"Nope! Don't even think about it! I refuse to have any trade!" The moment Ye Qi heard the word trade, he responded immediately with a headshake.
"Don't knock it even before you hear it! I swear the trade this time is good for you and me both! As long as you can find the third statuette in this tower, your power will increase so much that the kid earlier wouldn't even be your match anymore!" The weird wolf continued, showing no signs of being deterred by the young Demon Hunter.
"Indeed, that is a good deal but…" Ye Qi's lips turned into a condescending smile, "I value my life even more! You want me to steal from the Demon Hunter headquarters? You think I'm crazy or you've already sought out your next partner and couldn't wait for me to die?"
Even though the young Demon Hunter was surprised that there would another one of the weird statuettes inside the Tower of Thorns, he was not crazy enough to attempt a theft in the headquarters.
The young man from before was reason enough for Ye Qi to stay his hand! Furthermore, the young Demon Hunter didn't think the Mo Lei was all the Tower of Thorns had to offer in terms of its defence!
"Why would you say that?! We're soul bound partners, remember…" The weird wolf's voice petered off. Silence stretched for several minutes after that and when Ye Qi thought the weird wolf had departed, the creature suddenly opened his lips to say, "But if there is a way to safely acquire this third statuette, will you do it?"
"Of course!" Ye Qi answered immediately but another question followed, "But don't tell me you have a way to help me do that?"
"Temporarily no!" For the first time, Ye Qi heard the sound of helplessness in the weird wolf's voice, "But, I'm sure I will come up with a solution soon!"
"Good luck then!" Ye Qi replied and this time the weird wolf had truly disappeared.
The young Demon Hunter moved the candle to beside his bed as he pulled open the Gorgon's Eye and continued reading from where he left off.
The prison was dark and silent.
With the Gorgon's Eye as company, the one week wouldn't feel long or so Ye Qi thought, because, when the candle almost burned to its end and the young Demon Hunter approached the guard who sent in the meal for a replacement, the guard told him, the candle was supposed to last Ye Qi for a week. In other words, the candle was the only light source the young Demon Hunter was going to have for the entire week, if it was finished, then he would need to live in the dark.
Ye Qi's phone, torchlight and even his watch with LED lights were confiscated. Ye Qi not only had lost his source of light, but also his ability to keep track of time other than counting the days using the number of meals he had eaten in his cell.
Today is just the second day? I feel like it has been a year, though this does make me wonder what kind of other punishment they serve here.
Ye Qi munched on his lunch in the dark and wiped his mouth helplessly. He could barely see two feet before himself, couldn't tell time and the food served was horrendous—a cup of water and a black coloured bread was supposed to last him for a full day.
All these grievances combined made the young Demon Hunter want to yell in frustration! However, Ye Qi understood that it would only exhaust his energy that he needed to preserve—a piece of bread the size of a child's palm was indeed not enough to last an adult like Ye Qi for a full day.
He tossed the last piece of black bread into his mouth and chewed forcefully on it. Then, Ye Qi washed it down with a full swig of the glass of water. Ye Qi then jumped out of bed with his eyes closed, his right hand on the hilt of his sword.
Ye Qi stood like a statue in the dark until his fingers on the sword suddenly trembled. The sword then slashed through the darkness of his cell before it finally arced into a tip, pointing straight into the darkness.
This was the decision the young Demon Hunter made after he realized he was not going to get another candle—to practice his Cold Steel and Blind Fighter skills. Of course, there was nothing else Ye Qi could have done in his situation. To preserve his energy, Ye Qi didn't force himself into his usual practice routine of swinging his sword 1000 times but he thought about the fights he had been in and slowly envisioned the mistakes that he could have avoided in those matches. He revised his swordplay in his mind before putting the necessary adjustment in real life.
"Skill: Cold Steel Proficiency +1…"
Initially, Ye Qi did this merely to pass time, however, when the system audio sounded in his mind, Ye Qi widened his eyes in shock—in the three months before he was supposed to travel to the Demon Hunter headquarters, Ye Qi had practised hard on his skills attempting to level them up. His focus was naturally Cold Steel and Firearms since they were also the skills he used the most. However, no matter how hard he tried, the level of these two skills refused to budge, but from what he learned that day, it seemed like that was because his direction of practice was wrong all along.
Could this punishment be a blessing in disguise? Looks like the week wouldn't be so boring for the young Demon Hunter after all…
After Cold Steel Proficiency improved to 2, it was like Ye Qi was shot with a pack of stimulant. This was because this was more than a mere increase in skill level, he was taught an important lesson as well—the increase in skill was not dependent on time but concentration and effort! With enough concentration and effort, his attempt at skill mastery levelling would be much smoother in the future.
Even though the cell was dark, Ye Qi felt like a door heading towards a bright future was opening before him…
"Skill: Cold Steel Proficiency +1…"
"Skill: Cold Steel Proficiency +1…"
"Skill: Cold Steel Proficiency +2…"
Each time the system audio sounded in the young Demon Hunter's mind, it provided a brand new shot of motivation, pushing Ye Qi again and again into his focused training so much so that the young Demon Hunter had already completely forgotten about his tiredness and lethargy…
Time flew exceptionally fast when one was focused.
When the system audio informed Ye Qi that his Cold Steel Proficiency had increased to 18, the door to his cell swung open.