Chapter 317 - Rejection

Chapter 317: Chapter 72 Rejection"It’s nothing—don’t overthink it," Lu Hong said hurriedly after realizing he had let something slip. "Just wait for me a bit longer."

"What on earth are you planning to do!" Anna pressed, unwilling to let it go. Having been single for so long, she had finally found an enigmatic companion and did not want to lose him so easily.

"Don’t worry; it’s nothing serious."

"Just don’t cause any trouble in the Seven Floating Worlds. Right now, during the critical period of the Eagle Alliance’s elections, the control over the Seven Floating Worlds is extremely tight. The four great Dukes have already stationed troops around, to suppress any accidents that could occur, and they’ve secretly pulled a large number of Third-Transition experts to hide within the ranks. These individuals have received the Dukes’ personal commands and are authorized to use power above Third Transition in the Seven Floating Worlds," Anna said. "I may not know what you’re planning, but I hope you won’t do anything foolish."

"What are you thinking about?" Lu Hong gently teased Anna’s nose, smiling, "I’m just going to join the Eagle Alliance’s competition fair and square."

Anna’s face changed drastically, "You’re going to sabotage the Eagle Alliance’s competition?!"

"Hey, hey, hey, that’s a bit much. What level do I even have to dare mess with that?" Lu Hong did not want to continue discussing this topic. He walked over and picked up the Marquis of Sade with distaste, "How should we deal with this eyesore?"

"Just throw him out." After speaking, Anna turned and walked towards her study.

Lu Hong casually tossed the Marquis of Sade out of the front door and had just entered the house, when he saw Anna coming to the living room with a thick stack of materials.

"These are the materials of the competitors; take a look." Anna took out a few from the top, "You managed to suppress me, a Second-Transition, on your own, so your strength is not weak, but if you want to win the championship of the Eagle Alliance’s competition, these people will be your stumbling blocks."

"Who are they?" Lu Hong took the materials, "Fang Pingping?"

"Fang Pingping is the second son of the Fang Family, and has shown astonishing talent from a young age. He’s quite famous in the Heng’an plane. Although the Fang Family has the title of Marquis, they’ve always passed on the lineage to a single heir, merely holding a title without real power. Therefore, he will participate this time as a student of the Sacred Academy. His strength is around the level of a Second-Transformation Level Ten, but even three peak-Second-Transition experts are no match for him," Anna continued, "He’s a Second-Transformation Earth Knight with strong defensive abilities, but the offensive techniques passed down by the Fang Family are even more astonishing. It’s a headache for anyone who faces him; they can’t break through his defense or overcome his attack."

"I understand." Lu Hong put down Fang Pingping’s materials and looked at another, "And this Bo Ge?"

"He’s even more formidable. Bo Ge is the third-ranked individual on our Sacred Academy’s prestige board, with unfathomable strength. He’s always training alone, and everywhere he goes, he leaves behind a good name and legends. According to a teacher of the Sacred Academy, Bo Ge just broke through to Second-Transition Level Twelve a few days ago, and can stand up to a Third-Transition Early Stage."

Lu Hong read through Bo Ge’s materials with interest. As Anna said, usable information was very scarce, and he could only learn that the other party was a Fire Mage.

Mages were different from close-quarters combatants; they heavily relied on the reserve and purity of magic power. Normally, before a Second-Transition Mage’s magic power is sublime, there’s a huge difference between the quality levels of it and Third-Transition magic power. It’s possible that a single drop of Third-Transition mage’s magic power could crush a Second-Transition mage’s entire reserve, and the limitation of levels is most strictly manifested in mage-type professions.

To be able to clash with a Third-Transition at Second-Transition Level Twelve, Bo Ge must have had many remarkable experiences. In the typical TV dramas, if the first male lead isn’t up to par, the second male lead is certainly noteworthy.

"And who’s the second-ranked individual on the prestige board?" Lu Hong reasoned that if Bo Ge was only ranked third in Sacred Academy, the first two must be even more impressive.

Anna flipped through the materials in Lu Hong’s hands and pulled out one of them, "This is Wim, a Second-Transformation Peak Assassin, proficient in various assassination techniques. He has served under Lei Shan, completing many difficult tasks for him, and currently holds an important military position under Lei Shan’s command. Due to his profession, he has not registered for this competition of the Eagle Alliance."

"Since the second-ranked isn’t participating, what about the first?" Lu Hong took the photo passed by Anna, showing only a pretty and tall woman, dressed in noble attire. According to Lu Hong’s aesthetic, she was too young to compare to the allure of maturity, so he automatically ignored her appearance.

"This is the top student of the Sacred Academy?" Lu Hong was surprised, "And it’s a woman?"

"What’s wrong with that!" Anna frowned at Lu Hong, "Can’t a woman stand above the rest?"

"No, that’s not what I meant; I was just quite surprised."

Anna didn’t make much of it and spoke, "She’s the favorite disciple of our headmaster, and looks delicate but dared to venture alone into bandit dens at the age of ten. She doesn’t blink an eye when killing. Her father is a collateral leader of the Chen Hui family, and this time she will represent the Chen Hui family in the competition. She is also the most likely candidate to become the champion of this session."

"How strong is she? Second-Transition peak?" Lu Hong frowned, eager to understand the details of the opponent.

"Probably." Anna said, "As the headmaster’s favorite disciple, her identity is somewhat special, so no information about her is allowed to be disclosed. It’s very possible she has already stepped over the threshold of Third Transition and has become a Knight Judge."

"I got it." After listening to Anna’s explanations, Lu Hong felt the selection of the Eagle Alliance’s championship was like a battle of the gods, each contestant a prodigy in their own right.

But we’re not lacking either. Based just on the military merits earned by Baron Yitian, we’ve already left these prodigies of the Eagle Alliance far behind.

"Don’t think too much about it, just do your best." Seeing Lu Hong fall silent, Anna thought her words had hurt him and consoled, "In the past hundred years, prodigies have emerged in great numbers within the Eagle Alliance. Even if you don’t secure one of the top ten spots, ranking within the top hundred is an utmost honor, enough to make one proud for a lifetime."

"Top hundred?" Lu Hong laughed but remained silent. His goal was to be number one, and it had to be the very best!

Forget it, overthinking it is useless. Lu Hong dropped the information, wrapped his arms around Anna, and decided that enjoying life timely was the true choice for humans.

"Ah!" Anna exclaimed, her cheeks flushing red. "What are you doing? There are also many players selected from Duke and Earl families not to be underestimated. You should finish looking through all this information, know yourself and your enemy so you can—mmm~"

Before she could finish, her mouth was sealed with Lu Hong’s passionate kiss, followed by... well... a tender moment.

The next afternoon, Lu Hong casually left Anna’s villa. Following his memory from the day before, he made his way back to Ci Nian Nian’s dormitory.

"You still know to come back?!" As soon as he entered, he was greeted with her roar.

"Hey, hey, what’s it to you where I go." Lu Hong rolled his eyes and said, "Is it Mo Na giving you trouble again?"

"Hmph!" Ci Nian Nian replied, dissatisfied. "If Mo Na was playing dirty tricks on me, would you still see me today?"

"About that." Now that he was officially in a relationship with Anna, Lu Hong didn’t want to keep up the pretense with Ci Nian Nian. "Didn’t your tutor say yesterday that we’re not suitable to be a fake couple? What do you think we should do? Should we call it quits? Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Mo Na for you. If he dares to show his face in front of you, I’ll beat him each time until he doesn’t dare to appear again."

"I’ve also thought about what the tutor said," Ci Nian Nian said seriously. "How about this..."

"What about it?" Seeing her twist and turn, Lu Hong suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Why don’t we become a real couple?" Ci Nian Nian mustered her courage and said. "I’ll take you home to meet my father."

Spurt! He almost spit out blood! Just as feared! What you fear comes to pass!

"This... I don’t think we’re suited for each other," Lu Hong hastily said. "I’m a big ugly fool who’s only getting by with this mask. If you saw my real face, you’d definitely lose your appetite for three days. Plus, I have smelly feet, I’m really lazy, selfish, and... and I also really like hitting women. My ex-girlfriend was chased away by my beatings."

Ci Nian Nian didn’t speak, just quietly watched Lu Hong showcase his eloquence, her face growing darker and heavier.

"So, what you’re saying is you don’t think highly of me, right?"

Eventually, Ci Nian Nian cut him off, "I, Ci Nian Nian, come from a prestigious family. I have status and beauty. Why wouldn’t I be good enough for you?!"

"Ah!" Lu Hong sighed deeply. "We’re just not suitable."

Ci Nian Nian said in a grave tone, "I hope you won’t regret this!" After which, she pushed Lu Hong out and slammed the door shut fiercely.

Truly heartless, indeed business not made, but conscience remains!

Lu Hong shook his head, turned around to go find Anna, when a white shadow pounced on him.

He was hit by a solid bear hug.

Stepping back, Lu Hong asked Qing Ling, "Stop it, did you find anything from your investigation?"

Qing Ling patted her flat chest and promised, "Of course, anything you asked me to do, big brother Lu Hong, I’ve handled perfectly.

"Good, you have a place to stay now?"

"What’s up? Ci Nian Nian not home?"

"No, we just had a little argument."

"That’s great, come stay with me. They gave me a huge luxury villa, way bigger than Ci Nian Nian’s house, and the decor is much more luxurious. It’s absolute emperor-level luxury."

"Alright, we’ll talk at your place." Lu Hong nodded and walked slowly away with Qing Ling.

Meanwhile, Ci Nian Nian stood by the curtain on the second floor, her fingertips turning white as she clenched them.