Chapter 170: For You (1/2)

The next morning, I was miraculously fully recuperated and I was finally able to escape the boredom of my bed. Shen Rong was waiting for me to come out and he handed me ten Element Orbs,  implying that I was the one who won the Red Sea Tournament. Apparently, Wu Jia, my opponent in the finals, surrendered the match after seeing my fighting prowess against White.

I knew that that girl was scared half to death but I never thought she would yield the match just because she saw how impossible it was. Well, I guess that's some kind of strength in its own way. Someone who does the impossible is strong, but someone who knows his limits and doesn't overextend is strong as well. Wu Jia is the latter and I think she'll be a fine addition to my disciples, assuming she accepts my invitation.

”Yongrui, are you going somewhere?” Shi Meili asked upon seeing me head out with Shen Rong. It had only been a day since she started looking after me but she felt right asleep midway into it. Since she seemed incredibly tired and exhausted, I decided to let her get a few more minutes of shut-eye before getting breakfast with her. But then again, she woke up a little earlier than I had expected.

”Shelter Lea— er I mean, Shen Rong and I are going to the Red Sea Auction House,” I responded. ”Apparently the auction can now be held today now that representatives of the Tang Shelter are here.”

”Shen Rong? Wha— ” Shi Meili was aghast. It came as a shock to her that I was calling the Red Sea Shelter Leader by his name alone.

”I insisted that he called me that.” Shen Rong quickly explained. ”Tang Yongrui here is a Sect Master and a Sect Master has a higher rank than a Shelter Leader. I insisted on calling him Sect Master but he didn't want the formalities, so we settled on calling each other by our names.”

Shi Meili slowly nodded but she had no idea how to react. ”I see, how about the auction, why is it going to be held now?”

”Ah, that? Shen Rong was waiting for everyone to get here. Tang Shelter didn't plan on coming this year but recent events caused them to come here so now the auction can be held.” I relayed, repeating what Shen Rong just told me a minute or so ago. ”Do you want to come with us? We'll be grabbing breakfast later on.”

After saying yes in her delicate and gentle voice, she meekly followed behind me as if she was ashamed to walk on my side. I didn't know what to tell her so I just let her be.

Pretty soon, we entered the marketplace right outside the Coliseum wherein the Red Sea Tournament was held. I thought that it was still early in the morning but upon seeing the huge crowd and the bustling streets, I realized that I woke up later than I had imagined.

While looking around, I noticed that Shi Meili was struggling to keep up with us. It must be because she was still disoriented after waking up, or maybe she just didn't want to accidentally use her powers and end up hurting someone. Whichever the case, she was struggling.

”Come on,” I called out, offering my hand to her.

She bashfully extended her hand, paused, and softly placed her hand on mine. I smiled, as I pulled her closer to me.

To think that it would take more than two decades for me to pay attention to her, well, it was unbelievable. There were countless times when she tried to get closer to me but I was too blind to notice. At that time, the only thing in my mind was power and power alone. There was nothing else. But having experienced death so many times made me realize that power is not everything in this world. If I were to live a fulfilling life, I should at least develop friendships, relationships, and the like. You can be the most powerful person in the world but at the end of the day, you'll die alone if you don't make any connections. Well, technically I didn't die alone since Natalia was with me... but that's not the point. I really did die alone as a person.