Chapter One: A Difficult Choice

The Second District, the territory of the demon race.

The total area of each district differs little from the others, each built on the scale of a defensive base, with a population of roughly one hundred million. Cities are separated from city to city, or town to town.

When Xia Yan left, Gong Kui gave him two potions and cautioned him that taking them would be dangerous, and that he should think carefully before using them.

These two potions had been exchanged for Xia Yan’s remaining contribution points, together with the reward for resolving the crisis in Fu Xiang City. In Gong Kui’s words, the value of these two potions was beyond question.

Xia Yan did not even know what they did. He only knew that if he were to use them, he must drink both at once; he could not take only one.

Gong Kui also said that before taking the potions, he had to be certain he was not seriously injured. They were not forbidden potions that enhanced strength at a cost; their type was highly unusual.

If he could not prevail, then before the worst came to pass, he was to swallow those two potions.

At the border of the demon district, someone had long been waiting for Xia Yan. Without that person, he would not have been able to pass the identity check and enter the demon district at all.

The woman waiting there was Lily, Emilia’s housekeeper. She was a young woman in her early twenties, with a delicate and pleasant face, and she wore the uniform of a housekeeper without the fierce air common to those with power.

With her guidance, the journey went smoothly. No one questioned Xia Yan’s identity at any point, and before long they arrived at their destination city.

Lost City, one of the nine cities of the demon race, had a population of more than eleven million. Compared with the Ninth District, the Second District had slightly fewer city bases, but each city was correspondingly much larger.

“Human, get out. We’ve arrived.” Lily’s voice was rather cold. She held little affection for humans, especially outsiders like Xia Yan.

The buildings in Lost City were somewhat archaic, yet did not lack a sense of technology. Clearly they had been deliberately designed in a Nordic style, with sharply angled roofs that drew the eye.

Walking through the streets, Xia Yan felt no real difference from ordinary cities. The people here looked, at the very least, human. As for how many were actually human, he could not tell.

The lives of ordinary people were not much different from those in the Ninth District. Everyone had their own work, and lived peacefully and contentedly. Aside from the need to avoid demons, there was nothing else they needed to be especially careful about.

What did surprise Xia Yan, however, was Emilia’s residence.

She had actually set aside a private estate of her own within the city, a lush artificial forest. And at the very center of that forest stood her manor, a villa in a distinctly Western style.

A small river ran around the villa, its waters clean and clear to the bottom. At this moment, that pureblood demon was sitting in a delicate little boat, basking lazily in the sun.

It was only that her skin was too fair; no matter how long she lounged there, it would hardly ever take on a bronze hue.

She opened her eyes with a teasing smile, stood up, and in a flash appeared beside Xia Yan. Her appearance was much the same as before: her gaze as deep as the night sky, her temper unpredictable, her whole being possessing a charm unlike that of ordinary women, eerie yet seductive, perfectly in keeping with the image of a pureblood.

“Lily, go ahead and leave. I need to speak with this human,” Emilia said to the housekeeper.

“Yes, my lady.” Lily gave Xia Yan a somewhat peculiar look, then quickly withdrew.

Emilia leaned in closer. She was now only a breath away from Xia Yan, and with those profound, uncanny eyes she stared straight at him, as though she meant to see through his heart.

Xia Yan was not well suited to meeting this woman’s gaze, so he simply turned his head and looked into the distance.

Emilia had always been rather delicate. At that moment she sniffed lightly, showing no trace of a pureblood’s dignity, like a child as she moved a little closer still to Xia Yan.

Yet a strange look had entered her eyes, mixed with a hint of teasing.

Xia Yan frowned and reached out, intending to seize her shoulder, but when his hands touched her, a wave rippled outward, blocked by an unknown force.

“Who allowed you to touch me?” Emilia said unhappily. “Xia Yan, you’re carrying something strange. Take it out and let me see.”

“What strange thing?” Xia Yan asked in confusion.

“It should be potions,” Emilia said with a smile. “If I’m not mistaken, one is a potential potion, and the other is an extreme-limit potion.”

“These were given to me by Gong Kui, one of each.” Xia Yan hesitated, then still asked, “What do they do?”

“There are some materials that even our Earth Federation cannot obtain, such as the core ingredients in these two potions. Xia Yan, you know about demons, yes? Beyond the layer of space where the demons dwell, certain mysterious materials can sometimes leak out. I won’t go into the details.”

Emilia said, “A potential potion can increase brain domain development by three percent. An extreme-limit potion can increase bodily development by three percent. But for an awakened ability user, bodily development can never exceed half of brain domain development, and the extreme-limit potion must obey the same rule. Also, these two kinds of potions only have an effect if the user’s brain domain development is below fifty percent.”

Xia Yan was startled. He had never imagined such things existed. Within the institute, he had never once heard of such intelligence; probably even the instructors and guardians of the institute did not know.

“However, because these are not materials of our world, they have major flaws,” Emilia went on. “They are so rare that even among the various races, very few people can use them, let alone sell them. They have also never been assigned a grade by the Earth Federation. They are effectively priceless treasures.”

“So precious?” Xia Yan was astonished. Although Gong Kui had explained a little, he had never imagined the value of these two potions was so high.

“Of course.” Emilia smiled. “But these potions also have a defect: drinking them may prove fatal.”

“Fatal?” Xia Yan asked. Gong Kui had also said there was risk in taking them.

“Take our demon race, for example. Our bloodline determines the extent to which we can cultivate. Some people’s limit is fifty percent brain domain development, some reach sixty percent, and those a little weaker may only reach forty percent.”

Emilia explained, “If an ordinary clan member wants to use such a potion to raise brain domain development, but the increase exceeds his limit, then he will die. The potential-boosting potion is like that. The extreme-limit potion is even more dangerous, far more so than the former.”

“And when humans use them, the danger is greater than for other races,” Emilia said seriously. “A human’s limit cannot be measured. One could say anything is possible, but that is by no means good news for taking such potions. A genius among humans might still die after drinking one. On this point, other races are at least somewhat better.”

“I see.” Xia Yan frowned inwardly.

“Also, each person can use at most three of the potential-boosting potions and the extreme-limit potions combined. The second dose is more dangerous than the first, and there must be a long interval before taking it again. By the same logic, by the fourth dose, even if it does not kill you outright, it will have no effect at all.”

“My brain domain development and bodily development are equal, so then this extreme-limit potion would be meaningless, wouldn’t it? Why did Gong Kui give me this potion as well?” Xia Yan was very puzzled. According to Emilia, if his brain domain development were thirty percent, then the maximum bodily development he could raise with the extreme-limit potion would only be fifteen percent.

“You are a special case. Your bodily development and brain domain development are the same, and even in my eyes, you still need to take the two together.” Emilia thought for a moment. “Since your bodily development and brain domain development are equal, they must remain equal. Once imbalance appears, greater hidden dangers may arise.”

“All right.” Xia Yan had no particular objection to that explanation.

“In ten days, your duel with Ai You will take place in the large arena of Lost City. The matter will be announced to the demon race, and everyone will be able to come watch.”

Emilia said, “Xia Yan, if you can win, I will let you off. But there is one thing you must obey.”

“What is it?” Xia Yan asked.

“Turn on your light-brain. I will send a video to it.” Emilia opened her light-brain and sent a packet of data to Xia Yan.

Xia Yan nodded, turned on his light-brain, and saw that the video was of Gong Kui’s graduation speech. He watched it carefully, not missing a single word.

“Because of this video, this duel is no longer ordinary. It has become a provocation between races. Your battle with Ai You will be watched by many people, both among the demon race and among humans.” Emilia said coldly. “Xia Yan, if you kill Ai You, then I can only interpret that as you having challenged the entire demon race. I will have to give an account to the whole clan, and you will certainly die. If I spare you, then our demon race will become the laughingstock of many forces.”

This video had undoubtedly driven Xia Yan to the edge of a cliff, becoming the most terrifying shackle upon him.

But perhaps not. Perhaps Xia Yan had accepted Gong Kui’s terms precisely because he knew this. Otherwise, with his mind, he would not have blindly agreed to such a foolish condition.

Perhaps from the very beginning, he had already decided how he would act.

“So, Xia Yan, you cannot kill her. You may win, and I may spare you, but this one point you must obey.” Emilia fixed him with her gaze. “Now agree to my condition!”

Xia Yan remained silent. Though the pureblood was angered, she was not the sort to cling and hound endlessly.

“Xia Yan, I’ll say this one last time. If you kill her, you may gain the trust of humanity, but you will still have to die. Because for you to live is an insult to our demon race. But if you do not kill her, and simply win this match, then perhaps your identity will still be questioned, yet there remains a chance to clear your name. You should understand what you must do if you want to survive!”

With that, the pureblood turned and departed, leaving behind one final sentence.

“Xia Yan, stay in my home for these ten days. Vivi will take you to your room. If you can win the duel ten days from now and survive, there are some things I need to say to you.”

For the next ten days, Xia Yan devoted himself to honing his ancient martial arts techniques. Though he did not have Blue Qing teaching him, his solitary study still brought substantial progress. Throughout all of this, Emilia never once paid him any heed, nor said a single word to him.

And so ten days passed, until at last the year-long agreement between Xia Yan and Ai You, the former institute director, finally began. Through ten days of publicity, the duel had already become widely known and the subject of fervent discussion.