The Lion Prince’s overbearing aura was ferocious and unstoppable. Gripping Zhou Weiqing by the neck, the light in his eyes was gleaming with a murderous light, but he just said coldly: “I will not kill you today. Do you know why?”
Alas, at this point, Zhou Weiqing was being gripped tightly by the neck and could not speak at all, naturally unable to give an answer.
“That is because Tian’er’s heart has already returned to me. Killing you would only dirty my hands. This is a letter for you from Tian’er…” As he said that, a light flashed in his hands, and a letter appeared. Shoving it forward, he slammed it into Zhou Weiqing’s chest, where it stuck to the matted blood there. Next, he let go, and Zhou Weiqing’s body crumpled to the ground.
“For Tian’er’s sake, I will let you go once. After all, she once liked you. However, if you let me see you again, I will rip you into shreds…”
As he said that, Gu YingBing gave Zhou Weiqing a final kick, sending him flying back a dozen yards like a sack of rubbish.
“Let’s go.” Gu YingBing glared a final, slightly unwilling, time at the critically injured Zhou Weiqing. Waving his hands towards his two guards, he turned back and headed to the north.
…
“Senior Brother, I beg you please, I beg you. Do not kill him. I… I am willing to marry you, as long as you let him go free, alright? Otherwise, you will only get my dead body.”
“…….”
“Senior Brother, I am willing to write him a letter, to let him know that I no longer love him, so that he will give up on me. In future, I will be yours, a good wife, taking good care of you. Please, I beg you. This is my last request. After all, I once loved him, and I do not want him to die because of me. Senior Brother, please, I beg you, let him go.”
At last… “Alright. But you must do what you said.”
“Senior Brother, then you must swear not to kill him. I will not see him again in the future as well…”
…
Gu YingBing was after all a Prince, and he naturally would not do something like breaking his own word to the woman he loved. No matter how much he wanted to, he finally did not land the final killing blow. Despite his unwilling feelings, he finally left.
“Little Fatty!!” Shangguan Fei’er flew to Zhou Weiqing. Alas, even though she finally reached him, she dared not touch him at all.
Zhou Weiqing’s current look was extremely scary. Both his arms and left leg were clearly broken, twisted in a weird position. Blood was pouring out of all his orifices, and his chest was slightly caved in, some of his ribs and clavicle clearly broken as well.
Looking at him like that, Shangguan Fei’er felt as if her heart was in such pain, almost not being able to breathe. She did not even know how to help him, not even daring to infuse Heavenly Energy into his body.
“Little Fatty… Little Fatty…” She called out softly, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Zhou Weiqing slowly opened his eyes. They were full of anger, hate, regret and unwilling. He had lost, lost so easily to his own love rival, perhaps even losing Tian’er. The pain in his heart far surpassed the pain in his body. In fact, as his injuries were just too critical, he currently felt his entire body numb, and actually did not feel much pain.
“Fei’er… open… the… letter… on… my… chest… and… read… it… to me…” Zhou Weiqing barely croaked out the words.
“You are already like this, and you still want to look at some letter? You stupid playboy, if not for that, how could you…” Shangguan Fei’er almost wanted to give him another beating of her own at that moment.
“Read it to me…” Zhou Weiqing’s eyes opened wide, his pale lips trembling as he said firmly.
In the end, Shangguan Fei’er could not bear to disregard his request, and she carefully picked up the letter from his chest, soaked with his blood. Opening the envelop, she took out a thin piece of paper.
Taking a quick glance at it, her face changed, and a hesitant expression flashed across her beautiful features.
“What…” Zhou Weiqing said with a trembling voice.
Shangguan Fei’er bit her lip lightly before finally reading it out softly: “Little Fatty, when you read this letter, it is over between us. Forget about me. I realised that the person I truly love is Big Bro Gu after all, and we are about to be married. What happened in the past is me being young, foolish and rebellious, just too curious about the world that I had never seen before. I do not truly love you. This year, in the coldest day of winter, I will become Big Bro Gu’s wife. We will not meet again, farewell forever.”
It was not easy for her to finish reading such a paragraph, and by the time she finished, Shangguan Fei’er flew into a rage, ripping the letter into shreds as she said: “What an undevoted and unfaithful slut…”
“Hahaha…” To Shangguan Fei’er’s surprise, when Zhou Weiqing heard her read the letter, he did not grow angry at all. Instead, the bloodshot eyes slowly turned back to his normal colour, the red slowly ebbing out, and even the spirit slowly returned to his eyes as he laughed out loud.
“Laugh… you’re still laughing…” Shangguan Fei’er stared at him dazedly.
Zhou Weiqing continued laughing heartily and said: “Why… why can’t I laugh… Tian’er… how could she… possibly… love… that… Lion Prince… Look, she… is… still… calling me… Little Fatty… she is still…calling… me… Little Fatty… she still … cares… for me… She is just… afraid… that… Gu… YingBing… kills me… that’s why… she wrote… that on purpose. Her… heart… is still… with me… Coldest day…of winter… that is…my last… chance…”
In Zhou Weiqing’s eyes, Shangguan Fei’er did not see any dejection or discouragement from the loss to the Lion Prince, instead an even stronger fighting spirit.
“I really wonder what your heart is made of. You are already so terribly injured, and you can still think about fighting for women.” Since Zhou Weiqing seemed to have come out of his internal pain, Shangguan Fei’er also heaved a sigh of relief. She had been afraid that Zhou Weiqing would not be able to recover from such a huge fall. As she spoke now, her words almost seemed to have a slightly sour tone.
Zhou Weiqing looked with dove eyes at Shangguan Fei’er, his low, raspy voice saying: “You all… are my… most precious… I am willing… to pit my all… to sacrifice myself… for each and every… one of you…” His voice grew lower and lower, until he finally fell into a dead faint.
While Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er were speaking, Lin TianAo had taken out two long staves and some cloth from his Spatial Ring, fashioning a crude stretcher. The way Zhou Weiqing looked currently, it was vital that he was moved carefully and that his wounds were not shaken too much. It was best to bring him back to the Peerless Battalion as quickly as possible, but riding a horse would be impossible for Zhou Weiqing, even if he were conscious.
…
On the other side, the Northwestern armies been deployed and were advancing to face the enemies. However, as they moved out, the returning Peerless Battalion had met them not far out, escorting the two powerful tribes back. Shen Ji had learned a single piece of news from the Peerless Battalion – the enemy had been repelled.
However, he could also clearly see that the Peerless Battalion had actually brought back several thousand Unicorn Heavenly Beasts!
Regarding these Unicorn Heavenly Beasts, gaining them was a total delight for the Berserker Tribe, as it would be a great boon to them. These Unicorn Heavenly Beasts were considered horse type beasts, and the Berserker Tribes had inherited many ways to tame and train such horse-type Heavenly Beasts since ancient times. Although these Unicorns were not yet tamed, since their entire Tribe was mobilized to migrate away, they were confident in eventually doing so. Such stout and powerful Unicorn Heavenly Beasts, how could the Berserker Tribe Leader Ma Long let them go so easily. With the Berserker Tribe’s special whistling technique, they were able to gather the Unicorns which had fled in all directions before heading to the Peerless Battalion camp.
Between the two tribes, they numbered more than ten thousand in total, entering the Peerless Battalion camp. Shen Ji had been a little worried at first, after all, what if any of those were spies? Just as he was hesitating whether or not they had to examine all their backgrounds individually, the Peerless Battalion had given him a tight slap on his face indeed. The First Main Company of the Peerless Battalion had brought along two thousand heads to exchange for prizes. This was even after they had been forced to leave in a hurry and had not finished looting and gathering all the heads of their fallen enemies.
These two thousand heads were mostly of the Unicorn Beastmen Tribe, and that in itself spoke volumes. More importantly, Shen Ji realised that the Peerless Battalion had not suffered any losses themselves!
Could it be that teacher of Zhou Weiqing’s had taken action?! Upon thinking about the mysterious teacher of Zhou Weiqing’s, Shen Ji dispelled his own misgivings, heading back to the northwestern command to report about what had happened.
Of course, Zhou Weiqing’s teacher had not taken action at all. In fact, currently, the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor Long Shiya was in the midst of a violent rage…
Seeing Zhou Weiqing lying on the bed in front of him, half dead and still unconscious, Long Shiya was so angry that his entire body was trembling. Lin TianAo and Shangguan Fei’er stood by the side, and they could vaguely see that six lights were reverberating around Long Shiya’s body. As they were standing rather close, the terrifying pressure emanating from him caused their breathing to become extremely difficult.
After bringing Zhou Weiqing back, the first thing Shangguan Fei’er did was to rush to Long Shiya and interrupt him from his cultivation in the camp. She knew that with Zhou Weiqing’s critical injuries, only Long Shiya and his powerful cultivation level would be able to help him recover as quickly as possible.
——
Letter from Tian’er! (2)
“Who did this…” Long Shiya suppressed his fury with great difficulty as he asked through gritted teeth.
In truth, with his cultivation level, he should not be so impulsive and easily angered. However, do not forget that this Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor had lived for more than a hundred years before finally accepting such a favoured disciple! Although he had personally told Zhou Weiqing that he would not help him do anything, in truth, could he really let him go through everything by himself? That was definitely not possible.
During this period of time, he had seen with his own eyes how hard Zhou Weiqing had worked, the amount of effort he had put into his cultivation, and the sheer speed of improvement. The amount of talent, genius and more importantly, character and willingness to put in the work had gained Long Shiya’s approval and acknowledgement. Seeing this young disciple who had been alive and kicking happily just yesterday in such dire straits now, barely hanging on in a breath, with countless of broken bones everywhere… how could Long Shiya not be enraged?
“Heavenly Snow Mountain… the Lion Prince, Gu YingBIng…” Shangguan Fei’er forced herself to answer quickly, panting for breath with the sheer difficulty of speaking through the pressure.
“Lion Prince?” A strange light flashed in Long Shiya’s eyes. “You all met at the northern border?”
Shangguan Fei’er nodded, saying urgently. “Senior, please heal Little Fatty first. He is so severely injured, and he also lost so much blood… I’m afraid his life might be in danger!”
Long Shiya seemed to ignore her words, lifting his head and looking off into the distance. In the next instance, an impossibly loud howl of rage rang out: “Old Monster Xue, this old man will now be irreconcilably opposed to you!”
Although Long Shiya had already tried his best to suppress his own aura, that angry howl still rose into the skies, reverberating through the entire area as it blew through the top of the entire tent and tearing a large hole in it. Not only did the entire Peerless Battalion hear it, even the nearby Legions could hear that thunderous roar.
“You two… go out.” Long Shiya waved his hands, and an invisible force swept both Shangguan Fei’er and Lin TianAo off their feet, gently sending them out of the tent.
Although Shangguan Fei’er had been sent out of the tent, she finally heaved a sigh of relief. She knew in her mind that Zhou Weiqing would not die, but no matter what, the concern she had would still cause her to worry. After all, despite his severe injuries, with his tough physique and unbelievable recovery powers, he should eventually recover. Of course, now that Long Shiya was able to heal him, Zhou Weiqing would definitely be alright.
However, even as her heart was aching for Zhou Weiqing with concern, she was left speechless by Long Shiya’s howl. It was clearly targeted at the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord… This Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor was indeed intrepid; it looked like he did not really hold a lot of respect for the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord!
Within the tent, a thick blue light rose, spreading throughout the tent as it enveloped Zhou Weiqing’s entire body. Within the blue light, Zhou Weiqing’s body slowly levitated up, as if he was floating in a thick viscous liquid.
Long Shiya did not use his Light Attribute Skills to heal his disciple. Although the Light Attribute was superior at healing, he had to consider that Zhou Weiqing had the Demonic and Darkness Attributes. If he used a Light Attribute Healing Skill, it could even had an adverse effect on Zhou Weiqing. From a certain perspective, Zhou Weiqing’s body was inclined towards the Demonic/Evil side.
The Water Attribute had some Healing Skills as well, and though they might not be as effective as the Life or Light Attributes, one had to consider who was the user as well. With Long Shiya’s cultivation level, the Water Attribute Healing Skills in his hands would be no weaker than any other Attribute’s Healing Skills, with the exception of not being to use the Resurrection Skills.
As Zhou Weiqing was fully covered by the blue light, his wounds were fully presented to Long Shiya’s senses. The more he examined all the wounds, the greater the cold light in Long Shiya’s eyes. To any ordinary person, perhaps even for other Jewel Masters, such a body of injuries… even two others would have died long ago. His internal organs were jarred out of position, with a great loss of blood, and at least a dozen bones were broken in various different areas. With Zhou Weiqing’s physique and toughness, one could imagine how many attacks and how much power had been behind those blows.
The Lion Prince Gu YingBing… Long Shiya definitely knew of him. After all, he had ascended the Heavenly Snow Mountain more than once. Long Shiya was not ashamed about Zhou Weiqing losing to him. After all, Zhou Weiqing was more than a dozen years younger than he was, and more so, he had been the First Disciple of the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord for so long, as compared to the short time that Zhou Weiqing had been cultivating. There was absolutely nothing to be ashamed about such a loss. However, Long Shiya’s heart was filled with rage. No matter what the reason was, this Lion Prince had almost killed his only disciple and successor, and he would not let things rest so easily. He would have to look for that old monster Xue to get justice.
A dense Water Attribute Heavenly Energy slowly infused into Zhou Weiqing’s body, first carefully moving his internal organs to their correct positions before covering them with a protective layer, enriching and healing them. Next were the bones… with Long Shiya’s fine control, all the bones were re-set into their proper positions.
Slowly, the amount of Heavenly Energy infused increased, improving the healing effect, cleansing the body, clearing his meridians, fixing all the various injuries major and minor. In the end, such critical injuries that would look fatal to most was now recovering swiftly with the aid of the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor.
Of course, in this unbelievable recovery speed, not only was Long Shiya’s power and cultivation of utmost importance, the toughness and sheer recovery rate of Zhou Weiqing’s own body played a major role as well. With the aid and restoration of the Water Attribute Heavenly Energy, his energy whirlpools were able to draw energy from outside to help his body sustain and recover.
…
Two whole hours passed, and as the worst of his injuries slowly recovered.
Zhou Weiqing’s eyes fluttered open at last.
There was no pain.
However, at this moment, Zhou Weiqing felt his entire body itching like crazy. This was the feeling of the many wounds recovering so quickly. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Long Shiya standing before him, a sombre, angry look on his face.
“Master.” Zhou Weiqing said with some embarrassment, attempting to get up.
“Don’t move.” Long Shiya said. “Your wounds might have healed, but you must rest for at least a day before you can even get up, otherwise you might leave some unforeseen long term consequences…”
Right at that moment, the tent flap raised, and Duan Tianlang entered from outside. In the entire Peerless Battalion, only he would dare to walk into Long Shiya’s tent so casually.
“Fatty Long, what is going on? What were you howling about just now?” In truth, Duan Tianlang had reached a while ago, but he had sensed Long Shiya circulating a massive amount of Heavenly Energy within the tent earlier, and had not wanted to disturb him. He had waited outside until he sensed the Heavenly Energy reverberations stop, before entering the tent.
“Hmph! Weiqing was almost beaten to death, what do you think I was yelling about? Old Duan, you remain here first. Later, when Weiqing is better, I will head to the WanShou Empire to beat up that little bastard Gu YingBing, then I’ll head up the Heavenly Snow Mountain to look for that old bastard… Old Monster Xue… and get justice for this matter. Weiqing, you don’t have to worry about anything. Hmph, having the disciples of the Old Monster Xue coming to bully my disciple, your Teacher will stand up for you…”
What kind of teacher was the most loved by their disciples? Without question, it was the protective ones who would take their sides!
On hearing that his Master would actually go up the Heavenly Snow Mountain to confront the powerful Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord on his behalf, Zhou Weiqing’s heart was filled with warmth, as if the pain in his entire body lessened considerably somehow.
“Master, don’t go. At least, not now…” Zhou Weiqing quickly said.
“What? Are you afraid I cannot beat that Old Monster Xue? Don’t worry, even if I can’t defeat him, this old man can still let him pay a heavy price.” Long Shiya said angrily.
Zhou Weiqing remained silent for a moment, his eyes flashing in a firm resolute light before he said: “Master, do you have any way for me to grow in strength quickly in a short period of time?”
Long Shiya furrowed his brow, both a surprised glee and worry warring in his heart. The surprised happiness was that Zhou Weiqing had not been brought down by this defeat, still holding much fighting spirit, and he was very happy about that. As for the worry, naturally that was because the Heavenly Snow Mountain was no mere trifle to go up against.
“Weiqing, tell your Senior Uncle, why did that Lion Prince come looking specially for you? For someone like Gu YingBing and his status in the entire WanShou Empire, to actually come all the way here to look for you and yet not killing you, I’m afraid there is more to this matter right.” Duan Tianlang was much calmer and cool-headed than the enraged Long Shiya, and he asked the critical question.
An embarrassed look flashed across Zhou Weiqing’s face, but he dared not hide any details. As such, he spoke in detail about how he had met Tian’er so long ago, and all the years he had spent with her… all the way to when she left him, as well as the real reason why the Lion Prince had looked for him, even down to the letter Tian’er had written to him and his own analysis of it.
To be beaten up like that because of a woman, it was not something glorious indeed. However, Zhou Weiqing had his own plans, and he knew that only if he stated things clearly to his teacher and explain what he thought about the letter… only then could he have that last small chance to gain her back.
Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s words, both Long Shiya and Duan Tianlang were stunned into silence momentarily, staring dazedly at each other.
At last, Long Shiya asked Zhou Weiqing uncertainly: “Little Fatty, are you trying to say that… you got together with that Old Monster Xue’s daughter? And she has also fallen for you?”
Zhou Weiqing lowered his head in shame and nodded slightly, thinking to himself:Sigh… to be beaten up to such a state for a woman’s sake, this is truly a huge loss of face. Looks like I’ll have to suffer a bout of scolding from Master first.
However, what happened next left him at a loss whether to cry or to laugh…
Long Shiya abruptly slapped his immense belly, causing it to shake, as he shouted excitedly: “Damn! That is bloody great! Such a satisfying feeling hahaha!”
Duan Tianlang was also laughing heartily as he said: “Weiqing, well done! You have truly gained face for our entire Legacy of Strength Sect!”
These two inglorious old fellows looked at each other as they continued laughing smugly loudly.