As its owner, the woman in black had noticed the little white mouse's strange reaction. She opened her crossbody bag to check on it and asked worryingly, "Whitey, what are you afraid of? Are there powerful Monsters around here?"
Whitey would usually squeak to answer her questions. In that instance, however, it did not make a sound, worried that it would be discovered by something scary outside.
The woman in black frowned, puzzled by the situation. Naturally, she could not know that the little mouse saw a little green dragon crouching on a big tree nearby.
Drago's color was very similar to the tree leaves. If one did not look carefully, it was very hard to see him.
When Whitey poked its head out and saw Drago, their eyes met, hence it got very scared.
…
Yang Tian had already traded a few dozens of blows with Zhao Shuangxing. Every time Zhao Shuangxing attacked, he would passively defend himself.
Through this process, Yang Tian finally understood the technique of controlling his physical strength.
For example, when the energy was transferred from the enemy to his own body, he could contract his muscles quickly to get rid of the impact. He could even turn the same energy into offensive energy through an extremely short process.
"A skillful Warrior would know how to use both his own power and the enemy's. The crucial part is your muscles. Regular people don't know how to use their own muscles, but Warriors are different. When you're practicing Combat Skills, you should be enlightened…" As Zhao Shuangxing was attacking, he was also tirelessly nagging at him.
Finally, Yang Tian understood, Zhao Shuangxing was not there to kill him, but to teach him how to utilize his physical strength.
Although he was not sure about that speculation, he was trying hard to learn nonetheless.
…
Clang!
Suddenly, their weapons clashed again. The impact was so great that both of them got separated.
"Not bad! You're starting to understand something. If you can keep reflecting in detail, you'll understand the profundity of it. Of all the young Warriors I've met, you're the one with the strongest apprehensiveness," Zhao Shuangxing said with a smile when he suddenly retracted his spear.
"Thank you, sir!"
Yang Tian sheathed his weapon and bowed at Zhao Shuangxing.
Zhao Shuangxing nodded and said, "Do you know why I did that?"
That was the very question that Yang Tian wanted to ask.
Before Yang Tian could shake his head, Zhao Shuangxing said, "Du Xiongwu is too autocratic! I've long disliked him. He thinks he can make people risk their lives for him with two billion Wu. Well, he's wrong! I want to make you stronger, paint the town with blood, and give him a few slaps in the face."
"No matter the reason behind it, I still owe you my gratitude, my teacher!" said Yang Tian while scratching his head after listening to Zhao Shuangxing's reasoning.
Seeing that they were chatting, the woman in black and the three young men went over.
Zhao Shuangxing turned around to look at the four of them before turning back, and said, "What's happening to you is not unsolvable. After you've endured this ordeal and got back to the city safely, you can apply for reconciliation from the Committee of Warriors. This has been a method that many Warriors had taken after they got into a bad beef with others. Should the Committee accept your plea, the Warrior Bounty would be forfeited. But during that time, you won't be able to avoid a dual. Whether you come out dead or alive will depend on your ability."
He said his peace,turned around, and took the four teammates who were still walking toward them with him.
Watching Zhao Shuangxing leave, it warmed Yang Tian's heart to realize that not all Warriors treated him as an enemy.
…
"Captain, why did you let Yang Tian go? He's worth two billion Wu!" After walking in the forest for a while, one of the young men behind Zhao Shuangxing asked.
Zhao Shuangxing stopped and turned around. He looked at his team and said, "Because I wouldn't be able to kill him."
"That can't be true!" The woman in black said, surprised.
Zhao Shuangxing said, "Yang Tian looked passive just now, but he had a lot of energy left. He fought with me for 30 minutes, blocking a few hundred hits from my spear. But in the end, he could still unleash such power! He managed to push me backwards. I don't remotely have the level of endurance he has. If I'm not mistaken, Feng Da lost to him because of exhaustion."
The woman took over and said, "Therefore, Captain, you changed your mind and did him a favor by letting him go?"
Zhao Shuangxing laughed and said, "Of course not. To be honest, I never planned to kill him to begin with. He was, after all, one of us."
After he spoke, he turned back and continued walking.
Yang Tian learned a lot by fighting Zhao Shuangxing, especially about the control of power. After they left, he called for Drago. The duo crossed the stream, walked for half a day, and reached an entrance leading to a valley.
Yang Tian had to look for a place to rest and spend some time practicing how to use his power.
As the saying went, 'Strike while the iron is hot'. Following the exchange with Zhao Shuangxing, he still remembered the change in his muscles every time he blocked a hit from his spear.
Even for a regular human, muscles in the body would miraculously adjust itself to lessen the injury caused by an impact; it was an instinct. As for Warriors, they were more advanced than normal humans. They could be in control of the movements of their muscles after adequate training.
Gazing at the valley ahead and looking up to the steep cliffs on both sides, Yang Tian thought this was a nice place to hide. It was the perfect place for a resting spot.
"Squeak squeak squeak…"
When Yang Tian was about to enter the valley, Drago cried out. He told Yang Tian that there was a very powerful Monster in there.
"What kinda Monster?" Yang Tian asked, looking at the valley and at the little dragon on his shoulder, standing on his hind legs.
Drago squeaked again, saying that he did not know. He told Yang Tian that the Monster inside was not easy to defeat.
Yang Tian thought for a while and understood—the Monster in there was probably Grade Six or Grade Seven. If it was over Grade Eight, the little dragon would have immediately told him that the thing inside was extremely dangerous, and running away was the only option.
"Good timing for me to kill it then. I'm in need of a Grade Six Beast Core!" Laughed Yang Tian.
"Squeak squeak!"
Drago cried out in excitement too, showing his strong desire for battle.
"Qingxi Valley
When he moved past the mouth of the valley, what appeared before him was a new sight. There were a lot less trees, and there was a broken advertising board on the ground. The words on it were quite blurry at that point. Yang Tian read words on it aloud…
Apparently, there was a 'country fun' in the valley before the YS outbreak.