406 Guarding Against Each Other
“I believe this ability should also be limited to once a day,” Qin Huai pondered quietly.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching from behind. Turning around, he saw Liu Laicheng and forced out a smile. “Brother Liu.”
Liu Laicheng, looking extremely grateful, responded with a bright smile. “Brother Zhou, I owe you my life. If you hadn’t saved me, I would have died here.”
Qin Huai shrugged it off. “We’re allies, so it’s only natural to help.”
His relationship with Liu Laicheng was nothing deep, as they hadn’t interacted much. Liu Laicheng’s encounter with the old man had merely been a fortuitous gift of experience for Qin Huai.
Suddenly, Qin Huai swiftly punched at Liu Laicheng. The latter, sensing danger, instantly threw a counterpunch.
Bang!
As they clashed, Qin Huai checked his character panel, noticing a slight increase in his vitality.
Taken aback, Liu Laicheng asked, “Brother Zhou, what’s happening?”
Qin Huai casually remarked, “Just checking to see if your injuries are severe.”
Liu Laicheng, still suspicious, admitted his good fortune. “I encountered them early on, but my cultivation technique, which favors speed, allowed me to escape relatively unscathed.” As he spoke, he leaned against a tree to rest, but kept a wary eye on Qin Huai.
It was obvious that he didn’t trust Qin Huai. When he looked at the latter, his eyes would also reveal intense jealousy. It was just that he hid it well.
“Them? How many people did Brother Liu encounter?” Qin Huai’s sharp senses caught the message in Liu Laicheng’s words.
“Three. One is this man you saw, another from Wuji Mountain, and the last, a madwoman from the Thousand Divination Tower. She was holding some mysterious things in her hands. It was a bad stroke of luck, encountering three powerful enemies the moment I arrived.” While sharing his story, Liu Laicheng stammered as he recalled, and he couldn’t help but shiver.
But he omitted crucial details. He had indeed encountered three old lunatics as soon as he arrived. However, not far away from him was Shao Mo of the Blood Poison Gang.
He and Shao Mo had initially planned to fight against the three formidable opponents together. But, after realizing the incredible strength of the man from Wuji Mountain, Liu Laicheng had cowardly abandoned Shao Mo and fled.
He dared not share these details with Qin Huai, fearing his reaction if he knew the truth. Having observed Qin Huai’s brutal strength earlier, Liu Laicheng knew he was no match for him.
He couldn’t comprehend how Qin Huai had managed to grow so powerful in just half a year, which filled him with a mix of jealousy and resentment.
“How strong are the other two?” Qin Huai asked.
“I believe one is at the visceral prefecture realm. His strength was…overwhelming, way beyond my capabilities,” Liu Laicheng answered, fearing that underestimating the enemy could lead to disastrous consequences later. He cared little about Qin Huai’s fate but was wary that he might be the last surviving target for these powerful adversaries.
His abilities had advanced beyond Xiang Mingfeng, who had successfully battled a visceral prefecture realm opponent. Given his progress and the enhancement of his illusion realm fist, he could potentially challenge two such experts. However, deciding not to take unnecessary risks, he chose to reserve this battle for a later stage.
After making up his mind to not take this risk for the time being, Qin Huai turned around and looked at the huge bronze wall in the distance. The most important thing now was to cultivate the ancient azure illusion scripture.
“Let’s go to the bronze wall to cultivate… We have to get through the remaining time first,” Qin Huai murmured.
“Sounds good!” Liu Laicheng agreed readily. He was about to suggest that, excited about his first time in a level-one array.
Sitting in the center of the bronze wall’s level-one array, Liu Laicheng attempted to reassure himself, “It should be safer here… We can advance or retreat freely without obstruction.”
Qin Huai, who was standing at the side, frowned slightly as he looked at him. Observing Liu Laicheng, he noticed that he seemed unusually shaken, completely different from his previous confident demeanor when he volunteered for the level-two array. This should not be the mentality of a future champion.
Qin Huai speculated that Liu Laicheng might have encountered a traumatic incident that he was deliberately concealing. This was one of the reasons why Qin Huai chose to maintain peace between them for now.
Both sat cross-legged, positioned in a way that allowed them to observe each other. The ample distance between them ensured that either one would have enough reaction time if attacked unexpectedly. They maintained a wary understanding, each conscious of the other’s actions.
Qin Huai’s cultivation with the ancient azure illusion scripture had already reached more than halfway to the third-level bone pattern realm, thanks to the gifts from the old lunatics. Now, he focused on utilizing the remaining experience points.