Ouin Chiyoka

Café.

As soon as Xi Shenlian and the girl stepped inside, the waiter immediately bowed and called out:

"Welcome!!"

"How many guests?"

Xi Shenlian held up a hand with two fingers.

"Two. Somewhere quiet."

Then, led by the waiter, they arrived at a secluded and peaceful spot.

It was at this moment.

Xi Shenlian finally released the girl he had been carrying, casually picking up the menu to study it seriously.

"I'll have a Hilda Coffee, a Grilled Caramel Cheese, and a slice of Cheese Cake..."

He then handed the menu to the girl, who had quietly sat down.

Now.

She was being cooperative, or rather, a bit curious.

Curious about what Xi Shenlian was up to and where he came from.

Plus, she knew full well she couldn't outrun him.

So, after glancing over the menu, she simply ordered a cup of coffee.

Once the waiter left, Xi Shenlian smiled and said to the girl:

"Just as I said earlier."

"I'm merely curious about all sorts of information."

"For instance, how are martial artists generally ranked in strength?"

"Or, how many levels do Awakened beings have?"

"Also, what are the biggest factions in the Eastern Ying Nation?"

"Could you enlighten me?"

To this.

After a moment of silence, the girl replied with a hint of disdain:

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first before asking these questions?"

"You perverted murderer!"

Her tone.

Carried more or less dissatisfaction.

Dissatisfaction from being forcibly held by Xi Shenlian earlier.

Not minding her displeasure too much.

Aware that he had indeed been a bit rude, Xi Shenlian nodded calmly and answered:

"You're right, that was off."

"Xi Shenlian, that's my name."

"Eastern Ying native, male, age 18."

"Home? None for now. Also, I dropped out of school a Long time ago."

"Became an Awakened a month ago. I'm a newbie now."

Hearing this.

The girl's expression froze.

She felt the words were half-true, half-false.

No home for now—what did that mean?

She didn't quite understand.

Was he a beggar?

But his clothes made that hard to believe.

Moreover.

Became an Awakened a month ago?

Under normal circumstances.

Most Awakened at that stage couldn't control their power.

One slip-up and they'd destroy things.

And their power hadn't fully awakened yet.

She was the greenest of the greenhorns.

But on Xi Shenlian, she saw none of those traits.

Just standing beside him, she instinctively felt a bit of fear.

Like a normal person coming face-to-face with a man-eating tiger.

Still, watching Xi Shenlian's smiling face, she felt he didn't seem like he was lying.

Not just in the sense of not telling lies.

But his face was written with indifference.

An indifference that showed he had no intention of lying at all.

As if he simply disdained to lie...

After weighing things in her mind, the girl spoke:

"...Ouin Chiyoka, that's my name."

Then she stared intently at Xi Shenlian's expression.

An expression that showed no fluctuation.

Throughout the whole process, she didn't detect any reaction from him at the mention of her name.

So she added:

"The Ouin Family. The Ouin Family of Kyoto."

Faced with her supplementary information, Xi Shenlian couldn't help but say:

"Mm, and then?"

The girl named Ouin Chiyoka was a bit speechless.

"...Let me ask a side question—have you really never heard of my family?"

Xi Shenlian answered truthfully:

"I really don't know them at all."

"Greenhorn, pure greenhorn."

He also threw in a compliment:

"But it sounds pretty good—I mean your name."

"...Alright, thanks."

With that, looking at Xi Shenlian before her, Ouin Chiyoka could only let out a helpless sigh.

She understood that the guy in front of her was more or less a bit off.

And she glanced at his clothes—spotless from head to toe—silently wondering what kind of fabric that was. Not only did it not get stained with blood, it didn't even carry the smell of blood. That was pretty rare...

At the same time, on the TV, a breaking news bulletin aired.

A story about a psychotic killer who had butchered over a dozen gang members.

The waiter brought their orders over.

"Please enjoy."

That was what the waiter said.

"So brutal!"

"Even the cops watching are in tears!!"

That was what the news anchor said.

Xi Shenlian chose to take a sip of coffee first.

Ouin Chiyoka casually dropped two sugar cubes into her coffee, stirring as she answered Xi Shenlian's earlier questions.

Questions that, in her view, were basic and didn't need to be kept secret.

"Martial artists—basically people who practice martial skills and martial arts. The terms differ; in the West, they might be called knights, but the ranking standards are now global. There are ten levels in total, divided by numbers."

"Levels 1-2 are Amateur Level—good for fitness, can handle three to five ordinary adults."

"Levels 3-4 are Elite Level—ordinary people need to invest a lot of effort and time to reach this. In the military, they'd be very elite soldiers. Many professional bodyguards are probably around this level. They can take on dozens of ordinary people."

"Levels 5-6 are Expert Level—if an ordinary person starts hard training from childhood, with all sorts of regular drugs and supplements, and keeps at it until they die, they'd probably hover around this level. Even in official competitions, someone at this level can take home some rankings. Even many who open their own schools might not reach this level."

"Levels 7-8 are Master Level. This is a realm ordinary people could never reach even if they trained to death, no matter how many resources or optimal training conditions they're given—because the basic requirement to reach this level is extremely high talent. Those without talent, or with only mediocre talent, are often the vast majority. Generally speaking, this is also the upper limit normal humans can achieve. In the age of cold weapons, they could easily slaughter a thousand-man army of ordinary people. Even in modern times, they can easily dodge most firearms and throw punches at supersonic speed with their bare hands."

"Levels 9-10 are Limit Level. The specifics are a bit hard to describe, but it's said that out of humanity's current population of over forty billion, maybe a few dozen can be scraped together. Each one is an absolute peak of human limits, with vitality so strong they retain most of their combat power even after dozens of days without food or water. Even a sniper rifle shot to the head might not necessarily kill them. They have the ability to charge head-on into a modern military force."

After hearing this introduction to martial artists.

Xi Shenlian nodded with a vague understanding, then asked a question.

"So, how does Limit Level compare to an Awakened?"

ps:

Hmph!

Twenty-six chapters in, and only now does the first character besides the protagonist get a full name. Can other web novel authors pull that off?