Commanding Wind and Cloud

"Well, technically speaking, it’s my personal affair. I can’t turn to you for help." With hands held behind his head while laying on the ground, Qian Jin looked up at the yellow-land ceiling. "It might cost hundreds of lives. Would you do that?"

Marc Gavin sighed at Qian Jin. He liked this kid for being manly enough. But sometimes he really wished Qian Jin were not that manly to burden himself with so much.

"Marc, go back." Qian Jin lied on his back and said, "I’m afraid I’m to be expelled from the Punitive Expedition Academy this time. I’ll take care of myself. Just go."

"You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll let Isabella know." Marc Gavin leaned his giant body to Qian Jin. "I don’t want to go. I’ve thought it over. I don’t know how strong that Bhang Wusheng is, but we’ll have a chance once I become a Saint Warrior."

"Saint Warrior?" Qian Jin raised his eyebrows. He had thought that there was just a thin line between a Soul-Power and a Saint Warrior, while after these days he had a change of heart.

If not so, why had both the ordinary and bloodline warriors bumped their heads against each other trying to achieve that?

"That’s right." Marc Gavin gave a queer look to the man who had thrust his face over and the latter, Te Jofy, shrugged his shoulders with a grin. "Go on. I won’t tell anyone. I’m so bored here and what you are doing can be seen as a challenge to Wusheng King! That’s awesome! Finally, there will be something interesting!"

Qian Jin slightly frowned. It seemed Bhang Wusheng had not only strong strength but also high prestige. Everyone here had confidence in him.

"I brought something," said Marc Gavin while taking out a giant tomahawk. Although the dim light made it look like a dead body, people could still tell the significant and majestic results it had achieved.

Yi walked over and swallowed the lump in his throat while staring at the tomahawk. "Is this a Soul Weapon?"

Blinking his eyes as hard as he could, Yi reconfirmed his conjecture. It was a genuine Soul Weapon, which ordinary warriors would pursue their whole lives.

But soon afterward he issued a sigh while he saw it more clearly. Like there had been a heavy weight on his shoulder, he shook his head slowly and sadly. Even this fine piece didn’t belong to him, he still felt heart-wrenched.

"Too bad, this Soul Weapon has died."

Hearing this, Te Jofy stared with a curious feeling of disappointment. An ordinary warrior would certainly hope a Soul Weapon was safe and sound even if it didn’t belong to him because it was the only key to open the Saint-Warrior door.

"No, it is not dead. It is sleeping," said Qian Jin while stroking the ax. "It is sleeping soundly, which is also a build-up experience. When it wakes up, it will become stronger than ever. "

What? Yi and Te Jofy looked at each other in bewilderment, trying to figure out what it meant in each others’ eyes.

"Since it’s like that..." said Marc Gavin with a smirk, "wake it up for me, boy! I hear it calling my name every night when I hold it to sleep."

Hold it to sleep? Qian Jin was stunned! Wasn’t this man afraid of being split into halves by just rolling over?

"No, I can’t," answered Qian Jin while gently tapping the ax.

"Why not? Is it because of the Grindstone?" Opening his Warrior Dimension, Marc Gavin heaved a huge stone with both of his hands.

Yi and Te Jofy were stunned! It was a Slide-Cloud Stone and it was a huge rock! Was the Torrent Battle Fort this rich?

"I went to Fabreidis for this rock before I came here."

Qian Jin shook his head. "It’s not about the stone or the weapon. It’s... the person."

"Person? Me and this Soul Weapon, we are a perfect match!"

"No, I’m not talking about this..." Qian Jin shook his head once again. "I’m waiting for people."

"For whom?" Marc Gavin looked Qian Jin with a puzzled face. Who would come here, to the Frontier?

"I am waiting for Duren Burg and others." Qian Jin continued while appreciating the ax in his hand. "Well, compared to the breakthrough achieved by the superior bloodline warriors, the Saint transformation completed by a Soul Weapon has a surprisingly profound influence on the surroundings. The weapon is already a special existence, but when meeting with soul power, it will produce something magical! It can only do good to an ordinary warrior."

Marc Gavin nodded his agreement with wide eyes. He had heard this from Fabreidis, who said that a warrior had awakened the bloodline power at his critical moment in the yard.

"But would Duren Burg come?"

Qian Jin cracked a happy smile while talking about his friends. "I wasn’t sure if they would find this place before you came. But now, since every force in Yulee had already been informed, they will come."

"You sure?" Yi couldn’t believe his ears! It was the headquarters of the biggest bandit group in the Frontier!

Any intrusive outsider would be immediately attacked by countless bandits! It could be said as a one-way suicide trip.

Qian Jin smiled.

"I’m sure."

"If he doesn’t come..." Qian Jin added, "he will no longer get a cigarette from me."

Beneath all his ludicrous talk Yi became even more doubtful. What the hell? On what earth would a warrior risk his life for a cigarette? How would one smoke without a head?

"Is that so?" Looking at the Soul Weapon beside Marc Gavin, Yi reconfirmed that Qian Jin had a way to help a top Soul-Power Warrior to become a Saint Warrior. But he was just unwilling to stoop to be a shadow. "How about a bet?"

"A bet?" Handing over the tomahawk to Marc Gavin, Qian Jin asked, "About what?"

"About the Duren Burg you are talking about!" Yi said with provocation in his eyes. "If he does come, I will be your shadow and you will help me become a Saint Warrior. But if he doesn’t, you will still do that without me being your shadow."

Qian Jin laughed out loud and people around him laughed with him.

A few seconds later, Qian Jin looked at Yi and asserted, "You will lose, shadow!"

"Humph..." Yi raised his chin with an air of haughty aloofness. "Young man, you may have some unique ability and some strength, but you can’t read people. I have seen more than you have!"

The arrogance on Yi’s face gradually become disdain. "People who stick together every day may also stab each other in the back for the benefit! To survive, they can drink your blood and eat your flesh."

Qian Jin asked without any emotion, "So what?"

"In this world..." said Yi with some pain in his eyes, "Human minds are hardest to understand, and trust between humans are the cheapest of all things."

"But..." Qian Jin introduced a jarring note and said to Yi, "I’m not interested in your bet."

What? The pain was instantly replaced by ridicule and disdain. "You dare not?"

"It is up to you, whether you accept the shadow offer or not." Qian Jin stood up while relaxing his shoulders. "I never bet with someone on trust. As far as I see, you don’t have any of it. I don’t care if you don’t want to recover and become a Saint Warrior."

Yi looked at Qian Jin blankly. He meant the words he had said just now because he had once been hurt. But also, he had said it on purpose, to spur the young man to take the bet.

"You are stronger than me, but..." said Qian Jin while shaking his forefinger, "you don’t trust others, so you can’t make bet. You must choose for yourself just like those men who have been robbed by you. Either they surrender, or they get robbed."

"You..." Yi felt like there was a stone on his heart. He tried to say something but he couldn’t.

"Oh, right!" Qian Jin gently nodded. "I am not very patient. You’d better make the decision as soon as possible. Otherwise, you’ll be on your own against the Nine Worm Nine Grass Poison after I lose interest."

What? Yi was stunned! "How did you know that by just touching my body for a second."

Qian Jin shook his head at this stultified man and then nodded again like it was something ought to be. No one should be surprised for this. Adams would have stopped teaching him long ago if he weren’t capable of this.

Those years would have been lived in vain if he couldn’t tell what the poison was.

"Oh, right," said Qian Jin after a gentle pat on his forehead, "I forgot to tell you that you are stronger than I thought. But you won’t be able to control the toxins for another month. You will suffer and within six months, your strength will start to decline. I’m not bluffing."

A tremor suddenly attacked Yi’s heart! No wonder he had felt much more helpless these days. The toxin seemed to be able to erupt at any time!

"If that day comes." Qian Jin shrugged, "No one including me could do anything about it. Perhaps my master, but he won’t."

Well, Qian Jin couldn’t imagine the picture where Adams walking out of the Endless World. Even if he could, he would not be interested in saving this man. Perhaps Eulalia... She might want to turn this Yi here into a toxic man.