Chapter Ninety-Three: Heading to Azure City

Shen Hua, hearing Xia Zheng’s sobbing on the other end, felt a pang of sorrow as well. Ever since they had crossed that line, they had not seen one another again. She had even deliberately avoided Xia Zheng, afraid to face reality. But in that moment she understood clearly: Xia Zheng had not changed. Even now, he still placed her first as his teacher, yet he remained the same young man she had always admired.

“Idiot, why are you crying? Don’t act like a child. You’re a father now, so stop being so hopeless,” Shen Hua could not help but tease.

Xia Zheng froze for a moment, then understood. He wiped at the corner of his eyes and swallowed back the tears before asking about her and the child. Becoming a father by accident had filled him with both joy and guilt, not only toward Shen Hua but toward Nalan Sheng as well.

“Teacher... Sister Hua... what if I bring you back and have you live with my parents?” Xia Zheng suggested.

Shen Hua was silent for a moment, then asked, “And how do you plan to explain that to your little girlfriend, Nalan Sheng?”

“I’ll tell her the truth. On this matter, I’m the one who has wronged you. None of you has done anything wrong. I believe Shengsheng will understand,” Xia Zheng said firmly.

Shen Hua gave a soft “Mm” and ended the call. Yet this time, something was clearly different.

Xia Zheng put down his phone and began packing his personal belongings. Ten minutes later, he left the lounge. By then, all the morning matches had already ended. Two class-B-plus ability users had fought a brutal duel, and in the end one of them had barely managed to endure to the finish and advance. Starting from this round of qualifying, every battle had become much fiercer than before, and serious injuries had begun to appear, though fortunately no accidental deaths had occurred.

When he reached the venue entrance, Meng Hu and Nalan Sheng were already waiting. Xia Zheng accepted the congratulations and embraces of both women, then the three of them climbed into the car.

The main competition was held in the very heart of the federation, nearly a thousand kilometers from Bradia. By car, it would take about a day. However, the group stage would not begin for another seven days, so time was more than sufficient.

Xia Zheng decided to set out immediately for Azure City, rather than wasting time on the road. They had several drivers, so there was no need to worry about fatigue.

Also traveling with them to Azure City were the shadow guards and a few people responsible for meals and daily care. In all, there were four or five cars, and they set off together.

After seeing the subsequent reports, Xu Rongyi was also caught by the media in a weak spot. It was revealed that she had been entangled with the Delansor conglomerate and had received an unexplained transfer of ten million. The outlet that broke the story was the Kindle News Network. Xia Zheng and Nalan Sheng exchanged a knowing smile when they saw it; neither had expected that a casual move would bloom into such a result. The media outlet they had acquired was now not only growing in prestige, but also becoming increasingly formidable.

“That woman is truly deranged, actually keeping Brother locked in her stomach,” Nalan Sheng muttered as she lay on Xia Zheng, feeding him grapes while mocking Xu Rongyi.

Meng Hu used her lush thighs as a pillow for Xia Zheng and massaged his head as she chimed in, “Exactly. I was terrified back then. I thought Brother had been swallowed by that woman who looks like a man.”

Xia Zheng listened to the two women defending him while comfortably savoring the happiness that followed victory. This smooth advancement had brought him one step closer to the quarterfinals.

“Brother, are you really not planning to go further after the quarterfinals?” Nalan Sheng asked curiously.

Xia Zheng thought for a moment and replied, “I’ll see. My goal is to at least make it into the quarterfinals, but I’m not sure whether I’ll still have enough stamina after the first elimination round. That guy Lai An is no soft target.”

“That’s true. Brother doesn’t need to push himself,” Nalan Sheng said. Though she said so, she still very much hoped he could fight all the way to the final and even lift the championship trophy for the inaugural tournament.

The three of them chatted and ate along the way, as though they were on a leisurely trip, utterly at ease. Meng Hu was currently on leave and had already grown weary of the entertainment world since her debut. Still, because of the support of Claire, Zhang Ziqi, and the others, and because the Sky Ninja Company had invested heavily in her, she planned to repay that favor first and then step away once her agency found a new idol trainee.

Since passing her professional evaluation, Nalan Sheng had not yet formally begun her training journey. Instead, she had poured all her energy into Xia Zheng. This time, accompanying him through the tournament, she took care of everything in every possible way, leaving him with nothing to worry about.

“Yaoyao, once my side is done with the tournament, you need to arrange things in the entertainment industry as soon as possible. The three of us are all ability users, and you are also a demon race member. You’ve already cultivated for nine hundred years. True, when the demon race reaches a thousand years of cultivation, it often undergoes a complete transformation, but if you work twice as hard, maybe you won’t have to wait another hundred years. Our foundation lies in our own strength, not in anything else.” Xia Zheng felt it necessary to speak plainly as a friend. Otherwise, if Meng Hu became lost in worldly pleasures and sank into secular concerns, it would surely become something to lament in the future.

Meng Hu nodded. Ever since Xia Zheng had brought her out of the blessed grotto, she had indeed been dazzled by the mortal world before her. Compared with the bitter cultivation of her former life in seclusion, the world of the Azure Federation was like a dazzling new realm, making it all but impossible for her to return to that old ascetic existence.

Still, she understood the difference between herself and Xia Zheng, Nalan Sheng, and the others. As a demon race member, she possessed the advantage of longevity, but if she simply drifted through life in emptiness, she would eventually turn to dust all the same.

“Thank you for your guidance, Master. I will compose myself and redouble my cultivation,” Meng Hu said gratefully.

Xia Zheng nodded and said no more.

On the other side, Nalan Sheng asked about Xia Zheng’s plans after the tournament. He did not hide anything from her and said directly, “Shengsheng, I’ve long wanted to go to Eternal Night City. It carries too much of the federation’s suffering. My relatives, the relatives of my classmates, and even the relatives of your Nalan family—almost every family in the federation has, in one way or another, had someone fall in Eternal Night City. So long as Eternal Night City has not been reclaimed, that wound will keep bleeding. That is why I will join the war to reclaim it. Shengsheng, I will go first. You should keep strengthening yourself. When you have reached the level of a Class A ability user, we’ll fight side by side.”

“Mm, Brother. I’ll definitely catch up to you,” Nalan Sheng said, nodding as she hugged Xia Zheng’s arm tightly to her chest.

Meng Hu, unwilling to be outdone, wrapped herself around Xia Zheng’s other arm and said, “Master, take me with you. The three of us will fight side by side.”

Xia Zheng asked, “Yaoyao, Eternal Night City is a special place to Shengsheng and me. Reclaiming it is our long-cherished wish. What do you think?”

Meng Hu considered it and said, “Master, I’ve already decided to regard myself as a member of the Azure Federation. Naturally, I have my share in the war to reclaim it as well.”

Xia Zheng and Nalan Sheng exchanged a smile and naturally agreed to Meng Hu’s request. The three of them talked at length along the way, and the journey of more than ten hours passed before they knew it.

A day later, the group arrived at the heart of the federation—Azure City.

Azure City held a high political standing, but in terms of city scale and commercial development, it was not as large as a metropolis like Hyde Castle, much less the former supercity of Eternal Night City before its fall. Among major cities, it ranked only in the upper-middle range.

Even so, public order here was excellent, the citizens were highly educated, and the cultural industries were thriving. The Presidential Palace and the Ministry of Defense building stood on the eastern and western sides of the city, symbolizing the pinnacle of civilian and military authority.

The entire city was laid out in a classic cross shape, with four main arteries dividing it into the southeastern, southwestern, northeastern, and northwestern districts. At the very center stood the City Museum, one of its landmark structures. Its top floor housed an observation deck from which one could overlook the entire city.

The southern district was the most commercially developed, filled mainly with education, entertainment, and service industries; the pedestrian streets and shopping avenues were all located there. The northern district housed low-pollution light industry and various research institutes, along with many industrial parks. The western district contained government facilities and office towers; nearly all of the federation’s top five hundred companies had offices there. The eastern district was the military zone, permanently garrisoned by elite troops. Visitors were not permitted, and ordinary digital communication devices entering the area would suffer signal interference. Security was extremely strict.

The high-speed rail station sat on the outer ring road in the south of Azure City, with transfer access to Metro Line 12. After a few stops, one could reach the transportation hub of Baihui, where Lines 1 through 8 were available. It was very convenient.

Xia Zheng and the others entered the city from the east, where the streets were generally quiet. There was not much noise here, only a subdued atmosphere of offices and administration.

The main arena for the tournament was located in the southern district. Half a year earlier, the Professional League had negotiated with the federation and, through its ties to the Ministry of Defense, demolished roughly sixty-six acres of land to build the Professional League Arena, which would become the supreme sanctuary for all future ability-user competitions and events.

“So this is Azure City?” Xia Zheng had long seen it online, but seeing it in person was of course different. At the very least, his first impression was excellent. There was none of Hyde Castle’s clamor; instead, it carried a quiet scholarly air, along with an impression of elegance and simplicity.

Meng Hu was also here for the first time, though she seemed to long more for a bustling commercial culture than for this calm, bureaucratic style.

Nalan Sheng did not really mind, but she also seemed rather indifferent. It appeared that young people generally did not care much for such an atmosphere. That was hardly surprising: aside from teenagers still in school, the vast majority of those settled in Azure City were middle-aged or older, with the elderly making up the largest group.

“Shengsheng, where did you book the hotel?” Xia Zheng asked curiously.

Nalan Sheng showed him her phone and said, “The south has the most hotels, but it’s still a bit noisy there, which isn’t good for Brother’s rest and cultivation. The east is the military zone and doesn’t accept hotel bookings from ordinary people unless there’s a referral and certification from the Ministry of Defense. There are no hotels in the east; it’s mostly office space. So I booked us in the north. A family that gets along well with our Nalan family happens to have a hotel property there, so we can stay there. Driving to the southern arena will only take about half an hour.”

“Good, Sheng’er. Thank you. Without your care on this whole journey, I might not have had any time to rest or cultivate. It’s wonderful having you,” Xia Zheng said, kissing Nalan Sheng’s forehead.

Nalan Sheng was overjoyed. If Meng Hu had not been standing nearby, watching them with wounded jealousy, the two of them would have surely kissed passionately.

An hour later, Xia Zheng and the others formally checked into a five-star hotel in the northern district called Shanglin Garden. It was a villa-style hotel complex with the feel of a private estate. According to Nalan Sheng, a single night cost several tens of thousands.

Xia Zheng had originally intended to pay for it himself. After all, he had little use for money these days, and there was at least a hundred million in his storage pouch. But Nalan Sheng was unhappy with the suggestion and flatly refused. Xia Zheng spent half a day coaxing his girlfriend before swearing that, from then on, he would be nothing more than a little kept man living off Nalan Sheng’s generosity. Only then did Nalan Sheng finally agree with a smile.

Even so, Xia Zheng temporarily decided to set Shen Hua’s matter aside and wait until the tournament was over before bringing it up again.