Translator: Abyssruler Editor: Lucas
“Lie Xin. Continue. Remember the feeling of the Lie Flame. Imagine you are a volcano. The calm and brewing feeling before an explosion… Lie Guang, shut your mouth and follow me.” Odin’s patience was running out with this disciple. Perhaps it was time to tell him.
“Yes Mentor. Sis, I’ll be right back. You keep at it!”
Lie Guang let out a long breath, and began to pack his energy back. After leaving Elite Academy, he had thought that he could take a break. In truth, he had trained himself hard at Elite Academy, only he was usually the happy-go-lucky type. But the moment they had returned to Mars, their mentor had summoned them, and these days were tough indeed.
“Mentor, is it good news? Can I eat now?”
Odin sternly looked at Lie Guang. “Move it.”
Lie Guang cheekily followed behind. After many winds and twists, they came to the place which Odin had sealed shut.
It was his first time here. He sized it up curiously. The room was big, but the décor was simple. Not a single unnecessary piece of furniture was present. In the center of the room was a cauldron, which resembled the one in the Lie family secret room, only this one looked even more ancient and elaborate. On its surface floated a strange light that left one with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
“This is the mother cauldron of the Lie flame. The one in the Lie family is a replica. Sit down.” Odin pointed to a seat on the side.
Odin’s expression was especially grave. In Lie Guang’s impression, when Mentor had this expression, it must be something of the gravest importance. Only, he had no idea why something so serious involved him.
Lie Guang quickly wiped the smile of his own face, and showed his serious side. “Yes, Mentor.”
“Lie Guang, you might have wondered before why the Lie family adopted you?” Odin looked at Lie Guang, with a tinge of sadness.
Ping!
This question had struck at the depths of Lie Guang’s heart. Out of so many orphans, why him? He had asked himself that question so many times. Had he just been fortunate?
“Mentor, I have always wanted to know.” Surprisingly, Lie Guang felt at peace.
“The truth is that the Lie family discovering you was no coincidence. It was the Sage himself who spared no effort and finally found you, and set the wheels of fate in motion. The time for the Solar System to rise has come, and we have waited for too long. But it is a pity that this generation of Lie family’s heir only has Lie Xin. But she is not perfect. The Lie family ancestors who have perfected the Lie Flame Technique have all been male.” Odin said. He stared at Lie Guang, who still felt calm.
“And if Mars wishes to follow the Solar System’s rise to greatness, and advance in the order, the Lie Xin of today is far from being able to shoulder that burden. But what we hope is not for Mars to be a secondary support, but to capitalize on this era of development. I think that the two of you must feel the gap after returning from Elite Academy X.”
A miracle had not happened. Earth and Moon had made great strides forward, while Mars was falling behind.
“Mentor, I am sorry to have let you all down.” Lie Guang said.
Lie Xin had talent, and ability. She was also clever. The only thing that limited her was the Lie Flame Technique.
And if Mars wanted to rise to greatness, it had to be the Lie Flame Technique. This was a spiritual emblem etched into every Martian’s bones. The descendants of fire.
Lie Guang lowered his head. “Sister has tried her best. At Elite Academy, she never let up even once…”
Odin seemed not to hear this. “The Sage Sect spent 10 years searching the whole of Mars, no, the whole Solar System, to find a boy born with the body of fire. Being born with a body of fire is the physical pre-requisite for perfecting the Lie Flame Technique. You may have heard of the Yin Yang Harmonious Flame Technique in the Lie Flame Technique.
Lie Guang’s face paled. From the start, the Lie family had never pinned any hopes of Lie Guang becoming great, because he did not have the Lie family blood. Yin Yang Harmonious Flame Technique was a vessel. All he had ever trained was prepared for the sake of someone else.
Odin observed Lie Guang closely, but Lie Guang’s face quickly eased into a smile. “I am willing.”
Lie Guang’s smile caught the stern Odin off guard. With his life experience, he could tell that this smile was genuine. “Lie Guang, you must be clear that once this is complete, you will lose all your powers. You may even be weaker than a normal person.”
“Haha, Mentor, I’ve honestly felt that these years have been good to me. What will come, will come. I think that even if I become invalid, the Lie family and the Sage Sect won’t abandon me.”
As his own disciple, how could Odin have no feelings? But this had been decided from the start, and Odin had participated in this plan as well. It was precisely because he had felt that things were unfair for Lie Guang that he had accepted him as disciple. But now he discovered that the more feelings he had, the harder this was.
“Mentor, do not feel sad for me. This works out well too. Since I’m the type that only wants to live a carefree life, this is best for everyone. Besides, if Sis gets stronger, things will be good for me too.” Lie Guang was instead consoling Odin. “No matter what, this matter must be kept secret from Sis, or she will never agree to it.”
Odin nodded. These had all been planned for. If Lie Xin could break free of the bottleneck, then even Odin did not want things to be this way. But the way things stood, they were falling behind. If they delayed any longer, then they would not even have the last chance.
“… Go and prepare yourself, then.”
“Yes, Mentor. Give me a few days to enjoy myself.” Lie Guang smiled.
Leaving Odin’s room, Lie Guang stared at the sunlight outside. It felt especially harsh.
His spirit had been broken before. He had fallen before. He knew that all he had, had to be returned, even if it cost him his life. If it had been anybody else, Lie Guang would think of every way to rebel, even if the result took a down turn. But the person was Lie Xin. Who cared about the Lie family or Mars, but Lie Xin was the only one in the Lie family who cared about him, and treated him like family…
If he could help Lie Xin fulfil her heart’s desire, then his life was a worthy price.
Although Wang Zheng was on break, but Xiao Fei had no intention of giving up on this free labor. If a pro like Wang Zheng came back, and she did not hold a few lessons for the students, that would be a waste. The cash register in Principal Xiao’s brain was ringing loudly.
Yao Ailun and Chen Xiu were all busy, and Wang Zheng was wandering the streets of Beijing alone. After living in this city for so many years, although he had not left for long, but after returning, he felt that the changes had been drastic.
The bookshop had not changed much. The new boss had made decent sales. Wang Zheng passed this way because he was looking for news of Old Merchant. But there was none. The store personnel was again enthusiastic in selling him something, and Wang Zheng had been coerced into buying a few books again.
After a meal, Wang Zheng suddenly discovered that he was not used to such a free life. Perhaps in his bones he was meant for the life of risk and thrill. He was not fated to be at peace. At most he could steal half a day to idle away.
Wandering around, he had come to a net café. It seemed like this place still held an important place in his memory.
He had really not been here for a long time. That fat owner was not around, but the front desk girl had become even prettier. The décor looked more luxurious. It looked like CT’s popularity had made the owner prosperous.
Wang Zheng chose a position. The net café was crowded and noisy. It was now divided into 3 large zones. One was the observatory, one was the pro zone, and the last was a free zone. The newly opened professional halls had the newest equipment, specially prepared for those amateur experts. CT now had competitions even for non-professionals, and they were always popular. When professional matches were on, people would watch professional matches. When there weren’t any, the non-professional matches enjoyed a good viewership.
“The best now is Sun Tianxiong. Prince should retire already!”
“D*mn, piss off. Prince can still fight for 10 more years. Just on experience alone, Sun Tianxiong can spend a lifetime learning it.”
“Enough already. The wave in front dies crashing on the beach. Sun Tianxiong is the number one pro in the Earth zone. His individual career competitive winrate is at 91%. How much is Prince’s?”
“F*ck off! Prince is a team player, OK!”
“Only old men can be ‘team players’. The time is now, when heroes are kings. For the celebrity invitational this time round, I put all my bets on Mu Guang. Whether popularity or winrate, he’s the highest!”
A bunch of players were currently arguing in the great hall. This celebrity invitational was sponsored by the CT officials, and had been vigorously promoted, attracting some entertainment stars as well. There were 2 big prizes. The first was naturally for the final victor, the champion prize. The other was a popularity prize.
That depended on the commentator’s reputation, whether they could invite a popular ace.
Mu Guang was currently the hot favorite, and called the new star after the Skeleton and Old Deer era. His commentary style was crisp, he was handsome and intellectual enough to be a star, and his fighting ability was also fairly high, considered a pro standard.
Mu Guang was nicknamed the God’s Eye. But from a popularity standpoint, he was comparable to Old Deer in his heyday, and he was on good terms with the pro circle as well. That was why he had invited the most popular career pro Sun Tianxiong, ID MeMasterofUniverse. To dare to take such an ID in the pro circle spoke of his confidence, and his fans loved to call him Overlord.
And for the celebrity candidate, Mu Guang had invited Zhang Ziyan, who was very popular in the Earth entertainment industry. She had just been awarded the Solar System best supporting actress, and her popularity was very high. She was the sweet, cute type, and also a CT player. She was one of the faces of CT, and that Mu Guang had managed to invite her to join the team was very impressive.
This lineup was a sure-win in this invitational.
Besides Mu Guang, who dominated the public eye, there were a few other commentators as well, of which Yao Ailun was one of them. Yao Ailun had always been paired with Old Deer, but in truth Old Deer was the main anchor. Once he had split from Old Deer, he had not received much attention. In the end, the reverence for Old Deer had troubled Ailun considerably as well.
Prince had already agreed. Regardless of result, Prince’s popularity was there, earned by his place in the scene. Prince had contributed the most to CT’s development on Earth, which was why he was still around when others had quit. In name he was the leader, but in the team he could only be a support.
Actually, many people thought that it was time for Prince to retire, while the going was good. Why get beaten by a bunch of newcomers? That would be embarrassing.
Hearing such words, Prince just smiled, and did not reply.
When Yao Ailun had come asking, Prince had agreed without hesitation. This was one hurdle crossed, but he was still short of a star.
