“Leader, let’s go back home.” Such a simple line, yet it caused everyone’s face to change, their expressions turning ugly. Little Four’s fist gripped tightly, a vexed look upon his face. Xiao Yan closed his eyes, sighing softly. Crow was still relatively okay, as she was still extremely young and could always join the next Heavenly Jewel Tournament, but she still looked disappointed.
Lin TianAo looked at Drunken Bao, and after a while, he sighed deeply, shaking his head. Softly, he said dejectedly: “Man proposes and Heaven disposes. You are right. Rather than forcefully go ahead and be humiliated, we might as well go back. I will take full responsibility for this matter.”
“Wait!” Just at that moment, Zhou Weiqing suddenly stood up in an abrupt motion, looking around at the disappointed faces of his companions. He said solemnly: “We can’t go back like this, we need to attend the Heavenly Jewel Tournament.”
“En?” Drunken Bao looked at him, brow furrowed. “Under such a circumstance, what’s the point of attending? Our purpose isn’t just to attend. With our injuries, I’m afraid we will not even be able to get past the first round, let alone the later stages, or even dream of the top four. It would be a humiliation.”
Zhou Weiqing drew in a deep breath. He had already thought the entire thing through before speaking up. He knew how important this tournament was for the five members of the Heavenly Jewel Master Academy, especially the seniors, and it could be said to be their dream. Yet, this dream was almost dashed because of himself and Fat Cat. If they went back like this, he would never be able to live with himself, and the rest would have to live with this regret as well, and this was definitely something he did not want to see. At that point, the heroic character that he had inherited from Admiral Zhou rose up in his chest for the first time, and he made up his mind that he would definitely attend this Heavenly Jewel Tournament, even if he had to reveal his Alexandrite Cat’s Eye Jewel. It might bring him a lot of trouble, but if he didn’t do it, he would regret it for life.
Of course, he had also pondered through the possibilities before finally coming to his decision. After all, the mysterious white haired young lady Tian Er had said previously that the Heavenly Snow Mountain had their eyes on him. If he got into trouble from the Alexandrite Cat’s Eye Jewel being revealed, he could either join the Heavenly Snow Mountain or even the Heavenly Demonic Sect if there was no other choice.
“We shall continue to join the Heavenly Jewel Tournament. I will be the mainstay member.” Zhou Weiqing said solemnly.
As soon as he said that, everyone looked at him in surprise.
Little Four’s eyes revealed a hint of appreciation, but he sighed and said: “Bro, it’s ok. I know that you feel terrible about this situation, but it is not your fault. No one expected this to happen, and sometimes bad luck just strikes.”
Zhou Weiqing shook his head. Currently, his eyes did not have the usual mischievous light within, instead a cold calculating brightness as he said: “We have eight of us in the team, and from the looks of things, the four of you are heavily injured. However, both I and Shangguan Bing’er are totally uninjured and will have our full combat powers. Crow and Ye Paopao should also recover in a few days. As such, by the time the Tournament starts, the four of us will be able to fight in the tournament. From the look of your injuries, Leader should take about a month or so before he recovers to prime condition, and Little Four, you should be about the same as well. As for Xiao Yan and Drunken Bao, they are much more severely injured, and will probably take a longer time. As long as the four of us are able to get pass the first two rounds, then our entire team’s combat ability will have recovered to at least eighty percent. If we can last til the top eight, we would have recovered almost ninety percent. Who’s to say we will not have the ability to forge on into the top four by then? The most difficult fights for us will be the first two rounds, but if we get relatively lucky with draws, we might get some weaker teams. We definitely still have a chance.”
Listening to his analysis, everyone’s face changed, and a glow of hope seemed to rise in their hearts.
Zhou Weiqing continued: “Senior Ye Paopao is a four-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, and his cultivation level is definitely enough to attend the Heavenly Jewel Master. Crow, with her natural abilities, can be almost compared to a five-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master in terms of direct attacks. Bing’er might not be extremely powerful, but as a ultimate agility Heavenly Jewel Master, her speed is way beyond most non agility Five-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Masters. Furthermore, though her offensive capabilities might not be too powerful, but she can pretend to be a Beastmaster to bring a Low Level Zun Stage Icy Soul Heavenly Bear on the field, coupled with her archery, that is a formidable force already.”
Drunken Bao said solemnly: “Even so, that might not be enough. You know how important this tournament is, even if we ignore the top teams, those smaller Empires will still send their best and most brilliant Heavenly Jewel Masters.”
Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and said: “There’s still the mainstay member – me. I have the confidence that as long as we are facing any team that isn’t backed by one of the Great Saint Lands, I will be able to suppress two or more of our opponents. Although I do not wish to deal you a blow, I have to say now that Senior Little Four, previously when I beat you, it was not luck at all.”
As soon as Zhou Weiqing said that, Little Four’s expression turned strange. “Weiqing, are you trying to comfort me or provoke me?! Are you saying that you think you are stronger than me?”
Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “Heh, definitely stronger than you!”
Little Four said with a glum look on his face: “You, this fellow, you’re bullying me that I am injured now and can’t test the truth of your words for myself. I know that your intentions are good, and you want us to join the tournament, but we cannot bet your lives on such a chance. After all, in the Heavenly Jewel Tournament, in order for the competitors to be able to be able to unleash their full powers, killing is not against the rules.”
Besides Lin TianAo, who looked to be deep in thought, and Shangguan Bing’er, who was sitting down calmly and expressionless, the rest of the companions looked at Zhou Weiqing with a look of disbelief on their face. Even Ye Paopao was no different.
Previously, Ye Paopao had felt that his power was not bad. However, in the last three days of fighting, he had realised that there was just an immense, almost insurmountable gap between his power levels, and the members of the Heavenly Jewel Master Academy. Their unity, teamwork, their awareness, reactions, combat abilities, even powerful skills, those were something he sorely lacked. At this point, hearing Zhou Weiqing saying that he was more powerful than Little Four, he did not believe it at all.
“Crow.” Zhou Weiqing ignored Little Four, turning to Crow instead.
“What?” Crow replied, sitting on the floor and looking at him uncertainly. She had not sustained injuries in the fight, and had only been affected by the Evil Energy of Little Witch. Since it had been drawn away by Zhou Weiqing, coupled with a whole day of rest and her strong physique, she had pretty much recovered already.
Zhou Weiqing looked at her, his mouth curved in a smile as he said: “Let’s compete in physical strength.”
“What?? You want to compete in physical strength with me?!” Crow’s eyes bulged. Her expression was clearly saying ‘Bro, are you ill?!’ She was not the only one, all the rest were staring at Zhou Weiqing with a similar expression.