Seeing An Ning Again

Other than the Base City and the military, the largest forces were the major Martial Halls, followed by the great families.

An Corporation was a massive conglomerate involved in pharmaceuticals, military industry, media, hotels, and many other fields. Its assets totaled hundreds of billions, making it one of Ice City's top three financial groups.

An Ning was An Corporation's Young Miss. Lin Zhen knew that, but in his previous life, he had only learned of it a year later. Clearly, some things had changed in this life.

An Ning was the only girl Lin Zhen had ever liked. In his previous life, she had not taken the graduation exam's physical fitness test. Lin Zhen had even felt sorry for her, but he later learned that it was not because An Ning could not take the exam—it was because she had no need to.

As An Corporation's Young Miss, An Ning possessed a fortune worth hundreds of millions and had no need to struggle for a living. Besides, she was powerful in her own right.

An Ning was a Mind Power Master!

Ouyang Yu had been the first to discover this secret. That kid did have some discernment—he had been the first to notice that An Ning possessed Mental Power, which was why he had given her a Mental Power Potion. Unfortunately, An Ning had not taken him seriously at all, and he had failed to give her the potion.

Later, An Ning's identity had been exposed. A breathtakingly beautiful heiress, an outstanding Martial Artist, and a Mind Power Master—everything about her had draped her in an untouchable aura, making her impossible to approach.

In his previous life, he had never had a chance to be with An Ning. He had not even dared confess to her. After Ice City Base City fell to the monsters, he lost contact with An Ning. Until the day he left Earth, he never received another word about her.

The most likely possibility was that An Ning had remained in Ice City Base City forever.

This time, he would not allow that to happen again.

Lin Zhen drove straight to the entrance of Flying Bird Wine Fragrance, parked the car, and entered the bar.

Meng Dong was crouched in a corner with his head lowered, looking furtive as though he were doing something shady. Lin Zhen walked over, but before he could speak, Meng Dong pulled him down into a seat.

"Lin Zhen, look over there. An Ning is with some handsome guy. I know him—he's always on the covers of financial magazines. Li Tianhao, the young master of Myriad Hao Corporation. Looks like he's trying to court An Ning."

"Myriad Hao Corporation? Li Wanfeng's company?"

"Yeah. Li Wanfeng is Li Tianhao's father. Both of his parents are God of War Level powerhouses. He's about our age too, though he doesn't seem to be a Martial Artist yet."

Lin Zhen looked over and indeed saw a young man in a corner holding a bouquet of Fresh Flowers and saying something to An Ning.

An Ning seemed somewhat impatient, but she did not leave. She simply sat there without saying anything.

Lin Zhen patted Meng Dong on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's go take a look."

"Just the two of us?" Meng Dong froze.

"What's wrong with just the two of us?"

"That guy is really rich. We..."

"Meng Dong, you're a senior student at Raging Wind now. Do you still need to be so timid?"

Meng Dong clearly had not adjusted his mindset yet. Only after hearing Lin Zhen's words did he realize that he was no longer an ordinary person. His confidence immediately rose, and he stood up with Lin Zhen.

The two walked over to An Ning's table. Lin Zhen took the initiative to greet her. "Hi, An Ning."

"Lin Zhen? What are you doing here?"

The moment she saw Lin Zhen, light flashed in An Ning's beautiful eyes. Her delight was impossible to conceal.

"Today's a good day for Meng Dong. He successfully took a Private Customization potion, so we came out for some drinks. I didn't expect to run into you. You don't mind if we join you, right?"

"Really? That's wonderful. I know Private Customization isn't easy to succeed with. Congratulations, Meng Dong. I don't have anything to do anyway, so I'll have a drink with you."

As An Ning spoke, she pulled over the chair beside her. Lin Zhen immediately sat down next to her.

Meanwhile, Meng Dong bluntly told Li Tianhao, "Buddy, move in a little. Make room for me."

Li Tianhao looked at the two uninvited guests with undisguised disgust. He was extremely unhappy that they had interrupted his plans.

Especially that Lin Zhen—what right did he have to sit beside An Ning? Li Tianhao himself could only sit across from her, and judging from An Ning's expression, she seemed to think fairly well of Lin Zhen.

In Li Tianhao's mind, Lin Zhen's threat level immediately rose several ranks.

However, Li Tianhao was used to grand occasions. Though he was disgusted, he did not want to reveal it in front of An Ning. As the young master of a major corporation, he naturally had ways to make these two fools feel utterly humiliated.

The disgust vanished in an instant. Li Tianhao smiled and said to An Ning, "A Ning, are these two your classmates?"

An Ning gave a snort. "Yes, they were both my high school classmates. And please, Young Master Li, just call me by my name."

"That's fine. Our families are so close, and you've been like a little sister to me since childhood. Naturally, you're different from everyone else."

After speaking, Li Tianhao looked at Lin Zhen. "From what you were saying, you're Martial Artists?"

"Yes, we're from Raging Wind Martial Hall," Meng Dong said carelessly. He knew Lin Zhen liked An Ning, and An Ning seemed to have a favorable impression of Lin Zhen as well. As Lin Zhen's close crony, he naturally had to speak up for him now.

"Oh! Raging Wind Martial Hall. I know it well. My family has hired many Martial Artists who left Martial Halls, including quite a few from Raging Wind. You might not know some of them, but there's one person you definitely know."

"Who?"

"Do you know Lao Hu? Hu Yifei. Yesterday, he accepted my family's offer. He's preparing to leave the Martial Hall and join Myriad Hao Corporation as the deputy captain of the security team."

"Lao Hu is leaving the Martial Hall?" Meng Dong and Lin Zhen were both stunned. Of course they knew Lao Hu—the very Lao Hu who had gone to No. 1 Middle School to recruit students and discovered Fu Chengya and the others.

It was just that Fu Chengya and the others' performance at the Martial Hall had been completely overshadowed by Lin Zhen and Meng Dong. After Meng Dong's Private Customization success today, Lao Hu had once again been eclipsed by Zhao Liang at the Martial Hall. They had heard that Dongfang Jun had even spoken with Lao Hu, though no one knew what had been discussed.

They had never expected Lao Hu to be planning to leave the Martial Hall. Neither of them had known about this.

Seeing Lin Zhen and Meng Dong's expressions, Li Tianhao became even more pleased with himself. Leaning back in his chair, he lightly tapped the table with his fingers. "To ordinary people, you Martial Artists are naturally lofty figures, seemingly impressive. But in my eyes, you're nothing special. First of all, both my parents are God of War Level Martial Artists. Add Myriad Hao Corporation's reputation, and as long as we offer enough, won't you come when called? Martial Artists are commodities too. In this world, there's nothing money can't buy."

Meng Dong was clearly somewhat shaken by Li Tianhao's words. In his eyes, a Martial Artist at Lao Hu's level had been far beyond reach, yet even he could be poached from the Martial Hall. Li Tianhao's influence was simply too great.

An Ning glanced worriedly at Lin Zhen, afraid he would be angered by the other man's words. She wanted to speak up for Lin Zhen, but for the moment, she did not know what to say.

Lin Zhen merely smiled. "You're not entirely wrong. People are different, and there will always be Martial Artists who give up their ambitions for money. But one thing will never change: such Martial Artists can never reach the pinnacle. They've already lost a Martial Artist's integrity. True geniuses would never do such a thing. In my eyes, those people no longer count as Martial Artists. They're merely slaves to money. No matter how strong they are, they're not worth mentioning."

Li Tianhao had not expected Lin Zhen, a mere trainee-level rookie, to dare contradict him over Lao Hu. His expression changed, then he sneered. "So you consider yourself a genius?"

"I wouldn't dare say that, but I'm not bad either," Lin Zhen shot back without any politeness.

"Good. I really didn't expect to meet someone who called himself a genius. How about this? Aren't you trainees? I'll show you what a true genius among trainees looks like."

With that, Li Tianhao took out his phone and made a call. He only said a few words. "I'm at Flying Bird Wine Fragrance. Come over."

Meng Dong could not help asking, "Who did you call?"

"Heh, don't worry. You're trainees, so I won't bring in a War General Level fighter to bully you. I'll let you see what a genius trainee is like—and yet he still serves Myriad Hao Corporation. You know Azure Sky Martial Hall, right?"

"Yeah. The ninth-ranked Martial Hall in Ice City."

"Though Azure Sky ranks ninth, it produced a genius this year named Ma Dong. Myriad Hao Corporation sponsored his martial training. His Gene Potion evaluation was Excellent, and now he's my personal bodyguard. He's already a Level Nine Warrior. When he gets here, you can have a good discussion."

Meng Dong's expression changed. A Level Nine Warrior with an Excellent evaluation was practically at the peak of the Warrior realm. Someone like that definitely had greater potential than Lao Hu, yet he had also become a rich man's lackey.

Li Tianhao read Meng Dong's expression and felt even more pleased with himself. He continued, "An Ning, you might not understand a Martial Artist's life, but my family has a group of Martial Artists working as servants, so I know a few things. Every day, these Martial Artists go out to kill monsters for a bit of money. If they're lucky and encounter a lone monster, they can earn a little. If they're unlucky, they get eaten by monsters, leaving not even bone fragments behind. So when it comes to choosing a partner, Martial Artists are the least reliable. That's why, despite already having the strength of a peak Level Three Warrior, I don't want to take a Gene Potion. I prefer controlling everything from behind the scenes."

"Take Ma Dong, for example. If Myriad Hao Corporation hadn't helped him, he would've starved to death on the streets long ago. But with our help, he succeeded. A Level Nine Warrior still counts as trainee level, right? I wonder whether you two can compare to him?"

An Ning was not as ignorant as Li Tianhao claimed. Lin Zhen understood that An Ning was already a Level Seven Warrior, and it would not be long before her Mental Power awakened. Once An Ning took a Mental Power Potion, she would soon advance to War General level. She simply had not told anyone about it, so Li Tianhao did not know.

In An Ning's eyes, Li Tianhao had called Ma Dong over solely to crush Lin Zhen's confidence. Lin Zhen was only a Warrior—how could he possibly surpass a Level Nine Warrior with an Excellent evaluation?

Although Lin Zhen had never said anything to An Ning, she did not want him to suffer such a blow. In a rush of emotion, she grabbed Lin Zhen's hand. "Lin Zhen, let's go for a walk outside."

Seeing their clasped hands, Li Tianhao's expression immediately changed.