I, Who Hate Marine So Much, Have Become A Future Nika?

Chapter 20: Yan Lingdie Cries from Being Beaten

While Zhong Cang was feeling emotional, on the other side, Yan Lingdie breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him weakly collapse to the ground.

She had come this time to put a perfect end to their encounter, not to get beaten up.

The unexpected consecutive defeats had made her doubt her life.

At this moment, she just wanted to be alone and had no desire to fight anymore.

Her gaze returned blankly to the arena, and Yan Lingdie sat there lost in thought. As for the person that Shui Bo mentioned earlier, she dismissed it directly.

...

Yan Lingdie had enough strength to come down on her own, while Zhong Cang was supported by You Tao before stepping down from the arena.

During the process of being supported, You Tao's gaze at Zhong Cang was extremely strange.

Obviously, even he didn't expect that Zhong Cang could defeat Yan Lingdie again despite being surpassed.

Based on his previous observations, ordinary cultivators who were surpassed by geniuses would always lag behind until the end. Ordinary cultivators like Zhong Cang couldn't even catch a glimpse of the geniuses' backs.

It was extremely rare for someone like Zhong Cang to make a comeback.

However, although he was surprised, he wasn't overly shocked.

It wasn't that Zhong Cang's victory over the geniuses didn't shock him, but rather the issue of age.

If Zhong Cang and Yan Lingdie were both thirteen or fourteen years old, he would naturally be shocked.

But now, Zhong Cang was already seventeen, while Yan Lingdie was only thirteen or fourteen. The huge age difference made You Tao not believe that Zhong Cang was on the same level as Yan Lingdie, the genius cultivator.

He also didn't believe that Zhong Cang would keep winning.

Of course, although he didn't equate Zhong Cang's talent with Yan Lingdie's, his perception of Zhong Cang's status was elevated.

He also started to consider whether he should inform his own father about Zhong Cang's situation... He couldn't provide much help to Zhong Cang anymore, and if he couldn't be of assistance, their relationship would be difficult to improve.

Now, if they wanted Zhong Cang to feel grateful towards them, it would require his father's intervention. However:

"Simple investment with spirit stones is just a matter of mutual benefit. What truly binds two families together is a marriage. But in our family, the only girl who is of marriageable age and suitable for Zhong Cang is the fifth sister, but she is my older brother's biological sister, not mine..."

Using marriage to strengthen the relationship between two families, it had to be said that this approach was extremely cliché.

However, whether it was in the past or present, whether it was in the ancient times of the savage tribes or the feudal era, or even in the modern era when the winds of change swept across the land, marriages were constantly happening.

From this, it could be seen that this approach was indeed cliché, but extremely effective!

...

Zhong Cang didn't know that You Tao had already thought of using marriage to strengthen their relationship.

At this moment, in his weakened state, he just wanted to quickly recover his strength.

If it were before, when Zhong Cang was injured, he could only wait helplessly.

But now, he had a better option.

Sitting cross-legged under a tree, Zhong Cang closed his eyes directly and activated the form of the Spirit Deer, allowing the shadow of the Spirit Deer to possess him.

"Buzz..."

As the shadow of the beast, the Spirit Deer, was activated, Zhong Cang instantly felt that his body had become a whole. At the same time, a vibrant life force, full of vitality, was born from his internal organs.

This energy was extremely warm, and as soon as it appeared, it spread throughout Zhong Cang's body, making him feel warm all over, as if he had returned to his mother's embrace as a child.

The comfortable and reassuring feeling made Zhong Cang forget about his physical exhaustion and the chaos of the outside world. He almost fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhong Cang's consciousness awakened from its tranquility.

And at the moment of awakening, what Zhong Cang felt was... hunger.

It could only be said that energy never appeared out of thin air.

Touching his empty stomach, Zhong Cang prepared to go eat.

Then, as he looked up, he was surprised to find Yan Lingdie, who had recovered from her dejection, standing next to him, staring at him intently.

"Miss Yan, do you still want to continue the fight? I'm willing to accompany you, but I need to eat first since I've exhausted a lot of energy."

"Let's talk about the fight later. Were you going easy on me earlier?"

This question caught Zhong Cang off guard, and then he shook his head and said, "Miss Yan, I've already said that I didn't hide my true strength. Today, I was able to surpass you because you gave me more spirit stones, which allowed me to make a breakthrough."

"......"

Upon learning once again that it was the spiritual stones she had paid that allowed Zhong Cang to make a breakthrough and defeat her, Yan Lingdie felt somewhat frustrated.

However, at present, she was not concerned about these matters.

"I acknowledge that you have made progress in terms of strength, but what about your swordsmanship? Your swordsmanship far surpasses mine, so why didn't you display it before?"

This was a questioning remark, but upon hearing these words, Zhong Cang rolled his eyes and helplessly said, "Miss, even if my swordsmanship is high, I still need the ability to use it."

After finishing his sentence, Zhong Cang realized that Yan Lingdie still didn't understand, so he explained his frustration from the past few days.

"Miss Yan, when I hadn't made a breakthrough a few days ago, my speed was insufficient. When you struck with your sword, I couldn't dodge at all and could only take it head-on."

"And because my strength was insufficient, after receiving the strike, my arm would be numb with intense pain, making it difficult to even hold the sword. In such a situation, I couldn't counterattack at all, let alone talk about swordsmanship."

"Before I could recover, your second strike would come, followed by the third, fourth..."

"The overwhelming speed and strength forced me to exhaust all my thoughts in defense, and I could only watch as you struck harder and harder, sending my long sword flying."

These words left Yan Lingdie stunned.

"Ah?!"

"So my victory a few days ago was not due to my swordsmanship, but rather a tenfold difference in strength?"

"..."

Zhong Cang did not respond to this question.

However, his silent silence already indicated Zhong Cang's attitude towards Yan Lingdie's swordsmanship.

This attitude also made her angry.

"Come again."

"Cough, I need to eat a meal before I can fight..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yan Lingdie threw a bottle of elixir at him.

Upon opening it, Zhong Cang was surprised to find that the elixir in the bottle was the One Yang Pill he had purchased before.

"No, it's not just One Yang, it's One, Two, Three, three lines, Three Yang Pills!"

"Hiss..."

Looking at the quality of the elixir in the bottle, Zhong Cang took a sharp breath.

It was not surprising that he reacted this way. Three Yang Pills were too precious for the current Zhong Cang.

One Yang Pill was used in the early stage of Qi Refining, allowing Zhong Cang to maintain abundant energy for five to six hours.

Two Yang Pills were used in the middle stage of Qi Refining.

Three Yang Pills were used in the late stage of Qi Refining.

Now, Yan Lingdie had directly given him a late-stage Qi Refining elixir, and it was a bottle. How could he not be astonished?

After the astonishment came overwhelming joy.

With these elixirs in hand, he would definitely be able to greatly increase his cultivation progress once again.

While Zhong Cang was excited, Yan Lingdie's voice sounded.

"Now you have the strength, right? Come up, today, I will definitely defeat you!"

At this moment, Yan Lingdie was full of fighting spirit and overflowing confidence.

She believed that with her talent, she would eventually defeat Zhong Cang again.

Just like how she had been defeated by Zhong Cang before but came back victorious.

"This time, I will win too!"

Her confidence and attitude also ignited the fighting spirit in Zhong Cang's heart.

"I will give it my all."

"Hmph, that's right, it would be an insult to me if you hold back!"

This was the last sentence Yan Lingdie said before the battle.

Then, one and a half hours later, as Zhong Cang looked at Yan Lingdie with tears in her eyes, he had a headache.

(End of this chapter)