace disguising herself as a servant. She totally wasn''t sure how things worked here, but her attire did seem different from the others.


    They were all wearing light cream clothes, but the sash'' color was different. Hers was darker while the others were light. Probably, it was the one that differentiated where they worked.


    "Yeah."


    "Well, you should return back soon then," the servant turned her attention back to the pot. "It''s not going to be safe if your master is looking for you and you''re still here helping us out."


    "I''ll be going in a while."


    As the servant turned her attention elsewhere, Ye Jiao took out a bottle from her pocket. It was a bottle that Lu Wan gave to her before they went their separate ways. This bottle contained a deadly poison which will slowly kill the person who ingested it in the matter of a day.


    It was slow, but if it was not cured in time, they would surely die. As there was no sign of being poisoned, no one would be able to realize that they have been poisoned by this poison. It was convenient.


    Drip, drip, drip.


    As Eon Energy Master Rank 3, Ye Jiao didn''t need to exert a lot of effort to use her Eon Energy and dropped several drops into the pot. After ensuring that she had covered all of the pots, Ye Jiao walked out of the kitchen and entered the back kitchen. It was the one that was prepared for servants.


    She took out a different bottle. This time, it was a sleeping medicine. She poured the content into the nearby well as she knew that they would need to use the water from the well if they wanted to cook.


    ''This dose should be enough to make them all sleepy.''


    "Hey, what are you doing here?"


    "Ah," Ye Jiao noticed a guard nearby. She flashed a smile. "I''m sorry, I was tasked by His Highness to check on the preparation of the meal, so I wander off here."


    The guard''s body stiffened when he heard the word ''his highness.'' There were several princes in this kingdom and each of them was not that likeable. They have their own temper and the guard would prefer to not pry into their business.


    Besides, he knew that the meal was taking a bit long to prepare this time. It was not weird if one of them sent a servant to inquire.


    "Ah, we''re sorry. It seems that the preparation will take a long time."


    "I can see that," Ye Jiao smiled. "I''ll relay the news to His Highness. Please excuse me."


    With that excuse, the guard no longer has any reason to keep Ye Jiao behind. He sighed to himself as he returned back to his post, not suspecting Ye Jiao in the slightest. After all, what she said and did perfectly copied what a servant usually did.


    Ye Jiao walked to the inner palace. Upon seeing her attire, the guards didn''t question her too much and let her in. It seemed like she had picked quite a high ranking servant''s clothes not long ago.


    ''It also means that I don''t have much time.''


    The higher a ranking the servant has, the more responsibility they had. It would be hard for that person to disappear for a long period of time without anyone noticing, so Ye Jiao had to move faster.


    Walking towards the inner palace, Ye Jiao was astounded by the rich coloring and engraving on the walls. The design of the inner palace was extremely good as it shouted the word elegant.


    "Good day to you, is there anything wrong?" a guard asked Ye Jiao when he saw the young girl stopped in her tracks.


    Ye Jiao turned her head. "Ah, I''m just confused on the way to His Majesty''s quarter. I was tasked by His Highness to retrieve an item, but I''m unfamiliar with the way."


    The guard arched his eyebrows and pointed to the right side. "Just follow the stone path and you''ll arrive there."


    "Thank you very much."


    As Ye Jiao walked away, the guard was looking at the young girl''s visage with a frown. He didn''t recall any high ranking servant that young. Moreover, that girl''s countenance seemed to be oddly familiar.


    ''Forget it, it''s not important.''


    Thanks to the guard, Ye Jiao soon arrived safely in Chen Tian''s quarter.


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 277 Poison, Antidote, and Letter 2

    ''It''s bigger than what I thought.''


    Ye Jiao knew that the king''s quarter would be big, but she didn''t expect to see one this big. It was as if this was another palace altogether. Her eyes wandered when she saw several guards standing not far from there. One of them has familiar blue eyes.


    "Hey, that servant is looking over here."


    "What do you think she wants?"


    Qi Huan noticed what the others were saying. His pupil dilated slightly when he saw Ye Jiao. "Let''s try to ask her."


    "Whoa, are you sure? That''s quite a high ranking servant."


    "Careful. If she reports you, you''ll be in a lot of problems."


    "I''ll be fine," Qi Huan flashed a smile. It didn''t take long for him to blend with the other guards as they didn''t suspect him. There were too many guards around and they saw a lot of new faces recently because of the new order. That made it easier for Qi Huan to slip into them.


    Walking towards Ye Jiao, Qi Huan greeted politely. "Little Miss, is there anything that I can help?"


    Ye Jiao looked at Qi Huan and smiled. "Mr. Guard, I need to deliver something from inside, but I''m unsure whether it''ll attract attention or not. Also, I''m not sure where the location is."


    From the onlooker''s perspective, they would only see her as a sloppy servant. What kind of servant didn''t know the location of their master''s room? Though, no one talked to Ye Jiao as they pretended to not see the young girl.


    Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao with a faint smile on his lips. "This is His Highness''s quarter. Do you need anything from here?"


    "His Highness'' guard tells me that His Highness needs his equipment," Ye Jiao said while blinking her large eyes, looking as innocent as possible. Her current appearance could easily win one''s heart this way. "Can you please help me point the way, Mr. Guard?"


    "I don''t know the exact way," Qi Huan looked over to the nearby servant. "Take her to His Highness'' room. It''s urgent."


    "Yes," the servant responded politely. From Qi Huan''s clothes, she guessed that he must be someone of high position here, so she didn''t dare to refuse. Her action was also very polite because she knew that offending someone from high stature might grant her death.


    Ye Jiao beamed. "Many thanks, Mr. Guard."


    Qi Huan sighed internally as he returned back to the others. Ye Jiao''s message for him was simple: she needed to take the antidote for Lu Wan and delivered it to him. For a servant to go to the prison was uncommon. That meant, she needed a diversion to make sure that no one found out she was going there.


    "So, how is it?"


    "She''s just lost," Qi Huan replied. "I''m going for an errand. I''ll return back later."


    "Alright, take care."


    While Qi Huan was intending to create a diversion, Ye Jiao arrived in front of Chen Tian''s room. The servant looked at her and pointed to the door beside them.


    ??This is His Highness'' chamber. Usually, no one is allowed to get inside except some servants for private orders," the servant explained.


    There was no need for Ye Jiao to ask what kind of private order it was. She had encountered a lot of annoying officials who treated women badly, so her opinion of this king was also that low. As for the truth¡­. Who cares?


    Putting her real thoughts to the back, Ye Jiao smiled brightly. "I understand. Thank you very much for escorting me to this place, Sister."


    "It''s my duty."


    The moment the servant left, Ye Jiao entered the chamber.


    The chamber itself was large. It was around 10 meters'' square wide, making one wonder whether it was a room for a single person or 10 people. There were a lot of decorations on the wall and table, showing Chen Tian''s artistic taste. Of course, the one that didn''t lack the most was gold as the room''s color itself was a mix of gold and red color.


    ''His taste and his element didn''t match.???


    From what Ye Jiao remembered, Chen Tian''s element was water. Those elements were the specialization from rank 4 or above. Ye Jiao didn''t know the details yet, but she knew that there were several specializations including the four basic elements that she had seen some Eon Energy Master Rank 4 wielded.


    She didn''t know what was his real power right now, but she knew that it must be pretty good. After all, her memories of the day her mother fought against Chen Tian was printed clearly in her mind. The current her might not be able to match Chen Tian yet. He was still a bit far above.


    Though, she could definitely employ some trick to defeat him. Ye Jiao was not completely confident, though. The gap between Eon Energy Master Rank 3 and 4 was a bit too high to cover. It was akin to a child trying to fight an adult in a game where the adult was at the advantage.


    It''ll be hard.


    Ye Jiao chose not to think too much as she strode to the nearby closet. Opening it, she could see a lot of robes with various colors. They all looked extremely beautiful with exquisite tailoring for each edge.


    She crouched down and rummaged the items at the bottom of the closet. There was a small box hidden at the corner. Ye Jiao pulled it out. It was a small box around the size of a shoebox.


    Clank.


    ''It''s locked.''


    Ye Jiao frowned as she extended her hand. Just as she was about to start opening the box, she sensed that someone was coming. Her expression hardened as she quickly took the box with her and rushed to the other side of the room. There was a lot of furniture, but not all of them could be used to hide her body.


    Her eyes landed on the large bed. With a swift movement, she had landed below the bed''s curtain.


    At that moment, the door opened.


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 278 Poison, Antidote, and Letter 3

    *Yawn*


    "Hey, where should we find that thing?" the voice of a woman traveled from the door.


    Ye Jiao was still hiding under the bed''s curtain as she watched expressionlessly. This was not the first time she had to hide when there were some enemies close to her, though she couldn''t say that she liked the experience.


    "It''s on the table," The second woman replied with her clear voice.


    "Oh."


    The two of them moved slowly. Probably because they thought that there was no one there who would watch them, so they didn''t really care that their work''s speed dropped. Under the bed, Ye Jiao thought about the items on Chen Tian''s table. There were only some papers and tools that she didn''t know the use for.


    "Is this all?"


    "I think so. His Majesty just needs the tools because he wants to write an edict, right?"


    "Yeah," The second woman sighed. It was clear that she sounded tired. "In any case, we need to make sure that he won??t ask us to return back again. Walking back and forth can be tiring."


    The first woman laughed. "Just treat it as practice. Come on, he''s waiting."


    "Yes."


    The two women scurried away. Under the bed, Ye Jiao waited for a moment before she slipped out from under the bed''s curtains. Her eyes showed a ruthless glint for a moment because she could guess that Chen Tian wanted to make edict about Lu Wan.


    Probably, he wanted to claim that Lu Wan was already under him and so on.


    ''He''s so hateful.''


    Pushing the thoughts to the back, Ye Jiao scurried to the side and focused her attention to the box that she held in her hand.


    Ye Jiao utilized her Eon Energy out of her fingertip into the lock''s hole. Using her Eon Energy, she investigated the size of the lock and put the metals into the place as if there was a key inserted. By manipulating the movements of the energy, Ye Jiao opened the lid of the box effortlessly. This was one of the methods she learned during a mission because sometimes, she needed to open locked doors or others.


    It seemed that an assassin''s profession was truly useful.


    "Bottle and letter?"


    She had expected that Chen Tian must have kept the antidote for the poison. As she looked at the label, she knew that she was correct. However, she didn''t expect this man to keep some letters in this box too.


    ''What is this?"


    Ye Jiao pulled one of the letters out. She could see some neat handwriting inside as she started to read the content. In the middle of reading, her eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Chen Tian¡­ I''ll kill you," she muttered with gritted teeth.


    ''¡­.It has been a long time you keep Ye Ai Xia alive. They''re dissatisfied with the luxury that Wei Family provides her, so you should take more caution. We, Su Family, will only send you more people after we ensure that Su Lian will be the only legal wife of Wei Family¡­.''


    Murderous intent flashed inside Ye Jiao''s eyes as she could see that the Su Family had been giving a lot of things and the Chen Family along with the Wei Family worked together to make her family''s life miserable. From the list of items at the bottom of the letter, she knew that the Su Family hated her mother very much.


    She had known that Wei Shang wanted her mother because he fancied her, but she didn''t expect Su Lian to be this ruthless too. Ye Jiao took the other letters, reading some of them as her blood began to boil in anger.


    ''¡­Su Family had just finished our exploration. Whatever you want, you can have it as long as you can keep Ye Xiao in check. We''ll pay a visit if it''s possible in the future to destroy his dream once more. Remember, you have to make sure that he will never forget her¡­.''


    ''¡­The poison is complete. We also have received the payment for the special poison you ordered. If you want to get a man following after a woman''s order, you can use this. The method will be told by Advisor¡­..''


    Aside from some jumbled and incomplete information, the rest of the letter all contained methods that they proposed to make her mother''s life worse.


    Bam!


    Ye Jiao slammed the letter back into the box. Her eyes gleamed with hatred as she took out a small bottle and poured a bit of the antidote inside. Her hands were shaking out of anger.


    "Calm down, Ye Jiao¡­ getting angry won''t do you any good," Ye Jiao calmed herself down by muttering under her breath. Her eyes were still gleaming in anger, but her hands slowly stopped shaking.


    Ye Jiao slowly put the bottle inside the box and used her Eon Energy to lock it back again. There were still a lot of letters inside, but she doubted that she would be able to contain her anger if she read them. Just one was already more than enough to make her angry.


    ''Also, who''re ''they'' that the letter mentioned?''


    The letter said that ''they'' have been impatient with the Wei Family. She could guess the reason, but she chose not to think in that direction too much. From that one word, she knew that there was someone else who wished for the downfall of her family.


    As she thought about that, Ye Jiao''s eyes flashed in ruthlessness.


    She knew.


    Her life would never be in peace if those people tried to chase after her again, whether it was because of her mother or father.


    While she was contemplating, Ye Jiao suddenly heard the sound of rustling from outside. She swiftly moved to the door and used her Eon Energy to probe around. Sensing the rapid movements of the guards, she smirked.


    ''Senior Brother Qi Huan had started to move. I better hurry.''


    As soon as she no longer sensed anything moving in close range, Ye Jiao opened the door and darted out of the quarter.


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 279 Break Through with Poison 1

    Swish!


    The commotion was larger than what Ye Jiao imagined. She didn''t know what Qi Huan did, but anything it was, it must be something that alarmed the entire residence. She could just hope that her senior brother was still alright after creating that large ruckus.


    Bam!


    "Servants are not¡­"


    Before the guard that managed the prison could finish his words, he felt a pain from his neck. In that short moment, Ye Jiao had killed him and pushed the man into the bush. It would hide him from the view and at the same time, bought her the time she needed to take Lu Wan out.


    The building for the prison was large, and it was built as if it was a castle on its own. The way it was built wouldn''t make one realize that it was a prison. Rather, it looked like a normal residence. The only differences would be the large number of guards that was guarding the residence tightly.


    Ye Jiao slipped into the building and followed the way. Her nose could faintly smell the metallic tang of blood along with some other weird smell. Right now, she was cursing her ability to sense things better because she could clearly feel that her nose was itching.


    It smells so bad!


    "Yu Shui, are you there?" Ye Jiao asked using her senior brother''s second name to make sure the guards didn''t suspect her. She didn''t want to kill them all as it would raise suspicion, so she had been evading them. If she didn''t, this place would have already turned into bloodbath since a long time ago.


    "¡­here¡­"


    Lu Wan''s voice came from the deepest part of the prison. Ye Jiao quickened her pace and arrived before a large room that was protected by metallic bars. Behind the bars, Lu Wan was sitting with his back on the wall, struggling to keep himself awake.


    There was barely anything inside the room aside from the bed and also some necessary items they might need. However, Lu Wan was not chained. Probably because they knew that the young boy couldn''t even sitting straight. Even now, Lu Wan was sitting on the floor with listless body.


    "Hey, Ai Jiao."


    "You shouldn''t have proposed this plan. You''re going to die because of your favorite poison." Ye Jiao took out the prison keys that she took from the guard she killed and opened the door.


    Clang!


    "Heh, I won''t die that easily," Lu Wan said and coughed a bit. His face darkened because the poison flared back once more.


    Closing it back, Ye Jiao crouched near Lu Wan. Her Eon Energy flowed from her hand to inspect his condition. Her brows furrowed when she realized that the poisons have spread into his blood and organs. It would be almost impossible to squeeze the poison out like this because it was already in too deep.


    Considering Lu Wan''s capability, he should be able to find a way to stop the poison from spreading too much. However, there was no trace that Lu Wan tried to stop it. Instead, it was as if Lu Wan was combining the poison that Chen Tian gave him with his own Eon Energy and also poison that he had consumed over the years.


    Seeing that, Ye Jiao was speechless. Right now, she truly wanted to know whether her senior brother had a brain or not to attempt something like this in this place.


    Ye Jiao glared at Lu Wan. "Why don''t you suppress them?"


    "I''m training my poison resistance," Lu Wan replied.


    "If you don''t do something soon, you''re going to die at this rate." Ye Jiao felt like hitting her senior brother. He should have found a better place to train his poison resistance and not in this dirty prison when his own life could be compromised. Truly, he didn''t have proper common sense.


    "No way¡­ I''m¡­umph!"


    Before Lu Wan could finish his words, Ye Jiao had forced him to drink the antidote. As Lu Wan nearly didn''t have any Eon Energy left, he was basically defenseless in front of her. It didn''t take much effort on Ye Jiao''s side to make the young man drink the antidote, forcing the liquid down into his throat.


    *cough* *cough*


    Lu Wan tried to struggle, but Ye Jiao didn''t let him as she forced the liquid inside the bottle to enter Lu Wan''s body. The antidote would weaken the poison. Even though Lu Wan''s condition was already that bad, this would help him.


    "Stahp¡­."


    "Drink it, Lu Wan," Ye Jiao''s tone was cold.


    Lu Wan nearly choked once more when he saw Ye Jiao''s cold gaze. When he was shocked, his struggle halted, which granted Ye Jiao the chance to push the liquid down his throat.


    "You-!"


    "Turn around." Ye Jiao glared at Lu Wan. "You have to circulate the antidote inside your body to make it work."


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. "I''ll be fine¡­"


    Not waiting for Lu Wan to retort again, Ye Jiao turned his body around and placed both of her hands on his back. Eon Energy flowed from her hand to the young man''s body as she slowly circulated it inside his body. It was weird to do the circulation in someone else''s body and not oneself, but Ye Jiao did it carefully.


    She had seen how Qin Zheng did it before, so she was just doing what he had done before. Besides, she did it with Qin Zheng before even though it was just one circulation because Qin Zheng still could fight her back. Come to think about it, how come her senior brother was so different from Qin Zheng?


    Even when he was poisoned, Qin Zheng still fought back heavily. Well, it might be also because Lu Wan didn''t want to hurt her while Qin Zheng didn''t hesitate to kill her if he could back then.


    Ye Jiao frowned as she tried to circulate her Eon Energy inside Lu Wan''s body. The poisons that Lu Wan had consumed to build resistance was affecting her slowly but surely.


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 280 Break Through with Poison 2

    "Stop it, Ye Jiao."


    "If I didn''t do it, you won''t be able to do it yourself."


    Ye Jiao still calmly used her Eon Energy to circulate the antidote. However, beads of sweat started to form on her forehead when she detected the poison inside Lu Wan''s body that also entered her body through her Eon Energy channel.


    ''Just how much poison does he have?''


    "You''re going to lose too much Eon Energy, Jiao''er," Lu Wan spoke out, his face was still pale. He no longer resisted, but he reminded the young girl as he could feel clear and refreshing Eon Energy entered his body.


    Ye Jiao stopped and took out a pill. "This is Eon Energy Pill from Senior Brother Qi. It''s not that good in quality, but it''ll help you recover your Eon Energy."


    "You''re not going to help me circulate it?"


    "You better do it yourself if you don''t want your circulation destroyed by me," Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. "Don''t you know it''s dangerous to have other people did it for you? If you grow used to it, you won''t be able to do it by yourself."


    Lu Wan still remembered his father told him that one has to train by themselves if they wanted to reach the peak. It was the undeniable truth because they needed to have complete control of their body. If it was not an emergency, it would be better to not have their circulation done by other people.


    Ye Jiao only did the circulation because he refused to take the antidote. Now that he had felt much better, there shouldn''t be any problem for him to do it by himself.


    "Fine." Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao''s hand. "You should also take care of yourself. Pouring your Eon Energy inside me also pulls the poison into your body."


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. She didn''t expect this too, but the poison was seeped into her body instead when she helped Lu Wan to do the circulation. It was not impossible to push them all out, but it would be a waste. Back when she helped Qin Zheng, the poison didn''t enter her, or it might have entered but she didn''t realize it because of her immunity against that poison.


    However, the problem right now was that there were also many other types of poison that entered her body. She started to suspect that Lu Wan was actually keeping himself in the state of poisoned at all time.


    "There are a few types of poison inside."


    "Yeah, burn, corrosive, melt, pain," Lu Wan slowly listed them out as he put the pill into his mouth. Even under severe pain, he still could recognize their effects and differentiate each of them. "It''s most of their effect."


    "I see." Ye Jiao could sense that there were also some others. "Did you also consume other poisons?"


    Lu Wan shook his head. "That poison alone is already deadly enough. Why would I want to take another poison in?"


    "There''s other effects from the poison that enters my body."


    "That¡­"


    "Is it dangerous."


    Lu Wan held a bitter smile and nodded. "It''ll be better if you train now or you won''t be able to stay alive."


    "Right."


    Ye Jiao moved to the back and sat down before she focused on her own circulation. Helping Lu Wan did the circulation had actually helped her to gain much better control of her Eon Energy. During that short time, she had to push her concentration to the limit as she didn''t wish to harm Lu Wan.


    While Ye Jiao was focusing on her training to refine the poison inside her body to increase her resistance, Lu Wan also focused on his own circulation.


    ''That damnable Chen Family¡­ they really didn''t hold back when they give the poison at all,'' Lu Wan cursed internally. He slowly circulated it and erased the poison''s effect little by little. His eyes widened when he sensed that his circulation has become smoother and easier to do.


    There shouldn''t be anything different, right?


    Opening his eyes in confusion, Lu Wan looked over to Ye Jiao. In that moment, he recalled that Ye Jiao had advanced to rank 3. In addition¡­.


    ''Her Eon Energy is much purer than me.''


    Because of her talent, Ye Jiao needed much more Eon Energy compared to ordinary people when she wanted to rank up. Despite that, it didn''t reduce the time needed for her to advance as she still could grow at a much faster rate. She still managed to reach rank 3 after one year or so in rank 2.


    That speed was insane.


    Lu Wan focused his attention to his circulation again. He could feel the Eon Energy slowly responded to his control better. The energy flowed all over his body, nourishing his previously dry body. It was warm and comfortable. Lu Wan never knew that training could be this smooth.


    As time passed, Lu Wan sensed that something changed. His sense grew sharper and he could sense things better than before. The amount of Eon Energy inside his body increased at the same time as his core expanded a bit. The change might not be that visible, but it would mean a completely different amount of Eon Energy stored inside.


    Hu!


    The moment Lu Wan opened his eyes, an invisible layer of Eon Energy came out of his body and hit everything around him. It was faint, yet the power was enough to shake the metal bar in front of him. His eyes widened in surprise.


    "That¡­"


    Ye Jiao opened her eyes too when she sensed the waves. She smiled brightly. "Congratulations, Senior Brother Lu for breaking through to Eon Energy Master Rank 3."


    ...


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 281 Burn!

    "That''s breaking through?" Lu Wan was dumbfounded when he heard Ye Jiao''s words.


    Ye Jiao laughed and nodded her head. "Yes. It might not seem much different from ordinary training, but you have obviously broken through to a different rank, Senior Brother Lu. How about trying to control your Eon Energy at a much wider length?"


    Despite still feeling doubt, Lu Wan chose to do as Ye Jiao said. He waved his hand as Eon Energy came out from his body. It reached the other side of the room without much difficulties, a distance that shouldn''t be possible if he hadn''t broken through to rank 3.


    "Y-you''re correct," Lu Wan was ecstatic as relief was written all over his face. He didn''t expect that from the poison he was forced to consume, he would be able to break through. The poison destroyed his body and organs, but because he had his own resistance, it didn''t completely destroy him. When he nourished his body again, they restored and at the same time, his core expanded while his own Eon Energy grew purer.


    Right now, he wished to give thanks to Chen Tian for giving him this chance.


    That annoying king must have not known that his decision would instead give Lu Wan the chance to break through.


    Ye Jiao also smiled widely. She genuinely felt happy for her senior brother and could understand his feelings a bit. Among the three of them, Lu Wan was the slowest one of them. They were planning to enter the academy this year and if Lu Wan couldn''t make a breakthrough, they would be forced to leave him.


    After all, they might be comrades, but they also have their dreams and goals that they wish to pursue.


    Now that Lu Wan had broken through to rank 3, there was nothing that made them feel uneasy anymore. They could all participate in the selection to enter the academies.


    "I don''t want to break your happiness, Senior Brother Lu, but we have to get out of here soon," Ye Jiao stood up. She hadn''t finished eliminating the poison to ingest them, but their amount was no longer life threatening. "We still need to take a leave from this palace."


    "Right," Lu Wan nodded with a smirk on his face. "What''s your plan, Jiao''er? Leaving the palace quietly or making a disaster?"


    Disaster?


    Lu Wan''s word selection was interesting as Ye Jiao''s lips curled up in amusement. She nodded strongly. Her eyes flashed with ruthlessness. "Since I''m already inside the palace, I might as well take some interest from them."


    After reading that letter, Ye Jiao had just realized just how big a tyranny Chen Family has been in this kingdom. She was pretty sure that every single genius in this kingdom wouldn''t be able to escape from their clutches if not for some kind of miracle.


    "Good," Lu Wan clenched his fist. "I also have a debt I wish to settle with them."


    Lu Wan pursed his lips as he walked out. "That means, you''re the one who will fight against Chen Tian?"


    "Yes."


    "Are you sure you can?"


    "Senior Brother Qi should be able to head into the inner palace after he has finished with his task," Ye Jiao replied. She looked over to Lu Wan. "I''m not here alone, you know."


    "Of course you''re not." Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "What''s the plan?"


    "You should get out of the palace and burn this place."


    "BURN?" Lu Wan nearly yelled out loudly. He knew that this place was disgusting as there were a lot of traces of torturing. When they dragged him to this place, he could perfectly guess what kind of experience those people had when they came here. There were a lot of tools hanging on the walls and placed on the table that the guards showed to him when they first threw him here.


    Geniuses were usually proud and unwilling to bow down to anyone else. Sometimes, it was possible to subdue them with strength, but with the talent the imperial family had, it could barely impress them. Because of that, the only possibilities would be to force them to surrender using all kind of means.


    Once they gave their vow, the Imperial Family would let them off.


    That poison was only the first step.


    The next step was much crueler.


    Ye Jiao nodded with a ruthless glint inside her green pupil. "Since this place is so corrupted, isn''t it better to just let it be destroyed?"


    For a moment, Lu Wan could sense a chill coming down to his spine. Even though he had gotten used to staying around Ye Jiao, this was the first time he felt danger from facing his junior sister. It was as if she was planning on killing him and leaked out killing intent.


    "I understand. I''ll start," Lu Wan grinned.


    As he said that, Lu Wan took out his real weapon: chain and blade.


    A few guards appeared within their sight and before they could understand what was going on, Lu Wan had attacked them.


    Slash! Slash!


    "There''s no need to kill them all," Ye Jiao frowned.


    "Those guards at this place are the one who torture the prisoners," Lu Wan chuckled yet his eyes were also gleaming with killing intent. "Are you sure you want to let them off?"


    They torture the prisoner?


    Ye Jiao knew that some of the guards wouldn''t just do this because they were ordered to. The thought of torturing other people might haunt them if they didn''t like it. Besides, those who could stay for a long time in this place should have long known that they have to torture the guards. They must have also enjoyed the process.


    "No."


    Ye Jiao took out her dagger and a cloth to cover her mouth. She nodded to Lu Wan as she started to dash from her position and made a killing spree.


    Slash! Slash! Swish!


    It was not a fight anymore because not a single one of the guards were capable of detecting these two''s movements. Ye Jiao has always been focusing on her speed and hiding her presence, which was the reason she was able to move undetected. On the other hand, Lu Wan was more focused on the long range attack.


    With his blade and chain, no one was able to contend against him. Each one of them died as they made their way out of the prison.


    The smell of blood started to permeate the place when they had finished. Both of them didn''t count the number of guards they had killed anymore. In just the matter of minutes, this place has become a pool of blood.


    "Start the fire."


    "Right away," Lu Wan glanced at the nearby woods and started a fire. By using his Eon Energy to spread it, the whole area was covered in fire in just a mere minute.


    "Eon Energy is really convenient."


    "You''re going to run out of Eon Energy soon if you use it recklessly like that."


    "I''m just testing something," Lu Wan rolled his eyes. He had to admit that he was using a bit too much Eon Energy by using it to control the fire, but it was interesting. He never expected that they could use it in that way.


    "Let''s go, there are still a lot of area we need to cover."


    "Right."


    Swish! Slash!


    The two of them swiftly made their way to the palace while Lu Wan kept on burning everything on his way. The sound of servants panicked filled the area, but these two didn''t stop at all.


    Clang!


    Lu Wan raised his chain in surprise. He looked at the guard in front of him and pushed the man back. Twisting his arm, he controlled the direction of the chain and the blade soon headed to the man''s direction.


    Clang!


    The guard blocked the attack. It was at this time that Ye Jiao arrived by his side and swung her dagger.


    Slash!


    "You-!"


    Swish!


    The guard tried to attack Ye Jiao, but his sword only reached air. His eyes widened as he fell to the ground in disbelief.


    "He surprises me," Lu Wan commented.


    Ye Jiao looked in a different direction. "He''s the personal guard of the Imperial Family, isn''t that right, Chen Tian?"


    Lu Wan''s face changed considerably when he heard Ye Jiao''s words. He readied his stance as he turned his head to the direction where Ye Jiao was looking.


    On the other end of the room, Chen Tian was standing. His purple robe was moving slightly because of his Eon Energy''s movements while his eyes were looking at the three of them deviously. It was clear that he was angry.


    "I see that you have prepared a backup plan, Lu Wan."


    "Of course I have," Lu Wan snickered. "Do you think that I''ll come here without any preparation, Old Man?"


    Chen Tian frowned. He waved his hand as boundless Eon Energy made their way to Lu Wan''s position.

 282 Fight Against Chen Tian

    Bam! Bam!


    Waves of Eon Energy clashed and pushed both of them back. Lu Wan''s eyes widened in surprise as he realized that Ye Jiao had blocked the attack. Her expression was solemn with a hint of chilliness surrounding her. At the same time, her eyes were locked to the man before her with killing intent flashed from deep within her heart. There was no doubt that Ye Jiao wished to kill Chen Tian more than anyone else.


    "Thanks," Lu Wan muttered, expressing his gratitude.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. She could sense the powerful wave from Chen Tian, and blocking it in time was not that easy. Her own Eon Energy was not as pure nor as much as him. This would be a fight where she was at a disadvantage.


    "You should get out first."


    Lu Wan nodded. "Ok."


    Chen Tian''s eyes narrowed. "Do you think that you can get out of this place alive, Lu Wan?"


    As he said that, he controlled his Eon Energy''s element. Water flooded the area as it directed straight to Lu Wan.


    Splash! Bam!


    Lu Wan expanded his Eon Energy around his body, forming a barrier around his body. His hand shook at the sudden pressure, but he put out a grin. Even though he was at the disadvantage, he would never let Chen Tian knew that he could pressure him.


    "Do you think that you can wound me when I have already seen this attack before?"


    Chen Tian furrowed his brows. Before he could reply, he sensed danger and hurriedly summoned out his sword.


    Clang!


    "Oh, I didn''t know you could use a sword."


    ''A woman?'' Chen Tian''s mind was churning as he pushed Ye Jiao back. Looking at the young girl in front of him, whose face was partially covered with a cloth, he didn''t have any recollection of this little kid before. But the strength and speed Ye Jiao showed when she attacked him told him clearly that he should not underestimate this little brat.


    The moment Chen Tian focused his attention to Ye Jiao, Lu Wan rushed out with his Eon Energy barrier blocking the water wave. He didn''t even look back anymore, trusting that Ye Jiao could deal with Chen Tian on her own.


    He had a different mission he needed to do.


    "You can''t run away!"


    "Your opponent is right here," Ye Jiao had appeared before Chen Tian and swung her dagger ruthlessly.


    Clang!


    Chen Tian''s face turned solemn. With the strength that the kid showed, he knew that this little brat would prove to be a problem to him. There was no other choice for him but to focus his entire attention to Ye Jiao.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The sound of metal clashing reverberated in the large hall. Chen Tian wanted to control his element too, but Ye Jiao clearly didn''t give any chance to do so. She attacked relentlessly, pushing the man to the back with her extraordinary dagger play.


    Splash! Clang! Clang!


    Thrusting the sword to block the attack, Chen Tian realized that Ye Jiao had moved from her place. The speed at which she moved reminded him of the time when he fought against Ye Ai Xia. There was no one at rank 3 who gave him so many problems except for that woman in the past.


    Thinking about her, Chen Tian''s eyes grew dark. He stepped forward to attack yet Ye Jiao sensed it and parried his blade perfectly.


    Clang!


    "Do you really think that you can defeat me?" Chen Tian focused his attention and utilized a large amount of Eon Energy from his body. Waves of Eon Energy pushed Ye Jiao back as she positioned her arm in front of her head, protecting her head and body.


    Her expression was solemn as she still looked towards Chen Tian. Even under the heavy pressure, there was not even a hint of panic within her green pupil. All she showed was determination and confidence that she would be able to defeat him.


    Chen Tian''s eyes flashed with rage and ruthlessness. This was his chance. He waved his hand as waves of water came crashing at high speed to Ye Jiao.


    Splash!


    Ye Jiao blocked the attack by making a barrier of Eon Energy around her body. Her face was solemn as she knew that this wouldn''t last long. The amount of Eon Energy she had was far lacking compared to Chen Tian.


    Some Eon Energy Master Rank 4 could control elements, and it was the most common method that Ye Jiao knew so far. Based on what Qin Zheng hinted before, there were several types of specialization. However, the one she had ever seen so far was only Eon Energy Master with element specialization, be it water, earth, or wind.


    Element specialization also gave them a lot of advantages in this place. There were not many people who could reach rank 4, so the power of element would make other Eon Energy Masters feared them for they could not understand how they managed to do it. Even though Chen Tian didn''t receive proper education because of the limitation in this place, it was still extremely powerful since no one aside from the powerhouses in other kingdoms could contend against him.


    ''My Eon Energy consumption is too fast.''


    Against someone at Chen Tian''s level, it was close to impossible for her to contend based on the amount of Eon Energy. He would win without doubt!


    Sensing sudden danger, Ye Jiao raised her dagger.


    Clang!


    Breaking her barrier, Chen Tian attacked with his blade. Even though he was surrounded by water, he didn''t lose speed at all. In fact, it looked as if he was going faster and much more powerful. Inside his water, he was the one who controlled it, giving him freedom and power.


    "Don''t you know Eon Energy Master Rank 4 is more powerful in their domain?" Chen Tian roared and swung his sword once more.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Ye Jiao used her dagger and blocked it. Her lips pursed. "Do you really think you can contain the water inside this hall forever with your power?"


    "They''ll close¡­"


    "I already killed them all."


    For a moment, Chen Tian could feel chilliness run down his spine when he heard Ye Jiao''s words. He had placed a lot of guards around this place with the intention to seal the hall when he planned on using his element. For a water elemental specialist like him, fighting in the water was the most advantageous.


    After all, his knowledge over his element was only limited to the fact that he could control it to a certain degree.


    "You-!"


    Clang! Bam! Splash!


    Chen Tian attempted to attack once more. His blade was connected to Ye Jiao''s dagger, but it was precisely that time that Ye Jiao twisted her body and kicked the man to the back.


    Her attack disrupted his tempo as the water partially subsided around them. He hurriedly raised his hand, trying to control the water again when he saw the young girl had arrived by his side. Even though they were surrounded by water, Ye Jiao didn''t slow down in the slightest bit. She pushed herself to match her speed with his power.


    "You!" Chen Tian raised his sword and swung it as quick as possible.


    Swish!


    Evading it to the side, Ye Jiao arrived by Chen Tian''s side. She swung her dagger horizontally, directly hit the man''s hips. Her power was enough to break his defense and cut through the man''s skin.


    Slash!


    Blood splattered out and mixed in the water around them. It caused the color of the water to change into red. If only she was not in the middle of the battle, Ye Jiao would surely be astonished by how the color dispersed inside the water, giving it a beautiful red color.


    Bam!


    Ye Jiao jumped to the back as Chen Tian directed his blade to her location. Her lips curled up in satisfaction. She didn''t really have the confidence to beat Chen Tian perfectly and squarely as she understood the difference between those at rank 3 and rank 4. Besides, she had just broken through not long ago. That meant, she was just slightly better than those at rank 2.


    She wouldn''t be able to fight him well if she attacked frontally. All she needed was the chance to wound him.


    Why just wound?


    Of course, she had coated her dagger with poison before she came here. With the powerful poison that Lu Wan managed to make, it would surely make Chen Tian in pain for a long time. She couldn''t kill him, but she could make his life miserable. After all, living for a long time with pain would be much more painful than instant death.

 283 The Hidden Expert in Chen Kingdom 1

    Qi Huan was extremely keen on blood''s smell. Because his position as the crown prince has always been put in danger, he had to stay careful all the time. There were a lot of assassins aiming to take his life. As time passed, he became extremely sensitive to that metallic tang smell. Even if it was a distance away, he was able to smell them.


    ''Ye Jiao must have started moving.''


    The stench grew darker and murkier as time passed. By looking at the direction where it started, he could guess that Ye Jiao must have begun her massacre. Qi Huan stayed calm as killing intent began to emanate from deep within his eyes. He was as calm as he could be when he summoned out his sword.


    "Hey, why are you¡­?"


    Slash! Slash!


    The surroundings guards were unable to react when they met their end in Qi Huan''s blade. The young man looked at them coldly. Some people said that if a master was wrong, the servants could be innocent. Because of that, they would spare the servants but not the master. However, Qi Huan didn''t think the same.


    When these people chased after Lu Wan and attempted to kill him, who was the one who did it?


    It was both the servants and master.


    These people became a guard knowing that they would have to do the dirty deeds of the emperor and they still did it. All of them just because they wanted the money. After all, Qi Huan knew very well the amount of money and the privilege the guards of the Imperial Family had. That was something many people lusting for, especially those who craved for power and riches.


    ''Everywhere, it''s just the same,'' Qi Huan chuckled to himself as he started a fire on the nearby house. As part of the Imperial Family, he knew the dark secret his father had. His family might not want to involve him because they wished for him to stay out of their business, but he still knew. It was something he believed that many other imperial families did to ensure the longevity of their kingdom.


    Even though it was not as bad as Chen Kingdom, who forcibly forced someone to submit, it was not that much better.


    They also subdued those experts, but because the Qi Family has much better talent and power, they never have to resort this low. They have their own way to make sure the talented never betray them and continue to stay with them. Some of their citizens knew, yet they still supported the imperial family because of Qi Family background.


    After all, they understood that the Qi Family was the only reason why Chi Kingdom could flourish. Even if there were some of them who disliked it, they never voiced it out loudly because they feared that they would be targeted. Qi Family members alone were usually far more powerful and talented.


    Slash!


    But, would they even be the Imperial Family without the bloodshed? It was impossible. It was precisely because they had killed so many people that they could finally rise in power. This world is not kind enough to let incompetent people rose to the top with having their hand clean.


    Tep! Tang!


    The palace was starting to get burnt. With Ye Jiao''s action of burning everything, the smoke had begun to fill the entire area. Many people were choking because of the smoke, but Qi Huan himself didn''t have much problem. With the Eon Energy layer protecting him, he could walk around just fine.


    As Qi Huan stepped into the inner palace area, he sensed sudden danger and raised his sword to block it. His expression showed surprise. It was just a stone thrown in his direction. However, he could only sense it when it was so close to him.


    "An assassin?"


    The calm sound caused Qi Huan to turn in the other direction. His pupil shrunk as he watched the man before him.


    It was no other than the advisor that he met before!


    The middle aged man didn''t look that old. There were some wrinkles around his face, but his eyes were still clear just like the sky. He walked to Qi Huan''s place unhurriedly as his grey robe fluttered along with the wind.


    ''He''s too calm.''


    Even though the palace was in chaos because of the fire in several places, the man before him didn''t look flustered at all. In fact, he looked like he was enjoying himself and the matter in the palace didn''t have anything to do with him. His eyes were watching Qi Huan with deep interest as if there was nothing else in this room but this young man before him.


    Somehow, the gaze from the advisor made chills run down Qi Huan''s spine.


    "Who are you?" Qi Huan blurted out.


    "Don''t you already know who I am?"


    "The advisor?"


    "Indeed."


    Qi Huan''s eyes narrowed. The advisor was still looking at him with that creepy gaze. He wished that he could just stab the advisor''s eyes, but his current strength wouldn''t allow him to do something so reckless. "But you''re not just an ordinary advisor, aren''t you?"


    The advisor didn''t reply to Qi Huan''s question. He looked at Qi Huan''s eyes with a smile on his face. "As I thought, your blue iris is not common."


    Ah!


    Qi Huan nearly forgot that his blue eyes were not common for people in Chen Kingdom. It was more common in Chi Kingdom because there were a lot of people with the same eye color. But here, there was barely anyone. Most of them have brown irises in Chen Kingdom.


    He should have disguised his eyes before if he wanted to come here. He had completely forgotten about it. After all, the most eye catching one that he remembered to hide was only his silver hair.

 284 The Hidden Expert in Chen Kingdom 2

    "Is that so?"


    "Yeah," the advisor took out a fan and lightly fanned himself. He smiled. "I can understand that the Chen Family has a lot of enemies because of their conduct. After all, that rotten family is quite stupid for someone weak."


    Weak?


    The word that the advisor said sounded as if Chen Family was nothing more but unimportant pebbles on the street. Even though Chen Family was disgusting, Qi Huan knew that they were still quite talented as many of them had great talent. Though in the end, they only reached rank 4 at most.


    "If they''re weak, why are you still here?"


    "Why? That''s a good question, but I can''t answer. I still need the Chen Family in this kingdom."


    "Need. Why would you need someone so weak?"


    The advisor smiled. His eyes were looking at Qi Huan with interest. The youthful features on Qi Huan''s face was quite clear even though Qi Huan had used the disguise technique. "Weak people who have ambition can be easily controlled with enough treasures and temptation. Don''t you think so?"


    Qi Huan''s eyes narrowed. Indeed. There was no lack of people who wished for power, yet they were born with weaker talent. Because of that, they were willing to sacrifice everything they had just in order to become even stronger.


    The advisor chuckled. "I can''t let you succeed in your attempt, so I''ll stop you without fail."


    The moment he finished talking, the advisor moved from his place and headed to Qi Huan''s direction. Qi Huan''s eyes dilated, but he raised his sword in time to block the attack.


    Clang!


    "You''re not bad. Eon Energy Master Rank 3 late stage, huh?"


    Qi Huan was surprised that this man managed to find his rank with just a small probe. On the other hand, he could only sense that the middle aged man before him was at rank 4, but it was not known what his real rank was.


    From the way the advisor fought so far, Qi Huan estimated that he should be rank 4 early stage. If not, there was basically no hope for Qi Huan to contend with him because of the great difference between rank 3 and rank 4.


    Pushing him back, Qi Huan began his barrage of attack with his sword.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Amidst the fire and all, the two of them continued to fight without care for the others. Qi Huan focused completely on his swordplay because he understood that even a little mistake might cause them to know that he came from Chi Kingdom. It was not something he wanted them to know.


    He didn''t want to drag his kingdom into this mess.


    Unfortunately, it was impossible to hide some of his habits.


    "Solid swordplay that flows just like water," the advisor said with a smile on his face. "Chi Kingdom?"


    Bam!


    At this time, another building fell because of the fire.


    "You don''t seem to be worried," Qi Huan said coolly.


    "Chen Tian''s element is water," the advisor waved his hand as boundless water appeared before him. "And so do I."


    Qi Huan''s pupil shrunk and he jumped to the side.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Water blades reached the location where he stood before. It was penetrating into the stone deeply as if telling that there was nothing he couldn''t pass through. If that water blade had hit him, Qi Huan knew that his bone might be broken.


    "You can''t run forever."


    The advisor made numerous water blades around him. Seeing their number, Qi Huan''s heart dropped to the bottom. He knew that he had some capabilities, but that didn''t include evading numerous blades that can come to him in every direction.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    The blades were making their way to his direction and Qi Huan swiftly moved away from his position. The water blades either hit the ground or trees around them. Even though he could control the water, the advisor didn''t bother trying to put out the fire around him.


    Qi Huan was unable to run as the advisor continuously crated numerous blades around him. Their shape was also different one from another as if they were made based on the difference in real blades.


    Tep!


    There was a wall riddled in fire before him, so Qi Huan was unable to run anymore. He turned his body and utilized his Eon Energy to protect his body with his sword placed right before him.


    Splash! Splash!


    The moment the water blade hit his barrier, it turned back into water. Qi Huan''s eyes widened in surprise. He had just realized that the Eon Energy consumption was extremely small to the point that it was almost negligible.


    ''This¡­ I didn''t know that I have this great defense? No¡­ it''s not because of defense, but because the element is water.''


    Qi Huan knew better than anyone that his barrier shouldn''t be able to absorb that much power from the attack. He should have been forced to use a lot of power just to deal with it alone. But with the fact presented before him that he was able to do that without much power proved something.


    He had an affinity with water elements.


    Before he reached rank 4, he wouldn''t be able to use elemental power, but this alone had proved him that he had some talent in the element area. Because of that, if his opponent used the same element as him, their attack wouldn''t be able to do much damage to him.


    "You-?" The advisor frowned. He didn''t see anything different from his attack, but his instinct told him that there was something wrong. In the next moment, he saw something got closer to him at an extremely fast rate.


    Splash! Clang!


    ...


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 285 Escape from Capital City

    Splash! Clang!


    The advisor''s eyes widened when he saw Qi Huan in front of him. Even under the barrage of attack from the water blades, this young man suddenly sprinted to him. He managed to block the attack, but he sensed that he seemed to grow stronger.


    Clang!


    "Your little trick won''t work in me," the advisor waved his hands as numerous water blades went to Qi Huan''s direction once more.


    Splash! Splash!


    The water blades continued to hit Qi Huan and dispersed when it hit his barrier. The advisor frowned, wondering how much the consumption of Eon Energy Qi Huan would need to block the attack.


    Little did he know that Qi Huan has the affinity with water. Even though he was under the barrage of attack, it didn''t cost him a lot of Eon Energy. In addition, he started to absorb them when he was blocking the attack, effectively restoring his Eon Energy.


    Bang!


    The wall beside them was broken and Lu Wan came into the view. His hand was holding a torch, showing clearly who was the culprit that had been burning everything in the palace.


    The advisor frowned. He had been so focused on the fight with Qi Huan that he neglected Lu Wan''s presence. There were some doubts within his heart. How come this boy managed to hide his presence so perfectly and burned everything without detection? It shouldn''t be possible.


    "What are you doing here, Lu Wan?" Qi Huan lowered his voice to make it unrecognizable. He might not talk too much when he came here in the past, but it would be better if he stayed careful in case they still managed to detect some similarities. Even though he didn''t have good relationship with his family members, he didn''t want to drag Qi Kingdom.


    It might lead to a war if they found out his real identity as the prince in Qi Kingdom.


    Lu Wan grinned. "The inner palace is going to be destroyed soon. We have to leave."


    "Do you think, I''ll¡­"


    Slash!


    Qi Huan used his Eon Energy and broke the pillar of the building behind the advisor. At the same time, a wave of Eon Energy was directed at the advisor, preventing him from moving for a split second. He waved his hand.


    "Farewell, Mr. Advisor."


    Bam! Bruck!


    The burning building fell down to the advisor''s direction. He had formed a barrier around him, but he knew that it was already more than enough to give these two the opportunity to run away from this place.


    It was at this moment that he realized the inner palace was starting to crumble.


    ''Chen Tian is still inside. What the hell did he do to take so long?''


    Ignoring the two fleeing people, he dashed into the inner palace, intending to end the fight as soon as possible. Looking at the fallen guards on his way, his frown deepened. It seemed that the situation was worse than what he imagined at first.


    Bam!


    "What did you¡­?"


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Before he could finish his words, Ye Jiao had sprinted forward and began her barrage of attack. Every attack was hitting precisely into Chen Tian''s body. It was as if telling him that she would not stop until he fell down.


    Slash! Clang!


    Chen Tian felt his body grew weary the more attacks he made to Ye Jiao. His body was unable to move according to his wishes and Ye Jiao''s attack began to hit his body. At the same time, he realized that there must be something wrong with him.


    "You-!"


    Jleb!


    Twisting her body to evade Chen Tian''s attack, Ye Jiao thrusted her dagger into the man''s stomach, right into the position of his core. Her attack would not be able to completely shatter the man''s martial arts'' foundation given her current strength, but it was enough to wound him deeply.


    Chen Tian''s eyes widened as he utilized his Eon Energy, pushing Ye Jiao back forcefully with a large wave of Eon Energy.


    "You b*stard!"


    Splash!


    The force from Chen Tian pushed Ye Jiao until she nearly crashed on the wall. It took a large effort for her to make use of the force and somersaulted in between to make sure that she landed in one piece.


    The water started to subside as Chen Tian no longer able to hold on their position in place. Even though so, their volume was more than enough for Ye Jiao to make use to absorb the force from Chen Tian. At the very least, they were softer compared to the wall.


    *Cough*


    ''Direct attack from Eon Energy Master Rank 4 is still too much after all.''


    Wiping the blood on the corner of her lips, Ye Jiao hurriedly turned around and started running. With the poison, Chen Tian wouldn''t be able to recover his strength quickly. In addition, she had wounded his core a bit, preventing him from chasing after her anymore.


    With the wound on his core, he wouldn''t be able to use his Eon Energy properly anymore. This would give her the chance she needed to get away from this accursed place.


    Chen Tian could sense his Eon Energy became harder to control. His turned red as ruthlessness flashed within his eyes when he looked in Ye Jiao''s direction.


    "Come over here! I won''t let you get away!"


    Swish! Splash!


    Another waves of Eon Energy headed to Ye Jiao, but she evaded it agilely and let it hit the water instead. Without even turning around, she dashed out of the hall and ran out to the field. The moment she got out, she jumped to the side as several water blades appeared in her direction.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened as she looked at the direction of the advisor. The man was pushing out a large amount of Eon Energy and formed numerous water blades with his hand. Each of the water blades looked as if it was capable to cut off metals as if it was cutting fruits.


    ''This is bad.''


    The man''s skill was good as there was still quite a distance between her and him. She quickly dashed to a different direction and pushed her Eon Energy. At the same time, she activated her movements technique, conveniently brought her far away in split second.


    The Advisor''s eyes narrowed when he saw Ye Jiao went away so quickly. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to catch up to that young girl. Gritting his teeth, he entered the hall and noticed the awful control of the water immediately.


    "Release all the water, Chen Tian!"


    Splash! Splash!


    Waves of water flooded the area the moment Chen Tian no longer held them in their place. He looked at the advisor with an aggravated expression. He knew that the renovation of the palace would take so much money.


    At the same time, there might be a lot of soldiers that he prized got swept with the water current.


    "Can''t you hold them back?"


    "The palace is on fire, it''ll help a bit," The advisor replied calmly. "On the other hand, do you really think that controlling the water like that is the only way to fight?"


    "There''s no water skill in Chen Kingdom."


    "I''ll teach you some of my family''s moves. But before that, you better clean up this mess," the advisor said coldly.


    Chen Tian nodded and walked out of the hall. Seeing the mess caused by the fire and flood, his heart ached. They were basically in ruins because of the attack those people did in his palace. Even now, he still didn''t know who he had offended to make his palace in tatters like this.


    Whenever he pushed someone, he always made sure that they didn''t have anyone powerful enough to back them. That way, he could be calm and just did whatever he wanted.


    But now, it seemed that he missed someone.


    The advisor inspected Chen Tian''s body and frowned. "There''s an unfamiliar poison inside your body. I''m afraid only those at the Main Kingdom can possibly find the cure."


    Chen Tian''s eyes widened. "Are you telling me that I can never recover?"


    "I don''t know, if there''s just a little bit of poison, you might be able to recover. But if there is a large amount¡­," the advisor''s tone was grave.


    Chen Tian''s heart dropped to the bottom when he heard that. He knew very well what that implied. Even though he was still at rank 4 with the ability to control elements, his real fighting prowess wouldn''t be any better than those at peak rank 3 or even worse.


    With the poison restricting him, how could he become the true leader in Chen Kingdom? Even those Eon Energy Master Rank 3 late stage would be far better than him. The thought alone sliced Chen Tian''s heart as he kicked the nearby pillar.


    "Damn it!"


    The Advisor''s eyes grew cold as he looked into the distance. Whoever it was, he would search for them and make sure they paid for what they have done today!

 286 It’s Already Enough

    Because the guards were pulled back to the palace, there was basically little defense at the gate. The three of them went out using different gates before they rushed into the forest. Before they could alarm people from the Lu Family, the three of them disappeared into the forest.


    Rustle! Swish!


    "That''s quite a battle!" Lu Wan yelled with a grin plastered all over his face. Seeing the king in that state made him feel elated. After all, he never liked that annoying man before.


    Qi Huan stopped not far from Lu Wan. "As the one who volunteered for this plan, I have to say that you''re not bad at all."


    "Of course, I''m the best!"


    "The best? Make sure that you don''t screw up next time first."


    Lu Wan smiled sheepishly. It was not like he wanted to screw up in the first place, but he just couldn''t help it when he was faced against those people. His emotion was still unstable whenever he thought about what they had done.


    "At the very least, they won''t be able to chase after us now," Ye Jiao also arrived in the forest. She was the last one to arrive because her battle also ended the last. Afterwards, she focused on getting out through the gate without caring for anything anymore.


    "I''m surprised that the Lu Family didn''t make a move at all. It shouldn''t take that long for Eon Energy Master Rank 4 to reach the palace."


    "They might be busy," Lu Wan shrugged.


    Qi Huan eyed the young man before him suspiciously. "It seems that you know something, Lu Wan. Mind sharing whatever you know?"


    "I don''t know anything."


    "Really?"


    "Yes!"


    "Then you''re stupid."


    "¡­"


    Seeing that Lu Wan already got the urge to fight against Qi Huan, Ye Jiao shook her head. Somehow, the three of them could never get along perfectly because of the differences in their personalities. Of course, one way or another, they managed to stay together and worked flawlessly.


    Qi Huan flicked his glance to Ye Jiao. "Did you kill him?"


    "No," Ye Jiao pursed her lips.


    "Why not?"


    "There''s no time and chance," Ye Jiao shrugged. Even if she wanted to, she needed the strength to accomplish it. The poison that Lu Wan made would only be lethal if they were against those at rank 3 or below. Above it, the lethality rate would decrease a lot because of his limitation.


    As for her own strength, she has done everything she could in the battle. When she noticed the building started to collapse, she knew that her time was up. There was no more time for her to finish Chen Tian and ended his life.


    "You will have another chance in the future," Lu Wan grinned. "When you become extremely powerful, they don''t have a choice but to look up at you. Isn''t that kind of scene interesting?"


    Seeing their opponent bowed down to them?


    Of course, it would be extremely satisfying.


    If not because of that, she might have left this place much sooner because of a certain person''s offer in the past.


    "This is already enough."


    "Ah?" Lu Wan nearly stumbled into the nearby roots in front of him. He looked at Ye Jiao in disbelief. Was she truly the same person who tried to do everything she could just to enter the Wei Family residence to make chaos in that place? Why did he find her statement to be slightly lacking?


    Not only him, even Qi Huan also looked at Ye Jiao with questions all over his face. "It''s unusual to hear you give up so easily."


    "I''m not giving up, I''m just letting it go," Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. "I''m going to become a powerful martial artist, so I''ll surely leave this place behind. I don''t have any intention to return back here because I want to put my past away."


    Even if she tried to make their lives miserable, she didn''t want to do it at the cost of her own future. She had already lost everyone dear to her because of them, so she did many things to make sure that they paid for that. Now that the time was almost up, she no longer wanted to pursue her revenge.


    It was enough.


    Chen Tian wouldn''t be able to recover unless he used some kind of miracle drug. And their cost would surely be extremely big.


    Wei Family was in shambles because of what she did and their own greed. There was no need for her to interfere further because they would surely destroy themselves if they continued this way.


    "I don''t want to only put revenge in my life," Ye Jiao looked to the front. "I want to achieve my dream, and I''m sure that my parents will understand my decision."


    She wanted them to pay her back for what they had done to her parents and her. Besides, she knew that they were still chasing after her, hoping to catch her from those missions they posted. If not because she could disguise herself, she would have long died in their hands.


    However, she didn''t want to pursue revenge for her entire life. It was simply not worth it to trade everything just for the sake of revenge. Besides, they wouldn''t be able to meddle with her life anymore when she got out of this place. Their path would no longer connect with one another.


    A chain of revenge needed one party to sever it to stop. And Ye Jiao would no longer pursue them unless they continued to bother her in the future.


    Right now, Ye Jiao felt calm and free.


    Qi Huan looked at the clear expression of the girl as he slowly smiled too. It was a completely different smile from his polite smile as it seemed genuine from the bottom of his heart.


    "You''re right. You shouldn''t abandon your own future just because of those petty people," Qi Huan stopped in front of a small waterfall. "There''s a cave over there. Let''s rest up a bit. I''m sure you two still need to deal with the poison, plus our Eon Energy consumption was quite large."


    "Alright."


    Lu Wan was still looking at Ye Jiao with confusion. If it was him, he would surely make sure that those people paid much more. However, he too understood that he didn''t have any intention to return back anymore once he left this place.


    Besides, he had already destroyed his sister''s future and also that imperial family''s palace.


    The three of them sat down in the cave and started to do their circulation. Time passed swiftly as they rested and cleared their mind. It took them a long time before they managed to recover to their peak condition.


    Qi Huan was the first to open his eyes.


    ''This battle also helps me to gain an insight into the water element. I''m sure this will be useful once I reach rank 4.''


    Rank 4.


    These two words alone were more than enough to push a lot of people in the four kingdoms into a frenzy. They all hoped that they would be able to reach this rank in their lives. A rank that many people were unable to achieve because of their state of mind.


    He looked over to Ye Jiao. Even though it was brief, he was sure that this little girl had started to build up her own mind about her path as a martial artist. That small conversation he had with her proved that she would surely reach Eon Energy Master Rank 4. She is ruthless yet at the same time, she still knew when to stop and didn''t let herself completely blinded by hatred.


    ''She has started to mature. I too, can''t be left behind.''


    "Have you finished, Senior Brother Qi?"


    While he was pondering, Ye Jiao had finished her training too. She had completely digested the poison into her body, making the immunity to a greater number of poison. At the same time, she also made sure to fill her core with much more Eon Energy.


    Qi Huan smiled. "Yes. How''s your feeling?"


    "It just feels a bit lighter, but nothing different than usual. I''m still in early rank 3," Ye Jiao sighed. "It''ll surely take a long time for me to reach rank 4."


    At this moment, Qi Huan''s lips twitched a bit. Come to think about it, this little lass has just reached rank 3 but she had already started to consolidate her mind. Does it mean she wouldn''t face any barrier when she wanted to advance to rank 4?


    How unfair¡­


    "Senior Brother Qi?" Ye Jiao noticed that her senior brother''s expression seemed off.


    "It''s nothing," Qi Huan coughed. "More importantly, have you seen the advisor of Chen Kingdom before you left the palace?"


    The moment her senior brother mentioned that man, Ye Jiao''s gaze hardened.

 287 Return Back to Bao Fu Organization

    The moment her senior brother mentioned that man, Ye Jiao''s eyes hardened.


    "I did."


    "Do you recognize his movement?"


    "His movement?" Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows. All she could remember from that man was when he launched the multiple water blades to attack her.


    Wait, water blades?


    Seeing Ye Jiao''s expression changed, Qi Huan nodded his head. "His skill is awfully similar to the person we met in the Spring Island before."


    "Right," Ye Jiao nodded her head solemnly. She understood right away what Qi Huan wanted to tell her. There was a possibility that those two were related because the ability to form multiple types of blades from water was not that common. It might be a special skill only belonging to a certain faction.


    However, they also couldn''t be sure because they didn''t have much knowledge regarding rank 4.


    Qi Huan stood up and looked outside. "I''m not entirely sure, but it will be better if you stay careful around people with water elements. There might be more people who will try to kill you because of your name."


    Name?


    Ye Family?


    Ye Jiao stared at her senior''s back as her gaze hardened. From what she knew, in the four kingdoms, her family was the only one who had this surname. It made her wonder whether there were indeed only three of them or there were actually much more.


    "Right, they might be Ye Family''s enemies," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. She didn''t even know them, but they would try to kill her just because of her surname. She would need to research more in the future and stayed careful whenever mentioning her surname.


    Qi Huan turned around. "Don''t be so tense. It''s not like everyone is aiming for your life. Besides, it might also be the key to find out how someone of your talent can be here."


    "Huh? Do you mean that my talent is that rare?"


    "¡­ if it''s not rare, do you think these people will not mistake you for a trash?" Qi Huan rolled his eyes.


    "Ah, right, there''s that," Ye Jiao recalled the despair she felt when they tagged her as a trash as she smiled. "But thanks to this status, I managed to stay alive until now. I guess, it''s a blessing in disguise."


    "Right."


    The two of them stopped talking. They just looked at the falling waterfall until there was a movement from behind them. Lu Wan had finally finished his training.


    "You sure take your time, Lu Wan," Qi Huan commented.


    Lu Wan stood up with a grin. "That''s because I''m trying to absorb the poison into my core and fuse it into one."


    "Fuse?"


    "Are you planning to poison yourself to death?"


    Seeing their distrustful gazes, Lu Wan felt annoyed. "It''s not that bad. Also, it seems that I have started to gain a much higher immunity towards poison. You can even say that my body would be hard to be poisoned from now on."


    Qi Huan sized up Lu Wan. "I guess, giving you poison is the biggest mistake of the Chen Family."


    "Who cares about them?" Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "It''s good that I can advance a bit in my study of poison. The only unfortunate thing is the fact that I can''t study them¡­."


    Both Ye Jiao and Qi Huan decided that it was already the time for them to leave. They didn''t want to listen to Lu Wan utter a lot of things regarding poison. It was already enough to hear them occasionally.


    "Hey, why do you leave? Wait for me!"


    Noticing that they had started to run, Lu Wan hurriedly utilized his Eon Energy and chased after them. Internally, he was scolding his senior brother and junior sister. They needed to learn much more about herbs! Couldn''t'' they appreciate him lecturing them?


    Unfortunately, he didn''t have the chance to say this because he was too busy trying to catch up to the two of them.


    ¡­


    "You two are ruthless," Lu Wan was out of breath by the time they arrived at the entrance to Bao Fu Organization''s Headquarters. Because he had advanced to rank 3, the two of them no longer purposely slowed down their speed and instead went ahead in full speed.


    As a result, he was trailing behind and nearly unable to catch up.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "That''s why you need to study a lot. Don''t just spend your time dabbling in poison."


    "Poison art is extremely powerful! They''re also much more interesting than training in the training hall all day long with Master supervising."


    "¡­."


    Even though Qi Huan and Ye Jiao also didn''t like the Spartan training their master often imposed on them, they didn''t like to dabble in poison too. The two of them silently agreed to not answer as they entered the array.


    The moment they entered, they could feel a large amount of Eon Energy filled the entire area. It was as if there was an array placed in this place to pull all the Eon Energy around the area into this place. It was so rich that Ye Jiao even wanted to just stay here all day and absorb them.


    "What is this?" Lu Wan was stunned.


    Qi Huan looked to the tavern not far from them. "Let''s ask around. We can search for Master after this."


    "Ok."


    The three of them entered the tavern and noticed that it was crowded. They directly headed to the counter where a beautiful woman was waiting while wiping a glass. She was extremely pretty, wearing an alluring dress that made a lot of men look over in her direction with a greedy expression.


    "Wow, she''s wearing such sexy clothes!" Lu Wan''s eyes sparked.


    "You better not have any intention," Ye Jiao warned. "She''s already peak Eon Energy Master Rank 3."


    "Peak?" Lu Wan gulped down his saliva as he moved his gaze elsewhere immediately. Even he understood that those at rank 3 were still divided into several ranks with peak at the top. He himself didn''t have confidence to fight against those at peak rank 3 when he had just reached rank 3.


    He didn''t want to die yet.


    "Is there anything that I can do to help?" the beautiful woman asked with a soothing tone.


    Qi Huan smiled politely. "We have just returned from a mission when we realized that things have changed here. Do you mind telling us a bit of them?"


    "Sure, but what can you give as the price?" the woman smiled brightly as she leaned forward, pressing her sexy body onto the counter.


    ...


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 288 Bao Fu Organization’s Competition

    The moment Lu Wan saw that, he was speechless. He had to admit that this woman has an extremely beautiful body. There were already a lot of men behind him who held their breath from the sight of this woman alone.


    He himself liked beautiful women, but she''s a bit too old for him.


    While Lu Wan was already flustered, Qi Huan kept his calm and composure. This was not the first time he saw this kind of woman as he had seen enough from his time as the crown prince. Who wouldn''t want to be a princess back in Chi Kingdom? If there was a chance, they would surely jump to it.


    "I have some money, will it be enough?" Qi Huan offered.


    The woman creased her brows. "Do you think that you can buy¡­"


    Cling!


    Qi Huan took out 50 gold coins immediately. His face was still full of smiles as he shoved the coins. "There are 50 gold coins here. Do you mind telling us what was the commotion is about?"


    The woman''s eyes sparkled when she saw the money. It was not easy to earn money and 50 golds were quite a lot for the type of information they could find from a lot of people. She never expected to see such generous people here.


    "This is¡­"


    "If it''s not enough, we''ll just ask other people," Ye Jiao interrupted with a smile on her face, yet her eyes were not smiling at all. "I''m sure there are a lot of people who want this money."


    The woman could see a few men standing up on the back. They were eager to see her reject the money and approached these kids. With no other option, the woman hurriedly put out a smile.


    "Of course, it''s enough. The situation here changes because of the competition for some disciples in Bao Fu Organization. There''s a guest coming from the main headquarter of Bao Fu Organization. They''re here to inspect the level of training in this place and also to pick talented disciples to be brought back."


    "So all of these Eon Energy?"


    "That guest set up an array to fill this area with Eon Energy. Because the battle is going to be fierce, this would be the place for them to recover their energy. To give them a chance to recover quickly, this place was set up like this."


    Qi Huan nodded his head. "Who''s eligible to participate?"


    "Everyone under 20 years of age. He prioritizes disciples of the masters, but everyone can join if they''re confident in themselves." the woman shrugged.


    Ye Jiao digested the information as she realized something. "When will the competition start?"


    "This afternoon. It should be in around half an hour to an hour from now."


    "Where is the competition?" this time Lu Wan was the one asking. He could sense the aura around the other two seemed to change slightly when they heard about the competition. It would be better if he also asked.


    "In the main hall."


    "I see. Thank you for the information," Qi Huan nodded and turned around, leaving the place directly.


    "Senior Brother Shan, do you think that Master purposely drives us away?" Ye Jiao asked Qi Huan by using his second name.


    Qi Huan nodded his head. "I''m afraid so."


    "Why?"


    "I''m still not sure."


    "Can''t you just tell us what you know?" Lu Wan asked in an annoyed tone. He felt that this young man was hiding something important.


    "We''re here."


    They have arrived at the main hall. There were a lot of people around them. Most of them were walking towards the arena located right behind the main hall. A lot of people also crowded the counter, asking for permission to join the competition.


    Ye Jiao turned around to the nearby person. "Excuse me, do you know the location for the masters and disciples?"


    "Do you mean those rank 4 Eon Energy Masters? They''re on the second floor."


    "I see, thank you."


    The three of them headed to the stairs. They noticed that it was locked with a lock and a guard was guarding the place. When they got close, he blocked their way with his arm and glared at them.


    "No one is allowed to pass except Masters'' disciples."


    "We''re disciples," Lu Wan showed his badge right away. He was not sure about his master''s position in the organization, but he knew that it was anything but low. After all, his master was still Eon Energy Master Rank 4.


    Ye Jiao and Qi Huan also showed theirs when they noticed the guard''s expression changed. As soon as he saw the badge, he retracted his arm back.


    "My apologies, you can enter."


    "Good."


    The three of them rushed inside and climbed the stairs. They noticed that the wall was painted in bright red color as if telling them that it would be a dangerous place, but they paid no heed. Right now, they just wanted to see their Master.


    Upon arriving on the second floor, they could see a long corridor with two doors on the right side and two doors on the left side.


    "Where do you think Master would be?" Lu Wan asked.


    "I don''t know."


    Qi Huan stepped forward and stopped in front of one of the doors. He put his hand to sense the movements of Eon Energy. This would be the quickest way to sense whether someone was inside or not because Eon Energy Master would surely have Eon Energy around them.


    "There''s no one inside," Ye Jiao suddenly remarked.


    Qi Huan turned his head to Ye Jiao, "Right, you''re more sensitive to Eon Energy movements compared to me."


    "Can you find someone''s presence?"


    Ye Jiao moved her gaze to the other door while trying to sense their presence. Her eyes locked on the two doors on the right side, which was directed straight to the arena.


    "What is it, Jiao''er?"


    "There are a lot of people in the room near the first door. As for the other one, I think there are a few of them."


    "Let''s just try to peek," Qi Huan walked closer and pushed the door slightly. Thankfully, it didn''t create any sound. He pushed it a bit more and noticed that it was a small room with two doors and three windows. The presence of the people came from the right and left side.


    Qi Huan walked to the window on the right. "That''s Master!"


    "Where?"


    "Let me see, I want to see too!"


    "Stop pushing me!"

 289 The Guest from Main Headquarter 1

    The room in the second floor was connected to the arena before them. It was not large, but could hold a considerable number of people inside. From their direction, they couldn''t see what was inside the room clearly, but they could see that it was a plain room in brown color. Probably, they couldn''t be bothered to decorate the place.


    At that time, there were several people who were talking with each other.


    Zhan Jing stayed in one of the rooms, looking pensively at the large man before him. The large man was dressed lavishly with a finely tailored purple robe and also several other decorations. His haughty attitude would make one know immediately that he was very powerful and confident of himself.


    "It has been a long time since I saw you, Zhan Jing," the large man caressed his beard with an amused expression. There was a mocking light within his eyes.


    Zhan Jing just bowed slightly. "It''s nice to meet you, Mr. Jing."


    The large man''s eyes flashed. "To think there would be a day when the powerful Zhan Jing bowed down to me. It''s truly worth it to come to this trashy place because of the mission. How wonderful."


    Even though there was a sarcastic hint in the man''s voice, Zhan Jing''s expression didn''t change in the slightest. He had gotten used to hearing them over and over. Ever since he failed to finish his mission, he had to face numerous mocking words. Those who didn''t like him took this chance to push him even further.


    "Is that so?"


    "You don''t know how long I have waited for this chance," Mr. Jing has a glint flashed in his eyes. He still remembered back when he first came to Bao Fu Organization. Zhan Jing was standing at the forefront as one of the most powerful members in that organization. Now that the man had fallen off grace, he felt elated.


    The person whom he had to look above now has to look up at him instead.


    Zhan Jing looked at Mr. Jing. He smiled with a cold smile. "Do you really think that I??m really that weak, Mr. Jing?"


    For a moment, murderous intent filled the second floor. It nearly caused everyone to look at them if not for Zhan Jing curbed it at the last second. He might have his rank lowered because of the battle, but it didn''t mean that he lost his touch. Compared to ordinary Eon Energy Master Rank 4, he was still much more powerful.


    "You dare¡­"


    "Do you forget the rules of Bao Fu Organization?" Zhan Jing stepped forward. "Only the strong can survive. Even if you die in the hands of your teammate, you can''t blame anyone for your incompetence."


    Mr. Jing''s face contorted when he heard that. Everyone who entered the Bao Fu Organization would be forced to abide by the rules. It was truly the place where the phrase survival of the fittest worked. Every single one of them has to work by themselves and aim for the highest seat by depending on their own capabilities.


    Because of that, this organization has been known to be the most brutal organization that somehow still existed because of the powerful figure supporting it. Besides, it was the best place if one wanted to take revenge because everyone inside were people who only cared for money and power.


    "Are you not worried that I''ll report you?"


    "I can just say that you overstep your boundaries," Zhan Jing shrugged. "Do you think I won''t dare to do it?"


    Mr. Jing looked straight to the man before him. "Right, you dare."


    "It''s good that you know that."


    While these two were talking, the three teenagers were listening with blood boiling. They couldn''t stand seeing that man talk bad about their master. No matter what, they respected their master greatly.


    "Let me kill him," Lu Wan was already ready with his hand holding his strongest poison. He truly wanted to know whether that man would be able to survive after getting hit by this or not.


    "I''ll help you," Ye Jiao agreed immediately.


    Qi Huan held the two of them back. "Don''t try to act recklessly. Even though Master looks like he''s cornered, he can handle it."


    "Then what are we supposed to do? Just watch him continue to badmouth Master?"


    "Wait," Qi Huan took a deep breath. There was a dangerous aura around him. "We shall wait and see what kind of competition this is."


    "Why?"


    Ye Jiao stopped moving as her brain spun at rapid speed. She was thinking of the numerous possibilities that were presented before them. "That Jing something person came because of the competition. It must be something very important because Master still acts respectful to him."


    "Yes. Before we know the situation. It''s best if we don''t act rashly," Qi Huan nodded his head. He was glad that Ye Jiao could see the situation better because he wouldn''t be able to stop them if the two of them worked together to get inside.


    Lu Wan scrunched his face. "If he dares to do something to Master, I''ll not hesitate to charge in. I might not be his match, but I don''t want him to badmouth Master too."


    "Don''t be reckless. If you charge in right now, you''re just going to die."


    "I know." Lu Wan pouted. He just disliked it when someone badmouthed his master. They were the only ones who could badmouth their master and not a stranger like this. If only the others knew what he was thinking, they would be speechless.


    Though, it was fairly true that they did badmouth their master''s training. After all, they gave him the nickname of demon not without any reason.


    At this time, Mr. Jing turned his head to the arena. There were a lot of people watching him with a fervent gaze. Apparently, they were waiting for the man to start the competition as they were eager to participate.


    ...


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 290 The Guest from Main Headquarter 2

    "I will now announce the rules," Mr. Jing started. He turned to look at the youngsters before him with a smirk. These clueless children wouldn''t know the real purpose of this event.


    "In the first part of the competition, we will eliminate those who didn''t qualify. The first part is individual where you have to survive inside the arena for a full 3 hours. There''ll be an array that will show illusion and at the same time, you can attack each other. Remember, you can only advance if you have defeated 10 opponents."


    10?


    The number caused an uproar.


    Even though 3 hours were not a short time, it was not easy to defeat 10 people in that short time span. After all, if they have similar abilities, it would drain their Eon Energy. It was not certain whether they would be able to fight again afterwards or not.


    "The second part will be a group mission with disciples from the same master," Mr. Jing turned sideways to look at the other two Eon Energy Master Rank 4. "I''ll only announce the rules after the first part is over. The competition will begin in half an hour, so you should gather in the arena by then."


    After he had finished, Mr. Jing turned around and walked to Zhan Jing. "I nearly forgot something. Why don''t you prepare your disciple, Zhan Jing?"


    "I don''t have any disciples."


    "Really?" Mr. Jing looked at the man with a mocking look. "You used to just take every genius you encounter as your disciple and put them in the organization. Now, you can''t even pick one? Have you become useless?"


    "I don''t want to drag more talented people into this muddy pit," Zhan Jing replied coldly.


    Mr. Jing laughed. "Muddy pit? Don''t you know that this is literally the best place to nurture a heartless martial artist? Well, once I report it, you should be prepared to get another 5 years to stay in this place. I bet she''ll forget about you once you return back in a decade."


    Zhan Jing''s eyes glinted with ruthlessness. "Don''t you dare to touch her."


    "What can you do if I decide to do so? You''re locked in this place, unable to leave because of the order from the main headquarters," Mr. Jing laughed without restraint. "Now, you don''t even have any disciple, so you should kiss goodbye to your chance to return back to the mainland."


    "Even if I don''t have a disciple, I will find a way to return back," Zhan Jing said with clear resolution within his eyes. His teeth were gritted together as his body trembled slightly. It was clear that he was angry.


    Mr. Jing looked at Zhan Jing with a mocking expression. "What, do you really think that you can capture those at the top of the list? Do you forget how you fail to capture that Qin boy?"


    Ripples appeared within Zhan Jing''s eyes. How could he forget that dreadful accident? If not because of his oath to the organization, he would never agree to take the mission of assassinating Qin Zheng.


    "There are other missions."


    "Heh, stop convincing yourself about those nonexistent people. Even if there are many people in the list that Bao Fu Organization chase, do you think those important people will ever come to this remote area called Four Kingdoms? People in the mainland might have never heard of this place."


    Mr. Jing looked at Zhan Jing and sneered. "Since when you''re so soft? Just kidnap those talented kids and force them to be your disciple. I''m sure with your glib tongue, you''ll be able to convince a lot of students to come under your wing."


    "I''m not soft!" Zhan Jing denied.


    "Heh, not soft? If you''re not soft, show me your disciples here and tell them to participate in the competition. You call it muddy water, but isn''t it Bao Fu Organization the one that made you become powerful Eon Energy Masters?"


    Zhan Jing didn''t immediately reply. He had to admit that back then, he truly didn''t have any other choice but to join Bao Fu Organization because of his condition. If he didn''t join, he would die. However, things were different now. He could make his decision out of what the organization thought about him.


    Besides, his condition was already so bad.


    "Don''t speak nonsense, Jing."


    "Nonsense?" Mr. Jing laughed coldly. His stance looked as if he was looking down on everything before him. "You want to return back because of her. But since you''re already so soft here, you wouldn''t mind if I make my move against her, would you?"


    "You dare!" Zhan Jing''s aura exploded in anger. The powerful pressure coming from Eon Energy Master Rank 4 was not one to be belittled with. It didn''t require much for the people around them to back away with their body trembling in fear.


    They didn''t know what had happened, but they understood that when Eon Energy Master Rank 4 exploded in power, those at lower ranks would be trembling because of the pressure. They have a completely different degree of understanding of their power.


    Mr. Jing was the only one who was calm. He merely looked at Zhan Jing with a mocking glance. "Do you really think that you can do something if I truly want to get her?"


    Zhan Jing''s gaze was extremely cold. He was ready to murder Mr. Jing right here, right now, without any hesitation.


    "I won''t do anything now. Anyway, you don''t have any disciple worthy of my attention for this competition. Go back to the back and don''t hinder the competition today."


    Zhan Jing''s eyes were cold. He knew that he was told to go away because this competition wouldn''t benefit him in the slightest bit. Pushing whatever thoughts he had in his mind, he turned around. "As you wish. I just hope that there''ll be a case of misfire and your head gets blown to smithereens during the battle."


    Mr. Jing''s face darkened. "Shut up, you-!"


    At this time, the door was sprung open.


    Bang!


    "Who said that Master didn''t have disciples? His disciples are here!"

 291 Master, This is Our Decision

    "You-!"


    Bang!


    "Who said that Master didn''t have disciple? His disciples are here!"


    Zhan Jing looked around to see his three disciples rushing into the room. Their expression showed unconcealed fury that they directed to Mr. Jing. He was shocked. He had been certain that they wouldn''t be able to return back soon with the task that he entrusted to them.


    How come they were here?


    Just a few minutes before, the three of them were listening carefully as Mr. Jing mocked their master. They came to understand that their Master was sent here as punishment based on what Mr. Jing said to him.


    "Master have to get disciples to enter Bao Fu Organization to return back." Ye Jiao frowned. "Why did he hide us, then?"


    Qi Huan didn''t reply as his mind thought of their time back in Spring Island. He noticed how Qin Zheng and their master talked harshly and the weird aura around them. It seemed as if that young man had known Zhan Jing''s condition from a long time ago. Besides, there was a strange look on their master''s eyes ever since his meeting with Qin Zheng.


    Could it be that he changed his mind midway because he met with Qin Zheng?


    What did they talk with each other to change this man''s mind?


    "I don''t care why, but I''m not going to let Master to be in trouble." Lu Wan snorted. He walked to the door with a murderous aura around him. "I don''t care about that Bao Fu Organization or that annoying large man, but all I know is that Master needs help. He wants to return back, so I''ll help him."


    "If you get out, there''s a chance that he''ll try to bind you to the organization forever. With his strength as Eon Energy Master Rank 4, it''s not that hard to bind someone as weak as you, Lu Wan," Qi Huan warned.


    Ye Jiao also stepped to the door. "Even if we have to face a lot of problems, I don''t mind. Without Master, I won''t be here right now."


    When she lost her mother, she didn''t have anything else that could guide her in this harsh world. It was Zhan Jing who offered a hand to help. Even if he only helped her because of her talent and the fact that he required disciples, she didn''t care. She only knew that he is her Master, so she would never leave him.


    "Yes," Lu Wan nodded his head. "No matter what motives he had when he approached me in the first place, he''s the one who helps me out of my predicament and trained me. He might only come because of an ill intent, but it didn''t change the fact that he helped us and wanted the best for us now."


    He wouldn''t care for the past, but he knew that their master cared for them now. If not because of that, there would be no way Zhan Jing asked them to do that impossible mission and sent them away to Chen Kingdom Capital City. He must have wanted to keep them in the dark about this matter and let himself take the brunt.


    That was all that mattered.


    "Then, let''s step forward!"


    Bang!


    "They''re your disciples?" Mr. Jing''s eyes narrowed. He could sense that these three must be at Eon Energy Master Rank 3. In addition, they looked extremely young¡­


    Zhan Jing frowned. Before he could deny it, the three of them have kowtowed on the ground.


    "Ai Jiao/ Shan Dian/ Yu Shui greets Master!"


    Qi Huan raised his head. "We apologize for taking so long to clear the mission you entrust us, Master. Now we have returned."


    Zhan Jing looked back expressionlessly. He wanted to steer them away from this organization and no longer forced them to enter because he knew what kind of muddy place this organization was. It would only bring pain and suffering should they follow the same path with him.


    "You¡­."


    "If you wish to participate, you should go ahead," Mr. Jing''s face darkened. He could guess that Zhan Jing must have good luck to be able to recruit such good disciples. Damn it! He must take them away after the competition is over.


    "I''ll excuse myself first," Zhan Jing walked to the three of them and helped them to stand up. "Let''s go down."


    "Yes, Master."


    "Yes!"


    As they walked down, Ye Jiao peeked to the back as she could sense murderous intent from the large man. Her eyes narrowed in caution. Whatever that man tried to do, she would make sure that it didn''t succeed.


    Zhan Jing stopped when they were in the middle of the stair and enveloped the area with his Eon Energy to block sound from escaping outside. His expression was solemn.


    "DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?"


    The three of them quickly covered their ears as their master yelled to them. It was the first time they saw Zhan Jing truly angry. Before, he would just smile and force them to train like a madman.


    "No, we don''t," Qi Huan replied first. He looked back at his master with strong determination. "But we can''t just let him mock you."


    "He can mock me for all I care¡­"


    "Besides, you have someone important waiting for you, Master," Ye Jiao interrupted. "We can''t make her wait for long, right?"


    She didn''t know who was waiting for their master, but it must be someone important considering how Zhan Jing lost his composure when they mentioned ''her.'' She wished the two of them could meet with each other again.


    "Even if we have to step into this muddy water, I don''t really care, Master. When I first accept your offer, I''m already ready for this possibility. I don''t really have anything else aside from you and my fellow disciples," Lu Wan shrugged.


    Zhan Jing looked at the three of them with a serious expression. He knew very well what would happen to them once they entered Bao Fu Organization. It would forever seal their path.


    "If you¡­"


    "Master, this is our decision," this time, it was Qi Huan who interrupted. He looked back at Zhan Jing with a serious expression.


    "Please trust us!" Ye Jiao added.


    Lu Wan also nodded. "We can do this, Master."


    "You three¡­" Zhan Jing sighed, for he realized that there was nothing he could do to change their mind anymore. "You should be careful. Bao Fu Organization is not that easy to deal with."


    "We know that, Master."


    "Yes!"


    "Let''s head to the arena."


    "Ok!"


    Qi Huan stopped for a moment while the other two rushed forward. He looked back at their master, who was standing not far behind him. He smiled.


    "We''re no longer little kids, Master. You should trust us more."


    "I know," Zhan Jing replied.


    After he got the reply, Qi Huan ran after the other two. Zhan Jing still stood in the same place as he sighed to himself. He knew very well that a Master would not be able to control their disciple''s life. They have their own fate. He could only show them the way for them to tread.


    When he first met with them, they were all just children who had just stepped into the path of a martial artist. Now, they had reached rank 3 and would begin their real journey as Eon Energy Master.


    He couldn''t protect them forever.


    They would leave him and entered the large world, facing the danger on their own.


    ''I won''t be able to protect you after you leave this place, but while you''re here, I won''t let anyone harm you three.''


    Zhan Jing turned around and returned back to the room. He was a failure as a master numerous times in the past. This time, he would try to become a better master worthy of that title.


    Ye Jiao and the others arrived at the arena. Looking at the large number of participants before her, Ye Jiao was speechless. She didn''t know that the Bao Fu Organization would be able to gather so many disciples. It seemed that the fame of this organization far surpassed what she thought.


    "We have a lot of competitors."


    "They''re all coming from all over the place in the Four Kingdoms," Qi Huan explained from the back. "It''s fairly normal to have this number considering that the organization is the largest in this kingdom."


    "Right."


    "I''m more surprised that the arena can fit so many people," Ye Jiao looked around. Her eyes were locked into the array pillar at the edge of the place. It must be an array that can influence the space too.


    It was so amazing.


    "Right," Lu Wan nodded in agreement. "I have to say that this place is extremely wonderful. I don''t have to worry about other things when I fight against them."


    "Try not to use poison."


    "WHAT? Why?"


    Ye Jiao grinned. "This is just the beginning. There are still a lot of weaker assassins that barely reach rank 2, are you sure that you want to use poison against them?"


    "Wh-!"


    "Oh, so I have an unconfident junior who would rely on poison against weaker disciples," Qi Huan arched his eyebrows and shook his head as if he disapproved of Lu Wan''s action. "How shameful."


    "Yes, so shameful."


    "We need to talk to Master to increase his training again."


    "Agree."


    "Wait, you two! Damn it! Don''t decide things on your own."

 292 The Competition Begins

    As Lu Wan tried to argue back, Zhan Jing had returned back to his place on the second floor. He looked down without any expression in his face. Mr. Jing passed him a glance.


    "You sure have the galls to hide your disciples. Are you thinking of overthrowing the entire Bao Fu Organization with them?"


    "If it''s possible to destroy the entire organization with the strength of 3 people, I would like to see it," Zhan Jing replied with a sarcastic tone. No matter how powerful they were, they wouldn''t be able to destroy that organization that easily. Besides, how many years would it take for these three to enter the ranks of those superpowers?


    Mr. Jing laughed coldly. "You''re always unpredictable, Zhan Jing. That''s the reason the higher ups wish to eliminate you."


    "I know."


    "Also, one of your disciples came to me not long ago. He told me such interesting news," Mr. Jing laughed again. It was tinged with maliciousness.


    Zhan Jing didn''t reply back. He has numerous disciples back in his original place because it was only through bringing more people into the organization could he climb into a higher position. But he never cared too much about them.


    It was not weird for him if they decided to turn their back against him. It was exceptionally normal in this organization.


    Since he didn''t care, he would never feel hurt.


    Mr. Jing no longer talked to Zhan Jing as he stepped forward. His eyes looked at the sea of people before him. He raised his hand to the pillar before him and injected a large amount of Eon Energy.


    The pillars lit up.


    At the same time, the people in the arena could see the changes in their surroundings. The previously empty arena had changed into that of a forest. At the same time, they could no longer see anyone around them.


    ''That array truly affects the space,'' Ye Jiao looked upward. She couldn''t see the man anymore, but she knew that he was there. That pillar must be the one that activated the array.


    Ugh, she was so curious about it.


    Mr. Jing retracted his hand. He frowned slightly as he knew that he had depleted his Eon Energy just from activating it once. Once the Eon Energy ran out, the array would deactivate by itself.


    "The competition begins!"


    The moment his voice rang out, the sounds of rustling filled the forest. There were numerous people who started to fight. Some of them were still close to other people who used to be around them before. As they were mostly enemies with one another, no one really cared who they fought.


    They just have to care for the count!


    Ye Jiao swiftly moved to the side as a blade passed by her side.


    Swish!


    She twisted her legs and kicked the man''s stomach. The man''s eyes widened in disbelief as he was sent to the back, crashing to the tree.


    ''This place is so close to the real world and at the same time, it''s truly a peculiar space. I never know that it''s possible to make a real place like this.''


    She turned her head to the side when she saw a group of men coming. Her lips curled up. If they tried to attack her because her appearance looked young, it would be their biggest mistake ever.


    Swish! Slash!


    Saying that they have a problem in dealing with the disciples would be a large lie. Even though they were alone, the three of them didn''t have any problem dealing with the assassins that came to them. Every single one of them were defeated cleanly, forcing them out of the arena.


    "This array is so convenient," Qi Huan chuckled. Even if he killed his opponent, they won''t die and only get sent out of the arena. This made him unwilling to show any restraint whatsoever when he was facing them.


    "Gah!"


    "M-monster!"


    Qi Huan looked at Lu Wan, who was already busy moving his blade and chain. The latter also looked at Qi Huan with frown.


    "Why are you here?"


    "I should be the one asking that to you," Qi Huan chuckled. "It seems that we''re transported not far from one another."


    "It''s quite far. I only see you after traveling for a long time."


    The time was almost up. They have already defeated more than 10 people, so they didn''t think that it was necessary for them to fight more again. It was already more than enough. Besides, they didn''t want to stand out more than necessary.


    Not that they already didn''t¡­


    "There are a lot of people targeting us because of our appearance," Lu Wan scratched his head. "Do we really look that young?"


    Qi Huan passed a glance. They were 14 to 15 years old and still fairly short as they were still in their growth period. Even if they wanted to convince other people that they were older, their fair countenance would make it impossible.


    "Just be grateful that no one will find out your real identity with your hair color."


    "Don''t remind me of that," Lu Wan rolled his eyes. He still dyed his hair brown because his natural color would attract unwanted attention. From the bottom of his heart, he wished that he could have more common hair color because it wouldn''t bring him that much attention.


    Slash!


    The two of them turned to the side when they saw Ye Jiao walk over towards their direction. The number on top of her head was glowing in red, showing 78.


    "Oh, it''s you two," Ye Jiao smiled. "I thought that it''s another one."


    "¡­ It seems like our junior is more popular," Lu Wan laughed dryly. His number was only 48 while Qi Huan was 56. It was already a lot considering that many of the participants in this place were seasoned assassins.


    As long as they were under 20 years old, they could participate no matter what their rank was. Because of that, there were numerous Eon Energy Master Rank 3 who participated and got kicked out because of them.


    Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. "It''s not my intention to look this young."


    "Why don''t you hide your presence?"


    "Do you think I can hide this number?"


    Pointing at the number on top of her head, Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. She could easily hide her presence if she wanted to, but this number would always appear. There was no way to make it disappear, making it hard for them to move undetected.


    Qi Huan frowned. "That''s quite a weird system for assassins."


    Most of the assassins relied on speed and stealth. With the second ability locked out of use in this place, they would be forced to fight head on with their opponent. Of course, this would mean that there was only advantage of their rank and skill that could help them.


    "Yeah," Ye Jiao sat down. "I want to rest. There are already too many opponents that try to attack me."


    "How''s your Eon Energy consumption?"


    "I barely use any," Ye Jiao pursed her lips. "Do you really think that they can force me to fight with my all?"


    She always ended the fight with one attack. Evade and counterattack. This was the most efficient method and soon, she reached the required number to pass the first part. There was no need for her to actively search for them because they came to her willingly as if she was a great sacrifice.


    Of course, the sacrifice turned out to be them.


    Qi Huan laughed. "It seems that they thought they can take advantage of us when we''re tired. But still, they''re truly an idiot if they try to fight against Eon Energy Master Rank 3 unprepared."


    They could also detect their opponent when they came closer, so it turned into a frontal battle.


    "Let''s just wait here."


    "With us staying together, there shouldn''t be any idiot who would try to attack us, right?" Lu Wan yawned.


    "Maybe not," Ye Jiao turned her head to the side. "But it seems that there''s always an idiot in every place."


    "Right."


    Looking at the right side, they could see a group of people coming closer. Their eyes glinted with ruthlessness as they watched their opponents. All of them were Eon Energy Master Rank 3.


    "Wow, these children are very lucky."


    "Those numbers must be the result of hard work."


    "Let''s get moving boys!"


    The first person lunged forward straight to Ye Jiao''s direction. He slashed his large sword with all of his power.


    Swish!


    ''It''s not hitting?''


    Slash!


    "I''m over here," Ye Jiao swung her dagger and cut the man''s stomach as the man''s body disappeared. She looked over to the side as she saw Lu Wan swung his blade and chain. It twisted midair and hit the two opponents who were trying to get closer.


    On the other hand, Qi Huan leaked his killing intent for a brief moment. His opponent froze for a second and met his end in his blade.


    "You-!" the men who left looked in disbelief. It didn''t even take a few seconds for them to end the fight with them lost miserably.


    Slash!


    Ye Jiao arrived by their side. Her gaze was cold. "Since you decide to attack us. You should be prepared to accept the consequences."


    "Gyaaa!"


    Slash! Slash!


    It ended up in one sided massacre as the group of men were unable to fight back at all. The difference in power was simply too big.

 293 Remarkable Resul

    Slash!


    "This is getting boring," Lu Wan frowned. "Are they even assassins?"


    "They must be taking the easy mission," Qi Huan shrugged. Many of the assassins only came here because of the prize.


    Speaking of the prize, he forgot what kind of reward they would get from this competition. They forgot to ask that from their master.


    Sizzle~


    "Huh?" Ye Jiao''s eyes widened as the forest started to dissolve. It turned into nothingness as she found herself in the arena once again. There was a stack of people on the edge, seemingly thrown out without caring for their wellbeing. Only a limited number of people were left in the vast arena.


    Qi Huan returned his sword back to his storage bracelet. "The first part of the competition is over. It seems, we manage to pass."


    "That''s good," Lu Wan yawned. "Any longer and I''ll die out of boredom."


    "It seems we''re lucky to not encounter some people," Qi Huan looked to the side. There were several people who stood together, showing the fact that they were teammates. Based on his observation, they didn''t look like ordinary Eon Energy Master Rank 3.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Indeed."


    At this point, Mr. Jing was looking toward the competition with curiosity. He didn''t have complete control of the array because he himself was not an array master. It was a tool that he borrowed to perform his competition, so he could only see the result after it was over.


    His eyes flashed when he noticed the three disciples from Zhan Jing. They were standing calmly without any hint of weariness.


    ''Remarkable. As one would expect from the great Zhan Jing. He must have picked the cream off the top in this time period.''


    "The first part of the competition is now officially over. Those who still stay in the middle of the arena can participate in the next part. It''ll begin in the afternoon. You may take some rest."


    Cheers filled the arena as the participants were tired. Fighting for a full three hours was not easy, especially considering their opponents were those at the same power or might even be more powerful.


    Zhan Jing watched Mr. Jing''s expression carefully. He noticed the glint as he felt his heart tightened. After the failure of his mission, his position in the organization was extremely low. If it was possible, he didn''t want to create more trouble.


    But it seemed that it would be impossible.


    "I''ll be going first," Zhan Jing said swiftly and jumped into the arena before Mr. Jing could give him an answer.


    "He''s quick," one Eon Energy Master Rank 4, who was also the first master of this Bao Fu Organization branch commented.


    Mr. Jing nodded. "He hadn''t lost his touch."


    "Will you really give us privilege if we give up our disciples to the main headquarters?" the second master asked back. His expression was solemn as he looked straight to Mr. Jing.


    "Is that so?"


    "Yes."


    "You better not lie," the second master turned around. "I always hate people who spout lies."


    Mr. Jing just smiled without replying anymore. His eyes were locked to Zhan Jing, who had brought the three children away from the location. Somehow, he anticipated the performances of these children.


    ''It''ll be interesting.''


    Zhan Jing brought the three of them to a separate room. He quickly inspected them to find out whether they were wounded or not. Thankfully, there was no apparent wound in their body, so he could feel relief.


    "You have already shown yourself. Now, you should leave this place."


    "Master?"


    "Why?" Lu Wan raised his voice. He looked at their master stubbornly. "I''m not going to leave you, Master. The competition is not over!"


    "Do you really want to win?" Zhan Jing asked in a stern voice. He shook his head. "There''s nothing good with winning this competition. And if you lose, you will lose much more than just face."


    "What are you talking about, Master?"


    Zhan Jing sighed when he saw their clueless face. He pulled a chair and sat down. His expression showed his tiredness.


    "This competition is designed to bring the most talented youngsters to Bao Fu Organization Main Headquarter. It''s the place where the cream of the top and also the most ruthless fighter gathered. Every youngster will be trained harshly to meet their requirements. Afterwards, they''ll be assigned a dangerous mission and only allowed to return back if they succeed.


    If they run away in the middle of the mission, they''ll know because all of them have been forced to give their Oath of Loyalty to the organization."


    Qi Huan frowned. He knew that the competition was not that simple, but this was the first time he heard something like this. He didn''t expect that the organization also recruited people from the remote locations.


    "Why are they taking more people?" Ye Jiao asked.


    "The headquarter is located in the middle of a large kingdom. Most people in that kingdom already have affiliation to some organization, clan, academy, or even sect. it''s hard to find one that will serve Bao Fu Organization full heartedly, so they always search for one from remote locations.


    Four Kingdoms is just one of the numerous locations they visit. They''ll take every talented young person to aid them and train them to become masters. Not a single one of them would be able to get away with the oath binding them."


    Lu Wan''s face contorted in disgust. "So they''re doing the same thing as Chen Kingdom. How disgusting."


    "Not really," Zhan Jing tapped the table beside him. "Most of them swore the allegiance willingly."


    "Why?"


    "That doesn''t make sense!"


    Zhan Jing watched their expression show disbelief as he smiled bitterly. If they knew what kind of place it was, they would surely be unwilling to swear their loyalty, but if they didn''t know¡­. It would be a completely different story.


    He looked over to Qi Huan. "I''m sure you understand why, Shan Dian."


    "Yes," Qi Huan nodded and replied unhurriedly. Despite the urging of his junior brother and sisters, he didn''t explain quickly.


    "People who''re willing to become the masters'' disciples are mostly people who no longer have anything they care about. They might only have something they care for and thus, needed strength to protect the one whom they care or to take revenge. Because of their no attachment, it''s easy for them to be manipulated by their master."


    Qi Huan looked straight to Zhan Jing. "If their master asks them to swear their loyalty, it''s completely possible as long as they feel debt for their master. Isn''t that why you approach us when we''re all at the lowest point in our lives, Master?"


    Zhan Jing nodded, admitting what Qi Huan said readily. He approached every single one of them when they were at their lowest point. Having just experienced betrayal, lost, and in the condition where there was no hope. It was at that point that he stretched out his hand, offering his help.


    That way, the disciples would be full of gratitude to him. If he wanted to, he could even ask them to swear their loyalty, and they wouldn''t refuse.


    "Wait, doesn''t that mean that he already knows our condition even before meeting us?" Lu Wan raised his hand.


    Zhan Jing nodded. "Both of you are famous, Shan Dian, Yu Shui. There''s no way that I won''t know your family background and situation. Back then, I only approached you two because I want to make use of your talent to grant me freedom from this place as per Bao Fu Organization''s rules."


    "But you didn''t do it," Ye Jiao added. "You want us to go and no longer participate in the competition. Isn''t that because you no longer see us as tools but as person-no, not just person, but your disciple, Master?"


    Your disciple.


    That phrase made Zhan Jing recall the talk he had with Qin Zheng. That young man told him if he just wanted to use them, it would be better if he gave them to Qin Zheng.


    Because these children are worth so much more.


    The moment he realized that Qi Huan was eligible for the inheritance already told him the truth. If these children fell into the hands of the Bao Fu Organization, there was no doubt that they would be a great asset. Their ability and potential might bring them to a greater height far surpassing other geniuses.


    Zhan Jing seemed to realize that when he saw them. Their progress and rate of growth was exceptionally remarkable.


    More importantly, they have a clear view of their path.


    "Yes."


    Lu Wan crossed his arm. "That settles it. We''re staying here."


    "No!" Zhan Jing rejected their notion strongly. "If you stay here, there''s no doubt that Mr. Jing is going to take you into the main headquarters. At that time, you won''t be able to get your freedom anymore."


    Once you get in, you won''t be able to get out.


    That was the place called Bao Fu Organization, the largest assassins'' organization even in the mainland.

 294 We Want to Help You

    "If we try to get out of this place, wouldn''t he try to stop us too?" Ye Jiao tilted her head. Since they have captured that man''s attention, there was no doubt that he would chase after them.


    Qi Huan looked up. "Master, what''s the price of winning the competition?"


    "It''s a teleportation stone," Zhan Jing replied. "With that stone, you will be able to transport out of this area to the main world or the opposite. However, you need to use it near the gate for it to work if you want to head out to the mainland."


    "Then, let''s win the competition," Lu Wan smiled.


    "Didn''t you hear me?" Zhan Jing''s face was dark. He had just told them to leave and now they wanted to stay and win the competition?


    "If we get the teleportation stone, can you use it to leave this place, Master?" Ye Jiao asked.


    "What¡­?"


    Looking at the three''s expressions, realization dawned on him. Zhan Jing finally understood why they wanted to win the competition. They wished for him to get the teleportation stone to get out of this place.


    "I have to stay here."


    "But if you use it, won''t you be able to meet with her, whoever she is?" Ye Jiao insisted. "Even if you''re forced to return back because we''re not going to stay in that organization forever, it''ll be better if you can meet with her first."


    Lu Wan grinned. "That''ll be for the best, right Master?"


    "Master, we want to help you," Qi Huan added. "So, trust us in this matter and let us win the competition. Afterwards, we''ll get out of this place together."


    Zhan Jing didn''t have the heart to reject them when they were showing him that expression. At the same time, he felt touched that his disciples were willing to do that much for him. He didn''t do much for them, but they willingly stepped forward to do so much more.


    He sighed. "I see."


    "That settles it."


    "We should just prepare for the next competition," Ye Jiao beamed.


    Zhan Jing pointed to the floor. "Sit down and recover your Eon Energy. We''ll think for a way to break out of this place with those Eon Energy Masters around."


    There were three Eon Energy Master Rank 4 in this place. Each of them were extremely powerful on their own. Trying to fight against them would be hard because their base rank was lower. Even if they managed to hold on their ground against them, it wouldn''t be an easy fight.


    Ye Jiao and Lu Wan immediately sat down and absorbed Eon Energy like crazy. On the other hand, Qi Huan sat down but didn''t begin immediately. He was looking straight at their master with a solemn expression.


    "Master, you''re important to us, so we want to help you," Qi Huan said slowly. "Even though you only teach us for a short period of time, you''re still our teacher and would forever be one."


    "Thank you, Shan Dian."


    "This is the truth, Master."


    If he had to be honest, this was the first time he realized how much of an influence he had over his disciples.


    ''I truly didn''t worth having all of them.''


    They were all good disciples with various personalities and habits. However, they have genuine hearts, who were ready to help him out despite knowing that he didn''t really approach them with good intent.


    You''re our Master.


    That one sentence reflected how much he was valued in their life. He sighed internally and looked outside the door. A glint flashed in his eyes.


    No matter what, he would not let them be tied into Bao Fu Organization.


    They deserved much more than that muddy place.


    Ye Jiao opened her eyes after she had finished filling her core. With the current amount of Eon Energy in this place, it was much easier for her to absorb a lot of them at once. She looked at her master before her, who had a complicated expression on his face.


    "Master, is there anything wrong?"


    "Oh, you have finished, Ai Jiao?" Zhan Jing looked over to the young girl not far from him. He stood up. "I''ll be leaving first. You should head over to the arena once these two have finished."


    "Ok, Master!" Ye Jiao replied cheerfully. "Master, do you know what kind of competition the second part will be?"


    "It''s always different from time to time, but it should be a team competition. One advice from me, don''t use up all of your power."


    Ye Jiao could sense a hidden intent beneath her master''s words. She knew that there might be something they needed to do after the fight. After all, a fight might occur if those people decided to force them to utter the Oath of Loyalty. The three of them wouldn''t want to do so.


    "Ok, Master."


    "Good. Take care of yourself," Zhan Jing nodded and walked out of the room.


    Ye Jiao stayed still in her place and did some circulation to train her body. She waited until Lu Wan finished his training before stopping hers.


    "Where''s Master?" Lu Wan arched his eyebrows in confusion.


    "Master left first," Ye Jiao replied. "We should hurry to the arena once Senior Brother Shan has finished his recovery."


    "Right."


    "Also, Master tells us to not use all of our power in the battle. We still need to save up a considerable amount of Eon Energy in our core."


    Lu Wan frowned. He had the feeling that their master really loved to give them impossible tasks. Trying to conserve their Eon Energy consumption while fighting against those geniuses wouldn''t be easy. After all, those who could pass into the second round must have defeated more than 10 opponents in the span of 3 hours.


    They all have great ability to conserve their Eon Energy and at the same time, great fighting ability. There was also a high possibility that they had a high amount of Eon Energy in their reserve, giving away the fact that they were not those who had just broken through to rank 3.


    "How do we fight them with three early stage rank 3?"


    "Senior Brother Shan is already at the middle or late stage," Ye Jiao reminded. "He''s a bit quicker."


    "Wait, you''re telling me that he''s even quicker?" Lu Wan pointed to Qi Huan in disbelief. He was already feeling down when he heard that the two of them reached rank 3 quicker. Now he got news that Qi Huan was no longer at early stage?


    Damn it! Why did he have to be surrounded by monsters?


    "Yeah," Ye Jiao nodded nonchalantly. She remembered when she saw Qi Huan got out of the secret realm on that island. At that time, Qi Huan was not only early rank 3, but he had stabilized his rank, clearly he must be at middle rank 3 at the very least.


    "Don''t point your finger at other people. It''s impolite," Qi Huan pushed Lu Wan''s finger away as he stood up. He looked at Lu Wan with a smirk. "And yes, I''m already at the late stage of rank 3."


    Lu Wan: "¡­" damn you!


    The three of them heard the commotion from outside. They instantly knew that it must be the start of the second part of the competition.


    "Let''s get out. We''re going to be late."


    "Alright."


    The three of them got out of the room and ran to the arena. There were already a lot of people crowding the place, wanting to take a look at the competition. Even though they were assassins, many of them were curious as to how the competition would be.


    "Yeah! I arrived first!" Lu Wan laughed out loudly as he stepped into the arena.


    Ye Jiao shook her head as she stepped inside. In that moment, she felt sudden danger coming at her.


    Clang!


    Her dagger was summoned out as she used it to block the attack. Her eyes flashed with a glint. Beside her, a young man was looking at her with astonishment. His sword was locked to her dagger when Ye Jiao blocked it not long ago.


    Swish!


    "May I ask you why you attack our junior sister?" Qi Huan moved swiftly as he placed his sword on the man''s neck.


    The man could feel a chill coming down his spine as he sensed the murderous intent coming from Qi Huan. He knew. If he didn''t provide a satisfying reason, this young man would not hesitate to kill him.


    "I''m just testing her a bit¡­"


    "Who do you think you are?" Lu Wan snapped. He walked closer to the man with his hand ready. "Do you think you have the qualification to test our junior sister?"


    The man was stunned. He opened his mouth, trying to think for some words to refute, but he couldn''t think of anything. His mouth gaped just like that of fish.


    "Scram!"

 295 Protect The Flag!

    With one order from Qi Huan, the man ran away. He could sense his back was covered with sweat. Even though it was just for a brief moment, he felt as if he was on the verge of death''s door. Those three children were not ordinary.


    Ye Jiao shook her head. "There''s no need to do that, right?"


    "He''s trying to wound you, so this is a suitable punishment," Lu Wan snorted. "Besides, it''s better to warn those kinds of people in case more people try to attack us."


    "Right."


    If not because of their constant training in the past with their master, Ye Jiao knew that she wouldn''t be able to block that sudden attack. It was a good thing that their master often attacked them suddenly when they were unprepared, so they learnt to be always on guard every single time.


    Clang!


    The sound attracted the youngsters. Everyone turned their head, including the three of them. They could see Mr. Jing on the second floor. He swept his gaze to the youngsters before him with a faint smile on his lips.


    "The second part of the competition will soon begin. In this part of the competition, you will have to protect your team flag. The division of the team is based on your master, meaning you can only be in the same team with your senior or junior disciple. No other team can be formed."


    At this time, a disciple ran in their direction and handed out a blue flag. Lu Wan picked it and twisted it with his arm.


    It was pretty sturdy.


    "There will be only one group left once this competition ends. Once your flag is taken by another group, you only have 10 second to take it back before it''s declared that you have lost. You may start NOW!"


    The moment Mr. Jing said the word ''now'' they started to move around. Their direction differed from one another, but a lot of them seemed to have a tacit understanding. They attacked Ye Jiao''s group.


    "Senior Brother Yu, please take care of the flag."


    "Good luck, Yu Shen."


    "Hey, what are you?'' Lu Wan was stunned to see the other two suddenly sprinting in different directions. They didn''t have any discussion before because they had just heard the rules and it suddenly began.


    Seeing the numerous people aiming for him, Lu Wan wanted to cry.


    ''Damn them! Why don''t you help me protect the flag?''


    However, he didn''t even have the time to curse at his senior brother and junior sister because there were a lot of youngsters who came to attack him.


    Clang! Clang!


    At that moment, Lu Wan summoned his blade and chain. He twisted it and sent it forward to block two attacks while evading the rest. His eyes were cold as he realized that they aimed for his vital point.


    They were not inside that array anymore, so any wound to the vital points might spell their death.


    Where in the world are the two brats?


    "Don''t bother searching for them," one of them said coldly. "They''ve already abandoned you."


    Abandon?


    Lu Wan felt the word was funny. He knew better than anyone that those two wouldn''t leave him for no reason. In that split second before the competition began, they must have thought for a method to finish this part well. That would be the reason they left him as soon as the competition began.


    "How kind of you to target us." Lu Wan chuckled. "Unfortunately, not a single one of you will be able to get out of here alive."


    "You dare!"


    One of them sprinted to Lu Wan. His blade was ready in his hand, intending to slice down the young man.


    Clang! Slash!


    Twisting the chain and blade, Lu Wan directed it to the man. He smiled brightly. "One down."


    The man could see a large wound on his shoulder. His pupil constricted in fear. He couldn''t follow the man''s movements at all. It was as if the chain and blade have their own soul and could move even without Lu Wan''s command.


    In truth, it was just Lu Wan''s agile hand. He practiced until he bled every single day because he didn''t want to repeat the same mistake. Because of his incapability to use his weapon properly, he accidentally wounded his teammate. Since that time, he would make sure that he could control it properly even without Eon Energy.


    This caused him to become exceptionally proficient in using the weapon.


    Clang!


    "How rude of you to attack me so suddenly," Lu Wan remarked. "Don''t you know any manners?"


    "You!"


    Clang! Clang!


    Lu Wan twisted his chain and blade to block the next round of attacks. These people surrounded him, trying to attack him from every direction, but they failed. His defense was so good that they were unable to break it.


    "You shouldn''t underestimate this weapon."


    Pulling it to the back, he sent more force to the chain and blade.


    Clang! Bam!


    The one who was near the blade was pushed to the back with force. The others were relatively fine but their eyes showed worry. They had just found out that their attack amounted to nothing in front of Lu Wan.


    Even one of them has fallen in his hand because of his remarkable ability.


    Lu Wan smiled when he saw them hesitate. "Why are you just waiting like a little chick over there? I''m here."


    "Do you really think that you can handle all of us?" one of them snapped.


    "Then you should come here," Lu Wan played with the flag using his other hand. His lips curled up, showing a playful smile. "Don''t you want the flag?"


    "Get him!"


    "I can''t believe we won''t be able to handle him."


    In that moment, the group of men charged forward once more. They wanted to take the flag no matter what!


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    While Lu Wan was busy fighting with the group of men, Ye Jiao and Qi Huan headed to a completely different group. In total, they were divided into four types of groups. First would be the group under the first master, the second would be the group under the second master, third would be their group, and fourth would be the group of people who were mostly individual.


    Those five people that attacked them belonged to the first master and second group. If they wanted to win this, they should take the flag first.


    Qi Huan headed towards the location of the first master''s group. His eyes showed astonishment when he saw that there were still more than 3 people in that place. It was as if the number of the disciples itself was numerous, and it was not a problem for them to send out the disciples to attack their group.


    "There''s someone here!" one of them yelled.


    "Go and handle him!"


    "Got it!"


    The man who yelled raised his large axe and swung it to Qi Huan''s direction. Sensing it, Qi Huan swiftly changed his course and moved to the side. Just when he was about to attack with this sword, he sensed danger and moved back hurriedly. His eyes watched the group of men in front of him carefully.


    "He''s fast," the second man said warily. He sneak-attacked Qi Huan in the direction for the possible counterattack, but the man retreated instead.


    "Yes, but it''s not outside of our realm," the third man chuckled. His eyes glinted with maliciousness. "Let''s finish him."


    "Got it."


    The second and third man moved to each side as they surrounded Qi Huan. Qi Huan took out his sword and looked at their direction calmly. This was not the first time he faced numerous people at once, so he didn''t really mind it.


    "Come at me."


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Series of metal clashes with one another followed soon after. They attacked ruthlessly towards Qi Huan''s direction, hoping to gain advantage in their numbers. However, Qi Huan either parried their attack or blocked them perfectly.


    ''They''re covering each other''s weakness pretty well.''


    He could see that they were trying to block his attack and at the same time, preventing him from doing any counterattack against them. It was to the point that he admired them too. After all, it was not easy to completely block his attack.


    However¡­


    "But this won''t last long."


    Clang!


    He pushed one of them to the back and sprinted suddenly. His arm reached out and took the flag from behind the third man.


    "You-!"


    "Bastard!"


    The men cursed and tried to take the flag back as Qi Huan dashed away. He played with the flag with his hand as he chuckled.


    "You may have good teamwork, but you''re clearly not used to protecting something while attacking."


    Qi Huan looked to the wandering people around him. Now, it was the time to sweep them.

 296 End of the Second Par

    Ye Jiao headed straight towards the location of the second master''s group. She could see three people who were also protecting the flag. Two of them were Eon Energy Master Rank 3 while the last one was still Eon Energy Master Rank 2.


    "She''s here!"


    "Guard the flag!"


    Stopping right before them, Ye Jiao swung her dagger and met with their blade.


    Clang!


    The young man before her gritted his teeth as he realized that the force behind Ye Jiao''s attack was not small. It was as if he was fighting against an adult rather than a young girl.


    "Get away!"


    Swish!


    The second person was a young girl. She threw her curved sword in the middle of them, but it reached nothing and headed straight to the ground. The two of them moved back at the same time.


    Clang!


    "Guh," the third person, Lin Jie frowned when he clashed with Ye Jiao. He looked at the young girl with astonishment. "Why is it that every time I meet with you, you would be one step above me?"


    "I have greater luck," Ye Jiao smiled and pushed Lin Jie back. She twisted her arm and made another attack as Lin Jie raised his sword, blocking it.


    Clang!


    "I''m not going to let you have a perfect record against me, Ai Jiao."


    "Unfortunately, today is the day when I''m not allowed to lose," Ye Jiao retreated to the back as the young girl had thrown another attack to her. She twisted her body with one of her legs as the pivot. Her dagger was directed towards the young girl''s back as she hit the back of her neck with her dagger.


    Pak!


    The young girl could only see black around her before she fell down unconscious.


    "Damn it, Mia!" the young man yelled and charged forward.


    Swish! Slash!


    Ye Jiao evaded his attack and counterattacked at the same time. Her dagger barely touched the man''s stomach as she also moved forward. She went past the man in a split second and took the flag that he kept on his hips.


    "Hey!"


    "Thank you for the flag," Ye Jiao smiled and utilized her movements technique to leave immediately.


    "Give it back!"


    Swish!


    The man tried to attack Ye Jiao again, but she had disappeared from her location. He only hit air with nothing else in them.


    "Damn it!" the man cursed out loudly.


    Lin Jie also looked at the direction with a frown. He felt helpless. He and Ai Jiao entered the same hell island back then, but this young girl advanced even faster than him. It was to the point that he was unable to even look at her anymore.


    She just moved farther and farther away from him.


    ''Tsk, she''s really strong and quick.''


    After Ye Jiao took the flag, she rushed back to their first location. She could see that Lu Wan was busy fighting against the men, who were already reduced to three people, thanks to his remarkable fight.


    Clang!


    "There''s another one here!"


    "Just now?" Ye Jiao asked nonchalantly as she evaded the attack. Her hand moved as she thrusted her dagger upfront. "I''m taking this flag."


    Using her left hand, Ye Jiao showed the yellow flag that she had taken from the second master''s group. One of the men has his face paled upon seeing the flag as he understood that it was his group.


    "Return it back!"


    "Why should I?"


    Swish! Clang! Tak!


    Ye Jiao moved behind the man and knocked him out easily. Her lips curled up in sneer. "Do you really think that you''re strong enough to take it from me?"


    For a moment, the other two who left could feel a strong killing intent emanated from Ye Jiao. It made them feel as if they were facing a large foe rather than a young girl. They didn''t understand how their difference in fighting power was this great?


    "You should stop playing around," Qi Huan also appeared. His hand was holding several flags that he managed to take from the other participants.


    "The hell?"


    "How?"


    The two men were stunned when they saw the red flag among the flags that Qi Huan brought. Their heart sunk into despair for they knew that it would be their loss. Once the flag was taken, they had to take it back within 10 seconds or it would mean that the young man has won.


    "Give it back!"


    Swish! Clang!


    The two men charged towards Qi Huan''s direction, but Lu Wan and Ye Jiao blocked them. They used their ability to fight and prolong the time until Mr. Jing told them to stop because it has been more than 10 seconds since Qi Huan took the flag.


    "The time is up," Mr. Jing announced from the second floor.


    "NO!"


    "Damn it!"


    They were cursing out loudly when they realized that it was too late to take their flag back. This group of three have already eliminated all of them so swiftly and took their flags in the process. It was vexing, but they have lost.


    Mr. Jing looked over to Zhan Jing. "You have hidden remarkable talents."


    "Many thanks for your compliment," Zhan Jing''s expression didn''t change, but he was secretly wondering about these children. Now that they have taken the interest of this man, would he be willing to let them off?


    Also, with their fight just now, he was more worried that they have already used up a lot of Eon Energy.


    After all, their fight looked so easy.


    Mr. Jing took out a stone and threw it towards their direction. Ye Jiao caught it and noticed the vast amount of Eon Energy inside the stone. Her eyes looked at the engraving on the stone with curiosity.


    ''It might be small, but there''s a large amount of power inside.''


    "That''s the reward for this competition. Additionally, all of you are formally invited to join the main headquarter of Bao Fu Organization," Mr. Jing said unhurriedly. "Before we depart, you will have to utter your Oath of Loyalty to Bao Fu Organization."


    The three of them looked at one another.


    "What if we want to refuse the invitation?"


    "Refuse?" Mr. Jing narrowed his eyes. He could guess that Zhan Jing must have told something to these children to make them behave this way. His lips curled up into a sneer. "Unfortunately, you''re not allowed to refuse."


    Qi Huan frowned. "Isn''t that invitation? Why can''t we refuse?"


    "It''s indeed an invitation and at the same time, an order," Mr. Jing smiled back. He jumped down from the second floor of the arena as he swept his hand. Waves of wind pushed the other children from that place immediately.


    Ye Jiao watched her surroundings with wariness. One way or another, she had the feeling that Mr. Jing would never let them off from this place today. It seemed as if he was already determined to take them away from this place.


    "Order?" Qi Huan asked, yet his tone was icy cold.


    Mr. Jing nodded his head. "Now, say the oath or I''ll kill you here."


    "You-!" Zhan Jing was surprised to hear Mr. Jing trying to force them to say the oath just like that. He was about to jump out when the two masters moved to block his way. Their weapon was ready in their hand.


    "Sorry, but we can''t let you get through," the second master said solemnly.


    The first master smiled. "If you wish to get through, you have to defeat us first."


    Zhan Jing''s face turned somber as he knew that it wouldn''t be an easy fight for him to fight against two Eon Energy Master Rank 4 at once. The two of them were powerful enough to be the leader of Bao Fu Organization in this area. If he did things recklessly, he would be the one to meet his end.


    "This is not the rules, Jing!"


    Mr. Jing smiled brightly. "Who would care about the rules and so on? In this place, I''m making the rules!"


    Ye Jiao tried to move from her position, but suddenly felt immense pressure from the man before them. It was the pressure of Eon Energy Master Rank 4 that completely prevented them from moving at all.


    Her heart sank.


    ''This is much more powerful than the beast on that island before.''


    Back then, she was also unable to move because she was still Eon Energy Master Rank 2. Even though she had reached rank 3 now, she was unable to move because the pressure this man imposed on her was much larger than back then.


    "Guh!"


    Lu Wan fell on his knees as the pressure felt like breaking his bones. He had just advanced to rank 3 and naturally has a lower base compared with the other two. This caused him to be the weakest one of the bunch.


    ''Damn it! This pressure is too similar to what Master used to train us.''


    The only difference would be the thick killing intent that Mr. Jing emanated right now. He was looking at them with a cold expression as if he was telling them that if they didn''t say the oath, he would kill them right here, right now.


    It was scary and imposing.

 297 Battle Against Eon Energy Master Rank 4

    While the other two were unable to move because of the pressure, Qi Huan''s condition was relatively better. He didn''t dare to move, but he circulated his Eon Energy inside his body rapidly, trying to ease the pressure. It was not easy because he still felt as if his body was breaking, but it was not unbearable.


    ''In this condition, I won''t be able to fight properly.''


    Qi Huan''s eyes flashed with ruthlessness. He had to break this pressure to allow the three of them a chance to counterattack.


    "Say the oath or I''ll crush the three of you," Mr. Jing said coldly.


    Lu Wan gritted his teeth and raised his head. He sneered. "Do you really think that I''ll give my oath to the organization when I have already said it to someone else?"


    "You!"


    Bang!


    With a wave of his hand, Mr. Jing pushed Lu Wan to the back. His eyes were looking at the boy coldly with a trace of ruthlessness appearing within his eyes. It was apparent that he was angry.


    "Yu Shui!" Zhan Jing initiated his Eon Energy as he created a sharp rock headed straight to the two men before him.


    Tak!


    Slash!


    "This child play won''t work on us," the first master had arrived before Zhan Jing. He raised his hand and initiated his ability. At that very moment, the entire area seemed to be enveloped in a fog.


    "IT''S AN ILLUSION!" Qi Huan yelled with all of his strength, trying to break it for the others.


    Ye Jiao blinked a few times. In that split second, she felt as if her soul was sucked into the fog. Thankfully, Qi Huan''s voice brought her back to reality as she noticed that she was still standing in the arena. Even though the pressure around her was unbearable, it was still much better than when she didn''t even know where she was.


    "Thanks," Ye Jiao murmured. Her eyes were solemn.


    There were still a lot of things she didn''t know regarding Eon Energy Master Rank 4. They have a lot of types for specialization with elemental being only one of them. As she had only met with an elemental Eon Energy Master, she forgot that there were still other people with different skills.


    Peng!


    Lu Wan punched on the ground as he coughed. That illusion nearly killed him because he saw something attack him in that moment. When he woke up, thanks to Qi Huan''s voice, he felt glad that there was nothing in front of him.


    But the damage was done.


    ''It''s so painful.''


    Mr. Jing watched the children trying to fight back the pressure with amusement . He shook his head lightly. Their efforts were useless.


    "In front of absolute power, there''s nothing that you can do."


    After he had finished speaking, Mr. Jing waved his hand. He chanted a few words as Ye Jiao felt as if her body lost control. There was a strange strand of energy that entered her body and controlled it.


    "Let''s start with the little girl."


    His heart was in despair.


    No¡­ Don''t force her to say the oath!


    Once she did, she wouldn''t be able to fight back against the organization.


    Ye Jiao felt the surge of energy entering her body. Her eyes widened as she realized that her mouth started to speak.


    "I¡­, Ai Jiao, swear my loyalty¡­."


    "Don''t say it!" Qi Huan yelled.


    "Guh!" Ye Jiao struggled to fight back against the unknown energy, but she felt as if she was unable to do anything.


    ''No¡­ don''t¡­ don''t make me say it¡­ I don''t want to say it¡­.''


    No matter how much her heart screamed, Ye Jiao was unable to stop her mouth as words continued to flow slowly.


    "loyalty¡­"


    Mr. Jing felt like he was losing his patience as he watched Ye Jiao utter each word slowly. He waved his hand, sending more Eon Energy to Ye Jiao''s direction.


    "Swear my loyalty¡­" Ye Jiao struggled to not say the next words as her heart continued to scream loudly. She didn''t want to say it!


    Utilizing her Eon Energy to the fullest, she noticed that her necklace started to shine. It was the necklace that her father gave to her in order to hide her power as Eon Energy Master. At this time, it suddenly shone as warm Eon Energy flew into Ye Jiao''s body.


    For a split second, Ye Jiao noticed that she gained her body control.


    However, she was still unable to fight back against the pressure that Mr. Jing gave off as Eon Energy Master Rank 4.


    "I pledge my loyalty to Zhan Jing!" Ye Jiao screamed out loudly.


    "You!" Mr. Jing was stunned. Before he realized it, Ye Jiao had changed the name of the person she swore loyalty.


    "No! This can''t be!" He quickly turned to Zhan Jing, who was also stunned. However, the man soon realized that he had gained a connection straight to the young girl in the arena. In that very moment, he realized that she had truly said that oath.


    Bang!


    Suddenly, waves of Eon Energy came out of Qi Huan''s body, enveloping the entire arena with cool temperature. It was strange, yet at the same time, it allowed Lu Wan and Ye Jiao to break free from the pressure Mr. Jing gave them.


    "NOW!" Qi Huan yelled as he summoned out his sword. His body was screaming at him because of the pressure that he gave out, but he simply didn''t care. Right now, he had to fight if he didn''t want to die.


    Both Ye Jiao and Lu Wan sprinted from their position towards the direction of the man. Even though they felt their body hurting from the pressure before, they already felt much better.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    A series of metal clashes filled the arena as Mr. Jing blocked their attack perfectly. His eyes were showing coldness as he waved his hand, sending them back with a wave of Eon Energy.


    Before he could initiate another pressure, a blade connected with the chain arrived before him, threatening to cut him down.


    Clang!


    He raised his sword and blocked it. At the same time, Ye Jiao and Qi Huan had sprinted from their position and reached the man. Their weapons were swung at high speed, precisely aiming for the man''s neck and stomach.


    Swish! Clang!


    Mr. Jing avoided Qi Huan''s attack, but he blocked Ye Jiao''s. His eyes narrowed when he realized that the power behind their strike was not small.


    ''I can see that they''re truly treasures. Who would have thought that in this small place there would be someone so talented? Moreover¡­''


    The moment he moved back, Lu Wan had attacked him again. His chain and blade moved precisely to hit him as if telling him that it was not enough to attack him just one.


    Clang!


    Qi Huan frowned. He twisted his arm and charged to the man again. His sword met with the Eon Energy Master''s sword.


    "You''re not bad for someone from the emperor''s lineage."


    Emperor''s lineage?


    The moment Qi Huan heard that phrase, his eyes narrowed dangerously. He knew that if he used that technique, it would give out his identity as part of the emperor''s bloodline. And the one with the water element would only be those from the Qi Family in the Four Kingdom.


    He had to kill this man.


    It was no longer just because of his attempt to kill them, but also because he had to hide his identity.


    He didn''t want to put himself at risk.


    Clang!


    It was at this moment Ye Jiao sneak attacked from behind. Her body moved as quickly as possibly as she tried to hide her presence, making her attack more dangerous. If he was unable to detect her, he wouldn''t be able to block it in time.


    Mr. Jing quickly moved back and narrowed his eyes. ''Just what is this girl?''


    Even though he was standing right in front of Ye Jiao, he was unable to detect her presence at all. It was as if she could merge into the darkness completely, making him unable to find her at all.


    With his ability as Eon Energy Master Rank 4, it was truly a huge failure to not be able to detect ordinary Eon Energy Master Rank 3. Besides, with his skill as an assassin, he held high pride in his ability to detect people in hiding. Now, he felt extremely annoyed as he felt as if she was holding him back.


    Clang!


    Swish!


    "He''s so quick," Lu Wan cursed out loudly.


    Mr. Jing quickly evaded Lu Wan''s attack. He could sense the faint smell of poison from the blade''s edge. His body instinctively moved away to protect himself as he knew that it would be dangerous if he got hit with that blade.


    ''These children are truly remarkable¡­. It''s truly a pity that Zhan Jing got them first.''


    If only he was the one who met with them and recruited them, he knew that his rank would rise so high in the organization. These children were exceptionally talented to the point that he had to use his real power to fight them.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The series of blades clashing continued to fill the arena. Ye Jiao felt tired from fighting continuously, but she pushed her concentration to the limit. At the same time, she was trying to hide her presence as much as possible and attacked Mr. Jing from numerous directions.


    ''Faster and even faster.''


    Even though she was still in the early stage of rank 3, Ye Jiao had good control of her Eon Energy. She made use of them to push herself to move forward even more. Her muscle screamed in pain, but she paid it no heed. She just wanted to move even faster.


    ''A little wound is enough.''


    Her dagger was also coated in poison because of Lu Wan''s insistence. She knew that it would surely help her out when she was facing someone stronger than her, so she didn''t stop him.


    Clang! Clang!


    "This is getting nowhere," Mr. Jing clicked his tongue and moved to the side. His hand drew something midair when the three of them felt as if a web of Eon Energy appeared before them, blocking their way.


    Qi Huan''s pupil shrunk as he realized what it was. "EVADE IT!"


    Bam! Bang!

 298 Clashes of Eon Energy Master Rank 4

    The web hit the ground as the three of them moved to the side. Looking at the sharp mark like blade on the ground, Ye Jiao was astonished. Unlike the water blade, there was nothing that appeared from Mr. Jing when he attacked. It was as if it just appeared before them so suddenly.


    "What in the world is that?" Lu Wan was shocked.


    Qi Huan stood up and looked straight to Mr. Jing. His hand was holding his sword tighter. "That''s Eon Energy Control. You have to be more careful of his Eon Energy''s movements."


    "He''s non elemental?"


    "It seems so."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes turned solemn. She was unfamiliar with the attacks from Eon Energy Master non-elemental.


    This might last longer than she thought.


    While the three of them were fighting against Mr. Jing, Zhan Jing also started his attack against the two masters. The moment Qi Huan released that wave of Eon Energy, he knew that the children would be able to take care of themselves. He only had to finish his own battle soon and helped them out.


    Crack! Bam!


    Numerous sharp objects appeared from the ground, aiming for the two men. They swiftly evaded them as they started to utilize their own ability.


    Swish!


    "Those illusions won''t work on me," Zhan Jing charged straight to the first master and waved his hand. In that moment, a large boulder appeared from the floor and effectively destroyed the layout of the second floor.


    The first master''s face paled. "Damn it!"


    Using his Eon Energy, he controlled his body to reach the ground safely. At the same time, the second master started to attack Zhan Jing ferociously, preventing the man from dealing the killing blow to the first master.


    "You''re not getting away from me."


    Bam! Bam!


    Zhan Jing controlled the earth element from the wall and floor as he swiftly moved back. It has been some time since the last time he fought against Eon Energy Master Rank 4, but he still could control his Eon Energy perfectly.


    His control of the earth element caused the entire floor to be ruined. They were forced to move back to the first floor unless they wanted to be buried in the rubble that he created with his element.


    Crash!


    "You b*stard!" the first master grew annoyed. He expanded his Eon Energy, enveloping the three of them in a smoke like front. It was soothing yet at the same time it caused one''s sense to grow numb.


    Zhan Jing''s eyes narrowed. Those who picked the path as illusive masters would never try to attack directly because their strength lied in their ability to create illusion or to mess up with their opponent''s sense. He had a better base than these two, but it didn''t mean that he wouldn''t be affected by this layer of fog.


    "Sure."


    The second master swiftly moved towards Zhan Jing''s direction with his weapon ready. He made a slashing movement as Zhan Jing hurriedly created a wall to block it.


    Slash!


    ''He''s faster.''


    Bam!


    Zhan Jing quickly moved away. His eyes were locked at the sword that the second master now used. It was a different weapon, and even he felt there was some terrifying aura enveloped the entire body.


    "You''re not going to survive using such a sinister weapon," Zhan Jing said coldly.


    The second master smirked. "Before I fail to control it, you''ll be the one to fall first, Zhan Jing."


    As soon as he finished talking, he sprinted from his position to reach the man''s location. His expression contorted slightly because the sword was taking a toll on his body, but he had no choice. Normally, he wouldn''t be able to fight against Zhan Jing equally.


    After all, as someone who used to be in rank 5, Zhan Jing has numerous battle experience and could control his Eon Energy much better.


    Slash! Slash! Slash!


    "Stop running away!" the second master roared.


    Zhan Jing paid him no heed as he continued to create walls that blocked the attack while his own body moved away from his position by controlling the ground beneath it. He didn''t like to do this, but he couldn''t possibly attack that sword head on. Somehow, he got a truly bad feeling coming from that weapon.


    "Who in the damned world designed this arena to be filled with earth?" the first master cursed as he raised his hand once again.


    Tak!


    "Secret weapon, huh?" Zhan Jing asked, yet his tone was filled with sneering and mocking. This was not the first time for him to see someone using a hidden weapon during a fight, but the first master must be the lousiest. It was so apparent when he launched them.


    The first master''s expression grew solemn. "You won''t get away."


    Tak! Tak! Tak!


    Slash! Slash! Slash!


    The two of them fought together as Zhan Jing continued to move away from them. He created numerous objects from the ground to block their attack as much as possible. Even though he had done a lot, it didn''t look like his Eon Energy depleted at all. On the other hand, the two''s breaths have started to become rough.


    "Guh," the second master felt that the sword started to move on its own. His strength was not enough to control it anymore.


    "Use a different sword!" the first master yelled.


    The second master put the sword back into his storage bracelet before he felt sudden searing pain in his hand. From the palm of his right hand, where he used to hold the sword, he could see fiery engraving had appeared. His expression sunk, for he realized that it would hinder his future path.


    When the man was distracted, Zhan Jing made his way to the first master. His hand waved at rapid speed, creating several sharp earth from the ground.


    "GET AWAY!"


    Tak!


    The first master could only try to throw his secret weapon, but it merely landed on the surface without being able to do anything. Before the second master could react, the sharp rock that Zhan Jing created had reached him.


    Stab! Stab!


    *cough*


    The second master coughed as blood came out. His expression was filled with disbelief as he looked at Zhan Jing.


    "You-!"


    Stab!


    Zhan Jing created another one without mercy. It directly stabbed into the man''s heart, efficiently killing him in that one strike. The moment he died, the fiery mark started to burn and spread into his body, covering it in a sinister aura and destroyed everything until nothing remained.


    "Damn it!" the first master cursed out loudly. He was about to attack Zhan Jing again when a powerful shockwave came from the other side, where the three children were fighting against Mr. Jing.


    "What in the world?"


    Zhan Jing hurriedly turned his head around. His pupil shrunk when he realized what had happened there.

 299 Wounded!

    "Do you really think that you can defeat me like this?" Mr. Jing laughed coldly. He raised his hand as another web of Eon Energy was formed.


    "DUCK IT!"


    Slash! Slash!


    The Eon Energy reached the ground once more. Ye Jiao''s expression was somber because she had to try reaching the man before he could launch another attack like that. It was so scary as the mark on the ground perfectly told them what would happen should it hit them.


    Sprinting towards the man again, Ye Jiao swung her curved dagger.


    Clang!


    The man''s eyes flashed with annoyance. He wanted to finish the fight sooner and forced them to follow him. But it didn''t look like they would give up soon. His Eon Energy consumption has started to become intolerable.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    With Qi Huan and Ye Jiao holding the front. Lu Wan continued to give surprise attacks with his blades. Occasionally, it was Ye Jiao who would disappear from her position and launched a cover attack. Slowly but surely, the distance between her dagger and the man started to become small.


    ''A bit more¡­ Just a bit more.''


    Her muscles were screaming loudly, but Ye Jiao continued to circulate her Eon Energy in her body, pushing herself to move even faster. It was painful, but she knew that she had to become faster.


    ''Blend with nature. Launch a covert attack.''


    Her mind chanted as she moved her body. Her dagger was directed to the man''s stomach, which he blocked perfectly.


    Clang!


    Jumping to the back, Ye Jiao stepped to the side and moved forward again. This time, she was attacking from behind.


    Clang!


    Once again, Mr. Jing managed to block her attack. But this time, Ye Jiao could sense that she almost reached the man''s real body.


    ''One more.''


    Somersaulted to the back, Ye Jiao rushed forward again once her feet touched the ground. Her eyes were completely focused on the man as she just hoped to wound him. Even a single wound would be enough.


    Clang! Slash!


    Her next attack managed to reach the man as Ye Jiao could see a faint trace of blood in her dagger. A smile broke out on the corner of her lips, but she didn''t let it get into her head as she swiftly moved back once again.


    Tak!


    Mr. Jing tried to attack again, but he realized that Ye Jiao had moved from her position. In that moment, he felt sudden pain from his hips. It was the exact location where Ye Jiao directed her attack just now.


    ''It couldn''t be¡­"


    Slash!


    It was just a small wound, but it was all they needed. They all had coated their weapon with poison because their master always asked them to fight against a more powerful Eon Energy Master. This time, it was not an exception.


    ''Good job, Jiao''er.''


    "You-!"


    Slash!


    This time, Lu Wan''s blade had reached his shoulder. From the back, Lu Wan smirked. Now that Ye Jiao''s poison was combined with him, the effect would be much greater to the man before them.


    As he had expected, Mr. Jing could feel his body was burning because of the two wounds. The poison was creating deep pain inside his body. His expression was dark for he realized that he didn''t even know what kind of poison it was.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Forcing himself to move, Mr. Jing blocked their next attack repeatedly. However, he realized that his strength was diminishing. Seeing the proud smile on Lu Wan''s face, he could guess that it must be this boy who designed the poison.


    Slash!


    By hiding her body once more, Ye Jiao reached the man and wounded his back once again. She quickly retreated as the man swung his hand.


    "DODGE!"


    Numerous marks appeared on the ground. Mr. Jing''s breath had turned uneven. He realized that these children had truly pushed him to the very limit of his ability. It would be hard for him to move with the poison corroding his body like this.


    "Don''t be happy too soon," Mr. Jing roared loudly. He took out a pill from his Spatial Ring and ate it directly.


    "Stop him!" Qi Huan charged forward again, but the man had put the pill into his mouth. On Mr. Jing''s back, Ye Jiao had also charged and swung her dagger.


    Slash!


    This time, it was a deep wound, but Ye Jiao could sense waves of Eon Energy brewed inside the man''s body. Her pupil shrunk, and she moved away rapidly.


    "Get away from him!"


    The other two immediately retreated while Mr. Jing roared with all of his strength. Waves of Eon Energy came out from his body like a tidal storm, destroying everything around him. It was to the point that not even an inch was spared from his attack.


    Formless blades covered his surroundings, preventing anyone from getting close to him.


    The waves also reached Zhan Jing as he turned around his head. His pupil shrunk in disbelief for he understood what kind of pill Mr. Jing took. It was a common pill in Bao Fu Organization if they wanted to boost their rank and ability for a short period of time. However, it was not popular because of the after effect the pill caused after consumption.


    They would become extremely weak and unable to do anything much. Even standing up would prove to be a difficult thing to do unless they forced themselves.


    "Where are you looking at?"


    Tak! Stab!


    Zhan Jing''s pupil narrowed when he looked at the needle that stabbed his arm. He could feel numbing sensation spread all over his body. In that moment, he had failed to react in time.


    ''He controls it midair.''


    Starting from Eon Energy Master Rank 3, they would be able to control their weapon midair. He didn''t pay much attention to it because it was uncommon to use it with a secret weapon. After all, it would become easier to detect if there was an Eon Energy layer surrounding it.


    "You won''t be able to get away now!" the first master sneered.


    *cough*


    "As if I would let you¡­" Zhan Jing used his other hand to control the surroundings'' earth as he realized that the first master had launched another wave of secret weapons. His expression was grave for he knew that his fighting capabilities have been severely restricted.


    "Attack!" Qi Huan yelled and charged forward.


    Mr. Jing looked at them expressionlessly and sneered. "Do you really think that you can fight against me now?"


    Clang!


    He blocked the sword and sent Qi Huan flying to the back.


    "Your opponent is not just one!" Lu Wan''s blade had reached the man, threatening to wound him again.


    Clang!


    He blocked it with ease and twisted his own sword, pulling the blade away from Lu Wan to the other side.


    "Yu Shui, let it go!"


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

 300 I’m Sorry, Master

    Failing to let his weapon go, Lu Wan was pulled to the side. He stayed midair for a split second before he crashed to the hard ground below him.


    Bam!


    Clang!


    Ye Jiao launched a secret attack, but Mr. Jing blocked it. He frowned when he realized that his ability to detect this young girl was still severely limited. If there was an illusive type of Eon Energy around, he could guess that he wouldn''t be able to survive this attack.


    He felt partially grateful that the young girl before him was still Eon Energy Master Rank 3. If she was a bit stronger, he wouldn''t be able to defeat her.


    But even now, Ye Jiao was already quite a handful. Thinking about this only made him feel deep envy and jealousy towards Zhan Jing. How come someone like him managed to find talented disciples in a remote place like this? He couldn''t accept it.


    Twisting his hand, he pushed Ye Jiao to the back. The girl somersaulted midair and landed on the ground once again. But in front of her, Mr. Jing has started to form another formless blade web.


    "DODGE IT!" Ye Jiao pushed her body to the limit as she ran to the back. Qi Huan also did the same as they tried to get farther away. From the sudden raise of power that Mr. Jing had, they knew that his distance might expand.


    To what extent, they could only know when the attack was already launched.


    Slash! Slash! Slash!


    Formless blades created out of Eon Energy destroyed everything in the radius of 10 meters around Mr. Jing. The already broken ground turned even uneven with his new attack. The two of them could sense faint pressure, but they were still outside of the range.


    ''if this continues, it''ll be hard to attack him in close range.''


    Ye Jiao sprinted to the man again. Her hand was holding her dagger as her mind spun rapidly. She had to move even quicker because she had to avoid that waves of formless Eon Energy blades. He might have already used it several times, but they hadn''t found any way to counter it.


    Clang!


    Mr. Jing''s eyes were solemn as he blocked Ye Jiao''s attack. Her attack was faster than the time needed for him to create another web. In the next second, Qi Huan had followed suit and launched another attack.


    Clang! Clang!


    Lu Wan had also stood up again. His body felt hurt because of the crash, but he took his chain and blade. No matter how many times his body protested, he paid it no heed and twisted his arm to control the chain and blade again.


    Clang! Clang!


    It headed straight to Mr. Jing, which the man blocked with ease. Seeing how the man could fight against them with ease, Lu Wan''s heart dropped to the bottom. They have to find a way to defeat this man.


    If they couldn''t, it would be their death.


    Slash!


    ''Great! With this¡­''


    *Cough*


    Zhan Jing fell onto one knee as he looked at the man before him with a ruthless glint. The moment his attack reached the first master, the latter had already spread his poison around his body. Even though it also corroded his body, it caused Zhan Jing to be poisoned terribly, unable to move his body according to his wish.


    His eyes held deep coldness as he pushed his Eon Energy to circulate within his body in order to suppress the poison. He had also survived Hell Island back in his youth, so he had a certain degree of poison''s residence. Unfortunately, this poison was still too strong for someone like him.


    Bang!


    At this time, Mr. Jing has pushed both Qi Huan and Ye Jiao to the back. He snorted when he saw Zhan Jing''s sorry condition.


    "For someone who always stood on the front, you will never understand our struggle, Zhan Jing!"


    Slash! Slash! Slash!


    The two of them were unable to retreat in time as they still got hit.


    ''Guh!'' Qi Huan looked at the wounds on his arm as his expression was dark. He had quite a considerable amount of Eon Energy that he used as a defense layer, yet in that moment, Mr. Jing just penetrated them without any effort. It was as if there was nothing that could stop them from reaching his body.


    ''The difference in power is too great.''


    He was already exhausted because he had used up a large amount of Eon Energy from the very beginning. He could use an Eon Energy Pill to boost his Eon Energy, but with the circulation in his body still in the mess, thanks to his attempt to free them at first, he would be suicidal to take the pill. His body would be destroyed first before he could attempt to attack Mr. Jing.


    If only he had a more effective pill, it would be different. But in a place like this, where could he possibly find such a magical pill? It was nothing more but a dream for them.


    ''Ugh,'' Ye Jiao could feel searing pain on her arm. Looking at the large wound on her left arm, she used her Eon Energy to numb her sense of pain. There was no time for her to take care of her wound, so she had to wait until later. Right now, all that was important would be to face the man before them and fight him to the very end.


    ''Move!''


    Forcing herself to move once again, Ye Jiao sprinted towards Mr. Jing''s direction. Her eyes were filled with determination. Even though her arm felt weak because her Eon Energy had almost depleted, she paid it no heed.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    "Shan Dian, help her!" Lu Wan struggled to stand up. His bone must have been broken before as he was unable to move again. That last attack gave him pressure, which caused him to be unable to move anymore.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "I can''t move anymore."


    "What?"


    Looking at his junior brother, Qi Huan could only smile bitterly. He was still an Eon Energy Master Rank 3, which should be impossible to control element or any other specialization in the fourth rank. But in order to break them from the pressure, he had forced his body to do so using a technique he learnt in Spring Island.


    It was a powerful technique.


    But that technique has a fatal drawback. He would be unable to circulate his Eon Energy for a week, meaning that he would be unable to fight after his Eon Energy reserve was depleted.


    Right now, there was not even a drop of Eon Energy left in his core. All of them have been used up to fight in the battle. Even standing up felt extremely difficult for him.


    "But she¡­"


    Even Lu Wan understood that it would be impossible for Ye Jiao to fight against Mr. Jing alone. With their disparity in the base strength, age, and experience, it would be an extremely tough battle for Ye Jiao to do. She had already pushed herself to the very limit.


    Clang!


    Pushed to the back, Ye Jiao couldn''t directly move anymore. Her breathing was rough, and she panted heavily. Even though she couldn''t move anymore, she felt as if her body was on the verge of explosion. The pressure was killing her from inside.


    ''It''s so painful.''


    This was not the first time she fought against someone more powerful than her, but this would be the first time for her to be pushed to the back this heavily. It was as if there was not even a single attack from her that could reach the man.


    "Jiao''er."


    Zhan Jing struggled to stand up. He looked at the three youngsters who were already battered because of the fight. Because of his incompetence, he had pulled these children to fight alongside him. They have to fight bitterly just to match against someone who was so powerful.


    All of them were for him.


    It was enough. He no longer wanted to see them hurt anymore.


    "It''s already enough, you can stop fighting."


    With Ye Jiao pledging her loyalty to him, Zhan Jing knew that the girl would have no choice but to obey his words. It might be unfair for her, but he couldn''t possibly let them all fight on his behalf forever.


    The other two''s expressions changed greatly.


    "Master!"


    "You want to fight?"


    *Cough*


    "This is originally my fight, so I have to be the one to stand up¡­ urgh," the poison inside his body started to act up again. Zhan Jing crouched on the ground, trying to bear with the pain.


    Ye Jiao looked at Zhan Jing, smiling brightly yet there was a tinge of sadness in her eyes. "I''m sorry, Master. I can''t hear any words that you say to me."

 301 When All Hope is Los

    "Jiao''er?" Lu Wan was stunned.


    Qi Huan looked at the young girl as he noticed a trail of blood coming out from the girl''s ear. In that very moment, he understood perfectly that she must have destroyed her own ear from inside. She knew that Zhan Jing might give her an order, but she didn''t want to fulfill it, so she blocked the way for her to listen to him.


    As long as she didn''t know what kind of order Zhan Jing gave her, she didn''t have any obligation to listen!


    "How foolish," Qi Huan muttered as he plopped to the ground, unable to keep standing up. Even though he had his own pride, right now, he truly didn''t have any strength left to sustain his body in standing position.


    Zhan Jing was stunned. Before he could move, Ye Jiao had sprinted towards Mr. Jing once more. Her expression showed her determination as she was unwilling to give up until the very end.


    Clang! Bang!


    No matter how many times Mr. Jing pushed her back, she would surely block his attack and get up again. Her body was already hurting like crazy, but she had no choice than to move forward.


    ''All of you are truly too good for someone like me¡­'' Zhan Jing took out a stone from his storage bracelet. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes as he crushed the stone into smithereens.


    Slowly, he struggled to reach Lu Wan and crouched in front of the boy. "Yu Shui, make an antidote for me."


    "Now?" Lu Wan was stunned.


    "Yes."


    Even though Lu Wan didn''t have the confidence to create an antidote, he still took Zhan Jing''s blood to detect the poison that flew inside the man''s vein. His brows creased when he sensed the familiar poison.


    "I already have the antidote for a similar poison. It''s a bit weaker, but it''ll make Master feel much better," Lu Wan took out a bottle. "Also, Master needs to circulate it all over your body for it to work."


    "I understand. Thank you, Yu Shui."


    "It''s nothing, Master."


    Zhan Jing sat down and ingested the antidote. He could sense the pain diminished a little, but it hasn''t disappeared yet.


    On the other hand, Ye Jiao was still pushing herself to the very limit. She could literally feel her bones breaking from her excessive movements, but she paid it no heed. Supplying her body with her last bit of Eon Energy, Ye Jiao sprinted forward and charged straight towards Mr. Jing.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Her dagger danced as she rapidly attacked him. Ye Jiao didn''t know how long she had fought against Mr. Jing, but she continued to push herself to move and launched an attack one after another.


    ''I don''t want to lose anyone else again.''


    She had to fight.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Mr. Jing could sense that Ye Jiao was getting faster and more precise. Even in this state, he was slowly pushed back by this young girl. This made him astonished because he understood that it shouldn''t have been possible. Their difference in power should make this girl cower to him.


    ''This can''t be!''


    Clang!


    Initiating his Eon Energy, Mr. Jing pushed Ye Jiao to the back with a wave of Eon Energy. At the same time, he quickly formed his web and launched the attack.


    "Gah!"


    Ye Jiao quickly moved back. Numerous blade wounds had appeared on her arm as she was late in retreating. Her legs were trembling. She no longer had any strength left to continue this battle.


    ''I have to move¡­''


    It was painful, but she didn''t want to give up. She didn''t want to lose her master and anyone important to her. She wished for them all to live.


    "It''s enough," Zhan Jing appeared from behind her and held her back tenderly. His expression showed worry and pain. Despite the poison still running in his blood vein, he knew that there was no more time for him to take care of them. He needed to fight now, or this little girl might lose her life.


    "Master, I¡­"


    "Take a rest, Jiao''er. You have done so much for me. It''s already more than enough," Zhan Jing patted the young girl''s head and helped her to sit down.


    Ye Jiao could feel the comfort that Zhan Jing tried to give her. Somehow, tears started to pour down on the corner of her eyes. She knew that she wouldn''t be able to fight anymore and it felt vexing to her.


    ''I want to be stronger.''


    Her eyes turned blurry as she saw Zhan Jing stepped forward and started to fight against Mr. Jing. He controlled the earth element, forming a lot of sharp objects that started to attack Mr. Jing continuously.


    "You have lost your touch, Zhan Jing," Mr. Jing mocked. "Back then, you wouldn''t be this sloppy."


    Zhan Jing arched his eyebrows. His body was still in searing pain because of the poison, but he paid it no heed. He continued to control the earth element to the fullest of his ability. His Eon Energy was almost depleted, but it was the same for Mr. Jing.


    "You''re just someone who relies on medicine."


    Mr. Jing laughed coldly. "At the very least, I can last much longer than you."


    "Is that so?"


    Slash! Tak! Tak!


    The sword continued to hit the wall that Zhan Jing created as Mr. Jing advanced forward. His expression was solemn as he realized that his strength has started to diminish. The effect of the pill has started to die down.


    "You won''t be able to defeat me, Zhan Jing!"


    Mr. Jing roared as he pushed his Eon Energy to the limit, creating a large web around him. Zhan Jing quickly retreated to the back as he had seen this attack numerous times.


    Slash! Slash! Slash!


    Countless formless blades raged around Mr. Jing, destroying everything in the vicinity. Zhan Jing''s pupil shrunk when he felt pain all over his body.


    "Gah!"


    "Do you really think that 10 meters is my limit?" Mr. Jing laughed eerily. He dashed forward with his sword ready and thrust it towards Zhan Jing''s direction.


    Tak!


    "Ugh," Zhan Jing could feel his body was breaking in pieces as he blocked the attack. His hand was already stained in blood with numerous blade wounds decorating the skin.


    In the next moment, Mr. Jing raised his sword again and thrusted it to Zhan Jing''s back, piercing deeply in the man''s body.


    *cough*


    "MMMMMAAAAAAAAAASTERRRRRRRRR!" Ye Jiao yelled with all of her strength as she struggled to stand up, but her body was unable to move as she wished anymore. No matter how much she wished them to move, they won''t.


    Her heart was breaking to pieces as she saw her master''s pained smile.


    No¡­


    No!


    NO!


    Her mind was screaming as despair permeated every corner of her body. Not like this¡­ Don''t let her lose him.


    Please!


    Beside her, the two were also trying to move again, but they have surpassed the limit of what their body could bear a long time ago.


    ''Move, you damn body!'' Qi Huan cursed internally. But as he circulated his Eon Energy, he could feel the repulse effect from his body.


    *Cough*


    He vomited blood as pain permeated every part of his body. His eyes were filled with sadness and despair for he knew that it would be impossible for him to move.


    There was nothing they could do but watch¡­


    Nothing¡­.


    Zhan Jing could see that his disciples were trying to get to him. He smiled bitterly for he understood that he didn''t have any strength left. Looking at his enraged disciple, he knew that he had wronged them by doing this. All this time, he never properly became their teacher and only forced them to become better because of his selfish decision.


    From the very beginning, he knew that he didn''t have the qualification to teach this amazing group of youngsters. They were too good for him and much more talented compared to him.


    Even without him, they would be able to grow much better.


    ''I''m sorry, I can''t teach you anything anymore. Soon, you''ll surely find a better teacher than me,'' Zhan Jing smiled at his disciples, giving his best expression to them. As he saw the blade came closer to him, his mind thought of his little niece that he left behind. ''Uncle is sorry because I can''t fulfill my promise to you¡­ please forgive me¡­''


    Slash!


    In the next moment, Zhan Jing''s head fell to the ground as blood splattered out.


    "MMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"


    All that left was the scream of the young girl.

 302 I Will Never Give Up

    "MMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"


    All that left was the scream of the young girl.


    Tears filled Ye Jiao''s face as she watched her master die in front of her.


    No¡­


    Not again¡­


    Once again, she had lost someone when they were in front of her. Sadness and despair filled her entire body as she tried to move her body. It no longer responded to her. She was unable to move anymore.


    Tears streamed like waterfall from her eyes.


    Why?


    Why is she still so weak?


    "You b*stard!" Lu Wan cursed out loudly and struggled to stand up. Feeling the pain and weakness all over his body, he fell down to the ground once more. His expression was filled with rage and bitterness. How he wished to kill that man right here, right now.


    ''Why is my body not moving?''


    Lu Wan was fighting internally as he screamed in his mind. He had to move! Damn it! If only he could move, he would be able to stop that man from killing his master. His fist was clenched as his nails embedded into his flesh.


    He truly wanted to kill that man!


    Pa!


    Qi Huan punched the ground with the little strength he had left. ''Move!''


    His body was unable to follow after his instruction anymore. His circulation was a complete mess that disrupted his control over his own body. It was to the point that he was unable to move according to his wishes even if it was only a short movement.


    ''MOVE!''


    In his mind, Qi Huan was screaming loudly. His eyes turned red in anger and frustration because of his weakness. If only he had more time¡­ if only he was stronger¡­ if only he could last fighting much longer¡­


    All kinds of ifs appeared within his mind as he tried his best to move his body.


    Mr. Jing watched in glee as Zhan Jing''s head rolled on the ground. He laughed maniacally. "HAHAHAHAHA, the great Zhan Jing fell by my hand. How much of an accomplishment is this?"


    In Bao Fu Organization, Zhan Jing''s name has long become the eyesore of numerous people. Even though this man was relatively young and didn''t have much capabilities compared to the other leading figures, he was placed at the very front. This caused many of them to feel envy, including Mr. Jing.


    Seeing the proud man fell like this in front of him, he felt elated and happy.


    "You''re nothing in front of me, Zhan Jing!"


    After yelling to the sky, Mr. Jing felt much better. Even though his body already felt weak because of the aftereffect of the pill, he paid it no heed. Sense of accomplishment washed over his body as he laughed loudly.


    ''Heh, no one will ever believe that the previously no name Jing managed to kill the great Zhan Jing.''


    Now, this man had fallen.


    Mr. Jing couldn''t hide his smile. He turned his head around to look at the children. An evil smile formed in his face.


    "Now, it''s your turn, children."


    The three of them flinched when they saw the man''s maniacal expression. They knew that Mr. Jing must have also wanted them because of their talent, but they didn''t want to follow after him. Their Master had warned them over and over that staying in Bao Fu Organization would seal their path.


    It would only lead them to their bitter end.


    ''We have to get away,'' Ye Jiao quickly pulled herself together as she tried to move her body. She wanted to weep because of her master and grieved, but there was no time for that here. She had to move as fast as possible because she would die if Mr. Jing managed to get them.


    In Bao Fu Organization, they would only meet their bitter end.


    However, no matter what she did, she was unable to move her body. Slowly, she directed her Eon Energy to her core. In the worst case scenario, she would just blow up her own core¡­.


    That way, he would die along with her.


    Her seniors'' location was further than her, so they shouldn''t get hit. Probably, they would also get wounded, but hopefully they would be able to survive. She didn''t want to give up until the very bitter end.


    With that determination, she raised her head and watched as Mr. Jing came closer. Once he was close enough, she would start to initiate the explosion of her core!


    "Now, you have to say the oath," Mr. Jing walked closer to them with a victorious expression.


    Qi Huan''s eyes were cold. He watched the man''s movements carefully with his hand preparing a knife under his sleeve. Once Mr. Jing was close enough, he would just launch a sneak attack at him. Even if it was unable to wound the man badly, he just needed a chance to get away.


    For a short moment, he would force his Eon Energy to his arm. It would break his meridian, but it might be able to give them a chance to get out. Even if he survives, he would only be a cripple, but would it matter?


    As long as the other two could be alive, it would be worth it.


    A chance.


    Just one.


    Lu Wan''s expression was filled with hatred. He couldn''t move anymore, but his hand still prepared a bottle of poison. Even though they wouldn''t be able to get away from this place, he could just spread poison to not allow anyone to get close to them. They would also feel pain, but at least, it was much better than following this man to the Bao Fu Organization Main Headquarter.


    He should be able to drop it to the ground.


    His eyes were red as they were filled with determination. Even if he has to die, he would never ever give up!


    The three of them didn''t communicate with each other, but they held the same expression on their face. They would cling to any hope left in order to let someone from their group alive even at the cost of their own lives!

 303 He’s My Uncle

    There was no communication needed between each of them. The moment Mr. Jing made his move, they would make their own move.


    Right now, their gaze was completely filled with one determination:


    Kill Mr. Jing.


    No matter what the cost.


    "Say the¡­ ugh?"


    Before Mr. Jing could get close, his sentence stopped midway.


    All of the sudden, he could feel pressure coming down at him. He turned his head around and saw a woman standing on top of an earth golem near the entrance. There were a lot of bodies lying around her, all dead.


    The woman was still a teenager, around 3 years older compared to Ye Jiao (14 years old). She has short curly hair around the length of her shoulder. Wearing a tight dress with a brown cape on her back, she walked closer to their direction. At this time, her expression was icy cold with murderous intent emanating around her body.


    "W-who are you?" Mr. Jing asked carefully.


    The woman paid no heed to the man as she jumped down from the golem gracefully. Her eyes were locked on the fallen man beside them: Zhan Jing.


    "I''m too late," she muttered. Slowly, she walked closer to the body. Her eyes were filled with sadness and fury.


    "YOU! I talk to..."


    "Lucky, take care of him," the woman''s voice was cold. She didn''t even take a look at the man as she crouched beside Zhan Jing''s body.


    The golem that was standing firmly moved in stride towards Mr. Jing. It outstretched its round arm and grabbed the man''s head.


    "You, what are¡­ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


    Exerting a bit of strength, the golem broke the man''s neck immediately and separated it from the main body. Blood quickly splattered the ground, painting it completely red. The golem threw the head afterwards as it stood still in its place, ignoring the gust of blood that poured out of the man''s headless body.


    The three children were dumbstruck. They were thinking that it would be their end when Mr. Jing came closer to them. Even though they have been thinking of countermeasures against Mr. Jing, it didn''t mean that they were in safe condition. It would be still a bitter end with neither one of them knowing what their end would be.


    Now, seeing the young woman killed the man so effortlessly, they were speechless. From her appearance, she should be just slightly older than Lu Wan. However, their disparity in strength was simply too much.


    "Who are you?" The woman turned around and looked at the three child-no youngsters. Their age didn''t differ that much and it would be weird if she tagged them as children when she herself was pretty young.


    The woman looked at Qi Huan with inquiry. Based on age alone, it was clear that Lu Wan was older compared to him. It was pretty funny to see him become the senior brother instead.


    "May we know your name, Senior?" Ye Jiao also sat down. Even though her body was hurting like crazy, she still didn''t relax. This woman might have killed Mr. Jing, but it was not known whether she would be their enemy or friend.


    "I''m Lin Ruoyun," the woman replied. She stood up and looked back at them with a complicated expression. "Zhan Jing is my uncle and Master, so I''m your senior sister."


    Senior sister?


    The three of them looked towards Lin Ruoyun with a dumbfounded expression. They have never heard their master mentioned that he had another disciple. But if they thought about it, they knew that their master came from the mainland, a completely different place from the four kingdoms.


    It shouldn''t be weird if he had a disciple in that place, right?


    "Many thanks for Senior Sister''s help," Ye Jiao was the first one to greet Lin Ruoyun formally.


    "Many thanks for Senior Sister''s help."


    The other two also followed suit. Even though they couldn''t stand up and give a formal bow, they could at least greet the other party formally like this. After all, Lin Ruoyun''s strength far surpassed them. She deserved their respect.


    "Let''s move from this place," Lin Ruoyun looked at their wounds and frowned. "Lucky, bring them along and be careful of their wounds."


    The golem named Lucky moved to the three youngsters. It extended its hand as the shape moved to that of a large box. The three of them slowly inched closer and got inside. There was more than enough space for them to lie down inside.


    ''The golem can change its shape,'' Ye Jiao''s eyes showed astonishment. This made her more and more curious about Eon Energy Master Rank 4. There were so many things that caused her to feel awed just from a single gesture.


    On the other hand, Lin Ruoyun moved the earth before her and picked up her uncle''s body and head tenderly. Her eyes showed concealed sadness as she walked out of the arena.


    Ye Jiao peeked out of the box as she saw the mess that Lin Ruoyun had created outside the place. There was another golem that stood there, waiting for Lin Ruoyun''s order patiently. Around it, there were numerous corpses with their blood flooded the ground.


    Splash! Splash!


    Every single step that the golem and Lin Ruoyun took, they could hear the sound of water-no blood splashing. It was as if telling them the horrible massacre that had occurred in this place.


    However, Ye Jiao didn''t feel any sympathy for them. If it was her, she would surely do the same because they have killed her master. She would not show any mercy to her enemies.


    As they walked away, a figure stood limpidly on the corner. He was wounded heavily because of the golem''s attack, but he was still alive. His eyes showed complicated expressions as he watched the group leave.


    After a few seconds, he left his position and disappeared in the darkness.

 304 Lin Ruoyun

    "Why did you come here?" Qi Huan asked after they have walked for quite a long time.


    Lin Ruoyun passed a glance to the young man. "You should sleep and think later. Your body is wounded hard. Even if you''re someone from the Emperor''s lineage, it''s not good to force yourself to stay up."


    "How do you- ugh."


    "Like I say, you should rest."


    "I''m not going to rest until you answer my question," Qi Huan said stubbornly. His juniors might be feeling safe around this young woman, but he would not trust a stranger so easily. Even though his body was yearning to rest, he still forced himself to stay awake.


    Lin Ruoyun turned her head to the front again. Her expression was as calm as ever. "I communicate with my Uncle through a communication jade. It''s the only way I can talk to him and occasionally, he would mention to me about his three disciples in this place."


    She thought that her uncle would treat his disciples the same way as he did when he was in the mainland. But she was wrong. He has started to become a real teacher, one that would not abandon his disciple and gave them up for his own benefit. Seeing her uncle changed, she felt happy yet sad.


    Happy because she knew that her Uncle would be able to grow higher in his martial path by coming in term with his own weakness.


    Sad because she was not the one who helped him to realize it.


    Just a few hours ago, she talked with her uncle. He told her about the competition and his disciples'' decision. At the same time, he told her that he might not survive this incident. This might be the last fight he had.


    The moment her uncle destroyed the communication device, she knew that he must be telling her that they wouldn''t meet with each other anymore. Even though she knew that he had given up and would do everything he could just to take care of his disciples, she still rushed to this place.


    "I came here when I heard that they''re going to hold that competition," Lin Ruoyun replied plainly, without any hint of emotion in her voice. "I''m not going to harm you, I give my promise to you."


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. The higher their rank, the more their words would bind a martial artist. Unless they were in the demonic path, they wouldn''t be able to lie because it would be betraying their own conscience.


    Even though it was not completely reliable, he knew that the person before him wouldn''t lie to them. Besides, there was nothing beneficial that they have for this stranger. They were poor compared to those who came from a bigger world.


    So poor that they might be mistaken as beggars if they were outside Four Kingdoms.


    "Take some rest. You need it."


    Lin Ruoyun could sense that Qi Huan had closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. She no longer paid them any heed as she continued to travel in the forest towards the north, looking for a safe location to stop.


    Time passed swiftly.


    By the time Ye Jiao woke up again, she found herself in the middle of a forest. She sat up abruptly, jolted herself awake as pain ran through her veins.


    "You''re awake."


    The melodious voice of a young woman caused her to turn around. Her eyes widened as she looked at Lin Ruoyun. Now that she took a closer look, she realized that she has some similarities with their Master.


    Lin Ruoyun took out a pill. "This is a Healing Pill. It can help you recover part of your Eon Energy and mend your broken bones."


    "Ah, thank you," Ye Jiao took the pill and ate it. She knew that her bones were broken because she literally forced herself to the very limit numerous times. It was not known when she could fully recover with her body condition having turned this bad.


    Seeing that Ye Jiao trusted her easily, she shook her head. "Aren''t you afraid that I''ll poison you?"


    "If you plan to harm me, you would have done that a long time ago," Ye Jiao replied. They were unconscious because of fatigue. If Lin Ruoyun wanted to, it would be easy for her to harm them during the journey.


    "Indeed."


    "Thank you for the medicine, Senior Sister Lin. I''m not sure how I can repay your help," Ye Jiao cupped her hands and bowed slightly, showing her thanks.


    "There''s no need to be so polite," raising her hand, Lin Ruoyun showed a slight smile. "It''s rare to see a young woman attract Uncle''s eyes. You must have a really good talent to make him recruit you."


    "It''s rare for him to recruit women to be his disciples?"


    "Yes. He didn''t like taking women to be his disciples because most of them are not that serious in learning martial arts. A lot of them only did it for the sake of their family or even for fun," Lin Ruoyun shrugged. "For your information, there are only three female disciples under Master Zhan Jing."


    Ye Jiao blinked. "How about male disciples?"


    "Let''s see, I think there are around 8 or 9. Most of them have died because of the harsh conditions in Bao Fu Organization. I''m not part of that organization because my uncle only accepted me as his disciple after his failure in a mission," Lin Ruoyun added when she saw Ye Jiao''s expression changed.


    "What mission?"


    "They were ordered to kill someone important, but that person has powerful bodyguards so my Uncle failed. I don''t know the details, so you have to ask someone else," Lin Ruoyun said calmly.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "You don''t sound angry even though your uncle suffered defeat in that person''s hand."


    "That''s because I have known so much about the Bao Fu Organization that I feel sick at the mere mention of them," Lin Ruoyun smiled. She took out cooking utensils from her Spatial Ring. "I''ll cook you something. What do you want?"


    "I think I''ll just have light porridge if there''s any."


    With the condition of her muscles and organs this bad, Ye Jiao knew that she wouldn''t be able to digest any solid food. Having something light like porridge would be for the better.


    "Got it. Here''s two more Healing Pills for your senior brothers."


    "Thank you."


    Ye Jiao slowly absorbed Eon Energy from her surroundings and nourished her own body. The pill was working to mend her bones and flesh, but it was a slow process. She had to work to make it faster by pouring Eon Energy.


    Lin Ruoyun stopped moving for a second when she sensed Eon Energy movements from Ye Jiao''s direction. Her eyes widened in surprise.


    ''I see. It''s S talent, the same as me. No wonder Master took her to be his disciple.''


    Great talent plus good character. She liked her junior sister very much. It didn''t take her a long time to cook three bowls of porridge. When she reached their location, the other two had woken up with Lu Wan already starting his training.


    "You''re not going to circulate Eon Energy?" Lin Ruoyun passed a bowl of porridge.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "My circulation is a mess because of the technique I used before, so I can''t practice for now. Thank you for the food."


    "It''s nothing."


    Ye Jiao opened her eyes when she heard them talking. She smiled brightly upon seeing Lin Ruoyun had returned. "Thank you, Senior Sister Lin."


    "Here for you and the other one for you."


    Lu Wan took the bowl and started eating happily. The other two were eating more gracefully while Lu Wan looked like a beggar. It would make one wonder how many days this boy had starved from the way he ate.


    "Also, this is the storage bracelet of those masters. I don''t have any use of them, so you can take it," Lin Ruoyun handed three bracelets to Ye Jiao. She had checked the content since it had become ownerless but didn''t find anything suspicious inside. Even if there was something precious, she couldn''t bring it back lest her master nagged her for treasure.


    "Ah, are you sure I can take it?"


    "Yes."


    "Thank you, Senior Sister Lin."


    Lin Ruoyun nodded her head. She watched the young girl eat without any expression on her face.


    "Senior Sister Lin, is there anything that you want to say to us?" Ye Jiao noticed that Lin Ruoyun was looking at their faces intently. She didn''t really mind being watched, but that was a bit too intense.


    Lin Ruoyun nodded. "I want to ask you. Do you mind if I''m the one who buries my uncle?"


    The three of them were stunned with the sudden request, but they shook their head almost immediately. They knew that Lin Ruoyun is Zhan Jing''s family member, so it wouldn''t be weird if she was the one who buried him. Besides, it was not like they would stop the young lady if she decided even without asking them.


    "Thank you," Lin Ruoyun smiled and stood up. She was not close with her uncle, but he was the one who taught her the path as a martial artist. At the very least, she wanted to give him a proper burial.

 305 Second Path of the Lilies: Martial Heart 1

    "Jiao''er, can you hear my voice?" Qi Huan asked.


    Ye Jiao turned around and nodded. "I still can hear if you''re close with me, so I don''t have that much trouble. But if you''re far away, I can''t really hear you."


    Yesterday, she conversed with Lin Ruoyun in a close proximity. She also paid close attention to the woman''s lips movements in order to read what she wanted to say. It was quite hard, but she knew that she had to grow accustomed with this condition. Unless she managed to find a medicine to cure her ear, she might never be able to hear properly anymore.


    Qi Huan sighed. "You''re too reckless, Jiao''er."


    Ye Jiao could only smile bitterly at Qi Huan''s remark. It was not like she didn''t know what he meant, but she truly didn''t have any other choice. At that time, she was under the oath, so she would have to follow after Zhan Jing''s words unconditionally. The only method she could think of to make herself didn''t follow would be by destroying her own ear.


    This way, she allowed herself to move around as she wished, but it came with a price. She would be unable to listen clearly anymore.


    "It''s fine," Ye Jiao smiled. "If only by doing this, I can save Master; I don''t mind at all. It''s not that much."


    "I see."


    Ye Jiao could see that Qi Huan still looked at her with pity, but she merely smiled back. She herself knew that she relied on her hearing a lot as part of her practice. After all, an assassin mostly relied on their hearing when they did their mission because they would be in the darkness.


    Now that she couldn''t hear clearly anymore, Ye Jiao knew that she might not fit to be an assassin anymore.


    "Let''s go and pay our respects to Master for the last time," Qi Huan struggled to stand up. Compared with Ye Jiao and Lu Wan who could train their body and recover their Eon Energy, he still felt weak all over. His messy circulation prevented him from recovering his condition, so he had to bear with this weak feeling for a long period of time.


    Lu Wan looked in their direction and stood up slowly. "Let''s go. Senior Sister Lin has been waiting for us."


    "Ok."


    Slowly, they made their way to the small hill on the right side. They were not sure about their current location, but they knew that it was far away from their previous location. Lin Ruoyun must have brought them away to avoid any chasing.


    Though, they doubted there would be any when they recalled the massacre that this young woman left.


    Lin Ruoyun watched Ye Jiao''s expression and smiled. "I placed an array in this place. That way, no one would be able to get close without permission."


    "I see."


    "I can''t see any difference," Lu Wan frowned.


    "You need to have S talent to be able to sense it clearly. I have already paid my respect," Lin Ruoyun passed a look at the grave behind her. It was a simple grave for her master, but it was already more than enough. There was a tombstone and several flowers that she placed on top of it. The surrounding trees also protected this small hill as one wouldn''t be able to reach this place easily.


    "Thank you."


    The three of them stepped forward and kowtowed on the ground. Their expression was solemn as they recalled everything that had occurred in the past during their time with their master.


    "Thank you, Master, because you picked me up and allowed me to meet with my junior brother and sister," Qi Huan spoke first. "I''ll remember your teachings and achieve my dream no matter what, so you can be rest assured."


    There were a lot of times when he was taught by Zhan Jing personally because he lived in Chi Kingdom. It was hard for him to meet with the others because of the distance and his own position. However, it also gave him a lot of chances to be taught by Zhan Jing directly and personally.


    They were all precious times for him.


    "Master, I''m grateful because you have introduced the world of poison to me at that time. I always feel tortured during your training sessions because you want us to become the best very quickly," Lu Wan smiled bitterly. Those bitter training was still printed clearly in his mind as he knew very well that it was so hard and annoying.


    "Thank you for everything, Master."


    On the back, Lin Ruoyun''s eyes flashed with surprise. She knew that her uncle barely knew anything about poison, so how come he introduced it to Lu Wan? All her uncle could do would be giving him the basic book and then let the boy be on his own device because he couldn''t teach him anything.


    "Master," Ye Jiao''s turn came next. "Thank you very much for always reprimanding me whenever I make a decision to turn away from my path. You constantly remind me of my true path as a martial artist. Even though you often leave us to train by ourselves, I''ll forever remember your teachings."


    After losing her master, Ye Jiao finally came to understand why he always reprimanded her when she tried to take her revenge. She was still not strong enough, yet she put them in her heart too much. There was a much wider path as a martial artist that she had to go through, so she had to learn the word ''enough'' and ''sufficient.''


    There was no need for her to continuously plot for them. If they dared to make trouble for her, she would surely retaliate. So far, she had already done more than enough as revenge for what they have done to her family. Their lives would no longer be the same anymore with her intervention that led them faster on their destructive path.


    Now, she was faced with the next option. She knew that she would hate Bao Fu Organization, but at the same time, she knew that she couldn''t fight them. They were in a completely different league. There was no need for her to actively seek them for revenge.


    She would bide her time and followed her path as a martial artist.


    "Thank you, Master."


    As soon as Ye Jiao finished speaking, the other three could feel a faint gust of wind passed by their cheeks. It was warm yet cool at the same time. The sensation was weird, but they had the feeling that there was something that changed in the young girl beside them. It was as if she had slowly taken another step as a martial artist.


    Lin Ruoyun waited until the three of them finished before she spoke up. "Master must be happy to be able to meet with you three."


    Qi Huan smiled. "We''re the one who feel grateful to be able to meet with someone like Master."


    "Yep!" The other two nodded their heads.


    Seeing their reaction, Lin Ruoyun smiled slightly. "It''s already the time for me to leave."


    "So soon?" Lu Wan was stunned.


    "Yes, I''m the Elite Disciple in an academy and I kind of sneak out," Lin Ruoyun admitted. "If I don''t return soon, I''m afraid that my teacher is going to flip the entire land just to look for me."


    That helpless tone made the three of them shivered. It seemed that Lin Ruoyun''s master must be very protective of her.


    Lin Ruoyun turned around and the golem Lucky came closer. Its height was only slightly taller than Lin Ruoyun. "Farewell, my juniors. Even though I can''t directly disclose our relationships with anyone, but you''re still my junior brothers and sister."


    "We''re grateful to you, Senior Sister Lin," Ye Jiao smiled.


    Lin Ruoyun nodded. "If fate wills it, we shall meet again in the future."


    With that, she left, standing on top of her golem.

 306 Second Path of the Lilies: Martial Heart 2

    For the next month, the three of them did nothing but recuperate. There was no problem for them to stay in that place for that much time, except one thing¡­.


    "It''s meat again?" Lu Wan wanted to cry when he saw Ye Jiao roasting meats. He liked meat, but not when they had breakfast, lunch, and dinner all consisted of only meat for the entire month.


    He already felt crazy from having the same menu over the past month.


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "I''m sorry, I only keep meat in my storage bracelet and some spices. There''s not much left anymore, though."


    Because the three of them were big eaters, her stack of meat in her storage bracelet has slowly diminished. She used to think that they would never run out, but it seemed that her worry was unneeded. Though, she had to admit that this month was quite a tasteless month as they have to bear with having the same menu over and over.


    "¡­Just kill me. I don''t want to eat meat again," Lu Wan groaned.


    He needed a break, okay? Even though meat used to be his favorite food, he just wished to throw it out onto the sea right now.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "If you wish to starve, feel free to not eat. I can eat your portion for you."


    "Who says that I''m not eating? I''ll still eat!" Lu Wan''s face contorted.


    "Good."


    "You damned silver hair¡­ just how could you withstand eating the same dish every day?"


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows and sat down calmly. He never paid much attention to the food he ate because all he cared about was having enough nutrition to survive. Even if they tasted bad, he would just eat them because he knew that it was important to keep himself healthy.


    "I wonder. I guess that you''re just too pampered."


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. Pampered? In what ways was he a pampered young master? He didn''t get pampered AT ALL!


    If the other two knew what he thought, they would surely scoff at him. He might not be directly pampered, but his family always gave him plenty of delicious food. In addition, they let him do whatever he wanted without reprimanding him when he did wrong. What word would it be if not pampered?


    "Just eat. We''ll head out of this place soon, so you need the energy to keep up with us," Ye Jiao reminded.


    They have recovered from their wounds and no longer felt hurt whenever they moved around. It was already the time for them to head to the north because the selection for the geniuses would soon begin. If they were late, they might not be able to join anymore.


    "Around 1-2 weeks," Qi Huan replied. "It''ll be autumn soon."


    "¡­Remind me once again, how long is the distance to the north from this place?"


    They have walked around the area and found out that it was still near Chen Kingdom Capital City. It was only because Lin Ruoyun set up an array that they were unable to figure it out immediately.


    "Probably around a month."


    "That¡­ isn''t that too long?" Lu Wan was speechless. If they wasted so much time on their journey, they would get late!


    Ye Jiao raised her head. "But we''re not going to travel by foot. There''s a big city not far from the capital city to the north. The distance should be three days away if we rush with our maximum speed."


    The three of them didn''t really advance much in their training because they focused on their recovery. Right now, their base rank was still more or less the same as before with only a slight increase.


    "You mean, Lu Wan''s maximum speed," Qi Huan corrected. They have to travel according to this young man''s speed because they didn''t want to make him tired first. The selection wouldn''t be easy and if they were not in their best condition, it might be hard for them to advance.


    Neither one of them would want to fail.


    "It''s not my fault that I''m the slowest," Lu Wan grumbled


    Ye Jiao giggled. "It''s not like we''ll blame you, Senior Brother Lu. Anyway, are you two going to paint your hair again?"


    Their hair had started to grow again, revealing their real color. If they traveled without disguise, it would be easy for people to recognize them as Lu Wan from the Lu Family and Qi Huan from the Imperial Qi Family.


    "We''re going to use the disguise technique that we learn," Qi Huan replied. He initiated his Eon Energy and started to change his countenance slightly. At the same time, he used his Eon Energy to alter his hair''s color, changing it to dark brown.


    ???Guh, you''re so quick!" Lu Wan also initiated his Eon Energy, but he was still a step slower compared to Qi Huan. His countenance changed into that of a middle aged man as his hair turned black.


    Ye Jiao smiled when she watched them use that technique. During the past month, they also learned the technique that she ''stole'' from the Bao Fu Organization. It was truly a convenient method because they learned how to change their hair color too. After all, the one that was hardest to hide was Qi Huan and Lu Wan''s hair color.


    In addition, Ye Jiao also learned how to read people''s lips. This allowed the two of them to speak freely even from a distance, and she would still be able to hear them. Of course, it was not that perfect yet because the distance couldn''t be further than 20 meters.


    With her ability, no one would be able to guess that she had trouble with her ear.


    ''There should be a medicine if you join the academy. Probably, you will have a chance to recover them in the future.''


    That was what Qi Huan told her, but Ye Jiao didn''t really put much hope into it. Even if there was any, it would be expensive. She might not be able to afford it and have to work for a long time.


    "You''re not going to put in any disguise, Jiao''er?"


    "This is enough," Ye Jiao shrugged. It was not like her face was known by a lot of people. After all, the only one who knew her all stayed in the capital city.


    "For safety measures, you should change your countenance."


    "Fine," Ye Jiao put her palm on her face as she initiated her Eon Energy. The moment she released her hand, the two of them could see the face of a headstrong teenager with a light brown pupil. She didn''t change her hair color because black was pretty common.


    "She''s even faster than you¡­" Lu Wan murmured.


    Qi Huan nodded satisfied. "No one will be able to recognize you this way, Jiao''er."


    "That''s good."


    "Are we going to head directly to the north?" Lu Wan asked.


    Ye Jiao raised her hand. "Do you mind if I visit my mother''s grave for a while?"


    The other two looked at each other and shook their heads. There was still more than enough time since they planned on using the Teleportation Array, so there was no problem for her to stop in the middle for a bit.

 307 Second Path of the Lilies: Martial Heart 3

    "It feels great to be able to use Eon Energy freely again," Lu Wan extended his arms happily. He had longed to use it freely again because it was so tiring to not use them. Resting and resting again were boring.


    Qi Huan chuckled. Even though he didn''t want to admit it, he agreed with what Lu Wan said. After getting used to having a lot of Eon Energy in one''s body, it felt painful to not have any at all. There was this empty feeling as if there was something important he had lost.


    "I won''t take long," Ye Jiao slowed down her pace as she walked into the tranquil forest. There was not even a single trace of beast in that place as if the entire place was protected by a spell.


    Lu Wan looked around in amazement. "This place is truly beautiful."


    "And there''s no beast at all," Qi Huan looked towards the grave not far from Ye Jiao''s position. "I wonder if one''s Eon Energy can truly last this long to protect his place."


    "Is it that weird? When you die, there''ll be an Eon Energy mark."


    "I know."


    "Then why do you think it''s weird?" Lu Wan asked with confusion.


    Qi Huan no longer replied. He just looked in Ye Jiao''s direction as numerous questions were formed inside his mind. Right now, he truly wanted to know what kind of parent that Ye Jiao used to have.


    By this time, Ye Jiao had arrived in front of her mother''s grave. She noticed a lot of lilies flowers have grown around her mother''s grave. A small smile appeared on the corner of her lips.


    "Mother, I have returned safe and sound," Ye Jiao started. "There are a lot of things that happen in the past two to three years, but I''m still in one piece. I meet a lot of incredible people, Mother. I also have sworn sisters and senior brothers who are kind to me.


    And¡­ I used to have a master, but he left me too, Mother. Just like you."


    For the next few seconds, Ye Jiao stayed quiet. She looked at her mother''s name engraving as her mind thought of the woman''s beautiful figure. Forever and ever, she would miss her mother.


    "Mother, I¡­ decide to take revenge against the Wei Family and also the Imperial Family. I didn''t completely destroy them because of my incapability, but I make sure that they pay back for what they have done in the past," for a moment, Ye Jiao''s eyes flashed with ruthlessness.


    "I think, it''s already enough, Mother. I always thought that I take revenge for you, but I think it''s also for myself because of what they have done. Mother, you won''t admonish me because of that, right?"


    "After this, I''ll completely pursue my dream, Mother. I will no longer chase after those people to take revenge anymore, but I want to completely focus my path to become stronger. I¡­ I don''t want to lose anyone important to me anymore."


    She had had enough of having herself unable to do anything when someone important to her was in danger. Rather than staying at the back, she wished to be the one standing at the front, protecting everyone dear to her.


    Never ever letting anyone die to protect her anymore.


    "This is my path, Mother," Ye Jiao raised her head, her eyes were filled with determination. "I''ll surely reach the peak and become strong, strong enough so that I''ll be able to protect everyone dear to me. Because of that, I might never return back here anymore, Mother.


    I will still remember you, Mother and I know that you''ll always accompany me."


    Looking at the sky, Ye Jiao felt her heart was much calmer and peaceful. Her path looked so clear to her now. She knew what she wanted to do and what she wanted was to grow stronger and even stronger.


    After a few more seconds, Ye Jiao turned her body around and walked away from the place. She would surely miss this place, but if she wanted to achieve her dream, she had to leave. This place was unsuitable for her to grow again.


    "Have you finished?" Qi Huan asked when he saw Ye Jiao approach them.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Yes. Do you also want to say your farewell to your family members?"


    Lu Wan shook his head. "Nah, you know how my relationship with my family has always been. I''m not going to return back to the capital city just to give my farewell to them."


    "There''s no need. I already said that before I depart to Chen Kingdom," Qi Huan smiled. "Besides, I''m sure that there will be Chi Kingdom''s representatives too at the north. I''ll surely meet with them when I go there."


    "I see."


    Lu Wan noticed that the atmosphere around Ye Jiao seemed to change significantly. He had seen a bit of them around a month ago, but it seemed even clearer now. It looked as if she had completely changed.


    "You seem different, Jiao''er."


    "Am I?"


    "Yes," Qi Huan also nodded his head. "You must have come into terms with your path and decide to continue pursuing it."


    "I have," Ye Jiao nodded strongly. She no longer has any trouble with her path. Even though the process to reach this point was not easy, and she got swayed easily because of her immature mind, she had made up her mind.


    Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao and moved his line of sight to the side. He noticed a white lily flower not far from them and plucked it before showing it to Ye Jiao.


    "Do you like flowers too, Lu Wan?" Qi Huan arched his eyebrows.


    "Of course not!" Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "I just think that this flower suits you very well, Jiao''er. Right now, you look clear and pure in your path of martial art. That''s why this color seems to suit you very well."


    Ye Jiao blinked a bit. She knew that white lily was the symbol of purity and modesty, but she couldn''t see herself as someone pure. She had allowed herself to think of many other things in the process.


    Lu Wan noticed Ye Jiao''s hesitation and scratched his head using his other hand. "I know that you''re confused because you''re not always following after your path, but it''s inevitable, right? Life is not just about one thing. You surely have one guide that will allow you to move forward until the end, but in the process, there will be a lot of things that happen.


    You would encounter things that you have to prioritize, meeting other people that might offer you a different path, or even facing a choice. But after all of that, you''ll return back to your path and continue on this way until the very end. That''s why, you''re ''pure'' to your path."


    "I don''t think the word pure truly means that way, Lu Wan."


    "Oh, shut up!" Lu Wan felt his face burning in embarrassment. "That''s just how I see it, okay?"


    "But I have to agree that it''s suitable for her. After all, white lily is the symbol of modesty," Qi Huan added.


    Lu Wan tilted his head. "Right, you''re not one to flaunt your strength and always keep it under wrap. See, this flower suits you very much, Jiao''er."


    Seeing the young man forced her to accept his way of thinking truly felt funny. The definition of pure might not entirely suit her, but in this world, who could possibly be completely pure and untainted? She was not sure such a person existed in this world, so the way Lu Wan described it truly suited her. As for modesty, wasn''t that because of her condition that forced her to stay low?


    However, Ye Jiao still accepted the flower that Lu Wan offered to her.


    "Thank you, Senior Brother Lu."


    Lu Wan grinned. "I just think that it suits you."


    "If one didn''t know better, one might think that you''re confessing your love, Lu Wan," Qi Huan said playfully.


    Lu Wan''s face turned dark. "She''s not my type, ok! Also, isn''t that supposed to be a red rose?"


    "Oh? You also know the language of flowers. I didn''t know that you''re that knowledgeable, Lu Wan."


    "Oh shut up, you walking textbook. I''m not like you who even memorized the design of dresses from all eras."


    "¡­ Who would want to study them?"


    Hearing the two of them bantered, Ye Jiao resisted her urge to laugh. Her hand held the white lily as she smiled brightly. She might not be perfect, but she would continue to pursue her path to become stronger.


    That way, she would stay true to her heart.

 308 They Still Exis

    "That''s a city," Qi Huan stopped when they could see a city not far in front of them. The size of the city told them that it must be one of the influential cities in the Chen Kingdom, but he was not sure of the city''s name.


    "How should we enter?"


    "Let''s just say that we''re travelers who wish to borrow the Teleportation Array because we''re in a hurry," Ye Jiao turned to look at Lu Wan. She smirked. "With Senior Brother Lu as our older brother who accompanies us."


    "¡­" he should know better than to put on the disguise as an older man.


    In the last month, Lu Wan grew taller, making it easier for him to pass as an adult. His voice has also changed because of his age, making it slightly lower. Though, if they should say, it was still rather high pitched for a man.


    "Don''t forget that you need to act," Qi Huan reminded as they walked closer to the gate.


    Lu Wan inwardly rolled his eyes. He nodded his head to the guard as he took out a coin secretly and kept it in his palm. "Good day."


    "May I know what''s your business here?" the first guard asked.


    "We''re travelers and have just recently received news from back home, so we want to borrow the Teleportation Array in this city."


    Hearing the word ''Teleportation Array'', the guard''s eyes lit up. It was common knowledge that the array was expensive, so it would tell him efficiently that the travelers before him were rich.


    He coughed. "I''m afraid¡­"


    "Here''s something for your hard work." Lu Wan extended his arm and shook the guard''s hand. In that simple gesture, he had slipped the coin that he prepared earlier for the guard.


    Noticing the bright yellow color, the guard smiled. "You may go in."


    "Thank you."


    The three of them walked inside and Lu Wan stopped for a moment before taking out a handkerchief. His expression showed his annoyance.


    "Next time, you should be the one to do this, Qi¡­"


    Qi Huan gave him a glare so Lu Wan could only stop talking. He sighed internally as he wondered how he should call the other party. Their real name was off limits and their nickname in Bao Fu Organization was even more so. After all, there might be news about what they have done back in the organization.


    "Let''s just take a look at the array," Ye Jiao suggested.


    The other two nodded their heads and walked into the bustling city. There were a lot of people walking around. As they walked, Ye Jiao noticed a strange man who walked without any sound. He was asking directions casually, but the way he walked reminds her of how an assassin worked.


    "He''s too careful in his steps," Ye Jiao blurted out.


    "What? So quick?" Lu Wan was astonished.


    "Really?"


    It was only a month ago that there was a complete massacre in the organization. That incident alone must have taken the lives of most Bao Fu Organization''s members. To be able to rise that quick again, he couldn''t imagine what kind of deeds they must have done.


    "Yes."


    "Are you sure that they''re not from a different organization?" Lu Wan was doubtful. There were more than one assassins'' organization in the four kingdom, so it wouldn''t be impossible for that person to come from a completely different organization.


    "That''s not possible," Qi Huan gave a negative answer.


    "Why?"


    "Because there''s only one organization that can possibly train high level assa-fighter," Qi Huan said calmly. He quickly changed his words to not allow anyone nearby to hear him. Even though he could just coat his voice with Eon Energy, he was not proficient yet, so it would be safer if he just didn''t say the word directly.


    They would need to train more in the future to allow themselves to control their Eon Energy much better and more efficiently.


    Ye Jiao looked at the two of them. "Would it be possible for them to search for us?"


    "That¡­"


    "It''s possible," Qi Huan said calmly. "Our name is already registered as part of the organization as his disciples. When the dispute happened in that place, they only needed to send people to find out what had happened before they put our name in their list. It''s that simple."


    Lu Wan shivered when he thought about how the organization moved so quickly and efficiently. Somehow, he felt that their decision to make the organization as their enemy was truly a bad move. At the same time, he knew that he wouldn''t want to stay in that place any longer because of how they treated their members.


    It was truly cruel.


    "I guess I need to abandon my nickname." Ye Jiao frowned.


    "I really like my nickname," Lu Wan whined.


    Ye Jiao passed a sidelong glance. "Do you treasure your nickname or your life more?"


    "Of course my life!"


    "It''ll be for the best." Qi Huan agreed. "Besides, do you still want to fight against them head on? You should know that they can easily summon numerous powerful people to fight for them."


    Based on what Zhan Jing told them, Bao Fu Organization has a lot of people who pledged their loyalty. Many of them did it willingly and only a few of them were forced to say their oath. Once the organization was in trouble, it would be a piece of cake for them to move an army to fight back their enemies.


    And many of the fighters would be extremely powerful.


    Ye Jiao closed her eyes for a moment then opened it again. Her pupil has turned tranquil once again. "No. As long as our path no longer crossed against one another again, I''m not going to bother with them."


    "That''s good."


    Lu Wan pursed his lips. Even though Ye Jiao said that she didn''t want to chase after the organization, he still felt like doing it. However, thinking of the benefit he took from the organization back then, he sighed. In a way, that organization had also helped him to grow despite their ruthless way.


    He couldn''t say that he completely agreed with their way, but it was also the organization that allowed him to grow so much in the past.


    "I guess it''ll be for the best if we don''t cross path with them anymore."


    "Right."


    The three of them stayed silent as they walked to the direction of the building where the Teleportation Array was located. Neither one of them wanted to continue having any relation with the Bao Fu Organization anymore. It would be for the best if they could no longer have any relation.


    As long as their identity didn''t get leaked out, it should be fine.


    "Excuse me, is the array usable?" Lu Wan asked as he entered the building. The three of them recognized the Teleportation Array in the middle of the room, so all they needed was someone to operate it.


    "Yes, it is," an old man walked out. He looked at the three of them with inquiry. "Is there anything I can help?"


    "We want to teleport to the city in the north¡­."


    "It''s called Intersection City, Big Brother," Qi Huan interrupted with a smile on his face, yet Lu Wan felt as if this young man was sending him death glare.


    "Ah yes, that one," Lu Wan scratched his head and tried to avoid looking at Qi Huan.


    The old man nodded his head. "I need 100 beast cores and also 100 coins as the fee."


    "Here you go," Lu Wan waved his hand and directly took out a rank 3 core from his storage bracelet along with 100 coins.


    The old man''s eyes widened when he saw the rank 3 cores. In the Four Kingdoms, rank 3 beast core could be considered as a luxury because there were not many of them. Besides, it was not easy to defeat one if they didn''t prepare enough.


    Qi Huan pointed to the array. "Can we go now?"


    "Yes, yes!" the old man nodded rapidly. A single rank 3 core would be enough to transport 10 people. Since they were only three people, there would be an excess in the energy. He could make another fortune if he used them to transport other people.


    "Then please."


    The three of them stood in the middle of the Teleportation Array as the old man started it. They didn''t move at all as light enveloped the entire area. In the next second, they were transported away from the city without any trace.

 309 Intersection City

    Ye Jiao opened her eyes slowly when she realized that she had arrived in an unknown building. There were the runes engraving on the ground below her, telling her that she has just successfully transported from that city.


    "Where are we?" Lu Wan felt dizzy from the teleportation. It felt as if part of his body was taken away from him with a course of energy enveloped his body.


    "This should be Intersection City," Qi Huan walked towards the window. He could see the bustling street from that position. Reading the nearby plate, he recognized it as ''Intersection City''s Square.''


    "That name is weird," Lu Wan murmured.


    "They use this name because this city didn''t belong to either one of the four kingdoms, but it''s placed at the border of the four kingdoms," Ye Jiao walked to Qi Huan and smiled upon seeing the plate. "There are a lot of things that exist in this place because it''s the combination of the culture from the four of them."


    "This also include the Barbarian Kingdom?" Lu Wan was confused. From what he knew, Barbarian Kingdom was located in the south, meaning that it shouldn''t be connected directly to the north.


    "There''s a route between Chen Kingdom and Cao Kingdom that''s known as Barbarian''s Route. It''s usually termed as their territory even though it''s just a line that''s dividing the two kingdom''s territory," Qi Huan explained. He turned to Lu Wan with amusement. "It seems like someone needs to review his geographic lesson."


    "Shut up!"


    "Let''s walk around the city," Ye Jiao suggested. She wanted to know how a city that was the combination of the culture from four completely different places would look like.


    "Let''s go."


    The three of them walked out of the building. They didn''t catch any of the attention of these people. Apparently, there were already too many people who walked out of this building over the past few weeks. The temptation of the academy had attracted numerous people to come to this place.


    People were filling the entire street to the point that it was hard to find any location without them around. Every single place has numerous people. Even if they wanted to, it would be hard to find any that was empty. Thankfully, this city was large enough to fit a huge number of people.


    "How much time is left until we can go to the examination location?" Lu Wan asked curiously.


    Ye Jiao looked at her senior with a confused expression. "Senior Brother, did you study about them before?"


    "Eh, what?"


    Hearing that, Lu Wan turned his head to the north. He couldn''t see anything like a barrier from what he could see so far. All he could see was only a rocky wall and nothing else. Aside from the fact that the area seemed lively, it didn''t show any kind of barrier.


    "I can''t see anything."


    "It''s invisible, but it''s known that there''s a barrier over there. If you go to the north gate, you will be able to see the seal," Ye Jiao explained. She learned about this from the books in Bao Fu Organization back then. After all, that organization held numerous types of books in their library.


    Lu Wan turned his head to Ye Jiao. "How do you know so much?"


    "I didn''t only study one thing like you."


    "I''m not only studying one thing!"


    "Then tell me what you learn aside from poison," Ye Jiao challenged. Knowing her senior brother, he wouldn''t learn anything other than poison and the method to create new one.


    Lu Wan''s face contorted. "Uhm, herbs?"


    "That''s included in poison," Qi Huan interjected. "Don''t try to say anything that''s related to poison."


    After thinking for a while, Lu Wan found himself unable to think of anything else. He did learn about how to use his weapon, but it was mostly from the martial book that their master gave to them. Aside from that, he didn''t try to learn personally because most of the techniques required him to be at rank 3.


    Since he had just advanced, he hadn''t had the time to see them at all.


    "You can''t answer, right?" Ye Jiao grinned. "Don''t try to dodge it, Senior Brother. I know that you''re not going to find any."


    "How about etiquette¡­?"


    "You learn them back before you meet with us, so that''s not counted," Qi Huan was the one to reply. At this time, they have arrived at the market. There were a lot of people who were trying to search for a good weapon in the stalls. After all, they have to do whatever possible to raise their chance to enter the academy.


    This chance only occurred once a year and the examination each time would be different. They have to be prepared for anything.


    "Do you want to look for a weapon too, Jiao''er?" Lu Wan asked.


    Ye Jiao shook her head. She already had the curved dagger inside her storage bracelet and it was already more than enough. It was not like she needed any other kind of weapon because she had gotten used to using this one.


    "Hmm, I thought you''re the one who will search for herbs."


    "I do think of that," Lu Wan said honestly. His eyes turned to the location of the stalls on the side. "But after thinking for a bit, I think I shouldn''t try to attract any attention in this city."


    The only one who would buy herbs in this city would be those who have deep knowledge in medicine or poison. If he did buy some of them, he would surely attract the attention of people who wanted him for his knowledge. He might be slow at times, but he understood his position in this city rather well.


    "I see that you still have some brain."


    "¡­ Do you take me to be an idiot?"


    "Of course."


    "!@#$%^\u0026*!"


    Ye Jiao ignored the angry Lu Wan as she looked around the area. There were numerous items that were presented in the stalls here and there. However, only a few of them attracted the attention of the youngsters who came here.


    Suddenly, she heard a sudden yell.


    "THAT''S MINE!"


    The sudden yell caused a lot of people to look in one direction. They could see a young man yelling at another man. There was a peculiar stone in the man''s hand, which the first man claimed to be his.


    "I took it first."


    "I see it first!"


    Ye Jiao looked as the onlookers didn''t seem to have any interest in the quarrel. She turned her head to Qi Huan. "Why did they treat it as something common?"


    "That''s because it''s indeed common," Qi Huan replied. "The second man is from the Barbarian Kingdom, which is the kingdom that''s hated by the others very much. It''s not weird to see someone try to take things from them."


    Now that Qi Huan mentioned it, Ye Jiao had just noticed that the second man''s attire showed that he came from the Barbarian Kingdom. They usually wore light robes because of the condition in the desert.


    Lu Wan yawned. "It''s their fault for trying to take other kingdoms by force in the past. Even now, not a single one of us has a good impression of the Barbarian Kingdom."


    "They did that?" Ye Jiao was surprised. She only learnt history part by part and not really completely. It was all because she never received proper education for that and could only rely on her own capabilities.


    "Yes, a long time ago."


    "Did they still try to¡­?"


    "No, it''s no longer possible. The reason why they''re called Barbarian is precisely because they''re no longer able to produce talented children anymore. It''s hard to find any children with B talent in that kingdom, much less A."


    While in the other three kingdoms, they would have a few youngsters born with A talent every few years. It was not that rare. Even though it was not that common, there were still some of them occasionally.


    "I see."


    The three of them decided to not get involved in the quarrel between the two youngsters. They knew that it wouldn''t do them any good to be associated with the Barbarian Kingdom. After all, everyone knew how ambitious they were.


    Ye Jiao''s mind recalled the Blood Berserk Enhancement technique that she saw in Wei Cheng. If the Barbarian Kingdom was truly the common enemy of the three kingdoms, why would that man learn something from the Barbarian Kingdom? Unless¡­

 310 At the Forefron

    "Huh? What do you mean?" Lu Wan was confused.


    "I mean¡­ do they also force the Lu and Wei Family to work for them or something like that?"


    Lu Wan nodded his head. "Isn''t that clear? No matter what they say outside, the two large families are under the Chen Imperial Family. They have to follow what the imperial family says and pledge their loyalty no matter what. If not, they''ll be forced to be like me before."


    "Is that so?" Ye Jiao muttered to herself as she thought about the Wei Family. Things might not be as simple as she had thought so far. There might be more reason as to why they wanted her downfall¡­


    Wait, why did she think about this again?


    Shaking her head, Ye Jiao pushed the matter to the back. She would no longer try to pursue them as they would have different paths from today onwards. Unless they still want to harm her, she wouldn''t bother with them anymore.


    The three of them continued to walk around the city without paying much attention to what happened in the area around them anymore. There were a lot of people, so they already knew about it.


    "By the way, when will the barrier open?"


    "It should be this afternoon," Qi Huan replied. He looked up at the sun, which was starting to climb up even higher.


    Lu Wan was stunned. "Then, shouldn''t we go to the north gate?"


    "There''s no need to hurry," Ye Jiao shrugged. "It''s not like we''re going to stand at the forefront and entering the location is fine anytime. We don''t have to be there when the barrier opens exactly at that time."


    "I still think that it''s better to hurry."


    "Ah," Qi Huan had just remembered something. "I need to appear there, so I better hurry and change my attire."


    He forgot that the four kingdoms would surely place their members at the forefront of the barrier. Once the barrier was weakened, they would be the first one to enter the location. Because of that reason, he had to appear as ''Prince Qi Huan.''


    Lu Wan and Ye Jiao turned to look at Qi Huan almost immediately. "Then you should go. We don''t know the exact time it''ll open."


    "Right. Take care, you two."


    "We shall meet again inside," Ye Jiao grinned. "Hopefully, we won''t have to fight against one another as part of the examination."


    "Oh?" Qi Huan flicked a glance to Ye Jiao. He never had any serious fight against Ye Jiao in the past because they never truly clashed. Nodding his head. "I''ll be anticipating my fight with you should we clash."


    "Hey, what about me?" Lu Wan''s face darkened.


    "I already had a fight with you in the past. I don''t have any interest in fighting against someone whom I have defeated before."


    Lu Wan clasped his fist together. "We shall see how you''re going to react to my poison later on, Arrogant Bookworm."


    "We shall see later, Herbs Hair."


    "What did you call me?"


    "Herbs hair. Your color resembles herbs the most¡­"


    Swish!


    Lu Wan punched forward and Qi Huan dodged to the side. His hand lightly tapped Lu Wan''s hand with a smile on his lips. "Do you really want to have a go here?"


    Lu Wan''s face changed. He really wanted to beat up his senior brother, but he knew that he would be seeking trouble if he did in this place. In the end, he had to retract his gaze after casting another glare.


    Afterwards, Qi Huan turned around and left in the direction of the north. He still had to find a secluded place to change his countenance back to its original form. Besides, his attire didn''t really represent his proper title.


    Ye Jiao stretched her hand. "Let''s head there too. Or, do you want to change back to your real appearance?"


    "I think that I''ll just use a hood to hide it for now," Lu Wan took out a hood from his storage bracelet and wore it. Some people passed him a look, but Lu Wan''s countenance still looked normal, so they didn''t bother anymore.


    "You''re going to show your real appearance later?"


    "Yep. I''m not going to hide forever," for a moment, a glint appeared in Lu Wan''s eyes as he stared to the front. He was never the type to hide and do things in the shadow. He preferred to be in the limelight, standing at the forefront.


    However, he couldn''t act rashly because he understood that his life might be in danger if he tried to do so.


    "Let''s go there then."


    Qi Huan didn''t take long to change his attire. Once he came out of the dark alley, he had returned back to be the prince of Chi Kingdom. His attire and demeanor has returned back to the perfect one he always put up. With his silver hair glistening under the sun, he attracted numerous people''s attention.


    "That''s the Chi Kingdom''s Prince, right?"


    "Yes!"


    "Oh my, how handsome!"


    "He''s heading to the north!"


    As he had gotten used with their attention, Qi Huan could ignore their words easily. He walked calmly to the north gate as people around him gossiped about his appearance with vigor. Apparently, they were excited to see him.


    "Your Highness."


    Qi Huan stopped his steps when he heard this voice. He turned and looked at a middle aged man who had been standing not far from him. The middle aged man''s expression was filled with relief.


    "How''s the condition so far, Min?" He asked placidly.


    "It''s all according to plan. Every genius from the Chi Kingdoms that''s eligible to attend the examination have gathered here. They''re all waiting patiently for the barrier to weaken," the middle aged man called Min replied respectfully.


    "Have you found Bai Xiang?"


    Hearing that name, the guard named Min''s face changed greatly. Bai Xiang was the representative they selected for the joint hunt around a year ago. Qi Huan didn''t know much about that young man, but he heard news that not long after they returned back to the Chi Kingdom, the young man disappeared.


    There was not even a trace of where he went. It was as if he never existed in the first place. Even those who first met with him didn''t know where he went.


    "I''m sorry, we couldn''t find him, Your Highness."


    "I see," Qi Huan''s eyes flashed for a split second. He had thought that the young man was mysterious. He came and disappeared as he wished.


    The guard named Min looked at Qi Huan and tried to remind the young man. "The other representatives from the Cao Kingdom and Chen Kingdom have gathered at the forefront too."


    "I have made them wait, haven''t I?" Qi Huan chuckled lightly. His eyes showed a hint of ruthlessness for a split second. "Let''s go and greet them."


    "Yes, Your Highness!"


    Afterwards, Qi Huan continued to walk to the north gate. The people in front of him quickly made way for him to pass when they saw his silver hair. Everyone in that place already knew about the three forefront figures. These three were the greatest geniuses in the Four Kingdoms, so they naturally would stand at the very front.


    Coincidentally, all three of them would participate in this year''s selection.


    Many anticipated their performances as they wanted to know how the geniuses of the Four Kingdoms would fare.


    After all, it would show how the standard of their place. No one would want to be placed at the bottom.


    "You''re late, Prince Qi Huan," a voice greeted the young prince from the front.


    Qi Huan raised his head. He could see a dark brown hair young man standing at the front. His hand was placed on his hip as he smiled brightly.


    "It''s nice to meet you again, Prince Cao Ren. My apologies for arriving late," Qi Huan said politely.


    Cao Ren arched his eyebrows. Ever since the competition of the four kingdoms, he hadn''t met with the others anymore. Of course, he was preparing himself for this examination, so he focused on his training to become stronger even faster. Now, he could confidently say that he was one of the best candidates for Eon Energy Master Rank 3.


    "I heard that you''re traveling after reaching rank 3. It seems that you have grown even more powerful than before," Cao Ren narrowed his eyes. He could clearly feel the surge of power that brewed in Qi Huan''s body. It was even more, compared to him.


    Previously, he still could defeat Qi Huan without too much problem in the arena. He definitely couldn''t do the same now.


    "I''m just training," Qi Huan smiled. "I can say the same to you too, Prince Cao Ren. You seem to be much more powerful compared to before."


    "Thank you for your compliment."


    While the two of them were talking, Qi Huan had already arrived by the front. He could see the large symbol in front of him, floating in the air. There were some words written on top of them, but he couldn''t read them. For him, they were not different from ordinary letters without much meaning.


    On the side, Chen Zi Quan was standing calmly. He didn''t have a good relationship with the two other princes, so he merely nodded his head. His mood has been bad because he received news from his Imperial Father not long ago about the condition in the capital city.


    Lu Wan had escaped and his own father was in bad condition.


    There was no clear clue as to who could possibly do that, but Chen Zi Quan knew that Lu Wan must have the help of someone powerful. There would be no other explanation other than that.


    The question would be, who?

 311 Yun City

    "How long will it take for the barrier to weaken?" Qi Huan asked casually. His voice pulled Chen Zi Quan back from his thoughts.


    Cao Ren smiled. "You come at the right time. It should be a few more minutes."


    "Is that so?"


    Looking at the calm and composed Qi Huan, Cao Ren thought about something. "Right, while we''re there, I think it''ll be better if we all come into an agreement to not attack one another."


    "Will it even be possible to attack other people?" Qi Huan smiled.


    "Just in case we''re tasked to defeat a certain number of people," Cao Ren chuckled. "All three of us represent the Four Kingdoms. It''ll be bad news if one of us receives a bad evaluation because of one another, right?"


    Qi Huan didn''t reply immediately. If he had to say it honestly, he didn''t mind sending Chen Zi Quan back to his rightful place because he didn''t like that prince. It might be also because of the influence of Lu Wan and Ye Jiao, but he didn''t really want to see Chen Zi Quan successful.


    Unfortunately, his position as a prince wouldn''t allow him to do anything to this prince even if he wanted to.


    "As long as you two don''t attack me, I won''t target you," Qi Huan promised. He knew that Lu Wan might be the one to attack Chen Zi Quan, but he wouldn''t stop the other party if Lu Wan decided so. Or even Ye Jiao, though he doubted it since Chen Zi Quan never truly crossed path with that little lass directly before.


    Chen Zi Quan looked at the two of them and nodded indifferently. "You also have my word. I won''t attack you two."


    "That''s good," Cao Ren clapped his hands with a smile on his face. "That means we have a deal."


    The three of them didn''t speak any other words as they looked at one another in tacit agreement. They didn''t wait for a long time once they could sense the movements of Eon Energy from the barrier in front of them. In that moment, they knew.


    It was already the time.


    "The barrier is reacting!"


    "It''s time!"


    "Hell yeah! I have been waiting for this for a long time!"


    The people around them started to speak loudly. They were all excited upon seeing the barrier would open. That would be their ticket to become the great genius and possibly awed the entire world.


    Everyone wanted to be the one to catch the attention of many people. They wished for the very best for them!


    "Jiao''er, are you ready?" Lu Wan asked from the side.


    Nodding her head, Ye Jiao flashed a bright smile. "I have always been ready, Senior Brother Yu. The question would be whether you''re ready or not?"


    "Heh, are you seriously asking?" Lu Wan grinned. "I''ll be ready and surely achieve a great position there. Just you watch, I''ll go with a bang and make them all acknowledge my presence!"


    Ye Jiao chuckled at her senior brother''s vigor. She looked at the three people standing at the front as her heart slowly made a resolution for herself. All this time, she has been staying in the dark. She had to be careful to not let anyone notice her presence and never even once allowed anyone to see the real her.


    After this, everything would change.


    ''Someday, I''ll be the one to stand at the limelight and be the forefront figure,'' Ye Jiao made a promise to herself.


    She didn''t want to just stay at the back and become one among the many. It would be her dream to be the one at the top and stand as the leading figure.


    The movements of the Eon Energy turned faster, that even the others could sense it. They could also sense that there was a gust of powerful Eon Energy coming from the barrier, telling them that there must be something powerful there.


    "It has opened," Qi Huan looked at the others.


    "Shall we?" Cao Ren stepped forward.


    The other two nodded their heads and followed after Cao Ren. Behind them, numerous other youngsters began to walk into the barrier too. They walked slowly as they didn''t want to overstep their bounds.


    "Can''t they walk faster?" Lu Wan murmured.


    "Only those three are allowed to be at the front," Ye Jiao reminded. "That''s the deal that all these youngsters agree upon."


    "Hmph," Lu Wan snorted. If not because of that imperial family, he would be the one to stand at the front. After all, his talent and powers alone surpassed Chen Zi Quan. Of course, they still needed to battle again because in their last battle, the circumstances were a bit different.


    "Next time, I''ll be the one to stand there."


    "Yeah," Ye Jiao said in a low tone.


    As they passed the barrier, Ye Jiao experienced the familiar feeling of something pushing her back. It was not too strong, so she continued to walk.


    One step.


    Two steps.


    After a few steps, she could feel a powerful wave of Eon Energy coming to her face. Instinctively, she used her own Eon Energy to cover her entire body, protecting it from the sudden wave. However, she soon realized that the Eon Energy didn''t attack her. It was only the location has a much higher concentration of Eon Energy.


    She was greeted with a completely different view. Her surroundings were filled with grasses and lustrous plants. They all looked so beautiful. The air was fresh and the sky couldn''t be clearer.


    "W-where''s this?" Lu Wan was dumbfounded. This would be the first time he saw this kind of scene.


    "I don''t know," Ye Jiao replied slowly. She didn''t know where it was, but she could sense that the Eon Energy concentration was far higher compared to the Four Kingdoms. If she could train here, she knew that she might have a breakthrough sooner.


    The environment was really good.


    "ATTENTION!"


    Suddenly, they could hear a yell coming from the front. There was a faint mist covering the large wall before them. Even though Ye Jiao and Lu Wan were in the middle and slightly to the front, they were unable to see clearly.


    "There''s someone calling."


    "I can faintly hear it," Ye Jiao said slowly. She felt that her inability to hear has been quite a burden now. As her eyes slowly adjusted themselves, she could see a row of stands at the front near the wall. There were more than 10 stands with two people standing behind each of them.


    ''Is that the registration place?''


    "This is Yun City and also the place where you can sign up to participate in the Academies examination. I''m sure that all of you are already familiar with the examination, so I won''t explain it further. The content will only be revealed on the day and if you want to sign up, you have to pay 100 gold coins. You may begin after I finish the explanation.


    In this city, you''re not allowed to fight against one another. There''s still a week''s time until the examination starts. During this time, you may spend them to practice or whatever you want inside the city. Mind you that there''s an array here that will directly kick you out if you try to fight inside the city."


    The youngsters were stunned when they heard that they couldn''t fight. It seemed that the rule was exceptionally strict. As not a single one of them wished to get kicked out, they have to curb their intent to fight.


    Of course, some of them might also scheme against others to make their enemies get kicked out.


    "In order to be eligible for the examination, you have to be Eon Energy Master Rank 3 and below the age of 25. Do not lie about your age because we''ll test it when you sign up at the counters. Line up according to your age."


    The man at the top of the wall waved his hands. It was then that they could see there was something written on top of each counters.


    15 or below, 16, 17, 18, 19. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25.


    Each of them were the number of ages. It showed that they have to be truthful about their age.


    "Any question?"


    A youngster raised his hand. "What if my birthday is today?"


    "Then line up according to your current age," the man replied flatly. "Any other question?"


    Another one raised his hand. "Will there be any difference in each counter?"


    "None. This is just to let us differentiate you first. If there''s any difference, I think you should know that the younger you are, the more likely for you to catch our attention."


    The man was being frank. Even an idiot knew that the younger they were, the more potential they would have. It just meant that those who lined up at 15 and below would surely get their attention without fail.


    However, their age would not determine everything. After all, they needed to have the qualification in the upcoming examination.


    "None? Then you may begin."

 312 Who’s the Genius? 1

    As soon as the man finished speaking, a lot of them started to line up according to their age. This time, they didn''t even wait for the three people at the forefront because neither one of them moved from their position. They knew that those geniuses were not in a hurry since they would be able to grab the spotlight anytime.


    What a joke, those three were the famous geniuses from three of the Four Kingdoms there. It was only because those three were born at around the same time that they ended up taking the test in the same year.


    If not, each of them would be enough to grab the spotlight.


    As for next year, there might be some other geniuses, but they doubted it. There were not many other famous geniuses aside from these three.


    Most of them would head to the number 18, 19, 20, and above as most of them only have B to C (blue to light blue) talent at most. Those at D (green) talent might still exist, but they mostly directly head to the last one because it was hard for them to make their breakthrough faster unless they have some innate talent. And the number of people with innate talent having low talent is very rare.


    Cao Ren looked at Chen Zi Quan. The two of them have the same age, so they would surely line up in the same counter.


    "Do you want to go first or shall I?"


    Chen Zi Quan looked back at Cao Ren. He knew that both of them were 16 years old, putting them as two of the youngest one here. From the moment their test result was out back then, they already knew that they would always compete against one another. Only Qi Huan was different because this young man over here was still 14 years old.


    "You can go first," Chen Zi Quan replied calmly. "I''ll be waiting for a few people to arrive first."


    "Then I won''t be polite."


    After replying, Cao Ren walked straight towards the counter with the number 16 written. There was no one else who lined up at the counter. Even the one with number 17 was empty as there had been no youngsters who could reach Eon Energy Master Rank 3 in that age. Perhaps there might be more later, but there was none right now.


    The man looked at Cao Ren indifferently. There was only a hint of appreciation, but not that much.


    "Name, exact age in years and months, and rank."


    Cao Ren naturally knew that they still valued him, but it wouldn''t be as much as those who could line up in the 15 and below. After all, his potential is only slightly greater than other people.


    He didn''t understand why they made it 15 years old, though.


    Was 15 years old a barrier or something? As someone who lived in the Four Kingdoms, a secluded area, the information he could access was too limited.


    "Cao Ren, 16 years old 4 months, Eon Energy Master Rank 3 middle stage."


    The man''s eyebrows arched when he heard the word middle. It seemed that they were not bad at all.


    "Yes."


    Cao Ren could sense Eon Energy from the man''s hand as he gripped his wrist. He instantly understood that the man was testing whether he was lying or not. He released it and took out a silver token.


    "Here''s your examination token. Pour your Eon Energy inside. Don''t forget to bring it when you attend the examination later."


    Cao Ren poured his Eon Energy and could feel connection with the plate. He was astonished, but curbed it up inside as he smiled politely. "Thank you for your guidance, Sir."


    The man just waved his hand and Cao Ren walked away. His eyes looked at the other plates as he noticed that there were several different colors. The color of one''s plate would represent their rank. He smiled slightly because he understood their value.


    At the same time, he could hear a few of them whisper in delight when they see the silver colored token.


    ''Amazing!''


    ''Ah, he looks this way!''


    ''Prince Cao Ren, you''re amazing!''


    "Do you want to go first?" Qi Huan asked. He was waiting for Ye Jiao and Lu Wan since both of them were located in the middle. There was still some time before they could reach the front.


    When those two tried the test, it would be very spectacular because of their outstanding talent. Qi Huan couldn''t wait to see the faces of these geniuses when those two arrived. He was sure that it would be very nice to see it.


    Chen Zi Quan looked to the side and noticed the Wei Family had arrived. "It seems so. Excuse me, Prince Qi Huan."


    Looking at the incoming group, Qi Huan''s eyes flashed with ruthlessness for a split second. He knew that they could send experts to protect their geniuses, but he didn''t expect to see someone whom his junior sister hated.


    Well, in the first place, his juniors had enmity with all prominent figures in the Chen Kingdom. It wouldn''t be weird if he met with one that they hated.


    "Your Highness," Wei Shang greeted.


    Chen Zi Quan nodded and looked at the two siblings. "You two will take the examination first."


    "Yes."


    "We understand, Your Highness."


    The two of them stepped forward and headed towards the designated counter. Wei Yin was 17 years old while Wei Cheng was 18 years old.


    "Name, exact age in years and months, and rank."


    "Wei Yin, 17 years 3 months, Eon Energy Master Rank 3 Middle stage."


    "Wei Cheng, 18 years 4 months, Eon Energy Master Rank 3 Early Stage."


    Hearing their rank from afar, Qi Huan''s mind thought about their difference. Even though the two of them were siblings with similar talent, it was apparent that Wei Yin has a much better prospect compared to his older brother. Not to mention, her disposition seemed to be so nonchalant and cold.


    Despite their difference in age, the two of them also ended up coming to take the test at the same time. This year is truly the year where many geniuses would leave the Four Kingdoms.


    ''With only martial arts as her only refugee, it''s clear that Wei Yin will surely achieve it big in the future.''


    That would be only if she could get away from Chen Zi Quan''s influence and her own meddling family. After all, they surely wouldn''t let her get away so easily with her current talent.


    While Qi Huan was thinking, Chen Zi Quan passed a look to Wei Shang. "It seems that he hasn''t grown much lately."


    Wei Shang could only put a wry smile. Wei Cheng has already trained with all he got, but the difference in talent simply forced him to take the longer route. While Wei Yin has managed to reach Eon Energy Master Rank 3 Middle Stage, Wei Cheng was still stuck in the early stage.


    In this world, talent truly decided everything.


    Though, they worth nothing if the person itself was unable to utilize it to the fullest and grew.


    "I''ll be going now."


    As Chen Zi Quan walked away, the other two siblings were still beside Wei Shang. They were Wei Mi and Wei Xie, whom Wei Shang brought in order to avoid another catastrophe like before. Even though he no longer has any hope for either one of them, he still brought them along with him.


    "Let''s get into the city."


    "Yes, Father," Wei Mi replied obediently. She could faintly hear the despondent voice of her father. Her heart felt rage and annoyance because she knew that her father no longer treasured her so greatly like before. She wanted his love and attention all to herself!


    Someday, she would prove to him that she could be better than all these geniuses!


    Chen Zi Quan walked to the counter and asked the same question.


    "Chen Zi Quan, 16 years 4 months old, Eon Energy Master Rank 3 Middle Stage."


    The man raised his head when he heard the similar age and rank. It seemed that these two princes must have been born at nearly the same time for them to have similar age and rank. Probably, they also prove to be a good rival for one another.


    "Here''s your token¡­"


    After taking the token, Chen Zi Quan could hear a lot of exclamation sounds from the people around them. Looking at the token in Wei Yin and Wei Cheng''s hand, he realized that they were different. Wei Yin also gets silver color, but Wei Cheng only got bronze color. It was apparent that their values are different.


    "Your Highness, I¡­"


    "Speak no more and just perform your best," Chen Zi Quan said coldly and turned around.


    Wei Cheng looked at the token in his hand as he silently gnashed his teeth. He truly hated this so-called talent barrier. Hearing the gasped surprise from around them, he knew that they were all directed to Chen Zi Quan and Wei Yin.


    It was not for him.


    Comparing himself to these two geniuses would be the biggest disgrace. The remarkable bronze token became nothing but a joke in front of these two silver tokens.

 313 Who’s the Genius? 2

    "Silver token! I''m willing to trade 10 years of my lifespan just to get that!"


    "Dream on! With your talent, it''s just a dream to get it."


    Even though the one at the forefront behaved because they were in front of the examiner, those at the back loudly gossiped with one another. Ye Jiao even felt confused when she listened to them.


    Why would they feel excited just because of the token?


    By this time, they had arrived near Qi Huan. Neither one of them greeted one another because they knew that it wouldn''t be good for them to know one another.


    "They''re so loud," Ye Jiao tried to ask Qi Huan in a roundabout way. "I wonder why they treasure the colored token so much."


    She had noticed that most of them only got white colored tokens. Another half got bronze color and only a few could get the silver colored token. It was as if there was a special meaning for this token.


    Qi Huan chuckled a bit. "These colors represent their possibility to be accepted as a disciple once they passed the exam.


    Gold - Possibility of directly admitted to the big academies as Core Disciple


    Silver - Possibility of directly admitted to the big academies as Inner Disciple


    Bronze - Possibility of directly admitted to the big academies as Outer Disciple


    White ¨C will depend on the result.


    Because of these differences, those with silver colored tokens are fairly rare. Only a handful of them could receive it."


    Inner Disciple!


    Now Ye Jiao understood why they were all excited. There were also divisions of academies as they didn''t only take the examination to enter one academy. If they wanted to enter a large academy, they needed to perform well. After all, those academies have higher standards than the others.


    Having these tokens, the chance to be admitted directly as Inner Disciple or even Core Disciple was high!


    It was no wonder that everyone was so excited.


    "Well, I can''t let him be in the limelight forever, can I?" Qi Huan chuckled and stepped towards the 15 and below counter.


    Both Ye Jiao and Lu wan smiled bitterly. It seemed that all the praise towards Chen Zi Quan and Cao Ren so far has irked this young man. Even though they didn''t have direct enmity, it was apparent that they competed against one another.


    The man who stayed in the counter was surprised when he saw Qi Huan walking over. He quickly straightened his posture because he knew that those who could come to this counter would be the most talented youngsters.


    "Please give me your name, exact age in years and months, and rank."


    Qi Huan had heard how the others were asked. They were mostly treated with a flat tone. Cao Ren and Chen Zi Quan were still treated warmer, but the way he was treated was truly different from the others. There was an obvious hint of favor.


    The man froze when he heard the word ''late.'' It was known that those who could reach the late stage would only need a little bit more to reach rank 4. There was no doubt that the young man before him has a high possibility to break through in the next two years or even just another year.


    "P-please show me your hand."


    Qi Huan extended it and the man grabbed his wrist with trembling hands. He was astonished when he realized that Qi Huan was saying the truth. This man over here was truly very young and surely would become one of the best among the youths.


    "Please wait a minute," the man retracted his hand and moved to the back before taking a communication jade. He wanted to know what token he had to give to Qi Huan. After all, his young age and high rank proved that he was not someone ordinary.


    "Eh, why didn''t they give Prince Qi Huan a token?"


    "The examiner looks flustered."


    "Is there anything wrong?"


    "Could it be that Prince Qi Huan''s talent is so great that they can''t just determine the rank for him?"


    *squeal*


    Both Ye Jiao and Lu Wan were speechless when they noticed the obvious different treatment that these people around them had. It was apparent that they were extremely excited when they saw how Qi Huan was treated like treasure. Obviously, those from the Chi Kingdom were proud.


    They were puffing their chest as if they were the one being tested instead of Qi Huan.


    "Prince Qi Huan is loved by his people," Ye Jiao chuckled. She could sense their genuine happiness that came from the bottom of their hearts.


    Lu Wan nodded his head. "It''s a bit enviable."


    As their attention was fully focused on Qi Huan, Ye Jiao noticed a familiar figure walking to a different counter. It was the 16 years old one.


    "Eh, there''s someone who''s still 16 years old?"


    "Right, I didn''t notice it."


    ''Xin Jie,'' Ye Jiao muttered in her mind as her eyes widened in happiness. She felt glad that her sworn sister had managed to reach rank 3.


    "Name, exact age in years and months, and rank."


    "Mu Xin, 16 years 6 months, Eon Energy Master Rank 3 Early stage."


    Compared with the two princes, she still fell short. However, the fact that she still could reach rank 3 when she was still 16 years old proved that she must be very talented. A lot of people were looking in disbelief as they remembered that this young girl only has B talent, not so remarkable.


    ''How come she''s so fast?''


    ''Right, even those who have the same talent are not as fast as her.''


    ''She must be lucky.''


    While those people who had the same talent were looking at Mu Xin with envy, Ye Jiao thought otherwise. Their master had told them in the past that there was another reason why someone could form their core faster than their supposed age.


    "She has innate talent," Lu Wan murmured.


    "And it''s a strong one," Ye Jiao added. To cut down the talent barrier by that much, she must have an innate talent. But as for what that would be, she didn''t know.


    "You have a great sister."


    "Of course. Sis is the best."


    Lu Wan chuckled when he heard the obvious tone of pride that Ye Jiao has. He turned his head to the first counter as he noticed that the man had returned with a smile all over his face. In his hand, there was a black gold color plate.


    "Black gold!"


    "Waaaah, Prince Qi Huan, I love you!"


    "Amazing!"


    "You''re the best, Prince Qi Huan!"


    The screams and cheering grew louder as Qi Huan took the plate. He turned around and flashed a smile, making the crowd noisier.

 314 Who’s the Genius? 3

    "Excuse me, what''s the difference between Black Gold and Gold token?" Ye Jiao asked a nearby man.


    "Of course it''s different! Those who get gold color can only have possibilities to be accepted into big academies as Core Disciple, while those with Black Gold can be directly accepted as either Elite Disciple or Core Disciple. Isn''t it awesome?"


    Elite Disciples were those who could inherit even the strongest martial arts in the academy. It could be said that they were the future successor of that particular academy. To be directly admitted as one would require a large effort, talent, and obviously luck.


    "Wait, that means there''s also Black color?"


    "Yes! But it''s only for those special ones. Who knows what one has to do in order to get it."


    After getting the answer, Ye Jiao moved back. She looked at the direction of Lu Wan with inquiry. "It seems that there''s a high possibility for you to get the token."


    "Nah, I''m not as good as him," Lu Wan shook his head. He was already 15 years old. Besides, he was only Eon Energy Master Rank 3 early stage. Even if he wished to get that token, it wouldn''t be easy.


    "Are you going to stand forward now?"


    "Hmm," Lu Wan looked at the side. Wei Shang and the others were still standing not far from the gate. Even though they could get inside directly, they wanted to see the result of other geniuses. After all, those from different places would arrive in this place too soon.


    Ye Jiao noticed Lu Wan''s worry. "Are you going to wait until everyone has finished?"


    After contemplating a bit, Lu Wan shook his head. "He''s going to find out about me soon enough. Since he can''t attack me in this place, what''s the harm for me to just step forward directly? I''m sure that my result will surely attract a lot of people''s attention."


    "Then, good luck, Senior Brother."


    "You too."


    As Lu Wan walked towards the counters, Ye Jiao flicked her glance to the location of those people from the Wei Family again. She too didn''t really want them to know that she was still alive. However, she knew that it would be inevitable. They would know sooner or later. She just has to be prepared for what would come afterwards.


    After all, she didn''t want to live in the dark forever.


    "Congratulations, Prince Qi Huan," Cao Ren said with a smile on his face.


    Qi Huan nodded. "Thank you. You''re not bad too."


    "Yeah," Cao Ren played with the silver colored token in his hand. "I have to admit I''m surprised that you can grow that fast."


    "I''m just lucky."


    ''There obviously will be.''


    Qi Huan noticed Lu Wan walking towards the first counter. The previously brown hair has changed back to its original color of green. Even though it was still not obvious because of the hood, he could see it clearly.


    "Who is it that catches your attention?"


    "Oh, I just think I see green hair," Qi Huan replied.


    The moment he said the word ''green,'' the Wei Family group froze in their position. They directly moved their head to look in one direction as they saw a hooded person had arrived at the first counter.


    There was a faint green color from the face area.


    ''He''s truly still alive,'' Chen Zi Quan''s eyes flashed with ruthlessness. He was planning to find Lu Wan before the latter could arrive in this place, but there was simply no time. He didn''t manage to find anyone with similar features or green hair, making his search fruitless.


    Now, it would be too late.


    "Please give me your name, exact age in years and months, and rank."


    "Lu Wan, 14 years 11 months, Eon Energy Master Rank 3 Early Stage," Lu Wan replied. He would only have his birthday in around a month, so he was still 14 years old.


    The man was astonished when he heard Lu Wan''s age and rank. It might not be that common, but it was still quite an achievement for one to still be at 14 years old when they reached rank 3.


    "Extend your hand please."


    "Here."


    After he checked his age, he felt even more astonished. He didn''t expect to see more than one person who could line up in this counter. After all, it was already a great achievement for even one of them to appear.


    Now there were two.


    "Here''s your token. Please pour your Eon Energy into the token and bring it when the examination starts."


    Different from Qi Huan, the token that Lu Wan received was only in gold color. After all, he didn''t have the same talent as Qi Huan, who could be said to be an extraordinary genius.


    Internally, he thought about what their reaction would be when Ye Jiao stepped forward. He was waiting to see the dumbfounded expression on those hateful men. It would surely feel very satisfying.


    "Thank you."


    As Lu Wan received his token, the crowd was in uproar. They already knew about Qi Huan and the others, so they all only cheered. But now, a stranger they didn''t know suddenly received a gold token.


    Who could possibly believe it?


    "J-just who is it?"


    "There''s no way there could be someone so talented staying unknown, right?"


    "We don''t know him?"


    "Damn! He has hidden himself so deep."


    Lu Wan looked at the crowd with a smirk on his lips. Hiding himself? He never wanted to hide if only those from the imperial family could be more reasonable in their conduct. Thanks to them, he had to hide his identity until he reached the counter.


    Slowly, he took off his hood as he walked to the gate. His green hair stood out under the light.


    Silence descended in the crowd.


    Disbelief has replaced them.


    "That¡­ that can''t be."


    "Someone, please tell me that I''m dreaming."


    Unfortunately, they knew that it was the truth. The one standing at the front was the famous troublemaker in the Chen Kingdom. The very person who said to be locked by the imperial family because of misconduct:


    Lu Wan.

 315 Who’s the Genius? 4

    They couldn''t believe he was here?


    Let them be. He had proven to them that the Imperial Family is not invisible. Even someone like him could still stand proudly after crossing his blades against them. He was not afraid of their retaliation.


    In this place, they wouldn''t be able to make their move.


    "Lu Wan, right?" Cao Ren also recognized that green hair. In the entire Four Kingdoms, there was only one person with green hair. "I didn''t expect that the Chen Kingdom would still have someone even more talented. I thought that he wouldn''t come when I didn''t see him in your group, Prince Chen Zi Quan."


    Chen Zi Quan''s brows creased. In truth, Lu Wan could be said to no longer be part of Chen Kingdom. They had failed to bring that young man to pledge his loyalty. In addition, it was clear that he had a bad relationship with his family, so there was no card that he could play to tie Lu Wan into Chen Kingdom.


    "He''s not someone from Chen Kingdom anymore," Chen Zi Quan finally replied through gritted teeth. Right now, he wished that he could tear Lu Wan into pieces. This young man''s appearance just put him in a bad mood.


    Cao Ren arched his eyebrows. "It seems I missed something."


    "It''s nothing important."


    Qi Huan''s lips curled up, but he didn''t reply any further. He knew what had happened, but it would be better for him to act as if he didn''t know. After all, the Chen Kingdom hid the incident to make sure that no one knew what had happened in the capital city at all.


    Lu Wan walked towards their direction with a smile on his lips. "You never thought that I could get away, did you?"


    "Congratulations, Lu Wan," Chen Zi Quan restrained his feelings and gave his congratulations. Despite his stern expression, he still didn''t lash out in anger.


    On the other hand, Wei Cheng''s expression has turned extremely sour. He had just felt down when he heard those cheers. Now, he met with Lu Wan, who apparently also one of the rare geniuses in this world. Hearing how those people cheered and praised Lu Wan to no end made his expression grim.


    How he wished that those cheers would be directed at him!


    "Congratulations, Lu Wan. I didn''t expect you to advance so quickly," Cao Ren expressed his thoughts.


    Looking at the smiling prince, Lu Wan was unable to guess what was inside this young man''s mind. He might not be proficient in guessing other people''s thoughts, but this prince looked so nonchalant that it was weird. In any case, it wouldn''t be good if he tried to pry too deep.


    "Thank you, Prince Cao Ren."


    Qi Huan noticed that Lu Wan had turned to look at him. He smiled with his usual smile. "Congratulations, Lu Wan. You''re not bad."


    Seeing that smile, Qi Huan secretly noted to himself to challenge Lu Wan into a duel later on. That way, he could freely beat up this arrogant brat. The two of them were still in Eon Energy Master Rank 3 and with him being younger than this brat, there wouldn''t be anything wrong with issuing a challenge.


    As they talked, more and more people also stepped forward to get their examination token. However, there was not much upset anymore in the crowd. Everything seemed to go peacefully.


    Lu Wan moved to the side as he noticed Mu Xin staring at him. He smiled. "Congratulations for breaking into rank 3, Mu Xin."


    "I can say the same to you," Mu Xin replied placidly. Her expression was still as cold as ever, showing no trace of her real emotion on the surface. "Have you seen Jiao''er?"


    "She''s over there," Lu Wan pointed to the crowd.


    Mu Xin''s eyes flashed with surprise when Lu Wan said that. From what she knew, Ye Jiao should still be 11 years old. In a few more months, she would be 12, but that was not the case.


    "Is she not going with you?"


    "Nah, I''m not that close with her," Lu Wan said a white lie. He smirked. "She can take care of herself, so you don''t have to worry too much about her."


    Mu Xin looked at Lu Wan with a slight frown. She couldn''t help but feel worry since she knew that the Wei Family would surely try to take Ye Jiao and harm that girl if they knew that she was still alive. Even though there haven''t been any movements from them towards the Ye Family because the news has long died down, it was a fact that they wouldn''t let Ye Jiao off if they knew.


    "I''ll go¡­."


    Before she could finish her words, she could see a small figure walking towards the first counter, the counter with the word 15 and below one. Her small figure made it easy for them to guess that she must be still a young kid. If one didn''t try to pay attention, one wouldn''t be able to distinguish that young lass from other ordinary youngsters that have just begun their path as Eon Energy Master.


    "What''s that kid doing?"


    "Is she looking for a beating?"


    "She must be an idiot."


    Everyone knew that in order to participate in the examination, they have to be at least Eon Energy Master Rank 3. Based on Ye Jiao''s figure, she should be only 11 to 12 years old at best. At that age, most of them would have just started their path as Eon Energy Master. At best, they would have formed their core and reached rank 1.


    To reach rank 3 at that age would simply be a dream.


    While the crowd was filled with disbelief, Wei Cheng and the others were also looking at the young girl. Seeing that fair countenance and youthful face, they had the feeling that they have seen her before in the past.


    "Is she someone we know?" Wei Cheng frowned.


    Wei Yin''s eyes flashed as a small figure appeared in her mind. She had only met with Ye Jiao a few times in the past and never actively conversed with the young girl. However, that green pupils would always remind her of one single person.


    Right now, Ye Jiao has returned back to her appearance. Her green pupils were quite eye-catching, but she usually wouldn''t look at other people directly. As a servant, it was easy for her to look down most of the time, so no one felt suspicious. But now, she was no longer a lowly servant.


    She is a proud Eon Energy Master.


    "Please give me your name, exact age in years and months, and rank."


    The man''s tone was filled with doubts, but he still did his job. Seeing how young the girl in front of him was, it was not weird for him to be filled with doubts. After all, it was hard to believe that someone as young as her could be Eon Energy Master Rank 3.


    "Ye Jiao, 11 years 8 months, Eon Energy Master Rank 3 Early stage."


    Ye Jiao?


    A lot of people found this name to be highly unfamiliar. Not many people knew about her as her existence was something that only people from the Chen Kingdom Capital City would know.


    However, Wei Shang nearly jumped up when he heard that name. His eyes were locked firmly in Ye Jiao''s face as his mind was comparing her to her mother. They have similar beautiful features, the face that he would never forget in his entire life. Green eyes that seemed to glitter under the light and beautiful feature that was enough to bring down the entire kingdom. She might be still young, but he could see the familiar features clearly.


    On the other hand, Wei Mi''s eyes widened in shock. Her body shuddered in anger and displeasure.


    ''Ye Jiao? No¡­ that can''t be. She, she, she had died, right?"


    Chen Zi Quan''s eyes flashed for a moment when he heard that name. He had heard a lot about Ye Jiao, but from what he knew, that girl was simply a trash. How come that little trash came here and proclaimed that she''s Eon Energy Master Rank 3?


    That''s impossible.


    The people only found her name weird, but when they heard her claim of her age, their body already stiffened.


    11 years old?


    You''re telling me that you become Eon Energy Master Rank 3 at 11 years old?


    Many people were floored. Please tell them that it was not true! They have spent years since they were only 6 years old to train and only managed to form their core by the time they were 11 or 12 years old.


    And this little lass proclaimed that she has become Eon Energy Master Rank 3 at that age?


    I don''t believe it!


    I can''t believe it!


    A lot of people fixated their gazes on the first counter. Their fiery gazes seemed to be filled with determination to prove that it must be a false claim.


    No one wanted to believe it!


    I-it''s impossible!

 316 Who’s the Genius? 5

    The man before her also looked surprised. However, his reaction was not as bad as the others.


    "Excuse me, is your surname Ye?"


    "Yes."


    The man frowned. From what he knew, there shouldn''t be any family with the Ye surname in the Four Kingdoms. Perhaps, it was the time for him to check it out with the higher ups once again.


    "May I ask where your parents are?"


    Her parents?


    Ye Jiao''s eyes flashed with ruthlessness for a split second. "They''re dead, murdered by people who''re envious for their talent."


    At this moment, Cao Ren and Qi Huan turned their heads to look at Chen Zi Quan. Even though other people found the Ye surname to be strange, they didn''t have the same thought. After all, they still remembered the name of the most famous genius from the Chen Kingdom that their parents often mentioned.


    Ye Xiao!


    No one would be able to forget the name of the genius who shook the Four Kingdoms back then. They might be only a brat or even not yet born at that time, but their parents often told them the story of Ye Xiao''s mightiness.


    "I don''t know anything," Chen Zi Quan said coldly.


    Neither one of them believed it, but they also didn''t try to pry deeper. Qi Huan pursed his lips as he knew how stubborn Ye Jiao could be. She must have inherited that trait from her father since Ye Xiao was known to be extremely stubborn.


    The man looked at Ye Jiao with a little anticipation. There would only be one of those talents like Ye Jiao in the examination each year or even none. Those who have the same talent as this little girl were so rare that even finding 1 among 1 million of people across the numerous areas would be a great thing.


    "P-please extend your hand."


    Ye Jiao put her hand in front of her and the man slowly grabbed her wrist. She could sense Eon Energy coming from the man''s palm. It was warm yet at the same time, she knew that it was inspecting her.


    Astonishment appeared on the man''s face. He could sense that the girl in front of him is indeed Eon Energy Master Rank 3. Not only that, the age was truly 11 years old 8 months. In that moment, he could feel that there was a sense of excitement boiling in his heart.


    Talent S!


    She must have that talent in order to reach Eon Energy Master Rank 3 so early. This was the first time in his life that he encountered a genius like this.


    "How long do you plan to grab my wrist?" Ye Jiao asked in confusion. She no longer felt any Eon Energy, so it should have been finished, no?


    The people who were crowding gasped when they saw the plate.


    "Black token!"


    "What?"


    "Are you serious?"


    "T-that''s impossible!"


    "How can it be?"


    "Who''s she?"


    As the crowd exploded in surprise, Qi Huan''s eyes widened in surprise. He had guessed that Ye Jiao''s talent must be big, but didn''t expect that she would get that token. Those who knew its true value would know how much that one token would worth.


    ''She''s even better than me.''


    Internally, Qi Huan chuckled a bit as fire of competitiveness flashed within his eyes. After he had gained the inheritance from the Emperor of Water, he came to understand that his position was far higher than many ordinary people. It would be impossible for them to compare to those from the emperor''s lineage.


    They were destined to reach the peak because of the inheritance they got.


    Qi Huan''s fingers clenched into a fist. He knew that his talent was still a bit away from the best talent. However, he also wanted to be the best and eventually reached the peak. But now, his talent was only slightly better than average.


    After all, the academies prioritized those who were only at an early stage. They couldn''t determine the exact time when he reached rank 3, so they couldn''t give him the black token.


    Lu Wan frowned. He didn''t understand much about the difference between the tokens. "What''s black token?"


    "It''s the token that can allow you to have the possibility to be accepted as an Elite Disciple immediately. Elite Disciple is a special ranked of disciples above Core Disciple who received special treatment with more freedom," Cao Ren replied. "This token is known to be given only to those who have talent above purple color."


    Above purple color?


    Both Qi Huan and Lu Wan knew that Ye Jiao had talent above purple color because their master had told them in the past. Who would have thought that this talent would receive the envy of so many people?


    "Those who have talent above purple color shouldn''t be able to be detected, right?" Chen Zi Quan''s eyes narrowed dangerously. Damn it! His father told him that Ye Xiao''s daughter was nothing but trash. But now, the one who stood in front of them was in no way a trash. She''s a true genius!


    If she is a trash, every single one of them would be worse than trash!


    Far worse than trash!


    "Yes," Cao Ren nodded. "I don''t know the details, but it seems that they need some special device to be measured."


    "Four Kingdoms didn''t have the device. At least, as far as the Chi Kingdom concerned, there''s no way we can measure that talent."


    "Neither do Cao Kingdom."


    Chen Zi Quan gritted his teeth. "Neither does Chen Kingdom."


    As for Barbarian Kingdom, they didn''t care in the slightest bit. Those who were from the Barbarian Kingdom usually had lower talent, so they didn''t really care about it.


    Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao as he shook his head lightly. Other people might not know about it now, but he had heard about how the device was broken when Ye Jiao tested herself. That broken stone was the one that marked the birth of an outstanding genius who would distinguish herself from the mass.


    How fortunate it was that no one in Chen Kingdom knew her value.


    "Thank you," Ye Jiao accepted the token. It was light and as she poured her Eon Energy, she could sense deep connection with the plate. It was as if the plate had become part of herself.


    The man smiled brightly. "It''s my honor to be able to meet with you, Miss Ye Jiao."


    Ye Jiao just pursed her lips. She herself knew that she was not the only one with this kind of talent. Her master had told her that even if it was extremely rare in this kingdom for someone at her talent to appear, there were numerous in the kingdom where Bao Fu Organization main headquarters was located. She must not feel that it was enough for her as her future is still long.


    "May I know what your talent was when you got tested back then?"


    "I got none," Ye Jiao replied. "The stone didn''t light up."


    The man nodded in understanding. Now he had confirmed that this little lass was truly someone who has S talent. People from these secluded locations would never understand their true value, thus many of these talented people were late to be born.


    "That''s not none. Your talent is S, the highest talent there is. It''s even above A talent," the man chuckled. "Good luck, Miss Ye Jiao."


    "Thank you."


    Ye Jiao kept her token as she walked to the gate. Numerous pairs of eyes were looking in her direction, wanting to know her more. However, she ignored them directly. Upon arriving near the gate, she could see Chen Zi Quan and the Wei Family were looking at her with hatred and concealed regret.


    She sneered internally.


    "Congratulations," Cao Ren congratulated Ye Jiao. He smiled warmly. "I never know there''s someone with this much potential among the people who came."


    "Thank you, Prince Cao Ren," Ye Jiao replied politely but still kept her distance. She looked over to Chen Zi Quan, who seemed to be smiling yet not.


    "Congratulations."


    "Thank you."


    Wei Cheng also looked at Ye Jiao, but he didn''t say anything. Right now, his mind was in chaos. He just couldn''t connect the image of the useless girl that they always bullied with the one standing in front of them. She was basked in a brilliant light, the envy of so many people.


    Ye Jiao noticed his gaze. She spoke up, "Do you regret not killing me back then?"

 317 Xian Gu Kingdom

    Her voice was not loud, but almost everyone there was Eon Energy Master Rank 3. They have excellent hearing, and naturally, they would be able to hear what Ye Jiao said very clearly. A few pairs of eyes were looking at the Wei Family with a frown, but not a single one dared to speak up.


    They didn''t want to create enemies out of nowhere.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about," before Wei Cheng could reply, Wei Shang interjected. He never had any intention of killing the two of them in the past. It was only because Chen Tian ordered him to do so that he had no choice but to obey.


    Ye Jiao looked at the man coldly. "Is that so? I hope you all have a good time all these years with my presents."


    Presents?


    Wei Mi''s eyes widened. She seemed to recall something as she pointed her finger at Ye Jiao''s face. "You''re that assassin back then, aren''t you?"


    The figure of that young kid that fought against her brother was still so small that one would be able to guess that it must be a little kid. The only one who could fit the description would be this one person over here.


    After all, S talent was not common.


    Ye Jiao just smiled, but she didn''t reply. Her eyes were looking at Wei Shang coldly. She hadn''t had the chance to fight against this man directly, but there was no need for her to do that. He would surely meet his own demise. She had done enough.


    "Don''t bother me again. If you try to kill me again, I won''t show you any mercy," Ye Jiao said coldly and walked away.


    For a split second, Wei Shang could sense the hint of threat that Ye Jiao emitted. Even though he was already Eon Energy Master Rank 4, a rank higher than Ye Jiao, he felt that fear. It was as if there was a raging storm that was about to break out. If not because Ye Jiao held back her feelings in the end, he was sure that even the others would be able to sense it.


    ''She''s dangerous.''


    That one brief meeting had told him many things. The little girl who could only hide and cover back then was no more. She had gained strength on her own to protect herself. Slowly but surely, she would be out of his reach.


    Wei Shang looked at the young girl''s back with a hint of regret. He always wished to have her mother for himself, but she chose another man. Now, even her daughter had grown up and started to bare her fangs.


    If only he could bring that woman into his wing, this wouldn''t have happened at all.


    Wei Shang was filled with regret because of his inability to bring that woman under him. No matter how much time had passed and even though Ye Ai Xia had died, it didn''t reduce the flame of passion within his heart in the slightest bit.


    He still wanted her.


    ''That assassin?''


    If he wanted to keep the fact that he was acquainted with someone from the Barbarian Kingdom a secret, he needed to shut that girl''s mouth.


    ''Will she tell anyone?''


    She did say that she no longer wanted to bother with them. Wei Cheng still felt wary, but he didn''t want to try looking for trouble anymore. If he found her to be a threat, he would just find a way to deal with her.


    After all, she would be outside of his reach, not long from now.


    He also had so many things that he needed to do. His current identity was at risk because of his involvement with Barbarian Kingdom. Once those with the Chen Surname heard about it, he knew that he would die.


    ''What should I do?''


    No one followed after Ye Jiao as she entered the city. Some people still looked at her with an envious gaze or even awe, but neither one tried to stop her. They had heard that she had a bad relationship with those from the Chen Kingdom, so it might be best not to get involved.


    Besides, they also didn''t want to get on the wrong page of a promising young genius. She was still so young, and no one knew much about her.


    As soon as she entered the city, Ye Jiao was awed by how the buildings were structured. There were numerous complicated designs that filled the wall, and so on. It was as if this place was a historical site rather than a city where people lived.


    ''I better hide and blend.''


    She noticed a dark alleyway and entered it. Taking out a hood, she wore it quickly and changed her countenance by using a disguise method she had learned. As soon as she had finished, she had completely changed her appearance.


    Ye Jiao walked out of the alleyway and walked in the direction of the market.


    "Excuse me."


    "Yes?" She was surprised to hear that someone stopped her. Turning her head to look at the man''s face, she was startled to see that Qin Zheng had stood in front of her. He was wearing a light silver robe. His golden iris was looking at her with interest.


    "I don''t know that you manage to learn the technique so quickly, little lass."


    "Who are you?"


    "Don''t pretend that you don''t know me, Jiao''er," Qin Zheng chuckled. He looked at the gate where she came just now. "I can see that you''re the one making the commotion on this side. It''s no wonder, though. With your talent, their attention is going to be put onto your head."


    Ye Jiao''s face darkened. She still hasn''t forgotten how annoying this man has been during the time they traveled together in the past. If he started to make fun of her again, she didn''t mind trying to find some way to clash against him again. That would be extremely fun to do.


    Even better if she could land a hit and beat him up terribly. That would be the best situation.


    "That''s not your business," Ye Jiao shrugged. "Also, what''s with these tokens? Is it true that you can directly become Elite Disciples just because of your talent?"


    "Yes, it''s true," Qin Zheng smiled. "Xian Gu Kingdom is a bit special, and they need a lot of new disciples each year. That''s why they''re generous in giving the position and resources for the disciples. You''ll naturally learn much more if you managed to get accepted into the academy."


    "Can''t you tell me more?"


    "It''s complicated. With your IQ, you won''t be able to understand even half of what I''m going to tell you."


    "¡­"


    Ye Jiao had the urge to hit him again. Why did he have to give her half of the information and make her curious like this? Rubbing her forehead, Ye Jiao tried to push the thoughts into the back of her head.


    "What are you doing here, Qi-uh, Zheng?"


    "Call me Brother Zheng," Qin Zheng corrected her at once. "I''m a disciple in one of the largest academies in the Xian Gu Kingdom and this year, I''m the one selected to greet all of you and give an example during the examination."


    "¡­You''re already a disciple?"


    Qin Zheng nodded his head nonchalantly. "Yes, I''m an Elite Disciple¡­ why are you looking at me like that?"


    Right now, Ye Jiao was looking at Qin Zheng with a gaze filled with disbelief. She knew that he must be powerful from what he showed her during his short time in Four Kingdoms, but he shouldn''t be Eon Energy Master Rank 3 a year ago, right? At that time, he was already 11 years old, but it was still so early!


    "Brother Zheng, are you truly 11 years old?"


    "I''m already 12. My birthday was a few days ago."


    "Ah¡­ Happy belated birthday then," Ye Jiao gave him her halfhearted congratulations. She truly wished he could be younger than her. That way, it would be possible for her to keep calling him short. Speaking of height, it seemed that he grew taller by one or two centimeters. Their height was already very similar by now.


    Qin Zheng nodded.


    "How come you''re already a disciple with your temper?"


    "Do you doubt me?"


    "I''m wondering if there''s someone who died because of your attitude and words."


    "How rude," Qin Zheng retorted and shook his head.


    "By the way, you say Xian Gu Kingdom? Is that the name of the mainland kingdom?" Ye Jiao decided to change the conversation.


    "Yes."

 318 True Value

    "Yes."


    "That means, the name of the Imperial Family is Xian Gu?"


    Qin Zheng shook his head. "It''s not. There are actually two surnames for the Imperial Family: Xian and Gu. As for why there are two, you''ll naturally learn that with history lessons if you get accepted."


    "Are you telling me to wait until I got accepted into an academy?"


    "Yes."


    "¡­ Why can''t you tell me now?"


    "Because there''s a chance for you not to get accepted into any of the academies."


    Hearing his words, Ye Jiao got the urge to slam her fist into his face. Couldn''t he say something nice? She felt as if he just wanted her to fail with the way he worded his words.


    Qin Zheng smiled slightly. "You should pay more attention in the examination. Even though this time there''s no direct confrontation with the other youngsters, there are two more people like you."


    Like her?


    Ye Jiao understood almost immediately that he must mean her talent. There must be two more people who have the same talent as her from a different place. She smiled slightly. Who said that those with S talent are rare? There were already three people just this year.


    Little did she know that the next few years after this, there won''t be any S Talent. However, it would be for the future.


    "It''s going to be an interesting comparison," Ye Jiao remarked.


    "Make sure that you''re not at the bottom, little lady," Qin Zheng raised his hand and messed up the girl''s hair.


    "Stop that!" Ye Jiao quickly moved away from Qin Zheng. She glared at the young man. "Like I will stay at the bottom."


    "We shall see about that," Qin Zheng looked over at Ye Jiao''s face and pondered for a moment.


    "What is it?"


    "You keep on staring at my face. To be exact, my lips. Is there anything there or are you trying to read my lips'' movement?"


    Hearing his words, Ye Jiao was stunned. She didn''t expect that he would find out about her hearing problem so soon. Even though she looked at his lips to know what he was talking about, she still did it covertly.


    ''He''s so sharp.''


    Looking at the girl''s troubled face, Qin Zheng raised his hand and touched her left ear. Ye Jiao was alarmed and tried to pull back, but he didn''t let her go by putting Eon Energy to block her. Pouring his Eon Energy to probe, he soon found out that the inside was broken. She couldn''t hear his words properly.


    "You¡­. what happened?"


    Before he went his separate ways with this young girl, she was still healthy with no problem whatsoever. In addition, she was also a fine assassin who had trained her senses to reach high sensitivity. Having a broken eardrum like this would surely reduce her capabilities.


    "I want to," Qin Zheng took out a bottle from his storage bracelet and seriously looked at the young girl. "This pill can cure any kind of illness. You should take it and recover your ear before it''s the time for the examination."


    Ye Jiao stared at the bottle that Qin Zheng showed to her. It was tempting as she did find it troublesome to be looking at other people''s lips every time she wanted to know what they were talking about. However¡­


    "I don''t have anything that I can give you, Brother Zheng. I don''t want to be in your debt."


    "I didn''t ask you to pay me back," Qin Zheng pondered for a moment. "How about this, let''s have a spar again after you enter the academy?"


    "Even without you asking, I''ll gladly accept the offer," Ye Jiao clasped her fist together, eager to send a punch to the man before her.


    Qin Zheng raised his eyebrows. "I mean the formal one."


    "I''ll surely challenge you, so it''s not really a favor on your side."


    "You''re stubborn."


    "Don''t try to put me into your debt," Ye Jiao rolled her eyes. She didn''t really want to get associated with this annoying young man. "Why do you even want to help me?"


    "I want to see how far you can go in the examination. Besides, if you''re defeated by me when you''re in this bad condition, I wouldn''t feel the satisfaction of winning."


    "Winning?" Ye Jiao frowned. "What do you mean?"


    "You''ll know later when the examination starts."


    "You¡­ You''re so annoying!" Ye Jiao truly wished to drag this boy out and pummeled him to the ground. If only it was possible, she would gladly do that!


    Smiling lightly, Qin Zheng felt that this young girl was truly hard to handle. Well, in the first place, she was the one who forced her way to interact with him. Thanks to that one meeting, he could survive and fulfilled his task in the Four Kingdoms.


    "Do you really don''t have anything valuable?"


    Ye Jiao frowned. She was about to repeat that she didn''t have any when she recalled the three storage bracelets that she plundered from Eon Energy Master Rank 4. To be exact, it was Lin Ruoyun who plundered them, but she gave them all to her.


    She had checked the content but didn''t find any medicine that could possibly help her. There was also some money and weapons, but most of them were only filled with useless items that she didn''t know the use for.


    Ye Jiao took out the three bracelets. "I don''t know if any of these can be of use. Do you want to check the content?"


    "Where did you get them?" Qin Zheng took it and scanned it using his Eon Energy. Since Ye Jiao didn''t claim it to be hers, he still could see the content. To his surprise, many things were supposed to not exist in either Four Kingdoms and the Xian Gu Kingdom.


    "Just from a battle."


    "This should have belonged to Eon Energy Master Rank 4 at least," Qin Zheng looked at the girl with a frown. "Why did you pick a fight against someone at that level?"


    "I didn''t pick a fight!"


    "Also, I can say for sure that if someone knew that you possess this bracelet, you would be in a lot of trouble."


    Looking at the bracelet that Qin Zheng showed, Ye Jiao knew that it was the one from Elder Jing. She had checked the content herself, so she knew what was inside. Honestly, it was his bracelet that contained numerous items that she didn''t understand what was the use for.


    So many strange rocks, medicine, and also herbs. Even Lu Wan was confused, though that boy took all the herbs, so all that was left in this bracelet was some money, medicine, and rocks.


    He didn''t even have any books. As for weapons, the previous owner had taken it out during the battle and Lin Ruoyun didn''t bother taking it again.


    "I don''t see anything valuable there."


    "That''s because you don''t know the value," Qin Zheng pointed to a rock inside the storage bracelet as he showed it to Ye Jiao. He didn''t dare take it out for he understood that it could be dangerous. "This is Meteorite Lava Metal. It''s one of the best ore if you wish to forge a weapon with a fire attribute."


    "There''s an attribute for weapons too?"


    "Of course there is, are you an idiot?"


    "..."


    Even though Ye Jiao was displeased by his rude comment, she chose not to bother with it. It was partially her fault too that she never received proper education, so she didn''t know anything about that.


    "How great is the weapon from that metal?"


    Qin Zheng didn''t directly reply. He thought for a moment. "If it''s given to a Grandmaster Forging Master, you can get a weapon that can withstand even the heat from erupting mountains."


    Lava?


    Ye Jiao was stunned speechless. She knew that lava was practically the hottest item in the entire world. If this metal could even withstand that¡­ she could not imagine how great it would be.


    "If it''s me, I still can''t make anything that amazing," Qin Zheng frowned. He had longed to be able to create a great weapon, so he has been collecting some good material. However, he still needed a lot of practice.


    "So¡­ is it possible to trade this sto-metal ore with the medicine?"


    "You''re just about to call this a stone?"


    Hearing his displeased tone, Ye Jiao just stuck out her tongue. She didn''t have any knowledge regarding minerals and so on, so in her eyes it was nothing more than a stone. Of course, she knew that in Qin Zheng''s eyes it was truly a treasure.


    "Sure, I''ll gladly trade it," Qin Zheng took the Meteorite Lava Metal and placed it in his Spatial Ring. Ye Jiao looked at the ring at the man''s pinky finger with widened eyes. Was that also a storage item?

 319 Recovery

    "Why are you looking at this ring¡­?" Qin Zheng had just opened his mouth when he recalled that the Four Kingdoms still used the bracelet type. Some people found it easier to use because the storage bracelet could hold more things. In addition, it was easier to make because of the size.


    Spatial Ring was only used by a small number of people. He had changed it when he visited the Four Kingdoms to not attract any attention and changed it back when he returned.


    "This is a Spatial Ring," Qin Zheng explained. He returned the three bracelets to Ye Jiao. "Its use is more or less the same with those bracelets."


    "I see," Ye Jiao nodded her head. Her eyes looked at the ring with curiosity as it was her first time seeing one like that.


    Qin Zheng smiled. "If you want, I can make you a ring and then ask some Rune Master to make it into a Spatial Ring."


    "Rune Master?"


    "It''s one of the jobs available for Eon Energy Masters," Qin Zheng replied as he took out the bottle from before. "There''s only one pill inside, but it''s enough for you. You should take it before the examination to make sure that you can perform with the best of your ability."


    "Ah, thank you," Ye Jiao understood that Qin Zheng didn''t want to explain things further to her, so he changed the conversation. As she took the bottle of medicine, a smile appeared on her face.


    She felt happy that she would be able to recover.


    "Don''t forget to have a spar with me later," Qin Zheng chuckled. "It''ll be for the best if you can attend the same academy as me¡­"


    "No thanks."


    "I haven''t finished talking."


    "I don''t have any intention to join the same academy as you," Ye Jiao glared. "I''ll just choose the one most suitable for me.''


    Qin Zheng chuckled. "There''s still a week''s time. Enjoy your time here, little lass."


    "I will."


    After that, Qin Zheng walked away. He was actually only walking around because his teacher asked him to familiarize himself with the place. It was out of his expectation to meet with that young girl.


    He thought that she would take another year before she could come here, but it seemed that he was wrong.


    She came much faster.


    Ye Jiao quickly walked to the nearby inn and booked a room. She didn''t care for what other people said as she entered the room and took the medicine out. It might be weird for her to trust other people so easily, but since she had stayed with Qin Zheng for a period of time, she knew that she could trust him.


    Only to a certain degree, though.


    Waves of the medicine ran through her meridians and body. Ye Jiao could feel the warmth in her entire body. Slowly, she directed it to her ear as it slowly repaired what was broken before.


    Time passed.


    Inspecting her own body, Ye Jiao nodded satisfied.


    ''Qin Zheng looks like a treasure trove. He seems to have all kinds of precious medicine with him.''


    However, now she felt a bit doubtful. If he had this medicine back then, why couldn''t he heal himself from the poison? It might not be able to help much, though, since the properties of this medicine and the poison he was afflicted with were utterly different. At most, it could only help him withstand for more time as he pushed the poison out of his system.


    Ye Jiao pushed the matter to the back of her mind as she stood up and walked out. She wanted to eat a bit before sleeping since it was already night time.


    ¡­


    The next day, Ye Jiao walked out of her room only to see Mu Xin standing in front of her. Seeing the familiar face in front of her, a smile broke out on the corner of her lips. She could never forget this sister of hers.


    During the time when everyone was ridiculing her and mocking her because of her so-called low talent, she was the only one who treated her all the same. It might be cold at first, but they gradually grew closer as they trained with each other. Those days were the only time she felt happy when she was staying in that accursed residence.


    "I''m glad to see you well, Jiao''er," Mu Xin was the first to speak out. Her cold and indifferent expression has changed into that filled with warmth. She smiled at Ye Jiao with a genuine smile of happiness.


    Ye Jiao smiled back. She moved forward and hugged her sworn sister. "I''m happy to see you too, Xin Jie."


    "You''re always worrying me, Jiao''er," Mu Xin laughed. She hugged the little girl before her tightly. Internally, she wondered if children aged 11 years old were usually this small since Ye Jiao''s arm could only reach her hips.


    Or was she the tall one?


    "I''m sorry, Xin Jie."


    Ye Jiao didn''t tell Mu Xin about her real talent because she was worried that they might try to attack her if it was leaked. She didn''t know who was the one that wanted to take her life. From the way the Su Family and Chen Family contacted one another, she knew that there was someone else out there who wished for her death.


    She didn''t want to bring more troubles to anyone around her.


    "Geez, it''s fine," Mu Xin patted the girl''s head tenderly. This little girl still looked so small. Even though she knew that Ye Jiao was already stronger than herself, she still wished that she would be able to protect this little girl.


    "Are you mad, Xin Jie?"


    "I just hope that you can tell me before you decide on something like that in the future," Mu Xin replied. "Anyway, you should be careful. The examination is not going to be easy. I''ll be taking my time to practice until it''s the time for the examination, so you should also use this chance to the fullest."


    "Mhm, I understand, Xin Jie."


    Ye Jiao released her arms and smiled at her sister. "Please be careful, Xin Jie."


    "You too, Jiao''er."


    The two of them went their separate ways after they had finished. They still have time to talk with one another in the future. For now, they have to make sure that they prepared themselves to the fullest for the examination that was about to come.


    After parting with Mu Xin, Ye Jiao walked out of the inn. She didn''t have any clear direction of where she wanted to go, so she just headed to the nearby road. It was directed to the square, so there might be something interesting in that place.


    On her way to the square, she noticed Qi Huan standing with his eyes looking at one direction warily. He was already disguised as a different person with a hood covering his head.


    "Are you lost?" Ye Jiao asked.


    Qi Huan was stunned. He turned around and smiled wryly when he saw Ye Jiao behind him. For that split second, he was unable to detect her presence at all.


    "I''m escaping from my guards."


    "Guards?"


    "That," pointing to the group of people, Ye Jiao could see several men wearing proper guards'' uniforms. She instantly understood that Qi Huan must have ditched them when they were trying to protect this young man.


    "Why are there still some guards?"


    "Well, you know my status," Qi Huan shrugged. "I don''t think it''s that weird for them to send me a few guards to take care of anyone who wishes me harm. Though, I would prefer if they didn''t do it."


    Even though there was a protection array placed all over the city, it still didn''t guarantee his safety entirely. If there was a sneak attack launched at him, there were still possibilities for him to get wounded. Those from the Chi Kingdom clearly didn''t want that.


    Qi Huan was not only their kingdom''s most talented prince. He was also the representative of the entire kingdom in this event. Everyone wished for him to become the best and entered the largest academy.


    "You have quite a troublesome reputation."


    "It''s important to keep a public appearance," Qi Huan smiled. "But of course, it''s also important to maintain one''s secret life."


    "¡­."


    If one didn''t know better, they would be awfully curious about what kind of secret life this young man had. Since Ye Jiao was familiar with this prince, she knew that he was talking about his life as an assassin. After all, it was a profession that couldn''t be said in the public because of their scope of work.


    "Anyway, I''m surprised you didn''t wait until all of us have left. Even though there are a lot of people, we''re not going to stay there all the time."


    Ye Jiao looked up and started walking with Qi Huan following after her. "Will it make any difference?"

 320 I’m Not Afraid

    "Even if I wait until you leave, with the degree of the commotion I cause, I''m sure that my name and rank will enter their ears sooner or later. It was especially true since I come from the Four Kingdoms. I''m sure that there''ll be someone to relay the news as soon as they receive it."


    She was not stupid. When she saw Qi Huan and Lu Wan already attracted numerous attention with their talent, she knew that she would surely attract even more. Her talent was even more exceptional than them. And right now, she was nothing more than an 11 years old girl, so her appearance alone would attract their attention.


    Rather than waiting for them to leave, wouldn''t it be better for her to confront them directly?


    "Are you sure you''re not afraid?"


    Ye Jiao raised her head and smiled at Qi Huan. He was only slightly taller than her, but she still needed to look up if she wanted to talk while looking straight to his eyes.


    "If I''m afraid, I won''t be able to move forward. I''m bound to face him sooner or later because I can''t keep on staying in the shadows. I might still be weaker than him, but it didn''t mean that I can be bullied as they wished."


    She had had enough of lowering her head in front of them. From now on, she would no longer stay under that man and kept on biding her time. She was still not as strong as them, but she would not cower back and tug her tails.


    She would stand firm and face them.


    Qi Huan smiled at the young girl''s resolve. The trace of naivety has started to leave this young girl. "It seems you have grown up, little brat."


    "You sound like an old man."


    "I''m still a healthy 14 years old young man, don''t slander me," Qi Huan chuckled. "But bravery and idiocy are only different by a thin layer. Make sure that you don''t act recklessly without caring for the after effect, little brat."


    "I know that," Ye Jiao smiled. "I already thought about it before. Since this place is sealed off, they won''t be able to inform the Chen Kingdom about my appearance. Also, I might be able to find a clue about why they tried to kill my family."


    As they spoke, they arrived at another street. Ye Jiao''s eyes were locked onto a man who was walking covertly. She sensed Wei Shang''s presence from a long time ago, which was why she decided to come this way.


    "Isn''t that Wei Shang?"


    "Yes."


    "Why do you think there''s another reason they want to kill you?" Qi Huan arched his eyebrows, curious about her conclusion.


    Ye Jiao didn''t immediately reply. She had seen a few things in Chen Tian''s room when they visited the Chen Kingdom Imperial Family palace before. From the letter they sent, she knew that there must be someone else under the shadow trying to pull her and her family down.


    However, could she possibly tell Qi Huan about this matter?


    "Don''t tell anyone about this."


    "Yes?"


    As Ye Jiao told him what she found in the palace, Qi Huan''s eyes grew larger. He had guessed that the Chen Kingdom must have formed a connection with the Su Family because of Su Lian''s appearance. However, he never expected that there was something deeper with Ye Jiao''s family connected with them.


    "You have a complicated family background, little lass."


    "Yeah," Ye Jiao admitted directly. She realized it after her mother started telling her more about their childhood and how many people already chased them since they were young. There were many occasions when there were people sent to kill them in the past.


    Wei Shang had stopped in front of an alleyway. Ye Jiao could see that he was talking with someone, but they coated their voice with Eon Energy. That way, their conversation would be hidden from anyone else.


    "He''s cunning," Qi Huan frowned.


    "Yes, but he didn''t cover his lips," Ye Jiao smirked. Her ability to read lips'' movements came in handy right now. She didn''t learn it because she wanted to, but because she had to. However, it was this skill that allowed her to know what they were talking about.


    "Oh, right. What are they talking about, Jiao''er?"


    "Hmm¡­"


    Ye Jiao frowned as she continued to watch them talking, ignoring the young prince''s inquiry beside her. Qi Huan knew that she was concentrating, so he had no choice but to wait until they finished.


    Right now, he felt a slight regret that he didn''t learn how to read lips'' movements too.


    "It''s rare for you to call me outside, Wei Shang."


    "I''m sorry," Wei Shang replied with a flustered expression. "Can you contact other people outside?"


    "No. It''s not possible in this city. They''re going to start interfering if there''s anyone who dares to leak any information about Yun City and Xian Gu Kingdom," the man in front of him replied. "Did you do something again?"


    "It''s not that, but Ye Jiao is still alive."


    "Who''s Ye Jiao?"


    "Ye Xiao and Ai Xia''s daughter."


    "Isn''t she a trash?"


    "Apparently, no¡­" Wei Shang was unable to continue his words as he could sense the deathly aura coming from the man. The meaning was clear. If he couldn''t give a satisfactory reply within the next few seconds, there might be a bloodbath in this place.


    "You didn''t do your work properly, and you wish to dump it all to us?"


    "I¡­"


    "What''s her talent, and where is she now?"


    "She has S talent," Wei Shang''s face contorted slightly at the mention of that talent. Even he knew how precious one who has that talent was. For their enemy to be the one to have it¡­his heart was bleeding. "She''s already Eon Energy Master Rank 3, and she''s in this city."


    The temperature dropped to several degrees as the man looked at Wei Shang dangerously. He finally understood why they couldn''t detect it and treated her as a trash. Those with S talent were always regarded as trash in an ordinary place like them because they have no way to detect whether the person in question was a genuine trash or actually a genius.


    It was at this time that he felt the Chen Kingdom was genuinely useless.


    "I''ll handle her," the man turned around. "Make sure that you don''t create any more trouble. You wouldn''t want them to hear any of this."


    "I understand."


    The two of them went their separate ways. Their conversation was short, but it has given Ye Jiao more information. Her eyes gleamed with ruthlessness.


    "Jiao''er?"


    "It seems the Su Family is going to prepare a gift for me," Ye Jiao chuckled.


    Qi Huan blinked. "Su Family? How do you know they come from the Su Family?"


    "There''s a Su Family character on their back. Their cape partially covers it, but it''s there, right?"


    Hearing Ye Jiao''s words, it was Qi Huan''s turn to feel confused. They were standing under the darkness, so it should be impossible to see their back from this direction. After all, trying to see their lips alone was already quite difficult for him, much less seeing their back under the cape.


    The cape might have moved when they walked, so there was a possibility to see it.


    Just how good were this little girl''s eyes to see something like that?


    "I can''t see anything."


    "That''s weird," Ye Jiao murmured. "Let''s head to the square now. There are more people there, and I''m sure that no one will try to attack us in this city."


    "That''s obvious."


    Even if the Su Family wished for her to die, they wouldn''t make their move so clearly under the light. Once the news got found out by the people from the main kingdom (Xian Gu Kingdom), they will be punished heavily. In addition, the existence of the array alone was already more than enough to deter their movements.


    Unless they were idiots, but Ye Jiao highly doubted that.


    If they could become a powerful master and also an elder, they must have a brain. At least, to a certain degree.


    The two of them continued to walk towards the square. There were a few people over there, but not too many. Most of them were sitting on the ground, facing the middle. A colorful light pillar stood in the middle as if telling them that they shouldn''t ignore its presence.


    "What''s that pillar?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    "It''s a training pillar," Qi Huan replied. He had done his research and naturally knew about these things. "It''s said that if you train in front of the pillars that are spread all over the city, you''ll have your training efficiency raised. With just the same amount of training, you will yield double the result."


    "There are many of these pillars?"


    "Yes. Each of them has a different color, which is said to represent the path that you can pick when you become Eon Energy Master Rank 4."

 321 Enemies Meet at Narrow Path

    "There are four primary colors here, which represent four basic elements that an Eon Energy Elemental path has. The other pillars are white, transparent like glass, and also black, respectively. Each of them represents the other paths."


    "You know a lot, Senior Brother."


    "I have my own means to gather information," Qi Huan chuckled.


    "So, there are four paths once you become Eon Energy Master Rank 4?" Ye Jiao asked.


    Qi Huan nodded. "Four primary paths with Elemental being the most common one. Well, I don''t know the details too, but each of them has its own perks. I''m sure we''ll learn more about them once we enter the academy in the future.


    "I see. Shall we try?"


    "Sure."


    The two of them picked an empty spot and sat down on the ground before entering a meditative state. Ye Jiao could faintly sense the movements of Eon Energy around her body. At that moment, she felt as if she could see each of their colors clearly. The light surrounding her was no longer just bright, but they have their own distinctive color.


    ''Red, pink, orange, white, blue, light blue, brown, light brown, cream color, grey, silver, green, yellow, black¡­.''


    They all looked so beautiful. Even though Ye Jiao didn''t open her eyes, she could ''see'' them all surrounding her body through her senses. At that moment, she understood that each color must have represented every element that existed. However, they were not only four basic elements, even those that should be an intermediate element was there.


    ''Which one that I usually absorb?''


    Ye Jiao tried to pull them into her body. She could see two colors were drawn into her body rapidly as if they were impatient. Soon, warmth filled her body, and Ye Jiao no longer paid any attention to them.


    She focused her entire attention on the Eon Energy that she absorbed.


    Besides Ye Jiao, Qi Huan also began his practice. Different from Ye Jiao, he couldn''t see all of the colors. He could only see one that has a unique color for him. That was the one that got pulled into his body as he trained.


    Just like that, time passed without them knowing.


    Time passed swiftly.


    By the time Qi Huan finished his own training because he felt full, he noticed his surroundings had changed. He casually turned around to the nearby man.


    "Do you know how much time left before the beginning of the examination starts?"


    The man pointed to the highest building in that city. There were numbers written on top of it. "You can actually see it from there.''


    "I see. Thank you."


    ''This treasure helps us to focus and provide Eon Energy.''


    It was a beneficial treasure for someone who is still an Eon Energy Master Rank 3. He himself knew that it usually would take him a long time to gain this much. Seeing how he managed to absorb a lot, it just showed how much this path suited him.


    However, he still needed to check the other places too.


    ''Right, Ye Jiao?''


    He turned his head to the side and saw the young girl still sitting peacefully. She was calm and entirely focused on her own training without caring for anything else around her. There was a faint movement of Eon Energy around her body, pouring inside like an endless pool of water.


    Qi Huan was surprised to see that Ye Jiao could stay here for that long. After all, he himself had to finish his training because he was unable to stay here any longer.


    ''She must have great aptitude¡­ or is it because of her talent?''


    He was not sure.


    "Your Highness!"


    The sudden call caused his body to turn stiff. Upon seeing his guard, the one named Min, standing not far from him with a frown on his face, Qi Huan could only smile. He guessed that his appearance must have returned back to normal because his guard could notice him immediately.


    "Yes, Min?"


    "I can see that you sure take your time. You''re attracting attention by staying here for 2 days!" the guard named Min protested.


    Qi Huan''s eyebrows arched. It sounded as if staying here for a long time meant something. "Is it really attracting attention?"


    "Yes, that''s because only those who have innate talent can possibly stay for over a day," the guard wiped his sweat. "This meant that you have a great talent, Your Highness."


    Innate talent?''


    Qi Huan had heard about this in the past from his master. Those from the Four Kingdoms were not clear about what this was, but if one should say, it was the specialization talent. This talent didn''t worth anything before they reached Eon Energy Master Rank 4. Before that time, it would only help them to absorb Eon Energy quicker.


    This was the reason some people could be much faster than what their talent suggests them to be.


    Looking at the pillar before him, he knew that his talent must be a water element. From the story he heard when he visited the Spring Island before, he knew that the Qi Family was the descendant of the Water Emperor. That meant, he should have water specialization.


    ''But If I attract attention, what about Ye Jiao? Oh right, I just attract attention because of my hair.''


    "Isn''t that good news?" Qi Huan tried to gloss over the matter swiftly.


    The guard felt helpless. "The others are waiting for you to return, Your Highness. Please return back with me."


    "Fine, fine," Qi Huan shrugged and walked away from his position. His eyes landed on Ye Jiao for a split second, but he didn''t try to disturb the young girl.


    ¡­


    Ye Jiao opened her eyes when she had felt enough. Her body felt full, and she could see that her rank has stabilized ever further. It wouldn''t take that long for her to reach the middle stage.


    ''This treasure is really amazing.''


    She didn''t expect to see her surroundings changed completely. There was no one from the time when she had just started training. Even Qi Huan had disappeared. Looking around, she noticed the tallest building and the number written there.


    18 hours left.


    Eh?


    Ye Jiao looked at the time with a silly expression. She knew that it meant there was less than one day left but did it mean she spent her time here for five to six days? Just how much that she had absorbed from her surroundings?


    Even though she didn''t direct them all to her core, most of them still entered there. It was the reason she could feel that her rank had strengthened. As for the rest of the Eon Energy, she directed them all to every part of her body to nourish them.


    "Eh, she''s so small."


    The exclamation caused her to turn her head to the direction of the voice. Her eyes narrowed as she recognized them almost instantly as Chen Zi Quan, Wei Yin, Wei Cheng, Wei Mi, and Wei Xie. This would be the first time in her life she met with Wei Xie directly, but she knew that it must be her.


    The young girl has a delicate appearance with innocent¡ªlike eyes that would attract men with just a glance. She was dressed in humble clothes, which Ye Jiao guessed was because of her low status. As someone born from a lowly concubine, it was to be expected that she wouldn''t be able to wear precious things like the other two.


    However, her expression was calm. There was even a hint of a smile on the corner of her lips, making her look charming. It was as if there was nothing wrong with the treatment she got in the Wei Family.


    "Ye Jiao," Wei Cheng muttered out her name when he saw her face. After meeting with her again almost a week ago, he could never forget her anymore. She was the one who knew about his secret and had a compelling martial art.


    "Wei Cheng, Wei Mi, and Miss Wei Xie," Ye Jiao greeted them back.


    Wei Xie''s eyes flickered when she heard how Ye Jiao greeted her. This would be their first time meeting, so Ye Jiao treated her politely. However, comparing her with her brother and sister, she didn''t have that much worth.


    She raised her head to look at Ye Jiao. "Miss Ye Jiao, I don''t deserve that much praise."


    "It''s just a greeting," Ye Jiao smiled back.


    Wei Xie looked at Ye Jiao for a split second before retreating her gaze again. She acted as if she was nothing more than a servant in that family. Even though she was actually born as Wei Shang''s daughter, her status was so low.


    Wei Cheng didn''t seem to care for how she greeted them, but Wei Mi looked like she would explode anytime. Her eyes were red as she looked at Ye Jiao with a displeased expression. Right now, she wished for nothing more than to tear down this girl just like what she did in the past.


    How dare she call her by her name directly!


    "You don''t have the right to call my name!" Wei Mi roared.


    Hearing the young girl''s words, Ye Jiao just pursed her lips.

 322 It’s Not Going to be Peaceful

    Aside from the order, their mother hated each other, so their children also started to bare their fangs.


    "Is that so?" Ye Jiao didn''t think of Wei Mi''s words seriously. She knew this girl''s situation because she was the one who pushed her to the edge and destroyed the girl''s future. Even if Wei Mi cursed her continuously, she would pay no heed.


    Comparing her to her brother, who matured because of his new condition, she was just a spoiled rotten brat.


    She didn''t even understand what her action would do to her.


    Right now, Ye Jiao was the one whom they regarded as a genius while Wei Mi was nothing in front of their eyes. When Wei Mi started to berate her, they could only see her as a petty little girl, who couldn''t see things clearly. Comparing between a young genius and a crippled girl, who had a more significant impression?


    "Mi''er, don''t go overboard," Wei Cheng warned.


    "What?" Wei Mi glared at her brother. "She''s just a trash that shouldn''t have been here in the first place. She should have just died a long time ago!"


    "Wei Mi," Wei Yin suddenly spoke up. "She''s Eon Energy Master Rank 3, someone whom you have to respect."


    "Don''t you¡­"


    "Stop talking if you don''t want me to lock you in the house, Mi''er," Wei Cheng''s tone turned serious. They were in public, and it wouldn''t do them any good to just act out of their feelings. No matter how much they hated Ye Jiao, they would never be able to show it upfront in this place.


    Right now, she has a high place in everyone''s mind because of her shocking talent.


    A talent that only a small number of people had.


    Wei Cheng stepped forward and cupped his hands. He had lost his pride numerous times in front of Chen Zi Quan, adding one more wouldn''t harm him. Besides, he knew that he was no longer someone who could give a threat to Ye Jiao.


    "Miss Ye, I apologize for my sister''s behavior. We must have deeply offended you."


    Ye Jiao chuckled. "Who would care for a little kid''s words? No worry, Wei Cheng, I don''t feel offended."


    Little kid might not be a suitable term for Wei Mi from Ye Jiao. The two of them were actually of the same age or Wei Mi even a few weeks older. However, no one tried to nitpick the way Ye Jiao called her. They had seen how Wei Mi behaved like a kid, so no one felt surprised when they heard that.


    The only one who felt offended was Wei Mi. She felt terribly annoyed by Ye Jiao because of what she said.


    ''Little girl? Who''s the little girl?''


    Looking at Wei Cheng''s expression, Ye Jiao knew that he must be talking about the Blood Berserk Enhancement. It was a technique that he shouldn''t have known because of the origin, so Ye Jiao understood that Wei Cheng must have wanted to keep it a secret. Even though she didn''t know why Wei Cheng wanted to ask for their help, she knew it didn''t have any relation with her.


    "As long as you don''t give me trouble, I''m not going to speak about anything," Ye Jiao gave her words.


    Wei Cheng''s eyes flashed with relief. He could see that she understood what he was talking about and smiled slightly.


    "Many thanks for your generosity, Miss Ye."


    "It''s nothing much. Now, please excuse me."


    As Ye Jiao turned around, Wei Mi was about to yell again when a hand held her back. She was surprised and looked to the side, where Wei Xie had held her back.


    "What are you-?"


    "Miss, it''s not good to offend her now," Wei Xie replied with a smile.


    Wei Mi''s face turned ashen. She wanted to speak out again, but she quickly closed it down because she didn''t want to make things worse. Her brother has been glaring at her from the corner of his eyes.


    "Your Highness, I''m sorry about that."


    "It''s fine," Chen Zi Quan stayed silent all this time and only spoke out now. He glanced sideways to Wei Mi. "Do not bring her around anymore."


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    Wei Cheng could guess that Chen Zi Quan must have a poor impression of his little sister. He sighed internally, for he knew that she was indeed too spoiled. If only she learned how to curb herself better, this would not happen.


    "Wei Yin, please bring Wei Mi back first."


    "Yes."


    As they walked away, Wei Cheng followed after Chen Zi Quan. He noticed the prince seemed to have a somber expression.


    "Have I crossed paths with Ye Jiao in the past?"


    "No, you haven''t, Your Highness."


    "That''s good," Chen Zi Quan replied calmly. From what he had seen from Ye Jiao, he could guess that she would only bring him trouble. Right now, she would only rise and rise. Even if she experienced a bit of fall, it wouldn''t change the fact that she had S talent, a talent many people envied.


    Recalling the letter his father sent to him, his eyes flashed with ruthlessness. Someday, he would prove to the world that he was the real genius.


    As they walked away, Ye Jiao was watching from a distance carefully. She had said that she would not bother with them anymore, but they were the ones coming at her with not so good intentions. Aside from Wei Mi, who was so spoiled, the others were hard to guess. They would not be easy to deal with if they decided to cross paths with her.


    ''If they wish to come, I''m not going to be afraid.''


    Aside from that, she had to be grateful for Wei Liao to remind her to be careful around Wei Xie. That one short greeting had told her a lot of things. One thing she could sense clearly from Wei Xie was the deep seated pride inside her aura. She might be acting as a servant on the outside, but she has her own dignity as a martial artist.


    It was the kind of pride that could only come from a true genius.


    Even though Wei Xie hasn''t formed her core, that young girl has already started to exude her true worth. Talent would inevitably affect them a lot, but it was not everything. Without hard work, even if they have the most exceptional talent in the entire world, it would be worth nothing.


    Ye Jiao thought about this as she entered her room in the inn again. She quickly cleaned up and ate her fill before going to bed.


    ''Things are not going to be as peaceful as it is on the surface.''


    Ye Jiao woke up early the next morning and headed towards the tall building. There were already numerous people waiting outside of the building, looking at the time that continued to tick down. This was the gathering spot, where they have to gather together before the start of the examination.


    It didn''t take long for her to see Lu Wan, who was drenched in sweat because he practically ran to this place.


    "Are you alright?" Ye Jiao asked.


    Lu Wan was stunned, but he smiled wryly. "Yeah, I just ran."


    The time still showed that there were around 10 minutes or so left, so he was not late. Relief washed over him at that realization.


    "Where have you been to make you run that much?"


    "I was exchanging some golds with herbs. They''re all so expensive that I have to haggle a lot," Lu Wan complained. There were many weird herbs that he had never seen before, so he used this chance to get his hands on them all. They were all so precious to him.


    "¡­"


    "Why are you looking at me like that?"


    "Nothing," Ye Jiao should have expected this from her senior brother. He loved herbs and poison too much that it was a wonder whether he used this chance to practice or not. He must have used up all of his time to gather herbs and experimented on them.


    As the two of them talked, Qi Huan also arrived by the scene. This time, the guard all stopped before they could get close because only those who had the token could enter. They observed carefully from outside as Qi Huan walked inside.


    "It must be tiring to be watched all the time."


    "He has gotten used to it," Lu Wan shrugged, not caring in the slightest. "I heard that he has been doing nothing but staying in his place, training like crazy. This city is so big, but why is he not doing anything?"


    "I feel that you should be saying those words to yourself."


    "What? I''m doing my best to run around and gather precious herbs! You don''t know how much I have spent over the past few days just to get them all," Lu Wan''s face contorted as he recalled the price of those precious ones. Some rarer herbs were hard to find, so he had to fork out a lot of money.


    "I''ll be going. You shouldn''t stay too close to me."


    "Ah, right."

 323 The Examination Starts

    Ye Jiao moved to the front as she could see two other young people at the front. They should be around her age.


    The first one was a large and muscular young man. He has a stern expression with roguelike clothes. His robe was grey in color as he stood there proudly. There were a lot of people behind him, waiting patiently. From their proud expression, it was clear that they were following after his particular youth.


    The second one was a beautiful young man. Yes, beautiful. She knew that he was a male based on how he dressed, but he looked very feminine. He has long eyelashes and long blonde hair. The way he stood showed that he must have come from a powerful family. Even though there was a slight smile on the corner of his lips, Ye Jiao could sense the dangerous aura he emanated.


    "Oh, a little girl," the second man''s words sounded surprised. He looked at Ye Jiao with interest in his pale blue eyes.


    "Hello," Ye Jiao greeted with a smile on her face. She maintained her distance with the two of them because she wanted to be polite.


    "I''m Han Fu," the second and beautiful one introduced. "May I know your name, Young Miss?"


    "There''s no need to be overly polite. My name is Ye Jiao."


    "Ye Jiao? Oh my, that name truly suits you. You''re indeed beautiful," Han Fu laughed. Ye Jiao had goosebumps on her back as she noticed that the way he laughed was truly similar to that of a woman. Is he truly a man?


    "Thank you."


    Ye Jiao smiled politely and hid her real thoughts as she looked at the other young man. The large young man noticed her stare and forced a smile on his lips.


    "I''m Gao Yun from Thunder Alley."


    "I''m Ye Jiao from Four Kingdoms,??? Ye Jiao decided to add the location where she came from.


    "Oh, Four Kingdoms?" Han Fu''s interest was piqued. "Isn''t that the one where the balance is divided into four?"


    "Yes."


    "I come from Han Valley. It used to have the name of Three Kingdoms, but it changed after my family united the land," Han Fu said eagerly.


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. "I see, you must have come from a powerful family."


    "Yes~."


    This was the first time she met with a chatterbox man and also a feminine one at that. Looking at the two of them, she had guessed that they must have come from a different place. Come to think about it, there were more than 100 secluded locations, right? How many geniuses would each area be able to gather and stand out in this examination?


    As Ye Jiao was thinking, a man came out on the second floor of the building in front of them.


    "The examination will begin!"


    "First of all, I want to give a speech. I''m the representative of all the academies in the Xian Gu Kingdom and I welcome you all to this examination. The number of youngsters that gathered here has reached above 1 million¡­"


    As he began to speak, Ye Jiao realized that this man indeed could talk. He gave a long speech while she looked around. Now that he mentioned it, the number of youngsters in this place was truly a lot. She wondered how many of them would be able to pass later.


    "¡­ Now, I''ll tell you the content for this examination. You''ll enter into the building, which will directly transport you to the feet of Yun Mountain. Your task is to climb the mountain by following after one Elite Disciple that we have selected. Remember, the time limit is 12 hours after this disciple reached the peak.


    You can begin entering the building, and after all of you have got in, he''ll announce the start of the examination. Good luck, everyone."


    After he finished speaking, they could see the first floor of the building seemed to become slightly transparent. As Ye Jiao and the other two were at the forefront, they could see the chance clearer.


    "Shall we?"


    "Let''s go," Ye Jiao smiled. She didn''t understand why, but it seemed that the others were waiting for the three of them to enter first. Probably, it was because they were the ones who had the highest talent.


    Internally, she laughed to herself. Just a few days ago, she told herself that she would be the one standing at the forefront. Now, she had truly done it.


    This was only the beginning.


    The three of them walked into the building. There was a slight resistance, but Ye Jiao had gotten used to it. After a few seconds, they arrived on the other side. It was a mountain foot of a large mountain.


    "Wow," Ye Jiao murmured. She had never seen a real mountain before because of the location of her place. All mountains in Four Kingdoms were located at the edge, so it was pretty far for her.


    "This is a good place."


    "Yeah."


    The three of them didn''t speak anymore as they looked around while more and more people started to get inside. Ye Jiao could see a familiar young man standing not far from them, sitting peacefully on top of a large rock.


    ''So, Qin Zheng is truly the Elite Disciple.''


    After the place became awfully crowded, no more people poured in. Qin Zheng stood up from his place lazily. His appearance made many of them shocked as they could see that this young man was around the same age as the three at the forefront.


    Did it mean he was even better than them?


    "Good morning, everyone. I''m Qin Zheng, Mount Hua Academy Elite Disciple. I come here as the representative to show you the way to finish the examination. It''s actually quite simple. All you have to do is to climb this mountain. The time limit is 12 hours after I reach the peak. If you can''t reach the peak by that time, it means you fail," Qin Zheng explained briefly with a smile on his face.


    "Also, do not worry that I''ll be too fast. I''m Eon Energy Master Rank 3 middle stage, so my rank is pretty similar to most of you. However, keep it in your mind that this is not going to be an easy ride."


    A lot of people were looking at Qin Zheng with doubts now. Since the young man was at a similar rank with them, why would there be the 12 hours'' mark?


    "Well, he says it like that, but I''m sure that it''ll be easy."


    "Yeah, the time limit is too much."


    "It''ll be easy."


    Qin Zheng could guess that they were belittling him, but he didn''t care. If they didn''t trust him, they would be the ones to suffer in the end.


    "Let''s start."


    As he turned around and started walking, they also began to follow after Qin Zheng. Some of them anticipated that there would be something dangerous in the climb. Still, even after climbing for a few minutes, there was nothing that happened.


    ''It''s strange that it''s peaceful.''


    Ye Jiao observed Qin Zheng carefully because this was an unfamiliar place. She didn''t want to act recklessly because she didn''t know what would happen in this place. The pace at which Qin Zheng walked was extremely slow. It was as if he was strolling and not taking the exam seriously.


    "Hey, Qin¡­ something, how long do we have to walk at this pace?"


    "It''s too slow!"


    Several people from behind started to protest.


    Qin Zheng turned his head around to face them. He had a smile on his face, but Ye Jiao felt that it was tinged with darkness. "I did say that the time limit is 12 hours after I reach the peak, but you can actually go ahead of me."


    His words were transmitted directly to everyone around them. Once they heard that, their eyes lit up. They were already feeling down when they saw that the one who guided them would be someone of the same rank.


    He might be an Elite Disciple, but isn''t this a bit too much?


    Hearing Qin Zheng''s words, many of them smiled.


    "That''s great!"


    "Then, I''ll be going ahead!"


    "I''m going faster."


    Several people began to climb even faster. They quickly overtook Qin Zheng and rose even more swiftly. For those who had been living in the area where it was mountain ranges, this kind of climbing was a child''s play. They would be able to reach the peak easily by just walking faster.


    As for stamina, they have their confidence as Eon Energy Master Rank 3.


    "You three are not going to go ahead?" Qin Zheng asked when he noticed the three of them still stuck close to him, following after his lead with a steady pace.


    Han Fu shrugged. "They say that we have to follow after you, so I should just do what they told me."


    "They didn''t say there''s a reward for getting into the top first," Gao Yun replied.


    Ye Jiao smirked. "That''s because I''m sure this mountain is not simple, so I prefer to not ignore your instructions, Zhe- Senior Qin Zheng."


    She almost said Zheng Ge, but quickly changed her words. If she said it like that, she would be seen as an insolent youngster who greeted Qin Zheng impolitely. Though, it was him who forced her to greet him like that.


    "You three are not bad," Qin Zheng said indifferently. He looked over as he could see more people were still sticking close to him. Only a part of them decided to overtake him.


    "Of course~."


    "Thank you."


    Qin Zheng had just turned his head around to the front again when they suddenly heard the scream ahead of them.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

 324 Test of Courage

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    All of them quickly turned their heads to the front. They could see a few people in front of them suddenly disappear. In that instant, their hearts turned cold. What had happened over there?


    It didn''t take even one second for another series of screams to sound from the front as numerous people suddenly disappeared.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    "There''ll be a test imposed on all of you as we climb the mountain naturally," Qin Zheng explained unhurriedly. He took his time and didn''t say it to them directly. "If you fail the test, you''ll be sent directly to the bottom of the mountain."


    Test?


    Hearing Qin Zheng purposely didn''t tell them about that, they understood that Qin Zheng wanted to make them understand their lesson. They couldn''t possibly blame him because the man before did instruct them to follow after Qin Zheng carefully.


    "You''re cunning." Han Fu''s smile grew wider. "But I like this better. I thought that it''s going to be a boring walk, but it didn''t seem to be the case."


    "Glad that you like it." Qin Zheng chuckled. "Because in a while, you won''t be able to laugh about it anymore."


    Ye Jiao noticed that Qin Zheng??s steps seemed to change for a split second. She was confused, but then she suddenly noticed that a beast had appeared before her. Her hand instinctively raised her hand as she switched her center of gravity and punched it right in the stomach as she didn''t have the time to take out her dagger.


    Pssh!


    The moment her fist came into contact with the beast, it had disappeared into nothingness. Ye Jiao blinked her eyes as she noticed that she had returned back to the mountain with Qin Zheng already one step further than before.


    ''That¡­ must be Illusion Array!''


    For a split second, when the beast appeared before her, everyone around her disappeared. However, the scenery didn''t change in the slightest. She understood that it must be just testing their preparation and courage to face against a sudden attack from a beast that they didn''t even know.


    "Wow, that surprises me," Han Fu remarked. He had continued his walk like nothing happened, but there was astonishment in his eyes.


    "It must be an Illusion Array."


    "A powerful one at that. I don''t even notice when I enter the array, and that beast suddenly appears before me."


    "Right, but it disappears as soon as I try to attack it. Is it because our attack gets in or¡­?"


    "Ooh, right. I didn''t directly attack it, tho," Han Fu also titled his head. Even though they have only met with each other today for the first time in their lives, they didn''t have any qualms discussing with one another.


    It was as if they were already old friends.


    "Then maybe¡­"


    "This is a test of courage."


    Qin Zheng''s words stopped them from their discussion. They looked at Qin Zheng, who was walking leisurely in front of them without any apparent change in his footsteps. He didn''t seem to be surprised at the sudden attack at all.


    "Courage?"


    "Yes. If you cower your back against that beast, you''ll be directly sent to the bottom of the mountain and have to repeat it. Martial artists should be brave and not allowed to show their back to their enemies," Qin Zheng explained unhurriedly. He looked to the front. "This is only the beginning, so you should be prepared that there would be more to come."


    Ye Jiao knew that Qin Zheng was telling them to be prepared. This was only the beginning of the examination, so there would be more to come.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    "Wow, there are more people who are afraid," Han Fun turned his head to the back. There were a lot of people who had passed the first examination and had a stern face. However, many of them also screamed and sent to the mountain foot directly.


    "It''s better to fail early rather than late."


    "Why?"


    "Because there''s no chance to catch up if you fail when you''re already about to finish with the limited amount of time," Gao Yun said seriously.


    Right.


    Looking at the front, Ye Jiao realized that there was still a long way to go. There would be more tests upfront, and if they failed, they would be sent to start over at the very beginning. The feeling of failure would be immense at that time.


    There was also no time to catch up anymore.


    "Are you afraid?" Qin Zheng taunted.


    "No."


    "Nah, as if I would fail."


    "Not at all."


    The three of them replied almost immediately. They have their own reason as to why they couldn''t fail, so they know that they have to succeed. No matter how hard it would be, they would not give up.


    Not far behind from Ye Jiao, Qi Huan was walking steadily. He has passed the first test flawlessly as that kind of beast would be unable to make him afraid. Even if the beast had much more power than him, he would still face it.


    ''The examination is not going to be easy.''


    As they continued to walk, they suddenly felt as if there was a humongous pressure coming at them from upwards. The force was threatening to push them to the ground, making them unable to walk.


    "Wha¡­" Han Fu lost his balance for a split second. He quickly regained it as he looked at the ground with interest. "Hey, it''s interesting! Is there any gravitation array or something like that in this place? It suddenly became heavier to walk."


    "It feels like there''s Eon Energy Master Rank 4 releasing his aura," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. This kind of pressure felt oddly familiar to her because of her training in the past and also the battle against those Eon Energy Master Rank 4. They would release their aura and try to pressure her just because she was younger and at a lower rank compared to them.


    "Oh?"


    "Array is more plausible," Gao Yun said shortly.


    Han Fu nodded, but he looked at Qin Zheng as if waiting for an explanation.


    Even without looking, Qin Zheng said in a flat tone. "This is the second part of the examination."

 325 Test of Endurance

    Even without looking, Qin Zheng said in a flat tone. "This is the second part of the examination."


    "It has begun?" Ye Jiao was surprised. That was quicker than what she expected.


    "What''s tested here?"


    "You''ll know after you pass."


    "Hey! You''re truly stingy, Senior Qin Zheng. Why can''t you tell us what''s the content? Come on, just a little bit is fine."


    Turning her head to the young man before her, Ye Jiao was surprised. This man was even more of a chatterbox compared to what she thought. He continued to talk, or more correctly, pleaded to Qin Zheng to tell them what the content of their test this time was.


    ''Did he not feel tired?''


    Ye Jiao had to focus on circulating her Eon Energy to endure the sudden pressure, but the young man beside her seemed to not feel anything as he continued to talk. On the other hand, Gao Yun didn''t look surprised to hear Han Fu began to become a chatterbox.


    "Do you already know, Senior Gao?"


    "Just call me directly with my name," Gao Yun replied. "He has done that when I meet him the first time."


    "Ah¡­ I see."


    However, Han Fu soon stopped his chatting. He felt tired since Qin Zheng practically ignored him and continued to walk in an unhurried pace. It was as if he didn''t exist in the first place. As it was not the first time for him to get ignored, Han Fu didn''t feel offended in the slightest.


    "Hey, he''s so cold. Do you two have any thought about what this test might be?"


    The two of them looked at Han Fu as if saying that ''it was obvious.'' No one would be able to stand this man pestering them if they didn''t have the heart of steel. After all, their ears would be ringing just by being near this young man.


    Ye Jiao looked at the front. "Probably endurance."


    "Endurance?" Han Fu frowned. "This kind of pressure is easy to deal with. You just need to circulate your Eon Energy and continue walking. No problem at all."


    "Well yeah, but how long can your Eon Energy last?"


    Hearing that question, realization dawned on Han Fu''s face. They didn''t even know when they started entering the array that caused this sudden pressure, much less knowing when it would end. If the pressure lasted until they ran out of Eon Energy, they might not even be able to stand up anymore.


    After all, not many of them practiced their physical ability. And even if they did, without Eon Energy, it would be useless because the more powerful they were, the more they needed Eon Energy.


    "You''re probably right," Gao Yun said slowly. "This might be a test for our endurance."


    "Heh, as if they can make me run out of Eon Energy," Han Fu snorted. He puffed his cheeks. "I have a massive amount of pills in my storage bracelet, so¡­"


    "You can''t open them."


    "Eh?"


    "What do you mean I can''t open my storage bracelet?" Han Fu asked with a frown.


    Qin Zheng passed a glance. "It''s as I say. Everything related to spatial is locked in this place, so you won''t be able to use your weapon or anything that you keep inside your storage bracelet."


    Not even a weapon?


    Ye Jiao''s expression turned solemn. She knew that her fighting skill was not that much without a weapon. Even though her physical ability was stronger than normal people, it was only up to a certain degree. There would be no way she could face a strong opponent without her dagger.


    Probably, she would need to start learning how to fight without her weapon to make sure that she could protect herself when she was unable to access her storage bracelet.


    "That''s cheating! How come we''re unable to use our weapon too? This test is rigged!"


    Hearing how Han Fu began to complain, Gao Yun and Ye Jiao chose to shut their mouths. Rather than wasting their energy to complain, it would be better for them to pay attention to their Eon Energy circulation. They have to make sure that they can last until the test is over.


    That was only if it was possible.


    Soon, Ye Jiao realized that her Eon Energy had depleted. The pressure that came crashing to her body intensified as she was unable to block it with her Eon Energy anymore. Gritting her teeth, Ye Jiao endured as she continued to walk at the same pace as before.


    This would not be the first time for her to walk and endure without Eon Energy. She had done this in the past. Even though the pressure was several folds larger, she didn''t care in the slightest.


    One step.


    Two steps.


    Slowly but surely, Ye Jiao continued to walk. Droplets of sweat began to slide down her face as she walked in an unhurried pace.


    Beside her, Gao Yun and Han Fu also no longer speak. They focused their attention entirely on their steps, trying to make sure that they didn''t fall. The pressure was pulling them down, so they had to make sure that they still could walk.


    ''Qin Zheng seems to be fine¡­''


    The only one who didn''t seem to have any change whatsoever was Qin Zheng. He continued to walk at a leisurely pace. There was no apparent change in his steps as he walked and walked.


    ''He''s getting further.''


    Ye Jiao noticed that her steps have become smaller. She was unable to walk at the same pace as before anymore. With time, her back was completely drenched in sweat as her steps started to stagger. However, Ye Jiao continued to force herself to walk upfront.


    Bang!


    She could hear the sound of youngsters falling down on the ground because they were unable to continue. Within a second, they were transported back to the mountain foot. Many of them might not even be able to climb again, as it was hard to pass this second test.


    On her back, Qi Huan was also walking unhurriedly. Internally, he felt slightly glad that he had experienced this before in the past. Even though the degree was completely different, it helped him to have a stronger body.


    "Whoa!"


    Feeling the pressure around her suddenly change, Ye Jiao nearly fell down.

 326 Test of Will and Hear

    "Whoa!"


    Feeling the pressure around her suddenly change, Ye Jiao nearly fell down.


    "What are-whoa!"


    Not only her but the two young men beside her also almost fell down. They were surprised by the sudden change in pressure, so they needed to adjust their steps once more.


    "That surprises me."


    "Yeah," Gao Yun nodded his head in agreement. He looked at Qin Zheng, who had stopped to look at them.


    "The second test is finished. Congratulations to you three," Qin Zheng said plainly. "I didn''t expect to see you stick so close to me, but don''t be happy yet. There''s still much more tests ahead. If you can''t follow me, you may stay here to recover your Eon Energy first before continuing."


    "Guh, you''re a monster. Do you really feel nothing after all that?" Han Fu looked at Qin Zheng in disbelief.


    Ye Jiao also looked at Qin Zheng. There was a faint trace of sweat on the young man''s face, but he had wiped them. It seemed that he didn''t want them to know that he was actually also doing the same examination as them. However, he was staying at the forefront not without any reason.


    He indeed had the capabilities to do so.


    "I''ll be going ahead."


    Qin Zheng turned around and started to walk again. Ye Jiao chose to not rest and followed after Qin Zheng. As she walked, she began to absorb the Eon Energy in her surroundings slowly.


    "I''m going too," Gao Yun said as he also followed after the two of them. He still looked well even after the torture they have to go through not long ago.


    Seeing the two of them continue to walk, Han Fu cursed out. "Damn it! Wait for me! I''m going too."


    More and more people arrived in the place. They sat down on the ground as soon as they no longer felt the pressure. It was so tiring to walk without using Eon Energy at all. Many of them have reached their physical ability limit, so they were unable to walk any further.


    "Are they monsters?"


    "I think it''s better to ask whether they''re sane or not. Walking without any ounce of Eon Energy in their body."


    "Yeah, they''re suicidal."


    By this time, Qi Huan had arrived with a few more others. They all sat down as they were unable to continue. Most of them began to absorb Eon Energy at insane speed while the rest was talking first before they started to train.


    "The time limit is also 12 hours after that man arrived."


    "Yeah, there''s still enough time to recover our strength."


    "Are you going to rest too, Prince Qi Huan?"


    "I have recovered enough," Qi Huan smiled. He was standing here for a few minutes in order to make sure that he absorbed enough Eon Energy. Without any Eon Energy at all, he knew that he wouldn''t be able to survive.


    Cao Ren nodded. "I''ll be going too in a while. You can go ahead."


    "Then I won''t be polite."


    Qi Huan turned around and began walking again. Some others also have the same opinion as him. They began walking after they had absorbed a bit of Eon Energy. On their way walking, they also absorbed Eon Energy little by little, just enough to make them not fall to the ground.


    "They''re all insane."


    "Why hurry when they can rest?"


    "They''re just going to fail."


    A lot of people felt that they were idiots. Trying to walk right away after depleting their Eon Energy, were they not afraid that they would die in the middle of the way? However, not a single one of them tried to speak up as they focused on their recovery.


    They continued to walk for a long time without anything happening to them. Still, all of them stayed vigilant as they didn''t know what kind of test they would face in this stage. The only one who seemed to act so nonchalant was Qin Zheng, who was walking at the front calmly.


    Suddenly, Ye Jiao could feel the air in front of her distorted. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized that everyone around her had changed.


    ''I must have entered another Illusion Array.''


    She looked around, trying to find anything that could help her get out of here. As she turned to the right, she could see two familiar figures standing there. They were smiling at her brightly as if they were proud of her.


    "Mother¡­ Father¡­"


    Ye Jiao could feel her eyes started to water when she saw her parents once more. She knew that they have long died, but seeing their appearance like this again invoked her memory once more.


    She missed them.


    She missed them so much!


    Ye Xiao opened his arms with a familiar smile as if he was inviting Ye Jiao to his hug. When she was small, Ye Jiao often went with Ye Xiao to hunt. Because she was small, he would lift her up and place her on his shoulder or just carry her around with his arms. This gesture of his was truly familiar to her.


    On the other hand, Ye Ai Xia was smiling tenderly at her direction. She still remembered her mother often smiled at her with that smile. It was a kind smile full of affection and worry. Her mother would always hug her tightly with that kind of smile.


    "Mother, Father¡­. I miss you two, but I know that this is nothing but an illusion," Ye Jiao smiled. The two of them had died a long time ago, so she would never be able to meet with them again. No matter how much she wanted to, she would never be able to see them and talk to them anymore.


    This one in front of her should be just taken from her memory by the Illusion Array or any other kind of array.


    "Jiao???er, what are you talking about?"


    Ye Jiao''s pupils shook as she stared at her father. His voice¡­ it was exactly the same as what she remembered. Because she had not heard from him for years, she had started to forget how he sounded. But this voice pulled her back to the time of her childhood.


    Ye Xiao stared at her with a kind smile. "You don''t have to cry. Just tell everything to me, Father will help you to solve them all."


    "Father, Mother¡­" Ye Jiao paused for a moment. She looked at the two figures in front of her with watery eyes.


    "Jiao''er."


    "Yes, Jiao''er?"


    "I''m already grown up, so I no longer need to rely on you two anymore," Ye Jiao smiled, a genuine smile on her face. She had long accepted that she would never be able to meet them again. To be able to see them, even if it was nothing more but a projection coming from a part of her memories, was already a good thing.


    She couldn''t possibly ask for anything more.


    It was already enough.


    "I can''t change the past and meet with you two anymore. However, I can change the future, and I''ll continue to pursue my dream. From now on, Father and Mother didn''t have to worry about me anymore," Ye Jiao smiled.


    At her reply, ''Ye Xiao'' and ''Ye Ai Xia'' smiled tenderly. Soon afterwards, they disappeared and nothing remained in their place.


    Clang! Slash!


    Ye Jiao quickly shifted her head to the left. Over there, she could see the sight of destruction in the Wei Family. Wei Shang was in despair, and the one who was fighting against them was her.


    With her dagger, she was killing everyone whom she saw. There was not even a trace of mercy in her eyes as she looked at them all as if they were just low lives. Lots of people died as the smell of blood permeated the entire area.


    Seeing the Wei Family members in despair, she had the feeling that she wanted it.


    They have caused her so many grievances in the past.


    But¡­


    Not like this.


    "I have already enacted my revenge against them. Even though I only target a few of them, I believe that it''s already more than enough. As a martial artist, I shouldn''t let my eyes cloud with revenge and destroy everyone," Ye Jiao looked at the servants'' corpse that fell down not far from her legs.


    "Why?"


    The question alarmed Ye Jiao as there was no one else around her. She looked at the figure in front of her. Her mirror image could speak too?

 327 Door to Rank 4

    "They have paid for what they have done to me. I no longer want my path to be filled with despair and cries, but happiness. I wish to be happy with my friends and future friends that I have not met yet."


    She didn''t want to learn martial arts just for the sole sake of revenge. There were times when she felt that she truly wished to destroy them, but she knew that it was not worth it. She has her own dreams too, which was to reach the peak and protect everything that she treasured.


    Revenge might be part of it, but it wouldn''t be the entirety of her path, just like what Lu Wan told her.


    "Do you think you can be happy?" ''Ye Jiao'' asked with derision, there was a dark laugh beneath the young girl''s face.


    Ye Jiao looked at her own expression and smiled. She knew that she doubted herself that she would be happy with the numerous enemies that she had. Her life might always be filled with danger and all, but she knew that it would not be the entirety of her life.


    "Why not? Even in little things, I can be happy."


    ''Ye Jiao'' looked at her with her hollow expression as her body started to disintegrate.


    Watching that expression on her face along with the darkness around the girl''s body, Ye Jiao knew that it was herself. To be exact, it was part of her heart when she wanted to kill everyone in the Wei Family. She had long wished for it because she knew what they have done to her was something that she could not forgive easily.


    But this was not real.


    She didn''t want to destroy everyone''s life just because some of them have destroyed hers. There was a part in her heart that didn''t wish to see their death.


    ''I might be a bit too soft and na?ve, but I''m not going for that path.''


    She had seen for herself how the circle of revenge worked. With grievances that were embedded deeply into their heart, they would do anything just to take their revenge. It was scary and dark.


    It was not the path that she wished to take.


    Ye Jiao watched as gold appeared in front of her, but she didn''t show even the slightest interest. She did like wealth, but she already had enough of them. Rather than living while drowned in wealth, just having enough of them for her use would be enough.


    The gold disappeared as soon as it appeared as if it understood that Ye Jiao would not have any interest in it.


    Truth be told, if she had any interest in material wealth, she would have tried to take a lot of them from Qin Zheng from a long time ago. After all, that man was basically a walking treasure trove.


    Afterwards, Ye Jiao could see that she was standing at the peak with numerous people behind and below her. They were looking at her with reverence as if they were looking at someone from above.


    A small smile appeared on the corner of her lips. "It''s my dream to reach the peak, but I know that I''m not worthy of such a thing yet. There is still a long way to go, and I''ll do my best to reach it. Someday, I''ll surely reach the peak."


    As soon as she finished talking, the scenery changed once again.


    This time, Ye Jiao could see that she had returned back to the mountain once again. Qin Zheng was standing in front of her, looking at her with interest. The other two also seemed to have just woken up from something. Still, they seemed to be in a daze as if they were not here.


    "That''s¡­"


    "Everything you have witnessed is your desires, regret, and also your goal. It''ll show everything interchangeably. If you couldn''t get past them, you won''t be able to wake up, and after an hour, you''ll be sent directly to the mountain foot," Qin Zheng explained with a smile.


    Ye Jiao turned to look at Gao Yun, who seemed to have focused his gaze again. He looked at Qin Zheng with a frown.


    "Can you repeat it?"


    Qin Zheng repeated it exactly the same while the two of them contemplated. Ye Jiao had never thought that her desire to see her parents again would be that big. However, she knew that they have always been her idols, whom she loved very much. It wouldn''t be weird for her to miss them very much.


    "Senior Qin Zheng, is this test not just designed for us to pass?"


    Hearing the question from Gao Yun, Qin Zheng smiled. "What do you think the purpose of the test is?"


    "It''s also to allow us to know ourselves better."


    Ye Jiao furrowed her brows. Rather than to know themselves, she saw it more to let them reflect. "It''s not just seeing, but also reflecting on our path."


    By this time, Han Fu seemed to also refocus his gaze. He looked at the two of them with confusion.


    "What? What? What did you two just say?"


    Qin Zheng seemed to prefer to ignore the young man as he nodded his head. "You''re not wrong. The purpose of the test is indeed not just to test your capabilities, but also to let you reflect on your path. It''ll allow you to have a clearer view of your path and possibly help you reach rank 4."


    Even though it was designed as such, he knew that the three of them ended the test too quickly for it to help much. They must have a firmer mind and a clear view of their own path. They would once again reflect on it when they were about to reach rank 4, but at that time, a small confirmation would be enough.


    These three didn??t seem to have many doubts about their own path.


    "How long did I took to finish the test?" Han Fu asked hurriedly. Rather than caring for the purpose, he seemed to care more about the time.


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "Around 4 to 5 minutes."


    "That long? Damn!"


    The others were looking at Han Fu with disbelief. If those were categorized as long, what would those people who struggled for an hour? After all, the time limit for the test itself was an hour.


    "What? I heard that you need to finish it in under 3 minutes to be qualified to reach rank 4. That means I still need more time to reflect on my path," Han Fu sulked. He wanted to be able to reach rank 4 quicker and this realization just hit him hard. He thought that he was ready, but it didn''t seem to be the case.


    Qin Zheng nodded his head. "You still have some time before your Eon Energy reaches the required amount. During that time, I''m sure that you will be able to think more about your path and reach the requirement."


    "That''s still going to be a long way to go," Han Fu groaned. Cutting down even a little bit of time would be hard because he knew that he would answer the same way now. Besides, it just meant that he was not ready yet to become Eon Energy Master Rank 4.


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. "It seems that it''s important to reach rank 4?"


    "There are two barriers to rank 4! Don''t you already know that? This annoying path is one of them¡­"


    As Han Fu began to complain, Qin Zheng turned his body around and started walking again. The other two were also following behind him while Han Fu quickly stopped his rambling. He still wanted to talk, but the others didn''t seem to be willing to talk with him.


    While the four of them and other youngsters who followed behind started to walk again, on top of the mountains there were five people watching them with interest.


    "It seems that there are more outstanding youngsters this year."


    "Indeed."


    "If they manage to be nurtured, that event is going to be extremely lively," A woman said as she sipped her drink calmly. She was wearing a peach colored robe with her long hair fluttered behind her back. Even though she was already in her forties, she still looked no different than youth in their twenties.


    The first man who talked was a middle aged man with a slightly plump body. He has a calm aura, which made one respect him in a single glance. Listening to what the woman said, his eyes lit up in interest. "Elder Xin is correct. Do you have any youngsters that you set your eyes upon?"


    The woman glanced down at the four youngsters who were going up. They were much faster than the others as they were still struggling in either the empty path or the illusion that tested their heart.


    "That young man called Gao Yun is not bad at all. He''s very suited for our academy."


    "I disagree," the other middle aged man raised his voice. He has a large body with bulky muscle, yet the trace of old age has started to become apparent. His sharp eyebrows were twined together, showing his displeasure.


    "Why is it, Elder Yi?"


    "He''s more suited to my academy."


    The second woman passed a glance at the middle aged man named Elder Yi. She has tender skin and a fair appearance. Dressed in pale blue dress and white cape, she looked like a fairy that was capable of enchanting every man she met. That was only if she hadn''t opened her mouth.


    "You? Don''t joke with me, Elder Yi. You should just go and recruit a youngster who''s more suited to the water element."


    "My academy is not just for water element specialists, Elder Cai. Please mind your words."


    "Is that so? Why did I think that you''re only recruiting them lately?"


    "Please, you''re just going to smear my academy name if you continue."


    The other three people decided to ignore these two. They already knew that Elder Yi was famous for his short temper while Elder Cai was famous for her feistiness. When these two met, these kinds of clashes would become extremely common. And unfortunately, the two of them were also very petty.


    It would be better if they didn''t get involved, or it might not end well.

 328 Test of Skills 1

    It would be better if they didn''t get involved, or it might not end well.


    "If it''s you, is there anyone whom you preferred, Elder Qian?" Elder Xin asked the plump man.


    The plump man named Elder Qian looked at the group. "Those three are naturally not bad to be able to follow after Qin Zheng."


    "They have S talent, so it''s natural. Also, please don''t tell me that you set your eyes on the three of them," Elder Cai snapped. "Don''t be greedy, Elder Qian."


    "Hahaha, you''re still as feisty as ever, Elder Cai," Elder Qian replied in a light hearted tone. He was calm and unperturbed with how the middle aged woman replied to him. "It''s still early to say anything. We shall see how they perform later."


    "Hmph, I''m taking tabs for one of the three. No matter which one of them, I''ll surely bring them to my academy."


    Elder Yi snorted at Elder Cai''s words. "Your academy? Are you sure that they have your element of ice?"


    "It''s not only ice."


    "It is!"


    "No, it''s not!"


    The other three gave up discussing this and continued to watch over the youngsters. In any case, the test had only lasted for a few hours. They needed to take a look at the other youngsters too in case there was a hidden gem. After all, their talent would only give them an advantage at the beginning of their journey.


    Afterwards, all that''s left would be their hard work and dedication.


    The participants didn''t know that the elders were talking about them. And even if they knew, that wouldn''t have any effect on their performance. Right now, more people have started to catch up, especially those who were at Eon Energy rank 3 late stage. They have realized that it was safe to travel fast after they encountered the test. The most important thing would be to stay behind Qin Zheng.


    No one wanted to repeat what had happened in the first part because of this young man''s little scheme.


    Qin Zheng has also started to pick up his pace. This caused him to grow further and further away from the three of them and also many other disciples around Ye Jiao. Not only that, the only one who seemed to be able to follow closely with Qin Zheng was Gao Yun because that young man was also at rank 3 middle stage.


    *Pant* *pant*


    "This has truly become a race," Han Fu remarked. He was not far from Ye Jiao because he couldn''t pick up his pace. Even though so, he was still slightly in front of Ye Jiao.


    "It''s getting faster."


    "Right."


    From the corner of her eyes, Ye Jiao could see that Qi Huan has caught up. The young man had a solemn expression, but he was focused on the front. Everyone seemed to sense that there would be only one last test before they could reach the peak.


    It was time to go all out to get a better result.


    "There''s only one last test from here onwards," Qin Zheng''s voice suddenly reverberated to everyone who had passed the third test. "You can access your storage bracelet when the test begins. Let me remind you first that you won''t be able to take any medicine out or, you''ll be sent directly to the mountain foot."


    Access storage bracelet?


    Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows. If they were not allowed to take out medicine, could be it be that they would be allowed to take out their weapon? Her eyes turned sharp. She could guess that the last test must not be easy. It might require them to fight against a more powerful beast or even a large number of them at the same time.


    More and more people started to overtake her, but Ye Jiao stayed calm and continued to walk in her pace. She could sense that they were all Eon Energy Master Rank 3 at the late or middle stage.


    It seemed that stage also has its own advantage in this place.


    "Aaaaa!"


    "Whoa!"


    Hearing the scream from the front, Ye Jiao raised her head to look at the front. She couldn''t see anything other than their back. Her eyes naturally landed on Qin Zheng''s back, who continued to become smaller and smaller until it disappeared. There was no panic or anything like that from what she saw from the young man.


    "He disappears?"


    Bang!


    One of the people was suddenly thrown to the back. Even though Ye Jiao didn''t know what the man saw, she instinctively moved away from the course. He was moving too fast, and without her Eon Energy, she would only harm herself if she tried to catch him.


    "Whoa!"


    "Hey!"


    Some unlucky people behind her unluckily crashed with him. Thankfully, that person was fine and only sustained minor injuries that came from who knows where.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes sharpened as she trod carefully.


    One step.


    Two steps.


    Three steps.


    After a few more steps, Ye Jiao was surprised to see her surroundings changed considerably, and in front of her was a pack of beasts. Her mind immediately thought of her dagger and summoned it out. She was glad that it could appear at that moment as the beast pounced on her.


    ROAR!


    Dodging to the side, Ye Jiao swung her dagger. It was directed straight to the beast''s stomach. At that moment, the beast seemed to understand her intention as it jerked its body to the side, evading her dagger in the nick of time.


    "You''re quite fast."


    From the aura that the beast had, Ye Jiao could guess that it must be a rank 3 beast. Moreover¡­


    Sneaking a look behind the beast, Ye Jiao''s expression turned grim. There were four other beasts at the same rank as this beast. She knew that they wouldn''t make it easy, but should they prepare five beasts at rank 3?


    Do they want her to die in this examination?


    Before she could think any further, two of the beasts suddenly pounced at her from different sides. Ye Jiao swiftly dodged it by moving back, but she noticed that the third beast had come to the location where she wanted to dodge. Her hand quickly swung her dagger to block the claws that were about to reach her.


    Clang!


    "You¡­" The power behind the bite was large. Ye Jiao stomped on the ground and jumped above the beast before her as several beasts were trying to pounce at her from the front. Her dagger was thrusted into the beast''s neck as she landed on its back


    Jleb!


    Roar!


    "One down," Ye Jiao muttered emotionlessly. Her eyes were looking at the four beasts in front of her. Their aura and strength matched those of rank 3 beasts, but their attack was extremely simple. They didn''t even try to use their Eon Energy.


    "This should be simple."


    The moment she said that, she noticed the last beast was gathering his Eon Energy in front of his mouth, intending to launch a formidable attack.


    ''I shouldn''t have said that.''


    Bam!


    Jumping to evade the beast''s claw, Ye Jiao frowned. She could see the last beast was already ready to attack her even though there were a lot of its teammates around her. At the same time, a beast pounced at her with its jaw opened wide, intending to bite her mercilessly.


    Bite! Clang!


    Ye Jiao blocked it with her dagger. The teeth were stopped by only her dagger and pure strength as the beast was surprised. Before the beast could recover, Ye Jiao circulated her Eon Energy to her legs. She pushed her body to turn around, bringing the beast to stand in front of the last beast.


    Bang!


    The Eon Energy was shot right to the beast. On his back, Ye Jiao could feel tremendous force of Eon Energy as she was pushed to the back several feet. Her eyes noticed the other two beasts were coming at her. She quickly kicked the dead beast that bit her dagger, and swung her dagger to block the two beasts.


    Clang! Clang! Swish!


    *cough*


    ''Ugh, I don''t have any Eon Energy left.''


    It might be her mistake to jump into the battle without recovering her Eon Energy first, but Ye Jiao didn''t want to waste any more time recovering. She could fight even without her Eon Energy.


    These beasts were not that strong.


    With that in mind, Ye Jiao switched her stance and readied herself to face the remaining three beasts.

 329 Test of Skills 2

    The first beast roared angrily and started to run towards Ye Jiao''s direction. Its body was enveloped in thick Eon Energy as it used it to protect itself.


    Swish!


    Ye Jiao evaded by sidestepping to the side. She swung her dagger and stabbed the beast on its stomach.


    Roar!


    The moment her attack hits, she slides on the ground to the other side because the beast has come to her. Her dagger made a long wound on the beast''s stomach as blood splattered out along with the intestines. They tainted the ground while Ye Jiao had stepped to the back.


    Roar!


    The wounded beast was angry. It seemed to have given up as it gathered its Eon Energy to its core.


    ''I have to get away.''


    Without caring for the other beast, Ye Jiao quickly ran to the other side as fast as possible. She quickly initiated her movements technique, not minding the fact that she barely has any Eon Energy left in her body.


    Swish!


    She instantly arrived several meters away from her previous location. Her body was hurting from the use of the technique just now. However, she paid it no heed and crouched on the ground, protecting her head.


    BAM! Blaarr!


    Loud explosion sound appeared on her back along with humongous Eon Energy pressure. It pushed back everything around Ye Jiao while she herself crouched on the ground, protecting her head.


    ''This is the first time I know that beast rank 3 has the intelligence to detonate their own core.''


    All this time, she had never encountered any beast that was capable of thinking like humans could do. Their fighting skill seemed so simple, but that pack just now coordinated with one another to seal her movements. They could predict where she would escape and sealed that route to make sure that they could land a hit.


    It was terrifying.


    While Ye Jiao was waiting for the explosion to finish, the elders were watching her fight with amusement.


    "She''s not bad at all."


    "The other two too. They seem to show their true skill when they''re cornered," Elder Xin''s eyes were sparkling. She always loved to see the youngsters fight because it would be interesting. Right now, the sight of these three fighting in the array was truly a grand feast for her.


    "They''re all dangerous on their own," Elder Qian nodded. "It seems that not a single one of them is a pampered genius."


    Elder Cai snorted. "As if they could possibly be pampered in those secluded areas. They''re not like those people in the main country who''s so pampered that they can''t even bear a single grievance."


    "Are you belittling those powerful geniuses? Remember that many of them are already famous by now!"


    "What? It''s less than 1 percent. The others are basically trash who had better luck to taste what it''s like to have so much talent."


    "You-!"


    "Elder Qian, that should be Qin Zheng''s skill, right?" Elder Xin also noticed it.


    "Yes," Elder Qian nodded. "It''s possible to be just a similar skill since the one that Qin Zheng used could only be used by people who come from his family."


    "Indeed."


    While the four of them were separated into two groups, only one man was staying silent all the time. He was watching the youngsters show their skill one by one to pass the test without saying anything.


    On Ye Jiao''s side, she could finally feel the pressure subsided.


    "Are all the beasts dead?" Ye Jiao turned her head around. That was a powerful explosion from a rank 3 core. Even if they were powerful, they wouldn''t be able to survive this explosion, right?


    Or not¡­


    Looking at the blood stained beast in front of her, Ye Jiao''s eyes narrowed once again. She could see that there was scattering flesh all over the beast''s right side. That could only prove one thing: it was using its comrade to block the attack, allowing itself to be the sole survivor.


    Roar!


    The beast roared angrily and dashed towards Ye Jiao''s direction. Its body was coated in Eon Energy as it charged speedily.


    ''I have to move.''


    Twisting her legs, Ye Jiao evaded the attack to the side. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the beast abruptly stopped right beside her. Its jaw was opened wide as it came towards her direction at rapid speed.


    There was no time for her to evade again.


    Making her resolve, Ye Jiao thrusted her hand with the dagger to the front, right to the beast''s mouth. She could feel the teeth grazing her flesh, but she paid it no heed. Her hand went directly to the inside of the beast''s mouth as the momentum forced her dagger to go through the beast''s head.


    Stab! Jleb!


    With such a wound on its head, the beast struggled for a bit. Ye Jiao watched directly as the beast''s eyes were staring back at her with hatred and unwillingness. However, she had long seen them in the past. Her eyes were cold as she just watched the beast struggle before it breathed its last.


    ''You can be kind, but you should know that if you don''t kill it, you''ll be the one to die. Even kindness has its limit.''


    Ye Jiao didn''t remember who told her that in the past as she eased her mind. Her surroundings changed as she had returned back to the mountain. She could see Han Fu and Gao Yun were fighting against enemies that she couldn''t see.


    Ouch!


    Feeling the sharp pain, Ye Jiao directed her gaze to her hand. The wounds from the battle from that array lasted on her. She decided to just absorb Eon Energy to withstand the pain and walked forward.


    ''It''s painful.''


    After two light steps, Ye Jiao realized that she had hit an invisible wall. There was a sudden pressure around her body while everything around her changed. She nearly cursed out loudly.


    ''There''s another test right away?''

 330 You’re Annoying

    Everything around her started to change at a rapid speed. Ye Jiao quickly readied her stance again, but she was surprised to see the lustrous green around her. She had arrived in a grassland, or more correctly, a flat prairie with a high wall not far in front of her. There was nothing around her but grass and an extremely annoying man who was looking at her with interest.


    "Zhe- Qin Zheng, what are you looking at?" Ye Jiao asked coldly.


    Qin Zheng laughed when he heard her get angry the moment she saw him. Truthfully, he was not expecting her to appear as the first person because he had seen how each of them was held back by the five beasts. Everyone has to fight five beasts with the power of the beast corresponding with their current stage.


    If one was Eon Energy Master Rank 3 early stage, the beasts would be those who had just reached rank 3 plus one that has consolidated its strength.


    If one was Eon Energy Master Rank 3 middle stage, the beast would be those who had consolidated its strength and one that had already mastered the attacks.


    And so on.


    Even though the power of the beasts differed greatly, the time taken for each person would all solely depend on their skill. It was truly a test designed to see their full capabilities.


    "I''m surprised that you''re here."


    "I''m more surprised that you didn''t die yet," Ye Jiao spat out coldly. The way he looked at her was filled with disbelief. She felt annoyed thinking that he thought she wouldn''t be able to reach this place.


    "Anyway, how''s your arm?" Qin Zheng had naturally noticed that Ye Jiao got herself wounded because of the battle.


    Ye Jiao moved her right arm a bit. "It''s not that bad."


    "Really, do you need¡­?"


    "Please don''t try to extort me again. I don''t have anything that can possibly pique your interest anymore."


    "Why do you speak as if I''m taking advantage of you?"


    "That''s the truth."


    Qin Zheng pursed his lips slightly. "Let''s wait for more people before I announced to you that you have passed the examination."


    Passed the¡­?


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Qin Zheng with incredulity. Did he just tell her that she had passed the examination? Did it mean she was qualified to enter the academy now?


    "Why are you the one who looks at me with disbelief now?"


    "That''s it? Eh, I mean, the test is just that long road to this place?" Ye Jiao tilted her head with confusion.


    Qin Zheng rolled his eyes. "What do you think the test would be? Because you''re the first one to arrive, it''s only natural that you can be accepted in any academies. At the very least, your position shouldn''t be any lower than Inner Disciple."


    "If you think that it''s strange, you''ll naturally know that the Xian Gu Kingdom is treating geniuses very well," Qin Zheng added after seeing Ye Jiao''s expression. "As for the reason why you can get accepted as Inner Disciple right away, it''s only natural because you''re the first one to arrive."


    "Is there any special reward?"


    "The first 100 people to arrive in this place will be able to attend the next part of the examination. The rest of the people can still apply to the academy they wanted to, but some academies might test them again."


    "So, this is like a preliminary?"


    "Yes."


    Looking at her back, Ye Jiao got the feeling that this test was only to know their base capabilities and whether they would be allowed to attend the academy or not. If they can''t pass, they have to say goodbye to their dream. The real test should be the one after this.


    "You don''t seem too bad, either. Though, I would like to have you not pass the examination."


    "¡­"


    "if you didn''t pass, I can just offer you to enter our academy. That way, you won''t have any reason to say no," Qin Zheng grinned.


    Ye Jiao glared at the smiling man not far from her. "You''re annoying, Qin Zheng."


    "Call me Senior."


    "No."


    Before Qin Zheng could continue his words, two more youngsters had arrived by the peak. Soon afterwards, several more other youngsters came. They were mostly wounded and didn''t have any Eon Energy left in their body. The last battle that they experienced had drained them completely.


    Ye Jiao started to focus her attention on recovering her Eon Energy. She felt glad that these people began to arrive, or she might have the urge to challenge Qin Zheng right here, right now. He was so annoying.


    Even though so, she knew that he valued her skill from the way he spoke.


    "Congratulations on making it this far. You all have passed the first part of the examination. The first 100 people who arrived at the peak will have the chance to enter the second part of the examination. You may enter the city behind me to rest and take a look at the other academies who have set up their stalls for the introduction.


    You may choose to not attend the next part of the examination and select any academy that you find interesting. However, bear in mind that you can only become an Inner Disciple at most if you choose big academies. As for those who arrive after these 100 people, they will have to choose among those academies.


    And there''s a high possibility that they''ll be tested once again."


    The additional ''and'' at the end of Qin Zheng''s sentence caused the geniuses to nearly curse out. They knew that this young man must have hidden something based on the way he didn''t tell them at the very beginning. Right now, they sincerely wished that this young man was not an Elite Disciple because they also wanted to kill him.


    Many of their friends might not make it to the top 100 because they were slow.


    "The next examination starts tomorrow morning, so make sure that you had gathered outside the gate before it was 9 AM. I won''t be guiding you, so you can be rest assured that the elders will surely give you a complete explanation," Qin Zheng smiled and turned around.


    Right now, all of them only have one thought inside their mind:


    ''He''s truly an annoying man!''

 331 New Opponents?

    More importantly, he has the talent to annoy everyone around him, including her.


    "He''s so fierce," Han Fu commented after hearing Qin Zheng''s explanation.


    Ye Jiao and Gao Yun: "¡­" which part of his speech could describe him as fierce? They couldn''t see it.


    "Anyway, I''m going ahead." Han Fu yawned. "Those exercises are tiring me out. I don''t understand why they have to make the examination this hard."


    "You''re great, Miss Ye Jiao," Gao Yun looked at Ye Jiao. "But next time, I''m not going to lose."


    This time, he ended up as the second person because Ye Jiao arrived first. It displeased him, but he was one that could accept defeat. This just meant that he had to work harder if he wanted to overcome Ye Jiao.


    "I''m not going to give up that easily too," Ye Jiao chuckled.


    "See you tomorrow, Miss Ye Jiao."


    "See you tomorrow too, Senior Gao Yun."


    Gao Yun was surprised to hear the way she called him, but he nodded his head. It would be weird to call him in any other way. Since they were not close and he was also older than Ye Jiao, it would be more appropriate to call him ''senior.''


    The two of them soon walked to the city while Ye Jiao was still standing in her place, absorbing Eon Energy from her surroundings.


    "Let''s head to the city."


    The familiar voice from behind her caused her to turn around. She smiled when she saw Qi Huan had finished the examination. Not far from him, Cao Ren and Chen Zi Quan were standing. Their appearances were slightly ragged. It seemed that they didn''t manage to come out unscathed.


    The test was quite tricky, so it was not strange to see many youngsters in battered condition. Even Ye Jiao felt that it was quite hard even if she didn''t have any wounds from the examination just now.


    "I didn''t expect this to be preliminary," Cao Ren grunted. He thought that it was already the last examination. But it turned out that there would be more examinations to come.


    "Well, it''s a bit too easy for some people," Chen Zi Quan said in a bitter tone. His eyes were looking at the three people at the front with displeasure. It was clear that he didn''t expect that he would fare this bad.


    "What''s your ranking?" Qi Huan asked nonchalantly. When he came out, he noticed that there were around 10 or so people, so he should be still pretty early.


    "Probably 30 something," Cao Ren shrugged. "I don''t think it''s that important considering that all of us can just participate in the second examination."


    "Right," Chen Zi Quan turned around. "Let''s just see tomorrow."


    "I can say the same to you," Qi Huan replied indifferently.


    "Heh, don''t worry about me."


    As soon as Cao Ren left, Lu Wan walked out of the barrier. His clothes were partially torn, and there were branches stuck in his green hair. It was hard to not laugh with his hair looked like a bush with that branch and several leaves stuck.


    "Ah, you''re already here?"


    "You''re late, Lu Wan."


    Lu Wan clicked his tongue. "Tsk, I still hear the announcement from that annoying man. It seems that I''m still included in the top 100."


    "You hear it?"


    "Yes. Right after I finished the last stage, I can hear the voice," Lu Wan frowned. Apparently, he also didn''t have a good impression of Qin Zheng. "And I have to admit, I don''t like that arrogant genius."


    ???You still acknowledge him?"


    "Well, he''s an Elite Disciple," Lu Wan said in a sulky tone. Even though he didn''t like that annoying young man, he knew that Qin Zheng must have some capabilities to be able to be an Elite Disciple in that young age. With the boy''s youthful appearance and also his height, there wouldn''t be anyone who wouldn''t be able to guess his real age.


    Qi Huan chuckled. He looked at Ye Jiao. "Congratulations for finishing in the first place, Miss Ye Jiao."


    "You''re flattering me," Ye Jiao smiled. She was partially eavesdropping while absorbing Eon Energy. Her hands have felt much better, but she was sure that she would need to tend to it after she reached the city later. Their conversation was quite interesting since she knew them.


    It was just, she was unable to talk to them directly openly.


    After all, in other people''s eyes, she was nothing more than a stranger that suddenly popped out of nowhere.


    "Oh, did you get here quickly?" Lu Wan asked with widened eyes.


    "She''s the first one, Idiot."


    "I''m not idi¡­ wait, did you just say first? You mean, you''re the first one?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao didn''t deny it and just replied in a flat tone. She looked back at Lu Wan with a smile, but there was not even a trace of haughtiness in her face. "I got lucky and managed to finish the examination early."


    "¡­"


    If by being lucky one could finish the examination that quick, Lu Wan truly wanted that luck. He knew very well that the test was designed to let them understand themselves better. When he had to face the options of what his real desire was, it was so hard for him to decide. In the end, it took him a long time before he could find his answer and passed the stage.


    As for the battle, he just made use of his weapon because he couldn''t summon out his poison. They were categorized in the medicine category, so he couldn''t take them out.


    "I want to go to the city and wash up. Tomorrow, I''ll make sure that I get in the first place!" Lu Wan was fired up as he ran to the direction of the gate.


    Ye Jiao shook her head lightly. "Did you have any trouble finishing it, Senior Qi?"


    "Hm?" Qi Huan looked in Ye Jiao''s direction for a moment. He then smiled in the next moment. "There are some things that I''m unable to come to terms too, but I manage to break the illusion in the end. There are even some things that I didn''t expect to see."


    "It''s that strong?"


    "Yes," Qi Huan pursed his lips. After experiencing that, he came to understand that his desire and dream were not as clear as he thought they were. Some things would influence his decision.


    "I see."


    Qi Huan looked in Ye Jiao''s direction. "Jiao''er, did you¡­?"


    "Yes?"


    The young girl''s expression was awfully calm and unperturbed. He could see that all that was inside her mind was her own condition right now. A small smile appeared on the corner of his lips. "It''s nothing. You should treat your wound. You wouldn''t want it to affect your performance tomorrow, right?"


    "Yeah, I''ll just treat it here," Ye Jiao moved a bit away from the way the participants came out and sat down. Afterwards, she took out a bandage and also several other medicines from her storage bracelet.


    Qi Huan watched Ye Jiao treat her own wounds for a few seconds. "I need to return back too. Tomorrow, I won''t lose against you too."


    "We shall see, Prince Qi Huan," Ye Jiao smiled back.


    After they had finished talking, Qi Huan flashed a smile and walked in the direction of the city. On the other hand, Ye Jiao stayed there and treated her wounds calmly. More and more people came out of the barrier with a ragged appearance. They seemed like they were about to collapse.


    Suddenly, Ye Jiao could sense a killing intent directed at her. She raised her head and saw a young man around the age of 17 years old, looking at her with a frown on his face. He has dark yellow hair with sharp eyes.


    "Senior Su Kang, what are you doing over there?"


    "It''s nothing. Let''s treat our wound."


    "Yes!"


    Ye Jiao looked at the young man with widened eyes. She frowned slightly.


    Su?


    This would be the second time she saw someone with the surname Su showing his hatred to her. Even though she didn''t do anything to them, it seemed that they hated her to the bone.


    ''Just what happens between the Su Family and my father or mother?''


    Ye Jiao didn''t know, but she knew that she had to be careful around the Su Family. She wouldn''t do anything for now because she was not sure their reason, but if they decided to attack her, she would never let them off!

 332 The Specialization

    "Jiao''er?"


    Hearing that light tone, Ye Jiao raised her head and smiled widely. "Xin Jie, you have finally finished your examination."


    "Yeah," Mu Xin brushed the dust off her clothes. There was a faint cold aura emanated on her body. Even though her clothes were partially torn, she still looked like an ice beauty, which caused people to not dare come close to her.


    "Are you alright?"


    "It''s just a few wounds. I got kicked out of the battle two times," Mu Xin explained.


    Ye Jiao frowned. "What do you mean kicked out?"


    "If you failed to defeat the beast, you can get kicked out of that array because of their attack. It happens when their attack reaches your vital point. At that time, you''ll get thrown out and have to enter again."


    Since Ye Jiao managed to finish the battle in one go, she didn''t realize that there was something like that. Those who finished after her also didn''t say anything about it. Now that she thought about it, Mu Xin did finish quite late.


    "I see."


    "I''m not in top 100," Mu Xin patted Ye Jiao''s head with a faint smile on her usually indifferent face. "Sorry. I might not be able to stay with you again."


    "What are you saying? You have to pick an academy that''s suited to you instead of making it the same with me, Xin Jie," Ye Jiao protested. There were numerous academies that they could select from, so she hoped that Mu Xin would be able to pick the academy that suited her the most.


    Mu Xin nodded. "Don''t worry, I''m going to select the most suitable one."


    "That''s good."


    "Also, have Wei Cheng and Wei Yin come out?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao nodded. She saw the two of them come out not long ago. They didn''t look at her because they were tired. In addition, only Wei Yin was able to enter the top 100 while Wei Cheng was slightly off. They were in battered condition, so they spared no time to head into the city.


    Mu Xin frowned. "If the next competition is facing one another, you have to be careful in case they tried to attack you."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. Honestly, she doubted that Wei Yin would try to attack her. On second thought, she knew that Wei Yin would just do everything that Chen Zi Quan ordered her. If they truly wished to kill her in this place, she was not afraid at all.


    "If they wish to come, let them come," Ye Jiao''s eyes flashed with ruthlessness for a split second.


    Mu Xin felt a bit helpless when she saw Ye Jiao''s expression. "You have to take care of yourself. Don''t try to act so recklessly."


    "I''m not."


    "Eh?" Ye Jiao looked at Mu Xin. "You have to wait until the examination is over?"


    "Yes. We can start looking for an academy now, but we can only select one after all of you have finished picking. Ah, by all of you I mean those at rank 1 to 100. You have the opportunity to select which academy you wished to attend first."


    "I see."


    She didn''t know about that. Probably, it was because she didn''t pay much attention to the speech that man had before the start of the examination.


    It was too long¡­.


    "Wait for a while. I won''t take long."


    Ye Jiao focused her attention to absorb Eon Energy and circulated them as she waited for Mu Xin to finish her recovery. Recalling the examination that she had just now, she felt that she had grown closer to rank 4 again. However, she knew that she would have to face much more enemies.


    ''Maybe I can find out more about Ye Family in the academy.''


    It didn''t take long for Mu Xin to finish her recovery. The two of them entered the city and borrowed a public bathroom to change their clothes before they started to wander around. After all, their previous appearance was quite a mess. It might not be suitable to walk around in that condition.


    "Is there any specific academy that you want to see, Jiao''er?"


    "I don''t know much about the Xian Gu Kingdom, so I guess no," Ye Jiao frowned. Now that she thought about it, she didn''t even know the name of the large academies in this kingdom.


    "Let''s buy a magazine over there."


    There was a stall not far from them that was selling some magazines. That magazine would introduce to them the name of the academies and their specialities very clearly. It also told them what those academies searched from their disciple.


    "Gu Academy, it''s the academy located in the capital city and known as the largest and best academy in the Xian Gu Kingdom. This academy didn''t have any specific requirement for their students, but only the talented one can ever possibly become Inner Disciple and higher. They have the largest number of disciples.


    The location is right in the middle of Xian Gu Kingdom, where there''s plenty of forest around them. It''s also close to the other region''s and could easily travel to numerous others¡­"


    Ye Jiao started to read the pamphlet after paying for one. The two of them chose to just buy one magazine and read it together. From the magazine, she came to know that the Xian Gu Kingdom was a large kingdom that was divided into five large regions. Each of those regions was covered in one type of nature which would be a forest, mountain, desert, ice, and water.


    In each region, there would be one large academy that became the leading figure and also holds their position. Every region has its own challenge and opportunities that everyone could experience. Because of the difference, it would also make each region only targeting several specializations.


    "That means, we need to know what''s our specialization if we want to enter the academy," Ye Jiao frowned.


    Mu Xin nodded her head. "It also says that if you''re in top 100, you''ll know your specialization by the first test that they designed for you to take. As for the others, we have to find out by ourselves or relying on the large pillars that we can see in the city."


    "You mean those colorful pillars?"


    "Yes. At the very least, it''ll be able to let you know if you have any specific talent in one of the specializations. The transparent pillar will show if you have any talent in the illusive specialization. This magazine didn''t explain what''s that, so we might need to wait until we enter the academy before we could understand their real path.


    The black color represents the enhancement path while the white one represents the control path," Mu Xin paused for a moment. "The colorful one represents the element. When you train in front of them, there''s a possibility that you''ll be able to see the color of your particular element."


    "What''s their color?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    "Red for fire, blue for water, brown for earth, and green for wind."


    "There''s only four?"


    "Yes."


    Ye Jiao looked at the magazine and noticed the color palette that they had prepared. She frowned for she remembered that it was not just four when she saw them not long ago. There were numerous colorful colors that she saw.


    "Is there anything wrong, Jiao''er?"


    "I just think that there''s supposed to be more color than just these fours," Ye Jiao replied.


    Mu Xin pursed her lips. "The other colors represent the intermediate elements, and normally, you wouldn''t be able to see them unless you''re already Eon Energy Master Rank 5. That''s what my father told me."


    Mu Hong?


    Hearing that, Ye Jiao felt that it was strange. Those who stayed in the secluded countries shouldn''t have known so much about the matter of their path after Eon Energy Master Rank 3, right? Oh, she forgot that there was that master too, whom she met right after she came back to the capital city. He was someone who came from the academy, so he should be more knowledgeable.


    The master that she forgot the name¡­.


    "Do you know your specialization, Xin Jie?"


    Mu Xin nodded. "More or less. Somehow, I can already start to feel them in my body, and when I tried to train in front of the pillar before, I could last for 2 days long."


    "2 days?"


    "Yes. I heard that if you have innate talent, you''ll be able to stay for a day or more. As for more than one day, it means that your innate talent should be an intermediate element or you have more than one," Mu Xin explained.


    Ye Jiao''s lips twitched. If two days meant that the person has an intermediate element, how about five days? She was pretty sure that she stayed in front of the pillar for around five to six days without waking up at all.


    At that time, she was completely absorbed in her training and forgot everything else.


    "Which academy do you want to try looking at?"


    "Let''s just look at the largest academy. It''s said that they hold their presentation in the middle of the city."


    "Ok."

 333 Second Part of the Examination 1

    "They''re all looking for young people to join their academies because theirs are just small academies," Mu Xin remarked without looking at Ye Jiao. "If they don''t advertise, they won''t be able to get any new students."


    Ye Jiao didn''t reply back as they entered the center of the city. She could see a large building, which was filled with numerous students in front of her. It was apparent that most of the participants were trying to enter the largest academy, so they wished to know the requirement.


    The difference in the view was worlds apart.


    "The small ones won''t be able to survive without new blood, but they also need to have something special if they wish to succeed," Mu Xin looked over to Ye Jiao. "Everyone wants the best for them, so it''s only natural that the smaller ones are weeded out."


    "I see."


    Even though Ye Jiao understood that, she still felt that it was too bad those academies would have to close down eventually. However, she wouldn''t want to sacrifice her future to save an academy when she didn''t even know what kind of academy it was.


    There was no need for her to be overly compassionate.


    "Welcome to Gu Academy," one of the teachers greeted them when he saw them. "May I take a look at your token?"


    Their result of the first stage of the examination was recorded in their token. It was to make sure that they didn''t cheat and also to keep a record of their own progress. However, they wouldn''t be able to see more of the detail aside from their rank from the previous examination.


    "Here," Ye Jiao showed her token, which caused the teacher to feel surprised. The color of the token alone was already more than enough to tell him who this little girl was.


    She''s Ye Jiao, the one who claimed the first place in the previous examination.


    "I see, so it''s Miss Ye Jiao. Feel free to take a look at the academy."


    "Thank you."


    Even though Ye Jiao was not used with the preferential treatment that this man gave to her, she still kept her token away. Mu Xin also showed hers, and the teacher checked it before returning it back. His attitude was still respectful, but it was clear that he paid more attention to Ye Jiao.


    "Teacher, can you tell more about this academy?"


    "Of course," the teacher smiled. "Gu Academy is an academy that focuses on every aspect of students. As we''re located in the middle of the kingdom, we can gain access to every other part, except water because it''s a bit far from our location. The academy is located inside a forest, where you can find numerous beasts inside."


    "Yes, the forests in the Xian Gu Kingdom are filled with beasts from many ranks. They''re ranged from the first rank up until the sixth rank."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened when she heard the word ''sixth.'' In her entire life, she had never seen any beast above rank 4. After all, facing a rank 4 beast already proved to be a difficult task for her. It would be hard if she had to face stronger beasts, so she didn''t really wish to meet them now too.


    "Do the students have to fight them?"


    "Yes. Every year there''ll be a team arranged to scout the forests and¡­."


    As the teacher carefully explained about their activities, Ye Jiao and Mu Xin silently listened. They didn''t know that the Xian Gu Kingdom was much richer than what they first expected. There were so many things that occurred in this kingdom.


    ¡­


    It took Ye Jiao and Mu Xin nearly all day to finish looking at all five large academies. All in all, they got the overall view of each academy and their own advantages and disadvantages.


    "I didn''t expect that the Xian Gu Kingdom is especially divided with their region," Ye Jiao commented.


    Mu Xin nodded. "I also didn''t expect that."


    Other places might have their territory more divided and not only focused on one kind of thing. However, it was not the same as the Xian Gu Kingdom. The whole place basically consisted of several regions, with each region spanned millions of kilometers or even more. That was the reason why they were only divided into five areas with nature as the parameter.


    "Have you decided where you want to go, Xin Jie?"


    "Not yet," Mu Xin replied. Two large academies might be suitable for her, but she couldn''t decide yet.


    Ye Jiao smiled. "There''s no need to hurry. There''s still the examination first."


    "Right, you should rest, Jiao''er."


    "You too, Xin Jie."


    The two of them went their separate ways as they headed back to rest by lodging in a nearby inn.


    Ye Jiao woke up early the next morning. She quickly prepared herself and headed to the designated location. Mu Xin had also prepared herself and met with Ye Jiao right in front of the inn.


    "Good morning, Xin Jie," Ye Jiao greeted cheerfully.


    "Good morning. Are you ready?"


    "More or less," Ye Jiao replied. She had already rested enough during the night. It was already the time for the second part of the examination. "What do you have in a plan today, Xin Jie?"


    "I''ll just take a look at the academies and see if there''s any that''ll interest me," Mu Xin said. "I''ll also gather more information for you. That way, you''ll also be able to know much more about them."


    "Alright. Thank you, Xin Jie."


    On their way to the gate, Ye Jiao could see Wei Shang and the others were also on their way. With Wei Yin at the front, she could guess that they were escorting the young girl to participate in the second part.


    "I didn''t expect to see them here," Mu Xin''s air grew colder as she looked at them coldly. Because of Ye Jiao, she never had any good impression of the Wei Family. Even though she had never shown her hostility openly, it was clear that she wished to kill them all. There was a lingering chilling killing intent around her body.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "This city must also be open to other people if they accompany their children or representatives."


    "I hope he creates trouble."


    "What?"


    "That way, I have a reason to beat him up," Mu Xin remarked calmly.


    Hearing her words, Ye Jiao was stunned. This was the first time she realized that Mu Xin has another side in her. From what she knew, Mu Xin has always been very cold and detached to the world. It was rare for her to show her emotions so openly like this.


    Somehow, she felt slightly warm at the thought that Mu Xin cared for her.


    "There''s no need to do that. I''m sure that he''ll receive his retribution too," Ye Jiao chuckled.


    "You''re not going to kill him?"


    "I never clashed with Wei Shang directly except for when he stopped my mother. I already destroyed the future of some of his children, so it''s already enough," Ye Jiao replied calmly.


    Mu Xin nodded. "If you say that, I''ll also not do anything."


    "Also, you have your own dream to fulfil, right Xin Jie? Make sure that you can achieve them too," Ye Jiao added.


    "Of course."


    At this time, the two of them had arrived at the gate. Mu Xin patted Ye Jiao''s back to encourage her. "You can do it, Jiao''er."


    "Yes, thank you, Xin Jie!"


    A lot of people watched as Ye Jiao dashed towards the crowd while Mu Xin still stood in her place. They were confused to see the young girl but soon realized who she was. After all, the event from yesterday had spread out all over the place. No one didn''t know who the young girl was.


    Mu Xin stayed still in her place. When she turned around, she could see the Wei Family has arrived. They looked like they owned the site with the way they walked. Her eyes turned colder in displeasure.


    ''They''re truly an eyesore.''


    As Mu Xin turned around to leave, Wei Yin stepped out of the gate. On the other hand, Wei Shang was looking at Wei Cheng with a huge frown on his forehead.


    "You should understand how big of a failure you have made by yourself."


    "Yes, Father," Wei Cheng''s voice was indifferent, but there was a hint of frustration. He himself knew how close he was to enter the top 100. When he learned that he came in 103, he felt depressed. Just a bit more, and he could participate in the second examination.


    Now, it was impossible.


    "Work hard to make sure that you don''t shame our family," Wei Shang''s voice was cold. "We already have too much stain on our reputation."


    For the past years, there were numerous messes in their residence. He felt a headache whenever he remembered them all. Even though he had cleaned them all by now, the stain from everything that occurred could not be washed. Too much damage has been done.


    "Once you finish your education, return back to the Chen Kingdom."


    "Father?" Wei Cheng frowned. He looked at his father with disbelief. It was known that every youngster wouldn''t return back to their own kingdom unless there was a catastrophe or they became a disgrace. For his father to ask him to return back, did he want him to stain his own name?


    "This is an order, Wei Cheng," Wei Shang''s tone was cold.

 334 Second Part of the Examination 2

    Thinking of his little brother, Wei Liao, he grew annoyed. If only that boy was still alive and well, he could have just replaced the Wei Family. Now that he was the only male left, his father wouldn''t let him off just like that. His eyes flashed with ruthlessness for a split second at the thought that he wouldn''t be able to get away from his father.


    He sneered internally. He wouldn''t return back to that kingdom. There was nothing else that could benefit him in that place.


    Ye Jiao walked to the middle of the crowd. She could see a lot of other people have gathered already. Neither one of them wanted to be late for this important event. Naturally, she would be included.


    "Oh, you''re already here, Ye Jiao!" Han Fu waved his hand as he walked closer. He smiled brightly. "Did you have a good rest yesterday? You still look sleepy."


    "I did," Ye Jiao replied. "How about you, Han Fu?"


    "I''m well," Han Fun puffed his chest. "They should reconsider building a better inn, though. Everything there is quite monotone. It feels as if there''s no difference from one inn to another."


    Ye Jiao blinked when she heard his words. "Han Fu, did you visit numerous inns?"


    "Why? Of course! I have to make sure that they prepare the best place for us. However, I can''t seem to find any difference in the places. It makes me waste a good amount of time just to wander around."


    "¡­" in the first place, who would try to find an inn for an entire day?


    Han Fu stretched his body. "I heard that in this test, we''re going to be tested on our future specialization. I''m curious as to how they''ll be able to find them out."


    "Couldn''t they just use the pillars?"


    "It does not apply to everyone," Han Fu shrugged. "Besides, how many hours do you want to spend just to test one person by asking them to stay in front of the pillar? It might take a long time for one to enter a meditative state if it''s just a little affinity in the said field. That''s why they can''t really use it if they want to pick."


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "I thought that those who could enter the top 100 will mostly have great talent."


    "MOSTLY. Pay attention to that word," Han Fu smirked. "There are a lot of older youngsters in this place. Do you really think that all of us have great talent that could make them pay interest to us?"


    There were indeed dozens of older participants around her. Ye Jiao didn''t pay much attention to them before because she had just arrived. Seeing their age and talent, one could say that they might not have that much innate talent. They only have slightly better talent and could reach this place by relying on their heart and experience.


    "I see."


    It was indeed the truth that not all geniuses would be able to reach the peak. The journey to reach that position would be filled with the arduous challenge all the time. They have to make sure that they could pass them all if they wished to achieve their goal.


    "I''ll be going for a light run. There''s still a few minutes left, and I haven''t finished my warm-up."


    "Alright."


    Ye Jiao stayed in her place as Han Fu started to jog. From the corner of her eyes, she could see many people have come to the location. Gao Yun also has arrived and walked to her in large strides. With his build, one might guess that he was already 15 years old rather than the 13 years old he truly was.


    "Good morning, Ye Jiao."


    "Good morning, Gao Yun," Ye Jiao replied with a smile. "Are you ready for the examination?"


    "Yes."


    Compared to Han Fu, Gao Yun was a man of little words. He would only speak when it was necessary, so Ye Jiao didn''t try to force him to speak again. She silently circulated her Eon Energy in her body.


    TENG!


    The sudden sound of the bell alarmed everyone. They quickly turned towards the gate, where Qin Zheng was standing with a smile on his face. There was a bell in his hand that he lifted up.


    Everyone''s mind: ''Why is it him again?''


    "You should step back," Qin Zheng said to the people who were standing near the gate. His tone was flat and cold. "If you don''t wish to get harm, you shouldn''t stand there."


    "Y-yes!"


    "Excuse us!"


    As they moved to the back, Qin Zheng placed the bell on the gate. He poured his Eon Energy, and a large door appeared on the place where the gate was located. Its size perfectly suited the gate, but it was white in color and seemed to be filled with boundless energy.


    "Come in, you''ll be tested in another location."


    They didn''t immediately move as they still remembered how this man cheated on them yesterday. Thanks to him, many of their friends were careless and unable to become part of the top 100 even though their strength was sufficient.


    Seeing that, Ye Jiao''s lips curled up slightly. It was funny to see them unable to trust Qin Zheng.


    If only she hadn''t met him before, she would surely be unable to trust him too.


    "We only have to walk through this door, right?" Ye Jiao asked as she stepped forward. Her small finger was pointing at the white door that seemed to come into life.


    Qin Zheng''s eyes flashed for a moment. He nodded his head. "Yes, you just have to walk through this door."


    "It won''t suddenly place me in a dangerous situation, right?"


    "No, it won''t."


    "Alright then," Ye Jiao walked closer. The moment she got close, she sensed Eon Energy movements, and Qin Zheng''s voice reverberated in her ear. Her eyes widened as she turned to look at Qin Zheng, but he had turned around to look at the other participant.


    "Don''t make them wait for long," Qin Zheng spoke out while the other people started to crowd that location.


    Ye Jiao no longer hesitated and stepped into the door. She could feel a strong force pulling her inside. Even though she tried to resist, it was for naught. In the next moment, she found herself in an unfamiliar rocky land. There was a man who was speaking in the building before, standing before her.


    He was wearing a dark grey robe with a sphere right beside him.


    "You''re Ye Jiao, right? Place your hand on this sphere."


    "Ah, ok," Ye Jiao quickened her pace and stopped right before the man. She was curious about the man''s appearance because he looked a bit mysterious, but she didn''t try to take a peek. Her hand was placed on top of the sphere, and she felt the movements of Eon Energy from inside.


    It was warm.


    "Eon Energy Rank 3 Early Stage. Stand on the right."


    "Ok."


    After her, Han Fu got out of the gate. His eyes showed astonishment. "Wow, I didn''t expect that a Teleportation Array can be in the shape of a door. It''s amazing!"


    "Han Fu, come here and place your hand on this sphere."


    "What are-," Han Fu was about to yell, but he soon realized that the one speaking to him was one of the elders. He quickly shut his mouth and changed his words. "Alright, Teacher."


    On the right side, Ye Jiao was trying her best to hold back her laughter. This young man seemed to be the type that talked too much and didn''t think at all. However, she could sense the hidden danger from the young man''s gaze when she spoke to him before. From the short time he took to finish the last part yesterday, she could guess that this young man must be extremely dangerous.


    "Eon Energy Master Rank 3 Early Stage, stand on the right."


    "Ok."


    Han Fu took a large stride and stood beside Ye Jiao. He sighed deeply. "Man, that scares me. I didn''t expect to see a teacher as soon as I came here. I thought that that senior is going to play a prank on us again."


    "Aaa!"


    Just then, they could see a young man who appeared slightly midair. He lost his balance and fell face first on the ground. The others couldn''t help but pass him a look for they understood that it should be impossible for them to fall down like that unless he was unable to use his Eon Energy to stabilize himself.


    "That must be embarrassing," Han Fu grinned. "He''s truly playful."


    "Right."


    Afterwards, that man was not the only one to arrive in such a manner. Ye Jiao could see the teacher''s lips twitching as he continued to test them, but he didn''t say anything. Internally, she hoped that he could give Qin Zheng a good bashing. That way, the arrogant man could learn a little lesson.


    However, her mind also recalled Qin Zheng''s words when she was about to get inside.


    ''There''s no ranking in the first examination after you get tested for your rank. Rather than standing at the peak, it''ll be better if you try to understand your innate talent better and try to not stand out too much. Sense the Eon Energy in your surroundings and take the chance to find out your specialization by yourself.''


    Because she had gotten first place in the previous stage, Ye Jiao knew that many people were looking at her. They wanted to know more about her performance in this stage and naturally would try to pay attention to her.


    ''It might be safer if I didn''t rank first again,'' Ye Jiao''s mind thought about it. She honestly wanted to do her best and achieved the best rank. However, she also didn''t want to make them target her because she would be too bright.


    Uh, what a dilemma.

 335 Su Family’s Scheme

    When she heard that, Ye Jiao quickly snapped from her thinking and looked to her front. Qi Huan was looking at her with a confused expression.


    "Ah, it''s nothing, Prince Qi Huan."


    Qi Huan chuckled. He could sense several people were looking at him. "Since we''re all just participants, there''s no need to use my title when you greet me, Miss Ye Jiao."


    "Right," Ye Jiao smiled. "Aren''t you supposed to stand in the middle?"


    Right side for early stage, middle for the late stage, and left side for the middle stage.


    "This is middle," Qi Huan spread his arm. "I will move backwards a bit after this has finished. You seem to have a lot in your mind."


    "I''m just curious about the examination."


    "Oh, right. There''s no need to worry so much, they''ll soon finish the division, and you''ll be able to know the content."


    "Yes."


    Qi Huan didn''t stay for long. After a few more pleasantries, he moved back to his position. Ye Jiao sighed internally as she was tired with their little act. Even though they knew each other very well, they couldn''t greet each other freely.


    "They''re almost done. Be prepared for a harsh beating, Ye Jiao," Han Fu said with excitement.


    "As if."


    At the back, Lu Wan was waiting calmly. He wanted to participate in the talk too, but his current identity didn''t allow himself to talk so freely to them all. Right now, he could only wait patiently until the examination had finished.


    When the last person has been tested, the man turned around. "For the first part of the examination, you''ll be tested on your compatibility for each specialization that you can pick when you reach rank 4. This will also help you to narrow down your choice of the academy because some specialization is not suitable for some academy."


    He paused for a moment to let the word sink to their heads. After all, he couldn''t just continue right what he did yesterday during the speech.


    "As some of you might have known, there are four basic elements in the elemental path, which is fire, water, wind, and earth. In this examination, you''ll have to pass the road that''s filled with these elements. While you''re on your way, we''ll examine you and see your compatibility. Any questions?"


    "How will you know our compatibility, Teacher?"


    "There''s no need for you to know," the teacher replied calmly. "Any other question?"


    "Is there any time limit?"


    "No. You just have to reach the end line if you would like to finish the examination. Any other questions?" the man swept his glance. "if there''s none, you can go ahead through the door behind you."


    She could see a shadow nearly grabbed her and quickly looked over at the person.


    He had turned around swiftly, but her eyes still caught that yellow-colored hair. It was the color that she could never forget in her entire life.


    ''Su Family.''


    The Su Family that she met all have a yellow color of their hair. Either bright or dark, all of them have that color. Even though some other families also have the same hair color, the one that she knew would try to harm her would be Su Family alone.


    Looking at the door not far from her, Ye Jiao sneered. That person must have wanted her to get into the examination place for Eon Energy Master late stage. That way, she might not be able to pass the examination safely, much less performed well.


    ''How ridiculous.''


    Ye Jiao quickly turned her body around as she watched the others started to get into the door. She better hurry or she might get left behind.


    "Senior Su Tan, what are you doing over there?"


    "Come on, it''s time to get in."


    "Yeah."


    The man named Su Tan nodded and walked to the door. He has a large built with handsome countenance. If only Ye Jiao managed to see his face, she would be able to recognize him as the one who gave her killing intent just yesterday.


    Su Tan walked to the door while sneaking a glance to the other side. His family told him that he had to take care of Ye Jiao during this examination. If it was not possible, he had to pick the same academy as her. Since he managed to enter the top 100, it should be possible, but it might also mean that he had to abandon his future.


    After all, there was a high possibility that Ye Jiao picked the academy that was unsuitable for their family members.


    "Senior Su?"


    "I''m coming," Su Tan hid his gaze for a moment as a killing intent flashed by his eyes. No matter what, he had to find a way to make sure that Ye Jiao wouldn''t be able to finish the examination safely.


    "Woah, this place is huge!" Han Fu exclaimed upon his arrival. "Hey, Ye Jiao, do you think that the elemental land they mentioned is also going to be in large scale? In that case, just making one is very difficult, right?"


    Hearing his question, Ye Jiao didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. How could she possibly know what kind of place they would head to? From the bottom of her heart, she hoped that Gao Yun would be here since he could share her problem.


    Unfortunately, that man was already Eon Energy Master Rank 3 middle stage. He was in a different place compared to them.


    "Ye Jiao?"


    "Hey, you''re noisy," Lu Wan suddenly spoke up. His face was scrunched up in annoyance. This was the first time he met with someone who could talk more than him when he talked about poison. However, Han Fu didn''t only limit his words within one topic as he could just change it to something else and continue to talk.


    "What? Isn''t it fine for me to talk however I wish? Who are you to talk back to me?" Han Fu narrowed his eyes. "Don''t you know that there''s freedom of speech. I can talk however I want to, and no one shall stop me because I didn''t cross anyone''s path. Besides, my words are not offending anyone, so you can''t possibly tell me that I have to stop talking."


    Lu Wan frowned. Damn! This man truly could talk.


    Ye Jiao shook her head. "Just forget it, Han Fu. Why don''t you focus on your preparation? On the right side, it''s a sea of fire."


    The moment he heard that, Han Fu quickly turned his head to the right side. His eyes sparkled when he saw that sea of fire. There was nothing that burned on the bottom, but it was clearly fire. It danced according to the wind movements as if provoking them all.


    Han Fu licked his lips as he couldn''t see the ending. "Now, this is going to be really fun."


    On the other hand, Lu Wan nearly cursed. ''Do you want to kill all of us?''


    At this time, Qin Zheng has come from the door. He was looking at the youngsters in front of him with amusement. Even though he was also younger than most of them, his disposition didn''t make them think so.


    "You can begin anytime you''re ready. They''re already watching this place."


    "Hell yeah! I''m taking first place!" Han Fu yelled loudly and ran to the sea of fire. Just when everyone thought that he was too reckless, they could see the faint layer of Eon Energy around his body. It perfectly protected the young man as he ran like a madman.


    "Let''s go, we can''t be beaten by a 12 years old kid!"


    "Yasss!"


    As they began to run, Ye Jiao turned her head to look at Qin Zheng. Her brows creased in displeasure. "What are you doing here? Isn''t it supposed to be the teacher who comes here?"


    "I blocked his way." Qin Zheng smirked devilishly. "I''m bored, so it''s better if I come here to watch your poor performance."


    "¡­" let me strangle you instead.


    Qin Zheng pointed at the sea of fire. "You better go inside. There''s no need to worry about your rank or whatsoever, you should just focus on your own body and the movements of Eon Energy. With your sensitivity, I''m sure it''ll be a piece of cake."


    "Somehow, I feel scared by how much you know about me."


    "I''ll tell you more about myself if you want."


    "No, thank you."


    "Why?"


    "Because you''re going to lie to me," Ye Jiao said as she dashed toward the sea of fire. Her body was coated in a thin layer of Eon Energy that she controlled. Right now, she no longer wanted to care about that annoying young man. He seemed to love making fun of her over and over again.


    Qin Zheng was stunned for a split second. He looked in the direction where Ye Jiao went as a smile appeared on his lips. Right, he wouldn''t be able to tell the truth to her completely because his identity was not something light. However, he would not tell her a lie either. At most, he would just say that he was unable to say anything to her.

 336 Sea of Fire 1

    "THAT INSOLENT BRAT! LET ME STRANGLE YOU!" Elder Yi had stood up and nearly went straight down if not for the other elder stopping him with their Eon Energy.


    "He''s indeed a troublemaker, but I don''t think he''s worth your time," Elder Xin said in a soothing tone. She was clearly very patient as she only thought of Qin Zheng''s action as amusing.


    After all, which young man didn''t have their own naughtiness?


    Moreover, Qin Zheng can still be categorized as a boy since he was only 12 years old.


    Qin Zheng is clearly very playful at times, but he also has the strength and power to back up his words. This was the one that made it possible for him to become this way.


    Elder Qian sighed. "Qin Zheng is indeed a bit too much."


    "I want to kill him." Elder Yi snorted.


    Elder Cai passed a glance to Elder Yi. "See, you''re also the type that can''t bear any grievances. Do you really think that it''s worth it to get angry over the provocation of a youth like that annoying man?"


    "You''re also angry!"


    "I''m not!"


    Elder Qian sighed when he saw the two of them began again. Ever since yesterday, he swore that these two have already debated over 10 topics. It was good that he could control his Eon Energy to block their voices, or he might not be able to stand listening to them anymore.


    "We should make a request to not send these two next time."


    "They''re proficient in using Teleportation Array, which is why they''re chosen in the first place," Elder Qian said calmly. "Besides, the overall condition in the Xian Gu Kingdom is not as peaceful as it seems on the surface. It''s impossible to make the experts come out when they already have their duties."


    "You''re correct, Elder Qian," Elder Xin sighed. She passed a glance at the students who had started to run. "Make sure that they don''t overheat in the sea of fire. We''re not planning on killing them all."


    "I should say that to you. You''re the one who comes from Huang Mo Academy in the desert, so this should be a common occurrence for you," Elder Qian chuckled. "I would also like Elder Cai, or Elder Yi helping out, but I doubt they''re going to stop their talk soon."


    Elder Yi came from Shui Dao Academy, which was located in the water area, while Elder Cai came from Bing Gong Academy, which was located in the Ice Region. These two were obviously the best option if they have to save students from the fire.


    "That''s enough."


    The young man looked at them with his dark iris and aloof expression. He had the natural disposition of a leader, emitting faint pressure even without doing anything. With his natural black hair and enchanting face, a lot of beauties would surely be entranced. In addition, he was still 15 years old, yet he was already at the peak of rank 4, nearly breaking into rank 5.


    For many people, he was nothing more than a teenager. Yet, this teenager was also one of the greatest geniuses in the Xian Gu Kingdom with only a handful of people could possibly come close. Those who dared to underestimate him would die miserably.


    He had both authority and power in the Xian Gu Kingdom!


    "Focus on the youngsters. Don''t let them die."


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    The four of them immediately replied in unison. Neither one of them dared to cross their path with this young man. Even though they were all stronger than him, their position was still lower than this prince. After all, he was one of the few princes who had the qualification to ascend the throne!


    If he truly becomes the emperor in the future, they knew that they would be under him. Because of that, no one was willing to make him their enemies out of nowhere.


    And even if he didn''t become the emperor, there were many other paths available for a great genius for him. They knew that he was not someone they could possibly offend in their entire life.


    Elder Xin locked his gaze towards the students. "The one at the very last, that should be the little girl with S talent, right?"


    They still didn''t memorize everyone''s name because no one thought that it was necessary. Right now, they just marked the youngsters as they liked in their mind to scout into their academy later on.


    Elder Qian nodded. "She starts quite late. I wonder what Qin Zheng said to her."


    "He might just make her angry since that young man has that talent." Elder Xin chuckled, knowing full well that Qin Zheng was trying to make himself the enemy of many geniuses during this instance. "You should pay more attention to those students with strong builds. After all, Hua Shan Academy prioritizes students who have a strong body, right?"


    "It doesn''t mean we don''t accept others," Elder Qian was amused. He turned his gaze back to the youngsters, particularly Ye Jiao. He didn''t know why, but there was something in this girl that drew him in. It was as if the young girl was not as simple as she was on the surface.


    However, it was nothing more than his gut feeling, so he couldn''t say for sure.


    While those elders were discussing among themselves, Ye Jiao was crossing the sea of fire with her Eon Energy covering her entire body. She still could feel the heat, and at the same time, her absorption seemed to increase slightly. There was no apparent change, but she could feel it in her body.


    ''Mother had told me that it''s possible for me to have fire affinity, but it didn''t seem to be the case.''


    Looking at a man before her, who seemed like he was travelling dry land, Ye Jiao knew the difference was like earth and sky. Those who had fire elemental affinity would be able to pass this stage with ease because they would feel comfortable instead of pain when they touched the fire.


    In her case, she still felt the unbearable heat even when she had placed the Eon Energy barrier around her.


    "At the very least, the element in this place is really pure," Ye Jiao could sense brighter light around her when she focused. She knew that those were Eon Energy in their element, but she couldn''t see the color. At that time, she was only able to see it thanks to the pillar. Right now, she could only rely on her senses to pull the Eon Energy into her body as the only ones that would get pulled would be those that were suitable for her.


    However, she decided to not waste too much time. Even though she enjoyed the surge of Eon Energy into her body, her body was also screaming, thanks to the heat that she experienced. If she stayed here too long, she was sure that she would become a lump of fine crispy meat.


    Somehow, her mind recalled her grilled meat that she ate a lot during the past month.


    ''I better hurry if I didn''t want to be like that.''


    With that in mind, Ye Jiao sped up her speed a bit. She could see that those who enjoyed the fire were jogging unhurriedly. They were all enjoying the fire around them, so they didn''t wish for it to end so quickly.


    "Just when will this fire end?" Lu Wan snapped when he saw Ye Jiao had caught up to him.


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "Just hold on. It shouldn''t last that long too."


    "How can I last long if all I can feel is this insane heat? Do they wish for me to die so quickly?" Lu Wan rolled his eyes in displeasure. He wished to kick whoever arranged for this examination.


    He wanted to get out as quickly as possible!


    "You''re even more loud compared to Han Fu right now," Ye Jiao remarked.


    "Don''t compare me with that sissy man who seems to love talking so much," Lu Wan shuddered. Recalling Han Fu''s gesture, who seemed to act like a woman, he felt nausea once again. Even though he was sure that Han Fu was a male because of how he addressed himself, he still found that man to be too feminine.


    "What if he''s a girl?"


    "Then I''ll say that he''s the most tomboyish girl I have ever met," Lu Wan frowned. He wanted to add the most annoying one too, but he remembered his sister. In his heart, there wasn''t anyone who was more annoying than his little sister, so he discarded those thoughts.


    Ye Jiao giggled. "He''s indeed noisy, but he''s not too bad as a person."


    "I can''t believe you say that about him."


    "What? That''s the truth."

 337 Sea of Fire 2

    After all, she was not used to seeing a man who would laugh in quite a sissy way. If not for the fact that he was so loud, she would never think of him as a man.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


    From the side, they could see a man was screaming. He had depleted his Eon Energy, and the end was not within sight. As the two of them nearly moved to help, they could see the water was poured on top of him.


    "Damn it, you''re making me work too much."


    The air distorted as a middle-aged man had appeared on top of an Eon Energy plate. He was looking at the fallen young man with a snort. "Come on, you''ll have to continue to the next stage."


    With his hand, he took out a line of water. It flowed with such ease as if it was a living being and enveloped the young man who had fallen. The man thus created a ball of water under him and used it to travel in high speed towards the other side with the fainted young man behind him.


    "T-that''s so amazing!" Lu Wan yelled loudly. Even though he was complaining about the heat, he couldn''t help but exclaim in excitement. This would be the first time he saw someone controlled the water so well. It was as if the water was part of the middle-aged man''s body.


    Ye Jiao nodded in agreement. She had seen how Chen Tian and that advisor controlled water before, but they couldn''t be compared to this middle-aged man. The way the water flowed seemed like it had its own life. It was not forced, and there was not even any leak of Eon Energy in his control.


    It was so perfect!


    "Is that how Eon Energy Master Rank 4 looks like? It''s so amazing! Ahhh, I wish I could do it like him!" Lu Wan had started to move again, but his mouth was spouting his real feelings. It was similar to the time when he just found out a new ingredient for poison. He would surely talk a lot about them and didn''t let everyone around him rest.


    "I think he might be above rank 4."


    "You mean rank 5? I''m so jealous."


    Ye Jiao''s lips twitched. She wondered what that middle-aged man would think if he knew that a brat was jealous of him. Looking at the way that middle-aged man moved, she could guess that he must be one of the elders that supervised the examination.


    Looking to the other sides, she noticed that a lot of youngsters were also screaming on top of their lungs. The excitement was clearly painted over their eyes. It was their first time seeing such a display of power. Even though that elder just casually used his power, it looked amazing in their eyes.


    "Guh, you''re insane, Ye Jiao," Lu Wan suddenly sensed the movements of Eon Energy as he frowned.


    "What is it?"


    "If you absorb too much without being able to refine them in your body, you might die," Lu Wan said seriously. "Why do you think those people fainted in the middle of the way? If they try to absorb the Eon Energy in this place, they''ll die because it''s not suitable for their body."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. She still found that there was part of the Eon Energy that she could absorb into her body. Looking at the solemn expression on Lu Wan''s face, she knew that he was serious since this boy rarely showed that kind of expression.


    "You can''t absorb?"


    "I can''t," Lu Wan admitted. "I tried it before but found out that all the Eon Energy in this place are all fire elements. My body seems to be unable to absorb them, so I give up. If you don''t have a fire element''s affinity, you shouldn''t force yourself to absorb the Eon Energy, Ye Jiao."


    "I-I see."


    Looking around her, Ye Jiao knew for sure that she could absorb the Eon Energy but not all of them. In addition, she knew for sure that she was not fire elemental, so it should be weird that she managed to absorb Eon Energy in this place.


    "Let''s speed up a bit, I can see the end of the fire."


    "What? Then let''s go!"


    The two of them utilized their Eon Energy when they finally arrived by the end of the sea of fire. However, they were stunned when they reached the edge and what greeted them was a huge lake. There was only a narrow space where they could stand without getting affected by the two of them.


    "Did it mean we have to depart right away?" Lu Wan''s face was sour. He had used up a lot of Eon Energy in the journey just now. If he had to go again, his body might not be able to hold on at all.


    "Not really," Ye Jiao commented. Her eyes were looking straight to the front as she absorbed Eon Energy like crazy. She needed to replenish them soon before departing to cross that large lake.


    "You''re late, Ye Jiao."


    "Ah, Han Fu," looking at the young man, Ye Jiao smiled wryly. He basically departed first while she didn''t. From the way he looked, he was already ready to depart once more. It seemed that he also had an amazing technique to recover his Eon Energy.


    Han Fu grinned. "This place is not affected by the two sides at all. You can rest however you want, but more and more people are going to come, so it''ll be better for you to hurry and depart right away."


    "If I have Eon Energy to go, I''ll go right away too," Ye Jiao laughed. "I''ll catch up soon."


    "Mhm, I''ll see whether you can do it or not," Han Fu smirked, full of confidence.


    Ye Jiao no longer paid any attention to the young man as she focused her attention to the Eon Energy around her. It was already the time for her to absorb them. There seemed to be various attributes in this place, making it easy for her to absorb the one she needed. Though, it felt a bit frustrating that she was unable to see their color anymore. She wanted to see¡­.


    "I''m going ahead. See you later."


    Han Fu utilized his Eon Energy and dashed on top of the water surface. By controlling his Eon Energy under his leg, he could make them dense enough to let him stand on the surface. It was a common practice in some areas to learn their control, but unfortunately, it didn''t include the Four Kingdoms.


    "How did he do that?" Lu Wan''s jaw dropped.


    Opening her eyes, Ye Jiao looked in the direction where Han Fu went. Her eyes watched his movements carefully. Even though she was unable to sense his Eon Energy movements thanks to an invisible barrier, she still could see what he was doing.


    "He''s controlling his Eon Energy on his feet."


    "How?"


    "I''m not sure. You need to try it yourself if you wish to understand how it is."


    "¡­"


    Lu Wan shut his mouth and focused on recovering his Eon Energy. He moved a bit away from Ye Jiao as he could sense that young girl''s insane absorption. It would only make him feel bad if he had to stay around that young girl for a long period of time. The comparison of their absorption rate was simply too big!


    It didn''t take long for Ye Jiao to fully recover her Eon Energy. She didn''t bother to refine them because she intended to use them almost immediately. Looking at the lake before her, she felt a little doubtful.


    Bam!


    The loud sound made her turn to the side. She could see the previous elder had stood there, dragging an unfortunate person with him. He sighed to himself.


    "These youngsters are so annoying. I wish they could all just do this by themselves. Stop making me work so much."


    The youngsters: "¡­" believe us, we also want that. It''s just, the test is simply insane, and it''s impossible to completely pass it safely.


    "If you have finished, go right away," the elder looked at the others and snorted. "Don''t make this place too crowded. It can only hold 10 people, and all of you totalled 27."


    "¡­" wait a bit, we haven''t finished our recovery.


    Ye Jiao noticed that there were already 9 people with two people approaching fast from the sea of fire. She stood up and enveloped her legs with Eon Energy. In the next moment, she dashed out to the lake.


    Splash!

 338 Large Lake

    Splash! Splash!


    As she gradually reduced and added more Eon Energy, the surface she made turned uneven. It caused her to splash into the lake water numerous times.


    "What''s that? Is she truly someone who passed the first examination in the first place?"


    "What a lousy use of Eon Energy."


    "That''s so bad."


    Not only them, but even the elder''s brows were also creased. He could see how poor the use of Eon Energy on the water surface that Ye Jiao did. It was a bit unbearable to the eyes, but he didn''t try to help. These people had to do it by themselves, so he merely turned around to the sea of fire and began to drag the helpless students again.


    Even if they fainted in the middle, they had to finish this test. It was the rule that they imposed on them.


    "Stop talking badly about her! Can you even do it better?" Lu Wan roared, feeling agitated that they talked badly about Ye Jiao. Could they even do better than her?


    A boy snickered. "Of course. Don''t you know that this is obviously a piece of cake?"


    He had already recovered most of his Eon Energy and dashed out. Seeing his fluid movements to control his Eon Energy on the surface of the water, Lu Wan''s heart sank.


    Damn! Were they the only two people in this batch that were unable to run on the water surface?


    Splash!


    Ye Jiao noticed a boy coming at her. He purposely stomped on the ground near her and caused the water to splash. At that moment, her hand instinctively created a wall of Eon Energy around her, perfectly protecting herself.


    "Gee, you''re not bad at all. But you''re too slow!" the boy roared in laughter as he began to run faster.


    Not minding his provocation, Ye Jiao''s eyes landed on the boy''s feet. She could sense his Eon Energy movements and started to copy it. Since he volunteered himself to be her guide, naturally she would not refuse.


    ''A little bit more to the front. Just make the route straight on the path that you want to travel and gather back the Eon Energy from the back.''


    Gradually, Ye Jiao''s speed turned faster. She had gotten the hang of the technique, so all that was left would be to implement it by herself. It was not too hard once she had known the technique that she needed to use.


    On the other hand, Lu Wan struggled to maintain his position on top of the water. This would be the first time he did this, so it was so hard.


    Splash!


    In the next moment, he fell into the water.


    "I have finished fishing all the disciples from the sea of fire." Elder Yi used his Teleportation Array and returned back to the peak. He noticed that Elder Qian had disappeared from the place, so he looked around.


    "He''s the one taking care of the disciple in the lake," Elder Xin said calmly.


    "Are you sure he''s the right person to do this? He''s a wind element, right?" Elder Yi frowned.


    "Then do you expect Elder Cai to be the one who steps out and uses her ice?"


    "¡­" that would be awful.


    Elder Cai snorted as he looked at the other two. "If you wish for me to freeze all the participants who came, I will gladly do so. It''s not a problem at all, and I''ll gladly do that until they can''t breathe."


    "Do you really want to kill your potential students?"


    "What? As long as they''re not water or ice elements, it''s fine."


    "You-!"


    Splash! Bang!


    Water and ice soon filled the place. It was rushing like a tidal wave and clashed in the middle. On the other hand, Elder Xin has created a wall of sand near her to protect herself. It took only a split second for either one of them to create this mess. After all, they were all Eon Energy Master Rank 5.


    Just a swipe of their sleeves was capable of killing numerous people!


    "Want to give it a try, Elder Yi?" Elder Cai spat out each word slowly, her eyes gleamed with huge desire.


    Elder Yi''s eyes also flashed with ruthlessness. "If you wish to take this matter into that big, I''ll gladly accompany you. Just make sure that you won''t regret it afterwards."


    "As if!"


    The moment she finished saying that, her hand was extended as an ice crystal was formed all around her body. With her beautiful figure, those ice only made her look like a fairy. A smile on her lips caused her to look even much more enchanting.


    "Ice shards!" Her finger moved and pointed straight to Elder Yi. Those beautiful crystals around her body turned around with their sharp edge pointing straight to the elder. The moment she finished her last words, they moved at rapid speed to Elder Yi.


    Elder Yi''s expression turned ashen. Water flowed from his hand as he clasped them together. They formed a thick wall in front of him, serving as a shield to protect himself from the attack.


    Splash! Splash! Splash!


    The shards fell on top of the water surface. Elder Cai snorted and was about to create another attack when she felt a sudden pressure on top of her body. Even Elder Yi was startled.


    It was a terrifying large pressure, filled with killing intent. Their body instinctively told them that if they didn''t stop, they would die!


    "Have you had enough?" the prince asked in a flat yet domineering tone.


    Elder Cai quickly lowered her hand. The boiling Eon Energy in her body toned down immediately. She bowed in the direction of the prince. "Your Highness, my apology for creating trouble."


    "I-I didn''t intend to create trouble too, Your Highness."


    The prince had long known that these two were short-tempered. When they were in a bad mood, they would surely nitpick on anything. This time, it was truly unfortunate that the two of them were chosen to stay together.


    "Watch the youngsters."


    "Yes!"


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    Elder Xin calmly sipped on her tea as she sat down unperturbed. She had retracted back the sand wall around her and now just sat down calmly. Her eyes were busy watching the youngsters as they struggled to pass the lake.


    ''She has become faster¡­''


    At this point, her eyes landed on one of the figures in the middle.


    It was precisely Ye Jiao, who had examined the young man''s movements and made it her own. As she had done this in the past for a few times, she had gotten used to it. Her eyes showed a trace of a surprise when she noticed how easy it actually was.


    ''Faster¡­''


    Feeling much comfortable with the use, Ye Jiao quickened her pace. A smile never left her face as she enjoyed creating the path and rushed on top of the water. Soon, her speed became much faster because of her control of her Eon Energy. It was not too outstanding, but clearly much better than the young man who provoked her.


    "What the¡­" the young man''s eyes widened when he saw Ye Jiao almost surpassed him. He still remembered how slow she was. That was the reason he could surpass her in the first place.


    Now she has gotten much faster?


    NO! This couldn''t happen!


    The young man utilized his Eon Energy as he tried to move faster, but he had already reached his maximum speed. Any more, and he wouldn''t be able to hold on his ground. His steps turned shaky as he forced himself to move faster.


    Seeing Ye Jiao rushed not far from him, his eyes glinted with ruthlessness.


    Splash!


    With his Eon Energy, he created a large ripple on the water surface. Ye Jiao''s eyes narrowed in displeasure, but she used her own Eon Energy to calm a part of the surface as she dashed through. In the next moment, she had gotten further away from the young man, ignoring that person completely.


    "That''s impossible! You.. you''re so slow before!" The young man yelled in anger.


    Ye Jiao didn''t feel that there was any need for her to tell him the truth. She had long gotten used to studying by observation, so it was easy for her to copy other people''s movements. Since it was just a simple use of Eon Energy control, it becomes easier for her to detect because everything was done outside.


    She only needed a few minutes to completely master the way to travel on top of the water.


    ''She must be the observation type,'' Elder Qian noticed Ye Jiao''s peculiarity and noticed right away. His eyes flashed with surprise as he knew that Eon Energy Master this type was usually the hardest to deal with. After all, they could not only copy the movements of their opponent but also found their weakness.


    Right now, he felt that she must be naturally born with that talent.


    If only he knew what caused Ye Jiao to have good observation was because of her lousy father''s teaching, it was not known what kind of face he would make.


    Even with poor teaching, he could make her realize one of her talents!


    Ye Jiao didn''t know that there was someone who watched her. She only paid attention to the water surface before her and dashed as fast as possible. Some other students managed to catch up, but not that insolent man. At the very least, neither one of them tried to disturb one another.


    ''Oh, I see the end.''


    Seeing the land not far from her, Ye Jiao naturally quickened her pace to reach that place sooner.

 339 Dry Land

    Ye Jiao nodded her head. She had just finished travelling on the water surface, and now, she just needed to recover her Eon Energy. Due to the trial and error that she did, she wasted quite a lot of Eon Energy amount. Though, it was not all for waste because she had gained a new technique.


    "You''re going?"


    "Yeah, I have had enough of Eon Energy. You need to be faster. There are a lot of others who are much faster than you."


    Looking around them, Ye Jiao could already see that there were 7 people there. Even though she would not finish last, it was not really a good ranking too. This might not be race, but they would surely nitpick on the youngsters if their performance was not within expectation.


    "I see. I''ll do my best."


    "Good luck. I''m off."


    Ye Jiao didn''t waste a lot of time to rest. She set off once she felt her Eon Energy had recovered. This time, the place they were heading to was dry land, void of any life. All she could feel in this place was the scorching sun and also the hardness of the rock and sand below her.


    She already used her Eon Energy to cover her entire body, but she still could feel the dry atmosphere slapping her cheek. It was annoying.


    ''Hmm, there''s also a lot of Eon Energy that I can absorb.''


    Feeling the number of Eon Energy didn''t increase from place to place, Ye Jiao was rather confused. She remembered that they were supposed to only have one place or even two if they were dual elements to absorb the Eon Energy. However, she found herself able to absorb Eon Energy in all of the places at a normal amount from her usual training.


    Even though they were all different elements, she didn''t feel any difference.


    As for having earth as her element, Ye Jiao knew that it was impossible. She didn''t feel much better in this place at all.


    ''Just what is that color that I see before?'' Ye Jiao felt slightly frustrated. She had clearly seen that she had two colors, which meant that it must be a dual element. However, neither one of the basic elements around her told her which one they were.


    Or could it be that those colors actually represent non-element?


    Ye Jiao didn''t know.


    Time passed as the student struggled on the dry land. There was nothing in this place but earth and sand. Some people managed to move quicker, but others just kept running at a steady pace.


    "Did you find anyone interesting, Elder Xin?" Elder Qian appeared near Elder Xin, who was tasked to supervise the youngsters in this stage.


    Elder Xin nodded. "I can find a few who seem to have earth elements as their innate talent. There''s the possibility that their innate talent might be the intermediate elements, but it''s not really known at this point."


    "That''s good."


    They would need to learn the basic elements first before they could even learn the intermediate element.


    This caused their progress to be slow in the beginning, as many of them didn''t have the talent to learn that specific element.


    "They can advance further with that talent, but they need to work hard, or it''ll be all for naught," Elder Xin smirked, showing her mischievous smile. "Of course, I won''t let them enter any other academy."


    "We shall see later," Elder Qian laughed.


    "No one will give those youngsters a better offer than mine. I''m sure that only you will be able to vie for them."


    "I''ll only pick some of them that I found to be my liking. Besides, I''m sure that you also want to pick those three."


    Those three certainly targeted the three youngsters who had S talent in this batch. It was always rare to see anyone with S talent. This year was quite different because three of them appeared right at the same time.


    It was surprising.


    "Neither one of them have earth element talent," Elder Xin replied plainly. The three of them have reached the dry land, so she naturally recognized their movements. It was easy for her to see that neither one of them has an earth element while her real target has always been an earth element.


    "How about enhancement? I''m sure you''re also targeting them," because of the border, those who picked Huang Mo, the largest academy in the desert area, usually also picked those with the enhancement talent. It was also applicable for Hua Shan, the academy in the mountain''s area, but Elder Qian naturally didn''t say it.


    Elder Xin passed her glance to the youngsters in the middle stage area. She curled up her lips. "I''m suspecting that one has the enhancement talent, but we need to see until the examination is over."


    Those who had control, illusive, and enhancement could only be seen after they had reached the end of the examination because they needed to evaluate their entire performance. It was not easy, but these elders have to make sure that they manage to find the right one.


    "How about the other two?"


    "I''m not sure. It didn''t seem like they had any elemental talent. Oh, they have reached the end of the dry land. Elder Cai will soon take over."


    Elder Qian nodded. He was also doubtful because the three of them didn''t seem to have any elemental talent. When they passed the area, they were doing it with the same speed that didn''t seem to showcase their comfort nor discomfort. This caused a bit of headache to the elders because they were anxious as to what talent they had.


    No one wanted to let go of these geniuses.


    At this time, Ye Jiao was still a bit away from the end. She could see more and more people surpassing her. Even those who passed in the middle seemed to regain their speed when they were in the dry land. She instantly understood that the speed of these people depended on which terrain they were.


    They have a different speed which showcased the difference in their talent and path.


    "You''re even slower this time, Ye Jiao," Han Fu commented when he saw Ye Jiao arrive by the thin line. This time, he didn''t hurry to depart because he also felt tired. The journey has been very taxing.


    "Yeah." Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "It seems that this test is truly not a race."


    "In any case, I''ll surely finish earlier than you," Han Fu said stubbornly. "Also, do you find any of the terrains to your advantage so far?"


    "None, none at all."

 340 Windy Grassland

    "I see." Han Fu looked relieved when he heard her answer. Noticing her confused expression, he quickly added. "I also feel the same, so I was wondering if I''m the only weird one."


    "Ah."


    Ye Jiao smiled back. She knew that those who felt comfortable and able to raise their speed would be those who had the specific talent in that particular terrain. It was just unfortunate that she couldn''t feel that at all.


    "Oh, you''re still here."


    The voice from behind her caused Ye Jiao to be startled. Looking at the haggard Lu Wan, she truly wondered what he had experienced.


    "You''re fast!"


    "Yeah, I managed to pick up my pace in the swimming, eh, I mean in the lake," Lu Wan replied. When he was swimming, he realized that he had sped up much faster compared to before. Even though his method was quite crude, he arrived at the intersection right when Ye Jiao departed.


    During his time swimming, he only used up a bit of Eon Energy, so he departed soon afterwards.


    Han Fu''s eyes widened. "Damn! You must have talent in the water element!"


    "Huh?"


    "Lu Wan, don''t you know that if you have talent in specific talent, you will be able to travel in that terrain much faster?"


    Lu Wan clasped his hand. "I see! No wonder that I manage to arrive here faster! That''s good to hear."


    "I''m not going to give up! You hear me!" Han Fu glowered and turned around, departing into the grassland in front of him.


    Ye Jiao sighed and sat down. "Recover your Eon Energy first, Se- Lu Wan. It''s not going to be an easy journey."


    "Right~. Also, you should forget calling me that again."


    Lu Wan was referring to his identity as Ye Jiao''s senior brother. It has been quite some time since he became her senior brother, but he knew that he would never be able to become one anymore. Her talent and ability would soon surpass him to reach a completely different height.


    "Ok."


    Even when they entered the academy later, Lu Wan highly doubted that he would be able to keep his position as her senior brother. With their difference becoming clearer, he knew that she would be outside of his grasp.


    The two of them stayed quiet as they absorbed Eon Energy and circulated them in their body. This time, neither one of the two of them tried to hurry and just enjoyed the peace. They were already tired because of the journey before, and many other people have the advantage that they didn''t have.


    It would be better if they just used this time wisely to train and recover.


    "Lu Wan, have you finished?" Ye Jiao felt a bit weird to call him directly by his name but calling him ''brother'' would be weird too. They were not that close to one another, so she decided to just call him directly with his name.


    "Yes."


    "Let''s go."


    "That surprises me!" Lu Wan exclaimed. "What''s with this place? The wind is so strong!"


    "The last basic element is the wind," Ye Jiao explained. She was carefully sensing the Eon Energy in this area and tried to pull them. To her surprise, she still could do that as Eon Energy entered her body bit by bit.


    Now, she was awfully curious about what kind of talent she had.


    "By the way, where are the others?"


    "Many of them have departed sooner than us." Ye Jiao chuckled. Even though she didn''t like the sound of that, she knew for sure that they must have already departed and travelled in this windy grassland.


    "Woah, are we the last?"


    "No. There are still a few others."


    "That''s good. I wouldn''t be able to taunt Wei Cheng if we finished last." Lu Wan''s face scrunched when he remembered that young man. He truly wished to give him a good punch, but the result in the first stage only told him that he was worse than that young man.


    That was obviously because of their difference in experience and stage.


    Time passed swiftly.


    As their Eon Energy decreased, they could finally see the end line. Picking up their pace, they quickly reached the place and bumped into a wall of Eon Energy.


    Ye Jiao''s expression changed. She nearly cursed when she recognized that it was just a Teleportation Array. She couldn''t understand why those elders seemed to love using the Teleportation Array so much.


    The two of them soon arrived in a completely different place. It was right outside the gate again with the soft grass becoming the cushion of their fall. There were already numerous people there. She could even see that Qi Huan had arrived first along with Cao Ren, Wei Yin, Chen Zi Quan, Han Fu, but Gao Yun had just arrived around the same time as her.


    "You''re slow, Lu Wan." Wei Cheng smirked. He was awfully glad when he didn''t see Lu Wan. Now that the young man came out, he decided to taunt him a bit.


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. "Just see, I''ll surely perform better than you!"


    "You? In your dream!"


    Chen Zi Quan was also looking at them with a slight frown in his face. He knew that those who could arrive faster would be those who had talent in a specific element, which was the reason why he also managed to arrive faster. He would not feel strange if Lu Wan arrived late, but it was strange to see Ye Jiao late.


    From what he knew, Ye Xiao has a fire element while Ye Ai Xia has a wind element. There should be a higher possibility that her talent would be either the two of them. How come she arrived late?


    "You''re faster, Han Fu," Gao Yun remarked as he cleaned his clothes from the dust. That windy grassland also brought a lot of sand that stuck in his clothes.


    Han Fu put his two fingers on the front, acting all cute. "Of course, I''m the best!"


    "I see."


    "He had just arrived not long ago," a youngster remarked. "So much for being S talent, yet the three of you all arrived in the middle or late. What a shame."


    Gao Yun and Han Fu immediately frowned and turned to look at the youngsters. Han Fu''s face turned to normal in the next second, yet there was a smile filled with darkness on the corner of his lips. "It seems that you think of yourself as someone great, huh? Do you really think that finishing first is everything in this test?"


    "What, don''t you just want to soot¡­"


    Bang!


    It was unknown when, but Gao Yun had taken out his large axe and slammed the edge on the ground. The force was so big that it nearly made them think that there was a small earthquake.


    Gao Yun looked at the young man with a fierce gaze. "Do you want to have a go? Rather than speaking, I prefer action."


    The young man''s face paled immediately. Not only him, but even the onlookers were also looking at him with a look of pity. They clearly understood that the young man named Gao Yun has remarkable strength. It was outside the elemental area, but it was clearly a fearful talent.


    Even if it was them, they didn''t want to cross paths with Gao Yun.


    That was too terrifying.

 341 None of The Talen

    "N-no, I-I I just m-make a m-mistake," the man stuttered as he tried to correct his sentence. He might be Eon Energy Master Rank 3 middle stage, but his strength couldn''t even come close to that.


    Not even half!


    Ye Jiao didn''t take any action by herself because she had gotten used with the insults thrown at her head. She would usually treat them as a passing wind with no importance at all. After all, it was not the first time someone mocked her. In her entire life, how many times she heard rumors about her and people directly mocked her because of her ''low talent?''


    It was too common.


    But seeing the strength that Gao Yun exerted, she came to understand that this young man must have a much greater strength than normal people.


    "Hey, Ye Jiao, is there anything you would like to add?"


    "No," Ye Jiao replied plainly.


    Han Fu arched his eyebrows, clearly dissatisfied with Ye Jiao''s answer. "Are you just going to let him off without doing anything?"


    "Too bothersome."


    "Aw, fine," Han Fu placed both of his hands on the back of his head. He was smiling brightly, yet there was a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his pupils for a split second. "I always hate arrogant people who don''t know their place. If you think you''re so great, you''re free to challenge me. You just have to remember to not feel ashamed for challenging someone far younger than you."


    The man''s face paled even further. It was clearly the unwritten rules that they shouldn''t challenge someone of lower rank. If it was someone of the same rank, those who had younger age would have the advantage even if they lose because of their ''lack of experience.'' Compared to the younger one losing, it was clear that the older one would experience embarrassment and shame.


    It was just common logic.


    Han Fu smiled as he looked at the young man. "Feel free to challenge us if you want. I''m sure that we can play with you."


    "N-no, thank you!"


    Seeing the man bolted away in fear, Han Fu snorted and no longer paid any attention to them. He looked closer at the axe in Gao Yun''s hand.


    "I didn''t know that you''re an axe user. That''s amazing."


    "It''s just a common weapon," Gao Yun said in a flat tone. With a swipe of his hand, he had returned the axe into his storage bracelet once more.


    "Gee, don''t be so humble. I''m sure that axe weighs a few hundred kilograms. I want to see it again¡­"


    While Han Fu was pestering Gao Yun, the others tried to avert their attention. Still, their heart was unable to shake that unspeakable fear when the two of them spoke out with full of confidence like that. It was clear that neither one of the two of them were afraid of offending them all.


    "They''re truly excellent martial artists," Qi Huan looked at Ye Jiao for a moment. "You need to be more confident in yourself."


    For a young girl to have such thick killing intent, it would be quite weird. Besides, Ye Jiao treated it as her card that she didn''t wish to expose.


    No one should know how a young girl like her could possibly kill so many people.


    "Alright, all of you have arrived here," Qin Zheng appeared from one of the doors. He looked at them with a slight smile on his handsome face. If not because they knew how annoying he could be, that one smile would be more than enough to win countless girls in the top 100.


    "You again?" Han Fu pointed his finger at Qin Zheng with an annoyed tone.


    "I''m going to post the result, so it''ll be better if you move away," Qin Zheng waved his hand as a few scrolls appeared on his hand.


    "Ah, ok."


    Han Fu immediately shut his mouth and watched as Qin Zheng hung the scroll on the wall. He did it slowly and unhurriedly, which nearly caused them all to be furious.


    ''Move faster!''


    ''You''re Eon Energy Master Rank 3, right? Why did you move so slow like an invalid?''


    ''Come on, we want to see it!''


    Even though they were impatient, neither one of them dared to step forward and urge Qin Zheng to truly move faster. They didn''t want to offend this peculiar young man. Especially not when their test still depended on him. If he tried to play a prank on them and didn''t tell all the rules again¡­ they would be doomed.


    The first one Qin Zheng posted was the elemental result. It was divided into four columns, each for a different element. In there, it was also written whether it was innate talent or just affinity.


    "Lu Wan- water affinity," Lu Wan smiled when he saw his name. It was not too bad, especially since he already decided for himself that he would pursue the path as a poison master. Water control would be awesome because it could help him in concocting new poison again.


    "Wei Yin- innate earth element, Chen Zi Quan - innate water element."


    Reading those words, Lu Wan''s face darkened by a few shades. He could accept that Chen Zi Quan has innate talent because that young man arrived faster. BUT! Why did it have to be a water element?!


    He hated the fact that he has the same element as that annoying young man.


    "The Chen Family has always been famous for their water element," Qi Huan commented at the back, partially explaining it to Lu Wan. "Of course, it''s also the same with me."


    Lu Wan turned his head and found Qi Huan''s name soon enough. "Qi Huan ¨C innate water element, Cao Ren ¨C fire affinity."


    Qi Huan smiled. He looked over to see Cao Ren was also looking back at him. Even though they didn''t usually clash, their element clearly contradicted one another. It was painfully clear that they might not be able to meet in peace in the future.


    At this time, Qin Zheng had finished hanging the second scroll. It was for those who had control affinity or innate talent.


    "Can someone have more than one talent?" Lu Wan turned to look at Qi Huan because he didn''t know.


    "They can," Qi Huan nodded his head. "The maximum is three talents, but even having two is fairly rare."


    "Chen Zi Quan ¨C control affinity."


    Lu Wan immediately turned his head to look at Qi Huan. His gaze was accusing. "Didn''t you say that it''s rare?"


    "Affinity and innate talent are different," Qi Huan wished to smack this young man''s head right now. "Affinity means that you can learn faster in that field, but innate talent means that you can learn much faster and achieve much higher. Those with innate talent could also advance faster than what their talent suggests them to be."


    "What¡­ did you say?" advance faster?


    Cao Ren shook his head lightly. "You truly need to study more. For example, those who have A talent will need 5 years to form their core, but if they have innate talent, they can do it faster. Probably, even 4 years would be enough for them."


    Hearing that, Lu Wan blinked his eyes. He remembered that his master once told him about that too. This was the first time he came to understand what it truly meant.


    "As for affinity, it won''t affect you much until you reach rank 4 and starts to learn the element," Qi Huan added.


    "I see."


    At this time, Qin Zheng had posted the next scroll. The youngsters immediately crowded the place to find their name.


    "Cao Ren ¨C enhancement affinity, Gao Yun ¨C innate enhancement talent."


    Han Fu turned his head around to the large man. "Wow, I didn''t know that you have such talent with you!"


    "It''s also a surprise for me," Gao Yun said plainly.


    "Then the last one¡­."


    They were forced to wait for another five minutes before Qin Zheng posted the next scroll, which was also the last one.


    "Han Fu - innate illusive talent," Han Fu nearly exclaimed when he read his name. "Hahaha, ain''t I great?"


    On the other hand, Lu Wan was looking at the scroll with widened eyes. "Qi Huan ¨C innate illusive talent."


    "Oh?" Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. It seemed that he had two innate talents. He only knew about the water element since it was clear because of his family, but it was surprising that he also had illusive talent. Probably, that was the reason he could get that in Spring Island.


    "You- didn''t you say that it''s rare?"


    "It''s indeed rare," Qi Huan replied. He pondered as he smiled. "Probably, I''m just quite lucky."


    "¡­" Lu Wan truly wished to punch this young man''s face right here, right now.


    "Hey, I didn''t see Ye Jiao''s name at all."


    The sudden exclaim surprised them, but they quickly turned their head around to find her name in the scroll. Even though Ye Jiao was not the only one who didn''t have her name written, they only paid attention to her because she had caught so much attention before.


    In the element scroll: none


    In the control scroll: none


    In the enhancement scroll: none


    In the illusive scroll: none


    It was at this time they realized that it was true. Ye Jiao''s name was not written in any of these scrolls, which meant that she didn''t have an innate talent!

 342 No Talent? So be i

    No talent!


    Many people turned around to look at Ye Jiao. Some of their gazes were filled with mockery, while others were filled with pity. However, the person in question was awfully calm as if she couldn''t see them.


    Even before that young man exclaimed that they couldn''t find her name, she had seen it before. After all, she had been searching for her name among the rows of names in front of her. Seeing that she couldn''t find her name, she didn''t feel disappointed.


    She has no talent?


    Then what?


    This was not the first time she encountered this scene because she had seen them in the past. When she was just six years old, she was also tested and found out that she didn''t have any talent whatsoever. At that time, she believed that talent was everything, so she tried to beg the tester.


    However, she came to understand that there was no use crying, begging, or hoping for the nonexistent result.


    At that time, it would affect her badly because only with talent could one learn how to control Eon Energy and absorb them. But this time, it was completely different. These talents would only help them pick their path in the future, and even without it, one could be successful.


    She would be slower than the others.


    That''s fine! She would just work harder.


    Her path would be filled with hardship.


    She would welcome it with open arms. Only by overcoming hardship would she be able to grow stronger.


    The path of a genius is not a path filled with petal flowers and having everything ready, but it is the path filed with hardship where they have to work hard if they want to achieve their goal.


    "Ye Jiao?" Han Fu narrowed his eyes. As someone with S talent, he had a keener sense of Eon Energy movements. For a moment, he felt as if there were Eon Energy movements around Ye Jiao, surrounding her body with brilliant lights. There was an illusion in his eyes that the one standing in front of him was not just ordinary youngsters, but someone with brilliant light.


    It was amazing.


    Ye Jiao lifted her head. Her eyes looked as if they were shining despite the fact that she was awfully calm. "Is there anything wrong, Han Fu?"


    "Are y-," are you alright?


    He wanted to ask that, but he could feel the emotion of this girl was calm. There was not a single ripple in her eyes as if she had long known about this and accepted it. However, she was also determined to not let it be the one to decide her fate.


    By the side, Qin Zheng watched as all eyes fell on Ye Jiao and gave her that gaze filled with pity and even maliciousness. He paid no heed to them all as his eyes only landed on the young girl. Her emotion stirred for a moment before it calmed down again as if what they saw was nothing but an illusion.


    ''Her eyes¡­ as I thought, she''s not ordinary.''


    "Geez, that''s why she shouldn''t have pulled so much attention," Elder Cai snorted. "Look at what happens, they all will just give her jeers because of her ''remarkable talent.''"


    It was known that these talents would determine their path once they reached rank 4 because their previous talent mattered only a little bit. If they didn''t have enough talent in specific specialization, it would take them much longer to advance from rank 4 to rank 5.


    After all, all of it required specialization.


    "She''s just a little genius who thinks too much of herself," Elder Yi also added. He didn''t really like those geniuses who were born with great talent, yet it turned out that they didn''t have much worth in the end.


    Elder Xin shook her head. "All in all, she''s still someone with S talent. Even if her path is slower, she will be able to reach the stage at a much faster rate compared with those with B or even A talent."


    "And if she slacks off, those with A talent can easily surpass her," Elder Cai grunted. "Anyway, I''m not interested in those kinds of disciples. My Bing Gong Academy is not suitable for any enhancement or control specialization too, so I''ll let her go."


    "Oh, it''s rare for you to give up so early," Elder Qian arched his eyebrows.


    "I''m only interested in the water element and also the ice element. Too bad I can''t find any with the ice element among the top 100, but maybe I''ll be lucky enough to find in that large batch of people who qualify."


    "I wish you good luck, Elder Cai."


    "I''ll give up on her too," Elder Yi added. "I''ll still give her the offer because of her talent, but I don''t really have much interest in her. I''m more inclined to take Han Fu or Gao Yun."


    "I want that young man too."


    "Heh, we shall see whose offer is better."


    Elder Qian shook his head. The examination was not over yet, but these people have already started to pick the disciple they wanted. His eyes landed on Ye Jiao as he could see the tranquility and calm that was not suitable to her age on her youthful face. It was as if she could ignore those stares and accusing glance without batting an eyelid, something extremely remarkable for a young girl.


    "She reminds me of Qin Zheng," Elder Xin suddenly remarked. "A young girl who matures too fast for her age. It''s truly a wonder that those youngsters can become mature even though their age suggests that they''re still young brats."


    "There are many youngsters like that because of their childhood condition," Elder Qian chuckled. "However, I have to agree that this girl must have her own special condition. Even if the others are unwilling to take her, I want her to be part of the Hua Shan Academy."


    "Then you have to make sure you give her a good offer," Elder Xin propped her chin with an alluring smile on her face. "Because if you don''t, I''ll be the one to take her away along with that young man."


    "I see that you also take an interest in her, but I''m not going to back down."


    "May the best win."


    ¡­


    Ye Jiao didn''t know that she was the topic of conversation between the elders. She was just looking at the result calmly. Even though she herself knew that she must have some kind of talent because she only absorbed the specified color of Eon Energy, it might not be included in them.


    Probably, she had a special condition that was unknown.


    Whatever it would be, she would not give up so easily.


    At that moment, a burst of laughter suddenly filled the area, which attracted the attention of many. "See, as I thought, a trash like her will always be trash!"


    They all turned their head around as they could see a young girl around the same age as Ye Jiao was laughing loudly. There were a lot of people in that place that were not participants of the examination, so it was not weird to see people come out of the city to see the result.


    However, this was the first time they saw someone so brazen as to mock Ye Jiao directly.


    Even though some of them also felt elated, they would not show it on their face. All in all, she was still a respectable Eon Energy Master Rank 3 with S talent. Even though she might not be able to advance too fast in the future, it would still be much faster compared to some of them. After all, the difference between S talent and other talents was awfully large.


    "How dare she¡­!" Han Fu was about to threaten that girl when he saw a small hand blocking his way. His face was filled with bewilderment as he looked at Ye Jiao, who was calmly facing them all. "Ye Jiao, she¡­?"


    "There''s no need to be so angry." Ye Jiao chuckled. Her eyes flashed with a hint of ruthlessness. "Why should you waste your time with a random ordinary stranger?"


    Hearing her words, Han Fu came to realize that the young girl that mocked her was not even Eon Energy Master. She was just a lowly kid with nothing on her back but empty authority. Mocking her like that, shouldn''t she feel shameful?


    "Right, even without you doing anything, the others won''t just let her off."


    "Even if they didn''t do anything, I don''t believe that she won''t be the hot potatoes," Qi Huan chuckled on the side. His eyes clearly held a hint of maliciousness for a split second.


    "Wei Mi, what are you talking about?" Wei Cheng hurriedly tried to stop his sister from making things worse. If words came out that they mocked someone with S talent, it wouldn''t reflect well on their side.


    Wei Mi turned to look at her brother disapprovingly. "Brother, that''s the truth! She''s always been a trash and will¡­"


    Slap!


    .........¡­..


    Talent list:


    Qi Huan: Innate water element + innate illusive talent


    Cao Ren: Affinity in fire + affinity in enhancement


    Lu Wan: affinity in water


    Wei Yin: Innate earth element


    Chen Zi Quan: innate water element + control affinity


    Gao Yun: innate enhancement talent


    Han Fu: innate illusive talent

 343 I Don’t Believe the Resul

    Can''t this girl understand it?


    Unfortunately, Wei Mi has been spoiled rotten by her brother and father that she was unable to see the big picture anymore. She always wished to get back at Ye Jiao because of what she had done to her family. However, it didn''t seem that things were going according to her wishes.


    Even if she mocked Ye Jiao openly, others would only have a bad view of her as a jealous girl. After all, Ye Jiao''s talent was still worthy of envy.


    "F-father?" Wei Mi''s eyes watered as she looked at her father with grief. How come he hit her? He had never hit her before.


    "Cool down your head." Wei Shang waved his hand.


    ???B-but." Wei Mi could feel a hand pulled her from the back. At this time, Wei Xie chose to step in because she knew that Wei Mi wouldn''t be able to think clearly. The situation would only get worse if this girl continued to talk.


    "Miss, let''s go back," Wei Xie said in a soothing tone.


    Several people looked at the young girl. Even though Wei Xie was dressed in plain clothes, it was clear that she was also the man''s daughter and this girl''s sister. Her eyes were shining in intelligence as she tried to soothe her sister. Right now, they were all thinking that this family must be filled with idiots.


    That young girl was clearly much more intelligent and sensible, but the one they put on the front was the stupid one.


    "B-but."


    "There''s an interesting place that I''m sure you wish to see," Wei Xie persuaded as she smiled brightly. Her smile was so charming that even with her plain dress, a lot of people were looking at her with affection.


    "F-fine," Wei Mi humped and turned around.


    Wei Xie looked in Ye Jiao''s direction for a split second. There was a flash of ruthlessness flashed in the young girl''s eyes for a split second before she turned and guided Wei Mi away.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes also narrowed slightly. She could clearly sense that Wei Xie was no longer an ordinary person. That girl had formed her core!


    From what she knew, Wei Xie should be similar to Wei Liao. The two of them only have green talent, which meant that the fastest they could form their core would be when they were 12 years old. If they were unlucky, it would be 13 years old. However, Wei Xie was clearly younger than her, yet she had formed her core.


    ''Wei Xie must have innate talent, but why is she looking at me with hatred? Did I do something to her?''


    After waiting a few more minutes, Qin Zheng opened his mouth. "The next examination will start tomorrow, and this time, it''ll also determine your ranking. For today, you may have a break and use any of the facilities. As long as you''re using the correct one, you can use it for free by showing your token."


    Using the correct one?


    They were looking at Qin Zheng with a confused expression, but Qin Zheng was too lazy to elaborate on his words. For him, it was already clear that the correct one would refer to the training area. After all, they came here because they wished to train and not some other things.


    "I guess I''ll just head out and train." Han Fu grinned. "I''m curious about this illusive thing too, so I want to do some research."


    Gao Yun nodded. "I need to do research too."


    "Then I wish you two good luck." Ye Jiao smiled kindly.


    "Where do you plan to train, Ye Jiao? You can train with us if you want since you can pick any specialization that you want," Han Fu chose to just look at it from the bright side. While they needed to follow their talent, Ye Jiao could pick anything that she wanted to. In a way, that was an advantage, right?


    Ye Jiao shook her head. She was sure that her talent lied in the element, but she couldn''t be sure about it. "I''m going to the elemental area."


    "Are you sure?"


    "Yes."


    "Ok, I won''t stop you," Han Fu shrugged. "See you tomorrow."


    As the two of them walked away, Qi Huan patted Ye Jiao''s shoulder and flashed a smile. Lu Wan followed suit, but they didn''t show that they were close with her. Ye Jiao understood that they wished to give her encouragement, so she smiled back in response.


    When most of them had entered the city, Qin Zheng moved from his place and walked to Ye Jiao lazily.


    "You seem calm."


    "Do I have to cry?" Ye Jiao rolled her eyes.


    "No." Qin Zheng looked at the young girl with his deep gaze. "However, I can tell you one thing. I don''t believe in the result."


    I don''t believe in the result.


    Even though Ye Jiao herself also had her own thoughts regarding the result, she was surprised to feel the sudden sense of comfort when she heard another person say it directly to her. She could sense her Eon Energy, so she knew that there must be something suitable for her.


    But he¡­ he was just someone whom she met for a short period of time, and yet, he was also the one who told her that he believed in her.


    It felt weird.


    Ye Jiao looked back at Qin Zheng, her eyebrows arched as if she didn''t believe him. "Do you really think that?"


    "Yes."


    "Why?"


    "Because it didn''t make sense," Qin Zheng replied plainly. "Besides, you don''t seem like you have given up on trying to find your path, so I guess that you should have known that there''s something special within your body."


    Ye Jiao didn''t reply immediately. Having someone trusted her somehow felt pleasant. She was not close to him at all, but he was the one who could see through her. Even those who always stayed with her never managed to see through her own feelings and thoughts so clearly like him.


    "You''re so sharp, Qin Zheng."


    "Call me senior if you don''t want other people to start guessing¡­"


    "You already set up an array in this place, so I''m sure that you know that no one will be able to hear our conversation," Ye Jiao giggled. She had seen the item in Qin Zheng''s sleeve was emitting a faint layer of Eon Energy around them. It must be a device that could block their voice from getting out.


    "I have to say that you''re sharp too."


    "Thank you for your compliment."


    "Since you believe that you have something special, I''m sure that you already have your own suppositions about what kind of talent you have," Qin Zheng beckoned for them to walk into the city. The two of them started walking as he continued, "Do you want to share?"


    "I don''t think I would want to share them with someone like you."


    "What''s wrong with me?"


    "Everything." Ye Jiao looked at Qin Zheng''s body up and down. He was always so annoying, yet he still had the innocent expression on his face as if he didn''t do anything wrong. How many people have already been angered by Qin Zheng in the examination alone? Ye Jiao couldn''t count them all anymore.


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "I''m hurt that you say it like that."


    "That''s good."


    "How heartless." Qin Zheng chuckled. "So, are you not going to tell me what your suppositions for your talent is?"


    "You''ll see."


    The two of them continued to walk on the street as Ye Jiao looked at the signboard, searching for the correct one. It took them a few minutes before she managed to find the one she was searching for. All along, Qin Zheng just stayed quiet and accompanied the young girl.


    "Fire element?" Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "So you''re suspecting your talent is in this field?"


    "Not fire," Ye Jiao said as she got inside. She showed her token, which granted her free access. As for Qin Zheng, it was safe to say that they didn''t even need him to show his identity card because they have long known that he was the young man who was already an Elite Disciple.


    Qin Zheng thought to himself about the fire element before he came to a realization. He looked over to the young girl beside him.


    "Have you already studied the intermediate element path?"


    Intermediate elements were elements that they could only learn after the basics. Most of them would not even bother taking a look at them because they would need to study from the very beginning again when they reached rank 5. It was too much of a hassle. Besides, without talent, they would need too much time.


    Not everyone has the patience to learn a new element again.


    Ye Jiao shook her head. "I haven''t learned them, but I can guess based on my observation during the examination."


    Each basic element would unlock the path to a specific intermediate element. She was not familiar with them because the Four Kingdoms didn''t teach them at all. After all, rank 4 was basically the highest in that place.


    "Right, you have great observation skills." Qin Zheng watched as the girl stepped into the small land provided and sat down. Perspiration was clear on the girl''s face, yet she acted as if she couldn''t sense anything and just sat down to practice.


    Watching the young girl, Qin Zheng smiled slightly. If she truly has this element, he knew that she would be chased by a lot of people. It was truly a rare element that one could only hope to find every dozen years. But of course, she needed a few more years to truly realize her worth because only the rank 5 could start learning intermediate elements.


    After a while, Qin Zheng turned around and left.


    On the other side of the room, Cao Ren was sitting while looking at the entrance. He was clearly surprised when he saw Ye Jiao come inside. Moreover, she came walking with Qin Zheng, an Elite Disciple.


    However, he didn''t try to probe anything as he focused his attention on his training. He didn''t have innate talent, so he still could feel the scorching heat hurting him.

 344 Murder Case?

    Ye Jiao could sense that her body was getting warmer as she busied herself to absorb the Eon Energy. She had guessed that it must be much more in this area. After all, she first began to sense the difference when she was still young. The fire itself was too hot for her, but she liked to practice near them.


    This time, Ye Jiao didn''t spend as much time as when she was in front of the pillar. A loud bell sound stopped her practice.


    Teng! Teng! Teng!


    "What''s that sound?" a young man asked with confusion.


    "It''s the mark that the second examination will begin in three hours," another one replied as he stood up. "Time to eat and rest a bit before going there."


    "Ah, wait for me!"


    Ye Jiao opened her eyes and stood up. She looked around and noticed that many other people were also doing the same. They needed to make sure that they were prepared for what was to come, so they better departed right away.


    "Miss Ye Jiao?"


    "Yes, Prince Cao Ren?" noticing the one who greeted her was the prince, Ye Jiao greeted him politely.


    Cao Ren smiled. "I didn''t expect that you''ll know my name. it''s an honor to meet you."


    Ye Jiao pursed her lips. How could she possibly tell him that she had already known him from a long time ago? The only difference would be, at that time, she was disguised as nothing more than a small servant that didn''t worth mentioning while this young man was standing at the forefront as the powerful prince.


    "Is there anything that you wish to talk about, Prince Cao Ren?"


    "Yes." Cao Ren''s expression showed doubts. "Yesterday you¡­"


    "KYAAAAAAAAAAA!"


    "SOMEONE IS DEAD!


    "HELP!"


    Hearing the sudden scream, Ye Jiao''s mind spun hard. She believed that this was already the second time she heard the case of someone who died in the middle of the competition... Oh, right, the previous time it was Cao Ren''s sister that died in the hunt.


    However, there was no corpse at that time, so no one knew for sure what had happened.


    Cao Ren''s expression changed greatly. It was a great taboo to kill someone in this place. Moreover, how come the array didn''t work?


    "Prince Cao Ren, shall we take a look first?" Ye Jiao asked with doubt.


    "Let''s go."


    Even though Cao Ren wanted to ask more about Qin Zheng, he knew that this was not the right time. It would be better for him to wait until there was another chance in the future to ask Ye Jiao. Right now, they wanted to know who could possibly kill someone, yet they were still alive in the array?


    Following the scream and noise, they arrived in the suburb area of the city. It was a dirty area of the city with numerous people gathered. Many of them have their clothes crumpled while the women have thick makeup.


    It took less than one second for Ye Jiao to realize what kind of place this was.


    Cao Ren shook his head. This was the illegal area of this city, so there was a possibility that the array didn''t really reach this point. Still, he didn''t understand why the death of someone in this area would cause such a large commotion.


    Unless¡­ the one who died came from a powerful family.


    "Excuse me, do you know who it is?"


    "It''s the second young master from Yan Family. He disappeared last night, and only today they managed to find him in this condition," the man shook his head.


    The Yan Family.


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes and turned her head to Cao Ren. She truly didn''t know anything about this family. They must have come from a completely different area and didn''t have any relation whatsoever with the Four Kingdoms. Seeing that Cao Ren also shook his head in confusion, she came to the conclusion that it didn''t have anything to do with them.


    ???Ye Jiao! Cao Ren!" Lu Wan came while running. Behind him, Qi Huan was also rushing over with a calm face.


    "Lu Wan."


    "What is it?"


    "The Yan Family Second young master died." Ye Jiao pointed to the crowd before her. "But it''s not going to be easy to get inside with the large crowd like this."


    "Is the Yan Family second young master a 12 years old boy?" Mu Xin asked as she jogged to their side. She had just arrived with a strange expression on her face.


    "Eh, I don''t know."


    "Yes, he''s a 12 years old boy," a man in front of them remarked in surprise. "Do you know him, Miss?"


    "No, I don''t," Mu Xin shook her head. "I just saw a young boy around the age of 12 going with Wei Mi last night."


    She also saw Wei Xie, but since it was dark, she wasn''t sure. Last night, she was going around to collect information when she stumbled upon them. If not for the fact that she recognized Wei Mi, she would never pay any attention to them.


    "Wei Mi?" Ye Jiao was dumbfounded. What was that girl doing walking with another young man in the middle of the night? She couldn''t understand what that young girl wanted to do with them.


    Eh, wait, 12 years old boy?


    Suddenly, she recalled her conversation with Wei Liao.


    ''She told me that if I take other people''s core and combine it with others, I''ll be able to have higher talent.''


    Somehow, she got a truly bad feeling about this.


    "WHO THE HELL DARED TO KILL MY SON?"


    The sound reverberated in the area, along with the powerful force of Eon Energy Master Rank 4. It was so powerful that they were all feeling as if their lives were hanging on a thin line. Those who were already Eon Energy Master Rank 2 or above quickly formed a shield around their body to protect themselves.


    "That''s so powerful," Lu Wan muttered.


    "Yan Family also has Eon Energy Master Rank 4," Qi Huan said as a matter of fact. "I''m afraid it''s not going to be easy to walk off from them."


    "Well, we can just eat while watching. I''m hungry."


    "I''ll buy some food."


    "Buy more for us too."


    "Got it."


    Cao Ren was looking at them with a weird expression. He had the faint feeling that these four must have known each other beforehand. Even if they were not too close, at least, today shouldn''t be the first time they met.


    ''I can understand that Lu Wan might know them because they all came from the Chen Kingdom, but Qi Huan is a prince in the Chi Kingdom, right? He shouldn''t have known the other two.''


    While the group of youngsters decided to just eat and watch from far away, the situation at the front was not that good. Wei Shang hurried over when they told him that his daughter was found near the corpse of a young man from an influential family. Seeing the angry Eon Energy Master Rank 4, Wei Shang felt that his heart dropped to the bottom abyss.


    Just who did he offend this time?


    He walked to the front and saw two corpses, one male and one female. The two of them were only twelve years old, very young. There was a large hole on the boy''s stomach while a sword was pierced straight in the young girl''s chest. At the same time, a middle-aged man was standing with an imposing aura there.


    He felt angry.


    "Who are you?"


    "I-I''m her father," Wei Shang wanted to say just a passerby, but he doubted that he would be able to fool this man. It would be better for him to just say the truth.


    "Her father?" The man''s eyes narrowed dangerously. "Can you explain to me what had happened last night? How come the two of them ended in this state?"


    "I don''t know either."


    "I want you to take responsibility for killing my son."


    "Responsibility?" Wei Shang''s aura turned sharp. As a general, he naturally had the disposition of a leader. "Do you really think that I''m the one at fault over here? What if your son was the one who tried to hurt my daughter?"


    "In that case, where''s my son''s core?"


    That question caused Wei Shang to look at the two corpses more carefully. He had just realized that the hole in the young man''s body was exactly in the position where his core was supposed to be. It meant that whatever happened last night, the young man lost his core.


    "Are you saying that my daughter, an ordinary girl without any Eon Energy whatsoever, was capable of hurting a healthy young man like your son and took his core?" Wei Shang spat out each word slowly.


    The man''s expression sunk. He knew that the girl didn''t have any power whatsoever because she was a crippled, but his son has just formed his own core. His power still didn''t differ that much from ordinary people, so he knew that it was plausible. However, there was another problem.


    Between men and women, who would be stronger?


    The natural answer would the men because of his larger physical ability.


    Still, the man couldn''t accept this result. He looked at Wei Shang dangerously. "Do you really think that it''s impossible for her to wound him when you must have taught her a few martial arts? If my son is drunk, even a child is capable of hurting him."


    "It means you wish for me to pay for your loss no matter what?" Wei Shang narrowed his eyes dangerously. Waves of Eon Energy started to form on his palm, exuding boundless energy that came from Eon Energy Master Rank 4.


    "Yes."


    The moment the word was said, two different elements of Eon Energy clashed heavily!

 345 Wei Xie

    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Earth and fire clashed right in the middle, sending powerful waves all around the area. Many other people have started to scatter around as they were afraid of getting involved with the battle.


    "No fight is allowed here."


    The moment the voice sounded, both Wei Shang and that man from the Yan Family were unable to move their body. Their eyes showed a trace of surprise and astonishment, but they looked at the direction where the voice came.


    A woman was staring at them with cold eyes as a chilling aura emanated from her body. Her fair skin and alluring body would surely make many men entranced with her, but right now, all they could sense was the cold aura and pressure she emanated. She''s beautiful, but she''s also too fierce!


    "Miss¡­"


    "I''m Elder Cai from Bing Gong Academy," the woman replied. "I''m sure that you know the rules, right. If you wish to fight, feel free to do it outside this city."


    "But¡­"


    Elder Cai didn''t wait for them to respond back as she waved her hand. Chilling air along with powerful waves directly shot to the two men. They could faintly sense the ice surrounding their body as Elder Cai threw them out of the city just like throwing the trash.


    Bam!


    Both of them landed in a sorry state as she didn''t retract her ice. Her beautiful iris looked at the dead children on the ground as disgust appeared within her eyes.


    "It seems a mole has managed to find out the weakness of the array. Heh, I would like to see you work again."


    No one knew who Elder Cai talked to as the air distorted, and the woman disappeared once more.


    No one except one:


    Wei Xie.


    She was standing in the crowd, blending without anyone suspecting her. Her pale blue eyes were looking down, so no one noticed it when a ruthless glint flashed by her pupils.


    ¡­.


    The Day Before


    "Ah, I hate this!" Wei Mi kicked a nearby stool with annoyance in her face. She just wanted to humiliate Ye Jiao by provoking that girl, but the people instead gave her a weird glance. It was so hateful!


    Wei Xie watched as Wei Mi vented out. She knew that nothing could stop Wei Mi before that young girl was satisfied, so she just waited. She had been waiting ever since she was deemed as trash. Waiting a bit more wouldn''t hurt her at all.


    "Wei Xie, can''t you do something?"


    "Miss, I think it''s better if you think about how to recover your core rather than throwing a tantrum," Wei Xie suggested. She had long known about Wei Mi''s lazy behaviour, yet this young girl still managed to form her core at the mere age of 11. It meant that this young girl actually has a decent talent.


    For a moment, Wei Xie thought that Wei Mi was not as stupid as her looks and usual attitude suggested. However, she kept her calm and smiled brightly.


    "Miss, you should know there''s an area that''s not covered well with the array. If you go over there, you will be able to kill someone without the need to fear the array''s power. Of course, it''s another question whether you can lure them there or not."


    Wei Mi felt a bit provoked. "How should I lure them?"


    "You can use the beauty trap." Wei Xie looked over to Wei Mi''s body. Even though the young girl was still 12 years old or slightly less, her body had started to develop. It was clearly quite alluring for a young girl her age.


    "Uh."


    "If you find it too difficult, you''re free to live the rest of your life as trash. After all, in around 4 more years, you should be able to form a core."


    4 more years.


    Seeing the distorted expression on Wei Mi''s face, Wei Xie secretly laughed internally. She knew how painful that phrase could be in Wei Mi''s ear. The young girl was used to be a powerful and talented genius, someone who would stand at the peak without anyone dared to look down at her. With the family background and talent in her favor, everyone pampered her greatly.


    But now, she was reduced to a state worse than trash.


    It was so vexing and humiliating for a proud and pampered genius like her.


    "Who says that it''s difficult! It''ll be a piece of cake!"


    Wei Mi and Wei Xie headed to the nearby bar, and Wei Mi did as what Wei Xie suggested her to do. Even though she felt disgusted, she still managed to finish the task one way or another and took the drugged young man away from the place.


    "There''s an abandoned house not far in the front." Wei Xie pointed to the front.


    "Got it." Wei Mi was dragging the young man''s body with Wei Xie helping on the other side. Even though they were already working together, it didn''t erase the fact that the young boy was quite heavy.


    Bang!


    Kicking the door, they got inside and placed the boy in the middle of the room. Wei Mi looked over to Wei Xie. "Are you sure the array won''t work?"


    "It won''t," Wei Xie said calmly. She didn''t waste her entire time just to dawdle in residence like this princess. She was busy studying this and that to find out much more about arrays and so on. Since she was a trash, she should just use her time to gain more knowledge rather than lamenting her condition.


    She vowed that she would reach the peak no matter what.


    Wei Mi looked nervous, but thinking that she wouldn''t be able to recover without this, her eyes focused in resolve.


    Jleb!


    "Ah!" that stab caused the young man to be awake. He looked in the direction where Wei Mi was standing, his eyes were filled with disbelief and grievances.


    "Hiiii!"


    Jleb! Jleb! Jleb!


    Wei Mi felt afraid and swung the knife in her hand rapidly. With each stab, the young man''s eyes dimmed until it lost its lustrous completely and turned lifeless. Wei Mi''s hand was trembling after she had finished. The fear in her eyes was apparent, yet the thought of staying as trash forever pushed her to do it.


    She didn''t want to live her entire life as a trash!


    *Pant* *Pant*


    "Congratulations on your first killing, Miss. You need to take out the core now," Wei Xie said from the side. Even though she was giving congratulation, her tone was flat as if she didn''t feel anything.


    "Y-yeah," Wei Mi nodded her head and moved her knife to cut the man''s stomach. Upon seeing the beautiful core in the middle of the young man''s stomach, her eyes lit up. She raised it and smiled widely.


    "I did it! Hahahaha, I I did it! I¡­."


    *cough*


    Before Wei Mi could fully comprehend what had happened, a sword had stabbed her chest. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she looked in the direction of Wei Xie, who was still smiling.


    "Thank you for getting the core for me," Wei Xie said languidly and picked up the round core from the ground.


    "A a a, you¡­ *cough* trick¡­"


    "Yeah, I tricked you," Wei Xie admitted without any emotion in her tone. She just looked in Wei Mi''s direction with a faint smile. "You''ve always been a genius, someone everyone revered to and adored. Even when you kill someone, you still could get away without any punishment. Everyone''s life is no different from ant to you."


    Wei Xie stopped in front of Wei Mi. "People like you always make me so disgusted that I wish to kill you with my own hand."


    Those who already have everything in their lives would never understand the pain of those at the bottom of the society. Born in a respectable family yet having low talent, she had to endure years of abuse and maltreatment.


    Because of what?


    It was all simply because her talent was too low! She has become nothing but an embarrassment to the entire family! No one cares for her. Even if she died or disappeared, no one would know.


    All their attention was only on the geniuses of the family.


    "But it wouldn''t be like that forever." Wei Xie watched as Wei Mi''s eyes dimmed. Grievances and hatred were extremely clear on the young girl''s face, but she didn''t care in the slightest. This is the path she had chosen. She would see it through the very end.


    "I, Wei Xie, swore to the world that even if I have to kill numerous people, spill their blood, or even stomp on their corpses, I''ll stand at the very peak!"

 346 Even a ‘Trash’ Has Dreams

    No one could hear her when she said her oath, but when she appeared again in the future in front of those geniuses, no one could stop her.


    But right now, she was still a young fledgling who had to bear through the bitterness of life just to survive.


    "Now, I will use this core to raise my talent."


    Sitting down, Wei Xie began to absorb the core in front of her and fuse it with her own. This was a method that she found accidentally in the past. For those who had low talent, they would never be able to reach the peak. Because of the despair they felt, they conducted research and did everything they could just to create a method to raise their talent and reach higher ground.


    And they found it.


    If they could fuse their core with the core of someone who had higher talent, they would be able to raise their base talent as well. Even though it was only related to their core, it was already a great help because their progress would become faster.


    However, this method has a huge risk and requirement.


    Wei Xie has been researching her entire life for the method and everything else that she could study. All of them were in order to create a pathway for her to reach the peak. She would prove to them:


    Even a ''trash'' has dreams!


    And they will be able to achieve them in their lives.


    As the core started to fuse with one another, Wei Xie could feel the excoriating pain began to eat her up. It was so painful. She felt as if her body was breaking to pieces starting from her core.


    ''It hurts!''


    Gritting her teeth, Wei Xie continued the process and forcefully fused her core together with that young man''s core. Even though her body felt like breaking, Wei Xie didn''t care and continued the process. This would be her only chance if she wished to reach the peak. Without better talent, she would never be able to reach the peak!


    Fssh!


    Time passed.


    Wei Xie didn''t know how many hours had passed when she completed the process. Her entire body was covered in perspiration. She glanced outside and felt glad that it was still dark. There was enough time for her to run away.


    ''That young man is talent A (purple color) while mine was originally talent C (green color), so now I should have talent B (blue color)."


    When one fused their core together with the core of another person, it would reach the middle of their rank. Feeling that the amount of Eon Energy she could contain has increased, Wei Xie felt ecstatic.


    Truth to be told, she wished to get those who have talent S, but it would be close to impossible with her current ability.


    ''One step at the time.''


    She didn''t want to stay as trash forever.


    But rank B is simply not enough.


    While planning in her mind, Wei Xie slowly slipped out of place.


    ¡­


    "Ye Jiao, do you understand what''s that elder talking about?" Lu Wan asked as he turned his head to the young girl.


    "I didn''t understand, but I know that elder is awesome!"


    "Of course! With a flash of her hand, she kicks out two Eon Energy Master Rank 4. Hahaha, I bet their faces are now green in anger."


    "Yes! They must be angry because of the treatment they got. I believe they have never experienced it before."


    Wei Xie turned around when she looked at the group of youngsters behind her. They were chatting happily even though the situation was so dire before. Her eyes recognized them instantly.


    ''Ye Jiao, Qi Huan, Lu Wan, Cao Ren¡­''


    Her eyes flashed with ruthlessness. In truth, she wished to target either one of them, but then chose not to. Because she needed to find a core that was a similar rank with her, or she wouldn''t be able to withstand it. Probably, it would be possible in the future, but she would not continuously try to target them. She had her own lives too.


    She would stand on the peak no matter what.


    Bam! Bam!


    The sound of earth moving and clashing filled the entire courtyard. Dust splattered everywhere, covering the battle that occurred in the middle of everything.


    Ye Jiao and the others have moved to the wall and peeked through the window. There was barely anything that they could see thanks to the clouds of dust, but they could sense the rapid movements of Eon Energy. It was so powerful and domineering.


    "I guess he''s not a general for nothing," Lu Wan murmured.


    Mu Xin nodded in agreement. She had heard a lot about Wei Shang from her father, so she knew a bit about this man. Even though it seemed as if Wei Shang was nothing but a scum in some people''s eyes, he was still a great general of the Chen Kingdom. His strength was not to be belittled with.


    Qi Huan''s eyes narrowed. "I feel that he can''t use his full power."


    "This is not full power?"


    Cao Ren nodded. "It''s not. I have seen my father fight before and the destruction he causes is much bigger. This is completely different from that."


    Lu Wan was astonished. If even this large clash of two elements were not full power, how strong would they be? He shuddered just from imagining the destruction they would cause.


    Ye Jiao was also watching. She could not follow all of their movements because it was partially covered in clouds of dust, but she still could sense them. Not only Cao Ren and Qi Huan, but she also sensed that Wei Shang was the one at a disadvantage. Even though the man was supposed to be a great general, he couldn''t move according to his wishes.


    Was he wounded or something else?


    She was not sure.


    Bam! Bam!


    An explosion occurred as countless earth fragments splattered. It was blocked by a formless barrier before it could enter the city, but they could clearly see a large crater outside the wall. The two men have stopped fighting as they were gasping for breath. Their clothes were torn, and numerous wounds have appeared on their body.


    "Still not giving up?" the man from the Yan Family roared angrily.


    Wei Shang shook his head. "I''m not going to take responsibility unless you can find the core of your son in my daughter''s body."


    Hmph!


    The man snorted and straightened his body. He looked at Wei Shang coldly. "You must have other children, right? Why don''t you bring them here?"


    "As long as you promise not to kill them, I can bring them," Wei Shang''s eyes narrowed dangerously, seemingly ready for another bout.


    "I promise."


    "Wei Cheng, Wei Yin, Wei Xie!"


    The three of them walked from the crowd slowly. Even though they were unwilling to step up, they knew that their father wouldn''t let them off the hook lightly. They have to step forward no matter whether they want to or not.


    Seeing the three children, the man''s eyes widened in surprise.


    He clearly recognized Wei Yin because she had participated in the top 100. She was among the crowd who returned yesterday with remarkable results. Because of that, her movements must have been monitored by other people. He was sure that they could easily find her in the training area.


    That left the other two youngsters.


    "Where were you two yesterday?"


    Wei Yin''s eyes flashed for she understood that the man eliminated her immediately. Truth to be told, she could just say that she was training yesterday. It was the truth, and many people could confirm her words.


    "I was training," Wei Cheng said coolly. He was scolded by his father because of his lack of prowess and had been isolating himself to train. It was only because there was a commotion did he step out. Those who stayed in the training hall would be able to testify for him as he stayed there for a long time.


    "Any witness?"


    "I''m sure the owner of the Water training area should be able to tell you that."


    He picked the water area because he guessed that he might inherit either his mother or father''s element. The Su Family was known for their water element while his father has an earth element. He just needed to guess that it should be either one of them.


    The man locked his gaze to Wei Cheng. He couldn''t see any trace of him lying, but he still extended his arm.


    "Show me your storage bracelet."


    "I don''t have any," Wei Xie said plainly. She had just formed her core recently, so her father hadn''t given her any storage bracelet.


    "Is that so?"


    "She''s not lying." Wei Shang nodded. He never gave Wei Xie any storage bracelet because it was unnecessary before. Though, he planned on giving her one after this.


    The talk didn''t end there as the man kept on trying to find out any loophole in their stories. Neither one of them seemed to lie, which made it difficult for him to find out just who killed his son.


    Not to mention, there might be other strangers out there.

 347 Nothing to Lose

    "They can''t just judge someone without any proof," Cao Ren added. He was also holding a bun in his hand, but he hadn''t eaten it yet for he found it to be weird to eat while standing up. As a prince, he had never eaten food while standing.


    "That''s very bothersome."


    "You won''t say that if you''re the one being judged."


    "Shut up!"


    Mu Xin looked in Ye Jiao''s direction. She could see that the young girl was looking at one person with a weird glint in her eyes.


    "Ye Jiao, is there anything wrong?"


    "Huh? No, not really," Ye Jiao replied slowly. Her eyes were still locked on Wei Xie. She could feel it very clearly. The Eon Energy in that girl''s body was totally different from yesterday. It was no longer the unstable newly formed core, but it has grown into a good core with only a little bit of time needed to reach rank 1.


    Would it even be possible to reach rank 1 just a few days after forming one''s core?


    Even she herself knew how ridiculous it was. She herself has to spend months just in order to strengthen her core and gather enough Eon Energy. This was the reason she found it weird that Wei Xie''s core seemed to change greatly overnight.


    And there was just one thing that she could think caused this:


    Absorbing other people''s core.


    When they were fused their core together, the base rank would reach the middle of the two cores, and at the same time, they could gain more Eon Energy. This was a risky move that was not known to many people because of its peculiarity. After all, the chances of staying alive when doing the ritual was only one from a million.


    She just had the feeling that Wei Xie must have used this method.


    And succeed.


    "What is it, Ye Jiao?" Qi Huan also noticed Ye Jiao''s strange glint. It was clearly different than what she usually showed.


    "It''s nothing. Let''s eat and clean up before going out. I''m sure the place will be cleaned out when we get out later."


    "They have to clean it up," Lu Wan agreed.


    Cao Ren arched his eyebrows. "You seem to be familiar with each other."


    His words nearly caused Lu Wan to trip over nothing. He was actually already trying to create a distance between him and the other two. However, they just somehow reverted back to how they treated each other.


    Habit is truly scary.


    Qi Huan chuckled. "This brat is just insolent."


    "Who are you calling brat? I''m older than you!"


    Ye Jiao smiled lightly when she saw the two of them. Her head moved to the back and glanced at Wei Xie once more. She could partially understand what was inside Wei Xie''s mind because she also used to be treated as trash.


    Anything.


    The feeling of despair and helplessness when facing those geniuses flaunting their prowess was still vivid in her mind. They mocked her, beat her up, and there was nothing that she could do to fight back. She couldn''t forget them. They were the reminder for her about how the world has been turning around in the hands of those who were born powerful and have everything in their hands.


    For those at the bottom, there was nothing they could lose.


    Nothing at all.


    Because of that, they were willing to trade everything possible in their sleeves just in order to become much more powerful. To be able to get the necessary talent and power, they would basically give everything they had. She too had the same thought before she realized her path.


    ¡­


    The group dispersed and took their rest before they gathered at the front gate. Ye Jiao arrived first and could see an elder standing midair. She was controlling the sand to move them back to their original position.


    "Amazing," Ye Jiao murmured.


    The female elder turned her head to Ye Jiao. She smiled. "You''ll be able to achieve much more if you train hard, youngster."


    "Ah, thank you."


    The elder, Elder Xin, chuckled. She waved her hand and showed Ye Jiao how elemental specialization Eon Energy Master controls their power. Boundless Eon Energy spread from her hand as they started to move the earth and placed it back in its place. The grasses were long gone, but it has turned back into flat land.


    Elder Xin looked over at Ye Jiao once more. "Good luck, little one."


    Afterwards, she disappeared.


    Looking at the place where the elder once stood, Ye Jiao was still filled with respect and awe. She didn''t expect that she would be able to meet one of the elders so soon. Even though she had seen one in that sea of fire, that elder didn''t talk to her directly, so it was a completely different feeling.


    "Oh, Ye Jiao, you''re already here?" Qi Huan greeted as he walked out.


    "Yeah. I have finished eating and taking a bath," Ye Jiao replied. "I can see that your guards are still following you."


    "They just don''t want to let this prince off."


    "Well, you''re an important figure to them."


    Qi Huan nodded. Actually, he was already ditching them once before when he rushed over to see the commotion. However, they found him again soon enough. It was truly unfortunate, but it didn''t seem like it would be possible for him to get away from his guards.


    His silver hair stood out too much!


    "What do you think the content of the next examination would be?"


    "I''m not sure, but it should be something hard," Ye Jiao shrugged. She couldn''t think of anything that they might be able to do for the examination. After all, she was highly unfamiliar with them all.


    "Ye Jiao! You''re early!" Han Fu came running while waving his hand. His long hair was still wet, but he didn''t seem to care in the slightest. The blonde hair seemed to shine under the ray of light.


    "Good morning, Han Fu," Ye Jiao greeted politely. "How''s your progress with your practice?"


    "It was smooth," Han Fu made a victory sign with his two fingers. "In any case, the place where I have been staying was really fun! I never know that training could be so easy. It seems that I really have to learn much more about this path as illusive."


    "That''s good to hear."


    "How about your training? Is it not going well?"


    "Ah, it''s fine," Ye Jiao recalled her training and smiled a bit. For her, it was truly a suitable place to train because she could sense a large amount of Eon Energy coming to her body.


    "Really?"


    "Yes."


    "You''re not forcing yourself, right?"


    "I''m not."


    As they were talking, more and more youngsters came into the location. Lu Wan obviously came nearly late as he was rushing. He got lost a bit in the city before he could find the right way to this place.


    They were all busy chatting with one another and only quiet down when they saw Qin Zheng walking out of the gate. The young man hadn''t said anything, but they were all wary of him. After all, they still remembered how this young man would just cheat them off without caring for their heart.


    "I want you to line up according to your weapon preferences," Qin Zheng waved his hand and materialized his Eon Energy to form several shapes.


    Looking at them, those who were at Eon Energy Master middle stage felt their heart dropped to the bottom. They were clearly at the same rank, but how come this young man was capable of materializing his Eon Energy to create a shape? They were not able to do that no matter what they did.


    Qin Zheng smiled. "Sword on the very right, axe beside them, spear afterwards, blades next to them, what else are the weapons you have? Well, these four first and those who didn''t have to use any of these stands on the very left."


    The youngsters moved speedily. The one with the most numbers was obviously the sword as nearly half of them went to that place immediately. It was known that the sword was popular, so Qin Zheng didn''t find it weird. After a large number of sword users, it was axe, spear, and blades with nearly the same number. The last one would be those who didn''t have any of those.


    Currently, there were only five of them.


    "What''s your weapon?" Qin Zheng asked them. "Say it one by one starting from that twin-tail girl."


    "My weapon is a fan."


    "It''s a hammer for me."


    "I use a chain that''s connected to a blade," Lu Wan shrugged. He could see a lot of people were looking in his direction with an astonished gaze. Some of them were even filled with maliciousness, but he didn''t really care. It was the truth, and he knew for sure that they would be able to guess that he must be someone who worked as an assassin.


    After all, assassins were the only ones who used that type of weapon.

 348 Familiarizing with the Movemen

    "I think?"


    Some people began to talk among themselves when they heard what Lu Wan said. After all, it was not weird that some of them have some other occupations aside from the norm.


    As for Lu Wan, he was not bothered in the slightest bit.


    In the crowd at the back, Wei Cheng''s heart sank when he heard Lu Wan''s choice of weapon. He thought that Lu Wan would choose a sword, which he remembered was extremely bad. However, it turned out that the young man directly picked a completely different weapon.


    ''Did it mean, he''s not even in his best condition when he defeats me?''


    Wei Cheng could feel his face heat up in anger. He thought that Lu Wan already did his best when he lost.


    Unfortunately, it turned out that he was not even serious.


    His pride¡­ was shattered.


    He was not the only one who was looking at Lu Wan with wariness. Cao Ren and Chen Zi Quan were also wary. They still remembered how the young boy fought against them in the past. It was truly not a good feeling to know that Lu Wan was not giving his all at that time.


    "Next." Qin Zheng already met with a lot of people who used these weapons, so he didn''t find it weird.


    "I use a fan," Han Fu giggled. He took out his fan and fanned his face lightly, acting truly similar to that of a young lady.


    "¡­"


    A lot of people wished to throw up when they saw that scene. They had seen him as a domineering youngster. Combining his powerful image with this one would only make them feel nauseated.


    Ye Jiao smiled wryly. "I use a dagger."


    Dagger?


    Wei Cheng''s eyes narrowed dangerously. He had the suspicion that Ye Jiao must be the assassin who attacked him before. Knowing that the young girl''s weapon was also a dagger, he came to the conclusion that it must be true.


    "Ok," Qin Zheng nodded. He waved his hand as a stack of books appeared in front of them all. "These are all basic manuals of your weapons. Pick one according to the weapon that you have selected. You have an hour to comprehend and showcase them in front of the elders."


    An Hour?


    Are you insane?


    A lot of people were looking at Qin Zheng incredulously, but the young man didn''t budge at all. He just stood calmly with both of his hands behind his back, acting as if he was a revered young man of high status.


    Ye Jiao''s lips twitched when she heard his instructions. He was even harsher than her master. How in the world would they be able to study the martial art books if they were just given an hour time? It wouldn''t be enough.


    "T-that''s too short!"


    "Those who complain will have to finish in half an hour," Qin Zheng smiled brightly yet there was no mirth in his eyes. "You may begin now."


    "Here''s yours," Qin Zheng passed a book to Ye Jiao when she passed by him.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. She looked at Qin Zheng with a frown, but the young man just smiled lightly. There was no apparent emotion in his eyes, making it difficult to guess what this young man was thinking.


    "Thank you."


    "You''re welcome."


    Looking at the young man''s back, Ye Jiao realized that he only gave hers and not the others. They all have to struggle to find the correct books because there were too many people who crowded the area.


    "Eh? You have found yours?" Han Fu was stunned to see the book in Ye Jiao''s hand.


    "Yeah."


    "Damn! You''re so lucky! I''ll surely find mine!"


    "Good luck."


    Ye Jiao nearly laughed when she saw Han Fu threw himself at the crowd just to find his book. She swiftly moved to the side and began reading.


    There were only five basic movements in the book; draw, defend, counter, attack, and close or sheathe it back. The premise of the book was to utilize the weapon when it was either placed on her side, meaning that it must have its own place. Also, it was all done with the correct amount of Eon Energy to make sure there was no waste of energy.


    ''Move here, flow a bit¡­''


    Closing her eyes, Ye Jiao began to imagine the instruction from the book. It was not totally clear, but it was slowly forming into a proper move. A dagger was shorter than a sword, so it was a weapon that was usually used for close range.


    Trip! Bruk!


    "Akh! What''s with this annoying move!"


    Several people started to complain. Even though the movements in the books were simple as it was just the basics, the transition from one to another was not easy. They have to make sure that they positioned themselves well because if not, they would surely trip over themselves and make fun of themselves.


    "Rather than looking at them, you should focus on studying yours, Lu Wan," Qi Huan commented.


    "I can say the same to you."


    Qi Huan played with his sword on his hand. He smiled. "Do you really think that?"


    In the next moment, he made a swift turn as his sword was thrusted to the front. As he retracted them back, he twisted his body to change the direction and put the sword on top of his head as if he was blocking against something.


    The movements were done in a split second and flew smoothly. It was as if he was already familiar with those movements.


    Lu Wan''s jaw dropped. "Y-you cheater!"


    "I have gotten used to playing with a sword all day, so this is nothing new," Qi Huan replied calmly. For him, the sword was part of his body, so no matter what, he would be able to do the movements correctly.


    "You say that, but not everyone can move as easy as you," Lu Wan frowned.


    "Why don''t you take out your weapon?"


    "Cause she didn''t."


    "Huh?"


    Looking at the direction where Lu Wan pointed at, Qi Huan could see Ye Jiao standing with her eyes closed. It didn''t seem like she had any intention to draw her dagger at all as she just stood there quietly.


    "Ye Jiao?"


    It was at this time that Qin Zheng walked out again. He looked at them with a smile. "There are 10 minutes left. Here''s the wooden weapon that you all have to use during the examination."


    "¡­" wooden?


    Right now, every single one of them wished to kill this young man. They had gotten used to using a metal weapon because wooden weapons were only used during the time when they first touched their weapon. The difference in material alone would be enough to create a significant difference in their use of Eon Energy.


    How in the world would they pass the test like this?


    Lu Wan felt like crying. "How do you expect me to move a wooden chain?"


    "Well, best of luck to you."


    One of the people picked up the sword and tried to use his Eon Energy. In the next second, he could see a crack was formed in the body of the sword. His heart dropped.


    "This¡­ this couldn''t be a sword, right?"


    "IT IS a sword," Qin Zheng replied uncaringly. "However, they''re all specially tailored for this examination. If you give too much Eon Energy, they''ll start to break down, so you have to make sure that you don''t overdo yourself."


    "¡­" go to hell!


    Lu Wan looked at the wooden chain and blade on his arm as he felt a headache coming. He tried to move them without Eon Energy as he could sense that they were far lighter compared to the one he usually used. He just needed to get used to this.


    Qin Zheng placed the weapons on the ground except for those who had a special weapon. He directly handed them one by one, including Ye Jiao.


    "You seem to have guessed that you won''t be using your dagger," Qin Zheng commented.


    Ye Jiao lifted up her head and picked up the dagger. "Not really. I just made a guess because the movements didn''t suit my dagger."


    "Didn''t suit?"


    "Yes."


    "You should try to get used to your new weapon. It''s very fragile."


    As soon as Qin Zheng turned around, they could hear a scream of a young man. He had broken his sword accidentally, so he was panicking.


    Ye Jiao grabbed the dagger in her hand tighter. Her eyes were closed as she recalled the movements once more. Slowly, her body moved as if drawing the dagger and positioned it in front of her body.


    Swish!


    Swinging it lightly, she turned her body around. There was as if invisible enemies were standing in front of her, attacking her with the same movements as her. Twisting her body, she trusted her dagger and turned it around.


    "Beautiful movements."


    The sudden voice caused the youngsters to stop moving.

 349 Comprehension Ability Test 1

    The sudden voice caused the youngsters to stop moving.


    They all looked at the elder, who had appeared out of nowhere. He was standing with both of his arms behind his back with a woman beside him. They had seen that woman before because she was the one who threw the two Eon Energy Master Rank 4 out of the wall not long ago.


    "Elder Qian, Elder Cai," Qin Zheng bowed down in respect.


    All of them immediately stopped moving and bowed down to show their respect. It was a common thing to bow down when they greeted someone who has high power. Especially when they were all just young juniors.


    Elder Qian waved his hand. His eyes were looking straight to Ye Jiao. She clearly just received that wooden dagger, but she was able to show the movements from the book flawlessly.


    Truly remarkable.


    "We shall begin directly."


    "¡­" didn''t Qin Zheng say that there was still 10 minutes?


    Looking at the nonchalant young man, all of them felt like facepalming. This young man must have tricked them not long ago and caused them to be unable to train properly. Internally, they screamed loudly:


    ''What did we do to offend you?''


    Elder Cai snickered when she saw them all looking at Qin Zheng with hatred. Even though it was their instruction for Qin Zheng to not reveal the real weapon to them, this boy didn''t seem to have any intention to correct it. In any case, it didn''t really matter to him, so he didn''t mind.


    They would just clear up everything once it was over.


    "You''ll pair up with someone who has the same weapon as you. The one with a hammer will pair up with one from the axe and the one with that chain will pair up with the one with the dagger."


    Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao and smirked. "It seems we''re going to fight against one another."


    "I hope you''re ready," Ye Jiao said lightly. "Because this would be the first time I''m going to defeat you in public."


    Recalling their fight in the past, Lu Wan felt that he had just gotten a headache. He had never defeated Ye Jiao before since the past few months. She managed to catch up to him, and it was hard to defeat her now.


    No matter how he tried, he couldn''t defeat Ye Jiao. What if the score was based on their wins? Would that mean that he would definitely fail since he was paired up with Ye Jiao?


    Lu Wan shivered and pushed the thoughts from the back of his head. He definitely didn''t want to think about it! No matter what, he had to make sure that he performed to the best of his ability.


    "We shall see."


    Everyone hurriedly formed their pair. They purposely picked those who had the same stage as them because they were worried that they might have to fight each other. And, their worry did come true.


    She pointed randomly, and the two youngsters stepped forward. The two of them looked at one another; then they started to attack one another.


    "I''ll start from spears," Elder Qian said lightly. "You can only use the technique you learn just now. The one who manages to make their opponent fall down will win. If there''s no winner in 3 minutes, I''ll be the one to declare the winner and give you the score. You may begin now from that one."


    Fall down?


    Hearing that phrase, they felt like the elder was actually giving them a death sentence. Everyone knew how fragile the wooden weapons were. Even if their attack went in, they doubted that their opponent would fall down.


    The two unlucky people who were chosen stepped forward. The two of them bowed against one another before they began to attack their opponent.


    Tak! Tak! Tak!


    Sounds of wooden weapons hitting one another filled the area. Their face turned grim when they realized that the attack that went in could only create a surface wound on their opponent. If this continued, it meant that they wouldn''t be able to win.


    "You 5 points and you 4 points. Qin Zheng, you''re the one to take note."


    "Yes, Ma''am."


    "Call me, Elder Cai!"


    "Yes, Elder Cai," Qin Zheng was still smiling even though Elder Cai glared at him. The other youngsters felt as if Qin Zheng truly didn''t know the word ''fear.'' The way he handled everything seemed to be like a child''s play.


    "5 points and 5 points," Elder Qian also stopped them because neither side fell down. "Next one."


    All of them fell into despair when they realized that the range points given to them were either 3, 4 or 5. Not even a single one of them managed to get over that. Somehow, they were confused as to why the teacher didn''t seem to give them any score.


    There was even someone who got 2 points because his weapon broke in the middle.


    "Now you," Elder Cai pointed to two youngsters.


    "Oh, it''s time," Cao Ren chuckled. He looked to the young man beside him with a kind smile on his face. "I hope you won''t feel bitter about losing again."


    "If you really think that you can defeat me so easily, you''re terribly wrong," Chen Zi Quan replied calmly.


    The two of them were at middle stage rank 3, so they just paired up with one another. Even though Chen Zi Quan still remembered how Cao Ren fought against him in the past before, he would not back down so easily. He would surely defeat this young man fair and square.


    "Start."


    The moment the word was said, the two young men had their aura changed. Chen Zi Quan dashed forward and swung his sword according to the attack that he read in the books. His sword was imbued with a fair amount of Eon Energy, which caused the sound of the clash to be different.


    Tang! Tak!


    "Hmph!" Cao Ren twisted his body with his sword still blocking. He counterattacked Chen Zi Quan beautifully. His movements followed after the books splendidly.


    Looking at the attack, Chen Zi Quan stepped back and blocked it using his sword.


    Tak!


    Elder Cai watched their fight without any expressions on her beautiful face, but there was a glint in her eyes. It was apparent that she felt much happier when she watched these two compared with the other boys.


    "They''re really like a textbook living example," Lu Wan was astonished.


    "Yes. Not only that, but they''re also using Eon Energy on their sword."


    "What?"


    Ye Jiao didn''t pay attention to Lu Wan''s astonishment as she merely watched the fight. The two of them were clearly using a textbook and used Eon Energy, causing their performance to be matchless.


    "That''s enough," Elder Cai interrupted. Three minutes were up, and neither side fell down. "9 points and 9 points."


    What?

 350 Comprehension Ability Test 2

    When they heard the score, they felt like their world was crumbling down. They had seen for themselves how the elders were giving a bad score for their performance. How come these two managed to earn so high?


    "Guh, it''s really that good?" Lu Wan clicked his tongue in annoyance. He couldn''t stand seeing Chen Zi Quan got that good point.


    "Yes, it is," Ye Jiao replied plainly. She could see how they managed to control their weapon and Eon Energy and utilise it perfectly. If only one of their attacks managed to get in, the other party would surely fall down. The force behind their seemingly simple movements was already more than enough.


    "I''m jealous."


    "Then you just have to make sure that you can perform better."


    Right now, the spearmen and women have finished their tests. Elder Qian has moved to blade users. They were all just waiting for their turn patiently.


    On the other hand, Elder Cai called Qi Huan and a stranger.


    "Let''s do this," the youngster roared and dashed towards Qi Huan''s side.


    Qi Huan was full of smiles as he put his sword in front of him. The moment the young man got close, he swiftly changed his stance and blocked. Before the young man could respond, he had sidestepped and changed the course of his sword.


    Stab!


    With Eon Energy covering the sword, it directly hit the young man''s exposed shoulder. The young man''s face changed greatly as he fell down to the ground, his expression showed disbelief.


    "No way, h-how did you use Eon Energy?"


    "I wonder," Qi Huan said calmly and sheathed the sword back. Since there was no actual sheath, he just acted as if there was one in his left hand.


    "You¡­!"


    "3 points and 10 points."


    The crowd roared in surprise when they heard the score for Qi Huan''s performance. They didn''t expect to see someone get the perfect score so suddenly.


    "Damn! I won''t lose against him!" Lu Wan closed his eyes as he tried to review all the movements once again. Hearing that Qi Huan got the perfect score irked him even more, rather than when Chen Zi Quan got 9 points.


    Not long after that, it was Wei Yin''s turn. She also got 10 points, which caused a lot of people to be astonished. Thankfully, there were a few others who managed to get 7, 8, or 9 points aside from them even though there were still those painfully 4 or 3 points at times.


    "Gao Yun and that person," Elder Cai called the first axe user.


    Everyone immediately turned their head to look at Gao Yun. He was the only one who got his name directly called by the elders so far. Before this, no matter what, they would just point to the person they wished to call.


    "Yes," Gao Yun beckoned for the one beside him to move forward.


    Tak! Tak! Tak!


    As it was wooden, the attacks were all producing the blunt sound. Everyone''s eyes were looking at Gao Yun as the young man calmly defended himself and didn''t counterattack. It took him one minute before he shifted his movements suddenly and twisted his axe above his head and hacked down.


    Tak! Crack!


    The young man''s wooden axe was broken despite his attempt to block Gao Yun''s attack. His face was grim.


    "11 points and 8 points."


    11?


    Everyone was looking at the elders with astonishment. They didn''t know that it was possible for them to score more than 10 points.


    Qin Zheng looked at them. "The maximum point is 10 if you follow the books, but if you manage to improve the movements by yourself, you can get additional points."


    "¡­" improve?


    Many of them just wanted to cry when they heard Qin Zheng''s words. Rather than trying to improve the martial arts, it would be safe to say that they just wished to get a decent score and not those pitiful numbers.


    "Dagger user and that chain," Elder Qian called.


    "Ah, ok."


    Ye Jiao and Lu Wan stepped to the front. Lu Wan bowed down slightly before jerking his hand, throwing the blade straight to Ye Jiao''s direction without any hesitation. Looking at the incoming blade, Ye Jiao swung her arm and diverted the attack to the other side while dashing to Lu Wan''s direction.


    However, this was not the first time, Lu Wan faced against someone who tried to attack him when his weapon was away. By twisting his arm''s movements a bit, he changed the blade''s direction and made it directed to Ye Jiao''s back.


    Tak!


    As if knowing that the blade would come, Ye Jiao turned around midair and blocked the attack with her dagger perfectly. She jumped to the side right afterwards to avoid facing Lu Wan with her back.


    "You''re quick," Lu Wan murmured. He twisted his arm, and the chain movements changed again.


    Before he could launch his attack, Ye Jiao dashed forward. The blade was heading to her direction, but Ye Jiao swung her hand and dagger.


    Tang!


    The crisp sound surprised them, but when they saw that Ye Jiao had dashed faster, they realized that she had arrived in front of Lu Wan. Her hand and dagger moved quickly and swung with its target being the young man''s neck.


    Swish! Bruk!


    "You''re ruthless," Lu Wan caressed his neck as he could feel the pain. Even though he was already covering his entire body with Eon Energy to block the attack, she didn''t hesitate at all to attack his vital point.


    "I know you won''t die," Ye Jiao smiled.


    Lu Wan arched his eyebrows and stood up. He still could feel his neck hurt, but he didn''t say anything else.


    "10 points and 10 points."


    Hearing the score that he got, Lu Wan''s eyes lit up. At the very least, he still managed to earn a perfect score despite having himself beaten up terribly by Ye Jiao. Speaking of the young girl. He didn''t want to fight her again ever.


    It was already more than enough.


    "So even getting defeated didn''t make you lose the score. It means that you''re far worse than Ye Jiao?" Qi Huan asked with a teasing tone.


    Lu Wan''s face darkened. If he had been doing the movements correctly and still defeated, it just meant that their base ability has been completely different in the first place.


    Argh!


    He had to train harder!


    Ye Jiao just chuckled and noticed that it was already the time for Han Fu''s turn. That young man stepped at the front with his fan on his right arm. It was closed but positioned down with his thumbs at the front.


    "You may begin."


    The moment Elder Qian gave the permission, the young girl started to move. She opened her fan and swung it straight to Han Fu''s neck.


    Swish!


    The fan didn''t reach its target at all. Han Fu merely lowered his body with his fan still in its place. He smiled lightly and moved his body sideways. His movements were so smooth and soft that one might mistake him as a dancer.


    "A young lady shouldn''t point their weapon towards another man."


    "You!"


    Swish! Tep!


    She swung her fan again, but her attack didn''t reach anything but empty air. At the same time, Han Fu raised his arm, which was holding the fan and tapped the girl''s chin. His movements looked slow, but it was actually happening within a split second.


    "Naughty girl."


    Brrr!


    Somehow, the people who watched could feel shivers ran down their spine. The way Han Fu laughed was feminine, even his tone was slightly higher (which could be deducted because of his young age). Even though his words were like that, they just felt as if the one speaking was a woman.


    "He''s fierce!" Lu Wan was stunned. "I should learn how to seduce a woman from him."


    "No, don''t copy him."


    "Why?"


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. You dare to ask why? It was painfully clear that Han Fu himself seemed to be quite strange himself with that¡­ girly attitude.


    "11 points and 7 points."


    "¡­" that man got 11 points?


    Seeing Elder Qian just watched amusedly, all of them felt that their common sense was blown. That young man didn''t even open his fan at all, alright! He was only acting girly and teasing that young girl!

 351 Adaptability Tes

    Seeing Elder Qian just watched amusedly, all of them felt that their common sense was blown. That young man didn''t even open his fan at all, alright! He was only acting girly and teasing that young girl!


    11 points¡­


    How was that even worth that many points?


    Everyone felt that their common sense had fallen through at this moment.


    "I can''t believe this," Qi Huan felt like face palming. He didn''t want to believe it. How come such a performance could be worthy of such a score? Though, he had to admit that the young man seemed to be very at ease even when fighting that young woman.


    Slap!


    The young woman has a red face. Apparently, she was not used to the close proximity that Han Fu showed. Even though it was just a simple fight, she still didn''t wish to get too close to him.


    "Here goes my chance," Han Fu rubbed his cheek. He looked at Ye Jiao with a grin on his face. "How''s my performance?"


    "It''s¡­ not bad," Ye Jiao grinned.


    Han Fu smirked. "Truth to be told, I wish to perform more, but I just can''t fight against beautiful girls. Whenever I see beautiful girls, I just want to tease them and make fun of them. The way they blushed is so¡­.."


    As soon as he began to blabber, Ye Jiao moved away from Han Fu and acted as if she didn''t know him. There was no way she wanted to be associated with this kind of man. Come on, couldn''t you realize it yourself that the way you were acting would just drive girls away?


    There were already a handful of them who were looking at you with disgust and wariness in their eyes.


    Unfortunately, Han Fu had such a thick skin that he didn''t realize any of that. He just kept on blabbering nonstop about what he wanted to do and his preference. After a minute, no one wanted to stay within five meters'' radius around him. He was just too loud!


    And amazingly, Han Fu himself didn''t realize it. He just continued to blabber more and more words about how amazing he was.


    "I can''t really see anything special from his performance," Lu Wan said through gritted teeth.


    Ye Jiao had to agree, but she knew that the elders must have their own reason for giving such a high score for Han Fu. Well, in the first place, she was unfamiliar with a weapon such as a fan. In the past, there was no opponent whom she faced with the same weapon.


    "Is there something special in his movements?" Ye Jiao asked.


    Qi Huan shook his head. He looked at Ye Jiao as if saying, ''You tell me.''


    Ye Jiao was helpless when even the most knowledgeable among the three of them couldn''t answer. Maybe, that was just how those with weapons of a fan worked. There must be something that Han Fu did when he was trying to talk with the young girl.


    The elders soon finished their examination and told Qin Zheng to post the scores.


    Qin Zheng smiled. "I wish you all good luck."


    "Eh?"


    "What?"


    In the next moment, they saw something underneath their feet. It was an array, to be exact: Teleportation Array. Their faces changed immediately. They didn''t even have the time to catch their breath, ah!


    How ruthless¡­.


    The teachers loved to give them a surprise!


    Swish!


    Ye Jiao could only see everything around her blurred before she noticed that she had arrived on a battlefield. Her eyes widened in surprise. Her body tensed up immediately as she could see the row of soldiers coming to get her. This wouldn''t end well. She had never been on a battlefield before this.


    "What are you doing standing over there? Fight!"


    The yell caused her to be startled. Ye Jiao soon realized that she was wearing one of the soldier''s clothes. It was weird to be pushed in this situation without any warning or whatsoever, but she had to act fast. Someone already moved to her direction with its blade ready to kill her.


    Swish! Tak!


    The dagger in her hand moved swiftly. She parried the attack and killed him without hesitation. Blood dyed her hand, yet there was no emotion in her youthful face. Even though she didn''t know why she was sent here, she had to find a way to survive. That was what she thought.


    Looking at the wooden dagger in her hand, Ye Jiao smiled wryly. It was the weapon that they gave her for the test and she still brought it even here?


    That¡­


    "Don''t slack off! Are you all ladies?"


    As a matter of fact, she''s still a young girl, but Ye Jiao didn''t try to retort.


    She gripped her hand on the dagger tighter and used her Eon Energy to cover it. Using wooden dagger to fight against metal weapon would be suicide. She needed to make sure that the weapon could survive all these hardships.


    Tak! Slash! Slash!


    Imbued with Eon Energy, the wooden dagger seemed to transform into a completely different weapon. Sweat trickled down Ye Jiao''s forehead for she understood that she had to control her Eon Energy precisely to make sure that she could use her weapon perfectly.


    Her eyes caught the view in front of her as she sucked a deep breath. Numerous dead people were lying on the ground. It was even much more than when she had to fight against an entire gang or even the soldiers in Chen Kingdom Capital City.


    Bodies fell from the two sides.


    They all scattered on the ground, leaving it with no place to stand aside from on top of their body.


    ''If not because I''m already used to killing thanks to my work as an assassin, I''m sure that I would have fainted on the spot.''


    Slash!


    Using her Eon Energy to the fullest, Ye Jiao continued to make her move against her opponent. She was glad that this place didn''t restrain her from using her Eon Energy. Though, she could faintly sense that her connection with her spatial bracelet weakened considerably.


    It meant she wouldn''t be able to use her own weapon.


    "Keep moving!"


    Over the dead row of bodies, another group of soldiers emerged. Ye Jiao''s expression hardened. This would not be the first time for her to fight against a lot of people, but their number never reached the amount that appeared before her. There were simply too many of them.


    Slash! Slash! Slash!


    Sounds of killing permeated the area as Ye Jiao''s body kept on moving. Pushing her concentration to the limit, Ye Jiao continued to fight over and over again. Even though it was hard, she kept on going and made sure that she would not fall down. No matter what, she would survive.


    ¡­


    In the meantime, the elders were watching over the scene calmly. Elder Cai was standing still in her place with her hands crossed. In front of her, several screens have appeared, showing each of the youngster''s struggles.


    "it''s quite harsh of you to not give them any time to catch their breath," Qin Zheng commented.


    "Says someone who kept doing the same thing," Elder Cai snorted. "You should just go back and rest. Your task is over, Qin Zheng."


    Qin Zheng didn''t seem to hear her words as he kept a smile on his handsome face. "Even though you give me an order, I''m afraid I can''t fulfill it, Elder Cai."


    Elder Cai''s expression darkened. She could see the expression on Qin Zheng''s face was clearly telling her that ''you''re nothing but a stranger. Why are you giving me an order when my own teacher didn''t say anything?''


    There was nothing that Qin Zheng said out of proportion, but his confident expression clearly said them all. This caused Elder Cai to feel enraged again. She always hated this capable young man precisely because of his talent and conduct.


    Elder Qian sighed. "Zheng, is there anything that you want to see from the competition?"


    "Is there?" Qin Zheng raised his head, looking as innocent as possible. There was nothing that betrayed his real feeling as he just stared at Elder Qian with genuine expression. Of course, those who knew him would just scream that he was acting.


    "You can return back to the city. I''m sure that you need some rest."


    "There''s no need to worry. I''m perfectly fine."


    "You-" Elder Qian was startled. He looked at the young man''s expression with confusion. What happened to Qin Zheng today? He has never been this difficult to deal with. At least normally. "Do whatever you want."


    "Thank you, Elder Qian."


    After the two elders shifted their focus on the screens in front of them, Qin Zheng raised his head once more. He looked at the screens with patience. Even though he was unable to see any picture, he knew that the elders were watching their performance. He wanted to know the result, so he chose to wait here.

 352 Strategy for Battle

    Ye Jiao looked to the back with a hint of confusion in her clear eyes. They were still in the middle of a fight, but they issued a retreat. That felt weird in her eyes. After all, she was not familiar with the battlefield rules.


    "Hey, what are you doing standing up like an idiot? Come on, we need to go back and have some rest."


    Ye Jiao looked at the soldier that pulled her away. She tilted her head. "Why did they stop the fight? It''s not over yet, right?"


    "No, it''s not," the soldier sighed. "It''s the rules that if the fight lasts until the night, it''ll be stopped in the middle, right before the sun disappears.* We can rest for the night."


    "Is¡­ that so?"


    "Yes. Why are you looking at me with that expression?"


    To be honest, Ye Jiao never thought that the battlefield would have its own rules like that. She thought that they would have to fight non-stop until there was a clear winner, but if it was like that, everyone would die out of exhaustion if the fight lasted for a long time. It seemed like there were so many things that she needed to learn if she wished to survive in this world.


    At the same time, she thought about the existence of Eon Energy Masters and looked at the people around her. They have traces of Eon Energy in their body, but it was very weak. Compared to her, who was already Eon Energy Master Rank 3, they could be said to be Eon Energy Master Rank 1.


    If not for her wooden weapon, she was sure that no one would be able to stop her in that sea of soldiers.


    ''I should have made my analysis before I start participating in the battle.''


    Ye Jiao sighed to herself. Even though she knew that it was inevitable for her to not be able to think of anything, she still wished that she had done this sooner. Following the others, she started to make a tent for the night and found out that she has become nothing more than ordinary soldiers.


    Yeah, an ordinary soldier that couldn''t influence the fight.


    "They''re just going to send us to the frontline again," the soldier beside her sighed. "I bet that we''re going to die if this continues."


    "That¡­ don''t you know about the general''s decision?"


    "We won''t know until the actual battle. It''s pretty common that only the leader knows the way for the battle. Besides, the real battle is not done with us, but through the leaders," another soldier sighed.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. "Did it mean we can only fight?"


    "Yes."


    "Also, you might need to find a new weapon," a soldier pointed at the wooden dagger in Ye Jiao''s hand.


    Looking at the dagger, a wry smile appeared on Ye Jiao''s lips. It was not like she liked this sword, but when she was about to take the fallen sword, she realized that she couldn''t. It passed through her hand as if it was nothing but an illusion.


    "Is there any dagger around?" Ye Jiao chose to ask. Probably, it was because the weapon was different that she was unable to touch it. If it was a dagger, there was a possibility that she might be able to use it.


    "Yeah, just go to the carriage on the back and ask for weapon change."


    "Got it."


    Ye Jiao walked to the carriage. It was located in higher ground and guarded with a few soldiers. Apparently, it was used to store a lot of items, including a weapon that they used.


    "Excuse me, I''m here to find a weapon to exchange," Ye Jiao raised her wooden dagger.


    The guard nodded and opened the door. "Don''t take too long."


    "I won''t."


    Ye Jiao walked inside and realized that there were a variety of weapons. She extended her hand and touched the dagger in front of her. Her eyes lit up when she sensed the cold metal. Putting the wooden dagger on her hips, she picked up one of the metal daggers.


    With this, she would be able to fight freely tomorrow.


    "I have finished. Thank you for letting me in."


    "Huh-uh," the guard replied plainly.


    Ye Jiao looked into the distance. She had just realized that she could see the plain where they fought clearly in this place. It was truly nothing but barren land. A lot of people were dragging their comrade''s body, but not all of them because there was simply no time for them.


    "If you''re trying to earn a meritorious reward by changing your weapon, you''re not going to get anything," one of the guards remarked.


    "You have to target the leader instead," the guard yawned.


    "The leader?"


    "Yeah. In a battlefield, it''s important to follow your leader. Without any leader, the fight is usually considered over."


    "I see. Thank you."


    ''She should just aim getting to the frontline, right?'' Ye Jiao thought to herself as she returned back and laid down in her tent. She felt tired after fighting for the entire day.


    The next morning, Ye Jiao was awakened by a loud sound of a large gong and other ruckuses.


    "What in the world¡­?"


    "Hey newbie, the fight is about to begin. Come up here," a soldier called for her.


    "Ah, coming," Ye Jiao jogged to the location. She could see that the battle would begin soon. However, things were not going according to her wishes. They were all standing at the rear and not the frontline.


    "We''re at the back?"


    "Yes. They''re switching us with other platoons because many of us died yesterday," the soldier shrugged.


    "So our task is?"


    "Protecting the headquarter."


    Ye Jiao felt like banging her head right now. If she was at the frontline, she would have the chance to fight against the leader. But now that she was standing in the rear, it would be a miracle if she could participate in the battle. Did it mean she had to waste another day standing here like a stupid person?


    Even though she knew that the enemy might target their headquarters because it could change the tide of the battle, she doubted that any of them would be able to reach this far. It was too safe and protected on the back.


    She sighed. "Do you know if we''re going to participate in the battle or not?"


    "Probably not. It''s not like they''re going to need a lot of infantry when there''s already so much of them upfront. Even if we join, we''re not going to make much difference," the soldier instead felt glad that he didn''t need to participate in the forefront. After all, yesterday''s battle had killed a lot of his teammates.


    Ye Jiao had to admit that this man was correct. This group didn''t have many soldiers to begin with. There were only a few of them left after the harsh battle yesterday. She was also unable to help much as she had never fought in a large group before.


    ''I think I need to renew my strategy.''


    There were so many things that she needed to adapt to in this place. It wouldn''t be easy¡­


    Suddenly, Ye Jiao could sense deep pressure coming at her like a tide. Her head was turned to the side as she saw a large man come with a glaive. It was swung to the group of infantry soldiers in front of him.


    Slash!


    ---


    Sora''s Corner:


    *This is the law for battle in ancient times. I''m not sure every place where this law applicable to, but I know that it''s applicable for Ancient China back during the time of Warring Era. In an open area, they would fight until the sun set, and the gong was sounded. Afterwards, they would rest and fight again in the morning when one general lead them. Of course, there were still sneak attack at night and some other types of attack that didn''t follow these rules.


    After all, all is fair in war. :)


    For more information, please search on the internet.

 353 End of the Tests

    Bam!


    Clouds of dust scattered as the soldiers were thrown to the back. Many of them were confused as to why this large man would suddenly appear in this place. After all, they were located far back in the rear.


    "Get away!"


    "Guh!"


    Ye Jiao evaded the attack as she turned her body around. Looking at the forest behind the large man, she could guess that he must have used it as a cover. Even though there was a forest not far from the battle, it was quite a distance away from the opponent''s camp. It was connected to the right side of their camp, which was also the place where she stayed.


    "Hey, little girl, get away!"


    Bam!


    Using her Eon Energy to strengthen her leg, Ye Jiao jumped to the back. Her eyes widened in astonishment. That last strike was definitely imbued with Eon Energy, a strong one at that as the dirt was splattered.


    "Gee, what''s this monster doing here at the back?"


    "Call the commander! We''re getting annihilated here."


    Tsk


    Ye Jiao clicked her tongue and dashed from her position. Her dagger was swung horizontally as she attacked the large man''s stomach.


    Clang!


    As if sensing she would come, the large man blocked her attack. His eyes were looking in her direction with a dangerous glint.


    "Don''t interfere, brat!"


    "Heh," somersaulting midair, Ye Jiao landed on the ground with her feet below. She smirked slightly and dashed towards the large man once again, this time her legs moved even faster than before.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Series of metal clashing filled the area. Ye Jiao didn''t stop attacking the man at all as her dagger continued to dance. Even though the man was already doing his best to put up his defense, her attack scratches his body bit by bit.


    Slash!


    After a few seconds, Ye Jiao dealt with him cleanly. The other soldiers behind the man were terrified and rushed back into the forest. They were too afraid to face them without their leader.


    After all, moral support was important.


    "That''s quite tiring," Ye Jiao smiled.


    "Woaaah!"


    The other soldiers were cheering loudly. Looking at their excited face, Ye Jiao felt as if she was truly inside a battlefield as part of these soldiers. The relief when they found out that they would survive and their happiness to see the large man was defeated was extremely clear in their expression.


    She felt as if she had truly become part of them.


    "You''re amazing!" the soldier that has been accompanying her showed her a thumbs up.


    "Thank you."


    "I''m sure the commander will give you¡­"


    "Little girl."


    "Yes, Commander," Ye Jiao corrected her posture. She was not totally sure what she should say, but she had seen the soldiers in Wei Family before. They would all be very strict in their rules.


    The commander looked at the large man who fell beside her. "Did you do this?"


    "Yes, Commander."


    "Come with me."


    There was no compliment or whatsoever and only next order. Ye Jiao stayed quiet as she followed after the man. They reached the headquarter, and the man sat down. He tapped the table in front of him.


    "Starting tomorrow, you''re going to fight in the frontline. I expect you to deal with the enemy''s commander."


    The enemy commander?


    Based on the intruder that sneaked here, that person must also be Eon Energy Master Rank 3. She didn''t really have any trouble dealing with Eon Energy Master Rank 3, but this place named battlefield was completely different than when she fought in other places.


    Ye Jiao nodded strongly. "I understand, Commander."


    "Good. Take some rest for now."


    "Yes."


    Ye Jiao watched the fight from the hill as the other soldiers left her. They didn''t seem to have any intention to bother her as they just watched from a distance, waiting for their own orders. Looking at the fight from this distance, Ye Jiao realized that the soldiers were all so small.


    For the strategist, they might not be much different than the number.


    ''I see, fighting from the back can be truly different.''


    Time passed swiftly.


    The next day, Ye Jiao was placed at the front once again. She looked at the soldiers around her and also the commander. Each of them seemed to be far bigger than her by at least twice. She felt like she was too short¡­.


    "Little girl, make sure you can catch up."


    "Aye."


    Gong!


    The moment the gong rang, the soldiers began to run. Ye Jiao could feel the sudden pressure they emanated as she ran alongside them. The tense and stifling atmosphere told her so many things. Many of them were nervous and afraid, but they still stood up to stand and fight.


    Clang! Clang! Slash! Clang! Slash!


    Sound of battle enveloped the entire area. There was no time for them to take a break as every pause meant opportunity for their opponent.


    Bam!


    Feeling the sudden pressure, Ye Jiao noticed that the commander had arrived. A smile was formed on the corner of her lips.


    "Little girl, what are you doing?"


    Ye Jiao separated herself from her group and rushed to the commander. She could see the man tried to cut her down with his blade, but her dagger was ready.


    Tsing! Slash!


    Parrying it, Ye Jiao arrived by the man''s front. Her dagger moved to cut off the man''s stomach. It went through the barrier as blood splattered.


    "Commandeeeeeeeeeer!"


    "Noooooo!"


    The scream that filled soon afterwards sounded vague. Ye Jiao didn''t remember much except the despair on her opponent''s expression. It was weird. She felt that she had truly become one with the reality of this illusion.


    Slash!


    "Keep going! Victory is within our grasps!" the commander ordered. He looked at Ye Jiao and smiled. "You did great. Can you continue?"


    Her grip on the dagger tightened, and Ye Jiao smiled. "Of course."


    "Let''s go!"


    She didn''t understand why they fought or anything, but she knew that she had to fight. Her dagger continued to dance around as her body was totally covered in flesh and blood of everyone who fell down.


    And then, she heard it.


    "Retreat! Retreat!"


    "Nooooo commander!"


    As she had been killing a few commanders, the soldier''s morale dropped to the bottom. When they heard the word retreat, nearly all of them dropped their weapon and ran to the back. They no longer had any fighting spirit to continue on.


    "We woooooooon!"


    "Hell yeah!"


    Ye Jiao smiled slightly. Suddenly, she felt the space around her distorted and her surroundings changed.

 354 Selecting an Academy 1

    "Ye Jiao, how are you feeling?"


    The familiar voice in her ear caused her mind to be clear-headed again. Looking at her surroundings, Ye Jiao realized that she had returned back to the place where everything started in the beginning. There were a lot of people watching in the city, and the number of the elders seemed to increase as well.


    "Qi Huan? Han Fu?" Ye Jiao tilted her head as she looked at them.


    "Eh? You''re already fine?" Han Fu''s eyes widened. "Damn! Here I thought there''s a chance to see your embarrassing moment!"


    "What?"


    Qi Huan shook his head lightly. "You see, when you come out of that place, you''ll feel a bit of confusion in your head because that place is affecting your mental state. This brat over here is yelling so loudly."


    "I didn''t! You''re the one who looks like a different person because you keep on uttering nonsense."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. "Confusion? I think I did feel them a bit."


    "Just a bit, huh?" Qin Zheng crouched in front of her as she was sitting down on the ground. He lightly touched her forehead. "It looks like you have been through something difficult. Good work."


    "Thanks."


    Somehow, Ye Jiao felt a bit warm and comfortable. She could sense slight Eon Energy pouring from the young man''s palm. It was helping her to regain her clear head back. After all, she could sense that if she was there any longer, she might not be able to get out safely anymore.


    "That''s our job, you brat!" Elder Yi complained.


    Qin Zheng looked back at the elder. "You''re too slow."


    "You stinky brat!"


    "Calm down a bit." Elder Qian sighed. "Zheng, you can return back first. I''m sure the youngsters are not too happy when they see you."


    "Alright," Qin Zheng stood up. "I''ll come back when it''s already time to return to the academy."


    Ye Jiao scratched her head and stood up. She still could feel that her body was treating this place like a battlefield. It was tense and hard. Even though she has always been vigilant all the time, she felt that her sense was sharper at this time.


    "Anyway, I''m the first one to come out." Han Fu grinned like a fool. "That means, I''m the greatest here!"


    Qi Huan sighed. "Don''t mind him. He''s still getting affected by his role as a young prince that''s very pampered."


    "I''m not pampered!"


    "Ah, you got sent to a different place?" Ye Jiao''s interest piqued up. She still remembered that she got sent into a battlefield and got a bit too comfortable there. Even though it was a place filled with danger, she felt as if it was truly her place.


    Qi Huan nodded. "I arrive as a young city''s lord in a city that''s attacked by the beast''s tide. They''re all trying to attack us, so I have to rally the soldiers to make sure that they fight because we''re at a disadvantage."


    "I see," Ye Jiao tilted her head. "I was sent as a soldier at the frontline. And¡­."


    She looked at her arm and noticed that the dagger she wielded was brought back with her. It was supposed to be a normal dagger, a different one from the one she used to use because hers was a curved one. This dagger was a double edge and looked pretty similar to a short sword.


    "You bring it back?" Qi Huan was astonished. He took out a sword from his storage bracelet. "I''m the same. I also bring this back."


    Ye Jiao looked at that ordinary sword before looking back at the elders. It was nothing special and just a sword and dagger that was made of metal. However, she wanted to keep it because the memory of her time in her first battlefield was so vivid. Even if it was nothing more than an illusion, she wished to have this dagger with her. "Is it fine to keep it?"


    "Yes," Elder Xin nodded. "You''re sent into the multiverse worlds in a treasure. Those weapons you bring are not that powerful, so you can keep them."


    "Wait, but I didn''t bring anything!"


    "That''s your problem." Qi Huan smirked.


    Bam!


    "Uhhhh, what''s the report for the causalities? We need to reinforce¡­." Cao Ren was dumbfounded when he noticed that he had returned back. "This, what''s this? Hey, can someone tell me what''s going on? I am¡­ I was¡­"


    "Elder Yi."


    "Ok."


    Ye Jiao watched as Elder Yi poured Eon Energy to Cao Ren''s forehead. She was astonished and looked over to the others.


    "Is that¡­?"


    "Each of us is like that." Han Fu shrugged. "It''s weirder that you''re the one who didn''t get any effect at all?"


    "I guess I''m the quiet type." Ye Jiao grinned.


    Qi Huan patted the girl''s back. "You need to get used to it. It''s good training to get out of the Illusion Array because you''ll have to see many things inside that place."


    "Ah, you''re right."


    Afterwards, Gao Yun also came out. Just like Ye Jiao, he just stared blankly on the sky and didn''t have much reaction. The elders came to help him out soon afterwards. They didn''t seem to be surprised to see Gao Yun''s condition.


    "Seventh place is Chen Zi Quan, and 11th place is me." Lu Wan''s face darkened. "Why did I get out so late? How come you are so fast?"


    Qi Huan shrugged. "I bet you didn''t use your brain at all."


    "I use it!"


    "What''s the world you''re being sent to?"


    "I''m sent as a young master in the middle of the forest and have to get out safely."


    "Did you just fight your way out?"


    "What else do you think I should do?"


    "¡­" yep, no brain.


    Lu Wan felt that their expression was even more insulting than their statements. He sighed and sat down on the ground. Even though only a few hours have passed in the real world, it was nearly a week for him in that world.


    "It was a bit scary, though. I thought that I would never be able to find my way out at all," Lu Wan extended his hand and plopped to the ground. "I guess it just means that I need to work on my abilities even more."


    Those who spent too much time inside would see them as their reality. It would be hard for them to adapt that everything they experienced and everyone they met was nothing more than an illusion. Because it all felt so real.


    Elder Qian stopped before Lu Wan. He smiled slightly as the boy felt warm wind around him. It was so comfortable.


    "There are things that you see as real when it''s actually not. This is just the training for you, young man."


    "Elder¡­" Lu Wan raised his head. "Thank you."


    "It''s nothing much. You''ll slowly get used to the difference in the world."


    As Elder Qian returned back to his place, Ye Jiao looked at the middle-aged man''s back. It looked like the back of someone who had been fighting a lot and experienced the harsh reality of the world. Yeah, someone who has reached that age must have known that the world would be different than an illusion.


    At times, it would be easier to accept the nonexistent thing as the reality instead.


    Those who had finished the test waited patiently for the other youngsters to come out. When it was already 10 hours, the elders forcefully pulled out everyone from their test because it was the time limit.


    "Why are 10 hours the limit?"


    "That''s because you''re just Eon Energy Master Rank 3 and at the age range between teenagers to young adults," Qi Huan explained. "Your body and mind are still developing, and having to face two realities at the same time is not easy."


    "So, 10 hours is the maximum?"


    "Yes."


    "Technically, it''s the maximum safe time with this treasure. But if you have a better one that can stabilize your mind and body perfectly, you might be able to last longer inside and still be safe."


    Elder Cai put away the treasure again. It was nothing more than a ring on her finger. "This is an Eon Energy Treasure that can allow you to train in a completely different world. Even though it''s not the real world, everything you experience there can be beneficial to your body because it''ll strengthen your body. The longer you stay there, the more benefit it is for you."


    "Wait, so we shouldn''t have finished so early?"


    "But of course, the recovery time is longer. Each day passed there meant that your mind is affected for 10 days, so you might find it hard to practice for the next three months," Elder Cai shrugged.


    "¡­" tell us sooner, please.

 355 Selecting an Academy 2

    "You can, but your state will be affected a bit. If you have a strong mental mind, you won''t get affected as much, so don''t worry so much," Elder Xin added to make sure they didn''t worry. She herself knew that they wouldn''t want to use anything that could harm the youngsters, so the aftereffect was not that large.


    "That''s good."


    "Yeah."


    They were all relieved upon hearing that they wouldn''t get affected too much. On the other hand, Ye Jiao just pursed her lips. She knew very well that there was not much effect, but the lingering thoughts from when they were there would surely last. It would take time before she could throw them out of her mind.


    Elder Qian clapped his hands. "Now that it has come to this, it''s time for the academy selection."


    "Can we truly select any of the five large academies?" one of the youngsters raised his hand.


    "Yes," Elder Yi replied immediately. "All of us are representatives of the five academies. I''m from Shui Dao Academy, he''s from Hua Shan Academy, that woman is from Bing Gong, and she''s from Huang Mo Academy. On our back is the representative from Gu Academy."


    "Waah."


    They were all excited upon hearing those names. On the other hand, Lu Wan turned his head towards the other two. His eyes showed his confusion as he was unable to understand why they were all so excited.


    "Can you explain them a bit?"


    "Did you not do your research on them at all?" Ye Jiao was stunned. She looked at the young man suspiciously. "Do you seriously want to enter an academy or you just come here to find herbs?"


    "Both."


    "¡­"


    Qi Huan sighed. "There are five extreme terrains in the Xian Gu Kingdom. In every terrain, one academy will be the leader and the place to nurture the best disciple. Those five academies that they mentioned are the five bests of each terrain."


    "Tell me more?"


    "In the north, there''s mountain terrain and the Hua Shan Academy is the one leading.


    In the West, there''s an ice area, covered completely in ice and Bing Gong Academy is the one leading.


    In the southwest, there''s a large dessert, and the Huang Mo Academy is the leading figure.


    In the center and also south, there''s a forest with Gu Academy located in the edge, near the three other terrains.


    In the east, there''s a large sea with several small islands, and Shui Dao Academy is located under the water."


    Ye Jiao nodded. "It seems you have researched them completely, Qi Huan."


    "I need to make sure I know where I''m going," Qi Huan shrugged. "There are much more middle size academies in the Xian Gu Kingdom, but you won''t see their representatives here. You will only be able to meet them if you go around the city."


    "Have you decided on which academy you wish to enter?" Lu Wan asked.


    Qi Huan nodded. "I have."


    "I have two option, so I''ll just see which one give me a better option," Ye Jiao replied while shrugging her shoulders.


    "That means, I''m the only one undecided?"


    "Yes."


    "Yep."


    Lu Wan: "¡­" I better pick one now.


    Elder Cai let the youngsters ponder or discuss with their friends a bit before raising her hand. "Each of us will offer you a different offer. We''ll give you through scrolls."


    Numerous scrolls appeared midair on top of the elders. They all flew in the direction of the youngsters as they hurriedly caught them with their hand. It was not hard to say that they managed to get five scrolls because each academy gave them some offer. Some unlucky ones would have less, but it was only a few of them.


    After all, as long as they have talent, the academy will not reject accepting more disciples.


    "Wow, I didn''t expect it to be this good," Lu Wan was astonished when he read the contents of the scroll. He barely paid any attention to the benefits and so on because his attention lied on the position they offered.


    Some of them offered directly to be Inner Disciple, which was tempting for many of them. It didn''t take long for lines to form in front of the young man, who was the representative of Gu Academy.


    "Why are there so many of them who pick Gu Academy?" Lu Wan''s jaw dropped when he looked away from his scroll.


    "That''s because Gu Academy is an all-rounder and didn''t have any qualms about accepting disciples with various abilities. It''s also known as the biggest academy in the entire Xian Gu Kingdom with only a handful of them could be selected as the elite."


    "If only a handful of them got selected, how come it''s so crowded?"


    "Because even being their Inner Disciple can be better than other academies'' Core Disciple," Qi Huan closed his scroll after he had finished reading them. "They''re also the richest, so they can provide their disciple with much more resources compared with other academies."


    "I see."


    "If you want to go there, you''re free to go," Ye Jiao also had finished looking at hers. She was surprised that some of them still gave them high evaluation to the point that it was too good to be true. After they found out that she didn''t have any path for the specialization, they surprisingly still gave her a lot of offers.


    Lu Wan looked at the icy man who was standing over there. Even though he was doing his work calmly, he felt a bit threatened whenever he had to look at that young man. Rather than getting into the fire pit, he would rather pick a different academy.


    "No, thanks. I have a better offer."

 356 Selecting an Academy 3

    "Really?" Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. "I''m sure that you''re just picking because they pick you as a Core Disciple. Why don''t you want to be in Gu Academy? It''s located in the forest where there''s a lot of herbs'' resources."


    Lu Wan shrugged. "I know that, but it''s not interesting. Besides, I don''t think I can stand his pressure."


    Ye Jiao lifted her head to take a look at that particular person whom Lu Wan pointed at. He was dressed in a purple robe with natural disposition as the leader with the word ''authority'' emanating from him. Even though he just stayed there and accepted the disciple''s scroll one by one, his calm was giving off the pressure. At the same time, the youngsters didn''t dare to look at him directly as they would feel petrified if they looked at him directly.


    As if sensing her gaze, he lifted his head and looked in her direction. His dark iris seemed to be able to see through her, so Ye Jiao quickly moved her eyes away. She didn''t know why, but she could sense the pressure coming from him. He was not even trying to intimidate her or anything, which meant that it was his natural disposition.


    That was a bit scary.


    "See, he''s a bit overwhelming."


    "Fine." Qi Huan took one of the scrolls. "Let''s head into the elder representative we pick together."


    "Ok."


    The three of them have already had an academy in mind, so they already discarded the other scrolls. As they moved, they realized that the line for the academy they chose was empty with only a handful of them having already picked it.


    "So, which one do you pick?"


    "Hua Shan."


    Nearly the three of them said at the same time. They looked at one another before bursting in laughter. Even though they have spoken so much about the academy that existed there, they only have one academy in their mind.


    The elders were naturally able to hear their words with their high rank. Beside Elder Qian, Elder Xin smirked and looked over to his friend. "It seems that you have secured a great disciple."


    "I must thank you for not giving her a better offer."


    "Nah, I believe that I have already given her the best offer." Elder Xin''s eyes shone with interest. "It seems that she has made up her mind. I''m sure that you won''t be able to put her as the one with most resources because you already have those two."


    Elder Qian turned his head in a hurry. "You mean, you want to pick her as the future successor of your academy?"


    "Why not?"


    That enchanting smile seemed to tell Elder Qian everything he needed to know. The woman before him was very brave as to offer that young girl the position that many people covet. It was a position with the highest authority among the youngsters.


    "You have your own disciple, right?"


    "You''re very daring, Elder Xin."


    "Many thanks for your compliment."


    As they spoke, the three of them have arrive before Elder Qian. Qi Huan was the one at the front as he handed the scroll back.


    "I wish to accept the offer, Elder."


    "Very well." Elder Qian took the scroll and imbued it with his Eon Energy. He returned it back to Qi Huan. "Please sign it."


    Qi Huan bit his thumb and used his blood to sign it. As soon as he had done so, he could feel a strange power flow within his body and form a connection with his mind. It was strange yet comforting at the same time.


    "This is your disciple token."


    The token that Qi Huan got was a small jade token with a mountain picture in the middle of it. There was a flowery design around the mountain, which must be the symbol of their academy. (Hua = flower)


    "Black color?" Lu Wan was stunned when he noticed the color.


    Qi Huan smirked. "Yep, Elite Disciple token."


    "!!!"


    Right now, Lu Wan truly wished to shred this young man into pieces. Even though he had heard that those who received the black gold token during the examination might be able to become Elite Disciple, he didn''t wish to see Qi Huan in that group. Come on, how come this annoying man became Elite Disciple?


    "You know each other?" Elder Qian probed.


    Lu Wan nodded as he handed the scroll in his hand. "Yeah, we teamed up once because of competition in the Four Kingdoms."


    "I see. Sign this up."


    "Ok."


    After Lu Wan took his token, which was gold in color, it was Ye Jiao''s turn. She could faintly see the light in Elder Qian''s eyes seem to turn bright for a split second. Apparently, he was pretty excited to have her as a Hua Shan Academy disciple. It was just, she felt that something was off from her decision.


    "Here, sign this."


    "ok."


    Ye Jiao felt something strange the moment she finished signing. She noticed that Elder Xin was looking at the scroll in her hand with curiosity.


    "Is there anything I can help, Elder?"


    "I wonder what kind of offer he gives to make you accept that academy."


    "That." Ye Jiao scratched her head. Her left hand was still holding onto the black token she had just received. The one word that attracted her the most from Hua Shan Academy offer was ''freedom.'' He would allow her to not follow some of the rules in the academy as the Elite Disciple. As she preferred to have her own path, she truly liked the offer they gave her, so she chose this academy.


    "That''s not your business, Elder Xin. Besides, you already got him."


    Him this time meant Gao Yun. Somehow, that young man decided to pick Huang Mo Academy as soon as he finished reading the scroll. It was as if he didn''t have any intention to pick any other academy.


    "Tsk. There''s nothing wrong with wanting more."


    "You greedy old wo¡­"


    Elder Xin''s eyes were cold as she stared at the middle-aged man before her. Her lips were curled up into a smile. "I dare you to finish that sentence."


    Behind them, Ye Jiao and the two others were trying their best to not laugh. The largest taboo to mention in front of a woman was their age. If this Elder Qian wished to irk Elder Xin, he had successfully done so by angering her.


    "Forget I say anything."


    "Good."


    Soon afterwards, everyone has finished picking the academy they wanted. Han Fu and Cao Ren picked Gu Academy, Gao Yun picked Huang Mo Academy, while Chen Zi Quan and Wei Ying picked Shui Dao Academy. Some other youngsters didn''t pick from the five biggest academies and chose to return back. After all, if the offer was too small, they would rather pick the middle size academy rather than the big one.

 357 Onwards to the Academy!

    "After this, it''s time for other students to pick their academy," Elder Qian looked at the 15 new students behind him. "You may take the time to rest in the city while we do our selection. You have one day left to stay in this city."


    "Yess!"


    Now that there was nothing they needed to do anymore, each of them rushed back to the city. Everyone has their own thing, so it was obvious that they wished to do them during this spare time. Besides, they might be able to find something interesting in the market by exploring the area.


    "Ye Jiao, what do you plan on doing now?"


    "Me? I think I want to search for Xin Jie and find out which academy she wished to pick," Ye Jiao replied.


    "Ah, right."


    "Don''t tell her this academy or she''ll surely pick the Hua Shan Academy for sure," Lu Wan reminded. He recalled how that woman pressured him to tell her about Ye Jiao''s whereabouts because she was worried about her. Even though these two didn''t look close as a sworn sister, it was clear that she would be worried about her to the point that she would want to stay with her.


    He completely understood Mu Xin''s feelings as he used to care for someone so greatly when he was young.


    "Ah, that''s possible."


    "Right? Just let her pick first before you tell her which academy you go to. Anyway, I want to search for more herbs. Hopefully, there will be something new there." Lu Wan smiled as he thought about finding new ingredients.


    "Good luck, Lu Wan."


    "You too."


    Ye Jiao turned to look at Qi Huan. "Actually, I want to know why you pick the Hua Shan Academy, but I guess it should be obvious from the geography, right?"


    "You sure did your homework," Qi Huan just smiled. Even though his elemental was water and normally he would be accepted directly into Shui Dao Academy without the need to worry, he didn''t pick them. From one perspective, it was weird, but Ye Jiao understood this senior brother of hers very well.


    "Well, please take care of me in the future too, Senior Brother Qi."


    "Yeah," Qi Huan smiled.


    The two of them were selected as Elite Disciple in Hua Shan Academy. It would mean that he would still stay as her senior brother. On the other hand, Lu Wan was pushed back from the position because he was the Core Disciple.


    "It''ll be funny when Lu Wan needs to call you as a senior sister."


    "He needs to get used to it." Ye Jiao giggled. "I''ll be going first, Senior Brother Qi. Have fun for the last day."


    As soon as they entered the city, they could see thousands of youngsters were rushing to the center of the city. The location of the large academies was in the middle of the city, so it was clear that they would go there. Only a few academies stall left near the outer area.


    Time passed.


    "Mhm." opening her eyes, the first thing Ye Jiao saw was Mu Xin. That young woman was standing near the entrance, which was right in front of her.


    "You''re finished?"


    "Ah," Ye Jiao hurriedly stood up. She looked in Mu Xin''s direction with slight embarrassment. "Sorry, I was thinking of searching for you after I have finished. My training lasts longer than I expected."


    "It''s fine," Mu Xin smiled. "I have already finished my registration, so let''s head back and rest. It''s already night time."


    "Oh?"


    Looking at the dark sky, Ye Jiao was thinking about her practice just now. The elders told her that she would have it harder to concentrate, and it seemed to be true. Normally, she would be able to last until morning, but it was still night time.


    "I won''t be able to see you a lot, though." Mu Xin patted Ye Jiao''s head. "You seem to be growing even faster."


    "I''m already 11." Ye Jiao grinned. "Isn''t it normal that I''m in my growth period?"


    "Yeah." Mu Xin smiled slightly. "I''m attending Hua Shan Academy, which academy did you pick?"


    Ye Jiao''s body stiffened in surprise. "That''s the same with me."


    When the top 100 began selecting their academy, the other youngsters would also begin to pick theirs. Because no one wanted to be late, they practically rushed over to the direction of the academy''s stall location. Naturally, it included Mu Xin.


    "Oh? I guess you''re going to be my senior sister," Mu Xin found it slightly funny. She was clearly the older one and also the older sworn sister, but she would have to call Ye Jiao as her senior sister in the future. She wondered what kind of expression Ye Jiao would have if she did greet her with that.


    Ye Jiao''s expression crumbled. "Just call me directly with my name. I will feel uncomfortable if you didn''t, Xin Jie."


    "Hahaha, fine."


    Seeing the laughter in Mu Xin''s usually cold face, a small smile was formed in Ye Jiao''s lips. She didn''t know why, but Mu Xin always has a stern and cold look in her expression. It made her wonder how this sister of hers could possibly make herself look so stern all the time like that.


    "You look prettier when you laugh, Xin Jie."


    "You have a sweet mouth, Ye Jiao."


    "Ehehehe."


    ¡­.


    Early in the morning, Ye Jiao gathered outside the gate once more. She finally understood that there was so much more disciple that the academy had accepted. Looking at the rows of students behind her, there must be thousands of them.


    "Most of them are Inner and Outer Disciples. Of course, the number of Outer Disciple is the most," Qi Huan looked over to them. "Once you''re out of top 100, you won''t be able to be directly accepted as Core Disciple or Elite Disciple."


    "I see."


    It was no wonder that everyone was dying to be able to reach the top 100. Even though it was not impossible for them to be promoted in the middle, it would take a long time. After all, directly accepted as core or Elite Disciple would let them access much more facilities and naturally, resources.


    Lu Wan yawned. "Well, I''ll catch up with you two soon. At that time, I''ll surely advance faster."


    "You?" Qi Huan scanned the young man''s body. "With your pitiful strength, you should just focus on making sure that you don''t get kicked out as a Core Disciple. You should have known that the number of Core Disciples is limited, right?"


    "Wait." Lu Wan''s expression changed. "It''s limited?"


    "Yes, there are only 100 Core Disciples each year."


    The familiar voice nearly caused the three of them to trip over nothing. Chills rise on the back of their spine as they slowly turn their head around. A young man with black hair was looking at them with a smiling expression. Playful glint was apparent on his golden pupil.


    "Qin¡­.Zheng?"


    "You¡­?"


    "Yes?" Qin Zheng tilted his head as if there was nothing wrong. Looking at their expression, one must have guessed that they had seen a ghost.


    "What are you doing here?" Qi Huan finally blurted out.


    Qin Zheng blinked. "Didn''t you hear my introduction before? I''m an Elite Disciple in Mount Hua Academy."


    "But¡­ it''s Mount Hua, not Hua Shan!" Lu Wan nearly screamed.


    Ye Jiao was also looking at Qin Zheng with disbelief all over her face. Mount Hua. Hua Shan. That was basically the same thing! (Hua Shan = Mount Hua. Shan = mountain, Hua = flower)


    She nearly crouched on the ground for her stupidity. Even though it was so obvious, she didn''t realize it until she saw Qin Zheng standing in front of her with his nonchalant expression.


    If only she knew he was here, she would have picked the other academy!


    Eh wait, the one with the best offer is the Hua Shan Academy¡­ Ye Jiao suddenly faced a dilemma inside her mind. Well, there was no way she could change the past, she had to accept going to the same academy as him.


    Qin Zheng smirked. "Nice to meet with you two, my junior disciples."


    "..." wipe that smug expression out of your face.


    Elder Qian rubbed his chin when he saw their interaction. "As I thought, Little Zheng, you already know them?"


    "I met with them in the Four Kingdoms," Qin Zheng replied honestly. "Also, when will we depart, Elder Qian?"


    "Now."


    As Elder Qian created an array for them to go, Ye Jiao turned her head back in the direction of the city. From now on, she would go to a wider world. A completely different world.


    Yeah, her journey has just started.

 358 Chen Kingdom’s Condition

    "Your Majesty, this is the current layout of the palace."


    Chen Tian was sitting in his new hall, which was built in under a month''s time. It was not that good, but it was usable. Besides, it would be an embarrassment for him if he kept on hogging the official''s place to stay just because the entire palace was destroyed.


    It was still under construction, but some places were already usable.


    "Advisor Su, are you still there?" Chen Tian asked as he turned his head.


    "I''m here. What is it?"


    "Ye Jiao is alive."


    "Who?" the advisor frowned. He found the surname ''Ye'' to be disgusting, but he had never heard of anyone with that name. It should be a woman, but he didn''t recall meeting any woman from the Ye Family.


    Chen Tian''s brow creased. "Ye Xiao''s daughter."


    The moment he finished speaking, the temperature in the hall dropped by several degrees. Even though he hated Ye Family, the one who hated it the most was obviously Su Family. One of the best examples was standing right in front of him, staring at the letter in his hand with eyes blazing in hatred.


    "How come she''s alive? Take her here, and I''ll kill her personally and feed her to the beast¡­.."


    "Ye Jiao was accepted into an academy and currently undergoing the top 100 tests," Chen Tian looked at the paper in his hand with a cold glint. "Apparently, that trash is not totally a trash."


    He had sneaked people inside to make sure that they still could communicate in case it was necessary. Little did he expect that the first news he received would be the fact that Ye Xiao''s daughter was still alive.


    And that sl*t has already become Eon Energy Master Rank 3.


    "What did you say?"


    "Ye Jiao has been accepted into an academy and currently undergoing the top 100 tests."


    Bang!


    Advisor Su kicked a nearby table with so much force that it disintegrated with just a touch. His face was dark with veins bulging, clearly showing his anger and agitated state. From that one piece of news, he clearly understood that the little girl whom they thought to be trash unworthy of anything was actually very capable.


    "HOW DID YOU OVERLOOK THIS?"


    "She''s talent S," Chen Tian''s face was also very dark at this moment. He understood the meaning of this talent very much. The highest realm as Eon Energy Master could only be reached if they have this talent. Everyone coveted it, but only one in millions would be able to be born with this talent.


    Bang!


    "You should have just installed a device that can let you detect anyone with that talent!" Advisor Su yelled.


    The reason why S talent became rare was precisely because not many people could be born with that talent. Only a special few of them would be able to possess this talent. Because of that, those with talent A were already considered as the best because they still had a chance to reach the peak.


    It would be harder, and the chance was smaller, but it was still there.


    "Damn it!"


    Bang!


    Advisor Su was normally a calm person, but he understood that once Ye Jiao entered an academy, there was no way for them to touch her anymore. She would grow and grow to the point that they would be nothing in her eyes.


    No!


    He couldn''t let her grow and threaten their position.


    He had to find a way to cut off her wings before she could fully nurture herself as Eon Energy Master. There must be a way for him to do this.


    "Have you told the representative from Su Family about this?"


    "They have," Chen Tian raised the letter above the candle beside him. "It''ll be for the best to let this letter burn. I can''t let them find out that Ye Xiao''s daughter is still alive or they''ll skin us alive."


    Advisor Su''s face changed greatly. "Don''t you want to tell them?''


    "If you wish to die, you can tell them. We need to handle it by ourselves. I''m sure that there are some chest pieces you can throw away in the academy she picks, right?" Chen Tian''s gaze was also cold.


    "There are a few of them, and I''m sure they have selected a few more¡­"


    However, it still wouldn''t be easy for them to touch Ye Jiao considering the difference in status that they had. One would be the perfect Elite Disciple that was granted the utmost protection and resources, while the other one was just a normal Inner Disciple or even Outer Disciple without anything special.


    After all, no one would want to sacrifice their youngsters with boundless potential and just chose to give up the weaker ones.


    Chen Tian''s face darkened. "This is a mess."


    First, his palace was destroyed by a group of an unknown assassin. Before he could recover from his condition, he had received the news that Ye Xiao''s daughter was actually still alive and kicking. No, not just alive. She was basically standing at the place they could never hope to achieve in their life.


    The news was just¡­


    Too much.


    "We should just prepare ourselves for the worst outcome. Besides, I don''t think they can do anything to destroy our families in this place," Chen Tian replied with a smile. There was a barrier placed around this place, so they shouldn''t be able to come.


    "Even if they only send an Outer Disciple, we''ll be crushed."


    Because their Outer Disciple would be already at the rank that was unimaginable for them. It was so high that they wouldn''t be able to hope to achieve.


    "That¡­"


    Before they could finish speaking, they suddenly felt as if their entire body was crushed. There was tremendous pressure coming at them.


    "Who could possibly emanate this kind of pressure?" Chen Tian was flabbergasted. In front of this kind of pressure, he couldn''t do anything. Even moving was already difficult.


    "Don''t tell me that they have received the news¡­?"


    However, upon seeing the figure that comes to them, their eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Impossible."


    "No way."

 359 Do You Really Think You Can Kill Me?�

    It was on this day that there was a sudden new influx of people coming into the city. The forest has become unsafe once more as there were not many people assigned to take care of the beasts. Many of them were too focused on the event that happened in the capital recently and the fact that the palace was destroyed.


    "It''s too bad that the fire destroyed the beautiful palace entirely."


    "Yeah, they have too many enemies. I''m not going to be surprised if the entire capital city is going to be destroyed."


    "Heh, don''t dream too much."


    The street was bustling with people, walking here and there doing their activities normally. A man walked into the street while wearing a black hood, yet it couldn''t completely hide his naturally colored black hair. His blue-green iris was looking in the direction of Wei Family Residence, or to be exact, part of their ruins.


    "Hey, don''t block the way, man!" a man complained.


    The hooded man stepped to the side. "Sorry, but do you know what happened to this place? From what I remember, this shouldn''t be like this."


    "Oh, the Wei Family is full of misfortunes. Some things happened," the man shrugged and started to tell things that occurred in this residence. In any case, it was not a secret because nearly everyone in this city knew the bad things that had happened in Wei Family Residence.


    Though, no one really knew who instigated it.


    "I see. The Wei Family indeed had very bad fortune lately," the hooded man agreed.


    The man just waved his hand. "Stay away from them if you don''t want their bad luck to spread to you. In any case, no one wants to offend them because of that great general. He''s still very powerful."


    "Powerful, huh."


    The man stopped in his step for a moment. He turned to look at the hooded man with a frown in his face. He believed that he had just heard this hooded man snickered when he said that the Wei Family was powerful. Well, in any case, it didn''t really matter much to him.


    The hooded man didn''t linger in that place any longer and started to walk in the direction of the school.


    Knock! Knock!


    "What is it? Don''t you know that¡­.?" The Principal stopped in his step when he saw the man standing before him. Disbelief was written all over his face. "No way¡­ You¡­ you can''t be here! I see it before that¡­ that¡­"


    "That Wei Shang and Chen Tian kill me?" the hooded man''s voice was filled with mockery. He pulled down the hood, revealing the handsome face of a man in his late twenties. His black hair fluttered along with the wind while his blue-green eyes were looking straight to the Principal without fear. "Where''s my wife and daughter?"


    "They¡­."


    "Ye Xiao¡­"


    The Principal was unable to reply. He just stood there as tears started to stream out like a waterfall. The sadness he felt when he saw the Wei Family chased after this man''s wife and everything just poured down in that instant. How could he possibly tell this man that the two of them have died?


    When he was away, the duo was unable to hold their patience anymore.


    "Principal! Tell me! Where are they?" the hooded man, Ye Xiao''s voice was filled with impatience and urgency. He already had a bad feeling when he couldn''t sense them in this place anymore, but he kept his emotion in his heart. He was waiting¡­ waiting for the confirmation.


    "I''m sorry, Ye Xiao¡­ I''m sorry," the Principal shook his head. He couldn''t say it. He could never say it.


    This man had lost so many things in the hands of the Imperial Family and Wei Family, so much that just seeing them caused him to hate them to the bone. He didn''t want to see this young man suffer anymore.


    But he couldn''t do anything.


    He is a coward.


    Ye Xiao''s heart sank to the bottom abyss when he heard the Principal''s voice. Looking at the despair in the man''s eyes, he knew what had happened. Those b*stards from the Imperial Family and Wei Family dared to touch them.


    They have died.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    Ye Xiao screamed on top of his lungs. He was too late!


    When they were chasing after him when he had just finished a fight with Eon Energy Master Rank 4, he knew that it would be bad for him. He did think of the possibility that they would go back on their word, but he didn''t expect that they would still touch his daughter too.


    Because they already promised with their blood.


    The Principal couldn''t say anything. At that time, there was a chance for him to help out, but he didn''t. He. Didn''t. Step. Up. At. All.


    He could only watch as Chen Tian, and Wei Shang made their move against Ye Ai Xia.


    He could only watch as Ye Ai Xia stood bravely, protecting their daughter no matter what the cost.


    "Ye Xiao!"


    At this time, Ye Xiao was completely enveloped in fire. His body was emanating radiance like never before as he stared at the sky with hatred and resentment. If only he was not trapped in that place for a long time, he would have returned right away to protect his family.


    Now, all was lost.


    He had lost everything.


    The Principal stepped back for dozens of steps as he looked in the direction of Ye Xiao with disbelief. He was sure that the young man before him was no longer Eon Energy Master Rank 4. He must be Eon Energy Master Rank 5.


    In just a short few years, he had advanced from Eon Energy Master Rank 4 to rank 5 without any academy to teach him the way.


    "Don''t stop me, Principal," Ye Xiao''s voice was hoarse. He is angry. Angry at that Chen Tian, angry at Wei Shang, angry at that place, and most importantly, he felt angry at himself. If only¡­ if only he could be here, he might be able to meet with them again.


    "Evacuate everyone who you deem suitable. I''ll turn this place into hell."


    "Ye Xiao!"


    Using his Eon Energy, Ye Xiao lifted his body into the air and shot himself in the direction of the palace. He no longer wanted to listen to the Principal''s voice. His heart was bleeding because of the news he had just received.


    Bang!


    His fire blasted open the gate of the palace, sending the guards into a fit of flurry because of fear.


    "You-!"


    "Impossible!"


    "No way!"


    "T-that''s¡­"


    Looking at their faces full of disbelief, Ye Xiao uttered each word slowly. "Do you really think that you can kill me?"

 360 Turning Everything into a Sea of Fire

    "Impossible!"


    "No way!"


    "T-that''s¡­"


    Looking at their faces full of disbelief, he uttered each word slowly. "Do you really think that you can kill me?"


    Advisor Su was looking at the imposing man in front of him with widened eyes. He couldn''t believe this. This man was supposed to die three years ago. But no- this man was still alive and kicking.


    "Chen Tian, what''s this?"


    "I-," Chen Tian was also filled with disbelief. He was sure that he had washed Ye Xiao into that bottomless swamp without any chance for him to get out. There shouldn''t be any way¡­.


    "Yes, I''m alive, and I won''t let you live either," Ye Xiao''s tone was cold and devoid of any life. He had to live the past three years in a real hell. It was torture for him, but he had to survive because he wanted to return back. He wanted to meet with his wife and daughter again.


    But this damned man just had to kill them.


    He killed them not long after they ''killed'' him.


    "You-!" Advisor Su leaked out a massive amount of Eon Energy with water around him. Since his element was water, he should be able to have an advantage against Ye Xiao.


    Pssh¡­


    Sound of water evaporating filled the place. Ye Xiao''s face was cold as he waved his hand. The hall that has just been rebuilt was once more covered in fire. The temperature rose several folds as if hell had just descended in the place.


    Fire covered everything.


    Advisor Su''s face turned pale when he noticed the difference in power between the two of them. Even with his water element covering him, he couldn''t block the harsh temperature from scorching his skin.


    It was scary.


    He felt fear from the bottom of his heart.


    "Is this all you can do?" Ye Xiao asked with a tone devoid of emotion. Anger flared within his eyes when he looked at the people before him. He was so angry that he wished to torture this man so that not even his ashes left.


    "NO!"


    With a swing of his hand, water enveloped his body. However, Ye Xiao didn''t need to do anything as the temperature evaporated the water instantly. The power that exploded from Advisor Su disappeared in an instant.


    Their difference in power was simply too great.


    It was as if a slave was trying to raise a wooden spear to counter a king''s steel sword. There was nothing Advisor Su could do.


    Ye Xiao looked at the two men before him coldly. "Since you have killed my wife and daughter, I shall present you to the Netherworld as retribution for harming my family."


    "You can''t kill me! Su Family¡­.!"


    Bang!


    With a wave of his hand, Advisor Su was thrown to the side. It was covered with blazing hot fire that directly burned his entire body. The fire penetrated through his defense as if it was nothing more than a thin layer of paper.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


    Ye Xiao paid no heed to the man.


    He felt that it was painful? It was nothing compared to the pain he had because of them.


    The mental pain from losing everything and the physical pain from their torture was unbearable. If not because he was too weak at that time, he would never ever let himself be treated that way. But they didn''t only hurt him, they also hurt his family members whom he cared so much.


    He couldn''t forgive them for that.


    "You-!" Chen Tian''s face turned ashen. He was about to summon his power when fire enveloped his entire body. His body was completely restricted as the fire scorched his skin, threatening to tear him apart with brute force.


    "Even the majestic Emperor is nothing but a puppet in the hands of the Su Family," Ye Xiao said unhurriedly. His body was enveloped in fire, making him look like the embodiment of destruction. "Even after selling your body to them, you''re still this weak, Chen Tian?"


    "You B******! Let me go!"


    Chen Tian struggled only to find his power drained away. No matter how much he tried to struggle, there was nothing that he could do. The difference in power between him and Ye Xiao was simply too big.


    In just a short few years, Ye Xiao had climbed so high that he couldn''t even catch up to him.


    At this moment, Chen Tian felt immense regret.


    He should have killed Ye Xiao a long time ago. Even if he had to bear the wrath of Su Family, it would not be as bad as this condition. Yet, there was nothing he could do but to yell and curse.


    "You''ll die, Ye Xiao! You''ll die miserably!"


    "I''ll surely die in the future," Ye Xiao said impassively, "But not by your hands."


    As he clenched his fingers, the pain all over Chen Tian''s body intensified. He could feel that his meridian was all destroyed along with his bone and flesh. Everything was crushed little by little by the man before him.


    "Death is too easy for someone like you. I''m sure you have so many enemies who wish for your death," Ye Xiao stepped on the ground with ease. He looked at the vast palace, which was still under construction. "To think that someone already raided this place before me, seems like you already made a miscalculation."


    "B*stard! I''ll kill you, YE XIAO!"


    "I won''t kill you," Ye Xiao said lazily, yet his tone was extremely lazy. "But you know, you might be wishing for me to have killed you today."


    "What¡­?" Chen Tian''s body jolted as he felt pain from all over his body. In the next moment, it was concentrated in his abdomen as he felt a surge of Eon Energy coming out from his body. His face turned ashen in despair.


    He knew.


    Ye Xiao was destroying his entire martial arts. He would be nothing more than a cripple from now on.


    Even if there was any magical medicine that can cure him, how could he find any in this place? It was utterly impossible.


    At this time, Ye Xiao''s face was devoid of any emotion. He was angry, so angry that he wished to kill everyone in this city. Even though it happened a long time ago, he could never forget how they all helped the Imperial Family just to capture him and his wife before they could get away.


    He raised his hand and flicked his finger as waves of fire immediately spread out of the entire palace and into the city.


    Screams and cries filled the entire city.


    "Ye Xiao! You''re mad! Do you really think that you can get away with doing... guh?"


    "I''m not afraid," Ye Xiao replied plainly. He had been living a brutal life for a long time. Now that he had attained rank 5, he knew that the time for him to confront that woman would come sooner or later.


    They couldn''t tolerate him living, so he would also destroy them from the surface of the world.


    He would never let them off.


    Because of them, he had experienced so much pain and sadness no one could describe. Even if this would affect his martial path, he no longer cared. He just wished for them to pay for what they have done.


    "Look at it, Chen Tian. Everything you build is gone," Ye Xiao said in an emotionless tone as if he was talking about ants and not human beings. His eyes reflected despair and sadness that he could no longer contain.


    "You-!"


    "Let''s go."


    With a wave of his hand, Eon Energy enveloped the two of them. With Chen Tian''s body already in the destroyed state, there would be no way this man could possibly recover. He would slowly feel pain all over his body for many years to come. Without magical medicine, he could never recover.


    Yet at the same time, he couldn''t die.


    Bang!


    Ye Xiao arrived at the south part of the city, outside the city gate. A few people were gathered there with the Principal was looking at Ye Xiao with disbelief.


    "Ye Xiao¡­"


    "Is this all?" Ye Xiao asked impassively.


    The Principal actually wished to bring more people out, but there was no time. Ye Xiao had already raided everything. Besides, he knew that this man actually wished for them all to die because not a single villager here didn''t take part in helping the imperial family. They were the one who leaked the news and pushed him numerous times in the past before they started to badmouth him every time they talked about him.


    For a proud genius to face this kind of treatment was simply torture.


    He knew that, so he nodded. "Yes, they''re all here."


    "Good."


    Bang!


    He threw Chen Tian to the ground and looked at the group of people before him. "Here''s your king. I give him back to you."

 361 She’s Still Alive

    He threw Chen Tian to the ground and looked at the group of people before him. "Here''s your king. I give him back to you."


    "Your Majesty!"


    "This¡­"


    Chen Tian coughed as his body crashed to the ground. The pain that he sustained because of the fire was not small at all. Adding with this maltreatment, he was sure that he wouldn''t be able to get out of this place alive.


    "You b*stard! I''ll kill you!"


    Stomp!


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


    Ye Xiao stomped on the man''s stomach without any emotion in his face. Looking at the disgusting man in front of him, he wished for nothing more than to kill him miserably. However, rather than killing, he wished that Chen Tian could taste the feeling of pain for his entire life.


    The principal opened his mouth, wanting to beg for the king, but no words came out. He knew that every powerful person in this kingdom was hated by Ye Xiao to the bone. However, without their existence, Chen Kingdom would be nothing but history.


    The other three kingdoms wouldn''t be able to calm down if they know about this.


    "He''s Ye Xiao?" one of the people there recognized Ye Xiao. Even though there was no longer any trace of his innocence from back then, they wouldn''t be able to forget this man. Black hair with blue-green iris, he has always shaken the entire kingdom with his remarkable achievement.


    The word ''impossible'' simply didn''t exist in his dictionary.


    From his young age, he had shattered whatever definition they have about normal things. He would do things according to his will, destroy everything in the process, and left unscathed.


    It was like a miracle in the form of a man.


    Yet it didn''t last long.


    When the geniuses from other places came as exchange students, the brilliance Ye Xiao once showed began to cease. The downfall of a genius was inevitable. No one wished to be by his side and helped him. They all left him in order to save their own lives.


    And people began to forget about the genius when the news of his death spread.


    And now, he returned.


    As if telling them that the miracles in the past was not a coincidence, he came back, stronger than ever. Single-handedly, he destroyed what people revered in their lives. There was no hesitation in his actions.


    Everything was done so smoothly.


    Everyone''s eyes were completely focused on the man enveloped in fire. Even though he had changed so much ever since the last time, they still recognized him. Back then, they admired him then abandoned him, now they knew who could become the true king by looking at him.


    No matter what the two powerful people tried to do, he kept on standing firmly. There was nothing that could stop him.


    Ye Xiao passed a glance at them before turning his head to the principal. "Where do you bury my wife and daughter?"


    "I¡­"


    "You didn''t?"


    "I''m sorry, I¡­"


    Ye Xiao looked at the principal and sighed. In the face of Chen Tian and Wei Shang, this principal was simply too weak. He had too many things that he couldn''t bear to lose, so he had no other choice but to follow what those two people said to him. They would never leave him to work on his own in peace.


    Despite knowing all that, there was a trace of disappointment within Ye Xiao''s heart. Maybe, it was his selfish nature, but he wished that the principal could at least bury them after their death.


    "It''s alright, Principal. I won''t blame you."


    The principal''s heart tightened when he heard the tone full of desolation from Ye Xiao. He opened his mouth, yet no words came out. He knew that he was not fit to help Ye Xiao because there were so many things and obligations that he had to fulfil.


    His hands were tied.


    ??Ye Ai Xia''s grave is in the forest."


    The moment that voice sounded, Ye Xiao lifted his head. He could see a middle-aged man donned in commander''s clothes standing at the back. His eyes were looking at Ye Xiao with concern.


    "Who are you?"


    "My name is Mu Hong," Mu Hong replied calmly.


    Ye Xiao nodded. "Thank you."


    "You shouldn''t thank me," Mu Hong paused for a moment. "It''s your daughter who buried her mother."


    Swish!


    "What did you say?" it didn''t take one second for Ye Xiao to arrive in front of Mu Hong. His eyes were full of disbelief. When the principal told him what had happened back then, he knew that Wei Shang and Chen Tian chased his wife until she was unable to stay here anymore.


    There was no trace of them, but with the wound they sustained, it was most likely that they had died.


    Mu Hong looked at Ye Xiao back. He knew that the others were looking at him full of accusations. Not everyone in this place supported Ye Xiao, but he didn''t care. His daughter is this man''s daughter''s friend.


    "Ye Jiao is still alive."


    Ye Xiao''s eyes trembled with excitement. Not long ago, they told him that his daughter had died and now, they told him that she''s still alive. He wanted to meet her no matter what.


    "Where¡­?"


    "I don''t know," Mu Hong replied honestly. "I met her once after the incident because my daughter is her friend. They talked a bit and¡­"


    "What is it?"


    "She''s already Eon Energy Master."


    Gasp!


    Surprise filled the entire area. Who among them didn''t know that Ye Jiao was known as a trash that was unable to train Eon Energy? Hearing that the young girl who was supposed to be a trash become Eon Energy Master was truly a piece of shocking news.


    On the other hand, a smile was formed on the corner of Ye Xiao''s lips. He knew that Ye Jiao''s talent was even higher than his. Even if she formed her core much earlier than him, he would not be surprised at all.


    She''s still alive.


    And she''s already Eon Energy Master!


    Ye Xiao was extremely elated by this news.


    "You know?" Mu Hong blurted out when he saw the smile.


    "My daughter is a genius." Ye Xiao laughed. "How could I not know that?"


    Hearing that laughter, Chen Tian felt his stomach was churning rapidly. He did think that it was strange for Ye Xiao to suddenly make a breakthrough to rank 4 but never thought that it was anything special. Now, he understood. Realizing his daughter''s real talent must be what had helped this man to overcome the barrier.


    Damn!


    If only he realized it sooner, he would have killed that young girl before she could get out of the Wei Family Residence.


    Mu Hong smiled. "I''m sorry that I didn''t know where she is right now. But if she''s smart enough, I''m sure she''ll aim for the academies in the north."


    "Academies, huh?" Ye Xiao expected as much, but the Teleportation Array wouldn??t open in another year. He needed to wait if he wished to search in that kingdom. There were other ways to get out, but it wouldn''t be easy at all.


    Besides, he had already reached rank 5. If he was not wrong, there was a restriction that would prevent him from going because of his rank.


    "Yes."


    "Thank you for taking care of my daughter, Mu Hong." Ye Xiao turned around. "Chen Kingdom is nothing but ruins. It''s up to you whether you can still hold on to this place or not. I won''t interfere at all."


    In the next moment, Ye Xiao disappeared from the place.


    They all looked at one another as they didn''t know what to do. Everything they have has been destroyed in the fire that Ye Xiao created. Even though they were angry, they knew that the man had a reason for doing this.


    It was already good enough that they were still alive.


    "We need to cover this up one way or another," the principal looked at Mu Hong. "Minister Lu is still doing his inspection, but he''s going to return back soon. Do you wish to help us build the capital city again or leave since you don''t belong to this place?"


    Mu Hong looked at the principal and shrugged. "I''m here, and my daughter wouldn''t want her father to disappear all of a sudden, right? Let''s build everything again and let the Lu Family lead us."


    "I''m still... ugh."


    "You can shut up, Chen Tian."


    "We''ll just borrow your name, but you shouldn''t think of doing anything."


    "B*stard."


    Seeing the gaze filled with hatred, Chen Tian understood that they were directing their hatred to him. In their eyes, he was the one who caused this situation to happen. He gnashed his teeth in anger, for he knew that his life wouldn''t be as easy as before again. Everyone would hate him and wish for his death.

 362 I Will Find You

    Swish!


    Tep!


    Stopping right in front of his house, he could see a crudely made grave not far from the house. The trace of small stones moved to cover it all up was still there, telling him that it must be a child who did it. At the same time, the word ''Ye Ai Xia'' was written at the tombstone.


    "Xia''er, I have returned back," Ye Xiao started talking. His eyes were looking straight to the letter in front of him. "I''m too late, aren''t I?"


    Bang!


    He dropped to his knees as tears streamed out from the corner of his eyes. His expression was full of anguish as he looked at the words in front of him. The grave in front of him told him clearly that his beloved wife had died. The only woman whom he loved so greatly in this world had departed earlier than him.


    "I''m sorry, Xia''er¡­. I''m sorry."


    I''m sorry.


    I''ve never been a good husband to you.


    I can''t accompany you.


    Ye Xiao didn''t say anything else as he stayed in that position for a long time. Regret enveloped his entire body and tears poured out like a rainfall. He silently prayed in front of his wife''s grave.


    All he could feel was pain and sadness.


    He wouldn''t be able to meet with her anymore until the rest of his life in this world.


    He didn''t even know how much time had passed before he stood up and walked on the side of the tomb. It was then his eyes noticed the flower that was swaying on the right side. It was placed there and imbued with Eon Energy to make sure that it didn''t move away or wilt.


    The Eon Energy he felt was warm and comforting.


    "Ye Jiao¡­"


    The only person who would be able to do this is Ye Jiao, his daughter. A smile formed on his lips, yet his eyes shone with sadness. He wished for nothing more than to stay with his wife, but he knew that he needed to find his daughter.


    No matter what, he would meet with her again.


    "Ye Jiao, I will find you. Dad promised you."


    The wind blew around him as if telling him to hurry. Ye Xiao wiped his tears and utilized his Eon Energy to create a much more powerful barrier around this place. He wished that this place could stay as tranquil as possible.


    He had already reached rank 5, meaning that he wouldn''t be able to get out of the Four Kingdoms using the ordinary means anymore. He had to find another way to get out of this place and reach the main kingdom where the Four Kingdom was connected to.


    It wouldn''t be an easy journey.


    But Ye Xiao didn''t care for all of that. "I wish I''ll be able to meet with you soon, Jiao''er. At that time, I''ll apologize for the pain I have caused you, for leaving you alone in this cruel world."


    He''s truly a failure as a father.


    However, he will not abandon his daughter again.


    No matter what, he had to find her and reunite back with his daughter once more.


    After he had finished, he departed and disappeared once more.


    ¡­


    Days after the incident.


    The people who accompanied the youngsters for examination soon returned back from the examination location. The city would be closed, so they had no other choice but to return back to where they came from. This included Wei Shang''s group.


    He was already dejected because of Ye Jiao''s performance back in the academy examination. But what waited for him back in the Four Kingdom was even much worse than what he expected.


    it was a total disaster.


    Everything was destroyed and the people there were working hard to rebuild everything while keeping everything a secret. Yet, they knew that war would be inevitable when the opposing kingdoms heard what had happened.


    They had to be extra careful.


    "What''s happening here?" Wei Shang stood in front of the ruins of the city with Wei Xie following behind him quietly.


    The one at the front, Lu Changqing, passed him a look. "Ye Xiao returned back and destroyed everything."


    "YE XIAO?"


    This name caused Wei Shang''s body to grow cold. Recalling how powerful that man had become around 5 years ago, he felt a shiver down his spine. If Ye Xiao was still alive until now, he couldn''t imagine just how powerful that person would be.


    It is scary.


    Behind him, Wei Xie''s eyes flashed the moment the name Ye Xiao was mentioned. She had heard this name countless times in the past because of how famous that man was. Now, she felt curious about that particular ''genius.''


    "Yes."


    "H-how?"


    "I don''t know," Lu Changqing replied plainly. "I wasn''t in the capital city at that time, so I can''t answer for sure. Also, His Majesty is not in good condition. The two of us might be the only one who can fight among the rank 4 in this kingdom."


    Two Eon Energy Master Rank 4.


    This would directly place the Chen Kingdom at the very bottom among the four of them and at the same, the most vulnerable one. If any of the other kingdoms wished to kill them, it wouldn''t be impossible. They could do that very easily.


    "Is Ye Xiao still around?"


    "I don''t know. He''s already rank 5, so I can''t possibly hope to fight against him."


    "You! Don''t talk as if this matter didn''t concern you! if not for your second son, the Imperial Family won''t be so weak!"


    Lu Changqing didn''t even care for the enraged Wei Shang. "Do you honestly believe that Chen Tian will be able to fight back if he''s in prime condition?"


    "Call him¡­"


    "You''re too stupid. The difference between rank 4 and rank 5 is not just one number. It''s essentially different in terms of power and range. Even if there are 10 Chen Tian, they won''t be able to defeat Ye Xiao."


    "No¡­ no way," Wei Shang''s eyes turned lifeless. He knew that if Ye Xiao found him, he would be killed in the most brutal way possible. No sane man would let a man who wished to take the former''s wife live peacefully.


    "If I were you, I advise you to stay low and guard the border," Lu Changqing said coldly. "Make sure that Ye Xiao will be unable to find you and blend in the crowd as much as possible."


    "What¡­?"


    "You should know that I only think about this kingdom and not your feud," Lu Changqing stared back with emotionless eyes. He was telling the man before him clearly that he only worked for the kingdom and didn''t care in the slightest for their battle and personal hatred.


    Wei Shang''s eyes widened for a moment before a mocking smile appeared on his lips. Right, he was truly an idiot.


    Lu Changqing has never cared for interpersonal relationships or whatsoever. He was taught ever since he was young that he had to follow the rules and everything. The things that occurred to him were all analyzed to find the effect on the largest scale possible. This was the only reason this person could become official, and the king was never suspicious of him.


    All that was in this man''s mind was only how to create a better country.


    "I understand. I''ll do that, but I need you to take care of my daughter," Wei Shang pointed to Wei Xie. "She had just formed her core, so I wish that you can make sure that she can live well."


    Lu Changqing passed a glance. "Lu Zhi."


    "Yes, father?" a young woman with a veil covering her face stepped forward. Her eyes were showing hatred and determination at the same time.


    "Take Wei Xie with you, and I hope you two can get along well."


    Wei Xie looked at Lu Zhi as her brows knitted a bit. She had heard about the incident where Lu Zhi lost her beautiful face. Touching her own face for a bit, she sighed deeply for she understood that it wouldn''t be easy for her to win over Lu Zhi.


    ''But it doesn''t matter. I''ll be able to overcome everything.''


    "I''ll be going," Wei Shang turned around and left. He felt that lately, things truly hadn''t been going according to his wishes. Everything seemed to crumble into dust.


    On the other side, Lu Su looked at the crowd as he sighed. One way or another, they needed to find a way to keep the Chen Kingdom alive. If those people found out the things that occurred here, there was no doubt that a war would happen.


    Before it could start, they needed to have someone reach rank 4.


    Whoever it is.

 363 Hua Shan Academy

    At the area where the youngsters have finished the test, the elders were creating arrays to transport them all to their academy.


    "What''s that weird looking thing?" Lu Wan pointed at the weird shapes that Elder Qian had started to create. This would be the first time for him to see them all.


    While Lu Wan was confused, Qin Zheng smiled lightly. "That''s what you call runes."


    "Runes?"


    "Yes, even though you call their shape weird, they can emit different types of power or perhaps ability depending on their shape," Qin Zheng explained. He noticed that Ye Jiao was looking at him with a hopeful expression. "Don''t ask me more than that. I only know the basics because I don''t have talent in them."


    "Eh? You don''t?"


    "Do you think I have talent in all areas?"


    Ye Jiao grinned. "That sounds plausible for you, Zheng Ge, ah! I mean, Qin Zheng."


    This time, Lu Wan stared deeply at Ye Jiao. His brow creased. "Tell me the truth, when did you meet with each other? How come you greet him with that word when you two are not close?"


    "We''re close," Qin Zheng said plainly.


    "No, this man tricked me into calling him that way."


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "Why do you make me sound so wicked? You''re the one who decides to call me that way."


    Ye Jiao glared back. "That''s because you won''t answer unless I call you with ''Brother!''"


    "I don''t remember."


    ''LIAR!'' Ye Jiao yelled in her mind. Who would believe such a powerful Eon Energy Master like him would forget something like that? It was completely impossible. With his great memory, it would be a great joke for him to forget.


    Qi Huan shook his head lightly. He had the feeling that Qin Zheng truly specialized in making people angry. The way he phrased his words and behaved each day could perfectly drive someone mad in anger.


    "Don''t be angry, Ye Jiao. Once we''re in the academy, you don''t need to meet with him again," Qi Huan consoled.


    Ye Jiao nodded and humped in annoyance. How she wished that she could throw her fist to Qin Zheng''s face without holding back. That would definitely feel so good!


    Sizzle! Sizzle!


    Ye Jiao no longer paid any attention to Qin Zheng as her eyes were looking at the runes that had started to glow. It was faint, but she could sense it.


    "The runes have started to work."


    "Are they?" Qin Zheng couldn''t sense anything except the fact that there were runes over there. His senses were not that sharp to recognize when they had started to make a move.


    "Yes."


    "Really? I can''t sense anything too."


    Qi Huan smiled. "Well, Ye Jiao has always had a higher sensitivity when it comes to Eon Energy movements. It''s not that weird that she''s able to sense the difference right away."


    "Oh, you''re right."


    A voice was transmitted into his ear soon afterwards. "With the way you three have been talking, it''ll be very easy for people to know that you have known each other for a long time."


    "There''s no need to worry. Haven''t you formed a barrier around us?" Qi Huan replied back using a sound transmission. He had learned how to do it, so he could reply back to Qin Zheng without the need to worry.


    Qin Zheng didn''t reply back, but his lips were curled up in amusement. He had seen Ye Jiao sneak a glance when he formed the barrier around them, but Qi Huan barely spared any glance. That young prince from the Chi Kingdom is clearly extraordinary.


    Well, they would all be disciples in the same academy.


    The competition and rivalries between each of them would be very interesting.


    Qin Zheng rubbed his chin in amusement. He could guess that his days would be filled with a lot of fun after this event.


    "The array is ready," Elder Qian waved his hand as a large gate appeared before him. It was blue in color as waves of Eon Energy filled the entire gate, giving it a magnificent look.


    "You''re taking your time, Elder Qian."


    "Shut up and get in, brats. There''ll be teachers there who will guide you to your designated place."


    "Let''s go."


    Slowly, Ye Jiao stepped forward. She could feel the warmth as her body came into contact with the door. It was comfortable, and there was no repulsive push like what she usually felt with other people''s Teleportation Array.


    Swish!


    In just a blink of an eye, she had arrived in a completely different place. Numerous buildings were standing in front of her with majestic feeling. The way they were decorated looked as if they were telling her that this is a sacred place. Blue and grey dominated the color as cool Eon Energy surrounded them.


    It was very comfortable.


    The place where they all stood was an open field. There were some runes carved on the ground where they stood, but no one could recognize it. It looked like some ancient words. The sides were finely decorated with golden colored small engraving as if it was made to protect them.


    "Beautiful," Ye Jiao muttered.


    "This is the place where we''re going to study?" Lu Wan''s voice was tinged with astonishment. He couldn''t believe that this place could be so majestic. It was truly big and gave the sense that they were nothing.


    The tall building looked as if it could reach the sky and the long wall looked as if it could reach the horizon. Below them, there was a steep downhill, which clearly told them that they were in the mountains area with a barrier protecting them from the outside world.


    "Yes. Welcome to Hua Shan Academy."


    Not only the three of them, everyone who arrived would stop for a moment to look at the view in front of them. It was so majestic that words alone were not enough to describe it. At the same time, they all could feel a sense of belonging in this place.


    This would be the place where they would stay and study for the next dozens of years.


    "Since all of you have a different position, you will obviously stay in a different place," Qin Zheng interrupted after he had stayed quiet for some time. He couldn''t possibly allow them all to stay in this place all day just to admire the academy. "Teacher Chen Suyin will come here soon."


    "Teacher Chen?" Ye Jiao raised her head when she heard that surname. Because of her experience in the past, she had grown to be very sensitive when she heard this word. After all, those who came from the Chen Family all wished to kill her.


    Qin Zheng seemed to see her wariness. "You''ll surely like her."


    "Huh?"


    As Ye Jiao was looking at Qin Zheng with confusion, a woman came to the location while riding on a large water ball below her. Her clear eyes were looking at them with excitement as she waved her hand energetically.


    "Welcome to Hua Shan Academy, everyone! I''m Chen Suyin and also one of the new teachers here," Chen Suyin formally introduced herself. She smiled brightly. "Inner Disciples and Outer Disciples, please follow after me. I''ll take you around to see your dorm and introduce you to the teacher in charge."


    Qi Huan tilted his head. "She sounds young."


    "She''s still in mid-twenties, so obviously she''s young," Qin Zheng blurted out the woman''s age without hesitation.


    Splash!


    Water ball went straight to Qin Zheng''s head, wetting the young man''s head. Chen Suyin was looking at him with a smile yet not at the same time. "Do you mind keeping my private information a secret, Qin Zheng?"


    "Not at all, Suyin Jie," Qin Zheng hurriedly formed an Eon Energy barrier around him and used his own Eon Energy to dry his wet hair. Even though he knew that it would be useless considering their difference in power, it would be better to be safe than sorry.


    Chen Suyin harrumphed a bit before guiding the other new disciples while staying on top of her water ball.


    "Jie?"


    "She''s your sister?"


    "No," Qin Zheng shook his head lightly. "Teacher Chen used to be my senior sister since she''s also an Elite Disciple, but she''s slowing down in her progress lately, so she ends up becoming a teacher after she reached rank 5. Still, most of us call her ''Jie'' because she loves it."


    The three of them were looking at Qin Zheng with widened eyes. They could hardly believe that there was a teacher like that. However, the woman from before did sound young and a little childish.


    "Can we become a teacher when we''re still that young?" Lu Wan asked with confusion.


    Qin Zheng laughed. "You''re all geniuses, so you have the possibility to reach rank 5 even before you''re 20 years old."


    Hearing that, Lu Wan was dumbstruck. He sneaked a glance at his friends and both Ye Jiao and Qi Huan nodded. They knew that there was that possibility if they worked hard enough.


    A smile formed on the corner of Lu Wan''s mouth. In that case, he had to work extra harder.


    Elder Qian walked out from the Teleportation Array and waved his hand. "Why are you all still here? Let''s go to your dormitory."

 364 Senior Sister Lin Cai

    A smile formed on the corner of Lu Wan''s mouth. In that case, he had to work extra harder.


    Elder Qian walked out from the Teleportation Array and waved his hand. "Why are you all still here? Let''s go to your dormitory."


    "Everyone is here already? They''re pretty quick," Qin Zheng commented.


    Elder Qian laughed. "Of course, it''s quick. Do you think that my Teleportation Array is going to be bad and unable to send them all quickly?"


    "Well, you usually¡­."


    Swoosh!


    "Stop using your Eon Energy to mess with me!" Qin Zheng hurriedly formed Eon Energy wall around him, but it was useless. Elder Qian was already Eon Energy Master Rank 5, so it would be extremely hard for him to contend against him.


    Even with just a flick of Elder Qian''s hand would be enough to nearly send him to the death''s door.


    "That''s because you''re going to reveal that great secret of mine," Elder Qian waved his hand, and the array disappeared.


    Qin Zheng just smiled wickedly. What great secret? Did it mean that Elder Qian would inevitably become a bully whenever he was teaching a student that he fancied? When there was a time, he would surely tell his new juniors about this.


    Ye Jiao had a bad feeling when she saw Qin Zheng''s smile. She just prayed in her heart that this young man would not scheme again.


    He''s truly a troublemaker.


    "Follow after me, I''ll take you to your dormitory."


    Because they would all live in this place, it was quite normal that they would have their own residences. After all, they couldn''t return back and forth with their home that was located billions of kilometers away from this place.


    There were several new Core Disciples that Elder Qian brought this time, including Lu Wan. All of them came from a different place and were still unfamiliar with one another. They mostly stayed quiet as they didn''t know anyone. In fact, they were a bit astonished to see the other three were bantering with Qin Zheng.


    Who among them didn''t know that man''s infamous name now?


    "Oh yeah, is there any other Elite Disciples, Zheng Ge?" Ye Jiao asked.


    "There''s one senior sister," Qin Zheng replied. "Her name is Lin Cai. You''ll meet her later."


    "Ooh, her name sounds delicious," Lu Wan muttered.


    The other three looked at Lu Wan with the look: ''what are you talking about? Her name just meant wild herbs¡­.'' (cai = wild herbs)


    Lu Wan grinned. "Well, I just think that it''s suited her very much."


    "Even when you haven''t met her?"


    "That¡­."


    Qin Zheng shook his head. "I''ll put in good words about you to her later. Expect her to find you in the near future."


    Qi Huan and Ye Jiao turned their heads away when they saw Lu Wan begged like that. It would be better if they just pretended that they didn''t know this young man. At the very least, it wouldn''t hurt their head to see him beg. Still, they become extremely curious about this young lady that would be their senior sister.


    As for Lu Wan''s fate, who didn''t know that Qin Zheng would surely instigate their senior sister to fight with Lu Wan? Even if Lu Wan got beaten up, Qi Huan and Ye Jiao would choose to just watch from the sidelines and do nothing.


    "There''ll be a class tomorrow morning in the Central Building. Your seniors will show you the way and there, you''ll learn much more about the rules in this academy," Elder Qian recalled something and looked to Ye Jiao. "For the beginning, you still need to follow the rules, and afterwards, I''ll give you what I promised you."


    "Ok!"


    "What?" Lu Wan peered to Ye Jiao in curiosity. "What did you get as an offer to have you pick this academy?"


    "I wonder."


    "Tsk, you''re keeping it a secret."


    "Hehehe," Ye Jiao giggled. It was then that she recalled something. "Right, how come the qualification to enter the academy is this lax? I mean, it should be normally impossible to become an Elite Disciple directly, right?"


    "Not really," Qin Zheng was the one to reply. "They just allow it to happen because the Xian Gu Kingdom is not truly safe. The death''s rate of disciples is extremely high, including the Elite Disciple."


    "High?"


    "You see, in all academies, only one among five Elite Disciples can safely graduate from their academy," Qin Zheng explained with a pained smile on his face.


    One among five.


    As Elite Disciple was known to be the future successor, there was no doubt that they would receive the best treatment. How come the death''s rate is so big?


    "By graduate, do you mean achieving a certain¡­.?"


    "Once you reach Eon Energy Master Rank 5, you''re qualified to graduate from this academy," Qin Zheng explained.


    Rank 5?


    Does it mean that there was a high possibility for them to die under the age of 30 or even 20? After all, Eon Energy Master Rank 5 were normally in the age range of twenty years old or so.


    "How about the Core Disciples or Inner disciples?" Qi Huan asked with a frown. He didn''t expect that the place they came to was so dangerous. When he had the time, he would go to the library and search everything that was necessary for him.


    Qin Zheng smiled. "The survivors'' rate for Core Disciples are mostly only 10%. It''s around the same with Inner and Outer Disciples, which is why the academies always have to replenish their disciples each year from those secluded areas."


    "Secluded areas?" Ye Jiao asked. "Is the regeneration rate here slow?"


    "It''s not slow, but with so many people dying each year, it can''t possibly catch up with the birth''s rate,?? Qin Zheng replied. Actually, he wanted to add that most of those who died were also in their teenage age, so the number of people who could reproduce was also limited.


    However, looking at Ye Jiao''s appearance, he felt that it would just be unnecessary information for this little lass.


    "It''s not like the academy is unsafe," Elder Qian cut off their conversation. "Now, Qin Zheng can guide your two new juniors while I¡­"


    "Qin Zheng! Elder Qian!"


    The sudden yell caused everyone to turn their head in one direction. They could see a young girl around the age of 13 years old running towards their direction. Her blonde hair was let free as they fluttered along as she ran while her amber eyes were sparkling in excitement.


    "Senior Sister Lin," Qin Zheng greeted with a smile.


    Lin Cai stopped in front of them as she grinned happily. "Will I get new junior disciples? I heard that there''s talent S coming. Is that true?"


    "Ah," Qin Zheng pushed Ye Jiao forward. "Greet your senior sister."


    "Greeting Senior Sister Lin, I''m Ye Jiao," Ye Jiao bowed politely. Internally, she was cursing Qin Zheng for treating her like a child who didn''t know how to greet other people.


    "Awwww, you''re so cute!"


    Without hesitation, Lin Cai hugged Ye Jiao tightly. Her built was slightly taller than Ye Jiao, but she has a slender arm and figure. Even though she was still in her development period, she had started to grow as a woman.


    "Thank you, Senior Sister Lin¡­ Can you release me?"


    "Ah, sorry," Lin Cai realized that she must have choked Ye Jiao.


    *cough*


    "It''s fine," Ye Jiao smiled wryly. Her senior sister seemed to be full of boundless energy. In addition, she had quite a large strength.


    "Show them their room, Zheng and Cai," Elder Qian rubbed his forehead. "Also, Cai, do not skip class tomorrow because you have to give some examples."


    "Eeeeh? I want to play in the garden again!"


    "Not tomorrow."


    "Aw, stingy master." Lin Cai stuck out her tongue. She turned around and grabbed Ye Jiao''s hand. "Let''s go and see your dormitory. I''m sure that you''ll like it."


    "Ah, alright."


    Qin Zheng and Qi Huan followed behind in moderate pace while Elder Qian went in a completely different way. The other new students were all very quiet as they didn''t know how to react. That new senior sister of theirs just came and went like the wind.


    "I''m surprised to see her grab Ye Jiao so suddenly like that," Qi Huan muttered as they walked.


    "Lin Cai has always wanted a younger junior sister. Everyone was always older than her," Qin Zheng explained. This would be the first time they accepted someone younger than Lin Cai, so that girl was excited. Counting the age, Ye Jiao should be around a year and a few months younger than Lin Cai.


    "You''re younger."


    "I''m a man."


    "Right¡­"


    The two of them no longer talked as they walked towards the direction of their new residences.

 365 Flower Garden

    Lin Cai stopped running and grinned. "I''m aiming to become a speed based martial artist, so I''m pretty quick."


    "But you''re powerful too."


    "Hehe, that''s because I need to train my body or that stingy teacher won''t let me off," Lin Cai posed her arm beside her body as if she wanted to show off her muscles.


    Ye Jiao giggled when she saw that posture. "You''re funny, Senior Sister Lin."


    "Of course!"


    "She''s just naughty," Qin Zheng interrupted. He had managed to catch up with Qi Huan walking not far behind him.


    Lin Cai crossed her arms. "Do you want to challenge me again, Qin Zheng? I have already reached the middle stage!"


    "Yeah, yeah, me too. I don''t mind fighting with you as long as you allow me to use my hidden weapons."


    "That''s cheating! I won''t allow you to use them!"


    "It''s not," Qin Zheng shrugged. He looked at the girl before him. If only he was slightly taller, he would be able to mess with Lin Cai''s hair. But for now, it would be nothing more than a dream.


    Ye Jiao was about to continue laughing when she sensed a presence not far from them. They were still in the large corridor with some doors in the passing, but Lin Cai directly passed by them.


    "What is it, Ye Jiao?"


    "There''s someone over there."


    "Oh, that''s my guard," Qin Zheng said calmly. "Xiang, you can come out now."


    Swish!


    A man appeared in front of Qin Zheng. Looking at his face, astonishment flashed in Qi Huan and Ye Jiao''s eyes. The two of them knew this man. To be exact, they have already seen this man a few times in the past.


    "Bai Xiang?" Qi Huan called.


    The man looked at Qi Huan and nodded. "It''s nice to meet with you again, Prince Qi Huan."


    "Prince?" Lin Cai''s ears perked up when she heard this word. Her mind spun hard as she looked at the young man before her. "Ah, I see. You must be from Four Kingdoms Chi Kingdom. That''s the only place where Qi surname is the royal family."


    "How do you know that?" Qi Huan got distracted.


    "This senior sister of yours has excellent memorization ability if she''s not lazy," Qin Zheng looked at Bai Xiang. "Do you remember these two?"


    "Yes, Prince Qi Huan and also the little servant girl," Bai Xiang replied.


    Little servant girl¡­.


    Ye Jiao wished to cry when this man called her that way. She knew that she was disguised as a servant girl when they met for the first time, but how come he still remembered her when she was barely sticking out? She had made sure that she could be easily forgotten in that place.


    "He''s wounded and lost his core to protect me, so I sent him to Four Kingdoms. It''s just a coincidence that he attracts your attention, Qi Huan."


    Coincidence? Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. How could it possibly be a coincidence when he knew very well that the young man before him was a genius? Seeing someone advanced that quick would surely attract numerous attention. Even though his age would make one question his talent, there would be no way he didn''t find Bai Xiang to be interesting.


    "You seem to love making fun of me, Qin Zheng."


    "It''s senior brother, Qi Huan," Qin Zheng replied unhurriedly. "Don''t you know that it''s fairly normal for those who live in the mainland to send people to the secluded area? In that place, the highest rank is usually only 3 or 4, so it''s much safer than this place where you can easily find Eon Energy Master Rank 4 on the street."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes. She knew that there would be a large disparity between her place and here, but she didn''t know that it would be that big. The rank that everyone envied in the Four Kingdoms was nothing more than common rank that you can find everywhere.


    The difference was simply¡­ astonishing.


    Lin Cai giggled. "But it seems that Brother Bai Xiang is more powerful than before. He even advances much faster."


    "That''s only natural considering that his talent has grown up a bit."


    "Oh, that''s correct," Lin Cai stopped in front of one of the white doors. She grinned at Ye Jiao. "This shall be your new residence, Ye Jiao!"


    As she opened the door, the fragrance of the flowers leaked out. It was sweet and comforting, giving one a sense of ease. In front of Ye Jiao laid a beautiful carpet of flowers with a stone path in the middle separating them. It was such a magisterial view as the atmosphere was simply warm and comforting.


    Qi Huan smiled. "It''s a beautiful place."


    "It''s very beautiful," Ye Jiao agreed immediately. "It feels extremely comfortable here, and there''s a massive amount of Eon Energy in this place."


    If one trained in this place, there was no doubt that they would be able to advance faster than before. After all, resources and environment would also help them to practice their body.


    "This place''s name is Flower Garden," Lin Cai pointed at the middle. "There''s a residence over there, and the Eon Energy is concentrated in that place with the help of an array. You can use this place because it''s yours now."


    "Are you sure? This place is too good," Ye Jiao was surprised.


    Lin Cai nodded. "This academy has 7 residences for Elite Disciples. Flower Garden is just one of them. I live in Wind Valley while Qin Zheng lives in Black Tower."


    "How about Senior Brother Qi?"


    "Oh, we''ll just give him the White Lake."


    Qi Huan: "¡­" do I not get the option to choose?


    "Take a look around the area. We''ll come again tomorrow to show you the way to the class," Qin Zheng took out a paper. "This is the map of this academy. It''ll take you some time before you can go anywhere before getting lost, but this can help."


    "Alright, thank you, Zheng Ge."


    As Ye Jiao turned around and dashed inside, Lin Cai looked at Qin Zheng with a smile. "Zheng Ge, huh? I didn''t know that you''re going to let someone call you like that."


    "It''s none of your business," Qin Zheng turned around. "You can take this young man to his residence. I''m going back first."


    "Hey, you-"


    Before Lin Cai could finish speaking, the young man had disappeared. She clicked her tongue in displeasure. Even though they were senior sister and junior brother, they were not close with each other.


    "Let''s go, Qi Huan. I''m going to show you the way."


    "Ah, alright. Thank you for your help, Senior Sister Lin."


    "It''s nothing."

 366 Training Begin

    Opening the door, Ye Jiao''s eyes lit up when she saw the spacious courtyard. It was very big that she nearly couldn''t believe her eyes.


    "Cool! This is all mine?"


    Running around the area, Ye Jiao found out that it was much spacious inside. Even the castle in the Chen Kingdom might not be as big as her house now if she included the flower gardens. In addition, it was so beautiful!


    "Ah, that''s satisfying."


    Ye Jiao lay down on her bed. It was a two meters'' wide bed that can be used for two people, but now, it was hers. A smile didn''t leave her face as she stared at the beautiful engraving at the ceiling above her.


    When in her life before could she enjoy all of these luxuries?


    Running away, hiding, forcing herself to brave through danger, there was not a single moment in her life where she could enjoy it with luxury like this. However, Ye Jiao knew that she could not let herself dawdle all day.


    It is beautiful.


    But she''s also a martial artist that should focus on her training.


    Sitting up on her bed, Ye Jiao crossed her legs and placed her arms on top of her legs. With her eyes closed, Ye Jiao started her training. Eon Energy entered her body at rapid speed, a speed that she could only have when she was in Spring Island before.


    Slowly, she circulated them and directed them into her core. It was warm and comfortable, which allowed her to stay in the same state for a long time.


    More and more Eon Energy filled her body.


    Time passed swiftly.


    "Ye Jiao!"


    Hearing her name being called, her eyelids fluttered open. Ye Jiao turned her head around as she felt the place was unfamiliar. The memory from yesterday resurfaced as she smiled slightly.


    Right, she''s in her new home.


    "Ye Jiao!"


    "I''m coming!" Ye Jiao grabbed her outer robe and rushed out. She travelled across the flower garden in a split second, arriving at the door soon afterwards.


    Standing before the door were Qin Zheng and Lin Cai.


    "Geez, you sure take your time," Lin Cai commented. She looked at Ye Jiao up and down. "Wow, you sure train very quick."


    "Eh, is it obvious?"


    Qin Zheng nodded. He could see the faint layer of Eon Energy around Ye Jiao''s body. It was only the residue of her training, which meant that she must have much more Eon Energy absorbed into her body.


    "The place is really good for training," Ye Jiao praised.


    "Yes, it is. However, it''s also the reason why you need to train your body," Lin Cai sighed.


    "Train my body?"


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "Probably, some problem with coordination?"


    "Exactly!"


    "That''s not all, you might not be able to advance because your body is unable to hold the excessive amount of Eon Energy in your body," Qin Zheng added.


    "I see," Ye Jiao had heard about this before, but she didn''t expect that they also have to train their body as soon as they came here. Well, it was the basic training, so she should have expected that.


    The three of them stopped in front of another door.


    "Qi Huan!" Lin Cai yelled. "Time for training, newbie."


    Bang!


    "I''m here," different from Ye Jiao who came rushing, Qi Huan already prepared himself in front of the door.


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "You didn''t train at all?"


    "I need to familiarize myself first. Besides, I need more information regarding the illusive type and water control before I can start my training systematically," Qi Huan responded and closed the door.


    "Indeed," Qin Zheng nodded. "You won''t be able to see the Eon Energy if they''re not your type after all."


    Ye Jiao raised her head. "That means you won''t be able to see other colors except the most suitable one for you?"


    "Yes. It''s taught in the basic class," Lin Cai looked at Ye Jiao with bewilderment. "Don''t you have any basic education?"


    "I never attended school before this."


    "Never?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao''s face was full of confusion. "Is there anything wrong?"


    "No, there''s none," Lin Cai shook her head immediately. Internally, she was utterly confused. Even if those people from the rural areas didn''t know that she has the talent of a genius, they should have provided her with basic education, right? After all, she should have formed her core at a tender age.


    Qin Zheng smiled and tugged Lin Cai''s hair from the back.


    "Qin Zheng, do you want to court death?"


    "You look like you''re in deep thought, I''m just helping you relax a bit," Qin Zheng responded without many thoughts. "In any case, aren''t you going to explain the training to these two?"


    "Nah, they''ll soon understand."


    "It''s not a class?"


    "Nope, you can only enter the class once you have finished," Lin Cai grinned mischievously.


    The four of them turned around and entered a large area. A lot of students were already there. From their attire, it was clear that most of them were the old core member students in this academy. The new students haven''t received their attire yet, so they still wore the clothes from their original place.


    Qin Zheng patted Ye Jiao''s back. "Make sure that you can stay alive afterwards."


    "What?"


    The young man didn''t bother explaining as he walked to the front. His eyes scanned the people before him with a broad smile. "Since everyone is here, we''ll start the training soon. I''m sure the old members have already known, but our task is to run on this path until we reach the peak then return back here. Your time is until lunch, and you may use your Eon Energy, but make sure that you can have enough to last because after lunch, you have to gather in your respective classes."


    Sounds of groans filled the entire place.


    Ye Jiao looked around in confusion as everyone began utilizing their martial arts and charged towards the mountain. Looking at the road in front of her, she turned her head back to the others beside her.


    "Excuse me, can I know how far this road is?"


    "How far? Since it''s circling the mountain over and over, it should be around 1000-2000 km."


    "¡­." Do the teachers wish for us to die?

 367 Hellish Climbing

    "¡­." Do the teachers wish for us to die?


    As a martial artist of rank 3, it was common for them to travel a kilometer in the span of a few seconds. However, they would need to utilize their martial arts because it would be easy without Eon Energy. If they had to use their Eon Energy, they might be still able to last for several hundred kilometers.


    But 1000?


    If they didn''t run out of Eon Energy in the middle, it would be a miracle.


    The young man laughed when he saw Ye Jiao''s awful expression. "It''s just my estimation, but I don''t know for sure."


    "Right. Thank you."


    Ye Jiao turned around and noticed that Qin Zheng was taking a weight from a nearby place. It must have weighed a lot based on the sound it made when Qin Zheng took it.


    "Are you sure you can survive with it?"


    "It''s not that far," Qin Zheng pointed at the mountain before him. "Also, you should know that I have a much stronger body compared to other people. The teacher specifically requests for me to wear it."


    It was not only Qin Zheng, but some other disciples were also using the weights. However, she could clearly sense that they must be at least Eon Energy Master Rank 4 based on the aura they exuded.


    "Are you curious why there''s no Eon Energy Master Rank 4 among the Elite Disciple?"


    "Is it that obvious?"


    Qin Zheng smiled. "If you really want to know, then I''ll tell you. All of them have died."


    Died?


    The way Qin Zheng spoke of death was as if it was something extremely common. There was a trace of sadness in his eyes, but his lips were smiling faintly as if there was nothing wrong.


    "Let''s go. You won''t be able to finish it before lunch if you dilly dally here."


    Ye Jiao pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind as she began to run. She started at a moderate pace because she knew that it would be a long journey. Her Eon Energy circulated in her body as she ran on the road. A lot of other students passed by her, but Ye Jiao didn''t pay them any heed.


    Swish! Swish!


    Time passed as all of them continued to run. After around an hour or so, Ye Jiao began to feel sudden pressure coming towards her. It started as light pressure, then it began to increase more and more. Her body instinctively used Eon Energy to keep on fighting against the pressure.


    Time passed swiftly.


    As the pressure increased, Ye Jiao could see a lot of other students were already slowing down. Some of them even walked because they didn''t have the strength to keep on running.


    "Oh, Ye Jiao, you''re here?" Lin Cai waved a little when she saw Ye Jiao coming.


    Ye Jiao smiled. "Senior Sister Lin. I didn''t expect to see you here."


    "I see."


    "Don''t worry about me and just continue. This kind of training is never my forte," Lin Cai sighed.


    Ye Jiao wanted to laugh when she saw her pouting senior sister. The girl looked like a kid, so it was kind of cute and funny.


    "I understand."


    "Ah, but don''t ever dream of catching up to Qin Zheng. That stinky brat is too fast."


    "You sound like you don''t like him, Senior Sister Lin."


    "Who likes that arrogant and annoying brat? He''s so annoying and has the capabilities to make everyone mad at him."


    Ye Jiao didn''t reply, but she had to agree that Lin Cai was correct. When she faced Qin Zheng, she had to make sure that she wouldn''t punch him because his words were often too hurtful and annoying.


    After a while, Ye Jiao found out that she was going faster than Lin Cai. "I''ll be going first, Senior Sister Lin."


    "Alright, good luck."


    Ye Jiao kept on the same pace as she felt her Eon Energy being drained. It was hard to absorb more Eon Energy when she was running at this pace, so she gave up on the notion and just focused on controlling her Eon Energy to the fullest.


    Hours passed.


    ''My Eon Energy ran out.''


    Looking at the road before her plus the tremendous pressure on her back, Ye Jiao felt like crying. It was still morning, probably around 10 AM, but she hadn''t even reached the peak. How could she finish in time for lunch like this?


    *pant* *pant*


    Relying on her physical body, Ye Jiao began to run while absorbing Eon Energy from her surroundings. It helped her to relieve her fatigue and at the same time, giving her the strength needed to reach the peak.


    "Little brat, you need to be quicker."


    Raising her head, Ye Jiao noticed that Qin Zheng was running in the opposite direction. Her jaw dropped. "You¡­ you have reached the peak?"


    "Of course," Qin Zheng''s voice was calm. Even though his forehead was filled with beads of sweat, he doesn''t look like he was exhausted.


    "You didn''t run out of Eon Energy?"


    "I ran out a long time ago."


    "¡­" you freak.


    Qin Zheng smiled. "I would rather not have you curse me in your mind, little lass. Be quick if you don''t want to be late for class."


    Ye Jiao wished that she could punch that young man in his face. However, she had to admit that he had so much better physical condition compared to her. Even though he already ran out of Eon Energy, he still could run at high speed like that.


    Time passed.


    The moment Ye Jiao reached the peak, she could see a few other students nearby. They all didn''t pay attention to her and just pressed their token on the wall before them. It seemed to be the identification.


    Ye Jiao took out hers and pressed it on the wall. Warm Eon Energy passed into her body as she could hear a soft voice speaking out in her mind.


    "First day training half complete."


    Half¡­


    Turning her body around, Ye Jiao utilized her Eon Energy and rushed to go down the mountain. In any case, she had to rush out quickly if she didn''t wish to be late. At the same time, she tried to forget in her mind that she had to travel hundreds of kilometers just to return back to the mountain''s foot.

 368 Identity as Elite Disciple

    Ye Jiao sat down the moment she arrived at the mountain''s foot. Her body was exhausted, and she no longer had any strength to continue walking at all.


    *Pant* *pant*


    ''This is even crueller than my teacher.''


    She had experienced the training that her teacher gave to her before, so she knew that this was even harsher than him. Well, considering that she had reached rank 3, it must be quite common.


    "Ye Jiao?"


    "Yes?" Ye Jiao straightened her posture abruptly. Her eyes stared at the man before her as she could see a large man with a rowdy appearance. He had long hair and a beard that seemed to be purposely left messy. His green robe showed his status properly, but he looked more like a rogue rather than a teacher.


    Somehow, he looked a bit familiar?


    The man laughed when he saw Ye Jiao''s attitude. "There''s no need to be so nervous. I''m Sheng Ming, a teacher in charge of outdoor training for new students."


    Sheng Ming?


    Ah! Ye Jiao finally recalled where she had seen this man before. He was the same man who visited Mu Xin''s residence in the past. At that time, this man offered her to enter the academy, but she refused because she had some unfinished business in the Chen Kingdom.


    She didn''t expect to see him in this place again.


    Wait, that meant Wang Jun must be in this place too, right? No wonder Mu Xin chose to pick this academy even though it might not be suitable for that girl.


    "Is there anything wrong?" Sheng Ming handed her a set of clothes. "This is your academy''s robe. Congratulations on getting accepted as the Elite Disciple in Hua Shan Academy."


    "Yes, thank you, Teacher Sheng," Ye Jiao smiled and took the robe. She tried to stand up, but Sheng Ming extended a hand and gave her a pill.


    "This is an Energy Recovery Pill that can help you recover 10% of Eon Energy almost instantly," Sheng Ming smiled. "Go get your lunch and go to class. There''s no class today, but you''ll have your homeroom teacher teach you the basic rules."


    "Alright. Thank you, Teacher Sheng."


    After Ye Jiao took the pill, Sheng Ming moved towards the new students that had just finished. She smiled slightly. Probably Sheng Ming had long forgotten about her existence. After all, she was nothing more than a small kid at that time.


    Ye Jiao ate the pill and directed Eon Energy into her body. She could feel that her body felt much better, but she quickly spread them into her legs and arms because her muscle felt sore. If she did nothing, it would be certain that she wouldn''t be able to continue training tomorrow.


    "Excuse me, where''s the dining room?"


    "It''s on the left side. You just need to pass the stone path."


    "Alright, thank you."


    "Excuse me, is this the class for new students?"


    "This is the class for all Elite Disciple and Core Disciple," one of the students replied. "Are you the new Core Disciple?"


    "Ah, I''m not a Core Disciple but¡­"


    "Then you should get out."


    Bang!


    Ye Jiao was stunned. She hadn''t finished talking yet that man already used his Eon Energy to close the door. Looking at her attire, she had just realized that she hadn''t worn the robe that Sheng Ming gave.


    She quickly took it out and wore it. It was blue in the overall color with light blue on her sleeves. Her collar was colored in purple. There was flowers'' embroidery at the end of her sleeves, which looked beautiful and also the picture of mountains surrounded by flowers on the back. It was the symbol of the academy.


    Swish!


    She opened the door again. The previous student was about to reprimand her again, but he stopped when he saw her collar. In this academy, the color of their robe and collar represent their identity.


    Light blue collar with green robe meant that they were Outer Disciple.


    Blue collar with green robe meant that they were Inner Disciple.


    White collar with light blue robe meant that they were Core Disciple.


    Purple collar and blue robe meant that they were Elite Disciple!


    It meant that the student he just reprimanded was actually the rare Elite Disciple in this academy!


    "I¡­"


    Ye Jiao directly ignored the man and sat down beside Qin Zheng. She didn''t know anyone in this place and neither Lin Cai and Qi Huan had returned. Rather than sitting alone, it would be better for her to sit there.


    "You have finished, little lass?"


    "What? Do you think that I can''t finish the assignment?" Ye Jiao rolled her eyes.


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "I never say that. In any case, you''re three hours late."


    "¡­"


    Thinking of the journey she had before, Ye Jiao was not in the mood to argue with this man. It was already good enough that she managed to finish it after a long time. She just peeked to look at the book he was reading. The title caused her to feel astonished.


    "Is that a book about making hidden darts?"


    "Yes. I just realized how inconvenient it is to just use throwing knives," Qin Zheng smiled as he looked at Ye Jiao.


    Ye Jiao''s face darkened. How could she forget that this man wanted to kill her with his flying knives when she met with him before? In any case, he never successfully hit her because she managed to dodge them all or at least, parry the knives.


    "I see."


    "Here''s a book if you want to read," Qin Zheng took out a book and passed it to Ye Jiao.


    "What''s this?" Ye Jiao looked at the title: ''Basic Training Method after Long Training.'' "Thank you."


    "You''re welcome. Also, you may read this.???


    Qin Zheng took out several other books and placed them on the table. They were all basic books, so Ye Jiao would be able to learn a lot as her knowledge was still pretty bad overall.


    As she began to read, Ye Jiao found out that it was important to nourish her muscle with Eon Energy. This book even taught her the way to make sure that they no longer felt sore and the way to maximize the result of the training. As she read, Ye Jiao started to direct her Eon Energy to her entire body.


    Her action was done covertly, but Qin Zheng could sense the Eon Energy movements clearly. His lips curled up. "It seems that you''ve grasped the technique very quickly, little lass."


    "There''s a picture here that explains how to do it," Ye Jiao smiled. "I''m not that dumb enough to not understand with this detailed explanation."


    "Good."


    "Why do you sound relieved?"


    "Because that''s the most basic book I have that''s intended for an elementary student."


    "Qin Zheng."


    "Yes?"


    "Can I punch you?"


    "No."


    Ye Jiao turned her head away with annoyance. Even though Qin Zheng didn''t say it out loud, she understood that he was comparing her intelligence with elementary students. Damn him!


    Little did she know that her age was actually still in the category of an elementary student. (elementary student= 6 years old ¨C 12 years old)


    Or well, it just slipped her mind.

 369 Basic Rules and Pairing

    Because of that, no one dared to offend them.


    Qin Zheng passed a look to Lin Cai. "You''re getting slower after reaching the middle stage. Should I tell Teacher Chen that you need more training?"


    "You stinky brat! Don''t you dare say that!"


    "Teacher Chen?"


    "Teacher Chen as in Chen Suyin," Qin Zheng explained. "She''s our homeroom teacher since she used to be an Elite Disciple."


    "Huh? How about the previous teacher?"


    Lin Cai just smiled with a tinge of sadness in her eyes. "Don''t think too much about it. In any case, you''ll receive some books for the basic rules in this academy."


    A few minutes afterwards, Qi Huan entered the class. He was still panting slightly, but he looked much better compared to most of the students.


    "Oh, I''m last."


    "There are more core students who hadn''t arrived, but yes, you''re indeed slow," Lin Cai grinned, proud that she was not the last one to arrive.


    Qi Huan sat down behind Ye Jiao. "That means I have to work harder next time."


    "Good luck with that."


    The four of them chatted as Lin Cai explained the basic rules for this academy. As it was only the second day for them to stay in this academy, they were still unfamiliar with the rules.


    "New students have to finish the training set," Lin Cai added. "That training is the one you have this morning and also basic classes. You need to complete them all within three months because afterwards, there''s an evaluation for you."


    "Evaluation?"


    "Yes, you''re going to get points from completing each class and also battling with other students. By the end of the year, the points are tallied, and you''ll get a reward based on the placement. The first place is the luckiest because you''ll be allowed to train in Eon Energy Garden for a day."


    "Eon Energy Garden," Qi Huan''s interest was piqued up. "What''s that?"


    "That''s the place where they hold every type of Eon Energy. It''s not only suitable for training your Eon Energy but also to learn much more about your path because almost everyone who enters the garden will experience some kind of enlightenment that will help them breakthrough to rank 4," Lin Cai explained.


    Ye Jiao was astonished. She knew that they needed to find their path if they wished to reach rank 4, but she didn''t know that there was actually a place where they could learn it. It was amazing.


    "But, it''s impossible to suddenly jump stages."


    "I see."


    Qin Zheng looked at Ye Jiao. "You don''t need it, Ye Jiao."


    "What?"


    Ye Jiao looked at her senior brother with confusion. What did he mean by she didn''t need it? She was still in early stage, and it would take a long time before she could break through to rank 4, but it didn''t mean that she didn''t need the clarity of her path, right?


    Lin Cai nudged Qin Zheng from the back as she was sitting right behind him. "Hey, stinky brat, what do you mean by that?"


    "It''s nothing."


    "Tsk, you shouldn''t speak halfway!"


    Qin Zheng didn''t bother explaining as he still remembered the time when all three of them entered the Illusion Array. Based on the time Ye Jiao showed, she was not far behind him and they were still under the time limit. It meant that the two of them were actually already ready for a breakthrough as long as they reached the necessary amount of Eon Energy.


    However, he would not tell the young girl.


    An hour later, Lu Wan entered the room listlessly. He was among the last batch as he didn''t have an extraordinary physical body.


    "Ugh, my body hurt all over."


    "You should train your Eon Energy," Qi Huan reminded. Lu Wan sat behind him, so he just spoke out.


    Lu Wan groaned. "Do you really think that I have the energy to do that?"


    Creaaak!


    The door at the front was opened, and Chen Suyin entered the class. Ye Jiao had seen this teacher before, so she recognized her instantly. Her body tensed up slightly as she was still unfamiliar with this person. In addition, that surname caused her to feel wary immediately.


    "Good evening, everyone. There are still around 10 or so students who haven''t arrived yet, but I''ll start explaining the basic rules here. I''m Chen Suyin, and I''ll be your homeroom teacher for the next few years. If you have any problem, you can come to me, and I''ll help you out as much as I can."


    Chen Suyin turned around to face the board. She used her Eon Energy to control the chalk and wrote her name.


    "First of all, I''m sure that you know that there are a few additional new students this year. There are 15 of you. 2 new Elite Disciples and also 13 Core Disciples," Chen Suyin smiled. "Let me remind you that if you didn''t manage to perform and give satisfactory results by the end of this year, you''d be demoted to Inner Disciple."


    The atmosphere turned tense as the new students gulped their saliva. They knew that it wouldn''t be easy if they wished to stay in this position. No matter what, they needed to perform well.


    "There is a points system. You can get points by completing a class, by complete meaning you pass the test and also can perform based on that class. The seniors will give you a more thorough explanation later.


    Secondly, every new student will be paired up with one senior who will help them out to adjust during their time here. How long you will stay under them will depend on that senior''s opinion regarding your performance. If you have any questions, you can ask them anything," Chen Suyin looked up.


    "Except asking them to date you, of course."


    The room exploded in laughter. As they all had A talent or above with some exception at B talent, their age ranged mostly 14 to 17 years old and up until 20 years old for old students. It was also the age when they started to feel attracted to the opposite gender, but most of them didn''t have such thoughts. They didn''t enter the academy just to find a partner.


    "If you do have a crush on them, you may ask them later, but not this year," Chen Suyin smiled. "I''ll remind you of some other basic rules such as no fighting unless you go to the arena, you need to attend your designated classes and pick new classes once it''s finished. Also, there''ll be a competition at the end of the year, which will be your evaluation. Any question?"


    "Teacher Chen, is there any specific classes that we have to take?"


    "Everyone has to attend basic classes. As for the next classes, you can attend it after signing up. It''s preferable if you pick classes based on your martial path, but you can learn other things too. Anything else?" Chen Suyin swept the classroom with her gaze. Noticing that they no longer have any question to ask, she continued speaking.


    "Now, I''ll read the pairing for new students. One more thing, these pairings are only for new students at the early and middle stage because if you''re already at a late stage, I''ll personally teach you."


    Lu Wan raised his head. "That means you won''t get a pairing, Qi Huan."


    "It seems so," Qi Huan was not bothered at all.


    "Why don''t they get any pairing?" Ye Jiao found it weird.


    "The pairing is to help you finish the hellish training. Once you enter rank 4, you will naturally have a much higher physique and different training environment. Even though they still attend the first week of this hellish training to make sure that their body is still fit, they won''t continue until the end of the year."


    "Eh? You mean that the seniors didn''t have to finish it?"


    "If you don''t get pairing, you just need to train for a month if you''re still rank 3," Lin Cai explained. "Otherwise, you need to train until your pair breakthrough one stage or the end of the year."


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. There was still around four months left until the end of the year. The seniors must be hoping that their name was not picked.


    "Lu Wan with Lin Cai."


    "What?"


    "Huh?" Lin Cai widened her eyes. She turned her head to Qin Zheng. "You must be the one who suggests my name, right?"


    "You need training," Qin Zheng smiled.


    "You stinky brat! Come over here, and I''ll beat you up in the arena!"


    "You have never beaten me even once, Senior Sister Lin."


    "Then I''ll break that record!"


    The other students didn''t pay attention to their quarrelling because they were not the only one. The moment the senior heard their name, they felt listless as they understood that they would need to train their juniors. If they were unlucky, they would get one that had just broken through, which meant it would be four full months of hellish training.


    "Ye Jiao with Qin Zheng."


    "Huh?" Ye Jiao turned her head to Qin Zheng. "Why is it you?"


    "I need to train too," Qin Zheng shrugged.


    "What? There''s no need to specifically become my pair in training, right?"


    Qin Zheng didn''t reply and took out his book to continue reading. He was not the one who decided on the training partner and could only ask the teacher to make Lin Cai have one as well. He didn''t expect them to put him in too. Though, it might be because of the few Elite Disciples in Hua Shan Academy.


    On the other hand, Lin Cai still felt annoyed. Her junior brother had just betrayed her!

 370 First Duel in Hua Shan Academy

    "The class is not over."


    "It is already over for us!"


    Qin Zheng didn''t even bother looking at his senior sister. "If you have time to quarrel, you should think of how to make Lu Wan breakthrough faster. He had just entered Rank 3 not long ago."


    Lin Cai''s face paled immediately. She understood what Qin Zheng meant. With raging emotion, she ran out of the room. It was the time for her to look for the principal and complained about Qin Zheng again.


    Ye Jiao frowned. "Why am I not getting Senior Sister Lin instead?"


    "Do you prefer her over me?"


    "Yes."


    Qin Zheng lowered his book and glanced over to Ye Jiao. "You''re already in rank 3 for some time, but you need much more Eon Energy compared with ordinary people. Even at the fastest, you still need a few more months until you reach the middle stage."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. She did realize that she needed much more Eon Energy compared to ordinary people, but she didn''t expect that it would take her that long to reach the middle stage. After all, her progress has been pretty quick so far.


    "It normally takes 3-4 years to reach rank 4 from rank 3," Qi Huan reminded. "Only a few people can be an exception."


    "2-3 years for S talent," Qin Zheng corrected. "And it''ll be much lower for those with innate talent."


    Innate talent.


    Even though Ye Jiao suspected herself of having innate talent, she knew that it might not be as powerful as she guessed. After all, she was still unclear about whether this element actually existed as a path for martial arts.


    Chen Suyin finished reading the list and looked over to the students. "Those students at the late stage please stay behind as I have a few words to say. The others may return back to rest."


    "Yes!"


    "Thank you, Teacher Chen!"


    The students burst out of the classroom. Qin Zheng put away his book and looked at Ye Jiao. "Let''s go to the arena."


    "Why?"


    "Did you forget that you will have a duel with me?"


    "Of course not," Ye Jiao grinned and stood up. She followed behind Qin Zheng with excitement. It has been some time since she last fought against Qin Zheng, which made her wonder how far their progress has been.


    Lu Wan groaned. "Wait for me, I''ll watch your fight."


    However, Qin Zheng instead quickened his pace and left Lu Wan far behind. The young man had no choice but to drag his weary body to match up against Qin Zheng''s speed while cursing internally.


    The arena was located not far from the classroom. Qin Zheng was already familiar with the layout, so Ye Jiao could follow him with ease. Looking at the large arenas, she noticed that Qin Zheng headed towards one of them. A teacher was standing there, watching guards of the place.


    "Teacher," Qin Zheng nodded politely. "I need a private arena to have a practice match with my juniors."


    "Sure," the teacher passed a token to the young man. "That''s for the second room. Do you want me to record the result?"


    "No need."


    Ye Jiao followed after Qin Zheng as the young man began to walk to the right side. "What''s that record?"


    "That''s for the points. Not only new students, but old students also have points, but it''s tallied every three months. Of course, more points meant more resources, but as Elite Disciple, it''s not really important because we already have a lot," Qin Zheng shrugged.


    "Didn''t you need a lot of resources to train?"


    "The array in your residence is already good enough. However, no one will reject Eon Energy stones."


    "Eon Energy Stones?"


    "It''s the currency here. Basically, it''s just stones with Eon Energy inside, which can be used to trade and also to train because of the amount there. It''s usually divided into low grade, medium grade, and lastly high grade. Even though you can accumulate much more Eon Energy with them, it''s still far better to use the ones in our surroundings naturally."


    The two of them entered the room, and Qin Zheng stood in the middle with Ye Jiao in front of him. He smiled. "Shall we start?"


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    There was no greeting whatsoever as Ye Jiao jerked her body to the right side. Three knives passed near her face and chest at high speed. She knew that Qin Zheng must have gone faster, but the difference was too much.


    Clang!


    Qin Zheng took out his sword as Ye Jiao charged at him directly. Her dagger clashed with a loud screech as he pushed her back. Somersaulting midair, Ye Jiao positioned herself and sidestepped to the left.


    Swish! Swish!


    Two knives passed by her as Ye Jiao stomped on the ground and propelled herself against Qin Zheng.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Sound of metal clashing reverberated in the arena. The two of them were close combat fighters. One with a sword as his weapon while the other one used a dagger. However, Ye Jiao had to be wary as Qin Zheng kept a lot of hidden weapons underneath his sleeves.


    Clang! Swish!


    "Just how many knives do you have?"


    "There''s no way I''ll tell them," Qin Zheng chuckled. He noticed the incoming attack and utilized his movements technique. He appeared behind Ye Jiao in that instant.


    Clang! Slash!


    ''Ugh!''


    Ye Jiao managed to jump to the front and swung her dagger in another direction, but Qin Zheng was quicker than her. Her shoulder was wounded from his attack just now.


    "Oh, you evade it?" Qin Zheng sounded surprised yet happy at the same time.


    "If I don''t, I believe that my arm is going to snap," Ye Jiao laughed derisively.


    Qin Zheng smiled. "I wonder."


    The two of them dashed from the ground once again as their blades clashed in the middle of the arena.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!

 371 Do You Want to be My Disciple?

    Sounds of metal clashing filled the arena. Lu Wan only managed to get permission after Qi Huan joined him, so he didn''t have the chance to see their duel from the beginning.


    "Oh, they''re already using their Eon Energy." Qi Huan was astonished as he entered the room. It was a closed training arena, so no one could enter unless they have permission.


    From the clashes of weapons, both Qin Zheng and Ye Jiao used their Eon Energy to cover their entire body. They used it mostly as defense while their attack grew piercer and a little mistake would be enough to send them to the underworld.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    "It''s here!" Lin Cai barged in while dragging a middle-aged man behind her. Her expression was full of grievances.


    "Senior Sister Lin?" Qi Huan was stunned.


    "Junior Lu Wan greets Senior Sister Lin."


    The middle-aged man looked at the two of them for a moment before he turned his head to the other two in the arena. He was wearing a purple robe and has the disposition of a leader. Despite only being a middle-aged man, his hair has completely turned white.


    "Elite Disciple Qi Huan greets Master," Qi Huan didn''t know who this man was, but he guess that he was anything but ordinary.


    The middle-aged man chuckled. "What Master? I''m not your teacher, Qi Huan."


    "Uh, then, Teacher?"


    "He''s the vice leader of the Hua Shan Academy," Lin Cai introduced and puffed her cheeks. "That principal is so stingy. He doesn''t even want to meet me."


    Qi Huan and Lu Wan''s body trembled when they heard what Lin Cai said. They knew that Elite Disciple would give them higher rank compared to other students in this academy, but they didn''t expect Lin Cai to be so bold.


    "Elite Disciple Qi Huan (Core Disciple Lu Wan) greets Vice Leader Shen!"


    The middle-aged man laughed and waved his hand. "There''s no need to be so polite in front of me. I''m this little lass'' Master and am here to observe the situation a bit."


    "¡­" she''s the Elite Disciple of a vice leader?


    Lin Cai grinned. "Teacher Shen Dian is a good teacher, so you don''t need to be so stiff in front of him."


    "Shan Dian?"


    "It''s Shen Dian," Qi Huan quickly corrected Lu Wan. Internally, he wished to cry because he had just realized that the name he picked as his alias in Bao Fu Organization was too similar to this man. Who would have thought that he would meet with someone named Shen Dian? There was just one letter difference in the spelling!


    "Oh, sorry."


    Shen Dian looked at the two of them and smiled. "If you two are talking about how similar it is with the word lightning, it''s indeed true. Though my name had a completely different meaning."


    "The letter must be very different." Qi Huan smiled, acting all normal as he didn''t wish for anyone to know that he had accidentally picked similar words.


    Bang!


    "What''s that?"


    "It''s a martial skill," Qin Zheng smiled. "I don''t mind showing it to you again."


    In the next second, he gathered Eon Energy into his sword. It glowed in radiance and in the next second, Qin Zheng swung it rapidly towards Ye Jiao''s direction. Numerous air swords headed in her direction and forced Ye Jiao to retreat immediately.


    Slash! Slash! Slash!


    Each of them reached the wall behind her and left a deep mark. Ye Jiao could feel that her hands were also hit, but she continued to dodge.


    Clang!


    "That should be enough," Qin Zheng lowered his sword. There were numerous sword marks on the ground around him. Each of them was deep and directed to the wall. Blood from Ye Jiao''s wound dripped to the ground as the girl struggled to stand up.


    Even blocking one of them was hard.


    Ye Jiao looked at Qin Zheng. "You never tried to fight me seriously in the past, did you?"


    "I did. I only mastered this slash recently," Qin Zheng wiped his sweat and tossed a bandage and a bottle to Ye Jiao. "You should take care of your wounds. Apply this on the outside."


    "Ah, ok. Thank you."


    Qin Zheng turned his head to the group of people near him. "Didn''t I ask for a closed-door arena to make sure that you can''t get in?"


    "I''m an Elite Disciple too, so I have the right," Qi Huan shrugged. He just used it to reason with the teacher outside since Qin Zheng didn''t give specific order to not let anyone come inside.


    Lin Cai crossed her arm. "I''m asking the teacher to redress my grievances. How could you suggest for me to train that young man until the end of the year?"


    "You''re late by more than three hours," Qin Zheng responded calmly. "Do you think I wouldn''t know that you have been neglecting your physical training during the time you''re sent away?"


    "But¡­.!"


    Shen Dian laughed. "He had a point, Cai''er. Besides, you won''t have the chance to learn martial art skills if you don''t have a strong physique."


    Lin Cai''s face darkened. When her master already agreed to what Qin Zheng suggested, she knew that it would be impossible to change his decision anymore. With this, she had to train that annoying young man until the end of this year.


    "Also, you never told me that you have mastered the air sword, Qin Zheng,"


    "You''re not really my formal master," Qin Zheng shrugged. "Also, it''s not complete yet. I still can''t control their direction according to what I wish."


    Martial arts were skills and technique. They could use their Eon Energy to learn a skill or just used other means to do so. Some higher-level techniques could even allow them to bypass the stage or rank to beat their opponent.


    Ye Jiao had never learned proper skills and technique. All that she had learned were the basic ones where she only needed to rely on her physical ability. However, she would not last long if she didn''t learn any proper skill with Eon Energy or with her weapon.


    "Tsk, that man will surely brag endlessly if you tell him," Shen Dian clicked his tongue. "Also, is this girl the new student? Have you selected your formal master yet?"


    "Formal master?" Ye Jiao was still busy bandaging her wounds after she had applied the medicine.


    "As an Elite Disciple, you can be taught by any master in the academy. The position as Elite Disciple just meant that when you select a master, you''ll also learn everything from him. Preferably, you need to pick someone with the same talent and similar path with you. If there''s none, you can pick anyone," Lin Cai explained.


    In this academy, they would be taught directly by their teacher if they become Elite Disciple. Of course, those who were selected as the Core Disciple could pick a teacher too, but they might not be taught everything by this teacher.


    "Not yet," Ye Jiao replied. She had just arrived yesterday. When would she have the time to pick a master?


    "In that case, do you want to be my disciple?"

 372 Light Elemen

    "Not yet," Ye Jiao replied. She had just arrived yesterday. When would she have the time to pick a master?


    "In that case, do you want to be my disciple?"


    Everyone at the scene was stunned when they heard that question. The man before them was not an ordinary teacher. He was the vice leader of this academy, which meant that his position was only second to the leader. Becoming his disciple meant that they would be able to get a much higher position.


    Ye Jiao looked back to Shen Dian. She tilted her head. "My apologies, but can I know your specialization, Teacher Shen Dian?"


    Shen Dian smiled. "I''m Eon Energy Master with a wind element and enhancement path."


    Two specializations!


    Lu Wan''s jaw dropped so wide as he was surprised. He had heard that it was rare for anyone to develop two paths at the same time. However, in front of him, he had just seen a master with two different paths at the same time.


    This made him rather envious of those who had more than one talent.


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes and bowed. "In that case, I''m sorry, but I have to reject you, Teacher Shen Dian."


    Reject?


    The others were surprised by Ye Jiao''s decision. She was so decisive!


    "Oh, why is that?"


    "That''s because it''s not suitable with my path," Ye Jiao explained.


    Shen Dian looked back at Ye Jiao directly. From the examination result that Elder Qian sent to him, he found out that the young lass was tested to not have any specific talent at all. Those without any specific talent could just pick whatever path they wanted. After all, it was both blessing and curse.


    It was clear that the young girl in front of him already picked her path, and thus, she would not carelessly pick a teacher.


    "I see."


    Lin Cai tilted her head. "What do you want to learn, Ye Jiao?"


    "I want to learn fire elements," Ye Jiao replied.


    "There''s no fire element teacher in this academy."


    "Sorry?"


    Shen Dian sighed and repeated. "There''s no fire element teacher in this academy. Even if there''s one, he''s not suitable to teach you."


    Those who were fire elements were still Eon Energy Master Rank 4. Not a single one of them had reached rank 5. Some of them were close to a breakthrough, but it wouldn''t be easy to ask them to teach her. The other teachers were already dead as fire element was fairly rare in this place.


    "I see." Ye Jiao was not too surprised.


    Shen Dian sighed and messed up Ye Jiao''s hair. "Why did you suddenly pick fire element? I''m sure that you don''t have talent in this element."


    "Well, yeah," Ye Jiao scratched her cheek.


    Lin Cai hugged Ye Jiao''s arm. Her large eyes were staring straight at Ye Jiao. "Then, why? You can pick others too! The wind is also great because you can learn how to move fast and it''s very compatible with your weapon."


    "She''s aiming for the next element after the fire." Qin Zheng pulled Lin Cai away and pushed her to the side.


    "What?"


    "Next element?" Lin Cai tilted her head. "But the intermediate element from fire element is either light or lava¡­"


    "I''m aiming for a light element," Ye Jiao admitted. She was originally still unsure because she didn''t know the intermediate element after the basic ones, but the book that Qin Zheng showed to her allowed her to know their path. After the fire element was the light element, and she guessed that she must have talent in this element.


    Shen Dian frowned. "Light element is one of the rarest elements picked because it''s hard to train them. In addition, it''s a bit of a passive element that''s mostly used by supporters."


    "I think it''s suitable for me," Ye Jiao replied.


    "Follow me. The others may come if they want."


    Everyone followed after Shen Dian to his office. It was located in a tall tower deep in the academy. Only those who were his disciples or had some business with the principal or him could enter.


    Lu Wan looked around him with astonishment. He couldn''t believe that they could enter this place on the second day they arrived in this academy.


    "Stop looking around," Lin Cai berated.


    "What? It''s my first time here."


    "But you''re so obvious!"


    "Ugh, just leave me alone."


    They entered a spacious office, and Shen Dian sat down on his chair. Shen Dian used his Eon Energy to cover his entire body. Afterwards, he pulled out an orb from his drawer and infused Eon Energy inside.


    "You might want to close your eyes."


    At that moment, all of them could feel the temperature in the room rise, and the orb showed brilliant light that almost blinded them.


    "Master, what''s this?"


    "My eyes!"


    Qi Huan also closed his eyes for he was unable to withstand the sudden light. Qin Zheng turned around as he didn''t want to hurt his own eyes. Only Ye Jiao was the one who still stared at the orb. She could faintly see a layer in front of her that allowed her to see past the light.


    It was as if the light in front of her was giving her a way and warmth at the same time.


    Shen Dian watched Ye Jiao''s behaviour as astonishment passed by his eyes. He stopped infusing Eon Energy and sighed. "You already know that you have innate talent in the light element, little lass?"


    "I just guessed." Ye Jiao scratched her cheek.


    Lin Cai opened her eyes and looked at her teacher. She was surprised to see beads of sweat formed on Shen Dian''s forehead. "Master! Are you alright?"


    "He''s just exhausted," Qin Zheng pulled Lin Cai before she could get close to her master. "Using Light Orb consumes 10 times more Eon Energy if you''re not the light element. Even for someone at peak rank 5, they won''t be able to turn it on for more than a few seconds."


    A few seconds?


    Qi Huan frowned. Shen Dian used that orb for barely two seconds before he stopped giving Eon Energy. He eyed the orb with confusion as he didn''t understand how come this thing needed so much Eon Energy.


    "This is a lifesaving Eon Energy Treasure for light elements because they can create one second time to run away. When it''s activated, the light will cause you to be blind for a few seconds if you''re not careful," Shen Dian explained. He looked at Ye Jiao. "I''ll ask the teacher to teach you this element after you have passed the basic element class."


    "Thank you, Teacher Shen Dian!" Ye Jiao beamed.


    "Now you can leave. Qin Zheng, you stay behind."


    "Aww, ok, Master."


    "Yes, Teacher Shen Dian."


    After everyone had walked out, Shen Dian looked at Qin Zheng. "Have you known about this before?"


    "No, I don''t," Qin Zheng replied with a smile. "I just guess that she must have innate talent of at least an intermediate element."


    "How do you come to that conclusion?" Shen Dian took the glass water and took a sip.


    "She also formed her core when she was eight years old."


    Spurt! *cough* *cough*


    "What did you say?" Shen Dian looked at Qin Zheng with disbelief. He knew that those with S talent could form their core at nine. However, only those who had innate talent could possibly form their core at an even faster rate because Eon Energy would naturally get attracted to their body.


    And those intermediate elements were even faster at the beginning, yet they would make progress slow in the middle.


    "Why did you not tell the elders?"


    "I didn''t think it''s necessary," Qin Zheng shrugged. "Elder Qian still prized her after all."


    Shen Dian: "¡­" if she picked other academies because she felt dissatisfied, he would gladly beat up this student.


    "You''re¡­ truly a troublemaker, Qin Zheng."


    Qin Zheng grinned mischievously. "Don''t you already know that, Elder Shen? I always try to match your expectation."


    The words only made Shen Dian wish to roll his eyes. What expectation? It was more like Qin Zheng was trying to destroy all kinds of expectations that he had for this disciple to be able to live in peace in the academy. He waved his hand. "You can go."


    "Ok."


    After Qin Zheng left, Shen Dian sighed and leaned back against his chair. This was not the first time someone with intermediate element talent entered this academy, but every time they appeared, it would mean trouble.


    Their enemies would never let them grow up safely.

 373 We Can’t Get Along

    "Qin Zheng, what did Master say?"


    "Oh? He just hopes that you can keep your innate talent a secret," Qin Zheng smiled. "Just let them believe that you''re someone without innate talent."


    Ye Jiao nodded. She also had the same plan because she understood that it would be a disaster if her enemies found out about it. They would never let her grow up safely, and her talent would only be useful when she has reached rank 5.


    It is still too early.


    "Qin Zheng, does it mean you already know about it?" Ye Jiao tilted her head as she looked over to Qin Zheng.


    Qin Zheng flicked her forehead. "It''s Zheng Ge, and no, I just have some guess because you don''t look that weak."


    "¡­."


    Lin Cai rolled her eyes. Her junior brother still has that sharp tongue. "You should have told me about it beforehand. I would have preferred to be paired up in training with Ye Jiao rather than this dumbass."


    "Hey! I''m not!"


    "Yes, you are!"


    "I''m not!"


    Qi Huan shook his head. "They''ll get along well later. Let''s go back and have some rest. I don''t understand how you can still have so much energy after a long exercise in the morning."


    Now that Ye Jiao thought about it, she didn''t feel that sore after running all day. Even though she did practice according to the book that Qin Zheng gave to her, it shouldn''t have that big effect, right?


    "She has great recovery ability," Qin Zheng said plainly. "Starting tomorrow, you''re going to spar with me after class."


    "What?"


    "Don''t you want to?"


    Looking at the smug smile on the young man''s face, Ye Jiao smirked. "Who''s afraid? I''ll surely beat you up in one of the spars."


    "Just make sure that you can withstand my attacks like today. I''m not going to hold back anymore."


    From the side, Lu Wan felt glad that he was not the one who has to spar everyday. Just from looking at the way they fought before, he already had the feeling that he would die if it was him. These two''s attacks nearly killed each other if only they were not careful enough.


    Qi Huan patted Lu Wan''s back. "Before you finish the assignment, you won''t be able to spare any time to study herbs again."


    "I have just found out that there''s a method to absorb the herbs'' Eon Energy by taking a bath in a special herbs concoction," Lu Wan moved away with a grunt. "I''m going to try it as I already have enough herbs in my disposal."


    "Oh, is that possible?"


    "It''s the natural type of Eon Energy, though. But it''ll be very helpful for me," Lu Wan shrugged.


    "Really? Thank you very much, Senior Sister Lin! You''re the best!"


    "Heh, if you already know that, you better make a breakthrough faster," Lin Cai snorted. She didn''t wish to attend that hellish training for four full months. It was already a great torture for her.


    Lu Wan smiled bitterly. "I''ll do my best."


    He had just broken through to rank 3 two to three months ago. Asking him to make a breakthrough to the middle stage would be close to impossible. His body didn''t have that much ability.


    "Middle stage just commonly has much more Eon Energy compared to early stage. You also need to consolidate your control over your Eon Energy." Lin Cai spread her arms as threads of Eon Energy came out of her arm in green color. It looked beautiful as the girl controlled them to move around her as if they were dancing.


    "It''s very thin."


    "Yes~. If you wish to advance from the middle stage to late stage, you''ll need to have much higher control. You need to make it this thin at the very least," Lin Cai smiled. "Well, in Qin Zheng''s case, you won''t even be able to see the thread."


    "Really?"


    "Yes," Qin Zheng raised his right arm and played with his finger. They couldn''t see anything, but Ye Jiao faintly sensed the movements of Eon Energy. It was faint, yet it felt as if Qin Zheng was creating a beautiful flower on his arm.


    "I can''t see anything," Qi Huan frowned.


    "Me either."


    "It''s beautiful," Ye Jiao murmured. She couldn''t see it directly, but her senses were telling her that there was a beautiful flower shape in Qin Zheng''s palm.


    Lin Cai smirked. "You call that ball beautiful?"


    "It''s not a ball. It''s.. guh!"


    Qin Zheng directed his Eon Energy to Ye Jiao''s face, effectively stopping her from talking. The young girl glared back at him as she filled her palm with Eon Energy.


    Bam! Bam!


    The two of them traded several punches while the others turned blind eyes. In any case, they were not really fighting and only playing around. After all, if two Eon Energy Master Rank 3 were to fight, it wouldn''t be this peaceful.


    "I''ll get going first," Lin Cai turned around. "Let''s go meet with that man, but let me remind you something, he''s quite eccentric, and it''s not easy to be his disciple."


    "I''ll do my best."


    "Good."


    Qi Huan sighed. The three of them already entered the Core Disciple area''s compound. His residence was located not far from here, so he bid his farewell.


    "I''ll be going too. Don''t fight too long. You two are already exhausted."


    Bang!


    "Sure," Ye Jiao retracted her hand after she hit Qin Zheng''s arm. She pursed her lips. "Do you still want to bully your cute little junior?"


    "You''re not cute. Also, you''re just one stage below me," Qin Zheng responded calmly. "When you''re inside your residence, absorb a lot of Eon Energy to your entire body. It''ll make the training much more effective to strengthen your muscles."


    Ye Jiao arched her eyebrows. "Won''t it make it longer for me to breakthrough to the middle stage?"


    Advancing from early stage to middle stage usually only the difference in the quantity of their Eon Energy. Those at the middle stage have much more Eon Energy compared to those at the early stage. Because of that, when they were still in early stage, people usually focused on absorbing more Eon Energy to make sure that they could breakthrough much faster.


    "It''s fine." Qin Zheng shrugged. "It''s better to have a stronger foundation rather than regretting it when you''re already at a much higher rank."


    "Well, you should have fun doing the training then."


    "You''re also doing it, so it''s fine."


    Ye Jiao reached the door to her courtyard. She shrugged. "At least, it''s something that I know I have to do."


    Slam!


    "That little girl truly needs to learn her manners," Qin Zheng smiled slightly. He continued to walk. "Bai Xiang, accompany me for a spar."


    "Yes, Master."

 374 Basic Element Class

    "Huh? You''re still here, Senior Brother Qin?" Ye Jiao was surprised to see Qin Zheng stood before her. He has already wiped his sweat on his face, but his clothes were slightly wet.


    "I''m your pairing, so I have to accompany you," Qin Zheng said plainly.


    Noticing the two clothes beside Qin Zheng, Ye Jiao felt that they were much more than yesterday. "Did you increase the weight again?"


    "You can say so."


    Internally, Qin Zheng wished to find that vice leader again and made a complaint. He was sure that Lin Cai was the one who reported him yesterday and as punishment, Shen Dian told the teachers that they have double the weight he used.


    Tsk, this senior sister of his really loved to create trouble for him.


    "What''s the class today?" Ye Jiao took the towel and the pill for Eon Energy recovery as she sat down.


    "Basic Element class for you."


    It took Ye Jiao a few seconds to finish her short recovery. She glanced at the young man beside her. "Is it different for you?"


    "Yes."


    "What''s your class?"


    "Intermediate Element Class."


    They headed to the dining room together and ate their meal before Qin Zheng took her to her designated class. Just like yesterday, she was late by around three hours. It was just a few minutes earlier compared with yesterday, which was not much of an improvement.


    Qi Huan and Lu Wan entered the class not long afterwards.


    "Good evening everyone, I''ll start the class now," a male teacher came inside the classroom. "There are four basic elements that you need to know, which is fire, earth, water, and wind. Each of the elements has a different characteristic that you need to familiarize yourself to."


    He stopped talking for a moment then brought out four mugs filled with each of the elements.


    "I myself am a water element, so I''ll first demonstrate this element."


    Placing his hand on top of the mug with water, he pulled it out with his Eon Energy. The water circled his arm slowly.


    "Water has the characteristics of soft and their ability to fit in any place you placed them. Those who use water elements are known mostly for their defense and also healing capabilities. It didn''t mean that the water element didn''t know how to attack, but it''s not that common," the teacher smiled.


    Not that common?


    Ye Jiao turned her head to Qi Huan, hoping for an explanation.


    Qi Huan smiled. "Aside from their use of Eon Energy that changed, Eon Energy Master also has their position in combat. Unlike before where you only form a group because of your power, once you''re Eon Energy Master Rank 4, you have to focus on one specialization."


    "It''s not possible," Qi Huan chuckled. "In a battle, you need an attacker, defender, support, and scout. Each of them focuses on different specializations."


    Ye Jiao blinked. Right. An attacker would focus on the attack aspect, a defender would focus on defending, support would focus on giving support, and scout focus on speed and rallying information.


    Lu Wan frowned. "How about a leader?"


    "The leader can be anyone among them," Qi Huan smiled. "Normally, the attacker or supporter will become the leader, but occasionally you''ll find those who are at scout position to be the leader instead. You''ll learn much more about them in the future, so there''s no need to worry so much for now."


    "En."


    The teacher had finished explaining about water. He raised up the mug with fire inside. "This represents the fire element. Different from water, fire is known for its destructive attribute and hard to control¡­."


    "Hard to control," Lu Wan looked over to Ye Jiao. "Good luck with your study."


    "I''ll be fine," Ye Jiao smiled. In any case, she would not learn how to control the element before she reached rank 4, so there was still enough time for her to study the basic first.


    "The next element is the earth element. As you can see, the earth is known for its hard texture, and at the same time, it''s the best element for defense. Those who have the earth as their element will have to learn how to control them and utilize this characteristic perfectly. However, as you can shape the earth as you wish, you can also use them to attack your opponent freely."


    Lu Wan yawned. "I can only remember how Teacher controls the earth back then. It''s used for transportation."


    "That must be an advanced technique," Qi Huan commented. "Earth element is not normally used to transport a few people like that. Even though it was not impossible, it was pretty rare."


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "Are the elements normally used outside like that?"


    "Probably, I haven''t met with a lot of Eon Energy Masters to give my opinion about this," Qi Huan smiled. "But I guess we''ll learn more about them deeper in this class."


    "I''m sleepy," Lu Wan lay down on top of his table. He barely had any rest yesterday because his new master had asked him to do a lot of things. Who would have thought that eccentric master would have that kind of side to him?


    Qi Huan chuckled. "Bear with it. You have to last for four more months."


    "¡­ That''s not helping."


    Ye Jiao giggled and focused her attention on the class again. The teacher now raised the empty mug.


    "This one represents the wind element. Those with wind elements are known to be very unpredictable. It''s also good for attack because by condensing the wind, you can do many things. Most of them choose to enhance their speed with wind elements because it''s very easy to do so¡­."


    Speed.


    That word just made Ye Jiao remember her mother once again. Her mother specialized in speed when attacking her opponent. She too followed in her mother''s step as she trained her speed a lot, but she knew that she would never be able to follow her mother''s element.


    It was not suitable for her.


    "There are two types of use for elemental Eon Energy Master. They can either use it outside their body and control it as part of the world''s element like this," the teacher controlled the water on his fingertips. "Or you can use it to enhance your body by surrounding the element all over your body.


    The first type is usually for the ranged attacker while the second one is for close combat attackers¡­"


    With that, the teacher continued going on and on about the Eon Energy Master. He gave some examples by controlling his water element, but unfortunately, he was unable to give an example for the other elements.


    Just like that, time passed swiftly.

 375 Minute Control

    "Is it over?" Lu Wan asked after they had gotten out of the class. He felt hungry and sleepy after exhausting his Eon Energy.


    Qi Huan nodded. "If you plan to have your specialization in element, you will need to learn how to control Eon Energy better."


    "We''re not rank 4 too, so it''s impossible for us to control an element."


    The basic class only introduced them to the elements that they could possibly choose after they had reached rank 4. Usually, Eon Energy Master would pick based on their own innate talent because it would yield a much better result. However, they can also pick other elements to study.


    The downside would be the time they took to learn would be more than double if they didn''t have any innate element.


    The three of them reached the canteen and picked a tray of food. At the very least, they didn''t need to worry about getting hungry because there was more than enough food that the teachers had provided.


    "Oh, you''ve done. Come join us!" Lin Cai waved her hands excitedly.


    Ye Jiao could see that Lin Cai and Qin Zheng were sitting at a table with a lot of food placed on their table. From the way it looked like, they were having their dinner together after classes.


    "Is there any other class after this?"


    "For a new student, yes."


    Lu Wan''s face changed when he heard that there would be another class. He already had enough from morning class until the basic element class that he had just now. Adding another class was just asking him to force himself to overwork himself.


    "What class?" Qi Huan asked.


    Qin Zheng swallowed his food and replied, "It''s the basic minute control class."


    "Minute control?"


    "What''s that?"


    "Basically, you''ll all gather in the hall and learn Mind Body Meditation¡­., eh? I think that''s the name?" Lin Cai scratched her cheek.


    The others: "¡­" how come you forget the name of the technique?


    "It''s Peaceful Mind Meditation," Qin Zheng corrected. "It''s one of the basic meditation techniques that the teacher taught here in order to let you sense every movement of your body. This will further enhance your fighting capabilities should you meet with real life''s situation."


    Lu Wan blinked his eyes. "What do you mean by sense every movement? Didn''t we already do that with our Eon Energy?"


    "This time, Eon Energy is useless. What the technique wished for you to learn is for your body to naturally sense every single movement in your muscle and everything. That way, your fighting capabilities would increase exponentially."


    "That sounds interesting."


    "It''s very boring," Lin Cai said with her face scrunched. "In any case, good luck with your training. I''m not going to do that ever again."


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "It''s an important meditation, Senior Sister Lin."


    "Not for me."


    "Good evening, everyone," Chen Suyin walked to the front and greeted. She smiled when she saw the students still looked fairly energetic even after the harsh training that they had received today. "I''m going to introduce you to Peaceful Mind Meditation. This is a method that will allow you to sense every movement in your body.


    This technique is developed to let martial artists know their body better because many often didn''t use their technique well. With this technique, you''ll learn how to control your body better and let it handle the unexpected situation much faster than what you can imagine."


    Faster?


    Ye Jiao was now intrigued. If she could have a faster reaction, it would affect her fight because many fights could end in just a blink of eyes. Just a single attack was more than enough to end the battle. Of course, not all battle, but many often ended like that in her experience.


    At the front, Chen Suyin instructed them to a stance, and all of them followed suit. At the same time, she taught them the necessary breathing technique. "Close your eyes and focus. Try to sense every movement of your body and reach the ''peace.'' In that state, you''ll be able to know how your body moves every single time."


    Ye Jiao focused on her body inside her mind. She was standing still, doing nothing but stay in the same posture. The stance was not that hard, but staying still for a long time would be proven to be very difficult. After all, they needed to maintain the same stance and not to move at all.


    It didn''t take long for Ye Jiao to realize that by focusing like this, she would be able to sense her body''s movement. Chen Suyin''s voice seemed to have come from far away as she continued to give the instructions.


    "Clear out your mind and just focus on your body. You''ll sense that your body is very different and able to grasp even a minute movement."


    Ye Jiao tried to move her legs a bit and suddenly realized that even just a single movement required many of her muscles to move along. The change was very small, and if she didn''t pay attention, she wouldn''t be able to sense it. Slowly but surely, Ye Jiao continued to try moving her muscle bit by bit.


    The change in her muscle was weird, but Ye Jiao enjoyed the process. It was unexpected for her as she realized that the stance allowed her to have much better control over her body.


    ''They''re not bad.''


    Chen Suyin slowly walked across the disciples and scanned their progress. Once they had mastered this technique, they would be able to make minute changes in their stances faster. That way, their attack would be much more formidable than before. This was only the basic stance, but it was already capable of enhancing their fighting capabilities.


    Her eyes landed on Ye Jiao as surprise washed her face. It was barely an hour, but from the way it looked like, she must have already achieved the peace state.


    This training was only supplementary, so not everyone was forced to master it. However, if they could learn it, it would be for the best because they would be able to learn much better from the class.


    Chen Suyin counted the time and returned to the front. She let the students stay in the same stance for two hours in total. As Eon Energy Masters, they have higher endurance, so she was not worried that they wouldn''t be able to handle the training at this intensity.


    "Time''s up. Come here again tomorrow for the training. Only if you have achieved the peace state that I''ll allow you to train in your own room and not come here."


    "Fuah¡­"


    Bam!


    "Uh, my body feels sore."


    The students all groaned as they sighed. They have just realized that this would be the beginning of their hellish training. In the morning, they were forced to increase their body''s overall physical ability and at night, they were forced to learn how to control their minute movement.


    Sigh...


    Martial artists sure didn''t have it easy.

 376 All Turned Glutton

    Once she opened her eyes, she realized that she was still in the hall with many disciples already sprawled on the floor. The intensity of the training they experienced today was already more than enough to send many of them to be on their wit''s end. They were feeling extremely tired because of the training.


    "You''re still fine, Ye Jiao?" Qi Huan asked.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "I''m hungry."


    "¡­Speaking of which, I''m hungry too."


    "Yeah, now that you say it, I feel like I want to eat a lot."


    Chen Suyin smiled when she heard the disciples begin to say that they were hungry. This basic training would make them feel hungry because they have to focus and concentrate all the time.


    "The canteen is still open. Don''t worry, we have already provided food for you."


    "Food!"


    "Yes!"


    The students acted as if they had just gotten an injection as they rushed out of the hall. Even though they have just complained that their body was too tired to move, once they heard the word ''food,'' they hurriedly rushed outside.


    It can''t be helped; they were all very hungry!


    "Let''s go and grab some food too," Ye Jiao suggested. She could feel her stomach complaining to her. Internally, she wondered whether she had an increase in appetite or if it was because of the training.


    "Ye Jiao, can you stay behind for a while?"


    The three of them looked over to Chen Suyin''s direction. Qi Huan patted Ye Jiao''s shoulder. "We''re going first."


    "Reserve a seat for me."


    "Sure."


    As the two of them left the hall, Ye Jiao jogged to the front. She looked at Chen Suyin with curiosity, wondering what she had in her mind.


    "Yes, Teacher Chen?"


    "You have already achieved peace''s state, so you can choose not to come to the hall again tomorrow," Chen Suyin said plainly.


    Ye Jiao''s mind blanked for a moment. She looked at Chen Suyin with surprise. It was out of her expectation that the state where she could sense her muscles movement very well was actually the peace state that Chen Suyin talked about. It was no wonder that she felt very different when she was trying to move her body back then.


    "Is there any other state, Teacher Chen?"


    Chen Suyin nodded. "After you have achieved the peace state, you''ll learn how to reach the control state. In that state, you''ll be the one to fully control your body''s movement including your Eon Energy."


    "That''s interesting." Ye Jiao''s eyes lit up excitedly.


    "Yes, Teacher Chen!"


    There was nothing more than a simple instruction from Chen Suyin. Ye Jiao herself still thinks that it was better for her to come back to the hall tomorrow. If she suddenly disappeared, people will know that she had already mastered the stance. In that case, she would surely stand out.


    It was not something Ye Jiao wanted.


    As Elite Disciple, she had already stood out more than necessary. If her progress was also that astonishing, she would surely be the target of many people. Rather than making herself to be the target, it would be better for her to stay low and just achieve a slightly ''better result.''


    After mulling to herself, Ye Jiao made her way to the canteen. Her eyes widened when she saw the disciples eat as if they hadn''t eaten for weeks. The minute control training that they had done before was already more than enough to make them very hungry.


    "Ye Jiao! Over here!"


    "Ah, yeah."


    Picking loads of food, Ye Jiao brought the tray over to the table. Looking at Lu Wan and Qi Huan, she didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. They were also eating voraciously. Even though Qi Huan still looked somewhat graceful, Lu Wan looked like a beggar on the street who hadn''t eaten for years.


    "Eat!" Lu Wan said one word before he focused on his food once more.


    Ye Jiao nodded and began to eat. Thanks to her training with Qin Zheng before, her manner was not as bad as Lu Wan. Even though it couldn''t be compared to Qi Huan, who was naturally elegant and graceful, it was still better.


    Soon, the food she took had run out.


    ''I''m still hungry¡­.''


    Ye Jiao sighed to herself as she quickly took more food. In the end, she had to fill her plate more than three times before she felt a bit satisfied. After thinking for a bit, Ye Jiao decided to pick another tray and filled her belly with food.


    "Even with your small body, you sure can eat," Lu Wan commented.


    "I can say the same to you."


    "Hey! I''m much bigger than you."


    Qi Huan shook his head. "It''s already late. Go back to your room and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be another day filled with hellish training."


    "Right."


    Even though they were already taught under Zhan Jing, their master, in a lot of hellish training, they knew that they wouldn''t be able to survive this that well. In any case, it would be better for them to quickly return back to their room in order to replenish their strength.


    As they returned back, Ye Jiao thought to herself for a bit before she started to sit on her bed and began to train her absorption. She wanted to train the minute control again, but thinking of her increase in appetite, it would be better for her to train it tomorrow instead of now.


    She didn''t wish to become a big glutton who only knew how to eat.


    After Ye Jiao had enough of training, she decided to sleep and rest. Even if Eon Energy Master could last days without sleeping, she still preferred to sleep a lot. After all, she was also still in her growth period.

 377 Basic Control Class

    "I should be glad that every new student has the same class," Lu Wan groaned. He buried his face on the desk. He could not believe that he picked that annoying teacher as his master. He would die because of overwork soon.


    "Just for the Core Disciples and Elite Disciple, Lu Wan."


    Qi Huan shook his head and took out his book. "You should be happy that the lessons are not that hard yet or you won''t be able to survive."


    "I always skip class in the past, and I manage to survive."


    "The lesson is completely different in this place."


    Ye Jiao smiled. She had also read books during the time before the lesson started since the teacher started it late. They understood that the new students would be late because they were not used with intense training. Thanks to the books she got from Qin Zheng and also the basic theories, she came to understand so much more about this world.


    For her, they were all fascinating as she came to know many things about Eon Energy that she never knew before.


    It was amazing.


    "Also, are you the one who asks Senior Sister Lin to have a spar with me?" Lu Wan raised his head. He only managed to escape because his master gave him a lot of tasks. If not for that, he was sure that he would have been beaten senseless by that girl.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "Why would I suggest something like that? I would rather spend my time reading."


    "Right, you have been reading a lot of books lately."


    "It''s important to know the knowledge in this place and so much more. Do you think that I''ll only study Eon Energy?" Qi Huan asked bluntly. He had gotten used to reading a lot of books because it was his duty. Before he knew it, he had finished all the books in the library in the Chi Kingdom.


    Now, he planned on doing the same thing here. As long as it was not the martial arts book that can only be taught for a limited time, he would just spend his time reading them all and only practice when it was necessary.


    "Reading is boring."


    "How about books about herbs?"


    "That''s a completely different story! They''re the most interesting books you can find in the entire world!" Lu Wan said with vigor.


    Ye Jiao looked at Qi Huan with a confused expression. "Is the Lu Family known to have a deep interest in herbs?"


    "Not at all. They''re instead those who''re most fascinated by rules," Qi Huan''s eyes landed on Lu Wan''s head. From what he heard before, green hair was quite unusual, so there might be a story behind this brat''s hair. He had never seen anyone with the same hair color so far.


    "Why are you looking at me like that?"


    "Lu Wan, do you know your mother''s name?"


    "No, nothing."


    They stopped talking as a teacher walked inside. She smiled brightly as she saw the students were trying their best to sit up straight despite the fact that their body was overwhelmingly tired and sore.


    "Good evening, everyone. I can see that you haven''t familiarized yourself with the new training system here," the teacher joked.


    The students laughed bitterly. They still wished that they didn''t have to follow after that hellish training after all.


    "Today I''ll teach you how the basic control of Eon Energy works. First of all, I''m sure that all of you don''t have any problem directing your Eon Energy outside your body. There are two commons uses of Eon Energy. First, you use it to control an object and secondly, you form an object from the Eon Energy itself.


    Controlling an object requires a delicate touch and concentration. For the time being, your task will be to control the wooden block in front of you to rotate in its place ten times.??


    Everyone''s eyes landed on the wooden block on their table. It was around the size of a pen that looked extremely light to touch.


    "Well, shall we try?" Lu Wan rolled his sleeves. He extended his hand and began using his Eon Energy to envelope the entire block. Astonishment filled his eyes as he realized that he needed to exert control highly for the wood was fragile.


    Crack! Crack!


    "Ahh! It''s cracked!"


    "Mine too¡­."


    All of a sudden, they all recalled their examination. At that time, they have to control their weapon using Eon Energy with utmost control, or it would go awry. Their faces turned sour as they knew that this time, they could not evade using Eon Energy.


    Swish!


    Lu Wan nearly cursed when he saw that the wooden block only turned once before it moved to the side a bit.


    "It''s really hard, right¡­?"


    At this time, the wooden block in front of Qi Huan was moving rapidly in place. There was not even any deviation from its path.


    Qi Huan turned his head around. "Did you say something?"


    "¡­Not to you¡­"


    Ye Jiao extended her arm and began to control her Eon Energy to the wooden block. Recalling her experience in using her weapon, she perfectly rotated the wooden block. Her speed was lower than Qi Huan, but her wooden block still rotated perfectly.


    Lu Wan: "¡­" these two are monsters.


    Several others managed to finish rotating the wooden block without any difficulties. Some of them already had the basic training before they came here, so they didn''t find it difficult at all.


    The teacher smiled. "If you have succeeded, you can try to use your Eon Energy to lift yourself to the air and walk."


    Walk?


    Ye Jiao knew that Eon Energy Master could walk on air, but she never saw any Eon Energy Master Rank 3 do that before. Besides, the amount of Eon Energy needed to sustain themselves on the air would be enormous.


    "You might not pass this one if you didn''t reach at least the middle stage," the teacher added. "However, it''s important for you to learn how to levitate yourself."


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    Soon afterwards, the entire class was filled with the sound of students falling down because they were unable to control their Eon Energy. The theory was simple as they only needed to maintain the Eon Energy under them. However, the practice turned out to be very different.


    It was not easy at all.


    "Whoa!" Ye Jiao lost her balance slightly as she tried to lift her legs. She managed to make herself raise by around two centimetres. However, she could feel her Eon Energy decrease rapidly.


    As she barely recovered 10% of her Eon Energy thanks to the pill that they gave, it was simply not enough.


    Bam!


    Ye Jiao landed on the ground with her legs. She felt glad that she didn''t levitate herself too high, or it would be hard for her to control her balance.


    ''I guess, I''ll just recover Eon Energy first.''


    Sitting down, Ye Jiao began to absorb Eon Energy. Once she had enough, she would attempt to levitate herself once again.


    Just like that, time passed swiftly.

 378 Points and Arena Rules

    "Oh, Senior Brother Qin," Ye Jiao greeted.


    "Call me Zheng Ge."


    "¡­ Yes, Zheng Ge," Ye Jiao sighed. She didn''t know why, but this senior brother of hers seemed to love being called a brother. Looking at the young man''s expression, she noticed that he was also exhausted. "Did you use up all of your Eon Energy, Zheng Ge?"


    Qin Zheng nodded. "I''m in intermediate control class just now. As you have experienced yourself, it''s a very demanding class where you need to focus your Eon Energy to finish the task they give to you."


    "He''s lying. He''ll be able to finish the class soon," Lin Cai rolled her eyes. "This brat is really good at them."


    "I''m just a few months younger than you, Senior Sister Lin. Stop calling me a brat."


    "You deserve it."


    Ye Jiao grinned. "Call him ''Shorty??!"


    "It seems that you''re eager for punishment, Brat!" Qin Zheng smiled, yet there was this dangerous aura around him.


    "Help! Senior Brother Qin wants to kill me!"


    "Come over here, you Brat!"


    "Heeeelp!"


    Lin Cai smiled as she saw the two of them run out of the classroom. Even though both of them were exhausted, they still had the stamina to joke around like that. She turned her head to Lu Wan.


    "Let''s follow after them."


    "Eh? Why?"


    "Since you''re exhausted, I have already asked Master for you to accompany me today," Lin Cai grinned. "Let''s go and have some fun with Qin Zheng and Ye Jiao."


    Lu Wan genuinely wanted to refuse when he saw the wicked smile on Lin Cai''s face. He quickly turned to Qi Huan, but the latter had stood up and smiled gracefully.


    "In that case, I won''t disturb your training time."


    "Qi Huan!"


    "I need to go to the library and read more books again."


    Without being able to refuse, Lin Cai dragged Lu Wan to the closed-door arena that Qin Zheng had reserved. Lu Wan was complaining internally that Qi Huan was a big traitor, yet he knew that it was his bad luck to have the pairing. The young man was standing outside the arena with Ye Jiao and traded several punches with him.


    "You wait here, Lu Wan," Lin Cai grinned. "Ye Jiao, today, you''re going to spar with me."


    "Eh?" Ye Jiao stopped her attack. "Why so sudden?"


    "Since you''re out of Eon Energy, the fight would just be a fight based on our physical skill," Lin Cai grinned. "I have long wanted to know how I''ll fare against another junior sister."


    "Don''t worry, you won''t be disappointed."


    "We shall see~."


    The two of them entered the arena and stood at each side. Qin Zheng waved his hand and shouted. "Begin!"


    Swish! Swish!


    Clang!


    They clashed right in the middle of the arena, which showed that their acceleration speed was equal.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Neither one of them took a break as they launched several attacks with their weapons. The sound of metal clashing filled the arena. Their speed has long reached the stage that made it difficult to follow.


    Swish! Clang!


    "You have great speed, Junior Sister Ye!" Lin Cai twisted her legs and swung her sword from above.


    Swish!


    Ye Jiao narrowly evaded the attack and turned around with one leg as the pivot. Her dagger swung from the back straight to Lin Cai''s back neck.


    Clang!


    The sword had moved to block the position. Lin Cai gritted her teeth and pushed Ye Jiao''s dagger to the back. She could feel it perfectly. The power that Ye Jiao used to attack her was heavy.


    ''No wonder this little lass still finished earlier than me even though I''m one rank higher in that climbing training.''


    Neither one of them used Eon Energy as they just relied on their physical prowess to move around and launched their attack. She perfectly understood now that even without Eon Energy, this little lass still could be a fearsome opponent.


    "As I say before, I won''t disappoint you."


    Ye Jiao smiled and kicked the ground. She launched herself towards Lin Cai''s direction once again.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Their blades crossed with one another as they used their entire energy to fight. Even though their muscles have started to scream because of the strain, neither one of them wished to stop.


    Clang!


    Ye Jiao twisted her dagger and sidestepped to the inside. As Lin Cai moved her arm to attack her, Ye Jiao used her left arm and grabbed Lin Cai''s arm tightly, preventing her from moving while her right arm that held the dagger was pressed to the girl''s neck.


    Tep!


    The two of them stopped moving. Lin Cai frowned. "That''s cheating."


    ???Your movements are slow enough for me to catch it, Senior Sister Lin," Ye Jiao grinned. "Are you unable to accept defeat?"


    Tsk!


    Lin Cai gritted her teeth and relaxed her muscle. "Fine, you win. Next time, I''ll fight you with Eon Energy, and we''ll see who''ll win."


    "We shall see," Ye Jiao smiled. Truthfully, she only managed to do this because Lin Cai''s speed decreased due to their strain to their muscle. Because this was not the first time she was cornered without Eon Energy, Ye Jiao could still fight without the need to worry so much.


    Her body still hurt, but it was not as bad as before.


    "Hey, your token is glowing," Lu Wan pointed to Ye Jiao''s disciple token that she hung on her hips.


    "Oh, right," Ye Jiao picked it up. She was astonished when she saw a clear number 10 inside. "It seems that I get 10 points?"


    "10 points?" Lin Cai nearly screamed. She turned her head to Qin Zheng. "You! Did you purposely make it so that it''ll note the record?"


    Qin Zheng smiled. "It''s your fault for losing."


    "You damn brat! Do you know how long I collect those points? Let me beat you up to vent my anger!"


    "You will never be able to beat me."


    Lin Cai staggered and nearly fell down. She held a nearby pillar with resentment on her expression that she directed to Qin Zheng openly. "You''ll pay for this, Qin Zheng!"


    "You won''t be able to do anything to me," Qin Zheng chuckled. He turned to the two confused youngsters. "The points system from the arena is very simple. If you defeat someone who''s stage is higher than you, you can get 5 points. If that person''s position in the academy is higher, for example, you''re an Inner Disciple, and that person is a Core Disciple, your score will be doubled.


    For new students, fighting against seniors also gives you double points if you manage to defeat them in the arena. This will only last until the four months is over."


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "Are the points taken from Senior Sister Lin''s?"


    "Since you''re new students, the doubled points are taken from hers. That means, this fight had just caused her to lose five points. The other five is the reward for new students," Qin Zheng explained with a smile, completely ignoring the death glare from Lin Cai.


    "I see."


    "Now, it''s my turn to fight with you, Lu Wan."


    "Lu Wan, you have to win, or I''ll drill you until you vomit tonight!" Lin Cai yelled.


    Lu Wan''s face paled immediately. Even though he knew that Senior Sister Lin was serious with her words, he wouldn''t be able to defeat Qin Zheng.


    "Can I throw a towel?"


    "No. Get on to the stage."


    With resignation, Lu Wan walked to the stage. Ye Jiao watched them get into their position before she yelled.


    "Start!"


    Swish! Swish! Swish!

 379 Basic Illusive Class

    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    As soon as the battle began, Qin Zheng threw his hidden knives to Lu Wan''s direction. The stunned Lu Wan quickly took out his blade and chain.


    Clang! Clang! Swish!


    He blocked two and evaded the last one. Before Lu Wan could move his chain and blade to attack, he saw Qin Zheng had arrived in front of him with his sword ready.


    Slash! Swish!


    Lu Wan was stunned when he saw himself outside of the arena. Part of his clothes was torn, and he was bleeding, but he was still alive.


    "What''s that?"


    "That''s the defense mechanism," Qin Zheng kept his sword again. "Once it determines the attack is going to kill you, it''ll activate and throw you out of the arena immediately. You lose, Lu Wan."


    Lin Cai''s eyes fixated on Qin Zheng''s token, which flashed for a split second. She knew that the young man''s point had increased. Thankfully, it wouldn''t take Lu Wan''s point because of the latter''s identity as a new student.


    Internally, she sighed to herself. If only she was still a new student, how convenient would it be?


    "Let''s go and get some rest," Qin Zheng beckoned for them to follow him out. "Next time, I''ll fight against Ye Jiao instead."


    "What? Why?"


    "He lost too quickly."


    Lin Cai turned her head towards Lu Wan and smiled menacingly. "I take that as you have to train much harder, yes?"


    "Noooooo! Help meeeeeeeeee!"


    Ye Jiao giggled as she watched Lin Cai dragged Lu Wan for training. Her eyes turned to the young man beside her. "I''ll go back first. Thank you for today."


    "En," Qin Zheng replied. "Tomorrow, I need to talk to you a bit."


    "Yes?"


    "Before morning practice."


    "Ah, ok."


    Ye Jiao returned back to her residence and continued her practice. The next day, she met with Qin Zheng early in the morning as he waited in front of her residence once again.


    "You can just go ahead and wait in the court. There''s no need to wait in front of my residence," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. Thankfully, only a few people could come into this building, or they would surely find it weird that Qin Zheng stood here.


    Qin Zheng kept the book he was reading and smiled. "It''s more convenient like this. Starting today, you''re going to follow after me for limit training."


    "Limit training?"


    "You''ll need to use up your Eon Energy and follow after my lead. By exhausting your Eon Energy, you''ll have to rely on your physical ability to finish the course," Qin Zheng pointed to the front.


    Ye Jiao blinked. "Wouldn''t it mean that I take so much time?"


    "Do you remember the movement technique that I taught you?"


    "It''s more like you allow me to watch you do them."


    "What¡­?"


    "The more you use a technique, the more you will master it," the two of them have arrived by the mountain foot, and Qin Zheng walked to take the weights. "Let''s go, Ye Jiao."


    Ye Jiao truly wanted to cry, but she didn''t have a choice. Utilizing the technique, she travelled dozens of kilometers in a matter of seconds. Qin Zheng was already in front of her as he still could move faster with this technique. Once she ran out of Eon Energy, she had no choice but to run and run again.


    Bang!


    "How is it? You finished faster than before," Qin Zheng smiled.


    Ye Jiao stretched her legs as she glared at Qin Zheng accusingly. "It''s overly tiring. I can''t even count how many times I feel my body breakdown because I keep on pushing it."


    "That means you''re reaching the limit and overcoming it. This kind of training is very effective on the body to make sure that you practice your body to the fullest. Of course, training your Eon Energy control is also important, but I think you''ve already excelled in that area."


    "Not really," Ye Jiao ate the pill and sat down to recover her Eon Energy. After several seconds, she stood up. "I still need a lot of practice."


    "You can continue practising them when you reach the late stage."


    "What¡­.?"


    "You''ll know soon."


    His answer only made Ye Jiao''s hand itch to hit and beat him up. Ye Jiao glared at Qin Zheng before she recalled something. "Are there any skill books that I can study?"


    Qin Zheng looked at Ye Jiao for a moment. "For your dagger?"


    "Yes."


    "I would suggest you to not bother with finding any skill books."


    "Why?"


    "First, dagger''s skills are extremely rare, so it''ll be more beneficial for you to train on your own. Two, the best skills for Eon Energy Masters are not skills that we learn from other people, but the skills that we create on our own to suit our body. Third, there''s no skill book for a curved dagger in the entire Four Kingdoms aside from a basic movement skill book that you learn back in the examination."


    Ye Jiao was dumbfounded when she heard Qin Zheng''s answer. She thought that she would be able to learn some cool skill when she entered the academy, but reality proved differently. There was no such skill that she could learn.


    "That¡­"


    Qin Zheng patted Ye Jiao''s shoulder. "Don''t be so down. Once Eon Energy Master reaches rank 4, many of us no longer focus on our weapon''s skill but on specialization. There are still some of us who are trying hard to pursue a path with the weapon''s skill, but the number is not many."


    Hearing that, Ye Jiao knew that it was the truth. When they have their specialization, many Eon Energy Masters abandon their way of fighting that they had ever since they were young. After all, they had a brand new path that was completely different compared to before.


    "I''m sure that you''ll be able to create your own skill from the basic movement."


    "En." Ye Jiao slowly nodded. The skill book that Qin Zheng gave her back then was quite good. She learned a firmer stance. "Thank you very much, Senior Brother Qin."


    "Come on, you''ll be late for class."


    Seeing her senior brother have started walking, Ye Jiao sighed to herself. She truly didn''t understand why they picked him to help her in training. So far, he just made things difficult for her continuously.


    Ye Jiao headed straight for her class, which was the Basic Illusive Class and used this chance to recover her Eon Energy faster. She was only late for two hours, which was quite an advancement compared with yesterday. Though the process couldn''t be said to be the same.


    "You''re early today," Qi Huan commented as he walked inside. "How did you manage to finish so early?"


    "Don''t ask¡­ I''ll feel like beating him up again," Ye Jiao sighed and looked at Qi Huan. "You??re also faster, Senior Brother Qi."


    "Just a bit, but yes."


    Lu Wan came when the class nearly started. The teacher was still lenient because it started four hours later than what it was supposed to be, but they would gradually reduce the time per week. That means, next week the class will start three hours late.


    "Good evening, everyone," the teacher for this class was Elder Qian. He looked at the students. "I''m a temporary teacher for this class because your usual teacher is on leave. I''ll teach you the basics of illusive Master."


    At this time, Qi Huan paid much more attention than before because he had talent in this field. It would be necessary for him to learn much more for his future path.


    "First of all, I''ll explain what it means to be an Illusive Master. Illusive Masters are people who use Eon Energy to disturb your senses, it means we''re an expert to lead your senses into the wrong conclusion. For example, you can see I''m standing here, whereas¡­"


    Elder Qian waved his hand, and they could see him disappeared from that place and appeared on the other side of the classroom. "I''m actually standing here."


    "Wooow!"


    "This is one of the common tricks as an Illusive Master. Those who had the basic talent will have it easier to find the truth about this, but those who didn''t have any talent might find it difficult. Illusive Master uses Eon Energy to affect your surroundings, creating a perfect cover for the real world behind."


    Elder Qian smiled. "Now, I''ll continue to create numerous illusive tricks at the front, and your task will be to identify which one is an illusion and which one is true. If you can''t differentiate them, you won''t be able to pass this class."


    The students groaned because they understood that it wouldn''t be easy. When Elder Qian moved like that, they didn''t even know it was actually the fake one.


    "Let''s begin."

 380 Basic Enhancement Class

    "This is frustrating," Ye Jiao slumped on her desk when the class was over. She could not see anything other than the one Elder Qian intended for them to see.


    Qi Huan smiled bitterly. "I guess it just meant that you''ll need to work harder."


    "I can say the same to you."


    "Let''s go before Senior Brother Qin comes here. I''m sure you want to spar with him again, right?"


    "Yeah."


    Ye Jiao was not in the mood to stay in the class anymore. She was unable to sense anything wrong from the way Elder Qian performed it. The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she would be. With nothing else to do, Ye Jiao headed for the arena to have another match with Qin Zheng.


    Afterwards, she went to the hall and practiced minute control once more. Chen Suyin was especially harsh that day because she extended the time they had to stay there by another 10 minutes.


    Of course, the canteen was also full because a lot of students ended up staying there to eat again and again after the class was over.


    ¡­


    The next day, the students have a basic enhancement class. Ye Jiao managed to finish even earlier with the ''help'' that Qin Zheng gave to her. She was still two hours or so late, but it was faster than yesterday.


    "You''re going to complete the morning training in time soon if this continues," Qi Huan commented.


    Ye Jiao shrugged. "You should say that to Senior Brother Qin. He had to add another weight today because he finished too fast from the vice leader''s perspective."


    "You don''t need to compare with that monster. I''ll be more surprised if you manage to finish earlier than him."


    "Right~.???


    They stayed silent as they used the time to practice before class started. Lu Wan came looking like a living zombie when the class was about to start. It looked like the brat was ready to collapse at any time.


    "Are you sure you will be able to survive the training if this continues, Lu Wan?" Ye Jiao smiled bitterly.


    "Ask that Senior Brother Qin to stay away from me or I''ll surely die under Senior Sister Lin''s hand."


    "I''ll relay that to him."


    Honestly, both Ye Jiao and Qi Huan knew that it would not happen. Qin Zheng really loved to create trouble, especially towards his juniors. No matter what they say, they wouldn''t be able to stop him from creating trouble.


    Before long, the class started.


    Now, we''ll learn the enhancement path for Eon Energy Master. There are three types of enhancement. First is an enhancement to your own body, which allows the body to become much stronger physically. People with this path usually just strengthen their own body to the very limit, allowing them to have much greater strength compared to people around their rank.


    Second is the enhancement to mind, which will allow you to think faster. This type of enhancement is usually for those who dislike combat and prefer to be the type to think on the back, and this type will never be able to fall into any illusion made by illusive Eon Energy Master.


    The third is the enhancement to the objects. You can imbue effect on the objects which can grant them stronger endurance, additional effect, and so on. This type usually falls into the Forging Master of Rune Masters, which you''ll learn tomorrow because they''re all the best side occupation.


    Now, I''ll teach you the basics for the training??."


    Listening to the teacher, Ye Jiao came to understand that the path as Eon Energy Master was truly divided into several different things. Every single one of them would give them a different kind of future.


    "If their interest and talent didn''t align, it''s not going to be easy for them," Lu Wan murmured as he propped his head with his arm. He still felt tired, but he listened to bits and parts from the teacher because it would be important.


    "Usually, your path will align with your talent," Qi Huan replied. "But there are also cases when it''s not true."


    Ye Jiao looked at Qi Huan. If she was not wrong, water would usually represent calm and steady demeanor. However, Qi Huan was someone who pursued the path of killing. She had seen for herself how much this man actually enjoyed it, so she knew that it was not totally suitable for this man.


    Lu Wan yawned. "And I don''t understand the intermediate element at all. What''s the use of having a light element?"


    In his opinion, the fire element was clearly far better compared with light. He couldn''t even understand how that element became the advanced one. After all, it would be hard to attack their opponent with light alone.


    "I don''t understand too," Ye Jiao chuckled. "But I guess we''ll study them when we reach the advanced class later."


    "That''s not going to happen anytime soon."


    The teacher continued to explain more about enhancement and gave them a basic example. Physical enhancement acted more like training one''s body to the limit. There was nothing special aside from the fact that they diverted all their Eon Energy to their bones and muscle to strengthen them.


    It would grant them higher power, but at the same time, it would slow down their advance to reach the next stage.


    "If I''m not wrong, the book that Senior Brother Qin shows to you said to divert your Eon Energy to your entire body, right?" Qi Huan''s expression was slightly strange as he turned to Ye Jiao''s direction.


    "Yes."


    "Is his path an enhancement?"


    "I don''t know," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. But if she thought about it, Qin Zheng was indeed suitable to become Body Enhancement Eon Energy Master with that kind of strength he wielded.


    "Alright, class is dismissed. I want you all to do your own research regarding Body Enhancement Eon Energy Master because it''ll be your homework for next week."


    After the teacher left, the students slumped on their chair. There were only fifteen new students, but they all felt tired whenever they recalled the amount of homework they got. They needed to train their control, practice their resistance to illusion, and now, they have to study.


    It was so tiring!


    "Your class always ends the last," Qin Zheng commented as he walked inside, his hand holding a book. Somehow, he looked like a nerd lately with the number of books he read.


    "The teachers are teaching us the basics of everything, and the class always starts four hours late," Ye Jiao shrugged.


    Behind Qin Zheng, Lin Cai''s expression was dark. "Lu Wan, if you don''t start to come early, I won''t be able to attend my class!"


    "It''s not my fault that I''m always exhausted every time I finish the training!"


    "Just do your herb bath or whatever! I don''t want to keep standing in my class!"


    Ye Jiao blinked and turned her head to Qin Zheng. "Do you need to wait until I finish my training before you can go to your classes?"


    "Yes. It''s the rule that pairing needs to wait for the new students," Qin Zheng shrugged. "Don''t worry, my classes start three hours late for this week, so I''m not late at all."


    "¡­" no wonder you didn''t pick Lu Wan.


    If it was Lu Wan, there was no doubt that Qin Zheng would be late for all of his classes. Ye Jiao still managed to finish with two hours late, so it was more than enough.


    "Are we going to spar again today?"


    "No, I''m going to take you to my workplace today," Qin Zheng replied.


    "Workplace?"


    "Yes. Haven''t I told you that I''m a Forging Master?"

 381 Forging Master Smelting Process

    "Yes. Haven''t I told you that I''m a Forging Master?"


    Forging Master?


    Ye Jiao did recall that Qin Zheng once said to her that he was a Forging Master. Well, from the way he acted whenever he saw a rare type of metal, she could guess that he must be very familiar with them. Though, she was not totally sure about his rank or anything related to it.


    "You have, but I don''t really know much about Forging Master and any other related occupation," Ye Jiao shrugged.


    Qin Zheng sighed. "The teachers are going to explain this in two days. Tomorrow you''ll have some basic classes such as herb''s knowledge, material knowledge, history, and some others. Two days from now, you''ll learn about the occupation that Eon Energy Master could have. One of them is a Forging Master."


    "How about the ranking?"


    "It''s using color to identify their rank. The lowest rank is red color," Qin Zheng replied. "There''s a light color and dark color too, for example, light red and dark red. If you''re light color, it means that you''re still in early rank."


    "There''s also the differentiation like that?"


    Lin Cai nodded as she released Lu Wan from her strangle. "These occupations are very strict in their ranking. It''s not going to be easy to gain their approval, so you need to show your capabilities in the test."


    "I see."


    "What''s your ranking, Senior Brother Qin?" Qi Huan asked.


    "I''m dark orange rank," Qin Zheng replied honestly.


    "Isn''t that already pretty good?" Lu Wan blanked. If he counted, it meant that Qin Zheng had passed the light red, red, dark red, light orange, and orange. Doesn''t it just mean this young man was actually a capable Forging Master?


    "I''ll tell you the details of this occupation while we walk to my workplace," Qin Zheng looked over to Ye Jiao. "Do you want to come?"


    "I want to!"


    The five of them headed back to the Core Disciple''s area then they entered the specific buildings for Elite Disciple. Seven doors leads to seven different residences. Qin Zheng stopped right in front of a black door.


    "This is the door to Black Tower, Qin Zheng''s residence," Lin Cai explained as the young man opened the door.


    The moment the door was opened, they could sense pressure coming out from inside. It was filled with a dark and solemn atmosphere. Around them, they could see the stone path in the middle of seemingly lush green scenery, yet it was dark.


    "It''s so dark. I can barely see anything," Lu Wan frowned.


    "It''s suitable for the gloomy Qin Zheng," Lin Cai grinned.


    "If you want, I can bring you to stay in the basement again, Cai."


    "Wait, NO! Don''t!"


    "Let''s get inside."


    Qin Zheng led them towards a large tower. It was located right in the middle of the place and also a good place to stay. Unlike the outside, the tower was comfy and warm inside. There was barely any furniture, so it was simple and clean.


    They headed downstairs as Qin Zheng headed to a different room. This time, it was a room filled with metals and also a fireplace on the other side. There was an anvil placed in front of the fireplace and a bucket of water nearby.


    "Is this your workplace? It''s a bit plain," Lu Wan murmured.


    Bletak!


    "What do you expect this place to be?" Lin Cai rolled her eyes. "Qin Zheng is a good Forging Master, and you''ll understand why soon enough."


    Lu Wan rubbed his head as he looked at Lin Cai begrudgingly. He was clearly older than this young woman, yet she was the one who beat him up over and over. Really, he should find a way to defeat her soon enough or he wouldn''t be able to keep his dignity.


    Qin Zheng ignored the two of them and took out a piece of metal. He looked at Ye Jiao. "Do you remember this?"


    "That''s¡­ Meteorite Lava Sto- eh, Metal!"


    "Are you about to say stone again?"


    "You must hear it wrongly." Ye Jiao grinned sheepishly. She recalled this was the metal that she traded for the medicine before. Why did he take it out?


    "I''m going to forge a sword and sell it since there''s no fire element in this place," Qin Zheng looked at the metal with a smile. "But before I can do that, I need to remove the impurities in this metal."


    "Remove impurities! How?"


    "You better stay back if you don''t wish to get burned," Lin Cai dragged Lu Wan to the back once again.


    Ye Jiao and Qi Huan followed suit. Her eyes were watching Qin Zheng as the young man placed the large metal in a box that has a funnel at the bottom. She looked at Qi Huan as if asking for an explanation. Aside from Qin Zheng, only Qi Huan seemed to have a vast amount of knowledge.


    "He''s smelting the metal. This requires high temperature fire, which will melt the metal, and it''ll form several layers. Those at the top will be thrown because it''s not useful while the one at the bottom is the real Meteorite Lava Metal," Qi Huan explained.


    "How high is the needed temperature?"


    "Probably around 1000 to 3000* degree."


    As soon as he finished saying that, they could feel the room temperature suddenly increased several times. Everyone quickly created an Eon Energy layer around their body to restrict the hot temperature from permeating into their skin.


    Qin Zheng was the one closest to the fire as he used his Eon Energy to push the fireplace into creating hotter temperatures. Sweat slid down his forehead as he tried to maintain the consistency of the temperature in order to melt the metal. Even though there was an array to keep the temperature focused in the fireplace, it still leaked out, and the one who got the brunt the most was Qin Zheng.


    Everyone stayed quiet throughout the process. They could see the blazing yellow red liquid coming out of the funnel into the bucket that Qin Zheng had prepared. It took some time before Qin Zheng stopped and pushed a different bucket. A slightly different metal poured out into the bucket.


    "Wow, how does he differentiate them?" Lu Wan was astonished. He could only know when the metal was already out, but Qin Zheng could perfectly move the bucket to change place even before.


    "That''s because he''s observing their movement," Lin Cai wiped her sweat. "Red Rank Forging Master has just learned how to wield the hammer and use it. Orange Rank Forging Master learns how to control the fire for smelting higher level ores. Yellow Rank Forging Master learns how to differentiate each part of the ores during smelting and create higher purity ores during forging."


    Ye Jiao''s eyes widened. "Then it means Senior Brother Qin has reached yellow rank?"


    "Yes, but he hadn''t undergone their test again, so he''s still dark orange rank," Lin Cai sighed. "I don''t understand how he manages to rise so quickly given his fast advancement in Eon Energy Mastery."


    Lu Wan eyed Qi Huan and Ye Jiao. If he was not wrong, Qi Huan also busy trained his killing intent despite his harsh training as Eon Energy Master. On the other hand, Ye Jiao was also training her body and stealth aside from her Eon Energy. He also learned about herbs, but it has a drawback because his advance has been slower.


    It seemed that he needed to gear up a bit.


    "The first step is finished," Qin Zheng wiped his sweat and smiled. "Next is forging, and I hope you can stay quiet."


    "Of course!"


    Qin Zheng waited a bit for the metal to cool down. He picked it up and heated it once more for some time before using his hammer to strike down the metal. His body twisted in movements along with his hand. It was clear that he had a firm foundation from the way he moved his entire body to strike the metal and not just his arm.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    All of them stayed quiet. All that was left was only the rhythmically sound of the hammer striking down the metal.

 382 Long Road as Eon Energy Master

    "The metal is shining," Qi Huan murmured. He often felt that Qin Zheng was annoying and arrogant, but seeing the young man''s ability, he couldn''t help but feel astonished. It definitely took a long time and dedication for Qin Zheng to reach this point.


    With his current age only 12 years old, there was no doubt that he must be one of the youngest talented Forging Masters in this kingdom.


    Lin Cai nodded. "It means that the metal is already 99% pure. Qin Zheng, did you manage to make a breakthrough in your occupation as Forging Master again?"


    "It''s not that pure yet," Qin Zheng put down his hammer and sat down. It took his all to hammer the metal into this state since he didn''t recover all of his Eon Energy during class and only a part of it. His body was already tired from the extra exercise he had to finish from the morning.


    A glass of water appeared before him. "Here''s some water."


    "Thanks, Ye Jiao," Qin Zheng didn''t reject her kindness and drank the water.


    Ye Jiao pointed to the lump of metal that Qin Zheng had hammered countless times. She didn''t manage to count it as he was simply too quick. "Can I take a look?"


    "Sure."


    "Thank you." Ye Jiao picked up the metal. Her eyes showed astonishment because she could feel that it weighed a lot despite the small size. It was only slightly lighter compared with the impure Meteorite Lava Metal that she gave to Qin Zheng before. However, the shine on the surface of the metal showed that it was definitely much purer.


    "If I have a lot of the metals, I''ll surely create an armor because it''ll have high fire resistance." Qin Zheng put down the glass on the table near him. "However, there???s not enough metal for that."


    "Can''t you combine it with another metal?"


    "I''m still not good enough to do that," Qin Zheng smiled bitterly. Combining different types of metal could create a better one. The most common example would be steel because it was made of iron that was combined with some other types and processed to create a stronger metal.


    "That''s possible?"


    "Yes, but you need the correct composition and great fire control. This is why a lot of Forging Masters are those who have fire elements as their path and also enhancement," Qin Zheng stood up.


    Ye Jiao recalled their discussion before and looked back at the young man. "What''s your path, Zheng Ge?"


    Lin Cai waved her hand. "Don''t tell them! Just keep it a secret."


    "There''s no need to keep it a secret from them," Qin Zheng laughed. "Don''t you also know their talents?"


    "It''s my privilege as a senior!" Lin Cai replied stubbornly.


    Lu Wan''s mind blanked for a moment. He did expect that these two would be amazing, but not to this extent! How rare would it be for someone to have two talents and now the one who stood in front of him have three talents¡­.


    Heaven is not fair¡­


    Why did he not have any? Boohoo, he wanted to cry.


    Ye Jiao was stunned. "You don''t have a fire element?"


    "Nope, but it doesn''t matter," Qin Zheng laughed. "I can still learn it when I reach rank 4 later. My progress will be slower than the others, but it''s worth it."


    Seeing Qin Zheng''s look when he looked at the metal in her hand, Ye Jiao understood what he meant. Eon Energy Master had a long life when their rank went higher. Once they break through to rank 4, they would have 100 or so years of age, and those at rank 5 were even higher. If they only pursued the talent they have, they wouldn''t be able to feel satisfied in the long road.


    They should also learn to do things that they loved too.


    "How many occupations are there?" Qi Huan asked.


    "There are several of them excluding the battling ones," Qin Zheng replied. "Do you have some interest in them?"


    "Not really." Qi Huan shook his head. He wanted to hone his killing intent rather than wasting time to learn this. These specific skills that required delicate control and touch were not his forte.


    Lu Wan nodded. "I''ll become a poison master!"


    "There''s that occupation," Lin Cai remarked. "It''s a branch from medicine eh, or was it the pills refining? I have forgotten."


    Lu Wan: "¡­" did you pass the lesson or not?


    He had the feeling that his senior sister was actually quite unreliable. Though, he didn''t dare to voice it out in fear that this particular senior sister would roast him alive.


    Ye Jiao placed the Meteorite Lava Metal on the table. "I''m thinking of becoming a rune or array master."


    "Really? It''s not easy to become one if you don''t have any talent!'' Lin Cai exclaimed.


    "How do you know if you have an affinity for that or not?"


    "There''s a test," Qin Zheng pondered. "Wait until it''s the free training day and I''ll show it to you. It''s at the end of the week."


    "Ok. Thank you, Senior Brother Qin."


    "Now, you should return back. It''s already late at night, and there''s still training tomorrow morning."


    "Yes¡­"


    ¡­


    The next day, every new student has to study many other things that were outside their specialization. There was no need to say that Lu Wan obviously only stayed awake during herbs'' classes. He learned so much more new types of herbs and their uses from this class alone.


    Other classes were either history, minerals'' knowledge, geography, and others. All classes were stacked one after another until they only finished the last class when it was already midnight.


    The day after that, they have classes about other occupations as Eon Energy Masters.


    "There are two types of occupation for Eon Energy Master. First is obviously combat master. In combat, there are three types, soldiers, hunters, and free martial artists. Soldiers are Eon Energy Masters who stay in one country and pledge their loyalty to that country alone. Hunters are Eon Energy Masters who specialize in hunting beasts. Free martial artists are those unrestricted. They can become mercenaries, teachers, or any other similar occupations."


    The teacher stopped for a moment. "Aside from occupations, there are also positions in combat. Normally, there are four types of position: attackers, defender, support, and lastly scout. Scouts are normally quite rare, so it''s often replaced with other occupations'' that usually didn''t specialize in fighting. An attacker would focus on the attack aspect, the defender would focus on defending, support would focus on giving support, and scout focus on speed and rallying information.


    Your path could narrow down your position in combat, but it''s not an absolute must. Even if your element is not entirely suitable for a specific position, you still can do it with enough training and using your specialization correctly. As long as you''re determined enough, talent is not really a limitation.


    Attackers are normally those with control and elements specialization. The elements can vary greatly, but the most common one would be fire and wind because of their destructiveness. If you''re body enhancement specialization, you can also become a good attacker.


    Defenders are the one who usually blocked and restrained your opponent''s movements. This position is mostly filled with body enhancement and earth element specialization. However, there is a good amount of water element Eon Energy Masters too. There are also those intermediate elements, but I won''t talk in detail.


    Supporters can be someone who focuses on healing or giving additional help that usually didn''t battle directly. They''re mostly illusive and water element specialization. The earth element can also become a good supporter, but they''re mostly more into defense. Aside from that, other occupations that are not specialized in combat are usually a good supporter. I''ll go into detail after I explained the last one."


    The teacher swept his gaze to the students. He noticed that some of them didn''t seem to pay much attention. "Do not underestimate those with supporter roles. They''re important to make sure your group can survive.


    The last one would be a scout that specializes in speed. They''re mostly known as information gatherer and spy because their speed allows them to evade their opponent. At the same time, they''re also a good attacker and good in creating a diversion. Those who wished to be a scout and have speed as their main point are usually control or wind element specialization. Somebody enhancement can also focus on their speed.


    Alright, that should be all for the basics in combat. Any question?"

 383 Other Eon Energy Occupations

    "No," the teacher shook his head. "It''s important to know some self-defense, but if you don''t like combat, you can learn just enough to protect yourself and spend the rest of your time in the other occupations unrelated to combat."


    Ye Jiao pondered as she looked at the teacher in front of her. She raised her hand. "Teacher, even if we choose a different type that''s not normal, is it possible to take that position? For example, a fire element takes a support position?"


    The teacher nodded his head. "It''s not impossible, but it won''t be easy because of the element attribute. With enough training and the correct method of utilization, it''ll be possible. Taking your example, it''s possible for you to become a long distance fire controller. This way, you can give support from far away even though it can also be still considered as an attacker."


    "I see, Thank you, Teacher."


    Ye Jiao moved her body to the back slightly. She wanted to focus on speed, but at the same time, she didn''t want to take control or wind element specialization. It was possible for them to learn other elements, but it wouldn''t be easy when their body already has one that they liked.


    It would take double or even more the effort if she wanted to learn other elements other than light.


    Qi Huan tapped his finger on the table before raising his hand. "Teacher, how about when water element becomes an attacker?"


    The teacher was stunned. Water element was known to only have a small range of attack possibilities. However, it was not completely impossible.


    "It''s possible, but if you''re that worried about your element, how about if you focus more on your weapon? I''m sure that all of you have your own weapon and preference in a fight. Even though you can''t get your favorite position because your element is unsuitable, you can still become one with your weapon."


    "Teacher, do you mean to become a Sword Martial Artist?"


    "That''s one of the options. When you learn a weapon to a certain degree, you''ll come to understand the deeper path in that weapon. Of course, it''s also possible for you to not use any weapon and just rely on your body," The teacher coughed. "For these weapons and so on, you''ll start learning them next year depending on the weapon of your choosing. Any other questions?"


    The teacher swept his gaze across the classroom. He nodded when there were no more students raising their hand.


    "Next, I''ll be teaching about other occupations you can take as Eon Energy Masters. There are four common paths, and I''ll just talk in general for today.


    As the teacher stopped for a moment to let the students grasped his words, Lu Wan''s eyes were shining.


    ''I''ll become a Poison Master for sure!''


    "Second there''s Rune Masters. Rune Masters are people who specialize in studying patterns and also the movements of Eon Energy in a specific way. They can create runes or arrays depending on their specialization. There are two types: Array Masters and Enhancement Masters. Array Masters usually create arrays or formations that have special effect depending on their pattern. As for Enhancement Masters, they usually insert runes in objects to give a special effect or simply use the runes itself in fight.


    Rune Masters can either take specialization or study both of them. If one takes specialization, they''ll be called an Array Master or Enhancement Master. If they didn''t and learn both, they''d be called Rune Masters."


    "It sounds interesting," Ye Jiao murmured.


    Qi Huan nodded. "You''re pretty sensitive to Eon Energy movement, so it might be a suitable path for you."


    "En."


    "The third one is the Beast Masters. It''s a fairly rare occupation in the Xian Gu Kingdom because there''s no specific way to tame a beast here. I''ll go into detail later.


    The fourth one is Forging Master. Forging Masters are people who usually deal with minerals, especially metals. There are two types of Forging Master. They can either be Refiner or Weapon Maker or even both. Refiners are usually people who focus on creating small tools and objects. This usually requires a delicate touch because it was not easy for one to move those small things. Weapon Makers are mostly those who create a sword or other weapon. They''re fairly common here because at least half of your seniors become Forging Masters."


    "Huh? It''s common?" Lu Wan yelled out in surprise.


    The teacher frowned and looked in Lu Wan''s direction. "If you wish to ask a question, you should raise your hand and yes, it''s pretty common here. Because the mountains are the source of minerals, a lot of students who have an interest in Forging Master picked this academy."


    Now that Ye Jiao thought about it, most mining caves were located in the mountains. She should have thought about this before when she asked Qin Zheng about his occupation. It seemed that she was quite dumb too.


    "Each of these professions has its own ranking and association. The ranking starts from red color, which is the lowest up until the purple color (rainbow color). The specific details for the ranking in each occupation are different, and I''ll go through that later.


    Now, do you have any questions?"


    As the students began to ask, Ye Jiao leaned back against her chair. There was so much new information she got from the past few days in the academy that she felt her head might explode. If not because she had better memorization ability, she knew that she wouldn''t be able to survive.


    "After the basic class, there are specific occupation classes," Qi Huan turned his head to the other two. "Are you going to take it?"


    "Of course!" Lu Wan said in certainty. He always learned by himself in the past, so he wished to get some systematic teaching too. After all, there were so many herbs and their composition that he wanted to know.


    Ye Jiao nodded her head. "I''ll try to take it. How about you, Senior Brother Qi?"


    "I''m more interested in the weapon classes that Teacher mentioned," Qi Huan admitted. He didn''t really have much interest in his element and illusive. They would certainly be useful, but he was more inclined to train his body and killing intent.


    "You can only take it next year."


    "I''ll finish the theory class earlier," Qi Huan said with certainty. "Besides, I''m not really in a hurry to break through again."


    Even if new students managed to make a breakthrough, they still needed to finish the four months hellish training. For him, this would be the best time to strengthen his foundation before he aimed for rank 4. Aside from that, information was certainly important.


    "You can say that, but can''t you do something to help me?" Lu Wan''s face was sour.


    Qi Huan shook his head. "I don''t think I have that great of an influence in Senior Sister Lin. She''s pretty fierce."


    Lu Wan: "¡­" you coward!


    Ye Jiao giggled. "At the very least, she introduces you to a good teacher. You will be able to become a poison master under him, right?"


    "Hopefully," Lu Wan shrugged. "I haven''t received a proper education now."


    "I see."


    The class was over after the students finished asking numerous questions. Ye Jiao stood up from her seat.


    "It''s time to go."


    "Are you sparring again today?"


    "No, I''m going to visit Xin Jie. It has been a week, so I''m curious about her progress," Ye Jiao replied.


    "Oh, right. She''s in the Inner Disciple section, right?"


    "Yes."


    "See you later, Ye Jiao!"

 384 Mu Family Background

    Ye Jiao shook her head. "No, I just want to visit Xin Jie."


    "Xin Jie? I didn''t know you have a sister," Qin Zheng recalled his investigation of Ye Jiao''s background. From what he knew, Ye Jiao is the only child with no one else.


    "She''s my sworn sister."


    "Oh?"


    "Don''t you have a sworn brother too?" Ye Jiao tilted her head.


    Qin Zheng smiled, but didn''t answer.


    Ye Jiao scowled. "You just don''t want to tell me, do you?"


    "Yeah," Qin Zheng raised his hand, intending to mess up Ye Jiao''s hair. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so as Ye Jiao evaded quickly.


    Ye Jiao stuck out her tongue. "You won''t be able to do it, Shorty."


    "I dare you to say it again."


    "Shorty! Shorty!"


    With that, Ye Jiao ended up running towards the Inner Disciple quarter with Qin Zheng behind her. They didn''t use Eon Energy because they didn''t recover completely yet, so they just looked like two children running in the corridor.


    From behind, Bai Xiang carefully distanced himself from the two of them. A lot of other students were giving them some looks as it was uncommon to see younger disciples in that area. Most of them were already teenagers or even young adults. Even the youngest in Inner Disciple areas was 16 years old.


    "Excuse me, do you know new students named Mu Xin?" Ye Jiao didn''t know where Mu Xin stayed, so she had to rely on asking for directions.


    The student was stunned. He nodded his head. "Yes, she should be in the arena."


    "Alright, thank you."


    After Ye Jiao left, the student turned his head to his friends. "Does Mu Xin have a close friend with someone from Core Disciple?"


    "It''s an Elite Disciple robe, not a Core Disciple."


    "Wow," his friend gasped in surprise. "Well, those seniors are going to court death."


    "Just ignore them."


    "Yep."


    "Who would have thought that the cold Mu Xin has a connection with Elite Disciple?"


    Qin Zheng could hear their voice clearly, but he didn''t say anything and just took Ye Jiao to the arena. The young girl''s eyes were also solemn as she could guess that there must be something wrong.


    "We are here."


    They entered the arena. The entire place was crowded because the number of Inner Disciples reached thousands. Everyday, there would be a lot of students who wanted to use the arena.


    Ye Jiao''s eyes scanned the place before it landed on the arena at the corner. She could see Mu Xin standing with her left arm bleeding. Her gaze was piercing cold as she wielded her sword towards her opponent. Several seniors were looking at her while laughing and jeering.


    "Xin¡­"


    Qin Zheng held Ye Jiao''s arm before she could rush towards the arena. "This is a formal match, you can''t stop it."


    "But¡­!"


    "Trust your sister."


    Ye Jiao looked at Qin Zheng''s gaze and pushed down her feelings. She glared at the arena and started walking in that direction. Beside her, Qin Zheng could feel the sharp aura from around Ye Jiao''s body. He understood that this girl was angry, but she couldn''t make a move, just like that.


    "Come on, icy woman. What are you doing staying silent like that?" her opponent laughed.


    Mu Xin stayed perfectly calm. She raised her sword lightly before dashing to her opponent. Her figure looked enchanting as she twisted her body to evade her opponent''s slash and swung her sword.


    Slash!


    It reached her opponent''s shoulder.


    "B*tch!"


    Mu Xin''s breath was rough, but she was composed. Side-stepping to the back, she narrowly evaded the attack. When her opponent retracted his sword, she charged forward once again, her sword was directed straight to her opponent''s neck.


    Slash!


    Her opponent appeared outside the arena with blood gushing out of his neck. He coughed and quickly took a pill from his Spatial Ring.


    The arrays in the Inner Disciple''s arena were not as good as the one in Core Disciple. It would not block until they were near death. Because of that, these disciples usually needed immediate treatment.


    "Mu Xin! Didn''t I tell you to hold your sword?" a young man yelled angrily.


    Mu Xin gave a sidelong glance. "There''s a protection array. Besides, do you really think my opponents are going easy on me?"


    "You!"


    "It''s already 10, I''ll be going first," Mu Xin ignored that young man and walked out of the arena. She looked in Ye Jiao''s direction as her cold face warmed a bit. "Ye Jiao, are you here to visit me?"


    "Yeah. Let''s go to your place," Ye Jiao controlled her expression and showed a smile. Even though she felt pained to see Mu Xin in this condition, she knew that this was not the right place.


    "Ok."


    The three of them walked away with Mu Xin leading on the front. Even though her breathing was rough, she didn''t show any weakness and continued her steps as if it was something natural.


    At the back, the students were eyeing Qin Zheng and Ye Jiao. "Who are they?"


    "It should be an Elite Disciple''s robe."


    "Elite Disciple?" the young man who shouted at Mu Xin was surprised. "Did she have any relation with them?"


    "It shouldn''t be, right?"


    "Yeah, the difference in Inner Disciple and Elite Disciple is a bit too far."


    The young man frowned and only turned around after some time. He felt that their relationships were not simple, but he couldn''t guess what it could be.


    On the other hand, Mu Xin had entered the Inner Disciple''s area. Her legs trembled, and Ye Jiao quickly used her Eon Energy to support the other party. It was done so quickly that no one would be able to notice.


    "Thank you," Mu Xin nodded and continued walking.


    Ye Jiao didn''t reply until they reached Mu Xin''s courtyard. She locked the door and looked at Mu Xin with a frown.


    "Why didn''t you ask for help? They''re clearly bullying you!"


    "I don''t have that much right compared to you."


    "That shouldn''t be the case. The teachers here are impartial because of the strict rules," Qin Zheng knew the teachers better. He looked at Mu Xin. "Even if there''s anyone a bit partial, that young man didn''t have the qualification to earn that."


    "You''re sharp, Senior Brother Qin."


    "Thank you for your compliment."


    Mu Xin sat down on a chair and took out ointment from the drawer nearby. She rolled her sleeves and started applying medicine. Ye Jiao snatched the bottle and bent down to help Mu Xin.


    "You don''t have to."


    "I want to," Ye Jiao raised her head and continued. "I insist."


    Mu Xin felt like her role and Ye Jiao were switched as she could remember the similar incident in the past where she applied medicine to Ye Jiao. She nodded her head and looked at Ye Jiao.


    "I can''t fight against him."


    "Why?"


    "Because he knows my family background."


    "Your family¡­ background?" Ye Jiao tilted her head.


    Mu Xin nodded. "The Mu Family didn''t come from the Four Kingdoms. We migrated there just like yours."

 385 No One Shall Bully You!

    Ye Jiao tilted her head to look at Mu Xin. "How do you know that? Also, why do you say that my family also migrate?"


    "My father told me when I was young," Mu Xin replied. "It''s pretty common for people from the mainland to migrate to rural areas because of some conditions. Most of the talented ones usually come from the mainland."


    Ye Jiao blinked her eyes in disbelief. She did expect that there might be some stories behind her family, but she didn''t expect that it would be the same with Mu Xin. However, there were indeed only a few family members of the Mu Family in the Chen Kingdom. There were only Mu Xin and her father.


    Similar to her and her father.


    Qin Zheng pulled a chair and placed it behind Ye Jiao. "The rural areas are a common place for geniuses to run away when they encounter some problem because, in that place, the highest rank is just level 4. Those areas were originally empty and only by migrating people from the mainland can it thrive. It took hundreds of years to make them into a complete civilization with their own records and history.


    Occasionally, travelers or runaways from the mainland can come there."


    "Are you also runaways?"


    "I''m a student who comes there to hide." Qin Zheng pulled another chair for himself. "Do you really think that I come there just to play around?"


    "No."


    "There''s a problem in the Xian Gu Kingdom. Once every five years, there''ll be beast tide all over the area, forcing us to defend. Every Core Disciple under the rank of 4 will be sent to rural areas to protect themselves and explore the world." Qin Zheng looked at Ye Jiao. "That''s the time when I meet with you."


    "I see."


    Still, Ye Jiao didn''t think that Qin Zheng came there to protect himself. He looked more like someone who came to look for trouble considering how many times this man clashed and created ruckuses. However, she had to admit that he would be still able to survive even if he was alone in that place.


    Ye Jiao had finished applying medicine and placed the bottle on the table while Mu Xin unrolled her sleeves again. "Do you know any Ye Family?"


    "Not in this kingdom."


    That one sentence told her enough that her family didn''t belong in the Xian Gu Kingdom. In the mainland, there were numerous kingdoms, and Xian Gu was only one of them. It would take her a long time if she wished to find her family considering the vast land.


    "The Mu Family is also not in this kingdom. I come from another kingdom in the north," Mu Xin explained. "That senior of mine is an exchange student who comes from that kingdom. He knows my father''s enemies and told me that he''ll contact them about my whereabouts if I don''t follow his commands."


    "That''s not possible," Qin Zheng shook his head.


    "Why not?"


    "Death Valley?" Ye Jiao found the name to be familiar. Looking at the vast black mark on the north of the Hua Shan Academy, she was surprised. It even reached slightly to the West, the icy region in the kingdom.


    "It''s the area where deaths are exceptionally common. Once you enter the place, you might not be able to get out," Qin Zheng explained calmly. "Even communication with Eon Energy is hard there. That''s why the Hua Shan Academy is secluded from communicating with other kingdoms."


    Mu Xin''s expression changed. "But there''s a communication line, right?"


    "Yes and no," Qin Zheng pointed to the south of the mountains. "The only communication possible is if you rally it to the capital city, but even then, every communication to other kingdoms is heavily guarded. Unless that young man has a connection with higher ups, he won''t be able to send a message outside without being regarded as a spy."


    Ye Jiao frowned. "Zheng Ge."


    "Yes?"


    "I need a favor."


    "What is it?"


    "Can I trouble you to investigate him?"


    Qin Zheng nodded. "It''s easy. Bai Xiang."


    "Yes, Master."


    Mu Xin turned to the side. She was astonished when she saw Bai Xiang appear from the shadow. She did not sense that man''s presence at all. Even though he might have been there for a long time.


    Wait, didn''t they lock the door? How did this young man come in so suddenly?


    Ye Jiao smiled. "Thank you."


    "Next time you find metal as valuable as Meteorite Lava, you should give it to me."


    Ye Jiao: "¡­" now you''re exhorting me?


    Bai Xiang handed a paper to Qin Zheng. The young man read it for a moment then passed it to Mu Xin. Reading the content, Mu Xin felt as if her body was boiling in rage as the room temperature dropped dozens of degrees. The young woman''s face was so chillingly cold that Bai Xiang quickly hid again.


    Qin Zheng examined the surroundings and looked at Mu Xin once again. "You have an innate ice element talent?"


    "I don''t know," Mu Xin replied.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "Even if you have innate talent, you shouldn''t be able to produce this kind of effect, right?"


    Mu Xin was only Eon Energy Master Rank 3, so it would be impossible for her to control the element. Besides, the ice element should be the intermediate element after water. Having her controlled water this early would be strange.


    "Normally, it''s impossible," Qin Zheng frowned. "I''ll try to search for it again. This temperature is unique."


    Even though when someone got angry, the atmosphere would turn cold, he could faintly sense a different coldness from Mu Xin. If it was just because her attitude normally was cold, it didn''t seem to be that normal.


    "Thank you, Senior Brother Qin," Mu Xin bowed. "I''m terribly sorry for inconveniencing you like this."


    "It??s fine. Thanks to you I can get another metal from Ye Jiao."


    Ye Jiao: "¡­" I should just stab him to death.


    Mu Xin smiled lightly, showing a rare smile on her face. "I''ll deal with him tomorrow."


    "Wait, you mean you need to fight against numerous opponents again?" Ye Jiao interrupted. The sight of Mu Xin before clearly told her that she must be forced to fight her opponents consecutively without a break. Even though Mu Xin is powerful, it wouldn''t be easy to fight 10 opponents one after another.


    Mu Xin nodded. "Yes."


    "Let me come with you tomorrow," Ye Jiao suggested.


    "Don''t you have your own training?"


    "Tomorrow is break day," Qin Zheng said leisurely. "There''s no morning training and no classes."


    Ye Jiao grinned. "How''s that, Xin Jie?"


    "Sure, but what are you planning?"


    "What''s your deal with that man that I don''t know the name of?"


    Mu Xin giggled when she heard the way Ye Jiao called the man assigned to supervise her. "I just have to agree to fight 10 battles every day with the seniors he chooses."


    "Right, there''s no deals about the fight, right?" Ye Jiao grinned. "Leave it to me!"


    Qin Zheng stood up. "After you have finished, go to the square, we''re going to visit the market."


    "Ah, you have finished making the sword?" Ye Jiao was surprised.


    Qin Zheng shook his head. "I haven''t finished making that fire sword. Senior Sister Lin says that it''s a shame if I use it to create a sword just to sell, so I''m planning on using it for another thing. I have some other weapons that I need to sell."


    "Alright, I''ll go with you. Can Xin Jie come along?"


    "Sure."


    Ye Jiao stood up too. "See you later tomorrow, Xin Jie. Just rest for today."


    Mu Xin nodded. She watched as Ye Jiao ran in small steps near Qin Zheng. Her lips curled up into a smile. Her little sister might no longer need her protection in this academy, but she would make sure that she was not left behind.


    In the next moment, she began her training once again, and waves of Eon Energy entered her body at rapid speed.

 386 Ye Jiao’s Plan

    Ye Jiao arrived at the arena with several people looking in her direction. After all, her small figure was pretty rare.


    "Xin Jie!" Ye Jiao waved her hand when she saw Mu Xin heading inside.


    Mu Xin smiled slightly. "How come you''re the one who is here early?"


    "I just ran all the way here," Ye Jiao grinned. She didn''t use Eon Energy, though, for she didn''t wish to tire herself before the arena.


    Tep!


    "So you''ve arrived," the senior looked at Ye Jiao with wariness. Ye Jiao was wearing the Elite Disciple''s robe, so it was easy for him to recognize her status. He didn''t understand how a disciple with such status would come here.


    Mu Xin nodded. "Let''s finish this quickly."


    "Wait, I''ll fight with you, Xin Jie!" Ye Jiao grabbed Mu Xin''s arm and clung onto her just like a little kid.


    The senior''s jaw dropped open when he saw Ye Jiao''s action. Everyone knew that Elite Disciples were still young because they were still under 14 years old, but he didn''t know that they could act like a little kid too. Was this girl still 9 years old?


    "It''s a personal fight!" the senior quickly interjected.


    "You just say that Xin Jie has to fight with 10 people daily, but didn''t mention whether she had to fight alone or not," Ye Jiao rebutted.


    "That¡­"


    The senior was at loss. He did tell Mu Xin to fight with 10 people because he wanted to see her getting defeated. However, he truly didn''t mention anything about her bringing someone to help her in the arena.


    "You can even bring double the number," Ye Jiao grinned. "I don''t mind at all."


    "Ye Jiao!" Mu Xin was stunned. Even she would feel exhausted fighting against 10 people, what more 20? She might not have to run in the mountains today, but it would still be tiring.


    New Inner and Outer Disciples also have to run on the mountains, but their distance was different. In addition, they have more variety in the terrain to train their adaptability because many of them were already much older and needed to learn how to adapt better.


    "Sure, don''t take your words back."


    Ye Jiao grinned and turned to look at Mu Xin. "Trust me, Xin Jie."


    "You¡­" Mu Xin sighed internally. She nodded. "Fine."


    The two of them headed to the arena. The senior called his friends to gather in the place. He looked at the two of them.


    "You shall fight against two people at once."


    "Sure."


    "No problem."


    The two seniors that this man had selected came into the arena. They looked at Ye Jiao and Mu Xin with doubts. Even though they knew that Mu Xin was capable, it was known that the young girl wouldn''t be able to last that long.


    Slash!


    The moment the word ''start'' was spoken out, Ye Jiao had arrived by the two''s side and swung her dagger. It took her less than one second to deal a blow to them, sending them out of the arena instantly.


    Blood gushed out from their chest as no one was able to react.


    *cough* *cough*


    As they began to cough, their friends hurriedly came to their side. Their wound was deep, and if they were late, their life would be in danger.


    "Huh? You''re so slow." Ye Jiao looked at the senior. She smiled. "Next, please."


    Right now, the seniors were looking at Ye Jiao as if they were looking at a demon. That speed from the time it began was simply too quick. They were unable to react at all, and their friends were already sent outside, right at death''s door.


    "Y-you''re cheating! You shouldn''t have attacked them like that!" the senior pointed at Ye Jiao frantically.


    "It has begun, so it''s normal, right?" Ye Jiao shrugged. "Would you wait for your enemy to say that they''re going to attack so that you can prepare yourself?"


    The senior gritted his teeth. "It won''t happen again. You two, come inside. It''s just a fluke."


    "Ok."


    Another two of them came inside. They watched Ye Jiao warily while the girl returned back to Mu Xin''s side. Her figure might be small, but that attack just now told them that she was dangerous.


    "Ready? Start!"


    Slash!


    Once again, the two of them were sent outside the arena. Ye Jiao had moved behind them and swung her dagger without them being able to react. She looked at the group of men with arched eyebrows. "You know that I can attack your back too, right?"


    The two of them were unable to answer as they were in tremendous pain. Their friends had to force them to eat the medicine, or they wouldn''t be able to survive.


    The senior was in a panic as fear filled his eyes. Ye Jiao''s action was simply too casual. Even though they were all at least Eon Energy Master Rank 3 middle stage, they couldn''t react to her speed at all.


    "Y-y-you should let Mu Xin fight!"


    "Fine," Ye Jiao agreed and moved to Mu Xin''s side. She looked at her sister and smiled. "There''s no need to hold back."


    "Yes," Mu Xin understood from Ye Jiao''s action that she wanted to inflict fear to these seniors. They might be new students, but it didn''t mean that they could easily be bullied like that.


    The senior sent another two inside the arena.


    "Ready? Begin!"


    Ye Jiao didn''t move from her place, but she looked straight in the two people''s direction. Her gaze was filled with murderous intent. The two seniors froze in their steps for a split second as Mu Xin charged forward. Her sword danced and headed to them next in a split second.


    Slash!


    The two seniors were sent outside with their neck bleeding. Their eyes were filled with fear as they felt as if they were sent to the death''s door in that instant. Not a single one of them has formed a killing intent, so it was hard for them to counter Ye Jiao''s sudden killing intent at them.


    "Y-you!"


    "Next," Mu Xin said coldly.


    The senior could only grit his teeth and sent another two again. Over and over again, they got out of the arena with deep wounds, sending them near death''s door. It caused fear to grow inside their heart. Even the spectators were astonished by the progress these two showed.


    "You, get up!" the senior was angry and just randomly pointed at one of his friends.


    Slash!


    Not a single one of them managed to last even a few seconds. They were all sent outside the arena with bad condition. Slowly but surely, their gazes when they saw this senior turned cold.


    "I got some points here," Ye Jiao commented. Because their position was lower, she could only get 3 points per person. So far, she had already got 54 points just from fighting them all. It was truly easy to farm points here.


    Mu Xin nodded. "I got more."


    The senior''s face was ashen. He gritted his teeth.


    Mu Xin looked at the senior. "Do you dare to fight with me?"


    Not only Mu Xin, but his friends were also looking at him. This man was already Eon Energy Master Rank 3 middle stage. It wouldn''t be weird for him to be the one to fight against Mu Xin.


    "Get up," one of his friends pushed him to the arena.


    "You."


    "Fight. It''s your turn."


    Ye Jiao moved to the back of the ring and leaned on the rope with a smile on her face. "Since it''s just one opponent, I''m sure you can do it, right Xin Jie?"


    "Yes."


    The senior''s face paled. He had seen how brutal these two were that he felt afraid.


    His friend sneered. "Ready? Begin!"


    The moment his friend said that the senior placed his sword in a defensive position. Mu Xin twisted her body and swung her sword towards the man''s neck. Before the senior could adjust his position, he felt sudden pressure coming at him. Thick and violent killing intent was directed straight at him.


    Slash!


    "AAAAAAAaahhhhhhhhhhhh!"


    As his hand was placed right in front of his neck, it was cut along with a part of his neck. Mu Xin''s sword was capable of cutting through bones.


    His friends didn''t move to help him. They were looking at him with disgust. Because of this man, many of them nearly lost their lives in the battle just now. This time, it was his turn.


    "H-hehlppp¡­..meeee¡­."


    No one moved as they didn''t care for him anymore.

 387 Bustling Marke

    "It''s already too late too. He had lost too much blood. Even if he manages to survive, he won''t be able to recover fully anymore. Besides, it''s unavoidable that deaths can happen in the arena," Ye Jiao replied in an unhurried tone. She had seen this situation over and over in the past.


    People were selfish. When they realized that their friend or leader was giving the order to die, they would instead try to save themselves. Rather than staying loyal, it would be better for them to just betray their cold-hearted friend. She had seen this countless times when dealing with bandits, so Ye Jiao used the same tactics.


    Mu Xin nodded. She noticed that one of them finally moved and shoved a pill in the senior''s mouth roughly. He didn''t even seem to care whether the senior ate it or not.


    "I see."


    "Xin Jie."


    "Yes?"


    ???Are you disappointed in me?" Ye Jiao looked up.


    When they first met, Ye Jiao was just a little girl that knew nothing about the world. She would constantly ask Mu Xin about many other things and even shiver when she heard the word kill. However, she had changed. Death has become a common word that she uttered and heard over and over.


    There was no more hesitation or emotion when she mentioned about killing someone anymore.


    "No, not at all." Mu Xin smiled slightly. "We all grow up, and this world indeed requires us to be cruel to our enemies."


    "Mhm."


    They walked out of the arena as the teachers came hurriedly. They saw the condition of the student was getting worse, so one of them came here. His eyes instantly locked on that senior.


    "What''s happening here?"


    "He''s wounded because of a duel," one of them spoke out. "You can check the surveillance, Teacher."


    The teacher frowned. He was about to speak again when he noticed Ye Jiao and Mu Xin walking away. From the way Ye Jiao dressed, she must be Elite Disciple. However, why did she come here?


    "I need one of you to tell me what''s going on."


    One student shrugged and began to tell. He was just a passerby, but he watched the battle from the start until the end, so it was easy for him to retell everything. The teacher was feeling a bit furious at the situation, but this happened from time to time. It was their mistake to pick a petty student to take care of a new student.


    "I''ll take him away."


    Using Eon Energy, he brought the student away. Even though the senior was on the death''s door, he was still alive. However, he would never be able to reach the same height as before anymore as he had lost his right hand.


    ¡­


    Ye Jiao and Mu Xin headed to the square. Qin Zheng and the others were already waiting there.


    Lin Cai waved her hand. "Whoa, is that your friend, Jiao''er?"


    "It''s an honor to meet you." Mu Xin bowed politely. She felt a bit awkward, yet at the same time, she knew that she wouldn''t be able to meet with them all if not because she knew Ye Jiao.


    "Since all of you have gathered here, let''s go to market!" Lin Cai turned around and dashed towards the direction of the gate.


    Qi Huan was surprised. "Is it outside?"


    "Yes," Qin Zheng started walking unhurriedly. "That gate is connected to the city on the mountain foot. Normally, a lot of disciples would come here when it''s time for break time because they can find a lot of things in the city."


    "What can you find there, Senior Brother Qin?"


    "You shall see."


    Crossing the gate, Ye Jiao felt comfortable. It was extremely similar to the time when she used the teleportation gate that Elder Qian created for them to reach the academy. There was no repulsion or whatsoever.


    The bustling market entered her eyes. There were numerous people on the street, with most of them being adults. They were laughing and busy chatting with one another, haggling for a cheaper price with a smile on their face. It looked extremely lively.


    "Whoa!" Ye Jiao exclaimed in surprise. "This is amazing!"


    "I never thought that the market could be this lively," Lu Wan was also stunned. The atmosphere was peaceful and calm, totally unlike when he was in the Chen Kingdom. Back then, he could occasionally feel the tense aura.


    "People here are friendly because they learn how to depend on each other," Lin Cai grinned. "They''re already together through life and death, so it''s common for them to become friends with one another."


    "Life and death?" Lu Wan was stunned.


    Qi Huan nodded. "The beast tide. To be able to survive must have enhanced their connection. It''s a bond created through danger."


    Mu Xin swept her gaze across the market. It felt comfortable there. She didn''t really like crowds, but it was better in this place as she didn''t feel repulsion towards the people who were filling the street.


    "I''ll go buy some sweets!"


    "Ah, right, what''s the currency you use here?" Ye Jiao turned to face Qin Zheng. She had heard about those Eon Energy Stones, but she didn''t have any.


    "You can use coins," Qin Zheng replied. "But for rare equipment and the likes, you need to use Eon Energy Stones. You''ll start receiving the stones when you have passed the four months as your monthly salary."


    Salary?


    The word caused Ye Jiao to raise her brows. It sounded as if she was working even though she was actually studying in the academy. Still, it didn''t feel that bad to think that she could earn money just by studying.


    Of course, her results have to be good if she wants to earn a lot.


    Lin Cai returned soon afterwards with several chocolate candies in her arms. She grinned. "You can buy a lot of them in the stores for one gold coin."


    "Gold coin?" Lu Wan was stunned. A single gold coin could only earn them that many? That was daylight robbery!


    "There''s Eon Energy imbued in the candies, so you can recover your Eon Energy faster," Qin Zheng explained. "However, you will need more than 10 if you wish for it to be effective since you''re already Eon Energy Master Rank 3."


    "I''ll pass," Ye Jiao smiled wryly. Her teeth would hurt first before it showed any effect on her body.


    "I''ll just go search for herbs," Lu Wan grinned. "Come on, there are some interesting herbs over there."


    "I prefer to search for rare minerals. There''s a stone gambling not far from the mine," Qin Zheng replied.


    "I''ll just stroll around," Mu Xin replied. She didn''t really have much interest in them.


    Lin Cai grinned and pulled Mu Xin. "Let''s search for food together. I''m sure that there are a lot of interesting ones there."


    Qi Huan sighed. "So, are we going to split up?"


    "Let''s go to the place you want one by one."

 388 Antique Store

    "There are some herbs that I just learned yesterday," Lu Wan commented as he stopped in front of one of them. "Oh, this one will be a good choice!"


    "What''s that?" Ye Jiao asked.


    Qin Zheng pondered for a moment. "Rot Grass. It''s usually used as the basic poison''s composition with fire attribute because of the scorching effect it has."


    "I see."


    It took Lu Wan some time before he finished browsing the stalls. There were also some rocks there, but Qin Zheng didn''t pay them any interest. Some of them might look rare, but they were actually pretty common. What he wanted were the rare ones.


    They stopped when they reached a weapon store.


    "I''m going to sell a sword," Qin Zheng pointed to the store. "Do you want to come in too?"


    "Sure!"


    "Ok."


    The four of them entered the store. The owner quickly stood up when he saw Qin Zheng. "Senior Qin, are you going to sell new parts?"


    "It''s a weapon this time," Qin Zheng replied with a smile. He swiped his hand, and a large grey sword appeared on his hand. It was pretty long, yet at the same time, there was an imposing aura emanating from it.


    The owner was astonished. "S-senior Qin, did you reach a yellow rank?"


    "Uh huh," Qin Zheng didn''t hide it. "But I haven''t been evaluated again, so I''m still in orange rank."


    "Amazing! You''re truly the youngest and most talented Forging Master in the world!" the owner praised. His eyes were ogling at the sword on Qin Zheng''s hand. "May I.¡­ May I take a look?"


    "Yes."


    The owner held the sword tenderly. It was perfect in balance that one wouldn''t believe that the one who made it was only 12 years old. "Senior Qin, may I ask if this is the first weapon that you make?"


    "Of course not," Qin Zheng laughed. "Have you ever heard a Forging Master selling their first ever weapon that they make?"


    "No."


    "What''s your evaluation, Owner Wan?" Qin Zheng changed the conversation.


    "This is definitely a good sword. I can''t deny that. However, it''s made from normal iron and has limited capabilities, so I can only offer you 2000 low grade Eon Energy Stones," the owner replied after pondering.


    In this area, Forging Master was rather common because of the rich minerals and metals available. Many of them couldn''t sell a weapon at a high price because of the fierce competition. If they sold it outside, it might fetch twice to five times the price they could get in this place. However, many of them still chose to sell it here because it was not known when they could get out.


    "Here you go."


    Ye Jiao turned her head to Qi Huan. "What''s the normal trade rate in this place?"


    "Well, with one low grade Eon Energy Stone, you can buy a loaf of bread," Qi Huan joked. He quickly continued his words when he saw the dark line on Ye Jiao''s face. "I''m just kidding. Even though you can buy a meal for a few low grade Eon Energy Stones, it''s normally used to buy martial artist weapons and so on.


    Normal swords in this area can be bought at the price of 500 to 1000 low grade Eon Energy stones, but if you want a higher rank, they can reach 100 middle grade low grade Eon Energy Stones. Also, the exchange rate is 1000 low grade Eon Energy Stones for 1 middle grade Eon Energy Stones."


    "That means the sword is quite good."


    "Yes."


    "Do you also have weapons to sell?"


    Ye Jiao nodded. She might want to buy something later, so it would be better for her to sell things that she didn''t need. She took out a sword from that Eon Energy Master Rank 4 she battled in the Chen Kingdom. It might be able to fetch some price.


    The owner''s eyes lit up. "It''s not really a good sword, but it''s not too bad. Are you also a Forging Master, Miss?"


    "No, I just happen to get them," Ye Jiao denied. "How much can I get for it?"


    "It''s made by a talented Forging Master, so it can fetch the price of 3000 low grade Eon Energy Stones," the owner replied after some time. He looked at Ye Jiao. "Are you sure you want to sell such a good sword?"


    "I''m not a swordswoman" Ye Jiao smiled. "I have a few more. Do you mind taking a look?"


    "Not at all."


    In the end, Ye Jiao sold a few weapons that were sitting inside her storage bracelet for 15000 low grade Eon Energy Stones. It was quite a huge amount for her as she had never expected that the weapons that she plundered could fetch a lot of amounts.


    "You can get a higher price if you sell it outside," Qin Zheng told her when they came out.


    Ye Jiao grinned. "I know, but I don''t want to keep them for a long time in my storage bracelet. I''m not sure whether they''ll be able to track me or not."


    "Hmm, you''re right."


    If it was found in the store, it must have been sold. Since this place was known for its Forging Master, it was certain that they wouldn''t know how many times a weapon would change its owner. In a way, she had erased the track they could possibly have.


    Qi Huan smiled. "You''re cunning at times."


    "Hehehe."


    "Now, where do you want to go?" Lu Wan yawned. He was not interested in any of them.


    Qin Zheng pointed to the other areas. "I want to go to the stone gambling area, but it''s outside the market. Is there any place that you want to visit first, Jiao''er and Qi Huan?"


    "None for me," Qi Huan shook his head.


    Ye Jiao was about to decline when her eyes landed on the nearby store''s plate. It was written. "Hua Antique Store"


    "Is that the store that sells flower''s antique?" (note: Hua means flower)


    Qin Zheng shook his head. "No, but it''s a store that belongs to the Hua Shan Academy. That''s why the name is written as Hua."


    "Let''s take a look?"


    "Sure."


    The four of them entered the antique store. There were a lot of weird items that they have never seen before. Ye Jiao''s eyes were stunned as she couldn''t give a name to them all.


    "Welcome," a shopkeeper greeted them. He was wearing the Inner Disciple clothes, but Ye Jiao didn''t recognize him. There were too many Inner Disciple students in the Hua Shan Academy for her to remember them all.


    "Hello."


    "Are you searching for something?"


    "We''re just here to take a look," Qi Huan responded politely while Lu Wan and Ye Jiao looked around curiously.


    "Wow, this is a bronze mirror?" Lu Wan was stunned to see the yellow mirror in front of him. It made him look strange.


    "It''s a concave mirror," Ye Jiao giggled. She didn''t try to look and moved to the other side of the place. Even though it was faint, she could sense Eon Energy movements in this place. Some of the items must be precious because they contained Eon Energy inside.


    Her eyes landed on a dark red blood colored headpiece on the side. It was diamond shaped and looked beautiful.


    "Shopkeeper, how much is this headpiece?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.


    The shopkeeper smiled. "It''s 10000 low grade Eon Energy Stones."


    "10000? That''s daylight robbery!" Lu Wan exclaimed. This place truly taught him new things about the price. Everything here seemed to be very expensive for him.


    "Antiques are normally expensive," Qi Huan laughed dryly. Even in his kingdom back then, each antique was expensive because of the history behind them.


    "I''ll take it."


    "Jiao''er?"

 389 Array and Formation Master

    "Jiao''er?"


    They were stunned when they heard Ye Jiao said that she would buy it. From the looks of it, it was just a normal headpiece, right? They could buy a lot of cheaper ones from other stores outside.


    The shopkeeper was also surprised by Ye Jiao''s decision, at the same time, excited as well. "You have great eyes, Miss!"


    "What great eyes, this must be¡­mph!"


    Qi Huan stopped Lu Wan before the brat could continue his words. No matter what, this store belonged to the Hua Shan Academy, so they better not try to offend its owner. "Jiao''er, are you sure?"


    "Yes."


    Qin Zheng looked at Ye Jiao deeply. "If you like it that much, you should buy it."


    "Ok." Ye Jiao took out 10000 low grade Eon Energy Stones from her Storage Bracelet. She grinned at the shopkeeper. "You''re not going to raise the price, right?"


    "I won''t." he laughed.


    Ye Jiao picked up the headpiece and inserted her Eon Energy inside as she walked towards the door''s direction. Her brows creased when she saw the numerous strange words that appeared inside the diamond. Slowly, she started to trace them with her Eon Energy.


    "Ye Jiao?" Lu Wan was confused.


    Qin Zheng raised his index finger to his mouth. "Ssh, she''s concentrating."


    As they were focused on Ye Jiao, they faintly heard sounds of footsteps coming from behind them. And from the second floor of the store, a middle-aged man came down. His eyes were fixated on Ye Jiao and immediately recognized the Elite Disciple''s costume. After all, that purple collar was fairly rare.


    "It seems that my store is pretty popular today."


    The three of them quickly turned around. Only Ye Jiao was still busy with the headpiece on her hand as her Eon Energy entered the diamond shape.


    "Elder Qian!"


    Bletak!


    Qin Zheng didn''t forget to hit Lu Wan''s head before he bowed down in courtesy.


    "Elite Disciple Qin Zheng (Qi Huan) greets Elder Qian."


    "Oouch, Core Disciple Lu Wan greets Elder Qian," Lu Wan followed suit. Internally, he was sulking because he understood that his habit of acting all he wanted has backfired today. He was actually acting insolent in front of a leader without any fear whatsoever.


    Elder Qian waved his hand. His eyes were fixated on Ye Jiao.


    "Elder Qian, is this headpiece an Eon Energy Treasure?" Qin Zheng asked as he straightened his position.


    His question caused both Qi Huan and Lu Wan to be astonished. They thought that this place was only filled with antiques that were beautiful but without any real value behind them except beauty.


    Elder Qian nodded his head. "I inserted some of them in the store. I didn''t expect you to recognize it so soon, Qin Zheng."


    "You should know that a normal Eon Energy Treasure is worth 100 middle grade Eon Energy Stones, right?"


    100 middle grade Eon Energy Stones!


    Lu Wan''s jaw practically dropped when he heard it. Ye Jiao bought it for only 10 middle grade Eon Energy Stones, so it meant that she was only paying 10% of it. Damn! If he knew it was an Eon Energy Treasure, he would just buy it before her.


    Oh wait, he didn''t have money¡­.


    On the other hand, the shopkeeper felt like banging his head on the wall. He was here for years, yet he never realized that there was an Eon Energy Treasure near him. With his savings, he still could buy it because the price was fixed by Elder Qian.


    Ahh, he regretted it so much.


    By this time, Ye Jiao had finished tracing the words and reached the core of the diamond. As she had to control her Eon Energy extremely slowly and carefully, it took her some time. In addition, she had to make them as thin as possible, or it wouldn''t fit correctly.


    The blood diamond lit up as blood colored words appeared around her body. Ye Jiao was astonished and looked at the words with confusion. She might need to study them when she returns.


    "Jiao''er¡­"


    "Don''t touch her," Elder Qian warned. "That''s a blood killing array, and if you get close to her, you''ll be killed instantly."


    Lu Wan''s hand froze in the air. Did he say array? Looking at the words around Ye Jiao''s body, his lips twitched. This girl activated an array just like that.


    "Uhm, Elite Disciple Ye Jiao greets Elder Qian," Ye Jiao greeted while her eyes still followed after the blood colored words around her carefully. She had not expected that this headpiece would be this powerful.


    Elder Qian shook his head. "You can retract your Eon Energy, and it''ll stop."


    "Ah," Ye Jiao did as he told her and pulled her Eon Energy back. The words around her took a few seconds before it disappeared. All along, she was still curious what those strange words could possibly mean,


    "Is that really an array?" Qi Huan asked. His tone was doubtful.


    Before this, they have only seen a large array that was either built with pillars or with some strange drawing and runes on the ground in a circle. Even though the words that appeared around Ye Jiao must be something similar to that, they couldn''t connect it to the arrays that they knew.


    "Yes, it''s an array," Qin Zheng was the one to reply. "You haven''t learned in detail, but arrays are formations that can react to a situation. It might look strange, but it''s genuinely an array that can activate itself if you get too close to Jiao''er."


    "Interesting," Qi Huan commented.


    Elder Qian looked at Ye Jiao with curiosity. "Why are you interested in this headpiece in the first place, Little Lass?"


    "Oh?" Ye Jiao looked at the headpiece in her hand. She smiled sheepishly. "That''s because I can sense Eon Energy movements from inside the blood diamond. When there''s Eon Energy passed by the small holes inside, it''s not just passing, but also affecting the movements. So, I''m guessing that this must be something special. Other antiques in this place have Eon Energy inside, but neither one of them could influence the movements."


    "Your sensitivity is rather high," Elder Qian commented. He knew that Qin Zheng was also sensitive, but Ye Jiao brought that sensitivity to another level.


    Qin Zheng frowned. "You always say that to everyone with S talent."


    "Not all S talent has high sensitivity," Elder Qian shook his head. "Also, you''re correct. Eon Energy Treasures need Eon Energy to activate, but they can also be activated at will. That''s why they''ll influence the movements of Eon Energy around them."


    "Activate at will?"


    "By dropping your blood on it, you''re binding that Eon Energy Treasure with you," Elder Qian explained. He recalled that Ye Jiao is a new student, so he was patient in giving the explanation.


    "I see," Ye Jiao bit her finger and let a drop of blood drip on the headpiece. Instantly, she could feel a connection into the headpiece. It was as if the headpiece could activate at her will without the need for her to worry at all.


    "Now that I have finished my explanation," Elder Qian looked at Ye Jiao eagerly. "Are you willing to be my disciple?"


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 390 Learning Basic of Runes

    Qi Huan passed the young man a sidelong glance. "Why are you so surprised? Didn''t you also get a similar question?"


    "Well, yeah, but it''s only after I see the teacher''s ability and also a few hours of partial begging." Lu Wan''s face darkened. He was impressed by his teacher''s ability, so he asked to be his disciple. However, that eccentric master didn''t want to receive a disciple randomly. Even now, he still didn''t have any proper guidance.


    "You can search for other masters?"


    "He''s the best in Hua Shan Academy." Lu Wan''s face scrunched. "You don''t even have any teacher, Qi Huan."


    "I have. Also, you need to call me politely," Qi Huan reminded.


    "Fine, Senior Brother Qi. Wait, you say that you have a master? Since when?"


    "Since the second day. Do you remember our homeroom teacher? I ask her to be my teacher, and she agrees."


    Lu Wan''s mind spun hard as his jaw dropped. He pointed to Qi Huan. "Why did you ask that without trying to find more talented teachers?"


    "Teacher Chen is the best water element teacher in Hua Shan Academy," Qi Huan explained. "As for illusive¡­"


    His eyes landed on the middle-aged man in front of Ye Jiao. He had heard about Elder Qian''s capability and knew that this seemingly ordinary man was actually one of the strongest elders in Hua Shan Academy. His prowess in illusive was the best, but he hasn''t taken any disciple lately because he was focusing on his array mastery.


    "Sorry?" Ye Jiao was stunned.


    Elder Qian smiled. "I''m also a teacher in the Hua Shan Academy. You can come to me to learn much more if you become my disciple."


    Ye Jiao blinked. She knew that she would learn a lot, but she hadn''t made any decision in regards to her master. Turning her head to Qin Zheng, she was hoping that he could give her some explanation.


    "Elder Qian specializes in wind elements and illusive specialization," Qin Zheng said plainly. "However, he''s also known as a perv¡­."


    Bletak!


    Qin Zheng''s forehead was red because Elder Qian had thrown something at the man''s forehead with his wind element. "Brat, don''t spout lies!"


    "I''m not."


    "Yes, you are."


    "It''s the truth that your half disciples are mostly females, so I just conclude that you must be a perv¡­"


    This time, Qin Zheng managed to narrowly evade the attack from Elder Qian. He smirked a bit when he saw the teacher fumed in anger. Even though Elder Qian was a calm man on the outside, Qin Zheng always tried to find something to prank his teachers. Of course, Elder Qian was not an exception.


    "Most of the disciples with illusive talent are females," Elder Qian rolled his eyes. "Besides, half disciples mean that they''re just learning a bit from me."


    To become a formal disciple of a teacher in an academy, they needed to be at least Elite Disciple or Core Disciple. Also, not all Core Disciples could get formal master because they needed to reach at least top 50 and stayed in that position for a year. If they dropped due to a challenge, the time reset again.


    Besides, those Elite Disciples would be learning the school''s greatest technique when they reached rank 4. This was the reason the academy put the utmost importance to these Elite Disciples. They could lose their position only if the principal deemed them to be unsuitable.


    "Females?" Lu Wan turned his head to look at Qin Zheng and Qi Huan. If he was not wrong, these two have talent in the illusive.


    "Normally, Lu Wan." Qi Huan''s tone was dangerous as killing intent brewed within his eyes. If his junior brother dared to say that he''s a female, he didn''t mind sending Lu Wan a course of beating.


    "Yes!" Lu Wan turned his head away as he didn''t wish to meet with Qi Huan''s eyes. That young man would definitely kill him.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "But I''m not going to specialize in wind elements nor illusives."


    "He''s not planning to become your teacher in your specialization," Qin Zheng sighed. There was no teacher suitable to teach Ye Jiao in that regard in this academy. "Elder Qian is also the greatest Rune Master in this academy."


    "Really?" Ye Jiao was astonished.


    "Yes," Qin Zheng nodded. "He should be in yellow rank¡­."


    Bang!


    "It''s light green rank, Brat!" Elder Qian felt that his patience was tested by this annoying brat over and over.


    "That''s amazing!"


    "So, do you want to become my student, Little Lass?"


    "Let me think about it first," Ye Jiao replied back. She was still not sure whether she would want to study runes or not. Even though it was interesting, if she didn''t have any talent, it would be better if she thinks more about it.


    Elder Qian nearly dropped to the ground when he heard Ye Jiao''s answer. Even the shopkeeper behind him felt like crying. A lot of people wished to be Elder Qian''s student and even becoming his half disciple was already satisfying for them.


    Yet this girl said that she would think it over.


    Elder Qian scratched the back of his head. "If you''re worried about talent, you''ve got a really good talent."


    Hell, it was not just good, but he didn''t want to tell the truth. Even though she was unfamiliar with the words, she was able to activate the runes by following after their words. It was not something ordinary people could do. Even those who have S talent might not be necessarily able to do so. After all, the complicated words need a different amount of Eon Energy.


    "Is that so?" Ye Jiao looked at the headpiece on her hand.


    "I''ll teach you from the very basics about runes," Elder Qian replied. He would feel a bit bad if this girl didn''t learn runes when she clearly has great talent with it. "Within a few years, I''m sure that you can reach my level."


    A few years?


    Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. He knew that Elder Qian looked like he was in middle age, but this man was already pretty old. It was only because he had reached rank 5 that he could look younger. This man spent around four decades to reach light Green Rank, and he said that Ye Jiao could reach the same rank in just a few years.


    His lips curled up. It seemed that his little junior had another talent she could nurture.


    "You should accept it, Jiao''er. It''s not a bad deal," Qin Zheng suggested. Just as Elder Qian cheered up, he heard Qin Zheng continued. "But you should ask for more rewards from this stingy Elder."


    "Qin Zheng, should I punish you by giving you more weights tomorrow?" Elder Qian threatened.


    Qin Zheng''s face darkened. He had already got a few hundred kilos, thanks to Lin Cai complaining to Shen Dian. If he had to add more weight, he might not be able to finish the training.


    Ye Jiao giggled. She looked at the headpiece. Originally, she only came here because this headpiece looked interesting. Who would have thought that she would also gain the chance to learn runes from the best master in the academy?


    She turned towards Elder Qian and kowtowed. "Disciple Ye Jiao greets Teacher Qian!"


    Elder Qian laughed. "Good! My good disciple. Master naturally won''t be stingy with you, so this is Eon Energy gathering array for you."


    He took out a round plate and handed it to Ye Jiao. The young girl could see some drawing on top of the plate, but she couldn''t recognize any of the words. It would take her a long time to learn them all.


    "Here are some of the basic books," Elder Qian took out several dozen books from his Spatial Ring. He handed them all to Ye Jiao. "I want you to first read them all and memorize all 1000 existing runes in this era."


    1000?


    Ye Jiao was stunned. She did expect that there would be a lot of runes but didn''t think that it would be this many.


    "There are 100 basic runes, 300 Intermediate runes, and 600 advanced runes," Elder Qian explained. "Aside from these 1000, there are other special runes, but you should just memorize them all first. Also, you need to know their characteristics by heart."


    "Yes, Master!"


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 391 Mineral Stone Gambling

    As they got out of the Antique Store, Lu Wan looked at Ye Jiao with envy. "You''re very lucky, Jiao''er."


    "Yeah," Ye Jiao nodded her head. "I''m happy that I can start learning them."


    "Don''t forget your lesson as well. If you don''t pass, you won''t be able to study anything else because you''ll be punished," Qin Zheng reminded her.


    "Wait, there''s punishment?" Lu Wan was shocked.


    "Yes," Qi Huan nodded. He had read the rules yesterday, so he still remembered them all. "If you didn''t manage to complete the four months'' training, your rank would be downgraded by one, and you have to do the same training after your first mission in Spring."


    Do the same training?


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. The thought of repeating this hellish training would never cross her mind at all. She already had enough running for the next four months. There was no need to add even more.


    "Let''s go to the mining area," Qin Zheng pointed in one direction.


    "Don''t we need to wait for Senior Sister Lin?"


    "No need to worry, she''s going to be fine, running a few rounds to find food."


    The others: "¡­" why did I have the feeling that Senior Sister Lin loves food?


    "She has a sweet tooth."


    After saying that, Qin Zheng didn''t reveal anything about Lin Cai anymore. They headed to the mining area outside the market. There were a lot of people carrying colorful stones outside. Each of them has Eon Energy inside, but it was unclear what type of stones they were.


    The stones were piled up in one area. There was also a different area filled with metals that were also piled up.


    "This is the place for stone gambling?" Lu Wan was surprised. He had never seen the place before, making him utterly curious. It didn''t seem to be any different from a mining area where they just threw everything outside.


    Qin Zheng nodded. "This used to be a mine, but the route in the caves got connected with several different mines. Since the number of metals has been decreasing, it''s hard to find anything valuable anymore. They change the way to trade the stones for everyone who feels that they''re lucky."


    "There are two piles," Ye Jiao pointed to the other ones.


    "It''s the one that can be seen as ores. However, most of them are just low grade unused ores. The prices are higher because if you smelt them, it might reveal better ores, but the chance is slim."


    Qi Huan stroked his chin. "Some ores look no different than stones, and only experts can differentiate them. However, all of us are Eon Energy Master Rank 3 at the very least, don''t you think it''s easy for us to sense the Eon Energy?"


    Eon Energy is the basic energy of everything in the world. Everything has a bit of Eon Energy, even stones. Those valuable metals naturally have much more Eon Energy inside them, but differentiating them from ordinary stones was not easy. Except they have high sensitivity, they would need to rely on the stones'' characteristics around them.


    Lu Wan turned his head to Ye Jiao. "Does it mean she''ll be able to sense them?"


    "She couldn''t differentiate them even if she knows that they contain Eon Energy," Qin Zheng chuckled. "Besides, they can just pour Eon Energy on the surface of the rocks to make it harder to differentiate them."


    "Ah¡­"


    Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. If it was that easy, she might be able to consider becoming a supplier of ores. Her eyes landed on the pile of the stones as she could sense the Eon Energy brimming from the middle.


    Qin Zheng walked to the pile. "Every stone here cost 100 low grade Eon Energy Stones to buy, so if you want one, you need to make sure that you have the money to pay."


    100?


    Lu Wan wanted to cry. He still didn''t have any money. Considering that there were possibilities for these stones to contain valuable ore, it was no wonder that they decided to give a high price. However, who in the world would be able to pick so many valuable stones in this densely packed pile of stones?


    "Let''s start picking stones."


    Qin Zheng closed his eyes as he started to use his Eon Energy to examine the stones. There was no restriction to use their Eon Energy to probe because it was not easy even with probing. After all, there were more than a million stones in this pile.


    Trying to find one valuable ore wouldn''t be easy.


    Ye Jiao picked up a stone curiously. She could sense a bit of Eon Energy inside the stone, but it was not much different from other stones.


    "I''ll be taking this stone," a hand took the stone in Ye Jiao''s hand.


    "Hey! She''s looking at that stone!" Lu Wan berated.


    The one who took it was a beautiful woman. She has long blonde hair with a slender figure. The Hua Shan Academy''s mark on her robe told them clearly that she must be a Core Disciple in that academy.


    "Do you plan to buy it?" the woman looked at Ye Jiao with a bit of disdain. The slight Eon Energy around her told them clearly that she must be rank 4. Also, she must have been in that rank for quite some time considering her stable foundation.


    Ye Jiao furrowed her brows. She disliked this woman for using her higher rank to pressure her, but she indeed didn''t have any plan to buy it.


    "Yes, she''ll buy it," Qin Zheng interrupted. His cold gaze was looking straight to the woman, who was taller than him. "Do you have any objection with it, Su Mingyue?"


    The woman named Su Mingyue furrowed her brows. She returned the stone back in Ye Jiao''s hand. "It seems that it''s not my luck today. I''ll be picking different stones, then Senior Brother Qin."


    As the woman walked away, Lu Wan''s face darkened. "Who did she think she was? Taking a stone from another person like that!"


    "She''s Su Mingyue, the second ranked Core Disciple in Hua Shan Academy," Qi Huan interrupted. "If you try to fight with her, it''s certain that you''ll lose, Lu Wan."


    "What?"


    "She''s already Eon Energy Master Rank 4," Ye Jiao added. "Also, we hadn''t learned the stages, but I can sense that she''s not someone who had just broken through."


    "Uh¡­" Lu wan grumbled. He knew that he wouldn''t be a match against Eon Energy Master Rank 4 no matter what happened. His rank 3 early stage alone already placed him at the bottom against most Eon Energy Master Rank 3.


    Ye Jiao turned her head to Qin Zheng. "Also, do you want this stone?"


    "You owe me an ore, right?" Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "You should pick some stones too."


    Ye Jiao: "¡­" she truly wanted to hit him.


    It took Qin Zheng a long time before he settled with 20 different stones. Ye Jiao only bought that one stone that she picked first and handed it to Qin Zheng since she couldn''t really sense anything within it.


    "Are you going to clean them now?" Qi Huan asked curiously.


    "I''ll just do it in my workplace," Qin Zheng shook his head. "If I manage to obtain a valuable ore, it can cause a ruckus in this place."


    "Right~," Lu Wan''s tone was full of disbelief, but he didn''t try to argue.


    Lin Cai and Mu Xin were waiting in the market. Mu Xin looked glad when she saw them while Lin Cai was holding a large bag filled with numerous sweets.


    "Chocolate, caramel, candy¡­." Lu Wan was stunned. "Are you sure you won''t get fat eating them all?"


    In that instant, they all could feel murderous intent coming from Lin Cai. She looked at Lu Wan with a dangerous smile on her lips. "What. Did. You. Say?"


    "Uh¡­" Lu Wan turned his head to ask for help, but the others were already looking away. There was one big taboo word when talking to a woman. Never ever tell them that they''re fat.


    "Come over here, you scoundrel!"


    "Heeeeeeeeellllllppppppp!"


    Qi Huan sighed. "Let''s go back first. I don''t think Lu Wan will be able to pacify Senior Sister Lin''s anger anytime soon."


    "Sure," Ye Jiao agreed right away. She looked at Mu Xin. "Did you have fun, Xin Jie?"


    Mu Xin smiled. "Yes."


    "Let''s go."


    The four of them returned back to the gate. On the other hand, Lu Wan only returned back at night with his face swollen thanks to a certain senior.


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 392 Learning Array Formation

    Afterwards, she would practice minute control with Peaceful Mind Meditation in the hall. She spent two weeks there before she stopped coming because there were already a lot of other disciples who didn''t come because they had reached a peaceful state. They all trained in their own room and headed to the canteen after they had finished because they would be very hungry.


    It took Ye Jiao a month to finish the training in time, but afterwards, Qin Zheng instructed her to start using weight. The cycle continued as she had to increase her weight every single time she finished in time with the previous weight. Some other new disciples also suffer the same way as her while the others were still struggling to finish the course even without weight.


    Lu Wan dropped on his table. "I can finally finish in time for lunch."


    Qi Huan sneaked a look from his book. "It''s already nearing the end of the year. Are you prepared for the examination?"


    "Don''t remind me of that," Lu Wan groaned.


    The examination was actually simple. They just needed to gain points through the four months and have to pass at least 3 classes and finish the training in time. Afterwards, they would have to challenge one senior to fight in the arena.


    Ye Jiao giggled. "How many classes have you passed, Lu Wan?"


    "Just three," Lu Wan raised his finger. "Basic herbs identification, basic control class, and basic element class."


    Qi Huan arched his eyebrows. "You''re taking your time in doing the examination."


    "I still can''t see through the illusives. The basics for enhancement are a bit too much, so I hadn''t had the time to review them."


    Ye Jiao smiled wryly. Even when she had to memorize those 1000 runes, she still had the time to study and memorize other classes. There were 10 basic classes, and she had passed them all. Right now, they were all in the intermediate control class. This was one of the classes with many students picking it because it was important to have great control of their Eon Energy.


    As for Qi Huan, there was no need to say that this man passed more than 10 classes. He had memorized so many things that almost every class that only contained theory were done.


    "You have just taken the basic element class exam, right? Are you going to pick fire as your element?" Lu Wan propped his head.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "I can only pick that class once I reach rank 4, so for the time being I''m taking an intermediate element class to learn the theory about the basic element and the intermediate elements."


    "You two are too fast."


    "Well, if you don''t spend your time fighting in the arena all day, you can actually finish the class," Qi Huan reminded.


    Lu Wan spent most of his free time studying herbs or getting dragged around by Lin Cai to fight in the arena. It allowed him to gain more battle experience, but at the same time, this caused him to not have time to study other things.


    Not that he would learn even if he has the time, though.


    "You know that you have to finish them all before autumn next year, right?" Ye Jiao reminded him as well.


    "I''m not like you two who hog the first and second ranking in the new disciple ranking."


    Because Qi Huan had finished 20 classes including the basics, he earned 300 points for each class finished. In the end, he got a total of 6000 points because Qi Huan didn''t bother with the arena at all. Ye Jiao finished 10 basic classes and fought with some seniors occasionally, so she had 3944 points. The third position only has 2440 points, so it was clear that the gap was truly big.


    "You''re lazy."


    Lu Wan had 1957 points and was placed in the 8th position. There were only fifteen new students among the Core Disciple, so it was safe to say that he was located in the middle.


    "Well, as long as I''m still higher than those from the Inner Disciple section, I''ll be fine¡­"


    The one who gained points lesser than the new Inner Disciple would be demoted to become Inner Disciple instead of Core Disciple. Because of that, the new disciples were busy challenging the seniors to fight against them lately. Time was running out, and if they didn''t gain back the needed points, their position was threatened.


    Ye Jiao giggled. The first position in the Inner Disciple section was Mu Xin. She still managed to finish half of her classes despite the constant fight she had because a lot of people challenged her. By now, she had 1909 points since the points earned by Inner Disciple were half of what those at Core Disciple could earn from the classes and fights.


    For example, Core Disciple earned 300 points from completing a class, but Inner Disciple only earned 150 points.


    "Are you going to fight later?" Lu Wan leaned back against his chair.


    "No. I''m going to visit Master Qian," Ye Jiao replied. "I already finished his assignment, so I wish to learn more."


    "You finished everything in just a matter of months?"


    "You can say that."


    "Ugh, how did you manage your time in the first place?"


    Ye Jiao just laughed without answering. On the other hand, Qi Huan focused on his book until the class started. The teacher has begun to give them a harder task to do, so it wouldn''t be easy for them to finish this class. However, it was also unnecessary for them to attend the class every week because the teacher would only let them get the next assignment when they have finished the previous one.


    As soon as the class finished, Ye Jiao headed to Elder Qian''s office. It was located not far from the tower where the principal and vice principal stayed. There were several other disciples there, but no one dared to get deeper if they didn''t have any business with the elders.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Come in."


    Ye Jiao pushed the door open. She was surprised to see Elder Qian standing in the middle of the room with a short staff in his hand.


    "Good evening, Master."


    "Good evening. Have you finished memorizing the few runes that you keep mistaking with each other?"


    "Yes," Ye Jiao smiled sheepishly. There were only a few runes left that she forgot last time, so this time, she was confident that she could answer them all correctly.


    Elder Qian nodded in satisfaction. "Have you ever thought about whether you want to become an Enhancement Master or Array Master?"


    "I want both," Ye Jiao admitted. It might be a bit greedy on her side, but she wished to be able to learn both of them.


    "Then this is your next task," Elder Qian handed her a thick book. "This book contained all the basics of the array, formation and the importance of geography. You might need to take the geography class up until the advanced ones to familiarize yourself with them."


    "Ok, Master."


    "Also, I want you to pick one of the basic runes and start learning to draw it with your Eon Energy in the air."


    Ye Jiao blinked. "In the air, Master?"


    "Yes. I''ll give you an example."


    Elder Qian utilized his Eon Energy and poured them out from his finger. He started to move it and let the Eon Energy stay in the route they passed until he had finished forming the runes. The one he drew was the water defense runes. Once he had finished, there was a slight movement of Eon Energy and a form of water layer in front of Elder Qian.


    Barely a few seconds passed before it was formed. It looked as if there was no effort needed for Elder Qian to create the runes.


    "Wow!" Ye Jiao was astonished.


    "The real runes need the specific element to be formed perfectly," Elder Qian waved his hand and the runes dissipated. "Since my specialization is a wind element, the water element in my body is not much, so the shield is just a thin layer. I will need to add some concoction to be able to create the runes."


    "I see," Ye Jiao has a light element, but she herself hadn''t started to collect and form the element, so it wouldn''t be easy.


    "Fair warning from me, you might not have enough Eon Energy to form the runes, so practice a lot."


    "Eh?"


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 393 Giving Bracelets

    Elder Qian looked at Ye Jiao with a smile. "Truth be told, Rune Master usually requires you to be at least rank 4 before you can learn making it properly because the amount of Eon Energy you need to form even just one is a lot. Even though you have much more Eon Energy compared with normal Eon Energy Master Rank 3, you''re still in the early stage."


    Over the past few months, Ye Jiao hadn''t progressed in her stage at all. She was still in the early stage. Her friends also hadn''t advanced because they were all too focused on strengthening their foundation, whereas a lot of Eon Energy was needed to break through to the middle stage.


    "I see." Ye Jiao looked at the book in her arms. She smiled. "At the very least, I can learn the array first."


    "Mhm, you can go now."


    "Yes. Thank you, Master."


    Elder Qian sighed to himself. Truthfully, he didn''t expect Ye Jiao''s memorization ability to be so good. It just took her a few months to finish memorizing the runes'' history, drawing, and the characteristic perfectly. She was also one of the students who earned a lot of points from both classes and arena.


    He felt that the little lass never properly rested. It was as if she was in a hurry.


    Ye Jiao walked out of place. Her steps stopped when she entered the corridor because she saw Qin Zheng standing there.


    "Senior Brother Qin, what are you doing here?"


    "Didn''t I tell you to call me Zheng Ge?" Qin Zheng furrowed his brows. But since they were outside with some people around, he didn''t pester her too much. "Come with me, I have something to show you."


    "Yes?"


    Ye Jiao followed after Qin Zheng to the young man''s residence. Once a week, they all would gather together at the market where Qin Zheng could buy a lot of ores. Somehow, this man has a keen sense and managed to find 70% valuable ores among the stones he bought. He forged them into a weapon and sold them back while at the same time increasing his skill level.


    However, this young man hadn''t gone to the association to test his rank again because he felt that it was too bothersome.


    "Do you remember the Meteorite Lava Metal?" Qin Zheng asked as he entered his workplace.


    Ye Jiao nodded. "Yes. Did you manage to make a sword out of it?"


    "No, I didn''t create a sword."


    Qin Zheng walked to the table and took out a box. He opened in front of Ye Jiao. Inside the box was a pair of red bracelets with a simple design. One look would be enough to tell that this must be what he made.


    "This is for you."


    "For me?" Ye Jiao was surprised. "I didn''t know that you can create simple objects too."


    "Wow! That''s amazing," Ye Jiao was surprised. "Are you sure you''re going to give this to me?"


    "I create four objects as protection," Qin Zheng admitted. "There are four bracelets."


    "Protection?"


    "Yes. Don''t you know that everyone has to accept a mission once the season turns to spring? The mission is done in a group, and I''m thinking of asking you, Qi Huan, and Senior Sister Lin to do the mission together," Qin Zheng replied.


    Ye Jiao recalled that there was indeed the mention of mission in the past during the spring. She hadn''t paid attention to the detail because she was too busy lately. After all, she wished to gain more knowledge faster.


    "Is it allowed?"


    "Yes, there''s no restriction about the group."


    "I understand." Ye Jiao nodded as she held the bracelet. She expected it to be hot at the touch, but it was instead cold and normal.


    "Don''t tell me that you forget about it."


    "Eh, that¡­"


    "I see, even a model student like you can forget."


    Ye Jiao''s face darkened. What model student? She was only an ordinary disciple in this academy. How could she be a model student?


    "How many people can be in the group?"


    "It''s suggested to form a group of 5 to 10 people, so you can pick anyone you want and invite them to the group. Of course, make sure that they''re a disciple of Hua Shan Academy."


    "There''s no need to remind me of that!"


    "Oh? I thought that you would forget about it too."


    Ye Jiao: "¡­" if only he was at a rank lower than her, she didn''t mind being like Lin Cai who beat up Lu Wan frequently.


    Qin Zheng chuckled when he saw her darkened face. "Is there anyone you want to invite? You can even ask those who are Core Disciple or Inner Disciple."


    "I''m thinking of asking Xin Jie," Ye Jiao replied.


    "Ooh, good idea."


    "Why?"


    "Senior Sister Lin seems to like your sister very much."


    Whenever Mu Xin tagged along to the market, Lin Cai would surely drag her away to accompany her. Even though Mu Xin was cold on normal days, Lin Cai seemed to love spending her time with Mu Xin a lot. It was truly a wonder what made Lin Cai like Mu Xin so much.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head to the side. She definitely couldn''t tell Qin Zheng that Mu Xin also had a sweet tooth. She liked sweets too but at a more moderate amount compared with Lin Cai.


    "I can see that as well."


    "Anyway, the examination is three days from now, so you might want to have some rest. After all, you don''t need to do the climbing training anymore."


    Today was the last day for the climbing training, which was the reason Lu Wan was glad that he could finish it in time for the past few days. If he didn''t, there was no doubt that he would need to retake it again after the first mission.


    "I''m going to spend my time practicing a bit," Ye Jiao replied. ??Also, I''m planning to try breaking through to the middle stage."


    "Oh?" Qin Zheng scanned Ye Jiao''s body. He could faintly sense the powerful Eon Energy movements inside her core, so he understood that it was indeed already the time for her to break through to the middle stage. It took her some time, but it was still pretty quick considering that she took around half a year to breakthrough.


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "How about you, Senior Brother Qin? Shouldn''t you also aim for a breakthrough?"


    "I''m waiting for something," Qin Zheng relaxed on the chair. "Besides, I have been spending a long time practicing my forging skills."


    Even though he could make a sword and other weapons, their quality was still low in his opinion. Because of that, he took his time to practice making a lot of them over and over.


    "I''ll be returning first then. Thank you for the bracelet, Senior Brother Qin."


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 394 Reaching Eon Energy Master Rank 3 Middle Stage

    "Oh, Ye Jiao!" Lin Cai waved her hand. "Are you going back to your residence?"


    "Yes. How about you, Senior Sister Lin?"


    "I''m going to stay inside too, our Master is going to find me and add more training." Lin Cai grumbled. She already had enough with her master asking her to train her body again. She wanted to relax a bit.


    Ye Jiao chuckled. "Have fun, Senior Sister Lin. Some new students might want to challenge you on their examination day."


    "If they dare to challenge me, I''ll welcome them with open arms." Lin Cai smirked. "I shall not hold any responsibility if they regret it afterwards."


    Oh well, she had fought against Lin Cai before, and Ye Jiao knew very well that this girl would not hold back in the slightest. The speed that Lin Cai showed would be more than enough to make her opponent despaired as they would be unable to do anything. Only those who have a talent and a better position would be able to withstand against her.


    "I shall get going now, Senior Sister Lin."


    "Alright. You ought to rest too. See you later, Ye Jiao."


    Ye Jiao returned back to her residence. The flowers were still blooming beautifully despite the fact that it was already winter season. A smile filled her face, for she always felt comfortable in her residence.


    Returning back to her room and sat down. There was an array here that would gather Eon Energy to the center. It was not much, but it was enough to fill the room with Eon Energy.


    Ye Jiao took out the Eon Energy Gathering Plate that Elder Qian gave to her. By infusing Eon Energy, she activated it. More Eon Energy flowed into the room, filling it with rich Eon Energy almost immediately.


    ''It''s comfortable. Now, it''s time to get down to business.''


    Sitting cross-legged on her bed, Ye Jiao focused her attention to her core and the Eon Energy that surrounded her. She was still unable to see their ''color'' again, but the one that she pulled in gave her comfortable sense. Pouring them into her core, she slowly guided them in rotation.


    Sweat filled her forehead.


    Once entering the rank 3, breaking through the stages was not as simple as when they broke through from rank 1 to rank 3. They would have to pay more attention to their Eon Energy in their body and control it to reach the next stage.


    Bit by bit.


    Pieces by pieces.


    Bang!


    Waves of Eon Energy came out of her body. Her eyelashes fluttered open, showing the brilliant light within her pupil. It disappeared after a few seconds without Ye Jiao realizing it at all.


    "Hmm? There''s a movement?" Ye Jiao inspected her body as her consciousness reached the strange space within her body. The egg was still there, but Ye Jiao could feel that there was a slight movement.


    Was it the time for the egg to hatch?


    "It didn''t seem like it." Ye Jiao opened her eyes and stood up. Stretching her body for a bit, she started to move around the room and exercised. Astonishment flashed within her eyes when she realized the increase in power she wielded.


    She never thought that increasing a stage alone would be enough to grant her enormous leapt in strength. It would take her some time before she could get used to this newfound strength she had.


    After a while, Ye Jiao decided to take a walk around the academy. She didn''t know how many hours have passed since she made her breakthrough, so the only way to find out was by asking her seniors or junior disciples. Her legs quickly brought her to the arena''s direction.


    "Oh, Ye Jiao?" Qi Huan greeted when he saw Ye Jiao walking to him. His hand was holding a book while leaning against the wall.


    "Good morning, Senior Brother Qi," Ye Jiao greeted politely. She smiled. "Don''t you need to prepare yourself for the examination?"


    "There''s no need for that," Qi Huan said leisurely. "I don''t really need special preparation for the examination."


    Elite Disciple could only pick another Elite Disciple for their first examination. Among the four of them, it was clear that Qi Huan had the advantage in the stage because he was basically higher than Lin Cai and Qin Zheng. No matter which one he picked, he had the advantage to win.


    "I see."


    "What are you doing here? I thought you don''t need to collect points anymore?" Qi Huan asked.


    "I''m wondering how much time has passed," Ye Jiao scratched her head in embarrassment. "I kind of forget."


    "There''s still another day of break before the examination. Today is the last day for arena battle, so that brat is over there." Qi Huan pointed to the arena before him.


    Turning her head to the arena, Ye Jiao noticed the green haired youth in the middle. Chain and blade moved at high speed, reaching his opponent in a mere second.


    Slash!


    The other man was sent outside the arena.


    "Next," Lu Wan said solemnly.


    Ye Jiao was stunned to see the serious Lu Wan. She turned her head to Qi Huan. "Do you mind explaining what happens here?"


    "In short, Senior Sister Lin beats him up and demands that he enters the top 5 at the very least. He has 2130 points and now in the fifth position, but the sixth person is also the same with him. The two of them are competing for points earnestly," Qi Huan replied as he pointed to the other arena.


    "It seems that my position is going to be threatened soon." Ye Jiao chuckled.


    Qi Huan: "¡­" there are still more than 1000 points between you and the third position.


    "I''m going to borrow one arena. Do you want to fight too, Senior Brother Qi?" Ye Jiao turned her head and asked.


    "I better not. All my moves are designed for killing, and I''m afraid that against a much lower opponent, I won''t be able to hold back at all," Qi Huan turned down her offer immediately. He might have learnt how to spar, but because he had not been living as the prince of Chi Kingdom, he has gotten used to killing moves. It would be better for him to not have a spar in case he accidentally injured someone.


    "True, controlling one''s power is not that easy."


    Qi Huan turned to look at Ye Jiao. His eyes widened when he realized the power around her body. "Ye Jiao, you''re already at the middle stage?"


    "Ah, yes. I broke through not long ago," Ye Jiao replied with a smile.


    "You''re really quick."


    "Say someone who jumped through the ranks," Ye Jiao giggled. She walked to the arena. "Wish me luck, Senior Brother Qi."


    "Do you really need luck?" Qi Huan shook his head. He could faintly see the rows of students getting kicked out of the arena in a short time after Ye Jiao entered the arena. In any case, he was not worried that she would be able to overtake him because the difference was still 2000 points or more.


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 395 Drawing Runes

    Ye Jiao smiled at Lu Wan''s question. It was already night time, and the arena has closed down. Every student was told to have rest because, in two days, it would be the examination day for them.


    "She''s just getting used to her new stage."


    "By throwing everyone off stage?" Lu Wan rolled his eyes. "You basically create a sensation when you just slapped that person out."


    "I didn''t know that the difference between the early and middle stage can be this big. I can control my strength better now," Ye Jiao defended herself. After a bit of adjusting in the fight, she no longer has any problem in controlling her strength anymore. It was a bit awkward at first, but her seniors were helping her by becoming her guinea pig in the arena.


    "The one who comes here are those with lower ranks," Qi Huan reminded. "The true core members are those who can enter the top 50, so don''t get complacent."


    Not only new members, but the other students in Hua Shan Academy also have their own ranking for Core Disciple. Those who were at lower ranking used this chance to challenge the new disciples to get points for them. If they were placed at the bottom, they would be downgraded to Inner Disciple because the Core Disciple maximum number was only 100 while they have 110 now.


    After the examination later, 10 disciples would be kicked out of the ranks and placed in the Inner Disciples'' section.


    The competition grew fiercer, thanks to that.


    "I know," Ye Jiao grinned. "I''m only warming up in the arena just now. The real battle hasn''t even begun."


    "Right."


    "Anyway, congratulations for earning fifth place, Lu Wan," Ye Jiao clapped her hands. "Your hard work pays off."


    Lu Wan nodded. "At the very least, I can sleep comfortably tonight and don''t have to worry about Senior Sister Lin bothering me."


    The other two laughed. They had seen Lin Cai dragged Lu Wan to practice numerous times. It was funny how this young man seldom satisfied the minimum requirement that Lin Cai set for him.


    "I''ll return back too."


    "Good luck on the examination day."


    "Good luck to all of us."


    The three of them went their separate ways. Ye Jiao returned back to her room and trained to fill her core with Eon Energy once more. Once she had filled her core, her eyes fluttered open.


    "I better just use this time to practice making runes."


    She didn''t need that long to rest her body. Just a few hours before the examination would be enough, so Ye Jiao decided to use this time to practice her Eon Energy control and started to make runes.


    Sitting on the edge of her bed, Ye Jiao focused her attention on her fingertips and started to move according to the shape of the runes. To her surprise, she needed to have complete control of her Eon Energy because it would dissipate if she just let it be on the air.


    Her slender finger started to move once more. Eon Energy came out as Ye Jiao had to pour even more to make sure the shape stayed the same way as what she wanted. Sweat started to trickle down her forehead.


    Swish! Swish!


    The shape was nearly complete when Ye Jiao realized that she had run out of Eon Energy.


    Fssh.


    The shape dissipated into the air while Ye Jiao sat down on her bed. Her eyes were looking at the unfinished rune in front of her.


    "So that''s why Master says that there''s a high possibility that I won''t be able to finish the runes. The control needed to sustain the shape is much more than the amount needed originally to make the runes."


    Ye Jiao felt like she would have a headache at the thought of utilizing so much Eon Energy just to create one rune. Even though she knew that Eon Energy Master Rank 4 has much more Eon Energy compared to her, it didn''t change the fact that there would be a lot of Eon Energy wasted to just make one.


    How much Eon Energy needed if she wanted to create several of them?


    "Then, to reduce the amount needed, I need to make it faster?" Ye Jiao pondered. If she moved her finger faster, she could reduce the time needed, but at the same time, she would need to have a much higher concentration.


    Drawing the complicated runes was not easy, and doing it at such high speed would be even harder.


    ''Well, let''s just try again. I still have some time.''


    Time passed swiftly as Ye Jiao filled her core with Eon Energy and attempted to draw the runes over and over again.


    ¡­


    Knock! Knock!


    "Ye Jiao, are you still sleeping?" Qin Zheng''s voice travelled from the door.


    "Ah, I''m awake," Ye Jiao got up from her bed and rushed to clean herself. She made runes until late at night before she decided to sleep and recover her Eon Energy. Even after spending the entire day to practice, she was still unable to form even one rune.


    "You''re going to be late."


    "Eh? It has begun?"


    Bang!


    Ye Jiao slammed the door open and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, did I take that long?"


    "There''s still a few minutes before the examination begins," Qin Zheng turned around and started walking. "Don''t dawdle."


    "Ok, ok!"


    Following behind Qin Zheng, Ye Jiao soon arrived by the hall. It was crowded with all the disciples in Hua Shan Academy that was not away for a mission. There were thousands or even millions of people filling the seats.


    "The new disciple''s section is over there. There are 10 arenas, and it''ll start from the Outer Disciple, so you can have some rest first."


    "Eh? Is it that obvious?" Ye Jiao touched her face. She knew that she lacked sleep, but there shouldn''t be any mark left on her face, right?


    Qin Zheng looked at Ye Jiao as if she was an idiot. "Your Eon Energy movements are a bit unstable. Take your time to rest and recover your condition to the peak or you won''t have a chance against me."


    "Heh, don''t worry. I''ll make sure that you eat dirt later," Ye Jiao smiled reassuringly and walked to Qi Huan and Lu Wan.


    Shaking his head lightly, Qin Zheng retreated back to his designated position. He looked at Bai Xiang, who was following him at some distance.


    "There''s no need to follow me today."


    "It''s my duty to protect you, Master."


    "It''s an order."


    Bai Xiang flinched for a moment. He bowed his large body slightly and transmitted his voice to Qin Zheng. "As you wish, Master."


    As Bai Xiang retreated, Qin Zheng continued to walk towards his position as if nothing happened.

 396 New Disciple Examination Day

    Ye Jiao smiled wryly. "I lack sleep a bit. Wake me up when it''s already Core Disciple''s turn."


    "It''s going to take a long time considering that there are thousands of new disciples. Just rest," Lu Wan grinned.


    Qi Huan took out a book and started reading. Even though it was the examination day, he was not worried in the slightest.


    In the arena, the examination begins and the new disciple has to pick one senior to fight. Most of the fight didn''t even last one minute, so it was pretty quick as more disciples came up for their turn. Their sequence was determined by their rank, which allowed the lowest rank to start first.


    Time passed swiftly.


    *yawn*


    "Are you bored, Senior Sister Lin?" Qin Zheng asked. He sat down beside Lin Cai because of their status as Elite Disciple.


    Lin Cai nodded. "I was hoping that there''s going to be someone who challenged me, but it seems I''m hoping too much."


    "Well, the gap is quite big."


    "I''m still rank 3 middle stage," Lin Cai rolled her eyes. There was no restriction when they picked the senior. As long as that senior has the same rank or higher rank than them, they could practically challenge anyone. The only exception would be given to Elite Disciple in case there was no senior at the higher rank.


    Qin Zheng chuckled. "Most of them pick their pairing because they have already fought with them before."


    "Right, since this is just ''examination.''" Lin Cai yawned. She propped her head with her arm and closed her eyes. "I''m just going to sleep a bit. This is getting boring."


    From the corner of his eyes, Qin Zheng sneaked a glance to the vice leader. As he had expected, Shen Dian was giving a warning glare at Lin Cai. As the Elite Disciple, their action was always watched by the other students. That was the reason they have to become the model for the other students in the academy.


    Lin Cai''s action would only make them gossiped about her because it was inappropriate.


    "Senior Sister Lin, Vice Leader Shen is¡­"


    "Leave him be," Lin Cai cut off Qin Zheng''s words. "I''ll just get scolded in the end, so it doesn''t really matter."


    Qin Zheng decided to stop talking and just watched the performance of his juniors. Although many of them were lacking, they were not that bad. With some polishing, they would be able to become a powerful expert in the future.


    More time passed.


    Soon, it was the time for the Inner Disciples. Many of them chose to pick the safest, which was their own pair. Since they have known each other, the senior wouldn''t be so harsh as to defeat them without giving them any chance to retort.


    "Next, Inner Disciple Mu Xin."


    "Did you have a good rest?"


    "Yes. Was it quick?"


    "Yeah, a lot of seniors just blatantly kick their junior out of the arena," Qi Huan responded. "Most of the fight didn''t even last one minute, so it was pretty quick. Only lately that the fight started to grow more interesting."


    Ye Jiao nodded and turned her head to the arena on the right. Mu Xin walked to the arena. Ever since the incident in the first week, Mu Xin had gotten a new senior to guide her in the academy.


    "Pick a senior," the referee told her.


    Mu Xin nodded. "I pick Senior Brother Wang Jun."


    Hearing that name, Ye Jiao turned her head to the direction of the Inner Disciple''s section. A familiar young man walked into the arena. He looked far more mature compared to when Ye Jiao last saw him. However, his firm built and posture was still the same as before. It was the characteristic of a soldier.


    Lu Wan turned his head to Ye Jiao. He was already awake since the middle of the Inner Disciple''s section. "Do you know that young man?"


    "Yes."


    "Really?"


    "He''s also someone from the Four Kingdoms. He used to help me to meet with Xin Jie," Ye Jiao gave the short explanation.


    Qi Huan averted his eyes from his book. "He''s also from the Four Kingdoms?"


    "Yes."


    The two of them looked towards Wang Jun with curiosity. They have never met that young man before. When Ye Jiao went to Lu Wan''s residence back then, Wang Jun had already left, so there was no chance to meet with him.


    Wang Jun stood before Mu Xin. He bowed slightly. "Inner Disciple Wang Jun is here."


    Mu Xin nodded. "Let''s start."


    There was no useless chatter between the two of them. The referee waved his hand, signalling for them to start the battle.


    Clang!


    The moment the signal to start was given, Mu Xin charged straight towards Wang Jun with her light sword. Wang Jun''s saber appeared on his right hand, and he blocked her attack calmly. There were no pointless movements.


    Mu Xin moved once more as she swung her light sword rapidly in the direction of Wang Jun. Her slender figure continued to move and get closer to Wang Jun.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Sounds of blade filled the arena. Even with the gap in strength, Mu Xin attacked relentlessly while Wang Jun calmly waited for his chance. He blocked all of her attacks perfectly, not using the slightest bit more strength than what''s necessary.


    "He''s good," Qi Huan commented.


    Lu Wan arched his eyebrows. "Really? I think he''s quite ordinary."


    "That''s because you have poor eyes."


    "You!"


    "Wang Jun''s movements didn''t seem like an ordinary person at all," Qi Huan replied. "He has firm control of his Eon Energy and defended himself perfectly. It was as if he could predict Mu Xin''s movements and slowly lure her to get closer to him."


    Ye Jiao tilted her head. "He used to be a soldier."


    "I don''t think that''s all there is to him," Qi Huan remarked. "He reminds me of myself."


    "What?"


    While Lu Wan was confused, Ye Jiao understood what Qi Huan meant. Wang Jun''s splendid control and flawless foundation could only come from systematic teaching from a large family. There was a high possibility that Wang Jun came from a noble family before he became a soldier.


    However, there was no record of a noble family surnamed Wang in the Four Kingdoms.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Mu Xin felt a bit strange. The more she moved deeper, the more she felt her movements were strained. Suddenly, she sensed a chance in Wang Jun''s movements and stepped back to retreat.


    Clang!


    Her sword blocked the attack, but Mu Xin felt her legs stagger. Her eyes flashed in surprise. Mu Xin quickly raised her sword once more.


    Clang!


    Wang Jun attacked from above with power. He twisted his body and swung his saber from the other side.


    Tep!


    It stopped right beside Mu Xin''s neck while her sword was trying to parry him. However, it didn''t succeed as he had much more power compared to her.


    "The fight has ended, Wang Jun won."

 397 The Meaning of Giving Up

    Mu Xin nodded. She had not seen Wang Jun for a long time. Even though she knew that he was in this academy, there was no chance to meet with him because he was away for a mission. It was only recently did he return back, allowing her to meet with him again.


    "You''ve also grown stronger."


    "Thank you for your compliment." Wang Jun walked out of the arena with Mu Xin following behind him. The young girl from before has grown mature. She was no longer the cute 13 years old girl, but she has become a mature 16 years old girl.


    Time passed so quickly. Three years had gone before he knew it.


    "Can we talk?"


    "Sure, but not here."


    Mu Xin nodded obediently. There was a slight smile on the corner of her lips, showing the fact that she felt happy. The real reason why she picked this academy in the first place was because she knew Wang Jun was here. Meeting him again after such a long time made her very happy.


    On the stands, Lu Wan was looking at the scene with astonishment. He turned his head to Ye Jiao. "Are they going out?"


    "Going out?" Ye Jiao tilted her head. "Do you mean getting out of the arena?"


    "No, I mean¡­"


    Bletak!


    Qi Huan looked at Lu Wan with annoyance. "It''s going to be your turn soon. You should prepare yourself."


    "I''m just asking!"


    "Let her learn about the matter of relationships by herself first!" Qi Huan reprimanded. Even though he knew that Lu Wan was a blockhead, he didn''t expect it would be this bad. This young man clearly forgot that Ye Jiao had never learned about them because she was always so preoccupied with her study.


    "Fine." Lu Wan rubbed his head with a sour mood. He knew that Qi Huan didn''t like when he talked about them to Ye Jiao, but why did he have to hit him too?


    "Next, Core Disciple Lu Wan."


    Lu Wan walked to the stage and stood in the middle. He looked at the direction of the Elite Disciple. "I want to challenge Senior Brother Qin."


    There was no need for him to say the full name. In this academy, there was only one Elite Disciple with the surname Qin. All eyes landed on Qin Zheng for this was the first time someone challenged him.


    Qin Zheng stood up and walked to the arena. "I didn''t expect you to pick me."


    "I''ll make sure that you can''t say I''m weak anymore." Lu Wan grinned.


    "Start!"


    Lu Wan took out his chain and blade. It twisted in the air before it reached Qin Zheng''s direction rapidly.


    Clang!


    A small knife on Qin Zheng''s hand blocked the attack. There was no rule that restricted him from using his hidden weapon, so Qin Zheng still brought numerous knives on his body.


    "Don''t underestimate me!" Lu Wan pulled his chain and blade again. Twisting it in the air once more, he made the blade reach Qin Zheng''s location.


    Clang! Slash!


    Blood trickled down from Lu Wan''s cheek. The boy''s eyes were large as he looked straight at Qin Zheng. He couldn''t react to Qin Zheng''s speed at all. One knife blocked his movements while the other one reached his cheek. He pulled back his chain and looked at the referee.


    "I give up."


    The referee frowned. "If you give up in the middle, you won''t have a chance to showcase your progress anymore."


    Lu Wan grinned and shrugged. "Is there any use to continue fighting when he''s clearly far stronger than me? I can''t even see his attack, much less defeat him."


    Even though he was saying them all with an easy going tone, his shoulders trembled a bit. He was still a young man with pride. Having been defeated by Qin Zheng twice without being able to do anything caused him to feel pain. However, he chose to not show them outside and still smiled widely.


    Some people may look at him as if he was an idiot, but he simply didn''t care. This is his decision, and he would follow through it until the very end.


    Qin Zheng smiled. "You''re a great martial artist, Lu Wan."


    "What?"


    Without elaborating his words, Qin Zheng walked away. Lu Wan stood rooted in his place for a few seconds before he left the arena, still confused why Qin Zheng praised him. Still, it was not that important. He needed to find a place to stay alone.


    "Senior Brother Qi, do you want to comfort him?" Ye Jiao pointed at Lu Wan.


    "There''s no need for that. He can get back to his feet on his own."


    The two of them heard what Qin Zheng said and understood why Qin Zheng gave a high evaluation for Lu Wan. Not everyone could accept defeat like that. Lu Wan understood his capabilities and decided to retreat back. It was not because he felt afraid, but because he understood the gap in their strengths.


    Even if he pushed forward, only utter defeat or even death awaited him. Qin Zheng''s attack just now was a warning to him that Lu Wan was still not in his league.


    Lu Wan could choose to continue fighting to showcase his capabilities and earn people''s respect. However, Lu Wan didn''t do that. He chose to retreat and step back in order to prepare himself better. There might be a chance for him to defeat Qin Zheng but not in the arena or formal match.


    Because his strength has always lied in poison.


    "Yes, Lu Wan is great," Ye Jiao clapped her hands together as she smiled.


    Accepting one''s weakness would be the beginning to grow stronger. Without accepting oneself, one wouldn''t be able to move forward.


    "Yes, I agree."


    The two of them no longer talked. They didn''t even bother with the empty seat beside them because they knew that Lu Wan wouldn''t return back for the time being. That young man might always appear to be easy going and reckless, but he is still a man and also a martial artist.


    His pride wouldn''t allow him to accept defeat so easily.


    In the Elite Disciple''s section, Lin Cai tilted her head to look at Qin Zheng. "It''s rare for you to bully someone like that. You know that you can hold back a bit for his sake, right?"


    "I don''t want to give him false hope," Qin Zheng replied calmly.


    "False hope?"


    "He can never grow stronger if he''s just holed up doing research and fight against those weaker enemies."


    Lin Cai''s lips twitched. "Those ''weaker enemies'' are all Core Disciple in Hua Shan Academy, Qin Zheng."


    "Yes, but their ranks are only 60 or lower," Qin Zheng elaborated. "Those truly powerful disciples in Hua Shan Academy are mostly away for missions and only stay here when it''s needed because they all understand that they can''t grow stronger just by staying in the safe environment."


    Hearing his words, Lin Cai sighed. She knew that true warriors could only form after countless beating and fighting. However, was there any need for Lu Wan to be bullied like that?


    "It''s unexpected to see you care for someone so much."


    "That''s because we''re all going on a mission," Qin Zheng replied. "If you''re just relying on the fact that you''re the disciple of a powerful academy when doing missions, you won''t be able to survive."


    Mission?


    Lin Cai''s brain was unable to process Qin Zheng''s words until a few seconds later. Right, in a few more days, there would be the first mission for the new student.


    Wait, did it mean he wants to accompany new disciples on their mission?


    When Lin Cai was still thinking hard, she heard her name got called.


    "I pick Senior Sister Lin."

 398 Qi Huan vs Lin Cai

    "Oh, he''s pretty brave." Lin Cai stood up.


    Qin Zheng chuckled. "He can only pick between you and me. Who do you think will give him a bigger chance to win?"


    Lin Cai clicked her tongue. "Right, you''re too strong to win against. Even if they''re already rank 4, I doubt you''ll lose."


    "Thank you for your compliment."


    "You''re annoying, Qin Zheng."


    Qin Zheng just smiled and watched as Lin Cai headed to the arena. The two of them greeted each other, and the examination soon began.


    "Start!"


    Qi Huan took out his sword and readied his stance. He was not in a hurry to attack Lin Cai as he knew that this girl specialized in speed. It would be better for him to learn how to defend against her impossible speed first.


    "You''re not going to attack?" Lin Cai asked. Her right arm twirled her thin sword lightly with a slight smile on the corner of her lips.


    Qi Huan just smiled and focused his attention.


    "Then, I''m first."


    Clang!


    In a split second, Lin Cai travelled across the large ring. Her thin sword pointed straight to Qi Huan''s neck, which the young man barely blocked with his own sword. As soon as Lin Cai passed by him, he swung his sword.


    Swish!


    It hit nothing but air.


    Lin Cai''s lips curled up as she twisted her body agilely. It was truly a wonder how she could bend her body in an impossible direction as if her body was made of rubber that could move however she wished.


    Clang! Swish! Clang! Swish!


    Her thin sword continued to attack against Qi Huan. He managed to block it, while his attack always met with empty air. No matter which direction he tried to counter attack, Lin Cai would evade it.


    Swish!


    His sword hit the edge of Lin Cai''s hair. Almost immediately, Qi Huan switched his stance and put his sword in front of him to block the next attack.


    Clang!


    "You''re not bad," Lin Cai commented. "How about if I picked up the pace a bit?"


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    There was no chance for Qi Huan to attack back. His sword moved to block Lin Cai''s attack as the barrage of attack was directed straight to his chest. Even though she was moving quickly, her sword held considerable weight.


    Clang! Clang!


    "Wow, Senior Sister Lin is amazing." Lu Wan was astonished. He had just returned after walking a bit, and the scene he saw was Qi Huan fighting against Lin Cai in an intense battle.


    "Didn''t you already fight against her over and over?"


    Ye Jiao smiled. The academy would not randomly pick students to be the Elite Disciple. They would surely select those who had the highest capabilities and potential while those slightly lacking were selected as the Core Disciple.


    Speaking about Core Disciple, Ye Jiao noticed that many of them were not in the academy. They were all going away for a mission here and there. Only around half of them stayed inside the academy, and almost all of them were all below rank 60. There were only a handful of them who were above rank 60.


    And it was those disciples who were beaten up by the new disciples when they were trying to fight for points. Some of the new disciples were the one who ended up getting wounded, though.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Lin Cai sped up her movements again. Her sword was attacking in numerous directions against Qi Huan while her body appeared to be in afterimages. No one could see their movements anymore because all that left was nothing but blurry images. It wasn''t hard to imagine that they were in the middle of a brutal battle.


    Qi Huan couldn''t find any way to attack back. He was constantly pushed in the defending position because of Lin Cai''s speed. Even though he was a stage higher than Lin Cai, her movements seemed to be astonishing.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Taking a deep breath, Qi Huan released his killing intent. At that moment, everyone around them could feel the thick killing intent emanated from the arena. There was dark pressure as if telling them that they would die in that very moment.


    Sweat trickled down on their forehead as fear enveloped their entire body.


    Clang! Swish!


    Qi Huan moved to pressure Lin Cai, yet his attack still hit nothing but the air. He looked in front of him where the girl was standing calmly with the sword on her right side. A beautiful smile plastered on her childlike face.


    "I see, you''re also this type."


    Also?


    Before Qi Huan could understand what she meant, Lin Cai already reached his side again. Her thin sword pointed towards his neck.


    Clang!


    Qi Huan parried the attack. He was astonished to see that Lin Cai could still move freely even though he was releasing a high pressure against her. In the next moment, he saw the blades were heading to his direction once again.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    *cough* *cough*


    On the stand, Lu Wan used his hand to block his nose while frowning. "That annoying man. Can''t he direct all of his killing intent towards Senior Sister Lin?"


    "He''s not used to that," Ye Jiao also took out a handkerchief. The rotten smell of vomit filled the stands because the students at the front were unable to withstand the pressure. They vomited while despair filled their expression. Even though it was not directed against them, they felt as if they were at death''s door.


    "What?"


    "He''s constantly in the ''battlefield'' where his enemies are assassins or raiding missions. Do you think he usually just locks his killing intent in one?" Ye Jiao knew that the highest pressure was directed at Lin Cai, but the leaking ones were a bit too big. Qi Huan was more used to fighting a crowd and not just one person.


    "No." Lu Wan frowned and groaned. Even he could sense that terrifying pressure coming at him. Even though he was still talking like normal, his forehead was already filled with sweat.


    He could faintly understand why Qi Huan didn''t want to spar. With this killing intent, who could possibly contend against him?


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Lin Cai twisted her body and aimed her sword towards Qi Huan''s hand.


    Tak!


    She reached the handle and pushed the sword away from the man''s hand using a large amount of Eon Energy.


    "Urk." Qi Huan forcefully held on. He could feel his hand was bleeding as his killing intent receded for he was unable to control it anymore. His eyes were looking at Lin Cai with confusion.


    Lin Cai grinned. "An attack from Eon Energy Master didn''t have to be just pure swordplay, right?"


    "Heh," Qi Huan smiled. "You''re ri¡­"


    *cough* *cough*


    Qi Huan could feel the backlash from using so much killing intent in that long period of time. Added with Lin Cai''s intervention, his circulation was in chaos.


    "You can''t continue anymore unless you wish to wound yourself."


    *cough*


    "I give up."

 399 Ye Jiao vs Qin Zheng

    "I give up."


    The crowd roared in excitement when they heard Qi Huan gave up. Some of the students at the front have already passed out and were taken to the infirmary. The pressure that Qi Huan emanated was not a joke.


    Lin Cai smiled. "You need to learn how to control your killing intent while battling. Killing intent can pressure your opponent, but not all of them are going to fall for that. As long as you control your state of mind and circulate your Eon Energy, you can actually withstand that."


    Sneaking a glance at the stands, Qi Huan could see that Ye Jiao was perfectly fine. He smiled. "Right. Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister Lin."


    "Actually, if it''s not because I''m already used to a certain someone''s killing intent, I won''t be able to defeat you."


    Lin Cai''s voice travelled to Qi Huan''s ear through voice transmission while the girl turned around and ran back to her place happily. With her lively attitude, it was truly a striking contrast to the terrifying girl he saw in the battle just now. Even under the large pressure, she was


    still smiling beautifully.


    Turning his head to the Elite Disciple''s seat, he could see Qin Zheng looking at him with a faint smile on his lips. There was a glint in his eyes, but his expression was unreadable. There was a clear message there, but Qi Huan chose not to think too much as he returned back to his seat.


    "You did great," Lu Wan murmured. He didn''t feel like praising this man.


    Qi Huan smiled. "Of course, I''m great."


    Ye Jiao giggled. "That tactic would have worked if it''s other Core Disciple, Senior Brother Qi."


    "Why is that?"


    "Senior Brother Qin also has killing intent," Ye Jiao explained. She still remembered her fight alongside Qin Zheng a long time ago. At that time, she came to understand what it meant to have a thick killing intent. Chills ran down her spine whenever she recalled that scene.


    "I see."


    "Next, Elite Disciple Ye Jiao."


    "It''s my turn," Ye Jiao grinned and ran to the arena excitedly. Now, she could finally battle against Qin Zheng openly again.


    Lu Wan shook his head. "If one sees these two girls when they''re not fighting, they will never expect that both of them are talented geniuses."


    They looked no different than ordinary children around their age (12 to 13 years old) that loved to play around. One way or another, they have their way to hide the fact that they were Eon Energy Master. If not because he had seen the two of them fought, he would never have guessed it.


    "Right," Qi Huan agreed. He sat down and controlled his Eon Energy circulation that Lin Cai disturbed. It was out of his expectation that the young girl could do something like this even under the constant attack she gave him.


    Ye Jiao entered the arena, and the referee looked at her. "Pick one of the senior Elite Disciple."


    This was the second time someone picked Qin Zheng, so the students were no longer surprised. Of course, Qin Zheng also didn''t reject the challenge she gave to him as he slowly made his way down. His refined walk made everyone feel as if they were watching a high ranked noble preparing for his battle.


    Qin Zheng stopped in front of Ye Jiao. "I won''t hold back this time."


    "Just give me your all." Ye Jiao grinned.


    "Begin!"


    Her dagger and Qin Zheng''s sword appeared almost at the exact same time. The two of them dashed to the middle as their dagger and sword clashed with one another.


    Clang!


    Waves of Eon Energy pushed the two of them back. They looked calm as they dashed to one another. With his sword raised, Qin Zheng made a slice on the air aiming straight to Ye Jiao''s head.


    Clang!


    Using her dagger to block the attack, Ye Jiao imbued more Eon Energy to her dagger. She utilized her Eon Energy to cover up her entire body, for Qin Zheng''s attack was always so powerful. The cracks on the ground around her legs was apparent.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    With each strike, the waves of Eon Energy continued to hit the ground and everything else around them. The students who were watching were astonished. In just a split second, the arena no longer looked the same.


    "How come their attack has this large effect?" Lu Wan was dumbfounded.


    Qi Huan opened his eyes. A wry smile hung on his lips. "They''re known to have destroyed almost half of the closed door arena. With their attack, it''s not really a wonder, right?"


    Destroyed the arena?


    Lu Wan didn''t watch all of their spars, so he only heard about it a bit. Now that he thought about it, there was the time when Ye Jiao didn''t spar with Qin Zheng because the academy needed to repair the arenas.


    It seemed that the destruction came from them¡­


    "But they''re still Eon Energy Master Rank 3. No matter how strong they are, they won''t be able to destroy the arena, right?"


    "The arena is built just for new students. At most, it would only design to withstand the attack of Eon Energy Master Rank 4 early stage. Their attacks are no longer at that level," Qi Huan replied calmly.


    Even outside the arena, he could faintly sense the waves of Eon Energy that these two emanated from the arena. It clearly told him the truth that no matter what, these two already have strength on par with Eon Energy Master Rank 4 early stage. Even as someone who also prioritized strength, Qi Huan was only on par with them.


    "How¡­ is it possible?" Lu Wan muttered in disbelief.


    Qin Zheng has talent in enhancement, and from the looks of it, it should be body enhancement. It wouldn''t be strange if he grew stronger because of it. But what about Ye Jiao? She didn''t have talent in that field!


    The one who felt confused was not only them. Even the vice leader, Shen Dian, was also looking at the arena with interest. He sent sound transmission to Elder Qian, who was in the elders'' area.


    "Elder Qian, did you teach that lass some techniques to grow stronger physically?"


    "I didn''t," Elder Qian replied. "I just teach her in the matter of runes and arrays because she didn''t wish to follow the same specialization as me."


    Shen Dian stroked his beard. He would need to have a talk with them later.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    As their attacks grew fiercer, the arena''s condition grew worse. Elder Qian stepped forward and started to draw runes to strengthen the barrier in case their attack destroyed it. It would be disastrous for the disciples that watched from the sidelines.


    "I guess it''s time," Qin Zheng''s gaze turned sharper, and his sword moved as Eon Energy flowed rapidly into the sword. At the same time, heavy pressure emanated from him, seemingly asking everyone to submit.


    Ye Jiao gritted her teeth and used her Eon Energy to form a barrier around her body. This was not the first time she faced this attack, but every time, Qin Zheng would grow stronger in his attack. This forced her to create better defense in contending against this particular attack over and over.


    *cough*


    At that moment, numerous students also felt the pressure. Lu Wan''s face paled immediately as he circulated his Eon Energy and sneaked a glance at Qi Huan. "You two are crazy!"


    Qi Huan didn''t reply and just looked straight into the arena. He knew that Qin Zheng also has a thick killing intent, but he couldn''t understand how someone even younger than him could possibly learn it to this level?


    It was as if there were already thousands if not millions of people whom Qin Zheng killed in his life, who was only 12 to 13 years old.


    Swish! Slash! Slash! Slash!


    Numerous air sword blades came out of Qin Zheng''s attack. It was heading to every direction in the arena, creating a total mess out of the area.


    In the middle of the arena, Ye Jiao stood with her dagger in front of her, forming a defensive stature. There was a layer of Eon Energy around her body, preventing the attack from hitting her body. As a result, there were only a few scratches on her body from the attack that managed to breach her defense. However, Ye Jiao knew that she had run out of Eon Energy.


    Fighting against Qin Zheng without Eon Energy would be the same as courting death.


    Qin Zheng smiled. "Shall we continue?"


    His sword was already filled with Eon Energy once more, seemingly ready to attack her with that air sword blades. She didn''t know the name of the attack since Qin Zheng didn''t utter it loudly, but if that technique attacks her again, she would be wounded heavily.


    "I give up."


    "To the readers who read outside of WN: Congratulations! Thanks to your effort of stealing, copying, and reading the story outside WN, the author had decided to drop this story. You must be very happy now."