Xu Yang was no callow youth who could be sweet-talked into risking his life.
He would keep Qiao Yong alive as long as it was within his power, but if his own life was threatened, he could not care less whether Qiao Yong lived or died.
Besides, Qiao Yong's talent was only comparable to Kong Yu's. He had already slaughtered Kong Yu, so what did Qiao Yong amount to?
And in the early stages, bone root mattered far more than comprehension. As far as he knew, Qiao Yong came from a very ordinary family.
Without ample resources, Qiao Yong's progress after entering the Violet Sun Gate would fall far short of Kong Yu's.
That made Qiao Yong's promise sound like a joke to him.
Xu Yang smiled. "Then you have my thanks, Brother Qiao."
He thought Xu Yang had swallowed his grand promises and admitted that his talent was inferior.
A smile curled at the corner of Qiao Yong's mouth. "No need to stand on ceremony, Brother Xu. You protect me while my cultivation is weak, and I'll protect you once it improves. That's only right."
After exchanging a few more insincere pleasantries, Qiao Yong asked, "May I ask what your cultivation is now, Brother Xu?"
"Sadly, I'm still only at astral qi minor accomplishment," Xu Yang said.
After two years of Dragon Ascension, his cultivation had only risen from great accomplishment of qi gathering to astral qi minor accomplishment. That was indeed rather poor.
Qiao Yong consoled him. "That's quite good already, Brother Xu. Don't lose heart. In another six months or a year, you should reach astral qi mastery."
Xu Yang cupped his hands. "May your kind words come true, Brother Qiao."
Seeing Xu Yang, a celebrated genius from the previous cohort, lower himself before him made Qiao