Abundant Martial Arts Virtue
Chapter 164 - 135: A Man’s Capability (III)

Chapter 164: Chapter 135: A Man’s Capability (III)

This was a rather secluded road with nothing around, a single wall standing alone.

"Can we go in?"

Wu Xiaode appraised the wall.

A majestic castle was depicted on the wall.

Amid the constant drizzle, it stood behind a lake, its back against the mountains.

Next to the mural, there was a line of small characters:

"The rain will stop in 20 minutes."

Wu Xiaode took another look.

The line of small characters had changed:

"The rain will stop in 19 minutes."

It was displaying the weather in real time.

"Come on, this is the base of the ’Skywalking Divine Bird’ organization," Qian Mingkui said.

He took out a number plate marked "Bing Number Seventy-six" and affixed it to the wall.

Rumble—

The wall slowly opened.

Qian Mingkui led Wu Xiaode rushing in, and suddenly the view opened up before them.

This was actually the great hall of a castle!

Looking around, it was also raining outside the window, and the rain was quite heavy.

A woman stood at the end of a long corridor, her face tinged with concern.

At the sight of Qian Mingkui, the worry on her face vanished completely, replaced by a serious expression.

"Why did it take so long just to fetch someone?" the woman asked.

Qian Mingkui dismounted and said with a wry smile, "I only realized it was an acquaintance after I got there."

"An acquaintance?" The woman turned and eyed Wu Xiaode with a wary look.

Wu Xiaode was sizing her up as well.

The woman had blond hair, a dignified appearance, and an aura of heroism in her movements, giving off a rather good first impression.

"Good day, sister-in-law," Wu Xiaode greeted her with a smile.

The woman’s face blushed red, and she turned and said, "Since it’s our own people, go and settle in first, come find me later."

With that, she ascended the staircase, disappeared through a door, and was gone.

At this time, the rain grew heavier.

The sky flashed with streaks of lightning.

Qian Mingkui took out two feathers and handed one to Wu Xiaode.

"Bite into it, and you’ll transform into a bird," he explained.

"Really? Is this the Soul Device to turn into a giant eagle?" Wu Xiaode asked with interest.

"All feathers can be gathered into a complete Soul Device. Right now, they are separated into feathers just for our convenience."

Qian Mingkui bit into the feather and immediately transformed into a fat giant eagle.

Wu Xiaode also turned into a majestic eagle.

He suddenly remembered Ya—

Ya was still advancing, and he wondered how it was going.

Wu Xiaode’s thoughts stirred, and he opened the Book of the Dead to look at the Wishing Wall.

He saw that on the mark left by Ya, there was a line of small characters: "Advancing, please do not disturb for non-urgent matters."

Alright, it was still advancing.

Wu Xiaode shook his head and joined Qian Mingkui in soaring up into the sky, flying rapidly within the castle.

Only when he flew up did he realize that the resplendent walls of the castle all had large holes reserved for flight.

Wu Xiaode followed Qian Mingkui flying inward, passing through countless walls and corridors, all the way to the highest point of the castle.

This was an aerial terrace with four torches burning.

A statue of a man with wings stood on the terrace, looking out towards the Holy City, battered by heavy rain.

He had long white hair, bare upper body revealing rock-like muscles covered with scars, exuding an indescribable aura.

—It was one of the four statues he had seen on the arena before.

Unlike before, this statue was not only covered with scars but also riddled with cracks, as if it would shatter upon touch.

The blond beauty stood in front of the statue, waiting quietly for the two men.

"Erin, we have arrived."

Qian Mingkui said respectfully.

The blond beauty named Erin glanced at him, then looked at Wu Xiaode and said:

"Welcome, newcomer."

"Hello," Wu Xiaode said.

"If I’m not mistaken, you both come from the same world," Erin said.

"Yes," Wu Xiaode nodded.

"As you can see, our ’Skywalking Divine Bird’ organization specializes in rescuing the souls of all beings, allowing them to safely reach the Death Realm through the Holy City," Erin said.

"Elder Qian roughly explained it to me," Wu Xiaode said.

"Now we have a problem—do you see anything wrong with our titled strongman?" Erin asked.

She pointed at the statue.

Looking at the uncountable scars on the statue, Wu Xiaode said without hesitation, "He is a Scarred Body?"

"...That’s not the point," Erin said.

Wu Xiaode looked at the statue again, noticing that it indeed seemed to have been shattered before and was now barely held together.

Could it be...

"The titled strongman of the ’Skywalking Divine Bird’ was injured?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"No, he was killed by someone," Erin said.

Wu Xiaode hesitated and said, "Then—telling me this is—"

Erin looked at Wu Xiaode, then turned her complex gaze towards Qian Mingkui, and said:

"I was executing an important mission in parallel world number 5432 when I was severely injured mid-mission and saved by Qian Mingkui, which is how I managed to return."

"Qian Mingkui could have stayed based on such a merit."

"But—"

"You arrived."

"Does that matter?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"We no longer have a titled strongman to protect us, and to avoid the organization being attacked while vulnerable, the elders made a decision."

"You both come from the same parallel world and both qualify to join the ’Skywalking Divine Bird’ at a sensitive time when we’re not recruiting more members."

"It’s too coincidental."

"I’m sorry to say this—"

"To prevent spies and enemies from infiltrating, we can only take in one of you."

"It’s for safety reasons."

"After all, our titled strongman was just killed."

Wu Xiaode and Qian Mingkui exchanged glances.

Qian Mingkui clenched his teeth and took a step back, saying, "My martial arts are not great, and my Soul Power is insufficient; this opportunity should of course go to the elder of my sect."

"Are you sure?" Erin asked.

"Right!" Qian Mingkui said.

"Wait a moment," Wu Xiaode pondered, "If I leave this opportunity for him, does that mean I have to return to the original world?"

Erin explained carefully, "Since you received the ’Supreme’ rating in the arena battle, you actually already qualify for a certain position, so even if you haven’t joined the ’Skywalking Divine Bird’, you can still conditionally join other organizations."

Other organizations...

The big shot from ’daily experience’ was a dwarf, and the one from ’Holy City Spear’ had to be that long-haired, blood-handed man.

He couldn’t join their organizations.

So that left only...

"The junkyard?"

Wu Xiaode silently mulled it over in his heart.

But Qian Mingkui seemed to have already come to a resolution, resolutely saying, "Our Elder Qian is invincible in the world, so let him stay."

"And what about you?" Erin couldn’t help but ask.

"I’ve only got five points of Soul Power. Even if I go to other parallel worlds, I might not save anyone and end up dying first!" Qian Mingkui said with self-deprecation.

A look of reluctance appeared on Erin’s face as she bit her lip and said, "You must know that you don’t have the accumulation of arena battles like him, nor have you received an evaluation from the Holy City. Once you give up this chance, you will be directly transferred back to your world, and you may never come back to our place again."

Qian Mingkui was stunned for a moment.

Before he could say anything, Wu Xiaode had already spoken, "I actually want to give this chance to him, but I’ve had some conflicts with both ’daily experience’ and ’Holy City Spear’; to avoid them and instead head to the ’junkyard,’ is there any way?"

Erin immediately said, "I will personally write a letter stating that you gave up your spot for the sake of a friend, not because you were exiled by us, and will beseech the titled powerhouses of the ’junkyard’ to take you in."

"Will they agree?" asked Qian Mingkui, anxious.

"The ’junkyard’ has a good relationship with us, so they should give us that much face," Erin replied.

"Great, then I’ll go to the ’junkyard’," Wu Xiaode said.

"This is the best solution!" Erin exclaimed with joy.

She took out a letter and handed a teacup to Wu Xiaode.

"Holding the teacup, give it a squeeze, and you can go report to the ’junkyard’," Erin instructed.

Wu Xiaode took the teacup, handed the feather back to Erin, and patted Qian Mingkui on the shoulder, lowering his voice to say, "Be a man."

Qian Mingkui caught the implications in Wu Xiaode’s words, eyes widening as he couldn’t help but glance at Erin.

"Elder, I will strive diligently and not let down your help," Qian Mingkui asserted firmly.

Wu Xiaode grinned.

"I’m off, we’ll be in touch later!"

He gave the teacup a hard squeeze.

In an instant,

The teacup rose into the air, taking him up into the sky, disappearing into the unknown.

Qian Mingkui looked towards Erin.

Erin, as if thinking of something, suddenly blushed, turned away, and looked out at the pouring rain.

"Do you have something else? If not, go and work on your Martial Arts,"

she said softly.

"I need to talk to you," Qian Mingkui said.

"About what?"

"It’s not convenient here, let’s go to your room."

"...Okay."

...

On the other side.

Wu Xiaode was traveling through the storm.

He gripped the teacup tightly, fearing that he might carelessly let it escape.

This was, after all, the high skies!

Who knows how long he flew, soaked through by the rain, before the teacup suddenly plummeted downward.

Splash!

The teacup dropped him into a steaming, foggy hot spring and then disappeared.

Wu Xiaode surfaced, taking a deep breath before he had the chance to look around.

He saw that this place was part of the mountain range to the north of the Holy City.

The storm was raging.

But soaked in the warm spring water, Wu Xiaode felt incomparably comfortable.

There was no one around.

Fearing any misunderstanding, Wu Xiaode held up the letter of recommendation high and called out, "Is there anyone here? I’ve been referred by the ’Skywalking Divine Bird’."

After a pause,

It seemed as if a force from the Void gently tugged at the letter.

Wu Xiaode let go.

The letter flew a circle in the midair before diving into the hot spring, vanishing.

In the hot spring, only Wu Xiaode remained.

—So was he supposed to wait for them to read the letter first?

He decided to wait a while.

Wu Xiaode soaked in the spring, resting as he waited.

"I wonder if Elder Qian can really handle it... such a great opportunity... and I gave up my spot for him."

Talking to himself, his gaze drifted outside the hot spring.

A tree grew not far from the edge of the hot spring.

In the storm, it spread its leaves wide, revealing its elongated graceful shape, and embraced the rain.

But the wind grew fiercer, and the rain, driven by the gale, became more violent.

The tree fought the wind and rain with its long branches, trying to keep up with the raging storm.

The wind became even more brisk and powerful.

And the rain, like a torrent held behind a high dam, barely contained, showed its torrential and terrifying side.

The rainwater of heaven and earth constantly rubbed, embraced, and collided with the tree.

The tree, although valiantly managing its branches and leaves, how could it withstand the might of the heavens and earth?

It held out for a while, then suddenly—

As if it had resigned itself.

All the branches and leaves were spread open by the wind and rain, but no longer resisted.

It allowed the storm to ravage, allowed the deluge to go wild, soaking everything.

Wu Xiaode scratched his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed just watching.

Anyway—

Keep it up, Elder Qian!

Suddenly, a distant voice called out,

"Hey, are you the one looking to join?"