Chapter 87
Everyone was shocked by how quick the battle ended.
The boss of the training ground, however, found this sight to be vaguely familiar.
Lou Lan morphed into a giant hand and dashed towards the training ground’s boss, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together. When he saw this, the boss abruptly realized that Zu Yan’s opponent was that earth elementalist from before.
The boss became excited as he realized that the unknown expert had returned. This unknown expert was a walking advertis.e.m.e.nt for the training hall. Zu Yan’s previous defeat at the hands of that mysterious earth elementalist had caused a sensation, drumming up his business for quite an extended period of time.
He was so excited that his hands began trembling, but he did not give even a cent more.
At this moment, a voice full of worry came from behind him. "Brother Yan! Brother Yan!"
Brother Yan……Zu Yan?
The training ground’s boss couldn’t believe his luck. Was this actually happening?
At this point, he was so excited he almost couldn’t breathe. Faltering, he turned around and saw the referee heading towards him. Having just checked out Zu Yan’s injuries, the cheerful referee lowered his voice and said, "It’s Zu Yan. He’s unconscious, but it’s nothing major."
What luck! The boss let out a whimper of a cheer; he was so agitated that he almost fainted.
The rivalry between Zu Yan and the mysterious earth elementalist was the talk of the town. Zu Yan had distributed his written challenge to every single inst.i.tution in the Induction Ground. Was this second encounter merely a coincidence? And more importantly, it resulted in Zu Yan’s second defeat!
"Movie bean?" The boss suddenly remembered something important. He had regretted the fact that he had not recorded any footage of the two opponents’ previous fight. A movie bean of that fight would surely have been worth a lot of money!
The referee nodded his head vigorously as he stretched out and opened his palm, revealing a brilliant, multi-colored seed.
The boss howled with laughter. He was going to be rich!
The mirage bean pod was a plant cultivated by wood elementalists. It was capable of recording images and storing them in its seeds, which were called movie beans.
Mirage bean pods have been considered to be the wood elementalists’ greatest achievement of the century. Upon its release, the plant had quickly become extremely popular throughout the entire Avalon of Five Elements.
Like the message tree, the mirage bean pods were further bred and optimized by the wood elementalists of the Jadeite Forest. There was now a wide variety of mirage bean pods, some of which were large enough to store more than twenty movie beans. The most popular type among girls was the Meitu Bean, which was capable of beautifying one’s image.
With the movie bean in his hand, all the boss could see was money dancing before his eyes.
Zu Yan had been eliminated, losing the grudge match and suffering defeat for the second time. Just who was this mysterious earth elementalist?
Are you curious? Are you unconvinced? Do you want to find out more? Then buy the movie bean! Buy it and watch this fearsome battle! Buy it to
Money, money, money…
The boss looked behind himself when he finally calmed down, trying to search for the mysterious earth elementalist. Where was he? He felt terribly vexed—why hadn’t he asked the earth elementalist for his contact details? If only the mysterious earth elementalist could stay here in the long term…
There would be even more money to be made!
The boss felt much less excited after he realized that he missed a golden opportunity.
Ai Hui was still reflecting on the battle as he walked out of the arena. The battle had been short, and he couldn’t care less about that opponent whom he had faced for the second time. His focus was solely on the main factor of this victory: how he changed his direction in mid-air.
Although it seemed useful, changing direction in mid-air was a technique that didn’t actually have much use. Furthermore, effective flying equipment like the azure wings was available to most elementalists, and consequently, very few people would bother to study such a shallow technique that was accessible before they reached the Initial Completion.
His opponent was caught off-guard; he had not expected him to be able to perform such a maneuver.
Ai Hui was actually surprised at his own performance as well. This time, the curvature of his movement through the air was much greater than those of his previous attempts.
The larger the arc of motion, the greater the surprise and effectiveness of the maneuver.
Ai Hui impulsively took a few steps before leaping into the air. His body suddenly s.h.i.+fted from its initial trajectory as if an invisible hand was tugging him to the side.
How interesting!
Ai Hui’s keen battle intuition promptly kicked in as he realized its potential applications in combat.
He ran forward a few steps again, lightly tapping the ground with his toes to propel himself upwards. Just as he was about to hit a wall on the side of the road, Ai Hui lightly pointed his toes and soared even higher. This time around, the angle and speed at which his direction changed had been decreased.
Giving in to his childish whims, Ai Hui started jumping around, gliding through the air like a giant bat in flight.
Lou Lan found this fascinating, and he spontaneously morphed into a bat and joined Ai Hui in the air.
Ai Hui stopped after messing around for three whole minutes to avoid having to be dragged home by Lou Lan. Flying was indeed an amazing experience—even gliding for a brief moment was so enjoyable. Ai Hui had heard stories from elementalists about people who refused to stop flying after learning how to use the azure wings.
As Lou Lan also returned to the ground, he noticed something off about Ai Hui’s appearance. "Ai Hui, your hair!" he shouted.
"What’s wrong with my hair?" Ai Hui asked, astonished.
"Your hair has turned white," Lou Lan informed him.
Turned white? Ai Hui was deeply shocked. He picked up a well-polished steel dagger from a nearby weapon store and used it as a mirror.
His hair had indeed turned a silver-white. It was suffused with a metallic glow and resembled strands of silver threads.
Recovering from his shock, Ai Hui took off his mask.
The face he saw in the blade looked unfamiliar.
A silver glow outlined his entire face, enhancing its contours and sharpening his features. His gaze was as sharp as a newly ground edge, and his entire demeanor had become far more menacing.
Pedestrians subconsciously avoided him as they walked past.
As he snapped out of his daze, Ai Hui jovially said, "I can now make money with my looks."
His appearance contrasted sharply with his simple and reserved self. The silver strands of hair made his appearance even more striking, like a well-polished sword unsheathed from its scabbard.
This s.h.i.+ny exterior was definitely not suitable for battle; he would be detected too easily.
"Ai Hui, your hopes are dashed. The silver glow is fading," Lou Lan said, as his eyes flickered with a yellow light. "I understand now. The metal elemental energy within your body is of such a high grade that using it places a huge load on your body. Tiny amounts of this elemental energy thus permeated your entire body, including your hair. When you’re not utilizing it, the load will gradually lighten as the metal elemental energy throughout your body slowly retreats, returning your appearance back to normal."
"What a waste! My dream of making money has ended so soon," Ai Hui lamented, feigning disappointment. He continued, "Lou Lan, how did you find the battle just now?"
Lou Lan replied, "Ai Hui’s battle was too fast; Lou Lan needs to work harder."
Ai Hui was slightly embarra.s.sed upon hearing this response. He was originally supposed to bring Lou Lan out to play, but he ended up dragging him into a fight.
He quickly changed the subject, shouting, "Split the cash, split the cas.h.!.+"
With a bang, Lou Lan transformed into a cloud of money as he followed suit, shouting, "Split the cash, split the cas.h.!.+"
Ai Hui burst into merry laughter.