Has its own plans

When the two women finally reached the battlefield, Qiao Yíng’s eyes widened at the sight, despite her prior expectations.

If one word could describe the scene, it would be: brutal.

Of course, this brutality wasn’t directed at Xǔ Tiānlí’s injuries.

Instead, it was the state of the robbers that was truly gruesome.

As she surveyed the area, the once arrogant enemies now lay sprawled, utterly incapacitated.

Only faint moans escaped their lips.

“H-help me…”

One man, lying at Qiao Yíng’s feet, reached out a hand towards her ankle, only for her to kick him away in disgust.

“Go on, scram.”

“Don’t touch me.”

Realizing his hope for rescue was futile, the robber collapsed completely, succumbing to unconsciousness.

Qiao Yíng’s gaze swept over the battlefield once more, a sigh of admiration escaping her lips.

“Who said Xǔ Tiānlí was a good-for-nothing?”

“Isn’t he clearly a genius?”

She glanced at Qín Yuè beside her, whose expression remained placid, as if she had anticipated this outcome all along.

‘A true master, indeed.’

‘It seems my worries were entirely superfluous.’

Just as Qiao Yíng felt a blush of shame for her earlier anxieties, Mù Qīngyǔ’s internal monologue began to fire off like a machine gun.

‘Holy cow, Xǔ Tiānlí, you’re incredible!’

‘You actually took down all these people?’

Mù Qīngyǔ had imagined a scenario where, even if he couldn’t win, he could at least protect himself, allowing her to rescue Qiao Yíng and swiftly escape this dreadful place.

But Xǔ Tiānlí had already knocked them all out?

And so quickly?

Mù Qīngyǔ had observed clearly that among the twenty-plus robbers, two or three were Tier-1 Spirit Wielders.

Yet, Xǔ Tiānlí had still managed to win against such odds.

‘This is the protagonist’s talent, isn’t it?’

‘Unreasonably powerful.’

Even so, the battle was not entirely over; Xǔ Tiānlí remained locked in combat with one final enemy.

“That man there is the leader of this group,” Qiao Yíng pointed, indicating the figure standing opposite Xǔ Tiānlí.

“He’s a Tier-2, just like me.”

‘Only Tier-2?’

‘That hardly seems a match for Xǔ Tiānlí.’

Mù Qīngyǔ merely nodded slightly.

Seeing her composed reaction, Qiao Yíng, who had been about to offer assistance, swallowed her words.

‘Master Qín must be deliberately refraining from interfering, intending to use this opportunity to properly train her student, right?’

Qiao Yíng believed she could discern Qín Yuè’s thoughts and dared not offend her by speaking out of turn.

‘But… can Xǔ Tiānlí truly win?’

Her gaze returned to the battlefield, and the question still nagged at her.

Although the gap between Spirit Wielders was categorized into only six tiers, the difference within each tier was quite significant.

Of course, this didn’t mean a lower tier couldn’t defeat a higher one.

A Spirit Wielder’s strength couldn’t be judged by mere numerical comparison.

The abilities and spells they could wield, the spiritual items they used, and whether their inherent mark was suited for combat all greatly influenced a Spirit Wielder’s fighting prowess.

‘Master Qín’s confidence in letting Xǔ Tiānlí face a Tier-2 enemy must stem from his sufficient reserves of strength, right?’

‘Moreover, with Master Qín observing, Xǔ Tiānlí would still be protected even if he faltered.’

The more Qiao Yíng pondered, the more she marveled at Qín Yuè’s foresight as a reclusive master.

She simply needed to wait on the sidelines for the battle’s outcome.

Bang!!

Another clash concluded, sending Xǔ Tiānlí and the robber leader reeling backward.

“You brat, why are you so tough?”

After several exchanges, the robber leader realized he had underestimated this Tier-1 youth.

He had emerged from the factory upon hearing the commotion, never expecting this kid to single-handedly take down all his subordinates.

Now a lone commander, the leader was forced to intervene personally.

He had expected an easy victory, yet they were locked in a stalemate.

He raised the red straight saber in his hand, frowning slightly at the tiny nicks on its crimson blade.

In their last exchange, he had intended to cleave Xǔ Tiānlí in two.

Not only had he failed, but his beloved saber had been damaged.

‘He’s only Tier-1!’

‘What kind of joke is this?’

‘I’m Tier-2!’

Even if the difference between Tier-1 and Tier-2 was purely physical, the leader didn’t believe he should be this beleaguered.

Something was wrong—very wrong.

“You brat, are you playing the pig to eat the tiger?”

“Huh?”

Xǔ Tiānlí paused, taken aback by the question.

“I don’t have such boring ideas.”

“If we’re going to fight, I’ll give it my all.”

“Have you already given up?”

He tightened his grip on the standard-issue long saber, steadily calming his breathing.

After taking on twenty foes and then battling this leader, his featureless black long saber looked far more battered than the leader’s crimson blade.

It felt as though a few more clashes would snap it in two, leaving Xǔ Tiānlí to face the leader’s saber bare-handed.

Xǔ Tiānlí narrowed his eyes, glancing at his opponent’s weapon, a different emotion stirring within him.

If only he had a good weapon, he wouldn’t be fighting so desperately.

At the very least, he could injure him, rather than just passively defending.

This was Xǔ Tiānlí’s second encounter with a Tier-2 enemy.

Frankly, he could distinctly feel the difference from last time; he no longer had to simply endure a beating.

However, defeating such an enemy remained incredibly difficult.

Last time, he had only injured the Wolf Fang Gang’s leader and couldn’t prevent his escape.

The enemy he faced now wouldn’t flee easily, and Xǔ Tiānlí himself couldn’t possibly run.

‘Master is watching me.’

‘She…’

Xǔ Tiānlí’s gaze briefly flickered, spotting the two figures observing the battle from a corner.

‘I knew it!’

‘Wait, Master has already rescued the hostage?’

‘Truly worthy of Master!’

Confirming the expectant gazes upon him, Xǔ Tiānlí felt no tension.

Instead, a surge of fighting spirit welled within him, making his blood boil.

“Damn it, I don’t have time to play around with you.”

The robber leader straightened, switching his crimson straight saber to a single-handed grip.

In his now free hand, a strange object appeared.

It resembled a saber hilt, lacking a blade but possessing a grip.

The leader unhesitatingly slashed his own arm with the crimson saber.

Blood streamed down his forearm, pooling into the hilt.

Immediately, a blade even more scarlet than the crimson saber materialized from the hilt.

Its surface was so crystalline it reflected faces, seemingly flickering with flames.

‘What is this?’

‘Some special ability, or a spiritual item?’

As Xǔ Tiānlí pondered, the robber leader let out a piercing shriek towards the sky, like a rooster crowing at dawn.

Xǔ Tiānlí didn’t remain idly rooted to the spot.

He adopted an offensive stance, concentrating all his vital energy into the standard-issue long saber he held.

The robber leader’s figure vanished first, appearing before Xǔ Tiānlí in a blink.

The two sabers in his hands moved so swiftly they left afterimages, weaving a suffocating net of bloody saber light before Xǔ Tiānlí.

‘Something’s wrong!’

Even Qiao Yíng, watching from a distance, shivered involuntarily.

She instinctively looked at Qín Yuè beside her, but the latter remained motionless.

If that attack landed on Xǔ Tiānlí, she could already envision him being sliced into tiny pieces.

‘Still not going to intervene?’

Compared to the utterly flustered Qiao Yíng, Xǔ Tiānlí, directly facing the storm of death, appeared remarkably calm.

Despite several streaks of saber light already having landed on him, tearing through his clothes and leaving bloody marks on his skin, he felt no pain.

Xǔ Tiānlí’s gaze fixed on the blood-red net, piercing through the saber lights to see the rapidly moving figure of the robber leader behind it.

‘No, what if I miss?’

Xǔ Tiānlí’s hesitation lasted only a second, dispelled by the image of a large black bird flashing through his mind.

A red glint flashed in his eyes, and he swung his saber forward with all his might.

In that instant, a chilling gleam tore through the crimson saber light.

The robber leader’s stacked killing move was shattered by Xǔ Tiānlí’s single slash!

Crack!

The robber leader instinctively raised his dual sabers to block, but clearly heard their shriek as they broke.

“You son of a…”

Before he could complain, the chilling gleam landed on him.

Without even a chance to scream, the leader was sent flying, smashing through a wall and disappearing beneath the rising dust.

The chilling gleam continued its trajectory into the factory, almost splitting it in two, leaving a long scorch mark on the ground.

“He won?”

Qiao Yíng blinked, bewildered.

What just happened?

How did Xǔ Tiānlí win so suddenly?

‘Did he use the Return to the Void One-Strike Decapitation?’

‘Terrifying, simply terrifying.’

‘A Tier-1 defeating a Tier-2 with one slash – what kind of monster is he?’

“Is this what they call a good-for-nothing?”

As Qiao Yíng muttered, Mù Qīngyǔ stepped forward, approaching Xǔ Tiānlí.

“Master?”

Xǔ Tiānlí’s standard-issue long saber, now only half its original length, clattered to the ground.

He slumped his shoulders, looking at her.

“How was my performance?”

‘You nearly scared me to death.’

Mù Qīngyǔ wanted to say, but she managed to keep her expression steady.

“Eighty points.”

“You’re not going to deduct points this time, are you?”

“Wounds are a man’s medals.”

“If you had won too easily, I would have given you a low score.”

“Ahaha, then I guess my luck was pretty good.”

Xǔ Tiānlí felt his stance waver, and Mù Qīngyǔ reached out to steady his shoulder.

She could feel his shoulder trembling.

‘Does this kid always push himself this hard?’

Even Mù Qīngyǔ couldn’t help but marvel.

“Let’s go.”

“It’s time to head back.”

“Wait… no, that guy isn’t dead!”

Xǔ Tiānlí gritted his teeth, reminding them.

Everyone looked towards the direction where the robber leader had flown.

The dust had settled, but apart from the blood on the ground, there was no corpse to be seen.

“He actually ran?” Qiao Yíng exclaimed.

Like Xǔ Tiānlí, her gaze fell upon Qín Yuè.

“Master, we can’t let him escape.”

“Otherwise, there might be others…”

Xǔ Tiānlí hadn’t finished speaking when Mù Qīngyǔ flicked his forehead.

“You’re so injured, yet you’re still worrying about this and that.”

“Don’t worry, you don’t need to be concerned about that guy.”

“Master?”

“I have my plans.”

“He won’t get away.”

Xǔ Tiānlí and Qiao Yíng exchanged glances, then nodded vigorously: ‘Truly worthy of a master; she had already anticipated this situation.’

Mù Qīngyǔ, maintaining her act under their admiring gazes, thought, ‘It’s a good thing they didn’t see through me.’

‘Fortunately, that guy ran away.’

‘If he had suddenly counterattacked, Mù Qīngyǔ truly wouldn’t have known what to do.’