Chapter 413: Lost—Longyao City
In the villa’s living room.
Having reunited, Su Ming and the others no longer stayed in the reception room but moved together to the living room.
Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao also followed along and began conversing with Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei.
Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei seemed to have already heard about Chi Qian and the others’ deeds. They were extremely curious about these former members of the renowned “Crimson” in Tianfeng City, especially about Chi Qian, the former strong-willed woman. Their conversation was filled with intense interest.
Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao were equally curious about Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei, particularly about their status as Su Ming’s juniors from the Academy.
In the hearts of Chi Qian and the others, although Su Ming was a young man—with everyone except Tong Xinyao being older than him, some significantly so—his status and importance were substantial.
After all, Su Ming was strong and mysterious. His rapid growth in strength was unreasonable, and he often produced strange yet effective Extraordinary Items, along with some peculiar methods. To those like Chi Qian who didn’t know much about Su Ming’s past, their Commander was a figure to be admired and revered, with considerable authority.
Now, claiming to be Su Ming’s juniors and knowing about his past, Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei appeared before Chi Qian and the others. Naturally, they felt curious and wanted to learn about Su Ming’s history through their words.
Thus, both sides had a strong desire to understand and converse, and once they started talking, both hosts and guests were delighted.
Since they were all women, once they started chatting, the speed at which they became familiar was astonishing.
Before long, the girls were already calling each other “sisters,” linking arms, acting intimately as if they were close friends who had known each other for decades. Su Ming was almost stunned by the sight.
Even An Zijin, who had initially held some hostility toward Chi Qian and the others, was dragged into the group.
Yes.
An Zijin harbored some hostility toward Chi Qian and the others.
According to Qin Qing, this girl had caused quite a stir more than once after learning that Su Ming had formed a team consisting entirely of pretty and cute girls. She had nearly turned the Qin Family upside down just to run out and find Su Ming, preventing any “seductive bitches” from getting close.
Now that she had finally arrived at the base of “Azure Mercury,” she naturally wanted to glare holes into Chi Qian and the others, hoping to drive them away with her gaze.
Well, if glaring didn’t work, this girl would probably use force to drive Chi Qian and her group away.
Su Ming even suspected that if An Zijin hadn’t known about Chi Qian’s strength and realized she couldn’t defeat her, she might have already taken action.
At the very least, Su Ming could see a hint of restlessness in her eyes.
“Don’t do anything reckless, okay?”
Su Ming could only warn her a couple of times, making this girl from next door restrain herself somewhat.
In contrast, Chi Qian and the others were surprised and curious upon learning that An Zijin was the legendary high-level Spirit Bearer, a natural-born Upper-Rank Sorcerer.
Especially Tong Xinyao, who was also a Spirit Bearer. Her gaze at An Zijin was like looking at a Senior and an idol.
Under the non-malicious and non-hostile attitudes of Chi Qian and the others, and even Tong Xinyao’s admiring gaze, An Zijin finally let go of her hostility. She was pulled into the girls’ chat group and began enjoying the conversation more and more.
An Zijin, who was being lavishly praised and admired by Chi Qian and the others, gradually felt a bit embarrassed. She waved her hands and shook her head, saying:
“Although I am a high-level Spirit Bearer and naturally awakened the Vision Mark, I completely cannot control the power of the Vision Mark, so I’m not yet a complete Upper-Rank Sorcerer.”
According to An Zijin, her Spirit had been passed down through multiple generations, making it inherently very powerful. Her Spirit Power growth was also exceptionally fast, so calling her a natural-born Upper-Rank Sorcerer was indeed not an exaggeration.
At least, at her birth, her parents conducted specialized Spirit and Spirit Power tests. After repeated confirmations, they determined that she indeed possessed the Spirit and Spirit Power equivalent to an Upper-Rank Sorcerer.
Coupled with her naturally awakened Vision Mark, from the moment she was born, An Zijin could fully be considered a standard Upper-Rank Sorcerer.
However, as the saying goes, too much of a good thing can be bad. Such powerful Spirit and Spirit Power appearing in a newborn infant was not entirely a good thing.
An Zijin stated that as a child, she completely couldn’t control her Spirit Power, often leaving her in a state of Spirit Power overload. Her Spirit showed very unstable signs, nearly causing mental and psychological issues.
The naturally awakened Vision Mark was even more uncontrollable. Once her emotions fluctuated even slightly, the Vision Mark would automatically activate, causing her Spirit Power to deplete wildly and damaging her Foundation several times.
This made the An Family dare not teach An Zijin any Spirit Arts, fearing she might recklessly release them while unable to control her Spirit Power and Vision Mark, leading to irreparable problems.
Because of this, although An Zijin was a natural-born Upper-Rank Sorcerer, she never learned any Spirit Arts and lacked the combat ability an Upper-Rank Sorcerer should have.
Considering An Zijin’s immature mentality and life difficulties, the An Family ultimately decided to Seal her Spirit and Spirit Power, gradually releasing it as she grew older.
For this reason, although An Zijin was a high-level Spirit Bearer, it wasn’t until she was seventeen and could enter the Demon Hunter Academy that some of the Seals were lifted, reactivating her Spirit Constitution and allowing her to start learning Spirit Arts.
Because of this, during her first month after enrollment, An Zijin could only use two or three low-level Spirit Arts.
The reason lay here.
“So that’s how it is.”
Su Ming finally understood.
No wonder, during the initial period after enrollment, although An Zijin displayed high talent, her strength wasn’t particularly impressive.
Upon learning that An Zijin was a high-level Spirit Bearer and a natural-born Upper-Rank Sorcerer, Su Ming had thought she was hiding her abilities, just like he had in the past.
Now it seemed An Zijin wasn’t hiding her abilities; she genuinely only had that level of strength at the time.
“Mom and Dad specifically told me not to focus too much on learning Spirit Arts but to prioritize controlling my Spirit Power, learning to master my own strength first. So, until a few months ago, I had only learned a few low-level Spirit Arts and couldn’t even activate the Vision Mark voluntarily. I’m not a qualified Upper-Rank Sorcerer at all.”
That’s what she said herself.
Of course, it’s different now.
Su Ming could feel that the current An Zijin, compared to her a few months ago in Longyao City, had undergone a transformation akin to being reborn.
Around her, a refreshing Spirit gently fluctuated, and vast Spirit Power rippled, no less than that of a genuine Upper-Rank Sorcerer.
During her time in Tianfeng City, staying with the Qin Family, An Zijin seemed to have received extensive training.
It appeared that An Zijin had now had all her Seals lifted, releasing her true Spirit and Spirit Power. Through her own control, it had become completely obedient and perfectly mastered.
Such an An Zijin, as long as she learned a few high-sequence Spirit Arts, would undoubtedly be able to exhibit the true strength of an Upper-Rank Sorcerer.
And Su Ming had reason to believe that during her month with the Qin Family, An Zijin had obtained many Spell Formula books from them.
In other words, An Zijin was not lacking in Spirit Arts at all.
She might have already learned high-sequence Spirit Arts and could display considerable strength.
“Doesn’t that mean you’re already a true Upper-Rank Sorcerer?”
Chi Qian and the others were somewhat surprised.
A seventeen-year-old Upper-Rank Sorcerer?
Such talent was probably second only to the Commander, right?
“I wasn’t an Upper-Rank Sorcerer at seventeen either.”
Su Ming expressed this once.
At seventeen, he had just awakened his Spirit Constitution and entered the Demon Hunter Academy, not having had time to develop much.
Therefore, a few months ago, Su Ming was only a Three-Star Sorcerer, far inferior to An Zijin.
Su Ming only began to truly take off after becoming a Dual Professional, advancing rapidly in just a few months to reach his current level.
As for a year ago, when Su Ming was a first-year freshman in the Sorcerer Department of Longyao City’s Demon Hunter Academy, not to mention comparing with An Zijin, he was even worse than Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei beside him.
At that time, Su Ming was still in the enlightenment stage, hadn’t even undertaken any proper missions, and the crystal slot in his Golden Finger Shop was perpetually a “0,” unable to even open a package—truly pitiful.
Back then, forget about being rated with stars, he hadn’t even learned many low-level Spirit Arts, probably only fully mastering the “First Form: Flying Arrow.”
In contrast, the current Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei had also undergone transformations akin to being reborn compared to a few months ago.
The Qin Family seemed to have fulfilled their promise. After Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei arrived in Tianfeng City, they provided comprehensive support, offering many high-quality resources during this period, allowing both to make significant progress.
Su Ming used his Spirit Sense to check and found that these two girls had officially crossed the Three-Star threshold.
That’s right.
Although they had just been promoted, Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei had both reached Three-Star.
A few months ago, these two at most received a One-Star evaluation, but now they directly skipped Two-Star and entered Three-Star—simply unbelievable.
If Lei Hao and Ye Bai, who had previously been taking care of them with authority, found out, they would probably be dumbfounded, right?
“The Qin Family truly lives up to being the former Royal Family and current managers of Tianfeng City. They’re very generous.”
Su Ming curled his lips, feeling such emotion.
To allow Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei to grow so quickly in just over a month, the Qin Family must have provided them with very precious natural treasures; otherwise, it would be impossible.
Fortunately, he was a cheater and had fully developed, allowing him to act recklessly without restraint. Otherwise, he might really feel envious and jealous of these two juniors’ fortunes.
Chi Qian and the others also felt quite emotional after understanding the process but didn’t feel envious or jealous. They continued to chat happily with An Zijin and the others.
This conversation lasted from morning until noon.
It must be said, topics among women really come one after another, as if endless. Once they start chatting, it completely doesn’t stop.
When Su Ming couldn’t help but interrupt them, they actually still seemed unsatisfied.
“Forget it, there’s always tomorrow. We’ll have plenty of time to chat later.”
Chi Qian expressed this.
“Always tomorrow?”
Su Ming was slightly taken aback.
Before he could react, An Zijin and the other two ran up to him, three pairs of big eyes burning as they looked at him.
“Brother Su Ming!” An Zijin said very seriously, “We want to join your team!”
Hearing this, Su Ming was stunned again.
“You want to join my team?”
Su Ming almost didn’t react.
“Is that not allowed?”
An Zijin puffed her cheeks, her peripheral glance sweeping toward Chi Qian and the others, as if implying something.
Even Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei spoke up.
“We have to keep an eye on you, Senior.”
“The team is all girls.”
They also seemed to imply something.
Chi Qian, Mu Yan, and the others covered their mouths, snickering on the side.
Su Ming understood the meaning behind An Zijin and the other two’s words and couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“Would the situation in this team change if you joined?Su Ming wanted to complain.
These three girls joining would only make the number of girls in “Azure Mercury” even larger, not changing anything. Instead, it would make things even worse, right?
“Anyway, I want to join!” An Zijin stared at Su Ming, saying, “Or does Brother Su Ming have something shameful going on that you don’t want us to know?”
As she said this, the light in An Zijin’s eyes began to fade.
Being stared at by those lifeless eyes, Su Ming felt as if some unbearable memories were awakened, his mouth twitching.
Damn! Almost forgot this girl can turn dark!
“Fine.” Su Ming said helplessly, “If you want to join, then join.”
“Yay! ヾ(@^▽^@)ノ”
The girls immediately cheered.
“Welcome!”Chi Qian and the others started clapping at just the right moment, warmly welcoming the new members.”
These women really seemed to have completely gotten familiar with each other.
Su Ming could only watch this scene somewhat speechlessly. He opened his mouth, about to say something, when his Terminal suddenly rang.
“Xu Xiayan?”
Su Ming took out his Terminal and saw that the caller was Xu Xiayan.
“Does she also know about what’s happening here?”
Su Ming thought this while answering the call.
“Hey, Xiayan…”
Before Su Ming could call out “Sis,” Xu Xiayan’s slightly anxious voice entered his ears.
“It’s bad! Su Ming! Something’s happened!”
Xu Xiayan’s anxious voice made Su Ming’s heart jump.
His super-strong Spirit Sense at this moment seemed to foreshadow something, giving him a sense of foreboding, bad omen, and unease.
“What happened?”
Su Ming asked solemnly.
And Xu Xiayan’s next words made Su Ming’s pupils contract sharply.
“Longyao City has fallen!”
A simple sentence echoed in Su Ming’s ears for a long, long time.
Making him feel chilled to the bone.
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(End of Chapter)