Chapter 126: None Most Handsome, Only More Handsome

What is most important when top-tier experts clash?! Long after the event, a reporter from the Imperial Capital Daily asked this very question of the great Lord Vladiro.

If you posed this to those legendary powerhouses who once shook the world with their might, they would answer without a moment's hesitation: Divine Skills! Only ancient divine skills are the absolute guarantee of invincibility on the continent!

However, Chu Tian’s answer was entirely different. He gave a reply that left the continent's historians racking their brains in futile bewilderment for over ten thousand years: When experts duel, the quality of the blade is the most important thing!

A golden sword qi lunged straight toward Chu Tian. The caster of the sword qi glared at him with gnashing teeth, rushing forward in tandem with the razor-sharp energy. Evidently, the mage who had been knocked unconscious moments ago must have been a close friend of this swordsman.

For some inexplicable reason, whenever Chu Tian had encountered danger in the past, an unfathomable power within his body would always emerge to save his life. This time, however, he found that his body remained completely unresponsive.

The fierce gale generated by the sword qi had already shredded Chu Tian’s clothes, causing him to close his eyes in utter despair. Purely out of instinct, he raised the Judgment Blade to block the oncoming strike.

Clang~~~~ Puff~~~ Clatter~~~ Clatter~~~~ Thud~~~ Thud~~~~

A bizarre sequence of sounds snapped Chu Tian back from the brink of despair. He opened his eyes and gasped, "Praise the Goddess of Life~!" To maintain his covert identity, Chu Tian had refrained from praising the Goddess for quite some time, but today, he simply could not help himself. Then, he hurriedly added, "And praise the Judgment Blade!"

Although he had his eyes shut a moment ago, the gruesome scene before him allowed Chu Tian to vividly reconstruct the sequence of sounds. *Clang* was the sound of the swordsman’s longsword being sheared cleanly in half by the Judgment Blade. *Puff* occurred because the swordsman's forward momentum was too great; once his weapon snapped, his body impaled itself directly onto the blade, slicing him neatly into two halves. *Clatter* and *thud* were the respective sounds of the broken sword and the corpse hitting the ground.

Everyone present—whether it was combatants like Davis and Gatter, or mere spectators like Locke and Julia—was utterly dumbfounded! Knocking out a fifth-tier mage with a single blow, and then cleaving a sixth-tier swordsman in twain with another—just what level of strength did that require? At the very least, seventh-tier professionals like Davis and Gatter knew they could never pull off such a feat!

The Judgment Blade currently looked entirely unremarkable. Consequently, no one suspected that Chu Tian owed his life to this very weapon. In the eyes of the onlookers, the scene had unfolded rather differently: a sixth-tier swordsman charged forward, and Chu Tian, calm and collected, waited until the sword qi tore his garments apart before casually executing a sixth-tier expert with a single stroke!

"Mother of mine~!" The first to snap back to reality was the bandit leader. He hammered the ground with a fist the size of a boulder and exclaimed, "Could he be the supreme master my mother always talked about?!"

"Go deal with that rogue. I can handle Davis by myself!" Under the quiet pressure of Chu Tian’s gaze, the tide of battle was slowly turning against Gatter. Consequently, he ordered the twin-headed wolf at his side to target Chu Tian.

"Got it," the twin-headed wolf replied lazily. It sauntered leisurely toward Chu Tian. Instead of launching an immediate attack, however, it lowered its body, smoothed down the fur on its flank with its hind paws, and muttered incessantly, "I am never taking a job like this again. Fighting all the time just messes up my coat."

Chu Tian narrowed his eyes and stowed his blade away. Dealing with a magical beast of this caliber could not be resolved by mere luck alone. Chu Tian had witnessed how the twin-headed wolf had handled Davis earlier; this creature did not rely on magic or battle qi, but rather on sheer speed and razor-sharp fangs and claws.

Although Chu Tian was no slouch in the speed department, he still stood no chance against a magical beast that naturally evolved for velocity. Furthermore, the physical resilience granted to him by the Dragon Emperor’s blood was definitely no match for the claws and teeth of a tier-seven magical beast. Therefore, Chu Tian knew full well that he was no match for this wolf.

"Haha, what a magnificent beast!" Chu Tian narrowed his eyes and smiled. Since the wolf was in no rush to attack, he was in no hurry either. "Might I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

"Are your damn eyes blind? You call this magnificent?" The twin-headed wolf snapped back at Chu Tian, baring its fangs. "I am a male! You should be calling me handsome~!" As it spoke, its main head swayed back and forth, oozing supreme arrogance. Unfortunately, the festering, withered little second head perched beside it completely ruined the ambiance.

"Oh! Handsome! Very handsome!" Chu Tian nearly broke out in goosebumps. For a male wolf to be this narcissistic was truly nauseating. "Hehe, you are the most handsome wolf I have ever laid eyes on." At this moment, Chu Tian desperately yearned for his own pets. If even the weakest AK were present right now, young master Chu wouldn't have had to demean himself by shamelessly flattering this mutt.

"Are you telling the truth?" The twin-headed wolf's deep blue eyes instantly lit up.

"Of course it's the truth! I swear on the name of the God of Death!" Since Chu Tian’s current persona was that of a rogue, his oaths naturally had to invoke the God of Death.

"Hmph, you actually have quite an eye for aesthetics!" The twin-headed wolf accepted the compliment with an air of haughty dignity, then declared, "You may address me as Lucina—the most dashing and handsome Lucina."

"Greetings, Mr. Lucina..."

Before Chu Tian could finish, he was cut off. Lucina announced, "Seeing as you possess such fine taste, I shall grant you the privilege of committing suicide!"

Praise the Goddess of Life! Chu Tian was furious, thinking to himself: *I spent all that time kissing your ass, and the grand reward I get is permission to commit suicide? What the hell? You genetically mutated bastard, just you wait...*

"Please wait a moment!" Chu Tian waved his hands and said, "Well, I know Mr. Lucina is already exceptionally handsome, but wouldn't you like to become even more dazzling?" Chu Tian batted his eyelashes and coaxed the twin-headed wolf with a sincere expression.

"I can become even more handsome? Hahahaha!" Lucina burst into wild laughter. "Impossible! I am already absolute perfection."

*Genetic mutation coupled with schizophrenia! And extreme narcissism to boot!* Chu Tian mentally added a few more descriptors to his evaluation of the wolf.

"Hehe," Chu Tian forced a ingratiating smile while dropping a heavy hint. "I can help you get rid of some minor flaws on your body!" As he spoke, Chu Tian’s gaze drifted toward Lucina’s festering, withered little second head.

*Hiss~~~~* Lucina let out a muffled breath. The wolfish eye on its main head turned completely bloodred. If anyone else had dared to allude to its lesser head, they would likely have been torn to shreds already. However, since Chu Tian claimed he could help make it even more "perfect," Lucina felt a twinge of temptation. "Can you really do it?"

"Of course I can!" Chu Tian stated with absolute confidence. "And I can do it immediately!"

Lucina hesitated for a moment, then turned its head to look at the two factions still locked in combat, saying, "However, I gave my word to Gatter. I promised to help him wipe out everyone in the Tempest Mercenary Corps..."

"We aren't with the Tempest Mercenary Corps!" Chu Tian pointed directly at Locke. "Captain, hurry up and take out our mercenary badge!"

After inspecting the badges of a few members, Lucina nodded and said, "Stay out of the battle below. Wait for me right here!"

Consequently, Chu Tian stood off to the side to enjoy the spectacle of the ongoing skirmish. With Chu Tian’s withdrawal, Davis and his remaining companions found themselves increasingly overwhelmed by the pincer attack from Gatter and Lucina.

"Andy, are we really not going to help Captain Davis?" Seeing the members of the Tempest Mercenary Corps fall one after another, Julia felt a pang of sympathy.

Help them? *Hmph!* Chu Tian cursed inwardly: *These bastards were all trying to hunt me down; it would be best if every last one of them died here!* Outwardly, however, he explained, "This is a private affair between two mercenary corps. According to mercenary code, we cannot interfere."

"That's right, such a rule does indeed exist!" Locke echoed Chu Tian's sentiment.

Before long, very few members of the Tempest Mercenary Corps remained standing. In the end, only the non-combatant Alun and Davis were captured alive.

Once Lucina and Gatter concluded the battle, they conferred for quite some time. Ultimately, Lucina approached Chu Tian holding a crystal card and the unconscious Alun. "You carry this one!" With that, the limp form of Alun was tossed unceremoniously in front of Locke.

"All of you, follow me!" Lucina clamped the crystal card in its jaws and turned to leave, though it did not forget to toss a parting threat at Chu Tian, "If you fail to deliver, I'll eat the lot of you!"

Led by Lucina, Chu Tian and his three companions journeyed for the better part of a day, moving away from the main highway of the Duchy of Rohr and deep into a sprawling mountain range.

*Awooo~~~~* The moment they entered the mountains, Lucina let out a resonant wolf howl. Not long after, hundreds of giant wolves bounded out from the surrounding woods and ravines.

At their head was an aging wolf with grizzled, greyish-white fur. It trotted up to Lucina, lowered its body respectfully, and said, "Young master, you've returned."

"Mm!" Lucina grunted a brief acknowledgment, then raised its chin to indicate Chu Tian's trio. "Tell a few of the sturdier lads to carry them the rest of the way! These humans walk far too slowly."

Riding wolves at a dead gallop was an ordeal Chu Tian was already accustomed to; after all, he owned hundreds of frenzied wolves himself and would occasionally ride them for a spin when he was bored. Locke and Julia, however, lacked such experience. While Locke possessed a sturdy physique capable of enduring the jostling, Julia’s delicate frame quickly wore down under the strain. In the end, there was no alternative: Chu Tian had to share a wolf mount with Julia to resolve the issue.

After traveling for another half a day, an unassuming earthen hill loomed before Chu Tian. "We have arrived!" announced Lucina. It then instructed the grizzled old wolf that had been trailing closely behind it, "I am going to see my father; you find a place to settle them first!" With that, Lucina vanished into a cavernous entrance.

"Respected guests, please follow me!" The old wolf led Chu Tian and the others into a separate cave, explaining, "These are the quarters where we accommodate human guests."

Taking in the interior of the cavern, Chu Tian clicked his tongue in silent amazement. This was no wolf den; it was practically a luxurious nobleman's guest suite! Although this cave still paled in comparison to Chu Tian’s ducal estate, it was fully stocked with tables, chairs, beds, cabinets, fine wine, and delicate pastries—all of high quality. Even minor nobles of the Caesar Empire lived no better than this.

For a moment, Chu Tian felt as though he hadn't stepped into a den of beasts, but rather the manor of some prominent aristocratic family, and that Lucina was none other than the young master of the house.