Volume 5 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Book 5 Chapter 1 – National Security

Ji Xiaoqin awakened from her coma on the very night after the battle at the Guo Mansion. When she opened her eyes, she found herself on the hospital bed, having forgotten everything and everyone she met since she entered university. Li Yiming called her parents and walked out of the hospital after leaving some money behind to complete her rehabilitation. He had a hunch that his stone might have caused all of this, but regardless, this was one of the best ending possible for Ji Xiaoqin.

Upon returning to his own apartment, Li Yiming found it hard to walk into the nicely furnished study again. He smiled bitterly, walked out of his home and wandered the streets for the entire night. The next day, he went to the real-estate agent who had sold him the apartment and sold the property back along with the furniture at a discount rate.

Just as he was finis.h.i.+ng up the paperwork for the transaction, he received a call from the police station requiring him to show up; the young man from whom Li Yiming had stolen the scooter had called, claiming that he was actually Li Yiming's friend, and he only filed a complaint to the police due to being upset after a fight. The investigation of Li Yiming's involvement in the murder of Ye Lang was also withdrawn due to insufficient evidence. 'I suppose I owe it to Li Huaibei…'

After he walked out of the police station, Li Yiming immediately headed for the train station and left Hangzhou.

Bai Ze awakened on the seventh day after Li Yiming returned to Lishui. As soon as she woke up, she came as close as she could to Li Yiming and stared at him as if he was some kind of apparition.

”Do you know what we call the state of your vein right now?” Bai Ze licked her lips. She seemed to want to swallow Li Yiming whole.

”Well, if I knew I wouldn't be asking you, would I? Just tell me the answer.” Li Yiming had still yet to recover from his low mood, and Bai Ze's remark only reminded him again that Fu Bo was the one who had granted him his new power.

”Five veins into one Dao. This is the Dao vein. Do you know what that means?” Bai Ze continued, without noticing Li Yiming's dejection.

Instead of guessing again, Li Yiming ignored Bai Ze and picked up the pack of cigarettes on the table.

”That's a sign of becoming a sage! Everyone knows it.” ”Bai Ze exclaimed, clearly unsatisfied by Li Yiming's lack of interest.

The cigarette almost slipped off from Li Yiming's fingers when he heard her. He turned to look at Bai Ze and raised his right hand. A ping pong ball-sized light orb appeared on his palm. ”You're telling me that this is my boundary?”

”What the…?” Bai Ze jumped back. ”You're really a sage?”

”Unfortunately, that's about as far as I can go.” Li Yiming closed his hand and rubbed it against his thigh; he was beginning to get excited about what Bai Ze was going to tell him.

”You… you…” Bai Ze returned into Li Yiming's body with a flash of light.

'Wait, this makes no sense… It still shows level five, a level five sage? Also, what's wrong with your talent now?'

'I had a stone ever since I was young…' Li Yiming hesitated a little and told Bai Ze everything that happened after she fell unconscious.

'The stone, Ji Xiaoqin, the glyph… and the fire?' Bai Ze repeated the clues Li Yiming had just given to her and grew more and more confused.

'Any ideas?' Li Yiming asked.

'Nope.'

'But I thought you were…'

'Don't mention my name ever again.' Bai Ze answered in frustration. It seemed like her wisdom has yet to become useful for anything when it mattered to Li Yiming.

”Well, I should thank you then. I've also grown stronger.” Bai Ze said slowly.

”You mean, you're sage level now?” Li Yiming was overjoyed.

'You think that I'm an anomaly like you? I'm still level five.'

'Speaking of which, I didn't receive any awards for surviving Heaven's Punishment again, did I?' Li Yiming suddenly remembered.

'You've become a sage. What better reward do you want? I'd like to remind you that you aren't just any level five guardian. All of your attributes have reached level five. I don't even think that a normal level six guardian would be able to win against you.'

'I guess you're right. Hey, do I get any other perks?' Li Yiming scratched his head. After a few days, a thin layer of spiky hair had grown from his scalp, but his eyebrows were much thinner than usual, so Li Yiming did not dare to head out for the last few days.

'That's it for the good news. I also have a bad one.' Bai Ze let out a chuckle.

'A bad one?'

'Normally, after becoming a sage, one can't use Progression Points anymore. Haven't you noticed?'