Volume Two: The Many Faces of Youth, Illusory Yet Real Chapter Ninety-Five: The Hesitant Party and the One Who Turns Away-Smoke of the Apocalypse(The Nine Songs of Wind and Fire)

Alice had noticed it long ago.

The way Shangguan Yudie kept looking at Huo Ye today was strange in the extreme. And when she faced Luo Jiajia, Huo Ye’s devoted fangirl, she displayed an aggression she had never shown before, even giving up a bit of her own style just to launch a fierce attack. How should one put it... if Alice had to choose something to describe her, it would be a cat that had its dried fish stolen. Yes, that fit perfectly.

Shangguan Yudie knew she could no longer hide it from Alice, so she could only whisper, “Don’t tell Brother Xiao Ye.”

“Don’t worry, I’m on your side.” Alice immediately decided to sell out her older brother, because if she had to pick a side in the development of their relationship, then clearly Shangguan Yudie, who could barely manage ordinary social interaction, needed her more.

“Thank you.” Shangguan Yudie said, a little shyly.

“Why are you being so formal? We’re besties, aren’t we?” Alice hugged Shangguan Yudie and rubbed her cheek against the other girl’s face. Then she asked, “Xiaoyu, did you use mind reading on my brother last night?”

“Yes. I was just curious what was bothering him, and then... I’m actually a little regretting it now. If all of this were still a dream, how wonderful that would be,” Shangguan Yudie said.

But Alice was displeased. “What a silly thing to say. Back then I told my brother this would be exposed sooner or later, and he should just tell you straight out. He refused to listen. Now he still thinks he’s kept it secret, and you’re the one left miserable here all by yourself. Xiaoyu, tell me the truth: now that you know my brother is Night Rain Cold Crow, do you still like him?”

Shangguan Yudie hesitated for a long time before finally saying, “I’m not sure. Every time I see Xiao Ye now, I can’t help imagining a mask on his face. I don’t even know who it is that I actually like anymore.”

Alice licked her lips. How exasperating this was. Was it really that hard? Why did everything become so complicated the moment it involved her brother?

Jiang Feng’s Hearing the Wind Words and Huo Ye’s Misfortune were both online at the same time. The moment Jiang Feng saw Huo Ye, his face immediately fell, because according to Huo Ye, tonight they were going to make a big move.

This afternoon, not half an hour after Luo Jiajia had just joined the club, someone from Burning Mountain Fire came upstairs to deliver a challenge letter, demanding a duel that night, with both sides staking fifteen percent of their income for the coming year. At the time, Huo Ye had remained remarkably calm, but once he asked roughly how many points Burning Mountain Fire took in over the course of a year, Jiang Feng felt like he could already see a green gleam of greed lighting up in the boss’s eyes.

Burning Mountain Fire was one of the Seven Great Clubs. Eighty percent of the academy’s fire-element ability users were basically affiliated with them. With such a huge stream of people, all the resources and points were pooled together and then distributed according to merit. That number was three million. Fifteen percent of it was four hundred and fifty thousand.

The instant Jiang Feng saw Huo Ye’s expression, he knew exactly what he was thinking. He had also read Ke Zhen’s training plan, and in Jiang Feng’s view, it was not a blueprint for improving their strength at all, but a guide to burning money. They had indeed made a killing from Huo Ye’s racing, but that was a one-time windfall. From then on, it was basically impossible to make points that way again.

Because the casino would learn its lesson. One speed race was enough to prove two things. First, Huo Ye’s racing skill was truly military-grade: polished technique honed through constant grinding on real battlefields, not some flashy aerial performance meant to delight the crowd with a flying platform and all sorts of gimmicky stunts. Second, Huo Ye excelled at creating miracles. Never judge this fellow by common sense; he had been personally trained by Eddie Hols, the strongest human alive, and there had never been anyone in the academy who could truly force him to reveal all his cards.

If they really continued to follow Ke Zhen’s plan, then in less than a year Stars would probably fall into resource scarcity once again. Huo Ye had been extremely anxious about this, and he had been drinking Fire-Subduing Tea nonstop all day. But at just this moment, Burning Mountain Fire challenged them, Stars, the Stars with an S-rank powerhouse in residence. It was like someone sending a pillow the moment you started to feel sleepy.

Huo Ye immediately decided on the format of the match: two versus two, with Stars sending him and Jiang Feng.

As soon as Burning Mountain Fire’s messenger left, Jiang Feng could no longer hold it in. He demanded to know why Huo Ye would send out the weakest member for such an important match. It was far too frivolous. Although Jiang Feng was somewhat insecure about being the weakest in the club, he was absolutely honest with himself, and precisely because of that, he could not understand Huo Ye’s thinking. This was treating the club’s future like a joke.

To that, Huo Ye replied, “Do you think I can’t blow apart their president and vice-president by myself?”

“I...” Jiang Feng was left speechless. That familiar feeling returned: wanting to argue, yet finding it so reasonable that there was nothing to say in response. Huo Ye’s words came out with such natural certainty, as if the two club presidents who held sway over the academy were nothing more than sheep awaiting slaughter.

“Yes,” Jiang Feng had to admit. An S-rank like Huo Ye was invincible within the academy.

“So why not take this chance to let them spar with you? If you always train with people in the club, then no matter how much you improve, it’ll only be useful against our own side. Club president-level punching bags are not easy to find. Besides, after the training we can still earn points. Opportunities like this are rare.”

The moment Huo Ye said that, everyone except Luo Jiajia recalled one of Ke Zhen’s words: “Eddie and Huo Ye are the most confident and insane people I have ever seen.”

“Then let’s do a final information check. I’ve faced Yanmo Hall before. They basically fight with pure explosive force, and in that regard they are not even as good as Lu Dingyuan we met before. But Xiao Linghuo seems different. In the资料 you gave me, he seems to specialize in poison fire...” Huo Ye said thoughtfully, stroking his chin.

Jiang Feng suddenly realized that no matter how confident Huo Ye appeared, even to the point of seeming conceited, he would never become arrogant because of it, and would never let a single detail slip by. This was the so-called underestimating strategically while taking every tactic seriously. His confidence came not only from his own strength, but also from the delicacy of his mind. Jiang Feng felt that Huo Ye would certainly become an outstanding leader in the future.

In response to Huo Ye’s question, Jiang Feng answered at once, “Yes. Xiao Linghuo’s path to where he is today could practically be called a classic tale of the underdog’s rise. He comes from a family of traditional Chinese medicine, and from a young age he also had a strong interest in Western medicine. As a medical student, he can be said to be well versed in both Eastern and Western traditions, and extremely skilled in pharmacology and toxicology. As a fire-element ability user, he lacked what could truly be called essential explosive power. Not only could he not raise the flame temperature very high, he couldn’t even make the fire too large. So he chose a different path, blending poison into his flames. It was only by relying on his highly refined poison fire that he was able to get into Banclough and, last year, in his second year, firmly secure the position of vice president of Burning Mountain Fire. Rumor has it he independently developed more than a dozen poisons specifically designed for disasters. The fiercest among them can even dissolve the body of an S-rank disaster in half an hour.”

“Kind of slow. When I was A-rank, killing an A-rank disaster took about twenty minutes,” Huo Ye said.

Jiang Feng was immediately unhappy. How could those be the same? You’re a battle assassin, and he’s a magical support. Comparing kill speed against disasters with him, don’t you think that’s beneath you?

Still, Jiang Feng went on, “Anyway, we should be careful. After all, pharmacology has been studied with humans as its target for thousands of years. I think Xiao Linghuo should have more ways to deal with humans than with disasters.”

“That’s true. Still, I think we need something,” Huo Ye said.

“What?”

“Sunflower seeds.”

“Huh?” Jiang Feng was completely baffled. What the hell, sunflower seeds? What do you need those for? He couldn’t make sense of Huo Ye at all. There must be some gap in his intelligence somewhere! Suddenly, he felt that the title of Sky Eye was being challenged.