Chapter 415: It Had To Be Me

“That damned bastard actually kicked the bucket just like that! What a total asshole!”

In the waiting passageway, Theodore gripped onto his dual blades tightly as he furiously observed the lean looking youngster who was standing in the competition arena.

A hand then reached out from behind to hold Theodore’s shoulder.

“That’s enough, Theodore. Time for us to leave.”

“Oswald! You cowardly wimp! Are you actually willing to just throw in the towel after seeing your comrade get killed?” asked Theodore with a menacing look.

Oswald, the [A+] class expert from the Knights of Darkness Guild had a face like that of a simple-minded farmer. His stature was not outstanding in any way either; he sported a snub shaped nose and had the standard appearance of a Central American.

He showed no anger at the criticism that Theodore levelled at him. Instead, he gave a faint smile and said, “This is the Guild Leader’s decision.”

“… but we are the mighty Knights of Darkness Guild…”

“Theodore, aren’t you usually the one who is most at odds with Jacob? I heard a few times that you two had planned to have a decisive battle. But now that he is dead, you appear to be more furious compared to others.”

Theodore was momentarily lost for words. After giving a stifled grunt, he spoke out, “I just think that this decision by our Guild Leader is too pathetic. Even… … even if Jacob was not a match for that fellow, that doesn’t mean that others are no match for him.”

Oswald suddenly spoke out with a solemn tone, “Others? I don’t know about others, but one thing I know for sure, I am definitely no match for that kid.”

“… … …”

“Don’t use that look on me, Theodore. That kid had only used one strike to hack Jacob to death. Not to mention, it was not some sneak attack. It was a head on attack which broke through Jacob’s Dragontongue magic,” whispered Oswald. “I don’t believe that someone like me, who is also an [A+] class can acquire victory if I step into the arena.”

“Even so, the Guild Leader can personally…”

Oswald stared at Theodore and said in a stern voice, “Theodore, use your brain! That kid could instantly kill off an [A] class expert with one attack! That one attack could also kill off the [A+] class Jacob. What level do you think he is at? Could our Guild Leader take such a risk and go forward?”

Theodore was stunned. “You mean to say… … he could be… [S]?”

“I don’t know if he is [S] class or not since we cannot see his attributes. However, considering the standard that [S] classes should have, his combat performance is quite near that. Defeat an [A+] class expert three times. Today, he had killed Jacob. When you include the fact that I had surrendered, that means he had obtained two victories against [A+] class experts. As such… … even if he turns out to be [S] class, would you be surprised?”

Having said that, Oswald turned and walked toward the other end of the passageway.

After taking a few steps, he turned around to look at Theodore. “Are you still not coming?”

“I… …” Theodore sighed.

“I know that this must be very hard on you,” said Oswald in a hushed tone. “Among the new generation of our Knights of Darkness Guild, you are the one with the highest potential. The Guild Leader had stated before, among all our members, you hold the highest chance of reaching [S] class. So… I think it would be best for you to use your mind more when you encounter certain situations in the future.”

…

“Congratulations, Bluesea.”

Outside the waiting passageway for Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, Angel Wu cast a complicated expression at Bluesea and Qiao Yifeng.

Bluesea walked over and hugged Angel Wu for a moment while slowly speaking into his ear, “Thank you, old friend.”

“I’ll have to give it to you. Your Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild is a tough nut to crack. Just who is that kid? Could he be an heir that was secretly groomed by Skyblade?” Angel Wu attempted to probe a little but he saw that Bluesea had no intention of telling anything. As a high-ranking member of the Angel Corps, he had no desire to inquire too much into the internal matters of other guilds. Thus, after patting Bluesea’s shoulder, he turned around and left.

Before leaving, Angel Wu turned his head and remarked with a smile, “Right, now that this crucible known as Blood Verdict is over, I believe the time has come for a new era of growth for your guild.”

After he left, Qiao Yifeng walked until he was beside Bluesea. With a creased face, he said, “What did he mean by that? Blood Verdict is over? This is just the first one. There are still two more to go.”

“There won’t be any other.” There was a relaxed expression on Bluesea’s face.

“What?”

“I said, there won’t be any other.” Bluesea turned to Qiao Yifeng and continued in a whisper, “Unless one of the other Guild Leaders suddenly lost their minds or holds some blood grudge against us, Blood Verdict ends this day. There is no need to fight in the other two Blood Verdicts anymore.”

Qiao Yifeng was momentarily taken aback. Then, after contemplating those words for a moment, an expression of relief slowly washed over his face.

Indeed, Angel Wu and Bluesea were right. There was no need to fight anymore!

Back then, Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild had no choice but to initiate Blood Verdict in order to struggle against the stripping of their seat in the Board of Patriarchs!

Why was Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild in danger of losing the seat?

Because they had no high-ranking experts defending the guild! Their guild was thus in decline!

A guild with no [S] class expert had no qualifications to retain their seat on the Board of Patriarchs.

But after today’s series of battles…

That was no longer a problem!

Chen Xiaolian’s performance in the competition arena was over the top!

Casually trampling and killing an [A+] class expert and forcing the other to surrender…

Given his performance, the others would naturally speculate: What level is this fellow at?

Considering what he had done, it would not be farfetched to say that he was [S] class!

Rather, whether or not he truly was [S] class did not even matter. Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild could simply package him up as an [S] class transforming his image into a shield to block off any attacks for the time being.

Was there a need to fight the next two Blood Verdict anymore?

Continue? If so, what experts should the other guilds send out to fight?

If they were to continue sending in [A] or [A+] class experts – today’s battles had proven that those people would be walking to their deaths.

If so, send [S] class experts?

That was the equivalent of fighting to the death! No resident guild would casually initiate a battle to the death!

They simply cannot afford to!

Thus, there would probably be no fights for the next two Blood Verdicts.

For the other guilds, the wise decision would be to surrender.

Initiating a decisive battle between [S] classes was practically the equivalent of initiating a nuclear war, something that no one would recklessly do.

Qiao Yifeng and Bluesea stood there, outside the combatant passageway. Behind them were Qiao Qiao, Soo Soo and a great number of members from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild.

There were passionate looks in their eyes as they gazed at the closed door, waiting for Chen Xiaolian to emerge.

As though they were waiting for the triumphant return of a hero.

…

The members of the Angel Corps had left the passageway.

Chen Xiaolian was silent as he sat on a stone platform.

“Now, we need to talk,” Chen Xiaolian said in a whisper.

“Is this not the time for you to revel in their welcome for you?” There was a trace of playfulness in his tone.

“Humph, that is not my power.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Besides, if I don’t clear things up with you, how am I going to face all their questions when I go out? Bluesea and Qiao Yifeng already have a belly full of questions for me. For example, how did I appear here? How did I come to possess a blade like you? How did I enter Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild… and… why you chose me!”

Chen Xiaolian revealed a bitter smile. “It is still possible for me to fool them for most of the questions. However, there is one that would prove difficult!”

“What is it?”

“I am a Guild Leader! I have my own guild! As the Guild Leader of another guild, how could I join your Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild?” Chen Xiaolian knitted his eyebrows. “Bluesea and Qiao Yifeng would never miss out on this one. How do I answer them?”

“How do you plan on answering?”

“Nonsense, I naturally have no answer.” Chen Xiaolian clutched onto his head in misery.

Then, he suddenly continued in a whisper, “Back then, there was no time to clear things up. But now… … the thing that I am most curious about is… Skyblade, how did you know?”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian paused for a moment and his voice turned even more serious. “How did you know… … I am not an Awakened?”

…

The rolling gate to the combatant passageway opened up. Seeing Chen Xiaolian’s figure emerge, the men from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild rushed forth.

Chen Xiaolian continued standing there inside the passageway without moving, a wooden expression on his face.

Bluesea was the most excited among them as he stared at the thing in Chen Xiaolian’s hand… … Skyblade!

“Chen…”

“Please wait first,” Chen Xiaolian suddenly opened his mouth. He looked at Bluesea before turning to face Qiao Yifeng. “Before I come out to answer your questions, I need to meet two other people.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian’s eyes glanced over and his gaze fell upon Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo. “Qiao Qiao, Soo Soo! Come here, I have something I need to discuss with you two first.”

“What the? You brat!” Qiao Yifeng was the one who spoke out.

There was a puzzled look on Bluesea’s face. However, he waved his hand and stopped Qiao Yifeng. He cast a deep and tangled look at Chen Xiaolian before nodding his head. “Very well.”

He then glanced at the two sisters. “You two go ahead first.”

Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo were greatly overjoyed. The two of them squeezed their way through the crowd and past the rolling gate. Chen Xiaolian gave a light smile and said, “I’m sorry but you will have to wait here for a bit.”

After saying that, he waved his hand and… … the rolling gate came crashing down!

This fellow actually closed up the gate!

“That little bastard!” Qiao Yifeng’s face turned red and he raged, “Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!”

Chen Xiaolian had pulled his two daughters into a secluded spot to do God knows what and closed the door in his face!

“Cut it out, Brother Qiao.” There was a slight excitement in Bluesea’s eyes. “He has the Guild Leader’s whereabouts… … we have been waiting for so many years now, is there any issue in waiting just a little bit longer now?”

…

After the rolling gate had closed up, Qiao Qiao and Chen Xiaolian locked eyes and both their rate of breathing quickened.

Next, the two of them swiftly embraced each other and their lips locked…

The expression on Soo Soo’s round shaped face, who was beside them, rapidly sank as she used her hands to cover her eyes and shout, “Don’t overdo it! Sister! Xiaolian oppa!”

The young couple that had reunited after a long time reluctantly pulled apart after that one kiss.

Chen Xiaolian looked at Qiao Qiao. Qiao Qiao too, looked back at Chen Xiaolian.

Qiao Qiao then whispered, “Just… what is happening?”

“This… is quite a long story.” Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly. “We need to discuss for a bit. There are some things that are quite troublesome, so you two will need to help me hide it from Bluesea and your father.”

“What?” Qiao Qiao’s brows were furrowed. “Wait, answer my question first. How did you end up appearing in the competition arena? How did you end up substituting for Uncle Bluesea? And how… how did you obtain that blade? When did you become so powerful?”

Chen Xiaolian sighed. He pulled Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo down to the side and they sat down.

Then, he did his best to give a brief summary of what he experienced after falling into the ‘immortal pats my forehead’ painting; how he encountered Skyblade who was trapped inside and how he finally escaped.

As expected, Qiao Qiao was unable to connect the dots of what had happened….

It did involve Mr San after all. Back when Chen Xiaolian met Mr San, both Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo were already separated from Chen Xiaolian.

However, Chen Xiaolian had no intentions of explaining those things to them for now – this was not the right place for it.

“In short, what you need to know for now is that Skyblade had been turned into a blade, the blade that I am now holding.”

“… … …” The two girls cast looks of surprise at Chen Xiaolian. Then, Qiao Qiao said, “Even if he has returned… … was there a need to get you to help Uncle Bluesea win the Blood Verdict? He could have just had you hand this blade to Uncle Bluesea back then, couldn’t he? Why have you personally step into the arena and fight? Blood Verdict is so risky…”

“Because it had to be me.” Chen Xiaolian revealed a wry smile as he uttered out those words, causing both Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo’s expressions to change.

“Skyblade’s body is gone. According to the rules of this world, even if this blade were to fall into Bluesea’s hands, there would be no way for him to use Skyblade. I am the only one who can unleash those powers of his – because, I am not restrained by that set of rules in this world.

“Because… … we are not Awakened ones, but Irregularities. There are a number of rules that we can avoid.

“Most importantly, Skyblade knows I am not an Awakened!”