Chapter 393: The Road to Return (3k)
At the south gate of Erths, two figures slowly walked out and stood outside the moat. The black-skirted girl gazed at the distant shattered city for a moment before losing her interest. Both of them turned into streams of light and soared towards the sky further south.
Most likely, Yela would be forced into a ceasefire, as long as those people didn’t court death…
A few seconds after the black-skirted girl disappeared, a green phantom appeared on Erths’ southernmost city wall. The phantom’s hands were resting on the guardrail of the wall, as if it were human, and a smile appeared.
Beside it, a jade-green feather suddenly reappeared. Soon, the feather turned to dust with a “bang!” Four feathers regrew, each different, but three of them crumbled into dust again.
Finally, only one feather was left, circling its body. This feather was extremely bizarre; it was crystalline in appearance, yet it was burning with a blue netherflame, deep and chilling.
“You grant my people the future, and though I am not present, I can grant you… the opportunity of netherflame.”
It spoke in a very strange tone, in Dragon Country language, with shallow words.
Su Jiu and the other person soon arrived at the airport of a neighboring country. The traffic on the road had become much more. The shouts and conversations gave Su Jiu a slight sense of illusion.
Along the way, she could even see various speeches appealing for help for Erths, the principle of “when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold” being repeated over and over.
The two bought two more mobile phones, ate some snacks, and then headed to the airport. Looking at the familiar bustling scene, Su Jiu bought a lot of desserts as if seeking revenge, eating them in small bites along the way, firmly believing that sugar could bring joy.
However, it did bring them joy. One big and one small figure walked one after another. Bernice’s small face was fed by Su Jiu until it was as round as a squirrel’s. Su Jiu couldn’t help but cover her mouth and giggle.
Bernice wiped the cream from the corner of her mouth and, uncharacteristically, pouted and said reproachfully, “Miss…”
“I’m just bringing you to eat something delicious along the way.”
Su Jiu chuckled, shook her head, walked ahead with her hands behind her back, appearing to be in a good mood, as if reliving the playful times after school in high school.
Holding a slice of red velvet cake, Bernice took another small bite. She frowned as she tasted the flavor so different from that of hundreds of years ago, but seeing the swaying back, her lips couldn’t help but curl.
“It’s a bit salty, and a bit sweet… how strange.”
As a member of the Blood Clan, Bernice didn’t really like sweets, and could even be said to detest them. [Sugar] in ancient times was an alchemical ingredient used to kill members of the Blood Clan.
Near nightfall, due to spending a bit of “small money,” the two were able to board the country’s plane without passports. Amidst the bustling crowd at the airport, they actually ran into Professor Green again.
He clearly recognized both of them, and there was a bit of disbelief in his eyes, as if he hadn’t expected to encounter them when he arrived later. He then took two steps forward, smiled, and greeted them, “Ladies, what a coincidence that we meet again here. Are you also going to Seattle?”
Upon hearing this, Su Jiu turned her head and indeed saw Green. He was still dressed in his usual old-fashioned medieval mage attire, holding a paper cup of warm coffee, with a look of surprise.
“It’s Professor Green. You can just call me Su Jiu. I’m not used to being called ‘ladies’.”
Then, without thinking much, she pointed to the [Seattle] sign in front of them and responded with a similar smile, “We do have to go there to participate in the competition.”
Hearing this, Green didn’t seem too surprised. Instead, he found Su Jiu’s words to be quite natural, only asking with some confusion, “I recall that Dragon Country was being represented by that fellow Yun Mo. Has the representative been changed now?”
“Yun Mo? …No one has been changed. I’ve temporarily rejoined the team.”
This time, it was Su Jiu’s turn to be surprised. She seemed to have heard this name somewhere, but when she thought about the teams from several Dragon Country universities, she tragically found that she had no impression of the other teams.
Then, she remembered the name in her heart, thinking: Must be a hidden master from those Dragon Country universities? Is it the martial arts fanatic from Magic City?
“Indeed, after all, Seattle is not too far from Erths.”
Green nodded, clearly mistaking Su Jiu as a deputy judge from Dragon Country. The two surprisingly managed to chat, starting to discuss the situation in Yela, and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each team. He soon talked about interesting events during the competition.
Green: “You should know about the team called [Leisurely Fishing], right? This team can actually threaten some seeded strong teams, and even our school has been researching their captain.”
“I know, but wasn’t their captain playing the Priest position?”
Su Jiu blinked and nodded.
Green rolled his eyes and then joked, “Although she’s a Priest, according to our internal information, she has the strength to rival a Half-King. She might have participated solely for Dream Cloud Pool.”
“That’s true, but I think she might not be a Half-King. She’s probably only a High-Rank Battle General right now.”
Su Jiu was stunned for a moment, looking at the old man’s quite serious expression, and subtly revealed her own strength.
“But she once instantly defeated a High-Rank Battle General in Dragon Country…”
Green raised an eyebrow at Su Jiu, full of disbelief, but he didn’t expose Su Jiu’s background. Instead, he changed the topic to something else, appearing quite talkative despite his appearance.
Seeing that the crowd was quickly approaching the boarding gate, Green bid farewell to the two first, making a not-so-standard fist-and-palm salute, saying, “In Dragon Country terms, we’ll meet again someday. Goodbye!”
Su Jiu nodded, let out a sigh of relief, finally having some peace.
However, the mountain is a fake mountain…
After entering the plane, because they were all temporary tickets, the three of them unexpectedly ended up in the same row and started chatting intermittently about the situation on the competition grounds.
“I believe Stanford University will definitely win the championship this time. Young Wen De is only so arrogant because he has a dragon-affiliated monster. In reality, his combat ability is not that strong.”
Professor Green always praised Stanford University in the Eagle Country, which made Su Jiu suspect that he might be a professor from that university.
While talking, Su Jiu saw the competition materials in his hand, which seemed to be personal information of a member of a major team. Wanting to gather some information, she said, “What is this? Morin?”
“It’s not hidden information. He’s our university’s strongest student – Morin. His direct combat power is enough to match Mo Yu from your Magic City.”
Hearing Su Jiu, who had been passively speaking, suddenly ask a question, Green chuckled and then tossed the information to her, his eyes occasionally looking at Su Jiu with a proud expression.
Clearly, he had deliberately brought it out to show off. After all, it felt good to show off an excellent student to one’s peers.
He paused again, then took his hands out of his pockets, holding an alchemy lighter and spinning it, smiling:
“Moreover, he’s also an Initial Stage Alchemy Master. This lighter was given to him by Morin. You should understand the value of setting up arrays by an Alchemy Master, right?”
“Yes, I am also a High-Rank Alchemist… Alchemy Masters can indeed dominate competitions of this level.”
Picking up the information, Su Jiu nodded in agreement. She scanned the opponent’s resume and paused briefly on the entry “[Defeated an Initial Stage Battle King level Black Dragon],” then quickly returned the information to Green.
This person named Morin should be slightly stronger than Wen De and has the ability to fight above his level, but he probably wouldn’t be able to withstand her fully powered sword.
Seeing that Su Jiu didn’t say anything, Green thought she was unhappy and then laughed it off, “These are just minor skills. They’re definitely no match for warriors like you who are often on the battlefield. His tricks can only fool students who haven’t seen the world.”
“Let’s talk more on the field. I’m going to cultivate.”
After chatting for a long time, Su Jiu used the excuse of cultivating and began to enter her ring space. She did not choose to start the weekly demon reinforcement challenge.
Instead, she began to check the enhancements brought by the feather within her body. After activating the Ice Cicada Transformation, the most direct feeling was that her ice attribute had been raised to the second level.
With a thought from Su Jiu, she extended a finger, and the ice at her fingertips turned a deep aquamarine, carrying a rich life aura, and an attribute that could not be described in words was added.
“Let’s try fighting without any enhancements.”
Soon, the space transformed into a fighting arena. She looked up and saw a Battle King level Winged Dragon appear in the space. Without even raising her head, a jade-green light appeared on her fingertips, forming an ice blade…
“Boom!”
An unknown amount of time passed, and in the space, the Winged Dragon’s body crashed to the ground. Su Jiu closed her eyes and felt her specific strength. She could clearly perceive the enhancement from the Ice Cicada Transformation, but then the electronic voice of the space made her slightly stunned.
“Blood Clan Coagulated Blood value is full, cannot acquire. Remaining until advancement quest start: 378 days.”
“Ice Cicada Coagulated Blood value is full, cannot acquire. Battle King level unlock.”
“Ghost Car Coagulated Blood value +3”
“Advancement quest… is it for advancing bloodline? Is it not a normal awakening… and the time for the Blood Clan bloodline seems to be about the same as what Vivian gave me.”
Listening to these voices, Su Jiu’s thoughts began to drift. Her consciousness was soon transmitted back to the plane, and she gently opened her eyes. The view outside the plane window showed it was already daytime.
“We’ve already arrived over Seattle. I’ve also asked Morin and the others to pick me up for a meal to discuss tomorrow’s match, how about it?”
At this moment, Green’s voice sounded again. He was still holding a cup of coffee, with a faint smile, and took a gentle sip.
