Chapter 54: Crafty Approach
Unsurprisingly, the word ‘missing’ appeared behind Xiao Yu’s full name, bolded out in bright red color.
Xia Fei’s heart sank as he hesitated for a moment before clicking on her name. Almost instantly, the information regarding Xiao Yu was displayed right before his eyes.
Name: Su Ruoyu
Gender: Female
Age: 11
Place of birth: Pan Human Alliance, Endaro Star Region, Earth Federation.
Special Ability: Amethyst Guard
Rank: Primary Star Base
Status: Missing
There was even a picture of Xiao Yu on that information page. In the picture, the girl was riding on a giraffe’s back, very excitedly waving the straw hat in her hand.
Xia Fei lit another cigarette as he stared at this little girl’s picture for a long time. The cigarette burnt till the end and was almost about to burn his fingers, yet he never took a puff.
“This photograph is pretty nice. Store it in your AI computer, so you can look at it whenever you feel like it,” Phantom whimpered. At the moment, the eyes of this sensitive a.s.sa.s.sin were filled with a s.h.i.+ny liquid.
Xia Fei shook his head and changed the page on his AI computer to the Pairing Table for the a.s.sessment’s second round, softly saying, “There’s no need to do that. I won’t ever forget something that I do not wish to forget. Life goes on, no matter what, so it’s best if I study the opponent whom I’ll be up against in the next round.”
He had very quickly located his and Chen Dong’s name on that Pairing Table, as Xia Fei clicked on Chen Dong’s name for more information.
“Advanced Star Domain rank…” Xia Fei slowly read out the words on the display screen.
He laughed in self-deprecation, “Looks like I really have bad luck. Not only is Chen Dong a powerful Nature Special Ability User, but he had even cultivated to the Advanced Star Domain rank.”
Xia Fei’s ability was speed. This was the second most common ability in the universe, while most people possessed the Strength Ability.
If all the various abilities across the universe were to be divided into top, middle and low grades, the Speed Ability would only rank around middle-grade at best.
Conversely, Chen Dong’s Nature Special Ability, Freeze, had the qualifications to be considered top-grade. Xia Fei was already at a disadvantage in terms of his ability, let alone the fact that Chen Dong’s cultivation was four whole ranks higher than his own!
Every rank meant the power of the user would be doubled, not to mention that this was not merely a one rank difference, but four!
The differences between the two were simply Heaven and Earth. Xia Fei wished he could beat Chen Dong, but that would simply be an impossible task!
Xia Fei could use his experience, judgment, and technique to make up for the difference of one rank, but just what could he use to make up for four ranks’ worth? His life?
Xia Fei quietly stood up and suited up his Windshade Mark IV combat suit. Securing his Chasing Light on his arm, Xia Fei stepped out of the door.
“Where are you going?” Phantom asked.
Xia Fei did not turn back as his footsteps continued marching, “I’m off to cultivate and train, of course. It’s as the old saying goes, ‘Even preparations made in the last minute would turn out helpful.’ Heh, I have no intention of losing too uglily when the time comes, after all.”
Phantom followed closely behind Xia Fei, his head hung low with a solemn expression as if he were deep in thought.
“There’s no way for you to win against a Freeze Ability User at the Advanced Star Domain rank. No matter how fast you are, the best you can do is escape, but there’s no way for you to beat him in combat,” Phantom worriedly commented.
Xia Fei smiled, “I never did say I’m going to beat him in combat. I merely don’t want to lose too badly.”
Turning at a corner, Xia Fei entered an elevator, “This is an opportunity for me to spar with an expert. I’ve checked the rules of this round, and candidates are allowed to admit defeat if they can’t win. I’ll just admit defeat if I really can’t take it; I’ll just end up lowering my head a little, so I won’t need to sacrifice my life… What are you being so gloomy for?”
Phantom was still in deep thought, only slightly nodding to the prompt, not saying a word.
“Before, I wanted to be strong because I was not satisfied being holed up in this small Earth. I wanted to head out to see the mysterious alien planets while still alive, find out just what the universe out there is like, see if these so-called experts have grown three heads and six arms.”
“After this incident, I’ve suddenly realized that the world beyond is a lot more complex than I had imagined. I’ll need to get stronger myself. Otherwise, who’s to guarantee that what happened to Xiao Yu won’t happen a second time or even a third time?”
Xia Fei sounded very relaxed when he said this like he was just having a casual chat with an old friend, but Phantom could tell that Xia Fei had made a huge decision. The incident with Xiao Yu had encouraged him to speed up his own life’s path.
Leading an aimless life was a frightening existence, and only a person of talent would endure all sorts of pressure and keep going ahead when given a clear and defined goal in front of them.
Phantom gazed at Xia Fei with quite a bit of excitement before he knitted his eyebrows and shook his head, as if he were experiencing a bitter struggle between heaven and man.
The elevator stopped at the lowest level. Xia Fei walked out of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p with a smile on his face as he stood on the yellow soil of Australia.
The first round of a.s.sessment had already finished, so many candidates were carrying their bags and preparing to leave. All of them had a heart full of excitement and hope on arrival, yet all they were left with now was just disappointment and a body in pain.
Xia Fei waved goodbye to a big and tall candidate, possessing a height that could easily qualify for a basketball player and a physique that could do weightlifting. This man was presently carrying a heavy backpack, wordless as he got ready to board a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p that would take him home.
His left arm was heavily bandaged, and tears ran down his cheeks. His torso was bent over like he was a huge shrimp, and the big and fat head of his was drooping, almost as if he were about to kneel over to the ground.
“Look, this is what a loser looks like. I admit that I would have a very tough time beating that battle maniac Chen Dong, but I do not wish to leave so crest-fallen. Even if I’m beaten, I’ll make sure to return home with my back straight and head held high!”
Xia Fei’s eyes glowed as he spoke, like he had fired a ray of light right at that burly man’s back.
That man felt an intensity build behind him, but he was not in the mood to pay any attention to it. With a sigh, he trudged along and took the escalator up to get on the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.
With that, Xia Fei somewhat embarra.s.singly used his hand to scratch the back of his head, laughing, “I forgot, I’m still staying in a hotel right now. How can that even be called a home?!”
“Then, I’ll just raise my head and head back to the hotel!” Xia Fei cracked a joke to Phantom.
Phantom was completely moved by Xia Fei’s seemingly calm yet absolutely stirring speech. He gritted his teeth and very gravely said, “I believe there’s a way to help you, perhaps. Though winning is still improbable, you would at least not lose too badly in the fight.”
“What method is this? Trickery? I’ve already thought about that. Against an opponent who possesses true strength that far outstripped my own, deception is of no use,” Xia Fei remarked.
Phantom shook his head as if he had already made some sort of decision, “Do you know why the Crafty Thrust technique isn’t called a.s.sa.s.sination technique, and why there’s that word ‘crafty’ added to it? 1”
Xia Fei shrugged, “How would I know. Isn’t it just because it sounds cool?”
Phantom chuckled, “It’s because Crafty Thrust isn’t just a thrust technique. There’s another approach to the technique that focuses on craftiness!”
Xia Fei was slightly surprised, “Do you mean to say that I’ve actually only learned half of Crafty Thrust and that there’s still another half to the technique that I’ve not touched yet?”
Phantom nodded with a measure of delight, “That’s right! You’ve only grasped Thrust, and not Crafty!”
Xia Fei’s expression turned somber as the smile disappeared from his face. “Why have I never heard you mention this? Then why did you impart me with just half of it?”
The moment Xia Fei said this, he already understood the part of the reason behind it. “I got it. Every time you speak of your master, you turn into a different person. I suppose this must be your master’s rules, making it impossible for you to teach the true Crafty Thrust to me?”
Phantom was a little helpless as he replied, “I’m greatly indebted to my master, so how could I break the rules that he had set in place.”
Xia Fei was even more puzzled, “Since you don’t plan to impart Crafty Thrust to me, why are you telling me about it? Are you just deliberately teasing me? Man, you’re really quite unbearable if you’re doing such distasteful things.”
“I didn’t say I’m not teaching you,” Phantom hastily corrected him, “But you need to agree to a few conditions.”
Xia Fei was elated, “As long as I can learn the Crafty approach, I’d agree to any of your conditions.”
Phantom a.s.sumed a very serious pose and used his hands to rub his chin for a while before saying, “If there’s ever a day in the future where my master is in trouble, you will need to take my place and help him, not refusing this responsibility even if it means certain death.”
Xia Fei nodded, gravely replying, “That is only appropriate. Learning the extinct technique of your master, I could be considered an external disciple, and it only makes sense for a disciple to aid his or her master when they are in trouble.”
“Second. If my master dies one day, you’ll have to take my place to send him off, and you’ll have to guard his grave for three years.”
“Third….”
Phantom gave a wordy recitation of 13 conditions, each one all relating to his master. It could be seen that even though Phantom had failed as an a.s.sa.s.sin, his respect toward his master and his own disciples.h.i.+p ran deep, and could be considered a sentimental and righteous a.s.sa.s.sin.
Xia Fei very readily agreed to everything Phantom had stated, and as for whether he was willing to do everything asked of him, that was something only Xia Fei and the heavens knew.
“Any other requests?” Xia Fei asked. “I’ll agree to everything if there’s still more.”
Phantom lowered his head and thought for a good long while, “That should be it. If you’re able to adhere to these 13 conditions, I wouldn’t be considered betraying my master if I impart the full Crafty Thrust technique to you.”
“After all your talking, I still have no clue about the name of your master. What is it?” Xia Fei asked.
“That… Wel…” Phantom was a little hesitant. “Let’s leave that to another day. I’ll tell you when the time is right.”
…
It was already late in the night before Xia Fei returned back to his bunk completely exhausted.
Phantom’s Crafty approach had truly lived up to its name; it was something that would add a myriad of variations and adaptations to the act of a.s.sa.s.sination, making it that much more difficult for enemies to guard against and was absolutely unpredictable.
Unfortunately, Xia Fei had been unable to demonstrate the full potential of the approach with his current strength. Variations were not a simple matter. It required him to have powerful bodily mobility to work in tandem with the approach, given how there would be a greater strain on the body as the variations in the approach increased.
He made very slow progress with today’s training, which was very likely due to the fact that Xia Fei’s body had yet to recover back to its peak state. After seven consecutive days of forgoing sleep, just getting several hours of sleep the night before was far from enough.
That was why Xia Fei was not in any rush to succeed but was sensibly taking the time for rest.
Without even taking off his suit, Xia Fei collapsed headfirst into his bed to get some sleep.
The instant his body touched the bed, Xia Fei instantly felt something underneath him and he panicked.
Reaching his hand out, Xia Fei felt several rings under him. Xia Fei had not just obtained two tokens during the first round of a.s.sessment, but he had also collected three other spatial rings and a spatial bracelet. Among this lot was also that emerald-stone ring that Xiao Yong had handed over. Xia Fei had yet to inspect its content.
Xia Fei took these items in hand as his eyes rested on the ring that he had not yet checked, “I’ve yet to find the time to examine the contents within this ring, could there be something good inside?”
With that thought in mind, he placed the ring by his bedside table, “Forget it. I’ll wait until tomorrow before I take a look.”
Footnotes:
Ch 54 Footnote 1
A little wordplay that is lost in translation.
What Phantom is talking about is how a.s.sa.s.sination is formed with the chinese characters 刺杀, while Crafty Thrust was named 诡刺.
Basically, a.s.sa.s.sination and Crafty Thrust share the same chinese character 刺, which means pierce/thrust, and Phantom is trying to say there’s more to the name than merely just what it appears.