Silvia

This time, if Wang Cheng hadn't stepped in, the Limit Martial Hall and the Lightning Martial Arts Hall would at most have suffered a mutual defeat. But now, the Limit Martial Hall had won a decisive victory.

Naturally, everyone wanted to celebrate.

They went to the best hotel in Yangzhou City, and Luo Feng picked up the bill. After all, he'd made a fortune this time.

After the banquet, everyone returned to Mingyue Community together, then went their separate ways.

Since Wang Cheng and Luo Feng lived next door to each other, they were the last two to part.

At that moment, Luo Feng spoke up. "Brother Wang, I only need thirty million of that hundred million. I won't be polite about taking what I deserve. The rest is money you earned by offending Zhang Zehu, so..."

Before Luo Feng could finish, Wang Cheng nodded.

"If you hadn't been there, Luo Feng, I wouldn't have had the chance to fight Zhang Zehu. Let's split it fifty-fifty!" Wang Cheng smiled. "But don't rush to give me the fifty million. You've only just become a Warrior, and you'll need money to buy equipment and manuals. Pay me back when you've earned more."

"Brother Wang, you..."

Luo Feng froze. He'd expected Wang Cheng to refuse and had even prepared a response, but he hadn't expected Wang Cheng to leave the hundred million in his hands this way.

In truth, Luo Feng really was short on money right now. His physical strength was only at the Intermediate Warrior level, but his Mental Master abilities had already reached the General level.

General-level equipment was extremely expensive. Although Luo Feng had received some start-up funds from the Limit Martial Hall, they clearly weren't enough to buy General-level equipment, especially after he'd already bought the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade!

"I already told you I'm not planning to go to the Wilderness Area for a while. If you gave me the money, I'd only put it in the bank. I might as well lend it to someone who needs it!" Wang Cheng said with a smile.

"Besides, it's only fifty million. I can't say I care much about it!"

"I understand." Luo Feng nodded without saying anything more.

Dealing with Zhang Zehu had been just another bit of amusement amid Wang Cheng's otherwise dull cultivation, much like before. He hadn't given it much thought.

At that moment, Wang Cheng's main body in City No. 003 and his many clones were still going about their own business.

Before long, night had fallen.

Awoo—

Roar—

In the quiet of the night, beast roars suddenly rang out one after another, followed by a rampage that made the ground tremble.

"What's with all the noise in the middle of the night?" Wang Cheng's main body opened his eyes and glanced out the window, exasperated.

Though the night outside was dark, Wang Cheng's keen eyesight let him quickly make out the rampaging herd.

"They've got plenty of energy. I'll kill a few more tomorrow." Wang Cheng shook his head, then closed his eyes and continued comprehending the Lightning Law.

But about ten minutes later, Wang Cheng suddenly opened his eyes again.

Outside the Residential Building, a figure standing on a shield was speeding toward it. The shield lurched and wobbled as it flew, looking extremely unstable.

At last—

The figure smashed through the window of a room in the Residential Building and crashed inside.

Wang Cheng blinked as he looked at the person who'd come tumbling in. She'd certainly picked a spot—she'd landed right in the room where his main body was. If she'd crashed into another room, she might have seen his many clones absorbing Cosmic energy.

The figure who'd crashed into the room where Wang Cheng was staying saw him and said something, then promptly collapsed.

"Help?" Wang Cheng looked out the window. A vast, dark swarm of bat-like monsters was flying toward them.

"Blood Bats!" Wang Cheng instantly recognized the monsters gathering outside.

Blood Bats were pack animals. A lone Blood Bat wasn't particularly strong, and even a whole group could be hard-pressed to find a Beast General-level one among them.

But once these things swarmed together, they became terrifying. Even ordinary War Gods reportedly preferred not to provoke them.

"Good grief!"

Wang Cheng sighed and went to the window. By then, dozens of Blood Bats at the front of the swarm were already charging toward him.

Before they could get close, streaks of white lightning spread outward from Wang Cheng. In the blink of an eye, the charging Blood Bats turned into black dust and scattered on the wind.

"Get lost!"

Wang Cheng spoke calmly, and the aura around him flared.

The aura released by a life form with a Ten Times Gene Level at the Planet level eighth order felt countless times more terrifying than a primordial beast to the Blood Bats.

Squeak! Squeak!

Shrill cries rang out from within the swarm. Before they could reach the Residential Building, all the Blood Bats halted, then turned and fled as fast as they could.

"Heh." Wang Cheng chuckled to himself. In this dog-eat-dog world, being powerful really was satisfying. All those grueling months of cultivation had paid off!

About two or three hours later, the unconscious Silvia slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

"Where am I...?" Silvia rubbed her temples and sat up in bed.

When she walked out of the room, Silvia saw Wang Cheng sitting cross-legged, apparently absorbing Cosmic energy.

"Is that him?"

Memories flooded back, and Silvia finally recalled what had happened.

Tonight was the seventh day she and her teammates had spent hunting monsters in City No. 003, Huaxia Country. As usual, some of them had been resting while others kept watch. But then they'd suddenly been attacked by a herd of monsters, including a swarm of Blood Bats.

Faced with the herd, Silvia and her teammates had immediately scattered and fled. With the Blood Bats after her, even though she was a Mental Master, she hadn't been able to escape using her Aerial Advantage.

Silvia had fled in a panic, and her Mental Energy had drained rapidly. She remembered that just before she finally collapsed, she'd seen someone as she crashed through the wall of a building.

Now that she saw Wang Cheng, Silvia immediately realized he was the person she'd seen. In other words, Wang Cheng had saved her.

"You're awake!"

Wang Cheng opened his eyes.

"Thank you for saving me!" Silvia walked over with a smile. "Do you remember me? We've met before."

"Yes. You've got a decent throw with those Flying Daggers," Wang Cheng said with a faintly amused smile.

"That was an accident!" Silvia sat down in front of Wang Cheng. "Besides, I don't think I could hurt a War God, could I?"

"Who told you I'm a War God?" Wang Cheng asked.

"You drove back that swarm of Blood Bats without a scratch. I can't think of any other explanation!" Silvia said. "This is still the same building I crashed into before, right?"

"If you say so." Wang Cheng didn't elaborate. After a moment, he asked, "Why did you go after a swarm of Blood Bats? Were you trying to get yourselves killed?"

"We're not that stupid!" Silvia explained what had happened, then added, "I suspect someone set us up. That Bitch, when she was running away..."

"Stop." Wang Cheng cut her off. "I don't want to hear about your grudges. Besides, I don't think you should be standing here analyzing why the herd attacked you. You should go check on your teammates. They might need your help."

"You're right." Silvia nodded.

"Your shield is over there." Wang Cheng pointed to the corner.

"I'll thank you properly."

Silvia said no more. She stood, picked up her shield, and hurried out.

The woman, whose name he didn't even know, hurried off. Wang Cheng didn't give it much thought. He'd saved her out of basic human decency and hadn't expected anything more.

But to Wang Cheng's surprise, the woman who'd left earlier returned at dawn, looking utterly exhausted.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid all my teammates are dead. I'd like to stay here and rest for a while. Would that be all right?" Silvia asked, looking at Wang Cheng.

"Sure, but you'd better not wander off," Wang Cheng said with a smile and a nod.

It wasn't a big deal to let her stay. Cultivating was pretty boring for Wang Cheng right now, and having someone around might make things a little more interesting.

"Thank you!"

Silvia thanked him, then said, "My name is Silvia Barrens. You can call me Silvia or Xil."

"I'm Wang Cheng. Call me whatever you like," Wang Cheng said.

"Mr. Wang, I'm going to sleep for a while. I'm exhausted." Silvia stretched. Even her bulky combat suit couldn't quite conceal her figure, enough to make ordinary girls green with envy.

"Incredible," Wang Cheng thought to himself. As he watched Silvia walk back into the room where she'd slept earlier, making herself at home, he felt a little puzzled.

All her teammates had died, yet she didn't seem particularly sad. She could even sleep now. Was she naturally cold-hearted, or had she simply not been close to them?

"What's it to me?" Wang Cheng shook his head, then closed his eyes and continued comprehending the Lightning Law.

Even a high-level General-level Mental Master couldn't withstand a whole night of exhaustion, especially after a pursuit that had drained her Mental Energy completely.

So Silvia slept for a long time, only waking at dusk.

The first thing she did after waking was take out the dried meat she'd brought with her and wolf it down. She ate like a true Warrior—without a shred of restraint or ladylike manners.

"Would you like something to eat, Mr. Wang?" Silvia asked.

"I've already eaten." Wang Cheng shook his head.

"What a shame!" Silvia said, though she showed no restraint as she continued eating.

Once she'd eaten her fill and chatted with Wang Cheng for a while, Silvia smiled and said, "Mr. Wang, you seem to have quite a bit of clean water here. Could I borrow some?"

"What for?" Wang Cheng asked.

"When a beautiful woman asks to borrow water at a time like this, there can't be many reasons," Silvia said helplessly.

Wang Cheng looked at Silvia, whose hair was caked with dirt and blood. He nodded, then said, "Use it sparingly."

"Don't worry. I don't know how you managed to get so much clean water in the Wilderness Area, but I know how precious it is." Silvia smiled and promised, then walked straight into the washroom.

To Wang Cheng's surprise, Silvia's backpack contained quite a few toiletries.

"It's rare for a Warrior to bring all that to the Wilderness Area." Wang Cheng was a little surprised, but didn't think much of it. Some people didn't mind getting dirty, while others liked to stay clean. You couldn't generalize.

A little while later—

"Mr. Wang, I forgot to bring my clothes. Could you get them for me?" Silvia's voice suddenly came from the washroom.

"Hm?"