Chapter 77: Challenge
Nan Yu said, "You've got something urgent to deal with, right? Hurry and go. Just don't forget what you promised me afterward."
The guild leader replied, "Don't worry, we definitely won't forget. As long as they're still on this server, we'll keep hunting them down."
Nan Yu nodded. "Good."
Yang Zhou looked at the smile on Nan Yu's face. "Nan Yu, aren't you forgetting something?"
Nan Yu paused. "What?"
Yang Zhou flipped through the posts on the StarNet. "That Mental Power User who was boasting about coming to the Capital Star to challenge you has already arrived. Apparently he posted recently saying he'll come find you within the next couple of days. Are you ready?"
Nan Yu blinked. "Hm... Do I even need to prepare? Actually, I'm a little curious. As a Mental Power User, what exactly is he planning to challenge me in? Are we going to compete over who can remove Mental Contamination faster?"
The corner of Yang Zhou's mouth twitched.
"There's something else you probably don't know. I only found out through one of the group chats I joined."
Nan Yu asked, "What is it?"
Yang Zhou said, "Didn't Bai Zhouyun say before that he was going to work hard? He hired a special instructor, then hired a Mid-Tier Mental Power User. Later there were rumors that one wasn't enough, so he hired another one recently."
Nan Yu fell silent for a moment.
"You mean... the second Mental Power User the Bai family hired is the same one who's coming to challenge me?"
"Exactly!" Yang Zhou sighed. "This has a lot to do with you. Have you seriously not been paying attention this whole time? Don't tell me you're only planning to find out after he shows up at your door."
Nan Yu scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Well..."
"I did hear about it before."
As for who had mentioned it to him, he'd already forgotten. He only had a vague impression of it.
Besides, wasn't it a pretty insignificant matter?
In Nan Yu's opinion, any Mental Power User who had to accept commissions from the Bai family just to make money couldn't possibly be his opponent.
Nan Yu smiled.
"What are you worried about? You don't actually think I'll lose, do you?"
"Besides, if he were really that confident about beating me, then according to what you said, he should've arrived on the Capital Star a long time ago. Why didn't he come challenge me immediately instead of taking on a commission first?"
Yang Zhou rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Gathering intelligence?"
Nan Yu nodded.
"Exactly. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you'll never lose a battle."
Taking the opportunity, Nan Yu browsed through the hottest thread on StarNet and discovered that the man really had claimed he'd never lost a single challenge so far.
Wow.
Pretty impressive.
Nan Yu smiled.
"I think before every challenge, he spends a lot of time collecting information. I imagine he simply avoids anyone he thinks he can't beat."
Yang Zhou nodded.
"But no matter what, he has to be genuinely capable. Otherwise he wouldn't dare provoke you."
The two of them continued reading the thread together.
After a while Yang Zhou frowned.
"Judging by the dates, he arrived on the Capital Star at least ten or twenty days ago. Why hasn't he come looking for you yet?"
As it turned out, there really was a reason.
At first, he claimed he wanted to let everyone rest after arriving on the Capital Star.
Later he said his family had frozen all of his Credit Points to pressure him into returning home.
As a result, he'd had no choice but to find work outside and had been occupied ever since, with no further updates.
Yang Zhou suddenly grinned.
"Nan Yu, do you think he found out how terrifying you are and is desperately trying to think of an excuse to back out of this challenge?"
"For example, saying that removing Bai Zhouyun's Mental Contamination is just too exhausting?"
As soon as Yang Zhou finished speaking, the thread refreshed.
The original poster had updated it.
And the reason he gave was exactly the same as what Yang Zhou had just guessed.
Only the wording had been polished to sound more convincing.
Nan Yu and Yang Zhou exchanged silent looks.
"..."
The replies beneath the post immediately started pouring in.
Most people questioned his explanation or doubted its authenticity.
But Nan Yu knew...
It was actually true.
In his previous life, even after becoming a High-Tier Mental Power User, removing Bai Zhouyun's Mental Contamination had still been rather exhausting.
Not to mention this man, who was only a Mid-Tier Mental Power User.
He probably really didn't have the strength to challenge Nan Yu this time.
The excuse in the updated post, however, was absolutely genuine.
Yang Zhou asked, "Nan Yu, do you think he'll still come challenge you?"
Nan Yu shrugged.
"Probably not."
Yang Zhou nodded.
"That makes sense. I heard the Bai family made every Mental Power User they hired sign contracts beforehand. Whoever breaks the contract first has to pay one hundred times the agreed compensation."
This Mental Power User had accepted the commission precisely because he lacked Credit Points.
There was no way he'd breach the contract before it expired.
The only question was how long he'd signed for.
Probably not very long.
After all, coming to the Capital Star had originally just been an excuse to make an appearance.
Nan Yu didn't think much more about it.
"Alright, enough about that. Let's get some rest."
The next day, when they arrived at school, countless students looked at Nan Yu strangely.
Most of them wore expressions of pity or disappointment, as though they regretted that he had failed to live up to expectations.
Even Yang Zhou, walking beside him, found it baffling.
"What's going on..."
He casually opened one of his group chats.
He had gone to bed early the previous night and hadn't checked anything.
Now he finally understood.
"Nan Yu! The news that you accepted Yun Feiyu as your disciple has spread everywhere!"
Nan Yu stopped briefly.
"Hm? How? Aren't things like this usually kept confidential by the academy? How did word get out?"
Yang Zhou shook his head.
"No idea. But everyone knows now. At least one-third of the academy has already heard."
Nan Yu sighed.
"Well... then it probably won't be long before the entire school knows. It doesn't matter though. They're not going to target me."
"That's true."
As they walked into the campus, they spotted Bai Zhouyun approaching by himself.
Nan Yu was momentarily stunned when he looked at him.
It had only been a few days since they last met, yet Bai Zhouyun somehow felt like an entirely different person.
Even Yang Zhou felt that Bai Zhouyun now looked much more presentable.
Still, Yang Zhou dutifully stepped in front of Nan Yu.
"Bai Zhouyun, what are you doing here? As long as I'm here, don't even think about getting close to Nan Yu."
Bai Zhouyun frowned slightly but said nothing.
He didn't even bother speaking to Yang Zhou.
His gaze went straight past him and settled on Nan Yu.
Nan Yu glanced at him lazily.
"Do you need something?"
Could it be that because he'd accepted Yun Feiyu as his disciple, Bai Zhouyun had come specifically to thank him?
If that were really the case...
That would be hilarious.
Bai Zhouyun smiled gently.
"Nothing important. I just haven't seen you in a long time, so I wanted to come see you."
Nan Yu studied the smiling Bai Zhouyun.
Combined with his newly calm and gentle temperament, he really did resemble a prince charming now.
Unfortunately, he was still only a Mid-Tier Ability User.
That limited the charm he could currently display.
For once, Nan Yu observed Bai Zhouyun seriously.
The longer he looked, the stronger the feeling became.
Something about Bai Zhouyun seemed... off.
Bai Zhouyun smiled.
"What's wrong, Xiao Yu?"
Nan Yu shook his head.
"Nothing. It just feels like you've changed a lot."
"That's true."
Bai Zhouyun nodded.
"I think so too. After all, my fiancé is someone as outstanding as you. If I don't work hard to improve myself, how could I ever be worthy of you?"
Sooner or later, Nan Yu would become a High-Tier Mental Power User.
Once that happened, whether their engagement continued would depend entirely on Nan Yu's decision.
Therefore...
Before Nan Yu reached that level, he had to make Nan Yu fall in love with him again.
Otherwise...
He would lose everything.
Of course, he also coveted the Nianshen Grass currently in Nan Yu's possession.
In his previous life, Nan Yu had hidden nothing from him.
He hadn't hidden it from Yun Feiyu either.
But this time...
Bai Zhouyun had occasionally suspected something.
In the end, however, he always rejected the thought.
If Nan Yu had regressed just like he had, then the moment Nan Yu returned, he would've killed him without hesitation instead of behaving the way he was now.
So Bai Zhouyun attributed all the differences between this life and the previous one...
To a parallel world.
Nan Yu was speechless.
"If there's nothing else, I'm leaving."
Bai Zhouyun took a step forward.
Unfortunately, Yang Zhou was still standing firmly between them, preventing him from approaching Nan Yu.
Still...
This was enough.
He knew better than anyone how much of a bastard he'd been in the past.
He also understood perfectly well why everyone around Nan Yu despised him now.
Bai Zhouyun looked as though he wanted to say something.
In the end, he merely shook his head.
"It's nothing. Study hard. I'll come find you again after I become a High-Tier Ability User."
Nan Yu didn't bother replying.
He turned around immediately.
"Yang Zhou, let's go. We'll be late for class."
Bai Zhouyun simply stood there watching them walk farther and farther away.
Nan Yu never looked back even once.
Yang Zhou, on the other hand, glanced back several times.
Unfortunately for Bai Zhouyun, none of those looks contained the slightest bit of friendliness.
Naturally, Bai Zhouyun also had classes to attend.
After finishing for the day, he left the academy and headed to a very secluded location.
It was an old warehouse district.
Very few people ever came here.
The only things constantly moving about were robots.
Bai Zhouyun had rented one of the small warehouses here.
He'd rented it for an entire year and had remodeled the interior into a simple living space.
It had everything necessary to live comfortably.
Naturally...
There was a reason he had prepared this place.
The moment he unlocked the door and stepped inside, someone threw themselves into his arms.
Bai Zhouyun spread his arms and caught him.
"Well? Did you miss me?"
The person waiting inside...
Was none other than Yun Feiyu.
"I did! I've been thinking about you every second of every day! I missed you to death!"
Bai Zhouyun gently stroked his smooth cheek and smiled.
"Come on. Let's go inside."
Yun Feiyu had always liked Bai Zhouyun.
Now that Bai Zhouyun had changed—becoming much calmer and more mature—the already considerable affection Yun Feiyu felt for him had transformed into complete infatuation.
"Alright, let's go inside."
Throughout the entire time, Yun Feiyu clung tightly to him.
He had no idea why Bai Zhouyun had changed so dramatically.
But none of that mattered.
As long as Bai Zhouyun still wanted him by his side...
That was enough.
While Bai Zhouyun and Yun Feiyu were secretly meeting, Yang Zhou was still chattering nonstop into Nan Yu's ear about what a terrible person Bai Zhouyun was.
"Were you even listening to me?"
Nan Yu nodded.
"I heard everything you said. But he really has changed a lot. I just feel like something isn't right. Don't you get that feeling?"
Yang Zhou didn't.
Not at all.
All he could think was that Bai Zhouyun's schemes were about to succeed again.
No, no, no!
This absolutely wouldn't do!
He had to contact the two...
No, the three older brothers immediately and make them do something.
Otherwise Nan Yu was going to fall for Bai Zhouyun all over again!!
Nan Yu looked at Yang Zhou's increasingly devastated expression.
Curious, he asked,
"What's wrong? Can you tell me?"
Yang Zhou forced a smile.
"It's nothing. I just suddenly have something I need to do. Can you wait here for me?"
Nan Yu blinked.
"Sure. No problem."
The moment Yang Zhou left, he headed straight for the restroom.
Inside one of the stalls, he immediately opened the group chat and began furiously typing, recounting everything that had just happened.
Nan Yun: "Seriously? Did you get a good look at Little Yu's expression? Did he..."
Nan Zhen: "Oh no, we're doomed! If Bai Zhouyun manages to make Little Yu forgive him again, won't all our efforts over the past while have been completely wasted?!"
Fu Yu'ang: "I'll investigate Bai Zhouyun's current movements and see if I can find any dirt on him."
Nan Yun: "Go! The more evidence you've got against him, the better!"
Yang Zhou: "It's not just that. You all know Nan Yu accepted Yun Feiyu as his disciple, right?"
Nan Yun: "Yeah, we know. Little Yu is just too kind. That Yun Feiyu isn't a good person either. Every time I see him acting all lovey-dovey with Bai Zhouyun, I'm convinced they're having an affair!"
Yang Zhou: "I think so too. I've seen them pulling each other around and hugging. Somehow Nan Yu either pretends not to notice or sees it and doesn't react at all, like nothing happened. Every single time it makes me feel awful. It's like he's starting to become the way he used to be..."
By now, Nan Yun and the others had completely lost the mood to attend class.
All they could think about was how to make their precious younger brother stay as far away from Bai Zhouyun as possible.
So what if Bai Zhouyun had started working hard recently?
If effort alone guaranteed success, then everyone in the Empire would become one of its strongest people.
Nan Yun said,
"I just don't trust him. Not one bit. Old Fu, did you find anything?"
Fu Yu'ang uploaded a screenshot to the group chat.
"I can only pinpoint his approximate location. It's somewhere around here."
"This area is the private rental warehouse district by the port. It's huge. There are several hundred warehouses of all sizes. What's he doing over there..."
Nan Yun frowned.
"Don't tell me he's hiding his little lover in one of those warehouses."
Fu Yu'ang replied,
"I think it's more likely the Bai family recently received a shipment of goods or something similar."
"But it probably isn't anything important. I tracked his hovercraft without much difficulty."
"If it were transporting highly confidential cargo or involved something truly secret, the hovercraft's location jammer would've been activated."
"In that case, even if I could locate it, it would take several hours or even an entire day to calculate its position. And the result definitely wouldn't be narrowed down to such a small area."
Nan Yun nodded.
"Then it must be family business. Forget about the Bai family. Our target is Bai Zhouyun himself."
Nan Zhen sighed.
"So... what do we do?"
Fu Yu'ang echoed helplessly,
"Yeah... what do we do?"
After hearing that, Yang Zhou said, "Why are all of you so discouraged? What's so difficult about this? No matter how much Bai Zhouyun changes, as long as we don't give the two of them any chance to meet again, won't that solve everything?"
Nan Yun immediately agreed.
"You're right. Our way of thinking before was too narrow-minded. We can't normally get over to your side, so we'll have to rely on you to keep an eye on things."
Yang Zhou patted his chest confidently.
"Leave it to me. I won't let Bai Zhouyun get anywhere near Nan Yu. Nan Yu finally looks like he's about to break free from all of this. We absolutely can't let Bai Zhouyun drag him back in."
Otherwise...
They'd cry themselves to death.
Nan Yun sighed deeply.
"How can Little Yu be so hopelessly obsessed..."
That afternoon, after classes ended, Nan Yu checked the time.
It was still early.
He suddenly felt like going shopping.
It had been a long time since he'd wandered around the stores.
Yang Zhou thought about it and realized that it really had been a while.
Besides, Bai Zhouyun probably wouldn't be out shopping, so there was no chance they'd run into him.
The more he thought about it, the happier he became.
"Let's go! We'll do some shopping and relax."
Unfortunately...
The very first shopping mall they entered already contained someone they hadn't expected to see.
Yun Feiyu.
Nan Yu twitched the corner of his mouth.
Yang Zhou regretted everything instantly.
He'd spent all his energy watching out for Bai Zhouyun and had completely forgotten about Yun Feiyu.
Then he frowned slightly before stepping closer to Yun Feiyu.
"These are all pretty expensive things. I didn't know you'd become so rich."
"Weren't you saying before that only your generous scholarship allowed you to afford tuition?"
"So what now? Did you spend your entire scholarship?"
Nan Yu interrupted him.
"Enough. He's my disciple now, so he doesn't have to pay tuition anymore."
"But at the same time, he no longer receives a scholarship."
"I see."
Yang Zhou nodded before continuing.
"But if you're spending money this freely, aren't you worried about not having living expenses later?"
Wait...
Someone who wasn't worried about money at all despite no longer receiving a scholarship...
Something wasn't right.
There was definitely something strange about Yun Feiyu.
Yang Zhou was about to continue questioning him, but Nan Yu simply grabbed him and pulled him away.
Yun Feiyu watched them leave before quickly turning and walking out of the mall himself.
He had specifically come while there weren't many people around to buy a few things.
He hadn't expected to run into Nan Yu and Yang Zhou anyway.
Fortunately...
Neither of them had looked too deeply into where his money had come from.
Where else could it have come from?
Naturally, it was Bai Zhouyun's spending money.
Previously, the Bai family had frozen Bai Zhouyun's Credit Points in order to motivate him.
But recently, seeing how desperately Bai Zhouyun seemed to be working to become stronger—
He had even collapsed from exhaustion once—
Old Master Bai finally believed he had genuinely changed and lifted the restriction on his account.
The moment his account was unfrozen, Yun Feiyu learned about it.
He subtly complained about being short on money in front of Bai Zhouyun.
Very quickly...
Bai Zhouyun transferred him one hundred thousand Credit Points.
Of course, it wasn't because Bai Zhouyun was stingy.
His account had only just been unfrozen.
If he suddenly transferred too many Credit Points, people would quickly discover that he was secretly supporting someone outside.
Now Bai Zhouyun understood his own situation very well.
Because of that, he handled everything much more discreetly.
At least for now...
No one would notice.
So far, Bai Zhouyun had only given him a total of three hundred thousand Credit Points.
Unable to resist any longer, Yun Feiyu had come out to buy a few things.
After hesitating for so long, he still ended up running into the very people he didn't want to meet.
Fortunately...
They didn't know those Credit Points had come from Bai Zhouyun.
Otherwise, if Bai Zhouyun eventually failed to marry Nan Yu...
Wouldn't all the blame fall on him?
Yang Zhou looked at Nan Yu.
"Why'd you drag me away? I still had a lot of questions!"
Nan Yu answered calmly,
"What would've been the point? He would've just said he saved up the money himself and that it had nothing to do with anyone else."
Yang Zhou thought about it.
"...You're right."
"But don't you find it suspicious?"
He wasn't about to miss any opportunity to badmouth Bai Zhouyun.
Nan Yu asked,
"Suspicious of what?"
Yang Zhou lowered his voice.
"What if all the money he's spending came from Bai Zhouyun?"
Nan Yu considered it for a moment.
That actually was very possible.
"That makes sense."
Yang Zhou blinked.
He had expected Nan Yu not to believe him and had been preparing a long speech to persuade him.
"Huh?"
"You mean... you think that's possible too?"
Nan Yu nodded.
"That's exactly what I think."
Yang Zhou became even more confused.
"Then why are you still treating him so politely?"
Nan Yu glanced at him helplessly.
"You wanted to make a scene in the middle of a shopping mall?"
"You can do that if you want."
"But do you have any evidence proving those Credit Points came from Bai Zhouyun?"
"If you don't have evidence, the only person who'll end up embarrassed is you."
Yang Zhou rolled his eyes.
"Fine, I get it."
"I won't act impulsively anymore."
Nan Yu smiled faintly.
"You're usually not an impulsive person."
"But for some reason, whenever Bai Zhouyun or Yun Feiyu is involved, you become especially short-tempered."
Yang Zhou looked at him with indescribable grievance.
Who did you think I was doing all this for?
...
After returning home, they logged into the game.
The moment Nan Yu entered, he noticed a notification on the guild icon.
Opening it, he discovered that all eight members had already completed today's tasks.
In fact...
They had finished both yesterday's and today's tasks.
Each person had received two thousand gold coins.
Nan Yu was somewhat surprised.
He opened the guild channel.
From South to North (Guild Master): "Didn't you all have something very important to deal with today? You still had time to log in?"
Only Third Brother and Fourth Brother were currently online.
Third Brother replied, "Fourth Brother and I are here. The others are busy with work, so there wasn't any rush."
From South to North (Guild Master): "I already gave you all a vacation. There's no need to hurry."
Fourth Brother laughed.
"We're not in a hurry."
"Now that we've got money, everything's much easier."
"Things over there aren't especially urgent right now, so the two of us logged in to keep hunting those five people."
Two of their targets were hiding inside the main city and refused to come out.
The other three, however, were eager to level up.
After dying so many times, their levels had dropped dramatically.
They urgently needed experience and better equipment.
The problem was...
The high-experience dungeons were all located in the wilderness.
The dungeons accessible directly from the main city only dropped crafting materials, ordinary equipment, or were used for daily quests.
The truly top-tier dungeons—with the best equipment and enormous amounts of experience—
Had their only entrances in the wilderness.
So whether they wanted to or not...
Sooner or later, they had to leave the city.
Third Brother and Fourth Brother had accumulated so many player kills that their red names were now incredibly conspicuous.
They couldn't get too close to the main city anymore.
So they simply camped outside the entrances to the wilderness dungeons.
One guarded the equipment dungeon.
The other guarded the experience dungeon.
From South to North (Guild Master): "You're both really dedicated. Looks like I don't have anything to worry about."
Nan Yu was just about to continue chatting when...
Someone unexpectedly sent him a private message in the game.
Above the Blue Sky: "Do °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° you have a moment?"
Nan Yu stared at the character name for a long time before finally replying.
From South to North: "I have time, Marshal."