Chapter 201: Jiang Houlang

A personal flyer streaked across the night sky.

Balshus had no choice but to leave this place.

To flee his home planet, to escape to somewhere no rebel could find him.

To grow stronger, strong enough to change everything.

Perhaps every person in the universe had reasons beyond their control.

As for A Liang, he had no vehicle of his own. As a discarded pawn by the Canglan CEO, he could only wander near Dragon Pot Star.

Now, he sat on the ground, calmly counting the stars in the sky.

The stars here were huge, much larger and more dazzlingly beautiful than in Blue Star’s night sky.

His life had changed because of his former adoptive father, but now dust had returned to dust, and everything had reverted to its original state.

It turned out that all these years, the only one he could rely on… had always been himself.

“Hey, you surnamed A, why haven’t you left yet?”

Jiang Yan, having collected his Heaven-Tier Armament and skillfully avoided countless cameras, found this lonely wandering star-faring saber master.

A Liang turned his head at the voice, looking at Jiang Yan.

“You’re Jiang Yan, right? Pretty strong.”

“Hahaha, of course I know that.”

Jiang Yan sat down beside him.

“Your saber is quite interesting. Feels like it contains some Time Law.” “Hmm… let me think.”

Jiang Yan pondered, then as if realizing something, spoke:

“It’s the past, the present—

But no future!”

Jiang Yan had always thought A Liang’s saber embodied the principle of the future, but upon careful reflection, it wasn’t so.

Jiang Yan had crossed blades with him; he understood A Liang’s saber.

“You’re right.” A Liang’s tone was flat, his deep eyes lowered. “No future.”

A faint sorrow diffused, filling the space between them.

Jiang Yan followed his gaze toward the starry sky.

“I actually think it’s possible to have one.”

A Liang stiffened, turning to look at Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan didn’t look back, his gaze fixed on a magnificent star.

“If there’s no future, then cut one out.” He said, turning to look at A Liang. “That’s what you think too, right?”

A Liang’s Talent in the Saber Way might only be slightly inferior to Jiang Yan’s.

With the blessing of [Above the Saber Saint], Jiang Yan’s Comprehension Ability in this path was peerless.

But A Liang was different; his innate Talent was the pinnacle of human Saber Way.

He had unique experiences, memories both joyful and bitter that were A Liang’s exclusive wealth.

A Liang had gained a flicker of warmth during his wanderings, but the flame had extinguished, and he had to continue drifting.

He had his own path, had forged his own Way.

In this, Jiang Yan and A Liang were completely different.

A Liang gave Jiang Yan a deep look, taking a deep breath.

“I have no time for melancholy. Every step from now on, I will fearlessly walk toward my future.”

“For the saber in my hand.”

Suddenly, A Liang smiled.

“Even though my saber was shattered by you.”

But then, the air trembled, enveloped by a mysterious resonance, and another saber appeared in A Liang’s hand.

This saber, Jiang Yan had not seen before.

A Liang stepped onto his saber, giving Jiang Yan one last look.

Then, his body rose into the air.

“When we meet again, I will challenge you once more.”

“Jiang Yan!”

These two words, along with the past and present, were deeply imprinted in A Liang’s memory.

A Liang headed into the starry sky to seek his future.

His future, he hoped, would allow him to meet Jiang Yan again in Perfection

—this strongest of opponents.

“Tsk, Saber users are so sentimental.”

Jiang Yan clapped his hands, stood up, and gazed at the Starry Sky, gripping his Saber as he murmured.

“Wouldn’t it be simpler to just keep cutting away…”

“Wow, Mr. Jiang Yan, so you’re here! We’ve been looking for you for ages!”

Lilia jogged over, panting slightly. “Mr. Jiang, there’s a champion’s acceptance speech later. Would you like to participate?”

“Is there compensation?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Yan: “How much?”

Lilia, unfazed, used a tentacle to draw the number “1.”

“One hundred Star Core Coins? I’m busy—”

“Mr. Jiang Yan, it’s one Cloud Core Coin!”

Jiang Yan straightened his collar, already standing in front of Lilia without anyone noticing.

“Then what are we waiting for? Lead the way.”

Lilia’s tentacles formed a (≖╻≖；) expression.

“So pragmatic, Mr. Jiang Yan.”

Jiang Yan chose to ignore the slight.

He had no idea how to give a victory speech, but just before going on stage, Lilia secretly told him:

“Mr. Jiang Yan, our director said that for every mention of Rising Tide during your speech, he’ll add one hundred Star Core Coins~”

Jiang Yan sneered. Their director had clearly misjudged him.

Jiang Yan confidently stepped onto the stage. The first time he had ever given a speech in his previous life was after shattering a backboard with a dunk. Of course, he wouldn’t casually boast about such things.

“Ahem, this is my first speech, so please bear with any shortcomings.”

Jiang Yan shyly scanned the Audience.

He took a deep breath.

“This ‘Rising Tide Championship’ hosted by the game Rising Tide truly makes me, a Rising Tide, feel that the new generation surpasses the old, each wave stronger than the last.”

“As the saying goes: Rising Tide…”

“Then why do I, as a representative of the Rising Tide, keep emphasizing Rising Tide? Because Rising Tide…”

“Rising Tide…”

“Rising Tide…”

An hour later.

“As for Rising Tide, I, as a Rising Tide, naturally have a few points to emphasize…”

“I have a Rising Tide friend named Rising…”

Below the stage, the Audience, initially enthusiastic about the speech, grew drowsy.

Director Baihe glared angrily at Jiang Yan, who was spouting nonsense on stage.

“This kid, as a Saber user, has no integrity at all!”

“Lilia, did you count how many times he said [Rising Tide]?”

Lilia’s antennae twisted into knots, a bit embarrassed to say.

“Well, it seems to be over a thousand times…”

Pfft!

Baihe spat out a mouthful of blood.

“A thousand times! Is this kid obsessed with money? We asked him to promote the game, not to promote it like this!”

“Hurry, hurry, go pull him off the stage!”

While they were talking, Jiang Yan mentioned Rising Tide over a dozen more times.

The power of “Rising Tide” was truly terrifying!

On stage, Jiang Yan gleefully counted the mentions of Rising Tide.

“One hundred Star Core Coins per mention, a thousand times is ten Cloud Core Coins. Tsk tsk, Lightning Studio is indeed wealthy.”

Then, he was unceremoniously dragged off.

“Don’t pull me, I can still talk!”

“Mr. Jiang Yan, please stop saying it!”

Bullet Comments: This “Rising Tide” guy is finally off.

“Hey, by the way, what’s that Rising Tide guy’s name again?”

“I think it’s Jiang Rising Tide, right? That should be it.”

“Oh no, I can’t look at the words ‘Rising Tide’ seriously anymore, pfft hahaha!”

“This kid got paid, right? He definitely got paid!”

…

“Director, I just counted. I repeated ‘Rising Tide’ a total of one thousand four hundred and nine times, which rounds up to one thousand five hundred times. You only need to pay me fifteen Cloud Core Coins. Oh wait, we should also include the appearance fee and…”

Lily: (≖╻≖；) ……