Episode 349

“What the heck are you even doing?” Ke Tong yelled at Su Jin. The rest of Team Vast Ocean had similar disapproving looks on their faces. Zhou Xinyu was the only one who continued to look supportive of Su Jin’s decision.

“There’s no point in making such choices. Once your opponent reaches a certain level, the terrain itself does not matter to them. In fact, they could even turn it against you, making you suffer and run around like lost mice,” said Su Jin as he glanced at the team.

“Oh? We’ve got someone who knows his stuff! You’re not originally from this team, right? You’re here to help them? What a pity,” said Zhou Ying gleefully as he stared at Su Jin.

Su Jin nodded and said, “Yup! Zhou Xinyu is my disciple, so since she’s in trouble, as her shifu, I ought to help her out.”

“Wow, you’re a loyal fellow too! In that case, tell me your name first, since you’re about to die. It’d be so sad to die without anybody knowing your name,” said Zhou Ying as he laughed merrily. There was no respect in his eyes at all. They were filled with nothing but contempt.

“Oh, that’s true! My name is Su Jin,” said Su Jin with a nonchalant smile. The skies grew dark, which was a sign that a death match was about to start.

Zhou Ying flicked his fingers and three beams of light shot out. The beams struck the bodies of the three owners next to him, then disappeared. But the faces of the three owners immediately lit up excitedly.

“He’s given them Spirit Power?” Su Jin looked curiously at Zhou Ying. He had given the people around him Spirit Power with very little fanfare.

The three owners with newfound Spirit Power immediately charged at Su Jin and his team. The members of Team Vast Ocean retreated in horror. The team had two veterans, but they were clearly not as formidable as their opponents. Besides, they intended for Su Jin to defend the frontline by himself. They had no idea how Team Flying Cloud was able to force the owners to fight and not surrender, but they hoped that they would have better luck with that option. If Su Jin died, then they just needed two more to die for the rest of them to choose to surrender and survive this ordeal.

Su Jin glanced briefly at the rest of his new team. Only Zhou Xinyu remained standing next to him. She had a stubborn expression on her face, but she did look scared as well.

“Only the weak would hope to survive because the stronger one has made a mistake. Xinyu, listen up. If you want to survive, you have to become stronger. If your enemy is also strong, then you have to become even stronger. Don’t end up like them and leave your life in the hands of others,” Su Jin said to Zhou Xinyu. She nodded in response.

He gave her a pleased nod, then waved his hand. Several silver beams of light appeared out of nowhere, hurtled toward the three owners that were charging at him and sliced them into two. Their heads were cut off in just one second, flying into the air even while their lower bodies were still running.

Three bloody puddles appeared on the field and Zhou Ying felt like he had just been hit in the heart. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Those three were veterans, and he couldn’t have done that himself.

“Who is this guy? He said his name was… Su Jin? Su Jin… SHIT! Could he be that guy?!” Zhou Ying stared at Su Jin in horror as he shouted, “You’re… you’re the one who’s ranked #7 among owners?! The leader of Team Boning Knife?! THAT Su Jin??!”

“That’s me!” came Su Jin’s response, except that it was in Zhou Ying’s ear.

Zhou Ying became even more terrified and he opened his mouth to surrender, only to find that his body was getting smaller. He soon realized it wasn’t his body that was getting smaller, but that he was looking down from a higher point than before. His head… had flown into the air.

He was gone in a second. Regardless of whether they were ordinary owners, or an expert ranked in the 300s like Zhou Ying, they were all gone in a second when faced with Su Jin. There was no way they could have fought back at all.

“So, he had one more Spirit Power that could turn him into mist, but he wasn’t able to use that in time.” Su Jin pulled his psychokinesis out from that flying head. He had searched Zhou Ying’s consciousness just before he died and understood what his Spirit Power really was.

The remaining two members of Team Flying Cloud almost fell to their knees in fright. What was going on? Hadn’t the battle just begun? How did so many of their teammates become headless bodies in just seconds?

Su Jin looked toward them and they retreated in fear. But he said quietly to them, “So! Aren’t you two gonna surrender?”

“Surrender? Surrender! Of course, we surrender!” yelled the two of them without hesitation. As they shouted frantically at the sky above them, the gray skies cleared up. The match had ended.

Once the match was over, a screen appeared again with a list of all the items owned by the members of Team Flying Cloud. As the team who was challenged to a fight, Team Vast Ocean could take two items from each member of the losing team.

Su Jin turned toward Miu Zhengtao, but the dazed Miu Zhengtao’s first response was, “You can decide on how all of this is distributed!”

Miu Zhengtao had been too shocked for words. He thought that he would die during this battle, but in the end… Su Jin had slaughtered the best members of the other team within seconds, and the other party had mentioned who Su Jin was… Su Jin was actually ranked #7 among owners. There was no way he would dare to fight for these items with someone as highly ranked as that.

Su Jin glanced quickly at the items. There wouldn’t be anything amazing among the items belonging to owners at their rank, so he gave everything to Zhou Xinyu. She needed these things to help her become stronger.

Zhou Xinyu did not refuse the things. These were gifts from her shifu, so she had the right to have them. She kept them in her Handbook, then chose to pull out from Team Vast Ocean.

Miu Zhengtao and the rest did not dare to protest. They could only regret how they treated Su Jin before this. Su Jin also left the team officially and left the space with Zhou Xinyu.

After they returned to Hell’s Bar, Su Jin patted Zhou Xinyu’s head and said, “Don’t be too sad. The whole point of a team is to have people who can look out for one another and help each other. Your teammates don’t have to be super powerful, but having each other’s back is the least they ought to do.”

Zhou Xinyu nodded. This incident helped her realize that her teammates were a little shortsighted. If they were in a situation where she really needed them to have her back, it was more likely that they would have pushed her into the fire instead.

“Helping them to get through this crisis is… enough to repay them for taking care of me thus far,” said Zhou Xinyu with a sad smile.

Su Jin used his Handbook to contact Xiang Nan, and Xiang Nan appeared in no time. He glanced at Su Jin, then glanced at Zhou Xinyu before asking with a puzzled look on his face, “I noticed that Team Boning Knife has disappeared from the team ranking. What’s happened? I thought you guys died.”

“Some things happened, and I did lose some teammates. But I’m not here to talk about that. I’m hoping you could do me a favor.” Su Jin didn’t want to talk about what happened to Ye Yun and the rest, so he went straight to the point, “This is my disciple, Zhou Xinyu.”

“Disciple?” Xiang Nan looked curiously at her, then said, “Judging from your expression… you want me to help be a kindergarten teacher?”

“Don’t put it like that! Xinyu is very capable, and she’s a good strategist. I think she’d be able to learn a lot from you, and she could help you guys too,” said Su Jin with a laugh.

Zhou Xinyu made a face. She didn’t like being called a kid, but since this man was a friend of her shifu, she didn’t protest.

Xiang Nan sighed and shook his head. “Bro, you’ve got to be kidding. You’re a top strategist yourself, so why don’t you let her follow you instead? You don’t need me to teach her.”

Su Jin shook his head and sighed too. “I’m not in a good place and I have to face many dangers. The chances of Xinyu dying if she sticks with me are way higher. Help me out, won’t you?”

Xiang Nan laughed and nodded. “Alright then! But I can’t guarantee that she will live long or anything like that. You know that very well yourself. Not even someone like you could guarantee that.”

“Yep, got that.” Su Jin nodded in agreement. Nobody could guarantee the survival of another person when it came to the terrifying Challenges of the Handbook. In fact, they could barely keep themselves alive. If they had been able to ensure the safety of another person, Su Jin wouldn’t have lost so many teammates.

Xiang Nan took his Handbook out, then motioned to Zhou Xinyu to complete the process of becoming a member of Team Wind and Rain. Zhou Xinyu was a little unwilling to do it, but she did it since Su Jin insisted. She would rather stick with Su Jin.

After the whole process was complete, Su Jin motioned to them to sit down, then paused to think for a moment before saying, “Let me put this simply. Because of certain reasons, the Handbook is no longer the same as before. It’s no longer just something that comes up with Challenges for owners to survive.”

“These certain reasons… have something to do with you?” Xiang Nan picked up the main point immediately.

Su Jin made a face, but nodded. “Yes, yes, it has to do with me. I… am now on the road to becoming a god.”

“Woah! That’s pretty big news.” Xiang Nan’s eyes widened, but he believed what Su Jin said. He was sure that this old friend of his wouldn’t say something like this as a joke.

“Yep, it’s big news, alright. But what I’m going to say next is even bigger – I hope both of you become gods too,” said Su Jin.

“Us? No, no, you know very well that not everyone can reach your level. Just surviving the Challenges is good enough for us,” said Xiang Nan with a shake of his head.

But Su Jin’s expression was grim as he said very solemnly, “No. You must do this. Just like you said… if you want to survive, you have to become a god.”

Xiang Nan froze as he chewed on Su Jin’s words, then got up with a start. “Wait, you’re saying… only gods will be allowed to live? The rest of us are doomed?”

Su Jin looked at Zhou Xinyu and said, “See? I told you he was one of the best strategists around.”