Chapter 73: Before the Flowers and Under the Moon            

Just when Ye Weiwei was watching Han battle against the dozen other contestants, danger approached!

Behind her, two espers hidden in the dark suddenly jumped out. One of them had the ability to transform into a beast, and he turned himself into a monster covered in silvery hair with jagged fangs and with claws like sharp knives.

“Be Careful!”

In desperation, Han yelled and suddenly rushed towards Ye Weiwei.

Anyone who knew Ye Weiwei always saw her as a scourge. After all, the lightning storm guardian was very unreasonable and high-handed. Regardless of whether someone was an enemy, anyone who got too close to her will all get sliced by lightning.

But Han didn’t think that way. In his eyes, Ye Weiwei was quite weak and didn’t resemble a combat-type esper, but rather a stealth or mobility type esper. Anyway, when he was with Ye Weiwei, Han never felt anything powerful or extraordinary about this girl.

Thus, something absurd happened. Han was preoccupied with a ton of enemies, but instead, he wanted to go save Ye Weiwei, who was higher level than Han, and had an ability on the same level as Han’s.

Bang~

Bang~

While trying to break out of the circle, Han felt two hard punches on his back. He still manned up and acted like it didn’t hurt, and rushed to Ye Weiwei’s side. Showing off his solid fist, he dashed towards the two espers that were trying to attack Ye Weiwei!

Void Domain, open!

Boom~

Boom~

Han’s fist landed on the two raiders like a hammer, and immediately took their lives!

Turning around, Han smiled at Ye Weiwei and wiped away the blood on the side of his mouth. He then charged right back at the dozen enemies that were ganging up on him. After waves and waves of his dark fist bombardment, the enemies that were still alive were thinning out.

Han only focused on attacking and didn’t see Ye Weiwei’s expression. It was a face of surprise to the extreme.

What a joke, since when did Ye Weiwei need Han’s protection? However, Han came with his void domain, so he not only took away those two sneaky attackers’ abilities, but also Ye Weiwei’s lightning storm!

Ye Weiwei’s storm guardian didn’t take the initiative to protect her so the situation looked like Han playing the hero to the beauty’s rescue.

And that smile Han gave to Ye Weiwei, it seemed to have some profound meaning, as if to say, “Don’t worry, I’m still here.”

Oh G.o.d!

The Ye Weiwei that could easily kill anyone actually became the female lead of Han’s rendition of the Hero to the Rescue! What?!

“So he can take my ability!”

Ye Weiwei really did not know how to describe her feelings at that moment. When the powerful lightning storm power made her so strong, didn’t it also become her burden? She didn’t dare to wear a skirt like a normal little girl, have pets, and after living for this long, beside a group of loyal servants, Ye Weiwei didn’t even have a single friend.

Ye Weiwei began to vaguely realize, the fact that Han could nullify her ability, could be very life changing to her.

Boom~

The power of the dark fist could instantly kill any 4-star espers.

Soon, Han was able to demolish the attacking espers. Other than two or three partic.i.p.ants that ran after seeing the situation go sour, the majority were killed by Han.

Han deactivated his void domain and came to Ye Weiwei, who was still in extreme shock. With her large widened eyes and mouth open, at this moment she was actually more beautiful than before, but also a bit silly.

Han smiled and asked, “Are you okay?”

Ye Weiwei hastily shook her head, “I’m fine, and you?”

Han just wiped away the blood splattered on his s.h.i.+rt and said, “I’m fine, just some wounds on the skin.”

Ye Weiwei began to feel unprecedented interest in Han, and asked in curiosity, “Why did they join forces to attack you?”

“Because of a bounty. Someone doesn’t want soldiers from the Earth Federation to make it to the finals, so they placed a 2 million GC bounty on my head. Right now, I’m going to head that direction, how about you?”

Ye Weiwei looked at the direction Han pointed, and saw that it was a hilly region on the left side of the path to the netherworld. They were pretty far apart.

Ye Weiwei frowned and said, “This stage is called the Road to the Netherworld, and I saw everyone else all followed this path to get to the Mirror Lake in the distance.”

Han nonchalantly said, “Who said that I have to do what everyone else does? The main path that everyone else is taking only leads to some big a.s.s lake that I can already see in the distance. Even by standing here, I know what scenery to expect at the lake, so why wouldn’t I go somewhere where I can enjoy some scenery that I can’t see from here?”

“Look at the hills, and how sharp their tops are. A lot like rows of swords right? If I cross these hills, maybe I can see something even prettier than the beautiful Mirror Lake scenery on the other side.”

Ye Weiwei suddenly realized that Han’s logic was quite special. She thought for a moment, slightly lowered her head and said, “But after you cross those mountains, you might not see anything.”

“Then I will just come back, no big deal.” Han said carelessly, “If you are scared you can go straight to the Mirror Lake, just be careful.”

Scared?

Ye Weiwei’s little temper immediately exploded. She pouted like a kid, left the main road immediately and went towards the mountains.

Ye Weiwei felt that Han was a very special person. Not to mention his abilities, even his character was very unique. When everyone else were thinking of going to the Mirror Lake, only he wants to go climb the mountains. Hopefully it was just like Han said, that they can enjoy beautiful scenery after pa.s.sing these mountains. Otherwise it wouldn’t really be worth the ha.s.sle.

Soon, the two arrived at the foot of the mountain and began to climb.

On the way they didn’t encounter any opponents, and Ye Weiwei started to lightly complain, “There’s no one here, we will probably receive a lot less points.”

Due to the harsh environment in the last stage of pressure exam, espers that can survive will receive 200 points. As well, every eliminated enemy will grant 2 points. That means, if one wants to get a perfect score in this round, he or she needs to kill at least 400 opponents.

Han said in a deep voice, “We are going to make it to the finals anyways, what good will more points do?”

“A high score can prove that you are very strong.” Ye Weiwei quickly replied.

Han gently laughed, “You are so naïve. Suppose I want to prove how strong I am, I will use my own strength and blood. But don’t you think it’s a bit childish to see how strong someone is based on the score they get in virtual reality?”

“This battle will not kill you no matter what, but the moment you join the Milky Way Meet finals and enter the Extinction Domain, that’s when you can lose your life. It will be totally different than the pressure exam.”

“People that can win in this virtual world can at most be said to have decent strength, but those that can truly survive in a battle to the death, that’s true formidable strength!

Ye Weiwei felt that her worldview was again refreshed. What Han said made a lot of sense, the pressure exam were merely virtual battles that couldn’t kill really kill people. There was still a huge difference when compared to real life or death battles.

Those true G.o.ds of war were never the ones that scored the highest in some virtual reality battle. They were powerful because of how they are undefeatable in reality!

“Could it be, he didn’t even use his full strength?” Ye Weiwei looked at Han like a little fox. For someone at Han’s level, his performance was already against the principles of heaven, but could that still not be Han’s full strength? When he arrives at the battlefield of life and death, he could be even stronger?

Most girls have a little hero wors.h.i.+p plot, and after knowing that Han was actually a lot stronger than she thought, Ye Weiwei’s evaluation of Han drastically improved.

Most girls also liked guys who don’t follow conventional rules. Han’s way of thinking was very unique, and that also attracted Ye Weiwei.

Without realizing it, the two had already reached the top of the mountain. Looking down from the top, it was actually mountains covered in fields of white cherry blossoms. The petals were dancing in the air, and the scenery was unparalleled.

Among the cherry blossom forest, there was also a lake. Although it wasn’t as big as the one at the end of the Path to the Netherworld, this lake was more elegant. The water was very clear with a hint of green and white pebbles could be seen to cover the bottom of the lake. It was surrounded by blue rocks, and there was a little creek from the mountain that flowed into the lake.

“So beautiful!” Ye Weiwei couldn’t help but exclaimed. If it wasn’t for Han, Ye Weiwei would have gone down that dirt path to the gloomy Mirror Lake.

But now, taking a road that no one else had been on before, Han and Ye Weiwei were able to see such a stunning scenery that no one else had seen before. This was all because of Han’s distinctive choice.

“Hum, it’s quite nice. We can just stay here till the trial is over.”

“Yes!” Ye Weiwei nodded heavily. The always so stubborn Ye Weiwei, seemed to be more obedient now.

Han and Ye Weiwei came down the hill into the fragrant cherry blossom sea.

Han suddenly frowned, and whispered, “Someone’s following us, don’t be afraid, I got it.”

Ye Weiwei really wanted to volunteer to fight that stalker, but she suddenly felt that it was actually not that bad to feel like a little girl who was being protected. After all, this was an experience she never had before.

Shua~

A shadow suddenly jumped out from the side, his two fists are covered in ice. Obviously, it was an Ice descent esper.

Peng~

Han’s void domain deprived him of his ability right away, and then the dark fist followed. The one punch was enough to send that guy flying.

Ye Weiwei narrowed her eyes, quietly watching everything on the side. She suddenly felt that Han looked quite handsome when he was waving his fist around. Now that she thought about it, she never saw Han deliver a second punch on the same guy, all his enemies were killed by Han within one punch.

Beside the light blue and green lake, under the pink and white cherry blossoms, Ye Weiwei blushed and said to Han, “Umm, can I ask you for a favor?”

“Go ahead.” Han was looking around. It was a habit. Although the scenery was beautiful, it was still a battlefield, and Han never dropped his guard.

Ye Weiwei whispered, “Can you continue to use your power? As in always use it, you can’t withdraw it no matter what.”

Han felt that this request was a bit odd, but he still nodded and agreed.

He only saw Ye Weiwei closed her eyes. She felt that her lightning storm power was actually being collected by Han. After confirming that her storm guardian wouldn’t interfere, she carefully removed her combat boots, exposing a pair of white small feet and sat down by the lake, soaking her little feet in the lake.

“Hey, fis.h.!.+ It’s a school of fis.h.!.+ They are biting my feet!” Ye Weiwei was very excited, and she cried out like a child.

Han felt very puzzled, and frowned, “What’s the fuss about?”

“But they are fis.h.!.+ They are so small!” Ye Weiwei continued to yell excitingly.

Han said, “These fish are not really biting you, they are just playing with you. When animals are small they are all very playful, just like puppies and kittens. They will just seize every opportunity to have fun and play. But when they get old, they will just lie in the yard under the sun, scratching their body. So I still like small animals. Although they can be a bit naughty, but they are more playful.”

After some time pa.s.sed, Ye Weiwei found a nest of small birds from the forest, twittering their necks. They saw Ye Weiwei as their mother and started tweeting, asking her for food.

“It’s a family of small birds! Look, so many little birds, they are so cute too!” Ye Weiwei began to fuss again, her fingers were gently stroking the little birds, and she also held them up against her face. To be able to be so intimate with small animals without wearing gloves, it made Ye Weiwei very excited.

Ye Weiwei suddenly felt way too happy today. She could actually be like an ordinary girl, taking off her shoes and soaking her feet in the lake. As well, she could use her fingers and touch these newborn little birds, my G.o.d, it was just like her dream!

“It would be nice if I had some food, they all look really hungry.” Ye Weiwei placed the nest of little birds in her arms and smiled at Han and said.

Han’s expression was rather strange, “Everything’s virtual, after this round ends, everything will disappear, so you don’t have to be too concerned about that.”

“Everything will disappear…”

“Everything will disappear…”

Ye Weiwei’s face became pale as she continued to repeat that sentence.

What Han said was the truth but what followed was an unprecedented feeling, making Ye Weiwei feel like she didn’t want to let go no matter what. Even if it was the world’s most deadly poison, Ye Weiwei wouldn’t hesitate to drink it because she had fallen deeply into the desire for life, and couldn’t recover herself.

Ye Weiwei looked up. She had a delicate and charming look, and her eyes were full of hope.

“Han, I want to ask you another favor.” Ye Weiwei’s face was hot like it was burning, and said in a begging tone.