Outside the Imperial Capital, They Were Ambushed

Kelly saw Matthews release the aura of a seventh-level warrior and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

Matthews saw the warriors warily closing in around them, then glanced at Kelly. He knew this wasn't the time to get to the bottom of things. He wasn't strong enough yet to thoroughly investigate what had happened.

After all, although the emperor of the Divine Beast Empire wasn't in the Saint Realm, this was the headquarters of the Four Divine Beasts Sect. That meant there were many in the Saint Realm here, and ninth-level warriors were everywhere.

As a seventh-level warrior, he couldn't make much of a splash here. The slave-trading force that could operate here without incident surely had even stronger warriors backing it.

"What do you mean by this?"

When Kelly saw the warriors from the slave-trading force closing in, she stepped in front of Matthews and said, "I'm from the Berna Family. My friend accidentally let his Battle Qi flare up just now."

Matthews stepped forward too and patted Kelly on the shoulder, giving her a reassuring look. Then he smiled at the slave traders and said, "I just had a sudden realization and accidentally let my aura slip."

"Hahaha, no problem. So you're the young lady Kelly of the Berna Family and her friend!"

A supervisor came forward with a broad smile and signaled for the warriors to put away their weapons.

"May I ask what brings you here this time, Miss Kelly?"

Seeing that the supervisor had ignored him, Matthews didn't take offense. He smiled and said, "We were going to pick out a few slaves, but I've just had a sudden realization and need to hurry back to consolidate my cultivation. We'll come again next time."

After speaking, Matthews led Kelly away. Once he had left, the supervisor ordered one of his men, "Look into the background of the person accompanying the young lady of the Berna Family."

After they left the slave shop, Kelly asked seriously, "What exactly happened just now?"

Matthews saw how serious she was, sighed, and said, "When I came to the Divine Beast Empire, I was drugged and sold to this slave-trading outfit. I only escaped them after someone rescued me."

"I see!"

When Kelly didn't ask anything else, Matthews said no more.

"I'm a little tired today, so I'll head back first!"

"Okay!"

After parting ways with Kelly, Matthews didn't have time to study the changes in her expression. His mind was entirely occupied with tracking down the mercenary group or slave traders who had taken him away back then.

Mia took the portrait Matthews had drawn of her, along with some of his other sketches, to her school. She showed them to her close friends, but couldn't resist the temptation and sent the paintings to the Imperial Capital Art Gallery for an exhibition.

The artist Matthews's name had already begun to spread far and wide, without his knowledge. Matthews had no connections in the Imperial Capital, so naturally, he couldn't find out anything about the slave-trading forces.

One day, Matthews was absorbing Battle Qi in the courtyard when Mia ran in, brimming with excitement. She gave him a mysterious look and said, "Big brother, guess what I brought you?"

"You're in school. What could you possibly bring me?"

Mia looked as if she were presenting him with a treasure as she held out a gold card with both hands.

"Big brother, guess how much it's worth?"

Matthews asked, confused, "Did you earn money?"

"No, I sold your paintings. Fifty thousand gold coins!"

"That was the portrait I drew for you. How could you bear to sell it? You've broken your big brother's heart!"

As Matthews spoke, he reached for the gold card, but Mia quickly tucked it away. Then she said, "No, I sold some of your other paintings."

"Then shouldn't you be giving me the money instead?"

"No way!"

Mia went on to explain how she'd gotten Matthews's paintings exhibited at the Imperial Capital Art Gallery through her roommate. The gallery had been impressed by Matthews's unique style, so she'd asked them to auction off his paintings.

"Don't do that again."

Mia stared at her brother in disbelief, then asked, confused, "Why not? What's wrong with being famous and making money?"

Matthews sighed inwardly. The girl was only in her teens, the age when vanity ran strongest. At that age, girls always liked to compare themselves with others. Her dormmates probably had plenty to brag about, while all she had was a brother who was fairly decent.

Matthews patted her head and said, "Keep the gold coins and spend them. You're at the best age for cultivation. I don't want you wasting too much of your time on other things."

"But I'm one of the top students in my academy!"

Matthews shook his head and continued, "Magic isn't judged that way. Your rank doesn't mean much. Strength is what matters!"

"But—"

"No buts. Think about those hard days we spent by the river! I'm going away to train for a while, so don't slack off in your cultivation."

Seeing Mia fall silent, Matthews said nothing more. He admitted that he'd been neglecting his cultivation lately, so he planned to return to the river where he'd met Asolun and get some training in.

"Let's go, Asolun!"

"Right away, boss!"

Asolun shot out from the shade of a tree in the courtyard and habitually coiled around Matthews's arm. When Matthews had gone on dates before, he'd left Asolun at home, figuring that girls probably didn't like snake-shaped magical beasts.

He went to the place where he and Kelly often met. After waiting for a long while without seeing her, Matthews hid a secret message informing her that he was leaving the city to train for a while.

Just as Matthews left the Imperial Capital through the city gate, the supervisor of the slave shop received a report from one of his men: "Chief, the target has left the city."

"Understood!"

Matthews left the Imperial Capital and continued down the road. After sensing their surroundings for a moment, Asolun said, "Boss, someone's following us."

Matthews spread out his electromagnetic perception and clearly sensed two warriors following them. What was going on? He hadn't offended anyone in the Imperial Capital, so why were people following them?

When they were ten miles from the Imperial Capital, the two seventh-level warriors suddenly sped up and caught up with Matthews.

Matthews glanced at their insignias and immediately understood. These two were clearly with the slave traders. Aside from revealing his Battle Qi at their shop a while ago, he hadn't shown any other hostility toward them.

"What do you want?"

"You shouldn't have shown hostility on our turf!"

Matthews frowned and asked, "This is the Imperial Capital!"

One of the warriors snapped impatiently, "Why waste time talking to him? Just kill him so we can report back."

As he spoke, he charged forward with his blade. Matthews drew his own blade and clashed with him. The other warrior didn't hang back either, charging in with his spear. Just as Matthews used Youying to block the first warrior's slash, the second warrior thrust his spear at him!