The Attack of the Wastrel

Her life was on the line as Gu Lingzhi twisted her waist and prepared to flip. Using her Qingfeng Sword to press on the ground, she pushed off the floor with her right foot and her body retreated swiftly. At the same time, several fireballs flew towards her attackers.

“Good move!” someone praised. She did not try to run but continued to fight back. The attackers that were surrounding Gu Lingzhi took a step back upon seeing this someone. They formed a circle surrounding the two in the middle. It seems like they wanted to let the person that just arrived to deal with Gu Lingzhi.

Gu Lingzhi started to fume internally. The person that had just appeared seemed to be around 25 years of age and had a very typical and common look. His methods however, were anything but common. They were both at the Peak Level Martial Practitioners, however, every Heaven-Level technique and skill that she had learned from the Inheritance Space had no effect on him.

Gu Lingzhi’s moves were elegant and swift. His moves on the other hand were large and wide but swift at the same time.

He was definitely not a common person!

This person must be someone from a highly influential family or the Royal Family to be able to withstand her techniques and offensive skills. Could it be that someone from the Royal Family did not want her to marry in and decided to get rid of her?

But she was very sure there was no one like that from the Royal Family.

Could it be… someone from another Kingdom?

Gu Lingzhi felt her heart constrict. Rong Yuan’s position in the Xia Kingdom was much higher than any of the other princes and he might only be second to the king. Along with his outstanding talent, it was not impossible that someone wants to catch her alive to threaten Rong Yuan.

Sensing her get distracted, the guy suddenly grinned and chatted nonchalantly, “Is the Spirit Tribe doing well?”

He knows about the Spirit Tribe?

Gu Lingzhi was stunned for a moment causing her feet to mess up and she failed to avoid the guy’s attack. She could do nothing but watch the guy’s sword aim for her chest.

The guy did not imagine that she would react like this and seeing Gu Lingzhi about to get injured, in a spur of a moment he flicked his hand and stopped the sword from advancing further. Gu Lingzhi managed to escape unharmed but his pullback had caused the sword to cut himself and a thin line of blood appeared on his arm.

“Master!” One of the guys surrounding Gu Lingzhi shouted.

“It is nothing.” The guy waved his hand, signalling for him to stay aside. Looking back at the surprised looking Gu Lingzhi, “Do you want to make a deal with me?”

Gu Lingzhi pursed her lips and remained silent. Her eyes however, reflected the alarm she felt. The guy’s behaviour was strange. First, he got people to ambush her, then he started to attack her himself and even talked about the Spirit Tribe. Lastly, he even hurt himself to prevent hurting her. These series of actions caused her to be even more suspicious and alert.

The Spirit Tribe was her biggest secret and she never thought that she would be exposed in this manner by someone she has never met before. Now, she could only be thankful that she was exposed in her identity as the Black Thorn and if anything, she could just get rid of the Black Thorn.

Seeing Gu Lingzhi on guard, the guy laughed helplessly as he used his right hand to grab his injured left hand. Laughing bitterly, “Don’t worry, if I wanted to hurt you, why would I have injured myself? If you don’t want the news that the Spirit Tribe still exists to spread, you must work with me. I am your only choice and I can help you when the Deity King decides to come after you.”

Although the way he spoke was gentle, she could hear the threat in his voice. But this was… all on the basis of Gu Lingzhi belonging to the Spirit Tribe.

“What Spirit Tribe? What Deity King? I don’t understand what you are talking about.” Gu Lingzhi took a step back and looked at him curiously.

“…There is no need to deny it. Don’t you know that the Spirit Cleansing Pill that you sold at the Jubao Pavilion was a kind of Spiritual Medicine that only the Spirit Tribe could create? Also, your Heaven-Level Martial Skills and techniques are not commonly found in the normal household. It is not possible to have it unless… you have the Spirit Tribe’s Inheritance.”

It was no wonder that the guy had created such a big façade to get her over here and even surround her. Was it all because of her Martial Skills? Gu Lingzhi shrugged her shoulders as she was determined not to admit to her identity. There were both of the Martial Practitioner rank and she did not believe that he could see what Spiritual Roots she had.

“Is that so? Maybe the Spiritual Medicines just have the same name. The Spirit Cleansing Pill that I created was something that was passed down from my ancestors and has nothing to do with the Spirit Tribe. As for my techniques, they were also passed down in my family. In the entire Tianyuan Continent, there are numerous outstanding people and it is not surprising that a few families would own special techniques. I think you must have mistaken me for someone else.”

“…Lady, you must know that I mean you no ill,” the man sighed as he had already predicted that this was the reaction he was going to get and was too surprised.

“The fact that you could be from the Spirit Tribe was already reported when you sold the two Spirit Cleansing Pills, by the Deity King’s sources to the Realm of the Gods. I believe that in a while, there would be someone sent to investigate you. When the time comes and your identity is found out, I believe you know what would happen to you. I, however… can help you avoid being investigated by his men.”

The man then looked Gu Lingzhi directly in the eye as he handed something over to her, “I know that you will not believe me now. I will remain in the capital city for a while. If you change your mind and decide to work with me, you can contact me anytime you want.”

The man then turned to leave and the men that were surrounding Gu Lingzhi proceeded to leave as well. In a second, the alley that was once filled with danger suddenly became quiet. It was only when everyone had left then did Gu Lingzhi suddenly remember, “My charm!”

She immediately rushed to chase them, but as soon as she reached the mouth of the alley there was no one around.

“He still says that he wants to work together. Where is the sincerity?!” Gu Lingzhi twisted her mouth as she stared at the empty alley. Which person would steal their partner’s item before they even started working together?

Having lost her charm, she could not avoid Rong Yuan’s questions. When she returned to the dorm, she was immediately subjected to his scrutiny.

Gu Lingzhi hesitated a while before confessing everything that had happened today to Rong Yuan. She also told him about her identity as the Spirit Tribe’s descendant and that she had the Spirit Tribe’s Inheritance Space.

She decided that since she had accepted him, she should not keep any secrets from him. Especially after she had been exposed as a descendant of the Spirit Tribe, she did not want to drag him into danger without him knowing. After all, the one after her was… the Deity King, who was the leader of the highest realm achievable by Martial Artists currently.

If Rong Yuan decides to leave her after knowing the truth, she would not blame him.

“… So, since you are from the Spirit Tribe, you don’t just have gold, wood, fire and water Spiritual Roots but all five?”

As Gu Lingzhi was awaiting his final decision, she did not expect the first thing to come out of his mouth to be something so irrelevant, “It is because it is extremely rare for people to have all five Spiritual Roots, hence I hid a bit of it.”

“Oh, I see.” Rong Yuan nodded. He maintained his usual calmess and she could not read what he was actually thinking, making her jittery.

“No wonder you are improving faster than me. I thought there was someone more talented than me in this world. But since you are from the Spirit Tribe, I am rest assured.” Rong Yuan stated.

Under Gu Lingzhi’s confused look, he suddenly hugged her and a low chuckle emanated from him.

“You had such a serious expression, I thought you had something important to say. So it was just about this? Lingzhi, I thought you knew that no matter what happens, I will never leave you. What more with something so dangerous? There is nothing as dangerous as going against the Deity King.”

This was his reaction?

Gu Lingzhi was completely dumbfounded. On her way back, she had imagined the multiple reactions that Rong Yuan might have and never thought it would be something like this. Why did he not look at all surprised or nervous to hear something as life-changing as this but instead look so carefree and happy?

“Your Highness… are you sure you understood what I just said?” Gu Lingzhi confirmed again, in case he had heard wrongly. “If you stay with me, you might be hunted down by the Deity King as well. Actually, it is possible that even the entire Royal Family may be implicated. Do you still want to be with me despite this?”

‘”Yes! Why would I not want you? I was afraid that you were too outstanding and I would not be able to match up with you since you’re from the legendary Spirit Tribe,” Rong Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and ruffled her hair. With a gentle voice, he reassured her, “You don’t know how glad I was to hear what you just said. You don’t know how amazing you are, you are amazing to the point that… I was afraid you would ditch me someday and I would never be able to catch up to you…”

Gu Lingzhi listened to him silently as she was surprised that the incredibly arrogant Rong Yuan would have such insecure thoughts.

“Don’t you know?” Rong Yuan chuckled, “Ever since you became first on the Alchemy Tower, the way that so many guys looked at you changed. If I did not act fast enough, did you think that you would only have those two annoying flies chasing after you now?”

It was obvious that Rong Yuan was annoyed when he said the last sentence, causing Gu Lingzhi to giggle.

“Yan Liang and Su Nian are not flies.” This petty man. Even in a moment like this, he did not forget to bring down the name of his competitors.

“Sigh, they hang around you all day, aren’t they considered flies?” Rong Yuan wore a look of disdain. His tone then changed and became serious, “Regarding the situation with the Spirit Tribe, I am sorry but at the same time, I feel relieved, because only I can then make myself useful. It is my honor to be able to be with you.”

Gu Lingzhi’s talent was always something that had bothered him secretly. Everyone had believed that he was the most likely person in the entire Tianyuan Continent to become a True God. However, seeing her grow, he knew that the person most likely to become a True God was her. There were even times where he was so sure that she would be able to become a True God. This feeling scared him as he was worried that there would be a day where no matter how much effort he put in, he would not be able to reach that level and she would then leave him behind…