The Ultimate All-Rounder - Chapter 18: Apprenticeship

The man’s white clothes gently wafted in the breeze, with him brimming with a deity-like aura. Had they been in the past, the person would undoubtedly be regarded as an expert. However, they were in the 21st century, and in this age, everyone had a gun. Just take Quicksand, for example, each of their men was armed with a gun, but all the person had was a single sword.

There was a long dragon that was intricately carved onto the silvery-white scabbard of the sword, and its hilt was blue in color. Although the sword had yet to be removed from its sheath, it was already emitting an imposing aura.

“Red Abyss! It’s the famed sword, Red Abyss!” The leader spoke with a shaky voice. He was currently wearing a mask but had the mask not been there, one could definitely see the awe plastered over his face.

“It’s the world’s best swordsman, Yin…” The man in gray stopped abruptly, and silence once again washed over the area.

The scene was eerily quiet, and not a single person uttered a single word. Xia Tian looked at the man in gray with a look of confusion, as their words had suddenly been cut short. Heck, even the man in gray standing beside him had also stopped moving.

Splurt!

Fresh blood spewed out of the throats of two of the men in gray, and with that, the two crumpled. As they laid on the cold tarmac, the remaining man in gray shivered as he looked at his two companions.

“Take them away.” The man wearing white clothes calmly stated.

The remaining man in gray hastily dragged away his companions’ corpses. He did not dare to pause for a single moment. To him, this place was no different from the gates of hell, and he feared that the man in white would change his mind. Should that truly happen, he was dead for sure.

As the leader himself had already died to the swordsman’s hand, he dared not believe that he had any chance of escaping from the man in white.

Everything had occurred far too quickly. Xia Tian had not even processed the turn of events. Everything had happened in a blink of an eye, and Xia Tian did not even know what the man in white clothes had done.

“When did he even move?” Xia Tian stared at the man in white in horror. Although the man in white had saved him, he knew that he would end up just like the men in gray if the swordsman had truly wished for it.

……

“So, you must be Xia Tian.” The man in white shifted his gaze to Xia Tian.

“Yes sir! I’m Xia Tian.” Xia Tian fixated his gaze at the man.

“You look just like him, and you both share the same courage.” The man in white nodded his head in satisfaction.

“You know my father?” Xia Tian was certain that the man in white was referring to his father as he had already noticed his resemblance to his father a long time ago.

“I want you to shatter the largest gemstone on the necklace you’re wearing.” The person wearing white clothes vision was placed on the necklace on Xia Tian’s neck.

Hearing this, Xia Tian immediately kept his guard up and held the necklace tightly in his hands. After all, the necklace was the only thing his mother had left for him, so, how could he bear to break it.

“Calm down, that gemstone is something that your father added later on.” The man in white had seen through Xia Tian’s thoughts.

Xia Tian knitted his brows together. He, too, had felt that there was something out of place about that particular gemstone, since it was different from the others. However, he had chalked it up as part of the ornament and paid no heed to it ever since.

Nevertheless, now that he had heard the man in white’s words, he nodded his head and squeezed the particular gemstone with all his might. Unexpectedly, the gemstone shattered in a mere instant. It was not as tough as he had imagined it to be.

Once the gemstone was shattered, Xia Tian noticed that there was a thumb-sized wooden slip hidden by the gemstone.

Seeing this, Xia Tian had a sudden revelation. This was the item that Quicksand had been searching for, but what struck him as weird was why his father chose to hide it in that.

“Your father hoped that you’d protect it, and at the same time, also wishes that you’ll live a normal life. Since your father was certain that you’d protect the necklace, he decided to put the item inside the necklace too,” the man in white explained casually.

“Tian’er, if one day you’re met with danger or severely wounded, put this on. This was left by your mother for you.”

These were the words that his father had told him before handing him the necklace. Previously, he had thought of the words as a piece of advice that the necklace could cure wounds. However, now that he gave it some more thought, his father was probably hinting about the wooden slip as well.

“What kind of person was my father like?” Xia Tian had been dying to ask this question, but he had never gotten the chance as no one except his aunt had ever met his father. Besides that, his aunt had also never spoken anything regarding his parents as well.

“He hopes that you’ll live a good and peaceful life. He hopes that you’ll enjoy the life of a normal human, and as such, I can only tell you one thing. Your father was a great man.” The man wearing white clothes placed his gaze onto Xia Tian’s body.

“Do you really think that I can still live a normal life? My world has already been turned upside down!” Ever since Xia Tian was met with the accident, he felt as if he had entered a brand-new world.

Back then, his only view of the world was the plainest version of it. He would constantly work and constantly study, but once the accident happened, his life had changed.

“I know, that is why I’m here.” The man in white inched closer to Xia Tian. “Why don’t you become my apprentice.”

“You want me to become your apprentice?” Xia Tian stared at the man in white in surprise. He could at least tell that the man in white was a true expert, and Old Fan, Shan, and the three Quicksand members did not hold a candle to him.

Besides that, the person also had some kind of connection with his father. As such, if he wished to determine the cause of his father’s death, he needed to learn from the man in white.

“Xia Tian is now in your care, master.” Xia Tian got down on one knee.

“Well received. I know that there are only six days left to the NCEE, and in accordance with your father’s wishes, I only need you to be here once school’s over. Whatever you’re able to absorb within these six days would then depend on you.” After giving his instructions, the man in white turned around and walked away.

It was only after the man in white had left Xia Tian’s sight did Xia Tian finally get back up. When that happened, Ceng Rou hurriedly came over to help Xia Tian up as well.

“Are you alright?” Ceng Rou did not bother asking who the person was. Her only thought right now was about Xia Tian’s safety.

“I’m fine. Let’s leave this place.” Xia Tian still needed to attend school, and since the NCEE was approaching fast, he did not want to spend any more time lingering around in his old house. Also, he wanted to know how well he scored in the mock test yesterday under his enhanced condition.

“Let me call my driver over.” Ceng Rou turned on her phone and noticed that there were hundreds of missed calls. However, she paid no mind to them, and instead dialed her driver’s number.

Twenty minutes later, the car had reached Xia Tian’s house. With that, Xia Tian then carried Ceng Rou’s daughter into Ceng Rou’s car.

The ride was extremely quiet. Ceng Rou did not know what to say to Xia Tian, whereas Xia Tian did not wish to talk. Seeing how peaceful Ceng Rou’s daughter was sleeping, Xia Tian tried to avoid any ruckus that would disrupt her sleep.

“Her name’s Tian Tian.” Ceng Rou had finally mustered up the courage to speak.

“Tian Tian? Wow, what a coincidence, my name’s Xia Tian, and she’s called Tian Tian.” Xia Tian’s lips curled into a smile. His destiny had indeed intertwined with Lil Tian Tian’s in many ways.

“Yeah, you’ve already saved her twice after all.” Ceng Rou then spoke in a soft voice. “I’ll pick you up at night.”

“Nah, there’s no need. I can go back by myself. The man doesn’t really like company.” The man that Xia Tian was referring to was the man in white.

“Alright then, I’ll hold you a celebration feast once the NCEE ends.” Ceng Rou knew that Xia Tian was about to be busy learning martial arts from the man in white these next few days. As such, she had chosen to hold the celebration only after Xia Tian had completed his exams. “It’ll also serve as a reward for saving us.”

Seeing the mellow expression of Ceng Rou, Xia Tian did not have the heart to reject the offer. “Alright then.”

Ceng Rou handed her business card to Xia Tian. Xia Tian did not need to deal with the police as he knew Ceng Rou would handle the matter for him. After all, these matters were but a small trifle for Ceng Rou.

As per Xia Tian’s instructions, the car did not stop in front of the school gates. Xia Tian did not wish for anyone to see him arriving in such a luxurious vehicle.

Instead, the car had stopped at a small street behind the school. With that, Xia Tian made his way towards the school. However, when he entered the school, he realized that everyone was giving him strange looks, and everyone was speaking in hushed tones.

“That’s Xia Tian. Have you guys heard? I heard that he molested the number one tyrant in our school, Huo Lajiao.”

“Why wouldn’t we hear about it? Also, I heard that he defeated all Four Guardian Warriors of Xu Shaochong as well.”

“Well, I heard that Xu Shaochong went to the hospital for some unknown reason yesterday. I think it had something to do with Xia Tian as well.”

The students were avoiding Xia Tian like the plague. It seemed that everyone was deathly afraid of Xia Tian. While Xia Tian was an impressive scholar in the past, very few people had actually known about him.

However, that was no longer the case, as nearly everyone in Jianghai High School knew about him. Students from upper one to upper three ¹ were constantly gossiping about Xia Tian.

The two most famous persons in Jianghai High School had been Huo Lajiao and Xu Shaochong. However, Xia Tian had managed to anger both of them in a single day. First, he had defeated Xu Shaochong’s Four Guardian Warriors, and then he ticked off Huo Lajiao.

Despite that, Xia Tian paid no mind to the gossipers. Instead, he immediately made his way into class. Today, almost everyone was present, and the moment Huo Lajiao spotted Xia Tian, she excitedly headed his way. “Master, why are you so early today?”

Once the students heard that, they immediately shot a sidelong glance at Xia Tian. They were wondering how he ended up as Huo Lajiao’s master.

“Don’t call me that! I’m not your master.” Xia Tian furrowed his brows as he said so. He shot a glance at Wenya and noticed that she was in a rough state. Regardless, he did not mention anything.

Xu Shaochong’s illness was not something that could be easily treated, and since young, he had studied many things from his father, including acupuncture.

The school bell rang, and the homeroom teacher then walked into class. Trailing behind the homeroom teacher was the school’s principal, along with three teachers in formal attire. Xia Tian had never seen these three teachers before.

The three teachers were around the age of forty to fifty, and each of them were wearing glasses. Together with the principal, they sat at the furthest corner of the classroom.

This time, Huo Lajiao did not play truant, and instead, she slept at the back row of the class, showing no sign of respect to the principal. Although the three teachers were not amused at Huo Lajiao’s actions and had shot glares at Huo Lajiao, they did not say anything about her behavior.