Chapter 3: Spoiled Brat Temperament

Truman was certain that Xia Yan could have taken his life in that second strike. Fortunately, however, Xia Yan had no intention of killing him. The moment he batted Truman's weapon away, Xia Yan leaped into the air, caught the massive battleaxe in his grip, and vaulted onto the city wall, which stood over ten meters high.
Over ten meters high!
Truman was dumbfounded, and so were the onlookers. Just how terrifying was this teenager's physical conditioning? Even the most agile rogue, lacking any tools or auxiliary equipment, couldn't possibly clear a wall over ten meters high.
Why, even five meters would be impossible!
"Could it..." Suddenly, a soldier broke the dead silence. "Am I seeing things?"
"That must have been an illusion just now."
"And yet, Lord Truman's weapon was genuinely snatched away by that boy."
"What a terrifying monster..."
"That boy certainly isn't human. Humans simply can't reach that kind of absurd level."
"I agree. Could it be some dragon with a bizarre sense of humor? Or perhaps one of those exceptionally rare races capable of shifting into human form?"
"I'd wager it's a dragon. Ordinary races lack the strength to reach the Saint tier."
"Quite possible."
"Definitely so."
The crowd had no choice but to comfort themselves with such explanations. Otherwise, if they had to accept that they had spent decades in bitter cultivation only to fall short of a single hair on a teenager's body, they might as well just commit mass suicide on the spot.
News of Truman's defeat spread through the city like a rising tide and soon circulated throughout the entire Stein Empire. Everyone was left in utter shock, sighing aloud that the accomplice of the continent's most wanted criminal was indeed extraordinary.
A few days later, due to association, Xia Yan found himself wanted by the entire Stein Empire. The stated reason for the bounty was that he was an accomplice to the continent's most wanted criminal—an ancient being disguised in human form.
Xia Yan felt like cursing to the high heavens. This was the result of his very first venture into another world? Wanted by one of the three most powerful factions on the continent, and in a fight-to-the-death manner at that—was there no shred of humanity left?
This was entirely Emilia's fault; what did it have to do with him even in the slightest?
In the woods outside the city, Emilia finally rendezvoused with Xia Yan. When she saw him pull that dark, heavy battleaxe from his spatial ring, she burst into laughter, completely losing any semblance of her pure-blood aristocratic composure.
"Xia Yan, are you out of your mind? Why on earth did you take his weapon?" Emilia mocked, giggling uncontrollably. "Hahaha, is something wrong with your brain? Snatching a high-ranking warrior's weapon is a surefire way to make them hunt you to the death. Didn't you know that in this world, a warrior's weapon is considered their second life?"
"I figured this thing might be worth a decent amount," Xia Yan replied casually. "Since I had the spatial ring anyway, bringing it back to sell for some cash wouldn't hurt."
That remark utterly triggered Emilia's sense of humor. She clutched her stomach and laughed exaggeratedly for a long while. "Xia Yan, are you so broke that you've lost your wits? A piece of junk like this probably isn't even worth a hundred thousand credits; it has no business taking up space in my spatial ring."
"It's that cheap?" Xia Yan's face darkened.
"What did you expect? Just how high do you think the forging standards in this world are? How much could a wretched axe like this possibly be worth? It'd be generous to rate it as a low-tier grade, and even then, it's the absolute bottom of the barrel." Emilia grabbed the giant axe and tossed it away casually, as if discarding trash, letting it fly an unknown distance away.
Pitifully, the supposed second life of a high-ranking warrior now lay upon the ground like mere refuse.

"Xia Yan, I'm feeling a bit tired. Hurry up and take out the table and chairs, and brew me some tea," Emilia commanded.
"But aren't we supposed to be in a rush to reach the Free Alliance?" Xia Yan asked, feeling rather gloomy. He hadn't forgotten that everything inside the spatial ring he was carrying consisted entirely of this pure-blood's daily furniture.
"I don't care, I need to rest." Emilia completely ignored him.
It seemed she was thoroughly accustomed to throwing aristocratic temper tantrums, demanding that everything cater to her whims, or else refusing to negotiate at all.
Xia Yan had no alternative. Was he supposed to ditch this young lady and travel alone when he didn't even know what his destination was?
Looks like he had no choice but to wait on this young miss first.
With a bitter expression, Xia Yan took over the duties normally handled by Weiwei. He hauled out the table and chairs, and then set about brewing tea with the help of technological instruments.
What? Electricity? Couldn't that kind of thing be generated using solar power?
Storing a charge beforehand was an option too!
"Xia Yan!" Emilia grimaced. "Why is this tea so undrinkable? Do you even know how to brew it? Make it again from scratch."
"I don't know how to brew tea at all in the first place," Xia Yan protested helplessly.
"Are you expecting me to keep drinking black tea that tastes so foul it makes me want to vomit?" Emilia exaggerated her expression of distress. "I'll die from this, you know! Can't you show a little consideration for me?"
"Can't you brew it yourself?" Xia Yan wondered aloud, utterly perplexed.
"What?" Emilia grew even more annoyed. "Xia Yan, are you joking with me? Because that joke wasn't funny at all."
"If you don't know how, keep brewing it until it's actually drinkable," Emilia huffed lightly. "I'm not asking you to match Weiwei's full skill set, but coming up with half of it should be the bare minimum."
Xia Yan had no way of defying Emilia; after all, since he had no clue where their next stop was, he had no choice but to pander to this young miss.
As a result, he spent the entirety of that day dedicated solely to brewing tea.
"Tasteless! Brew it again!"
"Try a sip yourself and see how atrocious it tastes!"
"How can something so repulsive exist in this world?"
"No good, I'm about to puck."
"I won't have any appetite for dinner!"
"Good grief, Xia Yan, are you a pig?"
"If you worked as a tea artisan, you'd be kicked out on your ear by the end of your first day!"
"Why is there someone so dense in this world?"
The day bled from afternoon into dusk. It was worth noting that they crossed paths with a few search parties along the way, but thanks to Emilia's formidable abilities, those pursuers couldn't see the pair at all, even brushing right past them at arm's length.

As evening fell, they had no other choice than to set up camp in the wilderness. Fortunately, the spatial ring was stocked with everything imaginable, including several spare, plush, high-end beds.
Around six or seven in the morning, Xia Yan snapped his eyes open. Falling asleep easily during the night in this strange world was hard enough, let alone when countless people were gunning to hunt the two of them down.
Xia Yan's stirring seemed to rouse the pure-blood young miss from her slumber.
"Xia Yan, stop making a racket," Emilia grumbled irritably. "I don't wake up until nine in the morning. What time even is it right now?!"
Still in her pajamas, she looked thoroughly displeased. For someone accustomed to sleeping in until nine every morning, being jolted awake at six or seven was enough to drive her mad.
"We can't just stay parked here indefinitely, though," Xia Yan said glumly. He was genuinely touched that she had been willing to come and help him despite the trouble he had caused, but if they kept dragging their feet like this, two months wouldn't be nearly enough!
"Fine," Emilia puffed out her cheeks. "Xia Yan, we need to head to the Central Free Alliance. You'll have to go find a caravan and tag along with them. I refuse to walk the whole way—it'll work me to death. I want to ride in a carriage, understood?"
"With the way things are right now—surrounded by pursuers everywhere—how are we supposed to get to the Free Alliance?" Xia Yan questioned, puzzled. "Why don't we use a flying vehicle? Oh right, you don't have one in your ring!"
"Do you *want* to be wanted by the entire continent and openly broadcast that we dropped in from another dimension?" Emilia rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. Let's head to a nearby city and look for a merchant caravan heading to the Free Alliance. We're currently on the border of the Stein Empire, so we can reach one in a few days."
"What are we even going to the Free Alliance for?" Xia Yan asked, confused.
Although he understood that Emilia had brought him here to rapidly boost his strength, he remained completely in the dark about how that process was supposed to unfold.
"Why do you need to know every little detail? You couldn't accomplish anything on your own anyway," Emilia muttered under her breath. "Xia Yan, there are plenty of warrior guilds along the way that sell martial arts manuals. We can pick up some reference books as we travel, seeing as you cultivate along the lines of ancient martial arts anyway."
She continued, "As for the reason we're heading to the Free Alliance: we're going to find someone, and that person is going to teach you a set of martial arts!"
"Martial arts?" Xia Yan blinked in confusion.
"This particular set of martial arts is arguably the most powerful on the Star Continent. It was created a thousand years ago by Dorat, the founding emperor of the Stein Empire," Emilia explained briefly. "Worth noting is that learning this martial art requires pairing it with Dragon Douqi. So, Xia Yan, do you want to learn Douqi?"
"Douqi?" Xia Yan frowned. "Can Earthlings like us even learn that kind of bizarre power?"
"Of course not," Emilia shook her head. "You'd best avoid learning it. At its peak, Douqi only reaches the combat effectiveness of a tier-five or tier-six ability user. The drawbacks outweigh the benefits; frankly, it's still a flawed system compared to the physical conditioning of our Earth Federation."
"Then naturally, I won't learn it," Xia Yan replied, shaking his head. He didn't think Douqi was all that impressive anyway. Come to think of it, during his escape, he had bumped into several warriors wielding Douqi, and they had still gone flying at the slightest touch.
Had high-ranking warrior Truman heard those words, he probably would have wept himself to sleep in a restroom.
"Let's settle on that, then." Emilia stepped forward and reached out, gently caressing Xia Yan's cheek. Her hands felt as though they were drenched in morning dew, soft as water against his skin. Within moments, Xia Yan's appearance shifted subtly; overall, it wasn't drastically different from before, but it was enough to ensure he wouldn't be recognized as the wanted fugitive.
Following that, Emilia altered her own appearance as well. While it wasn't a massive transformation, it was sufficient to set her apart from the portraits plastered on the wanted posters.
"Also, from now on, you're to address me as 'Milady.' You are a servant I hired, understand?" Emilia instructed sternly.
"Do we really have to go that far?" Xia Yan's face twisted in dismay.
"Of course we do," Emilia huffed coldly. "Xia Yan, say it right now so I can hear. Quickly, quickly."