After Zhuang Huayang had left, Li Tianlan stood at the window, facing the sea, as if he was a statue.

For the first time since leaving the border, he knew how his future would be like.

The Southeast Group headed by the w.a.n.g family of Beihai.

The Prince Group who had just abandoned the supreme power.

Kunlun City, the center of power of the Special Warfare Group.

Someday, these super powers who could move heaven and earth in Zhongzhou State would become his enemies.

This was undoubtedly the worst news for him.

But for the utterly ignorant Li Tianlan, from what Zhuang Huayang had told him, there were at least some benefits for him to sow. At least he knew how to begin the investigation into his father’s alleged treason when he was qualified to do so someday.

His biggest harvest was arguably Zhuang Huayang’s invitation.

Under the current circ.u.mstances, he was not allowed to refuse the Academics’ olive branch. Otherwise, Zhuang Huayang needed to do nothing but reveal his ident.i.ty and this alone could cause him to have a tragic end. Joining the Academics temporarily and becoming their ally was his only option currently and also a choice that could help him a lot.

But how long this kind of partners.h.i.+p would last depend on his own growth situation and the Academics’ specific att.i.tude. Variables could happen at any time.

After all, the Academics was the ruling group of today’s Zhongzhou State anyway. There were quite many people who wanted to attach themselves to it. Although Zhuang Huayang said pitiably, Li Tianlan would not believe that he would put all his chips of his ten-year-plot on him unless he was a fool.

That meant before he was able to surpa.s.s other compet.i.tors and let the Academics put all the chips on him, he could not get too much help from the Academics.

After all, Zhuang Huayang had just said that the Academics’ a.s.sistance would satisfy him. However, satisfaction and surprise were two concepts.

Nonetheless, Li Tianlan was too lazy to bother about this. Compared to the resources the Academics was about to offer him, what helped him the most was that Zhuang Huayang was willing to temporarily keep his ident.i.ty secret.

Thinking of the Sky Academy, Li Tianlan was sober instantly. His statuesque body finally moved. He heaved a long sigh of relief and wore a self-deprecating smile.

For him, these were the questions that really needed to be considered. If his strength was really at the peak state, the invincibility of the top one expert in Zhongzhou State, the horror of the Human Emperor, the cattiness of the Prince Group, and the aggressiveness of the Kunlun City would be very close to him.

But now, however, he was merely a freshman at the Sky Academy who had just entered the Qi-controlling Realm. For him, the most important thing was to care about everything present.

His most important task presently was to obtain as many credits as he could. In the next three years, he had to keep his advantage on credits and amplify it continuously.

Then there came the annual maneuver between the two academies. The first maneuver of this session would begin in March next year. It was said that it was an extremely cruel scene. In each maneuver, elites from the two academies would bleed. But because the credit reward of such maneuvers was extremely rich, so Li Tianlan had to join it if he wanted to ensure his advantage on credits.

There was about one year left.

Li Tianlan pondered silently, “Under normal circ.u.mstances, my strength might be able to recover to the Ice-condensing Realm in one year. It will not be too far from the Fire-flaming Realm. This progress may not satisfy the Academics, but combined with my real combat capability, it should not be too difficult for me to get a good ranking in the maneuver. That is what keeps the Academics betting on me.”

Li Tianlan’s current goals were clear; He aimed to get a good ranking in the joint maneuver in a year and earn as many credits as he could.

In the next three years, he just needed to regain the strength in his prime. Right then, there would be no alternative for the Academics except for him.

“Tianlan, what are you thinking about? You didn’t even hear us when we knocked on the door.”

A voice suddenly sounded from behind Li Tianlan.

Li Tianlan suddenly turned around.

Li Baitian and Ning Qiancheng appeared at the door of the ward together and looked at him.

“I’m thinking…”

Li Tianlan hesitated for a while and continued, “How can I get a good ranking in next year’s joint maneuver? The first place would be the best, but at least I need to be the third place.”

His two roommates would definitely get involved in the joint maneuver concerning the matter to vie for the first three places.

The top 10 experts of the young generation were ranked annually. Although the rank might be somewhat exaggerated, as long as they were on the list, this matter alone could show how terrifying their potential was.

Li Baitian and Ning Qiancheng ranked fourth and fifth respectively. To put it bluntly, they could be regarded as Li Tianlan’s compet.i.tors. But there were many ways to compete, positive or negative.

Li Tianlan admired the two roommates from the bottom of his heart. He was quite unwilling to see their relations.h.i.+ps sour at that time.

Ning Qiancheng and Li Baitian froze at the same time.

“There’s nothing to think about; increasing your strength is the top priority. Tianlan, when the time comes, as long as you are powerful enough, you just need to charge forward blindly. I will do my best to clear the way for you. If we meet, I’ll throw the fight.”

Li Baitian grinned.

“Me too. I’m not strong enough to fight for the top five. Tianlan, I will not stand in your way if you are capable of doing that.”

Ning Qiancheng took an equally clear-cut stand, but as to whether he really thought so, that was unknown.

“You guys?”

Li Tianlan narrowed his eyes and shot a suspicious glance at the two people. He was not stupid. If he was a little confused when they met for the first time, he now could not help suspecting what had happened in the maneuver.

They seemed to be too kind for him.

“Stop questioning me. I’m not willing to put it too clearly. G.o.d d.a.m.n it, why would you force me?”

Li Baitian rolled his eyes and added angrily, “I mean about the same as Qiancheng. I’m not confident to make it into top three. We are roommates, so if you are powerful enough, who will be willing to stand in your way?”

“Mount Shu’s Great Void Sword is indeed powerful, but in terms of Martial Arts, it can only exert all its power at the late stage. At least before I reach the Thunder-shocking Realm, I’m no match for Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+, the talented disciple of Jade Pool. And I’m much inferior to Jiang Shangyu, whose ranking is higher than that of Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+. But it will be a different story after I enter the Thunder-shocking Realm.”

Li Tianlan was no longer the green hand who knew nothing at first. At least, he had a basic understanding of the top 10 experts of the young generation. Yu Qingyan had once said that Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ was one of the top 10 young experts who ranked before Li Baitian. At the age of 19, he was an expert in the Fire-flaming Realm who ranked third. Jiang Shangyu ranked second. It was said that both of them were wizards who possessed Exquisite Bones and their abilities to learn was unparalleled.

But Li Tianlan didn’t really care about all this. The Wind and Thunder Veins, Heavenly King Heart, and Exquisite Bone were absolutely the most excellent innate conditions for whoever practiced Martial Arts. However, they did not mean everything.

At least Li Tianlan knew that many years ago, the best expert in Heng State, also an exceptional genius who possessed both the Heavenly King Heart and Exquisite Bone, was killed by his grandfather even after he had entered the Invincible Realm. The red sandalwood plaque that was inscribed with the words “Li family” in the campsite at the border was the spoils of war that his grandfather had obtained after that fierce battle.

His grandfather Li Honghe, physically, was just a normal guy.

However, he had to pay special attention to them since Li Baitian had thought so highly of them.

When they were in the maze, Li Baitian had attacked Liu Dongyu with the sword move named Unification Sword. Its sword intent was tremendous but its Sword Energy was illusory. Obviously, Li Baitian’s strength had long exceeded the Ice-condensing Realm given that this blow was so powerful. Li Baitian thought that if he was attacked by that sword move when he was in his present state, he would be severely injured in the very least. Liu Dongyu’s combat capability was of a level rarely seen amongst the young generation of martial artists. However, he considered himself inferior to Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ and Jiang Shangyu. No matter how arrogant Li Tianlan was, he would not ignore this fact.

Nevertheless, he still had some doubts in his mind, so he asked instinctively, “Are you telling the truth?”

“d.a.m.n you! Is it honorable to admit that I cannot outfight others?”

Li Baitian asked angrily.

This could indeed be counted as a reason. Li Tianlan beamed and didn’t take it seriously. He asked casually, “Who has a cigarette?”

Ning Qiancheng fumbled in his pocket for it. He took out half a packet of cigarettes named “Chunghwa” and threw them to Li Tianlan, saying regrettably, “I’m running out of stock. If I want to smoke cigarettes in the future, I have to sacrifice credits in exchange for obtaining them. You guys have to economize on them.”

Li Tianlan smiled and threw the packet back after taking one cigarette out.

The three of them were smoking. Li Baitian had just woken up from a coma, moreover, he suffered internal injuries, so he began to cough violently after smoking for a short while. He had no choice but to put out his cigarette and sighed, “This maneuver is a failure for me. The ranking is not bad, but I didn’t do anything. Did I win without making any effort? Tianlan’s performance is brilliant and amazing. F*ck, you directly killed the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d Liu Xiuwei. All right, Tianlan, how did you kill him? What was going on with your realms?”

Li Baitian wanted to ask these questions several times in the maneuver. Now he finally found an opportunity to do so, thus, it seemed that he would not give up until he reached his goal.

“It was a fluke.”

Li Tianlan thought for a while and said seriously, “The capabilities of my weapon, I guess, exceeded his imagination. Besides, he was less flexible than me where no one could see us. If we fought head-on, the result might be hard to say. But the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d tried to trap me. Never did he think he would be defeated by me. He deserved to die.”

Li Tianlan spoke frankly to Li Baitian and Ning Qiancheng. The weapon named Human Emperor was complicated and capable of many physical changes, and its degree of precision was absolutely beyond Liu Xiuwei’s imagination. In addition, his body movement largely restrained the Martial Arts of the Liu family. Therefore, Liu Xiuwei grew impatient as they were fighting. What was worse, he thought himself clever and wanted to use the two trees to jam his weapon’s line of attack. Li Tianlan beat him at his own game. He transformed his weapon into double swords and directly chopped off one of Liu Xiuwei’s arms. From then on, Liu Xiuwei’s end was already decided.

“Liu family’s Martial Arts is indeed not flexible enough, and this is well known.”

Ning Qiancheng nodded his head. Ten years ago, Liu Tianqing was defeated and killed. That battle exposed and amplified the shortcomings of Liu family’s Martial Arts. And that was also something that many people felt weird.

After all, Liu Tianqing was an expert in the Invincible Realm, so it would not be difficult for him to create a set of body movement. Even a set of ordinary body movement could slightly remedy the defect of Liu family’s unique skill. But the problem was that he failed to create any unique skill that was related to body movement and worthy of mention until he died.

“No.”

Li Baitian suddenly said, “It’s true that Liu family’s unique skill is defective, but not all kinds of body movements can restrain them. And the gap in strength between you and Liu Xiuwei is too big, thus, only the top-notch body movement in the Dark World can restrain them. Tianlan, what body movement did you use?”

“I call it Ride the Wind.”

Li Tianlan added calmly, “I don’t consider it top-notch.”

Ride the Wind?

This was indeed a name that no one had heard of.

Li Baitian exchanged a glance with Ning Qiancheng. After remaining silent for a short while, Li Baitian said, “Tianlan, do you mind if I test this set of body movement?”

Li Tianlan froze and planned to say that it was unnecessary. However, as he saw Li Baitian’s serious expression, he swallowed what he had wanted to say and replied, “Okay.”

Ning Qiancheng stood up to make room for them without saying anything. He had heard rumors about the Great Void Sword of Mount Shu. The unique skill of the Great Void Sword was divided into three moves. The sword of the third move combined perfectly with the owner’s body movement, and the power of this move was mighty and inexhaustible. He was certain that Li Baitian was unable to grasp the essence of the third move, but he should have a slight knowledge of it.

“Shall I begin?”

Li Baitian stood up with a smile. He was so excited and itching to have a try.

“Come on.”

Li Tianlan nodded his head casually.

As his voice trailed off, Li Baitian had taken one step forward.

All of a sudden, the sword intent was surging in the ward.

The entire ward seemed to have disappeared in an instant. Li Tianlan seemed to stand in the void and be surrounded by the Sword Energy. However, it was as if there was nothing there except for an unending aura of danger that was breaking out.

When Li Tianlan was attracted by the infinite sword intent, Li Baitian marched forward and leapt a distance of seven to eight meters. Bare-handed, he hit Li Tianlan directly in the chest.

There was a faint flash of lightning at the door of the ward.

Qin Ke, who was coincidentally in the hospital and startled by the Great Void Sword Intent, directly appeared at the door.

Right at this moment, almost by instinct, Li Tianlan took a little step to the left and retreated at the same time. His body seemed to have no weight. It would be more precise to say that his body was floating rather than moving.

In an extremely small area, innumerable Li Tianlan appeared instantly. Ning Qiancheng, who had been watching them fight nearby, felt quite dizzy, but his eyes dared not to relax a little bit.

But the next second, his pupils contracted to the extreme.

In his line of sight, all the residual shadows were disappearing. Without him knowing how, Li Tianlan appeared behind Li Baitian and grabbed him by the neck.

Such a body movement completely deceived all the eyes.

The entire ward was immediately plunged into a deathly silence.

Li Baitian was injured previously, but blood oozed from the corner of his mouth once again. However, he didn’t notice that. He just exclaimed with disbelief, “How could that be?!”

Ning Qiancheng was as astonished as Li Baitian. As he opened his mouth and tried to speak, Qin Ke’s voice had sounded at the door.

She stared at Li Tianlan with burning eyes and said, “Desperate Chase! How come you can use this body movement? What’s your relations.h.i.+p with Situ Cangyue, the Hidden G.o.d of Zhongzhou State?”