At a hidden spot near the Genius Summit.
"Such good seedlings. I honestly didn't have high hopes for this small city and its little clans."
"One from the Xin Clan and the other from the Zhao Clan. These kinds of seedlings can only sprout well under the rich caring of the Lord and the competitive atmosphere at Jun City."
"True it's better that we are the ones that have managed to find these two geniuses instead of others."
"But don't you think the Zhao Clan youth's comprehensive abilities may stand a chance against Bei Moi?"
"That's just wishful thinking. Bei Moi is the pride of the Lord which makes him even more talented than all of this city's geniuses combined."
"Stop exaggerating, Seventeenth. I feel that the youth from the Zhao Clan isn't as bad as you think. We will only know him better after the recruitment."
"Let's go. Time waits for no one."
And then two figures clad in silver stealthily rushed out from the summit of the mountain.
Back at the half-destroyed arena, Zhao Wei absent-mindedly looked at the two mysterious people with an imperceptible smile on his lips.
'Mission accomplished.' His ear muscles then stopped twitching and returned to normal.
He had already heard their conversation under the barely long distance of over 500 meters.
He didn't need to use a hearing technique like how Xin Wuheng normally did since his overall physical body improvement naturally also covered it and granted him super hearing. Apart from his supervision, Zhao Wei could also hear sounds over very long distances, currently limited to only a few kilometers.
'Bei Moi, ah, there was somebody named like that before the early Broken Moon Clan arc, now I remember. He was the one that dared to pull the rug under Lord Guanjun's feet.'
'Haha, he wasn't in the wrong either. What could he have done? A wise man submits to circumstances.' Zhao Wei quickly glossed over the details he had once forgotten but was now remembering from the novel.
But then again, to be betray someone's full expectations and trust on you was simply...
Zhao Wei then left the war-torn stage with a bored expression on his face.
"Now what am I supposed-" Zhao Wei cut himself short when he noticed another interesting thing.
'With such a hot and intense gaze directed toward me, how do you expect me not to notice?' Zhao Wei thought in amusement.
'Oh Qiu Mengyu, Oh Qiu Mengyu.'
'She should currently be itching to sweet talk me into accepting her offers. Just how restless is she?' He pretended to not look in her direction as he went down to his seat.
With his 360 degrees field of view and his honed instincts, any type of gazes, be it of interest or hostility, they couldn't escape his perception and anything within the 1000-meter radius of the mountain was under his radar.
"Have you been satisfied enough? You look quite happy, if I must say." Zhao Yufei commented with a curious look in her eyes.
Her seat was just two seats behind Zhao Wei but she had decided to sit next to him for a moment.
"Happy? I don't think so." Zhao Wei smiled lightly.
"Hmph, when I say you are happy then you are happy. The image of your battle-crazed smile is still fresh and vivid in my mind. You were clearly enjoying it." Zhao Yufei retorted while cutely puffing her cheeks like a hamster stuffed with food.
Zhao Wei rolled his eyes. "Alright, you win. I enjoyed the fight though barely."
"Are you happy now?"
Zhao Yufei poked her small tongue out in victory.
"Childish." Zhao Wei grumbled.
"Speak for yourself." Zhao Yufei chuckled, an action that usually exposes her adorable dimples.
Oh, those small depressions on her cheeks made one feel the urge to just poke at them with the index finger.
"Anyway, with how epic your fight with Xin Wuheng had been, I don't think the next fights are going to be that stimulating."
"Haha, just look at the severe destruction that you have caused in the battle arena."
Zhao Yufei knew the damage dealt by Zhao Wei would always be disastrous but that was her first time witnessing it in person.
"But I think you still didn't give it your all. Am I right?" Zhao Yufei asked curiously even though she knew the answer right from her heart.
"Were you itching to see someone's corpse, girl?" Zhao Wei arched his eyebrow, his words as nonchalant as ever.
"No." Zhao Yufei answered hurriedly, her body muscles visibly becoming tense.
She had never seen a corpse or seen someone getting killed. She just couldn't stomach the thought even with her newfound confidence.
But what bothered her was Zhao Wei's nonchalance toward matters of death.
Didn't he feel nauseated or repulsed by it? Or was it that her heart was still young, naive, and inexperienced?
"Have you ever… killed before?" Zhao Yufei's lips trembled as she asked him without thinking it over.
She expected him to at least say "no".
Zhao Wei remained silent and didn't answer her quite peculiar and personal question.
He chose to look at the shiny surface of the radiant moon.
Zhao Wei wasn't evading her question but was instead taking his sweet time.
Finding continuously staring at the moon to be boring, Zhao Wei shifted his deep gaze to the young beautiful woman sitting next to him.
"I have taken lives that sought to take mine. So that qualifies as a yes." Zhao Wei then calmly replied, his voice was free, regretless, and cool.
Her eyes widened in extreme surprise and fear while her soft pink lips quivered in tandem.
DU DU DU!
Her heart palpitations also increased.
She didn't want to believe that the young teenager beside her who was only a year younger than her could easily take a life without being affected by its implications. Yet she knew deep down in her own heart that Zhao Wei was telling the truth.
Just how could he do it and remain unaffected?
Is it due to his inherent coldness and unpredictable demeanor?
Her mind was now a maelstrom of questions that she couldn't answer.
Zhao Wei observed her facial expressions and managed to get a read on her thoughts.
"Are you now afraid of… me?" Zhao Wei said expressionlessly.
"I- I don't know. I am just shocked and speechless. I don't know how I am supposed to react now." Zhao Yufei looked sideways, not daring to meet Zhao Wei's gaze.
"I know that you are young but the world doesn't care about your age when it comes to survival of the fittest. Having a basic understanding of the world that you are living in is paramount to your own existence."
"This world is cruel and unforgiving. Killing is just a cycle that keeps the world moving. The time will come when you will be forced to take a life. And that time isn't far off, Zhao Yufei."
"Soon." Then Zhao Wei closed his eyes and… started sleeping.
Zhao Yufei listened carefully with a frown on her pretty face as she tried to make sense of Zhao Wei's words.
She could barely understand what he had taught her.
And it was then that Zhao Yufei realized that he had already started sleeping.
'This bastard really…'
But seeing how peaceful and pleasing his sleeping face was, Zhao Yufei shook her head lightly and didn't try to disturb him.
A plethora of emotions showed on her angelic face as she sighed in defeat.
'I understand.'
Zhao Yufei knew the answer but she couldn't just accept it in the short term and it needed her to experience the negatives of reality and the way of survival.
Their conversation on that day had been different and quite deep.
Looking at the arena that was now fully repaired in such a short period, Zhao Yufei confidently knew that it was her time.
Her time to shine also.
She didn't want to forever stand under the shadow of Zhao Wei.
Hell, she needed her own shadow! Her own path!
In calculated elegance, Zhao Yufei then slowly rose from her seat.
She gave Zhao Wei's sleeping form one last look.
'I can't resist.'
She found her right hand outstretched on its own as she sought after Zhao Wei's cheeks. She just wanted to pinch them a little bit before leaving.
At the last moment, it seems she had some second thoughts about her 'disastrous' actions as her delicate left hand clutched her right arm and stopped it in its tracks.
"What am I doing?" Zhao Yufei slightly mocked herself, aware of the looks that she was gaining due to her beauty.
Finally, she sought the battle arena to have her own episode of greatness.
Her own limelight.
She needed more experience!
***
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