Sealed Divine Throne

The Demon Hunt Squads’ preliminaries were at their third day, and most Temples were already at their final stage. The Assassin Temple, the Spiritual Temple and the Priest Temple already had their top ten designated. The rest of the competition was only there to determine ranking orders.

Because of the vacant place in the competition, Long Hao Chen didn’t go to the Stadium. Since morning, he silently waited for Cai’er at the usual place where they met up every day.

Assassin’s Stadium.

There were only ten people left in the lounge, but nine of them had their gaze focused on the last one.

Cai’er was seated calmly; her oppressive eyes had a great influence on the nine other competitors. On her hand was a blue cane that seemed harmless at the first glance.

Assassin of the fifth step; secret skill [Doppelganger Shadow]. The favorite, and sole Assassin of the fifth step of this competition.

As all glances were focused on her, Cai’er was seated on the first row, facing the platform. Standing straight up, with an especially cold voice, she said, “I concede for the rest of the competition.”

When she said these words, the nine other competitors completely blanked out. She used her blue bamboo cane, making _Du, du, du_ sounds as she left the Assassin Hall.

Standing on the street, waiting for Cai’er, was Long Hao Chen. For the first time since he arrived in the biggest city of the Alliance, his heart was completely at ease.

At the two sides of the street, there were countless buildings. The overwhelming majority of these were heavily decorated, resulting in a very medieval atmosphere filling the city.

His wounds from the previous day had already completely healed. From the start, Long Hao Chen had not been heavily wounded, and in addition, he relied on his healing skills of Guardian Knight to recover. Thus, he was already in perfect shape. During the fight against this knight of the fifth step, his potential was further stimulated. After a day and a night of cultivation, his spiritual energy increased by a tremendous amount. It was especially because of the use of the skill [Storing Power] that had a great influence on his cultivation, making his liquid spiritual energy even deeper. Long Hao Chen was confident on the fact that if he continued to cultivate like that, he would definitely break through the threshold of the fifth step within ten days.

“Du, du, du.” A familiar sound pulled Long Hao Chen back from his thoughts.

“Cai’er.” Seeing nearby Cai’er who was slowly approaching, he immediately became extremely joyous. Long Hao Chen ran at her, and hastily to grab her hand.

Cai’er smiled and asked, “Have you been waiting for long?”

Long Hao Chen shook his head, “No, I just arrived a little moment ago. Are you arriving so early every day to wait for me?”

Cai’er shook her head as well, “No, there’s no fixed time on when I head back home every day. But in the next days, I should be here earlier.”

Holding her soft little hand, Long Hao Chen felt warm. This warm sensation was completely different from the sensation he had when he was together with his parents. He didn’t know at all what Cai’er had renounced, just to avoid making him wait for too long.

Hand in hand, with this hazy feeling, this extremely pure feeling, their silhouettes gradually disappeared under the sunshine.

“Cai’er, for how long will you remain in Holy City?” Long Hao Chen separated his hands from Cai’er’s, and courageously asked this decisive question.

Cai’er was silent for a moment, “What are you asking me this for?”

Long Hao Chen was shaken, and extremely embarrassed, he answered, “I… all I want to know is for how long I can walk you back. ”

Cai’er fell silent, and the two youths were standing face to face. Long Hao Chen’s hands were sweating, as he was completely disappointed.

Feeling his hands’ sweat, Cai’er said in a low voice, “I am just a blind girl, is it really so important for you to walk me back?”

Long Hao Chen was startled, and sincerely answered, “I… I don’t know.”

Cai’er was startled as well. Even though young girls are said to start to understand love earlier than boys, she had even less experience than Long Hao Chen in life.

“Have you grown tired of me?” Cai’er dropped her head and asked.

Long Hao Chen was instantly filled with dread, and pulling her hand before him, he declared, “How can I possibly grow tired of you?” He didn’t know why, but the current Long Hao Chen was extremely nervous. He felt that if he gave the wrong answer, this girl may completely disappear from his sight.

“Cai’er, actually… actually, I am very ugly. How can someone who’s as ugly as me be qualified to reject you.” Long Hao Chen was full of panic, as he made this declaration.

Cai’er blanked, “Very ugly?”

“Yup, very ugly.” Long Hao Chen hastily confirmed.

Cai’er smiled. Even though her face was covered by a veil and he couldn’t see it, Long Hao Chen unconsciously felt that her smile was beautiful, extremely beautiful.

“Then if… if I wanted you to look after me forever, would you be willing to accept?” Cai’er’s voice was soft, and she mumbled, speaking haltingly. As she finished to say these words, her slender white face was already bashful, and completely red.

“I am willing.” Long Hao Chen was in an odd mental state as he gave this answer; it felt as if he didn’t have the slightest bit of hesitation.

This time, it was Cai’er’s turn to be flustered. Taking her hand back from Long Hao Chen’s, she said, “I… I am heading back first.”

Long Hao Chen anxiously said, “Th… Then tomorrow, I will send you back as well.”

“Okay.” She lightly nodded, but the blue bamboo cane was hitting the ground at least twice as fast as usual. Cai’er headed to her hotel to rest. These words resounded without interruption in her heart, _He went as far as to say that he’s very ugly? This same boy who looked as pretty as a girl?_ Never in the past had she felt this kind of warmth in her heart. How could she not understand that he said this to comfort her?

“Hehe.” Long Hao Chen couldn’t help but laugh. He was still young, and didn’t understand anything in regard to relations between boys and girls, but his senses were a lot sharper than ordinary people’s. He could clearly feel that a change appeared in Cai’er’s attitude towards him, a good change.

With this cheerful mood, Long Hao Chen went back to his hotel. Without waiting for his heart to calm down, he started to cultivate. But then, someone eagerly knocked at his door.

“Hao Chen, Hao Chen.” Li Xin was completely excited as she called him out.

Long Hao Chen was surprised, but hurried to open the door.

Li Xin was in a really pitiful state, her appearance was completely messy; the armor on her body was pierced at least at three places, her hair was in disorder, and a bloodstain covered her mouth. But she was clearly in an excited state. As soon as she saw Long Hao Chen, she immediately hugged him and said, full of excitement, “I won, I won. Hao Chen, I am in the top ten. We, brother and sister, will be able to participate to Demon Hunt Squads together!”

“Eh?” Long Hao Chen instantly reacted, he was also extremely overjoyed at these unexpected news; “Sis, you won? You’re really awesome. Congratulations!”

Li Xin, immensely proud of herself, said, “That’s right! I was so lucky. Today, I did not encounter an opponent at the fifth step. Haha, your sister is so awesome. It was a close victory, but in the end, I still won. Father will be immensely proud of me.”

In terms of personal cultivation, Li Xin didn’t stand out at all compared to her peers in this knights’ competition. She could even be counted amongst those at the bottom. But she trained as a Retribution Knight. Above all, she had her Rose Unicorn and good luck. She managed, with a lot of effort, to pass through these preliminaries, together with Long Hao Chen.

Li Xin smiled, “What a pity that we are both knights. Your sister will not have the possibility to enter the same Squad as yours, otherwise it would be even more perfect.”

Long Hao Chen chuckled, “What’s the problem, you will be my big sister forever.”

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap