Cyril completely failed to understand what the other three were trying to express, but because it was already late, he urged Su Li to go back early.
Although elent-enhanced bodies could handle staying up late without issues, those without enhancent, no matter what they did, appeared sowhat excessively fragile in Cyril’s view.
Of course, this fragility only originated from the physical body.
Cyril never felt that Su Li had any weakness in the spiritual realm.
Cyril believed he could sowhat understand parts of Brother Eg’s and Holy Son Diz’s behavior, but he firmly refused to do as they did—saying various things that made one feel embarrassed.
Moreover, rather than pondering what Su Li had done for them, it was better to consider whether Su Li, who had given so much, had actually achieved the results he wanted.
His giving didn’t necessarily require personal rewards, but he certainly hoped that those receiving his efforts would gain what they desired.
Cyril felt that what Su Li wanted was simple.
Everyone having their own sense of self, everyone having goals, all moving forward continuously in one direction, not easily suffering serious injuries, and not losing personal property…
That was roughly what Su Li wanted.
Not precise, but not wrong either.
So the question was, had the people gathered here because of Su Li accomplished these things?
The answer was yes, but not completely.
Cyril wouldn’t directly label everyone as lacking self-identity, but he could clearly state that everyone, including himself, was cautiously, tentatively making Su Li’s existence itself their own self-identity.
—To care about him even more than they cared about themselves.
This idea ca from nowhere, yet upon deeper reflection, it seed exactly how things should be.
Su Li had given them their sense of self, so they were destined to be unable to ignore Su Li.
This was a circle that no one would choose to jump out of, nor would anyone want to jump out of.
As for their individual goals…
Cyril was convinced that his goal was to beco stronger, strong enough that when Su Li faced any crisis, he would be sufficient to shield him.
That was enough.
Just as Su Li didn’t consider his own hardships to be hardships, Cyril also believed that his efforts were rely necessary processes to achieve his goal.
Like now, as Su Li walked beside him in the night.
Cyril thought that Su Li would definitely try to enter another world in the future.
So what he needed to do was make himself capable of following in Su Li’s footsteps along this path.
.....
Su Li arrived ho just in ti for dinner.
Since more and more people had moved in, Lan Zhe and Euphia had decided to simply connect the small building next door.
Everyone’s individual rooms hadn’t changed much, but the main hall certainly looked much more spacious.
After Su Li took his seat, the others, with varying expressions, were about to sit in their usual places when Cyril directly bypassed Egbert and claid the seat closest to Su Li.
Su Li, holding his chopsticks, turned his head and gave him a curious look. “Cyril seems to have never deliberately sat next to for als before.”
Cyril nodded in response.
Previously, he indeed hadn’t cared much about his distance from Su Li.
Limited by the crisis of war, when Su Li went to the Inner City, Cyril, due to his level of strength and not wanting to be a burden, had suppressed his desire to go even though he wanted to.
But now things were different.
Now Cyril understood the dual importance of wisdom and strength.
Just like now, feeling Egbert’s overly sharp gaze, Cyril could already fully imagine what he would encounter tomorrow.
Nothing short of rcilessly targeted training.
But that was exactly what he wanted—this rcilessly targeted training.
Otherwise, how could he possibly keep up with Su Li’s pace?
Beyond that, there was another point.
That was, Cyril also needed to compete.
Before it was still acceptable…
Brother Eg had freed them from being beggars, Sister Euphia had rented them an entire building at an extrely low price, Brother Lan Zhe had not only cured Su Li’s illness but also funded both of them to attend Asa Academy.
Mark and Roy, who didn’t cost any money—one voluntarily taking care of household cleaning, the other responsible for Su Li’s personal safety—Cyril felt he could accept them too.
But now things were different.
Raven, a mighty level-nine monster beast—Cyril was fine when facing him in his crow state, but when seeing his human form, he felt like he was gazing into what Su Li referred to as the abyss.
This was the natural instinct of the weak, fleeing from the crisis brought by the strong.
In terms of strength, Cyril could reluctantly acknowledge him.
But now…
Diz, a Holy Son of Light with extrely abnormal thinking; Mavis, another Dark Holy Maiden whom Cyril only knew by na; Julius, who had changed his na, the person who had severely beaten Su Li for quite a long ti a few months ago.
What did this an?
It ant that if Cyril didn’t take initiative, his story with Su Li would never continue… of course, this story was just as friends, without any deeper aning.
—He needed to actively fight for Su Li’s attention, even if it ant being targeted.
—He needed to beco stronger, even if it ant getting badly beaten.
Otherwise, one day, Cyril, standing on the sa competitive path as everyone else, would be trampled underfoot by those who naturally stood beside Su Li.
Cyril steadied himself and said, “Before, I felt that no matter what, Su Li wouldn’t abandon .”
“But now I think, not abandoning is one thing, but not keeping up with your pace is another matter entirely.”
Su Li’s chopsticks slipped, and the green leafy vegetable fell directly onto the white rice in his bowl.
At that mont, Su Li, forgetting to be upset about his pristine white rice being stained green by the vegetable juice, blurted out, “What is this all about…”
Cyril flashed a brilliant smile. “Nothing, you don’t need to worry about it.”
As he spoke, everyone at the table had their eyes fixed on Cyril.
Egbert: Is this kid trying to compete with for the position of Lord Su Li’s right-hand man? His gaze growing increasingly dangerous.jpg
Euphia: Interesting, being a beggar for many years didn’t leave much of an impression on him, suddenly awakening dragon blood didn’t establish any particular awareness, but now because he sees a group of strangers, he wants to compete?
Mark: As expected…
While others were surprised by Cyril’s behavior, Mark found it natural.
Those who had been forced by reality to stay ho couldn’t simply treat Su Li’s compelled journey to the Inner City as just an employee’s business trip.
Cyril would constantly think deeply that he hadn’t been abandoned by Su Li, but had been rejected by reality.
Now, showing this desire to strengthen his attention only after Su Li had been back for so ti… Mark felt that Cyril had truly prepared himself to be surrounded by everyone alone.
The next day.
As expected, Cyril was surrounded by Egbert.
Early in the morning, before dawn had fully appeared, Egbert knocked on Cyril’s door and took him to the suburbs.
Egbert’s choice to guide Cyril’s training wasn’t just because Cyril had taken his seat last night; more importantly, he genuinely wanted to help Cyril beco stronger.
He had privately asked Raven about Cyril’s developnt prospects, about his dragon lineage, and about the differences between awakened and unawakened bloodlines.
These questions, seemingly related to Cyril, were essentially Egbert’s way of determining whether Cyril posed any threat to Su Li, and whether he could provide assistance to Su Li.
For behaviors like Cyril’s desire to compete for attention, it was obvious without thinking that he would never harm Su Li.
As for assistance, Raven had previously told Egbert: “Cyril’s ancestor was at least at the sa level as , and by my estimation, she may have already surpassed the level-nine monster beast and entered the realm of truly intelligent monster beasts.”
“A significant part of monster beasts’ strength enhancent requires bloodline support. Bloodlines don’t co from monster beast races but from the individual strength of the monster beast that provided that bloodline.”
Raven couldn’t clearly explain things related to genetics.
But he knew that after Cyril awakened his dragon lineage, it was equivalent to saying that his strength could at minimum rise to the level of his ancestor when she left that bloodline among humans.
If later he fortunately t Cyril’s ancestor, who could further purify and upgrade Cyril’s bloodline, then Cyril’s developnt direction would directly skip the underlying logic of human elentalist training.
That is, he would no longer be limited by so-called elental affinity.
Raven hadn’t even heard this term before entering human society.
At the end of that conversation, the black raven told Egbert, “But you should also note one thing.”
“Unlike , who accumulated strength little by little while nestled in the monster beast forest, like a pioneer type of monster beast.” Raven’s ancestors had never produced a level-nine monster beast or stronger, which ant his genetic enhancent direction had always been self-controlled.
But Cyril was different.
“While Cyril will have the advantages provided by his ancestor, he may also develop so negative thoughts because of his ancestor.”
This advantage was equivalent to saying that before Cyril reached the level-nine monster beast, there was no pressure to overco bottlenecks. He only needed to accumulate enough elents to advance naturally.
As for the negative thoughts…
“Didn’t Na’an once tell you that the dragon was betrayed by humans in the past?”
If Cyril attempted to update his ancestor’s bloodline to gain a higher realm of strength improvent without needing to overco bottlenecks, then he would be equivalent to a character who needed to be guarded against.
If not, then when Cyril reached the power level of a level-nine monster beast, he could only choose to find his own way, a new path that no monster beast had walked before.
At that ti, Egbert said as Raven flew back to the hanging painting, “I believe that even if Cyril truly had thoughts unfavorable to humans, he would definitely not attack Lord Su Li.”
This wasn’t about human trust in monster beasts.
What trust did humans have in monster beasts?
Egbert was still thinking about how to defeat Raven and make him get out of Su Li’s sight.
The reason he trusted Cyril was simply the belief that this little beggar, whose hand Lord Su Li had willingly taken, would absolutely not betray Lord Su Li’s trust.
Egbert wasn’t trusting the dragon-blooded youth; he was trusting Su Li himself.
......
Asa Academy, after class.
Su Li sat next to Qi, lowering his head to read a biography he had borrowed from Dean Asa earlier.
During his ti in the Inner City, Su Li’s long hair had been cut back to a style not much different from before. It seed as if nothing had changed in those few months.
But looking carefully, one could see that Su Li had grown taller by more than just one centiter.
Now, the handso and bright young man sat lazily in his seat. At a glance, one couldn’t detect any tension or anxiety from him.
Qi tightened his hand and gently knocked on Su Li’s desk.
Su Li: “?”
After hesitating for two seconds, Qi said, “Can I stay in your small building for a while?”
“Of course, I’ll pay rent.”
“As for why I want to live there…”
Qi said in a sowhat heavy voice, “My mother sent a ssage saying that only by staying by your side could I fulfill my value. Otherwise, I’d just be an exiled prince, remaining in this city for life, unable to bring any help to her or to you.”
Having hurriedly explained all this information, Qi felt quite ashad.
He knew clearly that so of the things his mother had written in that letter were much sharper than what he’d spoken out loud.
Although the letter also made it clear that the queen did not lack love for her son, it heavily emphasized that Qi should follow Su Li and learn from him for a period of ti.
Preferably staying close, eating and sleeping together.
Qi felt ashad of what was described in the letter, but also felt a chill down his spine because of the reality it portrayed.
Currently, the most powerful contender for the throne was still Ophelia, who had previously surrounded the rcenary City with troops.
The Grand Princess’s scheming far exceeded that of the queen, who had always avoided confrontation.
The Grand Princess also understood clearly that since Su Li had chosen not to expose her true identity, it ant he wouldn’t expose her identity again. Besides, even if he really wanted to expose her, he would only use the revelation of her identity as leverage to negotiate sothing else.
This was a tacit understanding shared among clever people.
As for the poison created by Willard, whether Ophelia had investigated it or not, her primary target would definitely still be the king, who could to so extent determine her fate.
After the king’s death, the Inner City was destined for more chaos.
Qi’s mother, even if she could prepare precautions in advance, didn’t believe she could beco the decision-maker in the high position.
This wasn’t about insufficient personal ability, but a difference in mindset.
Those who could ascend to the throne were never soft. A wolf-like ntality often determined a group’s forward developnt.
But Qi’s mother, whether under the Pope’s control in the past or during her ti as a Holy Maiden, had always been guided toward becoming a sheep.
Lacking ruthlessness ant having too many scruples.
Of course, Qi’s mother also didn’t believe that Qi could grow into soone like Ophelia in the short term.
What she wanted was for Qi, even if he couldn’t beco as fierce as Ophelia, to learn from Su Li how to suppress such ferocity and make such fierce individuals work for him.
Although this seed an impossible goal to Qi.
But he still spoke it out.
As a classmate, Qi could see Cyril’s changes with the naked eye. Now, Cyril had new bandages on his face every day, walked with a limp, and was always surrounded by a lingering sll of blood.
This had nothing to do with being bullied, as other classmates might think.
Besides, if Cyril were truly being bullied, Su Li wouldn’t act normally.
When it ca to his own people, Su Li displayed so not-so-absolutely-rational favoritism.
Like Mavis, who had previously destroyed the Tross family.
The Dark Holy Maiden not only hadn’t been excluded or expelled, but had even beco one of the people training Cyril, focusing not on elental use but on physical techniques.
The injuries on Cyril’s body were all caused by Mavis.
Qi yearned to be part of these changes.
Bringing his mories back to reality, Qi looked at Su Li with nervousness in his eyes, and so uncontrollable fear.
Qi was afraid Su Li would reject him.
And after rejection, the possible distancing behavior that might follow.
The class for underperforrs was the kind that recognized talent, and Qi, with his extrely average talent, had truly entered the path of elents because of so philosophical ramblings Su Li made when first joining the class.
But regardless of whether those words were Su Li’s random talk, Qi still felt indebted for them.
Before he could repay this debt, he was now being required by his mother to emotionally bind Su Li…
Qi was so ashad he wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
“If you’re unwilling, just reject directly.”
While Qi feared rejection, he also expected it.
The kindness others gave was not sothing to be taken for granted.
Even though being rejected would make him feel bad, Qi also hoped that Su Li wouldn’t feel troubled because of him.
As for Su Li…
“Hmm…” He hadn’t really understood Qi’s words.
“To summarize your words briefly, you’re saying you also want to live in the small building?”
Qi stared blankly at Su Li, who held a book in one hand while raising his eyelids to look at him.
Perhaps it was because he was gradually accepting this world, but the quality of detachnt that Su Li carried was gradually becoming thinner. At least when others looked at him now, it was hard to feel that sense of isolation.
Qi nodded.
“Then live there.” Su Li didn’t mind. He closed the travelogue written by a powerful wandering poet and responded with a faint smile in his eyes, “I’ve actually thought more than once about how to invite you to live together in my small building.”
“But occasionally I would also wonder, if I did this, would you find it disrespectful? After all, for soone who enjoys solitude, being alone is a very comfortable atmosphere.”
Qi was stunned.
He had imagined many possibilities, but couldn’t conceive that Su Li would give such a response.
Su Li himself felt it was normal.
Even if he worked “007” before his transmigration, he still had social interactions.
A friend who was a professional gar and often tested bugs for various gas had once told Su Li about so of his own experiences.
That was a person who, in his childhood, could be equated to a left-behind child. But unlike left-behind children who still had grandparents, that child had always only had himself.
From elentary school, he had to take a bank card, cross a river that required a boat ride, and go to a bank in the market to withdraw the living expenses his mother sent each month.
Books and stationery, daily necessities, food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—everything required a child of single-digit age to be self-reliant.
That friend didn’t believe he needed to spend his life healing from his childhood, but he had once told Su Li: “If possible, I still wish I could have had a companion during my childhood.”
“It has nothing to do with loneliness or solitude. It’s just that on a young child’s growth path, without a suitable guide, people like us can only grope in the dark and grow wildly. If we go right, it’s fine—others can easily summarize us as ‘good kids.’ If we go wrong, eight or nine out of ten will step onto the path of breaking the law and committing cris.”
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