A Strong Heart Makes a Strong Person

By the time Su Yi returned to the prearranged stronghold carrying a bundle of spoils, Fu Yinghao was already hiding inside.

Looking at the concealed entrance, Su Yi released a ripple of Blood Qi and slowly walked over, lightly stomping his foot.

Inside the cave, Fu Yinghao, who had been standing guard with his sword drawn, let out a breath of relief. It was the signal they had agreed upon.

Lifting the turf outside the entrance, Fu Yinghao leaned against the wall with his sword in hand. His body was covered in blood, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth as well.

Only after seeing that it truly was Su Yi did Fu Yinghao completely lower his guard and release his sword.

Su Yi quickly crawled inside and restored the entrance before saying, "Your injuries are pretty serious!"

The wounds on Fu Yinghao's body were not much of a problem, but judging by his condition, his internal organs had suffered grave damage as well.

Fu Yinghao had just wanted to shrug, but the movement tugged at his wounds. He stopped and forced a smile. "It's nothing major. I just took two Life-Returning Pills. I'll recover before long."

Fu Yinghao unclenched his left fist, and Su Yi saw a Cultivation Energy Stone being absorbed.

Two Life-Returning Pills—Fu Yinghao really had been badly hurt.

"How long do you think it'll take for you to recover now?"

Su Yi asked softly. If it took too long, he would have to reconsider the plan.

"Five or six days for a full recovery. Nearly two days if we only mean not affecting combat."

Two days. Su Yi frowned. He feared that village would simply flee in two days, or go seek reinforcements.

"How many Abyss enemies did you kill? How did you get yourself injured like this?"

Su Yi was somewhat helpless. They had agreed beforehand to run if they could not win. How had this gone so badly off the rails?

"There were originally four Fifth-Rank fighters and over ten Fourth Grade fighters chasing me. After chasing me for a while, the Fourth Grade fighters fell behind. They probably went back, cough cough..."

Fell behind? Had that been when he began releasing his Blood Qi and headed back?

Su Yi thought to himself. There had indeed been a group of Fourth Grade warriors at the rear.

It seemed Fu Yinghao's injuries had pulled at his internal organs. He coughed twice before continuing, "I lured them into the woods and ambushed the Fifth-Rank Mid fighter at the front. The other three Fifth-Rank Initial Stage fighters were about to catch up, so I could only endure the damage and kill the Fifth-Rank Mid fighter.

"After that, I kept fighting while retreating. Later, I killed another one. Of the remaining two, I badly wounded one as well. The uninjured Abyss Warrior took him and ran. My injuries made it hard to pursue them, so I came back first."

Four Fifth-Rank fighters—he had killed two and severely wounded one. Fu Yinghao was pretty fierce.

Su Yi praised him, "No wonder you were so badly injured. That's an impressive record!"

Fu Yinghao clearly enjoyed Su Yi's praise. He grinned. "What about you? How many Abyss brats did you kill?"

"Four Fifth-Rank fighters and twenty-six Fourth Grade fighters."

"Haha, you're way stronger than me."

Fu Yinghao laughed aloud. With that many killed, there could not be many strong fighters left in that village.

There was not the slightest hint that he envied Su Yi's achievements. He openly admitted that Su Yi was stronger than him. What was there to lose in acknowledging someone else's excellence?

Deceiving yourself—that was what cowards did. You're stronger than me? I admit it!

I'll catch up, rather than wallow in self-pity and stew in sour jealousy.

Fu Yinghao's words inexplicably shook Su Yi to the core. His Spiritual Power was far greater than Fu Yinghao's, yet he truly could not sense the slightest insincerity from him.

That was genuinely what Fu Yinghao thought!

Su Yi felt his heart fall into turmoil.

Even he would occasionally show jealousy toward Fang Ping—jealous that Fang Ping had such a convenient system, one that could add Blood Qi and Spiritual Power at any time.

Sometimes, he was jealous of those born into better families. Though he had never shown it, he had worn his mask for too long, and his heart had never learned to face such things with equanimity.

Though he had repeatedly told the Old Principal and Wu Kuishan that he had not become carried away, that he could bear the weight of responsibility and honor.

But could he truly?

Su Yi closed his eyes and reviewed his recent actions. He really had become somewhat carried away.

The first time he entered the Abyss, they had agreed to stay nearby and familiarize themselves with the place first. Yet he had chosen to go to the Meat Grinder.

When Fu Yinghao mentioned that village, his first thought had been to kill some mid-rank warriors, then crush his way through.

He really had swelled with arrogance, to the point of looking down on the Abyss's strength. He always believed his opponents ought to be those Emperors and Heavenly Emperors in the sky.

In the end, he was still only an ordinary person.

His strength was sufficient, but his heart was not steadfast enough. He could still be swayed by his emotions.

A strong heart makes a strong person!

Su Yi opened his eyes. Facing Fu Yinghao's puzzled gaze, he offered no explanation. Instead, he smiled faintly, took out the Life Essence from his pocket, separated two grams into a new bottle with his Spiritual Power, and handed it to Fu Yinghao.

Today, Fu Yinghao had taught him many things—things far more important than this Life Essence.

Taking the bottle Su Yi offered, Fu Yinghao asked in confusion, "What is this?"

Ever since praising him, Su Yi had started acting strangely. First, he had blanked out for no apparent reason. Then he had closed his eyes and stayed motionless for ages. After opening them, he had produced a bottle of strange liquid.

If Su Yi had not been right in front of him the whole time, he would have thought he had become a different person.

Even his smile was off. How should he put it?

It seemed more natural somehow; compared to it, his previous smiles had seemed a little too formulaic.

"Life Essence, a sacred medicine for healing. The official price is ten million per gram."

"What the hell?"

Fu Yinghao stared at the bottle in his hand in shock. "Ten million per gram? Isn't that robbery?"

A Life-Returning Pill had such powerful life-saving effects and only cost 200 Credit Points each. This Life Essence he had never even heard of cost ten million per gram—wasn't that outright robbery?

"Robbery, my ass. This is a sacred healing medicine, and it works far better than a Life-Returning Pill. You'll know once you take it."

Su Yi explained, feeling nothing much about Fu Yinghao's reaction. To anyone who had never heard of Life Essence, it would absolutely seem like an astronomical price.

Once Fu Yinghao took it, his injuries would definitely recover much faster.

Half-believing and half-doubting, Fu Yinghao drank the Life Essence. In an instant, he felt it repairing his damaged internal organs.

Good stuff. Ten million per gram was well worth it!

"Su Yi, how do you exchange for this Life Essence? Ten million per gram—I want to exchange for some too!"

Fu Yinghao looked somewhat excited. Its effects were far better than those of a Life-Returning Pill. Just as Su Yi had said, it truly was a sacred healing medicine.

Su Yi rolled his eyes. "Dream on. This is an official strategic resource. Ten million per gram is merely a listed price; there's no supply on the market. If it were really that easy to buy, I'd have bought a stockpile long ago."

Fu Yinghao was a little disappointed, but on second thought, it made sense. He was already at Fourth Grade Peak, yet he had never even heard of Life Essence. That alone showed just how rare it was.

Still unwilling to give up, he asked, "Then how did you buy it?"

Su Yi had only broken through to Fourth Grade not long ago. How had he managed to obtain such a strategic resource?

Su Yi said mildly, "Tempering Method."

Fu Yinghao nodded in understanding. No wonder.

Still, Su Yi had actually been willing to use something so precious to help him recover from his injuries. Fu Yinghao found that hard to understand and asked Su Yi directly.

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Yi chuckled. "I like the look of you. I thought I'd make a friend."

Fu Yinghao was somewhat taken aback. "Aren't we already friends?"

He had thought he and Su Yi already counted as friends.

"If we are, then why do you still need to ask me that?"

Su Yi shot him a sidelong glance and asked in return.

"I suppose so."

After thinking it over, Fu Yinghao rubbed his aching head and said, "Whether we were before or not, we are now."

After chatting with Su Yi for a while, his scalp was itching from all the twists and turns, as though he was about to grow a brain.

"But I can't take advantage of you for nothing. At the very least, I have to transfer these twenty million to you."

Everyone lacked resources. Su Yi was already being loyal enough by taking out such a treasure. Fu Yinghao could not buy Life Essence himself, but he had to compensate Su Yi for the purchase price at least.

"Of course. You weren't thinking of not paying, were you?"

Su Yi crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled.

"Pay, pay, pay. Of course I'll pay."

After saying that, the two looked at each other and laughed in unspoken accord.

"Alright, hurry up and recover. Before dawn, we need to wipe out that village. What if they call for reinforcements or run off with their resources?

"That village only has three Fifth-Rank warriors left now, and one of them is seriously injured. There aren't many Fourth Grades left either. We can swallow them whole."

Su Yi's Blood Qi had already recovered by more than half as he laid out the plan to Fu Yinghao.

The news that the Abyss Warriors chasing him had been killed in turn probably would not reach them so quickly. After all, searching took time. But once dawn came, that might no longer be the case. Having lost so many people, the warriors in the village would definitely make a move.

Whether they called in reinforcements or fled with their resources, neither was good news for them.

It would mean that all their earlier efforts and surprise attacks had been in vain.

Fu Yinghao nodded and continued recovering from his injuries.

He knew that Su Yi did not actually need to wait for him. Alone, Su Yi would be enough to destroy this village that had lost the vast majority of its fighting strength.

Why was he waiting for him? Why had he taken out Life Essence to help him recover? He did not intend to ask.

Before, he definitely would have asked. But things were different now—they were already friends.

Since Su Yi was willing to treat him as a friend, he should not be overly sentimental about it.

He only needed to remember this favor in his heart. Sooner or later, there would come a time when he could repay it.

A few hours later, Fu Yinghao said, "I'm more or less recovered. Leave that Fifth-Rank High Stage to you. I'll take the other two Fifth-Rank Initial Stages."

Even at his peak, he was not confident in facing a Fifth-Rank High Stage warrior. He could only leave that one to Su Yi.

But against one Fifth-Rank Initial Stage and another seriously wounded Fifth-Rank Initial Stage, he still had some confidence.

"Then let's move. Dawn will be here soon."

Su Yi had no objections to Fu Yinghao's allocation. Even if Fu Yinghao could not kill the two Fifth-Rank Initial Stages, he could still hold them off.

Su Yi was confident in dealing with the Fifth-Rank High Stage. The warriors of this village were nowhere near as powerful as the warriors in the Meat Grinder.

Su Yi was the first to slip out of the cave entrance, and Fu Yinghao followed him out.

The two made their way toward the village.