Chapter 16: Is that you?

Just as the air needles were going to kill her and she didn't have the power to do anything about it, something happened.

"DON'T!" Someone shouted.

And a new Qi armor stopped and dissipated the air needles.

They dissipated like they never were there. Everyone was shocked, who did it? Who saved this junior sister? Was it the guy who shouted?

Turning towards the person who ran to the stage while shouting, you could see him. A youth with black hair and yellow eyes was there. But the shock on his face was showing that this was not his doing…

Then what was it? Who was it?

The crowd was going crazy with speculations.

Li Huang was also stupefied. Who wouldn't be?

This was like the newest issue of 'saving the damsel in distress' except there was a difference here! There was no fucking damsel 'in distress' here…

The shield that protected Lai Xinyue was the defense mechanism of the soft sword. No hero was saving her and I had no reason to do any harm to a future powerhouse of the sect.

Okay, I'm not going to lie. I did hide this mechanism of the sword, but I didn't think this would be the result.

Then what was my reason to hide it?

Simple. Revenge. No, not from Lai Xinyue, she did nothing to me but this is some sort of personal wish fulfillment.

It all goes back to the first time that I used the soft sword to train, 2 years ago.

At that time I was subjected to the same treatment by grandpa Long. Imagine Li Huang's shell-shocked face when his grandpa was going to kill him in cold blood.

Just thinking about that time is boiling my blood. That shitty grandfather of mine, not only did this shit but also captured the 'video' of this scene with a [event recorder] that is the equivalent of a video recording device in this world with the difference that with this you get a 360-degree view of the event. You can say that this device will record what you see with your spiritual sense, with some limitations of course.

I think one of the main reasons for Li Huang to train as he did was to be strong enough to beat the shit out of his grandpa. A noble cause indeed.

And oh! If you are thinking that am I that petty to do the same shit to others to feel better the answer is yes but this time I swear that I had more in mind in doing so.

Let me first get back to the aftermath of my spar with Lai Xinyue.

To defuse this tense situation I addressed the crowd.

"This defensive armor that manifested at the end of the spar was a defensive mechanism of the soft sword." I told no one in particular.

Going in front of the Lai Xinyue who was sitting on her ass on the floor of the sparring stage, I extended my hands to her.

"Junior sister, I'm sorry for not telling you about this mechanism beforehand. I too have been in the same shoes as you with the difference being that my opponent was my blood grandfather, so you can guess my shock at that time. Hahaha…" A dry chuckle left my mouth.

Lai Xinyue who was still shocked took my hands and got up. When she heard what I went through she had one of her rare moments of showing a standard level of emotion on her face.

It was a mix of shock, fear, guilt, sympathy, and understanding. Leaving aside the fact that this many emotions can be mixed in an expression, how the hell I was able to figure them out is another mystery.

Putting on a face of 'don't worry, I don't care.' I went back to talking.

"From what I experienced and what My grandfather told me, having this kind of close death encounter would show you the main flaws in your techniques and also temper your fighting will and makes you think about your life in general…" I added more explanations.

"This was a safe way to experience a close death call and gain the benefits of it without any of the bad effects such as… well, death." I continued.

Lai Xinyue looked at me and her eyes widened a little and nodded.

"From the look on your face, I think you have gained from this spar, junior sister." I told her with a smile.

She came to her senses and nodded to me.

"Yes, thank you for this, senior brother." She answered.

"You are welcome, this is what I have to do as a senior brother." My smile was so bright that if you weren't here minutes ago, you wouldn't believe that I almost got her killed.

Is Li Huang shameless or shameless is trying to imitate Li Huang?

The crowd was so silent that you could hear even a sweat bead dropping to the ground.

'Can you even answer this kind of shameless reply?' Was what everyone in the crowd thought but didn't have the guts to voice it out.

But apparently, the shock was not done and the next words from Lai Xinyue made them almost spat blood.

"No one has done something like this for me, thank you, thank you. Can I be bold to ask for more spars from you, senior brother?" she asked with stars in her eyes.

'Is this a new kind of fetish?'

'Are you a masochist?'

'No one has ever almost killed you? You want more?'

'…'

The thought of the onlookers was chaotic, if they could, they would open this junior sister's head to see how is it wired…

'*sigh* This junior sister is like a training bot.' Li Huang thought to himself. 'Not that I didn't enjoy myself in this spar…' He added.

"Of course junior sister, I too enjoyed myself in this spar." I nodded with a smile.

Taking a jade from my storage ring, I gave it to her.

"This is my contact formation, you can contact me with this although I might not be always available." I told her.

This world's technology is not inferior to my past life's earth, but the direction of improvement is different. In this world, the main ingredient for making anything is Qi instead of Electricity. Instead of the circuits, we have formations that control the flow of the Qi and create different results…

If you think about it, it makes sense. I mean why did humankind use Electricity as its main power source? Because it was accessible. You eventually could convert everything to electricity with some kind of mechanism.

Now imagine you had something like Qi that didn't need a mechanism to be converted and you had access to it naturally. Just thinking about it a little shows that the possibilities are endless.

Too bad that I don't have time to start a company when I can be killed by an MC…

Speaking of MC, didn't a dude shout 'DON'T' with all caps when Lai Xinyue was about to be 'killed'?

Who is he? Is he an acquaintance of Lai Xinyue?

Don't tell me…

I turned my head slowly to look at the one who shouted before.

How did I locate him? Easy. He is on the stairs that lead to the stage and didn't move after these developments. Probably he is too shocked by these events, I mean, who wouldn't?

The problem that I have with this is what would happen if I wasn't here? If Li Huang was not taking a stroll in the outer sect; if Li Huang didn't have the [Peeping eye of heaven] to be attracted to were Lai Xinyue was getting harassed by Li Heng lackeys; If Li Huang would have accepted the challenge of Cai ZhenKang from Blue Bull sect and returned later…

These ifs and more make it look like that the result of this day could be way different and this dude shouting here could be the main player of these events and that smells of trouble.

This smells of MC's plot armor. Finding a damsel in distress who is a genius that will be and remain loyal to the MC and will be a great support for him.

If the script is as I understand, this Lai Xinyue is one of the heroines.

I turned to face her.

'Her looks are really on par with being a heroine!' I thought internally.

You can not blame me, her personality was a barrier in front of her facial appeal so I didn't give her much attention.

Trying to give myself hope, I asked Lai Xinyue a question.

"Junior sister, do you know this disciple?" I pointed at that boy.

If she knows him it would mean that there is a high chance that he is not the MC who has chanced upon this girl in need of a hero to save her.

Well if she knows him and he is a childhood friend there is also a chance of him being the MC but let us hope not.

Her next words shattered my hopes.

"I do not know him, senior brother." She shook her head.

'Goddamn it! Are you meaning to tell me that the MC is here? As a member of the heavenly sword sect?' this was not a path that I was ready for.

'No! I shouldn't panic. There is still a chance that he is not a cultivation MC material…' I gave myself more hope.

I walked to that junior brother who had black hair and yellow eyes.

Without any delay, I asked him the important question.

"Are you a simp?"