Chapter 61: Gifting the Blade

"Speak."

Su Ming carried his long sword on his back, his figure thin in his gray robe.

He had a lot of patience for this girl.

"Brother Ming, why are you so powerful?" Lia asked very directly.

Upon hearing this, Su Ming just smiled slightly.

In his previous life, he was the God of Assassins; in this life, he is the God of Swords.

He could be considered a powerhouse with half a dual-god profession.

Should he tell her this secret too?

Impossible.

Even to Ji Yao, Su Ming wouldn't reveal it.

"Persistence."

Su Ming pondered for a moment.

He just said the two words calmly.

Actually, he didn't really believe in this answer himself.

Persistence?

There are too few things that persistence can change.

Talent is enough to crush everything.

A piece of trash with one-star talent, no matter how hard they try, cannot compare to a genius with ten-star talent.

An orphan without family power cannot compete on the same stage as those young masters from big families.

This world is constructed this way.

But... one must still persist.

Even if hope is out of reach, even if the probability is minuscule.

One must still persist.

Because as long as you persist, there can be hope.

And if you don't persist, there is no possibility at all.

These are the two extremes of possibility and impossibility.

In his previous life, even when Su Ming was forced into a dead end, he persisted in not handing over the Dao-Defying God Ring, choosing to perish with them.

That's why he was reborn.

This was the reward persistence gave him.

Su Ming chose to share this experience with her.

Perhaps they were just two insignificant words that couldn't bring her immediate results.

But when she heard these two words, she nodded seriously.

It seemed she had firmly engraved these two words in her heart.

If it were a human, they would certainly think that Su Ming was just using this as an excuse to brush her off.

And Su Ming did indeed think so.

But for a naturally pure demi-human, there weren't so many twists and turns in her mind.

Lia naturally took these two words as Su Ming's true answer.

And this was exactly her advantage.

Lia felt it was somewhat profound; her eyes were serious, yet she still only half-understood.

She knew that perhaps she would need to spend many years to understand what true persistence meant.

Once her village was slaughtered, she was homeless and lived in a daze every day.

But now, she had a direction to move forward and was no longer lost.

"I know, I will work hard in the direction you said!"

Her cat ears twitched slightly, and she seemed to be in high spirits, standing tall.

"Finally, I have one more thing!"

Afterward, she bowed deeply.

"Brother Su Ming, take me as your apprentice!"

"I want to become as powerful as you and learn your skills!"

"Especially that sword strike you used to kill the black-robed human; it was... too cool."

As she spoke, she looked like she was about to drool.

It was as if that wasn't a move, but some kind of delicacy.

Upon hearing this, Su Ming smiled calmly.

"Hehe, take you as an apprentice?"

"Sure."

"But I want to remind you, humans are very evil." ===== CHAPTER 152 =====

"We eat all kinds of creatures."

Su Ming's smile became increasingly evil in its nuance.

Like the devil Satan, he leaned closer and closer.

The sense of oppression also became stronger and stronger.

It made Lia feel a chill down her spine.

"Br... Brother Ming, don't scare me!"

She was a little afraid.

Su Ming, however, was very serious.

"I'm not joking."

"Humans are very terrifying; we eat demi-humans."

"Demi-humans like you are the ones our human race likes to eat the most."

"I can name dishes like braised duck necks, crispy cat ears, roasted eagle-girl legs, tiger-skin spiced chicken feet..."

Listening to these dish names, the bloody preparation process floated into Lia's mind.

She was so scared that her eyes turned red.

It was simply terrifying.

When the giant snake killed demi-human villagers, it just swallowed them whole; how could they be made into dishes!

It was simply too scary.

"Th... then I don't want to be an apprentice anymore, it's too terrifying."

"I don't want to go to the human world."

"The forest is more suitable for me!"

Her words were filled with a crying tone.

Su Ming's smile faded, but he was laughing his head off inside.

Teasing this little girl was too much fun.

However, what he said was indeed half-true.

In the human world, demi-humans are not well-received.

If he took her back, she would inevitably face cold stares from all sides.

It would cause a lot of trouble.

And among humans, there really are perverts who like to eat demi-humans.

Although they are a very small minority, they do exist.

If he took her back, her worldview would definitely collapse, staining her pure heart.

Su Ming didn't want to cause so much trouble, so he used this method to scare her away.

However, Su Ming wasn't completely heartless.

He took the Impersonator scroll out of his personal space.

At the same time, he also took out the black-robed man's black crystal dagger.

"I can't be your master for now."

"But I'll give you this skill scroll and the short blade."

Su Ming said, handing them over.

Lia had killed the corpse inside the giant snake's shed skin, indirectly saving his life.

He couldn't just do nothing.

He couldn't just brush her off because she was simple-minded.

Moreover, this could also be considered a kind of investment.

The principal of the First Middle School had once given him a Marrow-Strengthening Pill and a snake-skin black robe.

That was the principal's investment in him.

And now that he had resources, why couldn't he make an investment?

Su Ming had now become an investor.

Lia was a good seedling; he was planting a seed today, and if she could become a high-level assassin in the future, she could become a powerful combat force on his side.

That would be his cause.

It could be said to be a gamble.

The black crystal dagger was originally Gold High-Grade.

Now, it had been upgraded by Su Ming to Platinum Mid-Grade.

The new name was the Stone Silence Dagger.

And, it had no level restrictions.

Lia took it and scanned it.

"Pl... Platinum-tier!"

Her eyes lit up, and she was very excited.

Su Ming nodded.

"That's right, this blade is very sharp, you must use it carefully."

"And this scroll requires you to reach level 20 and be an Impersonator to practice."

"If you can reach the Second Rank, you can change your profession to Impersonator."

"If you can learn this skill... it means you have truly learned persistence."

"By then, perhaps we can meet again."

Su Ming said, pausing.

He wasn't sure if they could meet again either.

But Lia trusted Su Ming's words completely.

She gripped the scroll and the black dagger tightly, her eyes full of ambition.

"Um, okay."

"I will definitely persist and make you look at me with new eyes, Brother Ming."

"I want to become stronger and become your apprentice!"

She was very excited.

Looking up at the sky, the rain had dispersed, and the sunlight was falling, warm and pleasant.

Looking back, she looked ahead.

That thin, gray-robed young man had already disappeared without a trace.

In the forest, she was left alone.

She stood there, her eyes filled with a sense of loss.

Putting away the scroll, she drew the dagger.

"Now... what should I do?"

She felt a bit lonely and desolate.

A demi-human's mind is exactly the same as a human's, so they also feel bored and lonely.

But she was an optimist and soon cheered up.

Moreover, she was already very familiar with life in the forest.

This was the world most suitable for her growth.

"I'll kill wild beasts to level up!"

She decided firmly.

Afterward, she began her journey of leveling up.

With the Stone Silence Dagger, killing wild beasts was indeed twice the result with half the effort.

No one knew that she would later actually persist in leveling up alone in the forest for a year.

She had walked through almost all the forests in the surrounding area.

So much so that all the wild beasts in the vicinity were scared out of their wits when they saw her.

A new Beast King would be born here.

... ===== CHAPTER 153 =====