Margaret was born in a prominent family in Olro. She would not have been sent here if not for her average aptitude. So allowing the kid to save face was a harmless decision. Upon thinking of this, Auldmandiller approved of Lin Sheng. He was talented, powerful, circumspect, and knew when to stop. Above all, he was humble and tactful in safeguarding collective harmony. He was a rare breed.
“Then, it’s a draw,” declared Auldmandiller.
Lin Sheng and Margaret stood back in position and bowed at each other, and then they only went back to their respective seats.
Margaret calmly sat down, but she was not as unruffled as she looked. She knew she had lost. She had exhausted half of her dark energy to pull off her last move, Comet Sword. But still, her opponent quelled her attack. “You have lived up to your reputation—the genius who has achieved 500 units of dark energy in the early stage.” She ran her fingers through her messy hair and let out a smile.
Sitting beside Margaret, Lin Sheng returned a smile. “Your sword skill was awesome. I lost. I might have gained some dark energy, but I’m nowhere near your level of control of the dark energy.”
Lin Sheng looked sincere while he spoke. If not for Margaret sensing the imminent threat at the last moment during the battle, she would have believed in his words. Margaret had also displayed the same dark energy level, just right about 500, more or less the same as Lin Sheng’s. This level of strength was impressive considering her young age. Not forgetting that unlike other abilities, dark energy was less powerful during the early stage of cultivation. It only got more powerful and all-rounded during the later stages of development. This formed a stark contrast with other systems, where most Four-Wing suppressor-class would come to a bottleneck during the later stages.
He is impressive, but I’ve only used half of my dark energy. At over 1,000 units, I could have pulled off a real killer move. I would have won had I done that. Margaret thought, and her smile became gentler.
“That’s it. Today’s test will end here. I will update the final ranking on the notice board in the central hall. You will see it when you pass through the entrance,” announced Auldmandiller.
The students stood up. Tomorrow was off day and everyone was talking about plans for their downtime. The job of blending elixirs was a stressful one. More so because they had to endure the constant reproof every day. So it was only natural that they looked forward to the time-out.
Mylissa sat on her seat, her mind still recalling the scene of the battle. The strength of Margaret and Lin Sheng was in a different league. It had far surpassed that of what new students were supposed to have. Their level of precision in controlling the dark energy was beyond the imagination of the average persons.
“Pure dark-energy indicator could no longer be the yardstick in gauging their strength.” Mylissa could see the gap between her and the two.
Just then, her phone rang. She came out of her thought and glanced at the screen. To her surprise, it was Selena. Instead of answering, she pressed the decline button. An instant gloomy look appeared on her face. She had told Selena before that unless it was absolutely urgent, she must not call her when she was in classes. Otherwise, she would risk being exposed. So something must have happened over her side. Picking up her pace and ignoring the call of her best friend, Anna, Margaret dashed toward the Soul Fortress exit.
…
Lin Sheng came out from the abandoned factory and planned to go somewhere to unwind. He would like to see if there was any good stuff over at the Sect of Thousand Graces. With the memories of tens of thousands of grieving souls of the sect, there should not be just the intel of one stronghold. At first, he shunned getting behind enemy lines alone, so he had targeted the weakest one. But it turned out that even the lousiest base had surprises for him.
He had made full use of the last few days to digest the memory fragments. He had also taken the research materials in the memories and applied them to his dark energy cultivation. The dark-energy crystals, which he summoned during the sparring with Margaret, was a special defense system he created using the outcome of the study of the destructed research lab. And it seemed to be a solid defense array.
As Lin Sheng came out of the factory, a red Ender was blocking his way. Ender was one of the luxury car brands in the world. Even its cheapest entry-level model cost 50,000 Miga dollars. He saw that the one before him was not an entry-level Ender. It was expensive for sure. But what surprised Lin Sheng more was the person behind the wheel.
As the door swung open, the driver climbed out of the vehicle and took off the sunglasses, revealing a pair of beautiful almond eyes.
“It’s you!” Lin Sheng paused as he had recognized the person. He had just saved her the other day.
The woman was wearing a different outfit today. It was a white dress that resembled cheongsam with a high cut on the side that revealed her long perfect leg. She tied her hair in a bun, wearing a light make-up on her face with a bright-purple handbag in her hand. Her composed demeanor that exuded a sense of confidence was an extreme contrast to her powerlessness she displayed that mid-noon.
“Found you at last.” The woman stepped forward with a smile. “My name is Fiona. Thank you for saving me that day!”
“You are waiting here all this while?” Lin Sheng was a little curious.
“Not all day, but I would wait here for a while during the day. I can’t believe that I’m so lucky today.” Fiona looked at Lin Sheng with her keen eyes. “I, Fiona, always requite like for like. Since Mister has saved my life, it’s only proper for me to return the favor.” She was firm in her voice as if no one should disobey her words. “Besides, I could see that Mister is unlike no other, judging from your skills. So I wonder if you are interested in becoming our company’s security consultant? You’re my savior, and I will not be stingy with your pay. One-million-dollar basic yearly pay, excluding contingency pay. What say you?”
Lin Sheng knew it. This woman did not come to show her gratitude but headhunt him. One million dollars? The daily cultivation resources that his teacher provided him was way more than that. “I’m sorry. I—” Shaking his head, Lin Sheng was about to leave.
“Two million!” Fiona came up and stood in his way.
“I’m busy…”
“Three million!” Fiona’s expression said that she was determined to get what she wanted. “Three millions per year. And don’t forget that you have hurt someone before. Without my help, you know what will await you. The court, police, legal suits, expensive compensation—can you afford that as a foreign student?” Fiona had never failed to get what she wanted.
Lin Sheng was silent for a long moment. And then he only mumbled, “I see. You’re just an unfilial kid.” He did not always do good, but when he did, it turned out that he had saved an unfilial kid.
It puzzled Fiona in hearing what Lin Sheng said. “I’m sincere here. The person you hurt is the director of a famous pharmaceutical group here. His family is influential. Without my help, you will be arrested and locked away in no time. And don’t dream of getting out again,” she said with an earnest expression. “It’s only because you have saved me. So I, Fiona, will protect you. I won’t let them get to you! I know you can fight and is really good at that. But can you fight the police? The army? Do you intend to go against the entire judiciary? Getting pragmatic is the only way. You don’t have to become the enemy of a powerful interested group for the sake of a scum. It doesn’t worth it.”
“That sounds good and proper,” Lin Sheng laughed, “but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re an unfilial fella.” With a flick of his fingers, he was about to strike at Fiona’s forehead. But then he hesitated. As much as he was disgusted, he did not want to kill her. It did not worth the trouble. So he stopped and recalled his dark energy but struck her forehead with only the natural force of his finger.
Before Fiona could figure out what Lin Sheng meant, the strike on her forehead had produced a buzz in her head. Time ticked away, and when she finally recovered from the stupor, Lin Sheng was nowhere to be seen. Rubbing her forehand, her eyes emitted a sense of ardent desire.
“The Transcendent. He could be a Transcendent! I knew it! Let’s see then. As long as he is a human, even a Transcendent has weaknesses and desires!” She had always been wanting to get close to the realm of the Transcendent. And now, the appearance of what might look like a good-man Transcendent was her best chance at getting what she wanted. She, Fiona, was a dab hand at controlling a good man like him.
