Leave Request, Bet

One month later, on a peak in the back mountains, one green and one purple figure wove through the air like streaks of flowing light, crossing and colliding. Each clash of pure force between them sent out bursts of air-shattering booms.

Suddenly, two soft shouts rang out in the air.

"Overlord Fist!"

"Overlord Fist!"

The green and purple streaks of light converged as well, and a powerful surge of energy erupted from the point of collision, the green and purple energies pressing against each other.

"Break for me!"

With a sharp cry, the green energy finally failed to withstand the purple energy. The green figure flew backwards from the point of impact, slammed into the ground, and kicked up a cloud of dust.

The purple figure descended after him.

"Lin Yuan, Lin Yuan, I won this time! According to our agreement, you have to make me a feast! Hehe!" Zi Yan said excitedly to Lin Yuan within the cloud of dust.

"That is natural. And as a reward for mastering the battle skill Overlord Fist, I'll give you an extra meal too." Lin Yuan smiled as he walked out of the dust. His clothes were somewhat torn, but he had not suffered any real injuries, and his aura remained strong.

"Still, you're getting more and more resistant to beatings now. You can fight me with just your body for this long, like some magical beast." After looking Lin Yuan over a few times, Zi Yan complained.

Lin Yuan chuckled when he heard this. This period of time, through various trades, he had collected quite a bit of essence blood from high-rank magical beasts and had already completed his second spirit ascension. His physical strength had improved further, and his ability to take hits had soared. He could already exchange a few blows with Zi Yan using pure physical strength, though he was still quite far behind her. It could only be said that the Ancient Void Dragon was worthy of being the king of magical beasts.

"I've completed my control over my explosively increased strength, and I've finally gotten Zi Yan to learn Overlord Fist, an offensive battle skill that suits her very well. That can be considered not letting the Great Elder's entrustment down." Lin Yuan was quite satisfied with the gains of this past month.

This month, through constantly clashing with Zi Yan, Lin Yuan had completely mastered his suddenly increased physical strength. His Dou Qi cultivation had also made no small progress, so overall, his gains were considerable.

"Let's go. We'll head back, and I'll make you a feast to celebrate!"

"Yay!"

Chatting and laughing, the two headed toward the Inner Academy.

Inner Academy, Great Elder's office.

"You want to request leave?" Su Qian looked at Lin Yuan with slight confusion.

"Yes, Great Elder. This student wants to return home to pay respects to his parents. It has been many years since I last worshiped them. Now that I have achieved something in my studies, it is time to go back and pay respects, repair my parents' tombs, and then travel outside for a period of time!" Lin Yuan replied to Su Qian.

"So that's how it is. That is human nature for a son, and it is indeed what you should do. You are also a Dou Wang now, so traveling around the Northwestern Continent is indeed a very good choice! How long do you plan to be away?" Su Qian stroked his beard and nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Two or three years as a preliminary estimate!" Lin Yuan estimated the time and answered.

"Two or three years, huh. This old man approves it. Sigh, that little girl Zi Yan will probably turn this old man's world upside down. When do you plan to leave?" Su Qian gave a bitter laugh, then asked.

The implication is that he still won't allow Zi Yan to travel with me for now? That makes sense. My current strength still isn't enough to put the Great Elder at ease, and it truly isn't suitable to bring Zi Yan along this time. Lin Yuan thought to himself.

"Thank you, Great Elder! This student plans to set out next month." Lin Yuan cupped his hands and bowed in thanks. After pondering for a moment, Lin Yuan asked, "During my travels, this student will return once. If it's suitable then, we can see whether I can take Zi Yan out to travel for a while."

Hearing this, Su Qian waved his hand. "We'll talk about it when the time comes!"

After the two discussed the specific matters, Lin Yuan took his leave.

The next day, in the back mountains.

"Brother Lin Yuan, are you leaving?" Zi Yan stood in front of Lin Yuan, tilting her head up and looking at him with a face full of reluctance.

"Mm, I have some things to handle outside. We may have to part for a period of time." Lin Yuan stroked Zi Yan's head and said softly.

"Then can you take me with you? Anyway, I'm tired of staying in the Inner Academy, and if you leave, no one will make tasty food for me anymore." Zi Yan put on a pitiful expression as she pleaded with Lin Yuan.

"Little Zi Yan, I have things to do on this trip, so I can't bring you along." Lin Yuan pinched Zi Yan's little face and answered.

"Can you really not take me with you?" Zi Yan continued to act spoiled.

"No. It's too dangerous outside." Lin Yuan shook his head.

"I'm very strong!" When it came to this, Zi Yan was somewhat proud and puffed out her little chest.

"Oh?" Lin Yuan's tone carried obvious doubt. Then, with an equally obvious coaxing note in his voice, he began setting a trap. "How about this? Let's make a bet. We'll fight. If you can defeat me, that'll prove you're strong enough and can protect yourself, and I'll think of a way to take you out!"

"Really? Then let's bet! You're not allowed to go back on it!" Perhaps because the sparring over the past few days, especially yesterday's victory, had greatly boosted Zi Yan's confidence, Zi Yan very readily agreed to the battle agreement.

"No problem! Then let's begin!" Lin Yuan nodded, a hint of a plan-coming-together look flashing through his eyes.

Immediately, the green and purple streaks of light shot up into the sky and began clashing.

Half an hour later.

Zi Yan stared blankly at the green-robed youth before her, touched the red mark on her forehead, and her entire person fell into a dazed state.

Lin Yuan looked at Zi Yan with a beaming smile. "I won. Three times, too! Looks like I can't take you out this time."

Hearing this, Zi Yan came back to her senses. Recalling her three crushing defeats this time, she said hatefully, "Why are you this strong, you guy?! The spars a few days ago clearly weren't like this."

Lin Yuan smiled. The evenly matched fights over the past few days, and even his losses to Zi Yan, had been to help Zi Yan cultivate her battle skill and to help himself master his explosively increased strength. Therefore, he had used a combat style of meeting force with force, which was extremely suited for Zi Yan to display her advantages, rather than his true combat style. What he used today was his real combat style, so the result was naturally worlds apart. With his understanding of Zi Yan's fighting methods, the possibility of Zi Yan winning was exceedingly slim.

"Of course it's because you're still not strong enough!" Lin Yuan pinched Zi Yan's puffed-up little face. When Zi Yan heard this, she became even more like a pufferfish, and Lin Yuan found it deeply amusing.

Looking at the pufferfish-like Zi Yan, Lin Yuan said enticingly with a smile on his face, "How about this? Next time I come back, if you can hit me once, I'll take you out. How is it?"

"Next time, I'll definitely defeat you!" Zi Yan glared at Lin Yuan and said fiercely.

"Then I'll look forward to it." Lin Yuan stroked Zi Yan's smooth long hair and responded to her gently, feeling relieved. Although Zi Yan had a very childlike temperament, she was still very serious about agreements based on victory and defeat, and would not continue insisting on leaving with Lin Yuan.

"Let's go, Zi Yan!" Lin Yuan held Zi Yan's hand and walked toward the depths of the back mountains.

"Where are we going?"

"I only leave a month from now. This month, I'll accompany you around the back mountains. We'll find some suitable ingredients, make some delicious food, and store it up!"

"Really? I had a strange feeling over there before. There's definitely something good. Let's go snatch it!"

"It's not snatching, it's taking. Those Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were ownerless to begin with!"

"Ah, right, right, right. Let's go take them!"

Accompanied by Zi Yan's crisp voice as she regained her energy, the two began a new round of treasure hunting in the back mountains.

This book has already been signed. Many thanks to all book friends for your support. Qing Ping will keep working hard. I hope everyone will continue to support it, help add it to your collections, vote, and keep reading. If you have thoughts about the plot, you're welcome to come discuss them in the comment section.