Breaking off an engagement was already a matter of extreme humiliation, yet the family had gone as far as to set a ten-day challenge with a junior who had only just awakened an F-rank ability.
Winning would have been fine.
But now that they had lost, it was inevitable that the Su family would become the subject of gossip in the eyes of others.
The head of the Su family stood at the very front of the main stands, both hands gripping the railing until his knuckles turned white.
His gaze shifted from Lin Yuan to his daughter, then back to Lin Yuan. His lips moved several times, but he couldn't manage to say a single word.
The teachers from the four top academies had originally come to recruit Su Qingyue.
Now, however, all four of them were circling around Lin Yuan.
This slap to the face was deafening.
In the center of the arena, Lin Yuan was surrounded by the four academy teachers, yet his face showed no sign of being overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.
“Everyone.”
His voice wasn't loud, but the four of them fell silent simultaneously.
“The match has just ended, and I still have matters to discuss with the head of the Su family.” Lin Yuan’s gaze passed over the four teachers and landed on Su Zhen. “As for the matter of the academies, we can discuss that later.”
A flicker of surprise flashed in Qin Ruolan’s eyes. Any ordinary youth would have been so excited they’d be incoherent after being fought over by the four top academies.
Yet this kid actually thought to say “discuss that later”?
This level of composure was even rarer than his Eight Rounds of Bone Tempering.
“Very well,” Qin Ruolan was the first to nod. “Kyoto Academy’s recruitment point will remain in Donghai City for three days. We will be waiting for you at any time within those three days.”
Gu Cheng grinned. “The same goes for Magic City.”
Lei Meng scratched his bald head. “National Martial Arts as well.”
Ye Lin was as brief as ever. “Shencity.”
The four teachers reached a delicate balance and temporarily stepped back, though their gazes remained firmly locked onto Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan turned and walked toward Su Zhen.
With every step he took, Su Zhen’s expression grew a shade uglier.
When Lin Yuan stopped before the main stands, Su Zhen looked down at him from his elevated position. His mouth twitched several times before he finally forced out a smile that looked more painful than crying.
“You have great skill, nephew.”
“You flatter me, head of the Su family.” Lin Yuan’s tone was calm—so calm that it made Su Zhen’s skin crawl. “I won. As you wished, the engagement is dissolved. That is the first point.”
Hearing this, Su Zhen’s fists clenched inside his sleeves.
The meaning behind Lin Yuan’s words was clear: breaking the engagement was the Su family’s idea.
In this martial world, once an engagement was set, it became a matter of lifelong honor.
For one party to take the initiative to break it was a massive disgrace and a heartless trampling of the other party’s dignity. It was the ultimate insult.
But in front of the four top academies and all the dignitaries of Donghai City, Su Zhen could only reply:
“Naturally.”
“The second point.” Lin Yuan extended his right hand, palm up.
“Return the items my parents left in your care.”
Su Zhen’s pupils constricted violently.
His reaction was even larger than Lin Yuan had anticipated. It wasn't just his expression changing; his entire body stiffened for a fleeting moment.
“...Of course,” Su Zhen’s voice was somewhat dry. “However, the items your father left behind all those years ago are stored in a secret room within the Su family’s ancestral manor. It will take some time to retrieve them.”
“How long?”
“Three days.”
Lin Yuan looked into Su Zhen’s eyes.
Su Zhen looked back at him.
Their gazes collided in the air, a silent confrontation that lasted for several seconds.
“Fine.” Lin Yuan withdrew his hand. “Three days from now, I will come to your door to collect them.”
He turned to leave, but after a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
“Head of the Su family.”
Su Zhen’s heart suddenly leaped into his throat.
Lin Yuan tilted his head. His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for everyone on the main stands to hear. “My parents died in a monster tide alongside your elder brother and his wife.”
“The engagement between our families was a promise they made with their lives. I am not standing here today to prove anything. I am simply here to take back what belongs to me.”
“Whether it is the engagement or the stored items—they are mine.”
Having said his piece, he strode toward the arena exit.
He left behind a crowd of spectators with varying expressions and a pale-faced Su Zhen.
Su Qingyue stood where she was, watching Lin Yuan’s back disappear into the exit tunnel.
Her white clothes were covered in dust and ice shards, and the wound on her right arm was still throbbing with pain, but she couldn't feel it at all.
She only remembered the words Lin Yuan had just said to her.
“Beautiful swordsmanship cannot kill monsters.”
She lowered her head and looked at her hands.
Fair, delicate, without a single callus on the knuckles.
These hands had indeed never killed a single monster.
As Lin Yuan walked out of the arena, the sunlight hit the end of the exit tunnel perfectly.
He squinted his eyes, his pace never faltering.
The clamor from the arena behind him continued, but he no longer cared.
Ten days ago, when he awakened an F-rank ability, he was trash in everyone’s eyes.
Today, when he defeated an S-rank ability user, he was a genius fought over by the four top academies.
But none of that mattered.
What mattered was—
He touched the black rune stone in his pocket.
The temperature in the arena was normal, but the rune stone was slightly hot against his fingertips.
The reaction of a detection rune.
As expected, the cultists were also present today.
Furthermore, while everyone’s attention was on the match, they had quietly placed some “little things” around the perimeter of the arena.
Lin Yuan walked out of the arena’s side door and turned into a deserted alley. He crouched down and brushed his finger against the ground.
A very faint black pattern emerged at the corner of the wall, looking like a dormant poisonous snake.
A tracking rune, used to lock onto a target’s position.
The trigger condition was—ice ability fluctuations.
The target was Su Qingyue.
Lin Yuan stood up and expressionlessly wiped the rune away.
The black pattern turned to ash under the erosion of lightning ability, dissipating in the wind.
He wasn't in a hurry to return to the Old City District. Instead, he walked a full circle around the arena’s perimeter.
The detection rune grew hot four times in total, and he found four hidden runes.
The technique used in each location was identical.
This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision.
It was a carefully planned operation.
The fact that they could place runes around the perimeter of Donghai City’s busiest arena without being discovered meant the cultists hadn't just snuck into the city.
They had a base in the city, cover identities, and even some means of shielding themselves from perception.
“Three days.”
Lin Yuan wiped away the last rune, stood up, and brushed the dust off his hands.
Su Zhen said he would return his parents’ belongings in three days.
The cultists would most likely make their move within those three days as well—Su Qingyue was injured today, and three days from now would be when she had just recovered, the moment when her guard would be at its lowest.
The timing matched.
He needed to do one thing during these three days.
Retrieve the items his parents left behind. As for the matter of the Blood Eye Cult, it wasn't something he could handle at his current level.
In other words, it was none of his business.
Lin Yuan walked out of the alley, and the sunlight shone on his face once more.
The matter of the rats can wait until tonight.
First, I'm going back for some porridge.
...
When night fell, Lin Yuan sat on the bed in his small shack with three items spread out before him.
On the left was the B-rank ability card he had won from Zhao Tianyu.
Faint golden patterns flowed across the card’s surface. Sealed within was a B-rank defensive ability, “Golden Bell Shield,” which could form a Tier 2 defensive shield around the user for ten minutes.
In the middle were five low-level Bone Tempering Pills he had bought from the Ability User Association this afternoon.
On the right was the black rune stone he had brought back from the wilderness.
Rate on N.U.
