"I was waiting for you."
A woman cloaked entirely in darkness responded to him.
Black hair, black dress, and eyes so black they bordered on excessive. Apart from her starkly pale face and blood-red lips that seemed ominously vivid, she resembled nothing less than a Dark Night Elf walking through the shadows of night.
"Why were you waiting for me?" Xiao Zhan frowned.
Ye Youlong gave a wicked smile, lifting her long legs and crossing them casually. Her perfectly smooth, white thighs became exposed in large swathes to the cool air.
But she didn't seem to care in the slightest.
She took a sip of her strong coffee.
"Your awakening is over now, isn't it? So, how did it go, did you end up as an F-tier?"
"How do you know that?"
"Your face has already given me the answer."
Xiao Zhan's voice turned cold, "That has nothing to do with you, so please leave now."
"Haha... *cough, cough*..." Ye Youlong let out a sultry, mocking laugh, but perhaps she laughed too intensely, as she couldn't help coughing twice.
Her complexion turned even paler.
"Of course, it has everything to do with me."
"What do you mean?" Hearing this, Xiao Zhan frowned deeply and stared at her with fierce determination.
Ye Youlong stood up and slowly walked toward Xiao Zhan, her eyes locked with his.
She wanted to seem towering and imposing, but her height fell short of Xiao Zhan's, forcing her to abandon the attempt.
"You were injured by my Scythe Energy. Do you think that has nothing to do with me?"
"You're that scythe!"
Xiao Zhan's pupils contracted fiercely, radiating disbelief!
Just recently, while he was out enjoying himself with Jiang Xian'er, they had stumbled upon a battle between a black scythe and a Demon Beast. The scythe was pitch black, nearly three meters long, its attacks sharp and relentless, emanating a soul-devouring power.
Sensing danger, Xiao Zhan had grabbed Jiang Xian'er, intending to leave, but Jiang Xian'er refused to heed his warning and approached instead.
The scythe had unleashed a wave of Scythe Energy targeting Jiang Xian'er.
Seeing that Jiang Xian'er was about to be struck down.
In an act of desperation, Xiao Zhan had shielded Jiang Xian'er with his own body, taking the full impact!
He had thought that the injury would kill him, but to his surprise, he survived.
Still, the Scythe Energy had left its mark, putting him through prolonged recovery before he started to see improvements. Even then, his learning ability, cognitive skills, and physical condition were all deteriorating.
With today's Talent Awakening, the dismal F-tier result filled him with suspicions that the injury was to blame.
And now, those suspicions were directly confirmed!
"Why, why would you do that to me?" Xiao Zhan demanded.
A person's talent determines their future!
Ye Youlong had severely injured him, robbing him of his talent. This was more unbearable than losing his life!
Xiao Zhan seemed like a lion pacing in fury!
But faced with his roar, Ye Youlong remained calm, like a serene cat. "The reason is simple, I want to claim you for myself."
"Claim me?"
Xiao Zhan froze, unable to grasp what she meant.
Ye Youlong sat back down, crossing her legs once again, exuding an air of languid arrogance. "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Ye Youlong, a student of the White Emperor Spirit Academy. I'm also an Artifact Spirit of SSS-tier bloodline talent, specializing in Perception."
"Finding you was entirely by chance, but that chance turned out to be quite satisfying. Because my goal is to locate an SSS-tier Talent Spirit Master and form a contract with them!"
"And you, you're the one I'm looking for."
"Me?" Xiao Zhan felt both shocked and amused.
The shock came from Ye Youlong being an SSS-tier Artifact Spirit.
The amusement stemmed from her asserting he was also an SSS-tier Spirit Master.
"I'm currently an F-tier Talent, I just tested for it. What makes you say I'm SSS-tier?" Xiao Zhan asked.
Ye Youlong responded with a faint smile, her black-and-white eyes shimmering with wisdom. "It's simple, my bloodline talent skill is Perception. I can perceive your spiritual power and physical attributes, which allow me to judge that your talent is SSS-tier!"
"I've perceived many people, and you absolutely possess SSS-tier talent!"
"As for why your current rank is F-tier, the reason is just as simple. My Artifact Spirit form caused damage to your body, affecting various factors, which led to your awakening as an F-tier."
"All you need to do is form a contract with me, and that damage will vanish. Your SSS-tier talent will be restored!"
Hearing this, Xiao Zhan felt his breath catch.
The face that had fallen into despair from awakening such a low-tier talent now lit up with renewed radiance.
Even if Ye Youlong's claims were uncertain, the mere fact that an SSS-tier Artifact Spirit wanted to form a contract with him felt like an unimaginable stroke of fortune!
Think about it!
How often would an SSS-tier Artifact Spirit choose a so-called failure for a contract?
Ye Youlong's words held ninety percent credibility in his mind!
"You're an SSS-tier Artifact Spirit and a top student at the White Emperor Spirit Academy. Why must you choose me?" Xiao Zhan voiced his lingering doubt.
The White Emperor Spirit Academy was one of the Federation's four most prestigious academies!
It enacted elite programs and only accepted students above B-tier.
With Ye Youlong's exceptional talent, she could easily form a contract with an outstanding Spirit Master within her academy. Why would she travel far and wide to seek him out instead?
"Do you think SSS-tier Talent Spirit Masters are common?" Ye Youlong rolled her eyes at Xiao Zhan.
"Regardless of whether it's SSS-tier Talent Spirit Masters or SSS-tier Artifact Spirits, they're extraordinarily rare! Within the Federation Government's yearly awakening of new students, you might not even see a few, and sometimes, there's none at all!"
"I happen to have bad luck, being the only SSS-tier Artifact Spirit form in our academy this year! And as for SSS-tier Talent Spirit Masters, there isn't even one!"
"So tell me, what choice do I have? Should I lower my standards and form a contract with those SS-tier failures?"
Well now, in her eyes, even SS-tier ranked spirits had become failures.
"Why don't you try searching at other academies then?" Xiao Zhan suggested.
Ye Youlong shrugged as if that was obvious, "Exactly, I went searching in the other academies. But after thoroughly combing through the remaining three top academies, there was only one SSS-tier Spirit Master. The issue was... he already formed a contract with another woman."
"I have a cleanliness obsession, I refuse to touch men who've already contracted other women!"
"Having no other choice, I had to look elsewhere, hoping to find someone unexpected. And lucky me, I actually found you—I thought I'd have to wait until the next batch of awakenings."
After hearing everything she said, Xiao Zhan began to understand.
It boiled down to a genius girl refusing to settle, seeking a genius boy to create their joint legacy of greatness.
But Xiao Zhan still had one lingering doubt, "Then why didn't you approach me directly? Why injure me with Scythe Energy?"