The Return Journey 109

  Now that they had found Tang Ge, there was no need to stay in Lieyang City anymore. Xia Ming and the others tidied up a bit before setting off on their journey back.

  On the luxurious cruise ship, Xia Ming stretched out his body, facing the sea breeze blowing against him, feeling extremely refreshing.

  "What a rare moment." Just out of the meditation state, Xiaoming let out a soft sigh and leaned against the railing to appreciate the beautiful scenery. Before long, Su Weiwei also walked out of the room and started talking to Xiaoming. After this time, the relationship between the two had indeed become much closer.

  In the distance, Tang Ge shook his head and muttered to himself: "These two are actually so close, damn it, what magic did Xia Ming use? Su Weiwei is usually not friendly with anyone..." Tang Ge suddenly admired Xia Ming.

  The sea breeze blows against my face. On the endless blue ocean, there are unknown seagulls flying and chirping happily.

  Xia Ming and Su Weiwei were talking, the two of them speaking in hushed tones, occasionally flashing a smile. Tang Ge was also lounging in the distance, his eyes scanning the deck back and forth, shining brightly as if searching for beauties on the deck.

  All of this looks unusually peaceful.

  However.

  An unremarkable door opened, and from afar, two figures stood quietly smiling, their eyes fixed on Xia Ming.

  The two figures were not very tall, and even a bit short, hiding in an inconspicuous corner, their eyes all gathered on Xiaoming at the same time, emitting a low laugh.

  "Heh heh, it seems that Xiaoming little brother has gotten his hands on that thing...". One of them said with a smile, he was slender and had an extremely ordinary appearance, the kind of face that would immediately disappear in a crowd.

  Soros!

  It turned out to be Xia Ming's third-person narrative about going to the mainland to travel and pursue 'art', the thief master Soros!

  And beside Soros was Lanning, holding a crystal ball and sporting a small mustache!

  These two people didn't go to the mainland, it seems they've been following Xia Ming and his party all along. No, to be precise, their target is Xia Ming!

  "That's right, heh heh, I suspected that Xiaoming had gotten his hands on that thing before, but it was just a guess. Now it's finally confirmed, the thing is indeed in his possession... Heh heh, my great prophecy skills are really accurate, Xiaoming is the person we're looking for..." Lan Ning also smiled with a "heh heh", but this old man's smile always seemed to have a hint of slyness that couldn't be shaken off.

  "That's right, thanks to your great prophecy, heh heh, otherwise we really wouldn't have thought of it... Moon Shadow Dusk was actually in Xiaoming's hands..." Soros chimed in.

  "Heh heh, thanks to this kid's astonishing talent when school started, I used the Great Prophecy Technique to make an indirect hit and discovered that this kid is actually the person we've been looking for all along." Lan Ning said with a pleased expression.

  "Since Moon Shadow Dusk is in this kid's hands, do we need to wake him up?" Soros stroked his chin thoughtfully.

  "No need, let things take their course, heh heh... our little brother may be incredibly talented, but it's not time for him to know these things yet... one day, heh heh..." Lan Ning said in a low voice.

  All this happened in the cabin, Xiaoming didn't know of course. He was happily blowing sea breeze and chatting with Su Weiwei.

  The cruise ship sailed forward and disappeared into the vast expanse of the sea.

  ……

  After sailing for several days, we finally arrived at the port of Cangyan Island.

  "Damn it, finally arrived, I'm so sick of the boat ride!" Tang Ge shrugged and was the first to jump off the boat. This return trip was really boring, basically only Xia Ming and Su Weiwei were talking, he rarely had a chance to chime in, more importantly, there were almost no beauties on this boat ride, which greatly disappointed him.

  "It's really fast, it's already arrived so quickly." Xiaoming stretched his waist, he had a beauty accompanying him, and unlike Tang Ge, he felt that time was passing extremely quickly.

  "We've been out for almost a month now, and the Magic Martial Arts Conference is only two months away. We need to make good use of the remaining time to prepare," Su Weiwei said.

  "Ah, I'm really looking forward to the Martial Arts Conference!" Tang Ge clenched his fists, feeling his own strength. After becoming a 6th-level warrior, he was confident that he could make a name for himself at the Martial Arts Conference.

  Xia Ming's face revealed a smile, the task set by Bluebeard for him was to become one of the top three in the Magic Warrior Tournament. In the previous tournament, the strongest from the Warrior Academy was Arthur, while the strongest from the Magic Academy was Murphie, who had been traveling abroad studying. These two would be Xia Ming's strong rivals, especially Arthur, a genius who had won first place in the tournament for three consecutive years.

  Of course, there are also opponents worth Xiaoming's attention, such as Su Weiwei. The female knight had never participated in the Magic Warrior Conference before, and it can be foreseen that this time Su Weiwei will surely make a stunning debut.

  Su Weiwei had already touched the threshold of the seventh level during this period, and it was likely that she would make a breakthrough again.

  Of course, while one is making progress, others are also progressing. A genius like Arthur, probably changes in just a month, and absolutely can't be judged by ordinary standards. Being able to dominate the first place for three consecutive years in the prestigious Flame Academy, where geniuses gather, must have the skills to surpass everyone else.

  Xia Ming and the three others discussed the Devil's Martial Arts Conference for a while before parting ways. As they said their goodbyes, Su Weiwei invited Xia Ming to practice with her every day at the training grounds, which Xia Ming readily agreed to, causing Tang Ge to raise an eyebrow once again.

  "Well, I'll go see the teacher first." Xiaoming thought of Anthony.

  The old master was one of the people he trusted most in this world.

  At that moment, Xiaoming didn't even bother to return to his residence and hastily rushed to the back mountain of Cangyan Academy, to Anthony's small wooden hut.

  Near the back mountain, Xiaoming felt a strong magical fluctuation, and the magical elements were extremely violent. It seemed that Anthony was conducting another magical experiment.

  The old man was well-versed in alchemy, but alchemy was precisely the area that the Eternal Tome did not cover, so Xiaoming had no idea what Anthony was doing with all the ding-dong.

  "Teacher, I'm back!" Xiaoming shouted, having bid farewell to Anthony before he left.

  "What's all the shouting about!" Anthony seemed to be at a critical point in his experiment, and being yelled at by Xiaoming made him shout back in a somewhat flustered tone.

  Xia Ming knew Anthony's fiery temper, so he obediently stood outside the door and waited. After a while, Anthony slowly took out a small purple bottle and walked out.

  "Get lost, kid! I told you not to bother me unless it's important!" Anthony shouted, but his eyes betrayed a hint of amusement. This kid was back again, probably hitting a roadblock, after all, becoming a 6th-level magician was no easy feat.

  "Huh?" Anthony's purple bottle nearly slipped from his grasp: "Mid-sixth level?" He realized that in just one short month, Xiaoming's strength had broken through from the peak of fifth level to mid-sixth level, which was simply terrifying.

  Xia Ming nodded.

  Anthony was speechless, this kid really couldn't be explained by common sense.

  Wait!

  Anthony gazed intently at Xiaoming, and suddenly a strange light flashed in his eyes, exclaiming: "This, your body!" The change in Xiaoming's body was extremely subtle, even with Anthony's keen eye, it was only after careful observation that he noticed something different about him.

  "My body?" Xia Ming's heart skipped a beat. His body had been modified by the Ice Jade, could there be some problem with it?

  Anthony circled Xiaoming, his eyes scanning him back and forth with a fiery gaze, as if he were a scientist examining a lab mouse.

  "Teacher..." Xiaoming was chilled to the bone by Anthony's gaze.

  "Kid, don't you understand your current condition? What on earth did you eat?" Anthony sighed in amazement.

  Xia Mingru honestly replied and told him about swallowing the Thousand Year Ice Jade.

  "Thousand-year-old ice? No wonder, your current physical quality is equivalent to that of a third-level warrior. Every bone and muscle in your body has been transformed, and your elemental affinity has reached an extremely high level... Your state is something that an expert can see at a glance, so you'd better be careful, heh heh. There are quite a few black magicians who like to dissect and experiment on human bodies who would be interested in this body of yours..." Anthony stroked his chin, smiling slyly as he intentionally intimidated Xiaoming.

  (I received a notice from the editor, and it will be launched tomorrow. Poor me, please give some monthly tickets to support me. With the upcoming Devil Martial Arts Conference, my update speed will also accelerate after launch)