Jiang Yuan, Ji Feiyue, and the others returned to Chongming Martial Arts Hall.
"Even though I knew you'd win, I didn't expect it to be so easy." Roy sat cross-legged on the floor, holding a can of beer. "It's a shame I didn't even get to see your skills."
Leina excitedly said, "I heard from Xu Yihan that you're already Rank 9. You're so strong now! Want to have a match with me and see?"
Excitement shone in her bright, clear eyes.
Jiang Yuan was also a little moved.
A Rank 3 Shadow Assassin would be perfect to test his current strength.
"Stop messing around, Leina," Ji Feiyue said. "Don't you still have work to do?"
"Oh, oh!"
Leina slapped her head.
"I still have to deliver food! If you hadn't said anything, I would have completely forgotten!"
"I still have to deliver food, so I'll be going now, Little Brother Jiang Yuan. See you next time!"
With that, she vanished without a trace; even Jiang Yuan only caught a wisp of a black shadow.
"Today was truly satisfying! My treat today, let's all go to Purple Moon Pavilion for dinner!"
Xu Yihan, with an uncontainable smile on her face, said to everyone.
Roy excitedly raised her hand. "Yay! Sister Yihan rarely treats us, and it's Purple Moon Pavilion! Then we won't be polite!"
Jiang Yuan had only heard of Purple Moon Pavilion; it was a high-end restaurant where the average cost per person exceeded ten thousand, and it only served pre-booked Martial Artists.
Ji Feiyue smiled and said, "Although it's thanks to Jiang Yuan, it's a rare opportunity, so we won't be polite either."
"I still have enough money to treat you all to one meal."
"Oh, and these too."
Xu Yihan traded a chain-shaped rare weapon and a skill book to Jiang Yuan.
"These were originally yours to win. They should belong to you."
Jiang Yuan didn't decline and accepted them generously. After checking their attributes, he found they weren't very suitable for him, so he entrusted Ji Feiyue to help him sell them.
Ji Feiyue smiled, nodded in agreement, and said, "You're already in the guild chat. In the future, if you have things you don't need, you can put them in the guild warehouse. If others need them, they can buy or trade directly. Similarly, if you need something, you can trade for it from them."
"I understand."
Jiang Yuan nodded. "Besides these, I do have two other items."
He took out the bone spear and the Blood Lion Ring.
After he revealed their attributes, Ji Feiyue was a little surprised. "It's the tailbone of a bone beast! I didn't expect you to get such a good item. Although it's Rank 1, its market price is very high, and it's quite rare."
"Ordinary top-grade ring-type equipment is also uncommon. It seems your harvest from this trip to the Abyss was quite bountiful."
"Are you planning to sell them all?"
"For the bone spear, I want to reforge it. If no one in the guild uses the Blood Lion Ring, then I'll sell it," Jiang Yuan said.
Ji Feiyue nodded. "Although the attributes are good, the Rank is too low. It's better to sell it. I happen to know a blacksmith for forging weapons. I'll handle both these matters."
"Thank you, Guild Leader."
Ji Feiyue's eyes flickered upon hearing this. Her alluring upper body, encased in a white dress, leaned forward, drawing close to Jiang Yuan, and she breathed out, "As a condition for my help, you're not allowed to call me 'Guild Leader' anymore. It sounds too cold. Call me Sister Feiyue."
The distance between them at this moment could be called intimate; with a slight lowering of his head, his gaze would be drawn to the snow-white cleavage so close by.
Jiang Yuan's expression was a little unnatural. "Okay... Sister Feiyue, then I'll leave it to you..."
"Haha, he's blushing, he's blushing!" Roy laughed, drinking beer, and slapped Jiang Yuan hard on the back. "You're so innocent!"
Lan Xue also covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
Everyone went to Purple Moon Pavilion in a cheerful atmosphere and had a big meal. It wasn't until evening that Jiang Yuan returned to the Martial Arts Hall with Xu Yihan.
Before they parted, a drunken Roy embraced Xu Yihan and said, "Sister Yihan, you, *hic*... you're not allowed to take advantage of living together and, and make a move on Little Brother Jiang Yuan, okay? No... *hic*, otherwise, I won't let you off..."
"No, no, I wouldn't!" Xu Yihan's face flushed.
She secretly glanced at Jiang Yuan, but found he had already fallen asleep against the car window.
"Is the Lieyuan Liquor a bit too strong for a minor?" Ji Feiyue asked, looking at him with a smile.
"Perhaps. Sister Feiyue, has the date for the next trip to the Abyss been set?" Xu Yihan asked.
"Yes, in the next few days."
"Then Jiang Yuan..."
"This time we're going to a Rank 4 Abyss. His Rank is still too low, and he also needs to prepare for the College Entrance Exam. So, not this time," Ji Feiyue said with a smile.
Xu Yihan nodded; she had the same thought.
"Then we'll head back now."
"Okay, be careful on your way."
...Meanwhile...
As streamer Mo Yu's broadcast clip spread the battle across the Star Domain network,
Jiang Yuan's handsome appearance, coupled with his lazy and mysterious temperament, as well as his incredible fighting methods and his ability to instantly kill Liang Cheng twice, attracted a lot of attention, and his popularity index rose.
Lin Qingyan, who had returned home from the Abyss, saw this news online and said while drinking coffee:
"Why bother teaching a lesson to such trash, and making such a big scene out of it... If you have time for this, you might as well go to the Abyss to kill monsters and level up."
Recalling what happened in the Abyss,
a layer of frost involuntarily covered her delicate, fair face again.
"That bastard, does he think winning against me once means he can always suppress me?"
"You just wait."
...Xia Family Estate...
"Jiang Yuan? The Fifth Prodigy? Paying attention to these things is utterly meaningless."
Inside the enormous training room, with ten-meter-long furrows crisscrossing the floor, a sweat-drenched Xia Qinghou said indifferently to the butler, his back to him.
"Among my peers, no matter who it is, they are only fit to see my back."
...Outside Nanjiang City, somewhere in the suburbs...
Qin Nansun, sitting on a rock in the distance, looked at the tablet in his hand, a smile playing on his lips.
"Oh?"
"Jiang Yuan... he's quite interesting."
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The ground trembled.
"Roar!"
Three massive Pig-Headed Men, wielding great axes, charged towards him.
Qin Nansun didn't even look; he joined his fingers like a sword and flicked his hand upwards.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
"Swish swish swish!"
Six black iron swords flew up, their light crisscrossing, slicing through the three massive Pig-Headed Men like a hot knife through tofu, instantly zeroing out their health bars.
"I wonder how many of my swords he can withstand," Qin Nansun's eyes held a hint of interest.
"I'm really looking forward to it."
...Baihe Group, in a room in the basement...
Lin Junhao lay naked in a jade-green medicinal liquid bath, with a woman who had been played with and broken lying beside him.
He raised his arm, and green tendrils, like willow branches, emerged from his flesh, swaying. Like living things, they pierced into the medicinal liquid, making gurgling sounds as they "drank." One of them pierced into the body of the beautiful woman beside him.
"Mmm..."
She was filled with pleasure, but her body rapidly shriveled, turning into a dried corpse in mere seconds. A satisfied smile remained on her face before she died, incredibly eerie.
"Power, I feel power surging within me."
Lin Junhao absorbed greedily, his handsome, pale face filled with malevolence, vastly different from how he appeared during the Awakening ceremony.
"In this Martial Dao College Entrance Exam, no one will be my opponent, hahahahaha!"
Gurgle gurgle.
As he laughed wildly, flesh churned at the back of his head, and a purple cyclops eye wriggled out...