Chapter 64: The Longer You Live, the More You See

　　It was An Ruyi again.

　　Qi Ying gave a resigned smile. In the academy, everyone tried to stay away from him in fear of getting into trouble. She was the only one who would approach him without any caution whatsoever.

　　However, on that occasion, there was a completely different look in An Ruyi’s eyes. In the past, there had been curiosity and sympathy, as well as humiliation and rage… but she was currently appraising him as if he were her idol!

　　“Should I call you Qi Ying or the Nameless Warrior?”

　　“Up to you.”

　　“Then… in any case, thank you for saving my life twice.”

　　“Hmm… The first time, I simply didn’t want to see an innocent person die. The second time, I wanted to just ignore you, but you insisted on trying to kill yourself and if I didn’t save you, my efforts from the first time would have gone to waste so…”

　　An Ruyi was immediately enraged upon hearing that. She insisted on trying to kill herself? ‘What the hell was that supposed to mean?!’ She glowered at Qi Ying and grumbled, “It’s all because you were so mysterious and constantly hiding your identity… Otherwise, none of these troubles would have arisen!”

　　“Oh. Goodbye, then.”

　　Qi Ying shrugged before turning to leave.

　　“Wait.”

　　An Ruyi stopped him again.

　　“Is there something else you want from me?”

　　An Ruyi glared at him as she said in a slow voice, “It’s like this… I heard from my father that the Duan, Wang, and Sun families are plotting against you. The family members that will enter the Celestial River County Youth Battle Tournament will come after you on the hunting grounds. At the same time, their families are going to join forces to eradicate the entire Colosseum!”

　　“Oh, I’m aware of that. Master Thirteen’s scouts have already told me that information.” Qi Ying was rather disinterested and turned to leave again.

　　“Wait… I have something else I want to tell you! My father says that our An family is willing to help you.”

　　“Are there any conditions?”

　　An Ruyi faltered slightly before a blush appeared on her face. “The only condition is that you must agree to join our An family… ideally in the form of marriage… If you agree, we will send out our most powerful forces to protect you during the tournament.”

　　“Thank you, but I’m going to have to refuse.” Qi Ying turned her down.

　　“Hey, wait…”

　　Before An Ruyi had even completed her sentence, Qi Ying had already transformed into a black shadow and disappeared.

　　An Ruyi stood rooted to the spot, and her blush deepened further as she thought about the bold advance she had just made. She stomped her foot in frustration and embarrassment. “Stupid Qi Ying! You should go and die!”

　　…

　　After exiting the academy, Qi Ying got onto a horse-drawn carriage with a black curtain draped over its entrance. A black-robed guard was driving the carriage, while Master Thirteen was already sitting inside and awaiting him with a smile. “How was it?”

　　“Not bad.”

　　“Did someone from the An family try to speak to you about cooperation?”

　　“They did.”

　　“What did you say to them?”

　　“I won’t accept their condition. It’s not my style to pretend to agree, then go back on my word afterward.”

　　Qi Ying replied.

　　Even an idiot would understand the nature of the condition An Ruyi had proposed… He would essentially be selling himself to the An family in exchange for protection.

　　There weren’t that many male members in the An family. A few of their young male prodigies were quite powerful in their own right, but they were still lacking somewhat compared to the other three major families. However, they were the wealthiest family in the entire Celestial River County, and owned more businesses than any of the Duan, Wang, or Sun families. If they continued to develop in that manner, there would inevitably come a time when the other three families turned on them for their wealth. As such, it made sense that they were trying to join forces with Master Thirteen in order to combat those threats.

　　But asking Qi Ying to join the An family?

　　‘Sorry, but please go find someone else.’

　　It wasn’t that Qi Ying was very cold and unapproachable. It was just that when he thought carefully about it, the whole thing was a trap!

　　In the Celestial River County Youth Battle Tournament, Qi Ying would be on his own, and he would be trying to display his talents as much as he could, in order to catch the eyes of the selectors from the capital city.

　　But if he were to join forces with the An family, he would have to battle alongside their forces, and engage in battles to the death with the members of the other three families. To the An family, that would be a perfect opportunity to strike down many of their future enemies. They would be using Qi Ying to get rid of all of the bright young prospects from the other major families. As for Qi Ying himself? No one cared if he lived or died!

　　The adorkable An Ruyi didn’t understand the politics involved in the situation, and as such, she was naive enough to believe that her father was trying to recruit Qi Ying purely for her sake.

　　However, Qi Ying had been taught a myriad of military tactics and political strategies by Xuan Yu in the past, so he was able to easily see through the little games the An family was playing.

　　The horse-drawn carriage began to move, and the ride was a little bumpy.

　　…

　　Night had fallen upon the Lu mansion.

　　Whoosh!

　　Bam bam!

　　Two figures flashed through the courtyard, and the occasional explosion of True Energy could be heard.

　　Qi Ying moved as fast as lightning, and he was becoming more and more proficient in his initial success level Flowing Shadow Strike, as well as his great success level Dark Falcon Illusionary Claw. At the same time, he gripped the Ink Scale Dagger and unleashed attacks toward Lu You’s vital regions.

　　However, Lu You was like an inexhaustible source of diverse battle techniques, and no matter how fast Qi Ying moved, he was unable to get closer to his opponent.

　　Every time he attempted a sudden attack, he would be sent flying by a battle technique that wasn’t very powerful, but always struck extremely quickly.

　　Following about a hundred exchanges, Qi Ying was already panting heavily. He was unable to carry on any longer, and had to stop for a break. During that time, he swallowed an Energy Blast Pill, which was of an even higher caliber than Energy Explosion Pills, as a means to replenish the True Energy he had expended.

　　Lu Zuo made his way over to them and chortled at the sight of the exhausted Qi Ying. “You little brat, you’re only good for bullying noobs! You can’t do anything in the face of a true master!”

　　“…”

　　Qi Ying completely ignored him.

　　Indeed, Lu You was a master in battle techniques, as well as in combat in general.

　　He had been wounded by a single attack from Duan Hongxue, but that was only because he was trying to protect Qi Ying and had been forced to take the attack head-on.

　　In actual battle without any inhibitions, Qi Ying had a feeling that even ten Duan Guchengs, ten Duan Jinhongs, and ten Liu Mengs wouldn’t be able to beat Lu You.

　　He really was a master, and sparring with a warrior of his caliber was an extremely valuable educational experience.

　　Their battles couldn’t help him increase his cultivation base, but his utilization of True Energy, continuity in his battle techniques, and other various aspects were all benefiting greatly as a result.

　　Lu You was appraising Qi Ying with eyes that were filled with approval and gratification.

　　Qi Ying was like an unpolished piece of jade; he had so much latent potential to be tapped into.

　　He possessed extraordinary True Energy manipulation abilities, thereby allowing him to master some techniques in an hour or so, when others would have to spend several months to do the same. With the right training, his battle techniques would become several times more powerful.

　　As an analogy, the Qi Ying from a few days ago was like a prodigious archer who could hit still targets on every occasion from a hundred meters away. Theoretically speaking, an archer like him would require at least a year to be able to shoot moving targets with the same level of accuracy. However, Qi Ying was able to accomplish a similar feat in merely three days!

　　Lu You was far from a talkative man, but even he couldn’t help but turn to Lu Zuo and exclaim, “He is a true prodigy! His ability to learn and execute is by far the best among anyone I’ve ever seen! The longer you live, the more you see!”