Chapter 5: Trivialities at the Bar

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Perhaps others hadn’t noticed the look in the eyes of the man who entered the villa, but hidden there, Zhao Wenbin felt as if a cold current had swept through him, a sensation of being seen through completely. He knew he couldn’t linger any longer, yet with those policemen and bodyguards refusing to leave, he had no way to make his escape.

Just as he was feeling cornered, a swirl of black mist suddenly enveloped him. Zhao Wenbin felt as though he’d been lifted off the ground and hurled away at great speed. At that moment, the policemen who were waiting for backup from the station finally noticed what was happening. Their first reaction was not to charge forward shouting, but to shrink back into their cars, terrified of becoming the next victims.

It was the bodyguards, instead, who withdrew to their defensive positions with weapons at the ready, clearly prepared to open fire should the black mist approach. However, the mist had no intention of attacking the villa; it swept outward, flying rapidly away from the forest, and only vanished once it was far beyond the wooded area.

Zhao Wenbin, set down abruptly, was still in a daze when he heard Li Mingxing’s voice: “If you don’t want to get caught, you’d better get back to the city right now. Of course, you can stay here if you like, but I won’t help you again. You saw it yourself—the man probably already spotted you. If he catches you, it’ll be far worse than being arrested by the police.”

“Running off alone again? And what will you do?” Zhao Wenbin shot a look at Li Mingxing.

“Nothing much. I just wanted to see what you’re capable of. Oh, and don’t forget the things I asked you to buy,” Li Mingxing replied with a smile, dissolving into black mist and vanishing before Zhao Wenbin’s eyes.

Zhao Wenbin didn’t dare stay any longer. He found a small path and slipped away.

After abandoning Zhao Wenbin, Li Mingxing returned straight to the mysterious bar. As soon as he entered, he saw a man two meters tall standing at the entrance. The man was clad entirely in black armor, which to Li Mingxing looked suspiciously like the Taurus armor from the Knights of the Zodiac.

Upon seeing Li Mingxing arrive, the man called out loudly, “Pay up.”

“Pay? Pay for what?” Li Mingxing fixed a sharp gaze on him.

“Toll. Everyone who enters here pays one hundred spirit coins,” the man declared.

Li Mingxing snorted coldly. “And who says so?”

“Who says? My fists do,” the man retorted, reaching for Li Mingxing as he spoke.

Li Mingxing noticed that neither the patrons nor the beautiful bartender inside reacted. That told him this wasn’t a personal vendetta.

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Understanding this, Li Mingxing didn’t hesitate. With a burst of strength, he shot forward like a bullet, slashing at the man’s face with his curved blade. The man, though a bit slow-witted, clearly had some skill to dare cause trouble here; he ducked in time to avoid the attack and countered with a punch aimed at Li Mingxing’s chest.

Twisting mid-air, Li Mingxing dodged and landed in front of the beautiful bartender. The armored man tried to pursue, but Li Mingxing tossed a spirit coin to the bartender. She accepted it, set a glass of wine before him, and with a flash of lightning, sent the armored man flying out of the bar.

Li Mingxing took advantage of the moment to scan the bar’s patrons. There were a dozen or so people inside. Seven or eight wore expressions of schadenfreude, while a group of four shared a cold, dangerous glint in their eyes. Li Mingxing quickly deduced that those four were behind the little stunt at the door. The armored man was clearly with them. Their intent wasn’t to collect tolls, but to test the bar’s limits. Once they found what they were, they’d escalate, either by blocking other heroes from entering or by making it harder for them to accept jobs from the bartender, giving themselves a rapid advantage.

Glancing at the group, Li Mingxing raised his glass. “Miss, won’t those people hanging around your entrance hurt your business?”

“It’s a nuisance, but I don’t care,” she replied calmly, polishing an empty glass. “Anyone who can’t even get through the door isn’t worthy of a good drink here.”

“Oh? So the Dark Alliance encourages this sort of thing?” Li Mingxing sipped his wine.

“Not exactly. As long as they don’t rouse everyone’s anger, it’s tolerated. By the way, you haven’t been gone long—surely you’re not just here for a drink?”

“Of course not. I came for this.” As he spoke, Li Mingxing placed a brilliant white stone on the table.

This stone was unlike the ones he’d found in the Otherworld; those had been cut like standard diamonds, but the one he presented now was as round and smooth as a pearl.

The bartender nodded. “No wonder Raymond calls you promising. Even regular heroes would struggle to complete that task so quickly.”

“It was just luck. I’d already run into a follower of the Light before. If not for that, I wouldn’t have known where to start,” Li Mingxing replied modestly.

“There’s no need to be modest with us. Whatever you can do, you’ll get the reward you deserve. Here’s your blueprint,” she said, taking the white stone and placing the blueprint for the mercenary camp before him.

Li Mingxing then requested a new task, specifically one with an offensive skill as the reward. The bartender hesitated—not for lack of such tasks, but because most were tied to the Otherworld. In the real world, such tasks were few and far between.

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Still, as a paying customer, the bartender wasn’t about to let him down. She went through all her available assignments and finally managed to pull out three for him.

She laid the three tasks before Li Mingxing. “Look these over. If you think you can handle one, take it. If not, leave it.”

Li Mingxing glanced through them, and his heart sank. All three were on the verge of high-level difficulty, far beyond the scope of an intermediate mission. One required seizing control of a volcanic crater and triggering an eruption; another, luring a deep-sea monster from the ocean’s depths.

Tasks like these were impossible for Li Mingxing now—even if his strength increased several times over, he still wouldn’t be able to manage them.

With no choice, he had to give up and prepared to leave the mysterious bar, head bowed in frustration. Just then, the armored man at the door was sent flying again—this time by none other than his mentor, Raymond.

Seeing Li Mingxing’s dejected look, Raymond said quietly, “Aren’t you going to buy me a drink?”

Li Mingxing was surprised, but quickly invited Raymond to a nearby empty table. The bartender brought over some of her best wine.

After a few sips, Li Mingxing began to share his troubles, mentioning that he’d obtained the blueprint for a mercenary camp but still lacked an offensive skill. Raymond smiled.

“Kid, don’t you think you’re moving a bit too fast?”

Li Mingxing looked up in confusion, but Raymond went on, “Think about it. How many days has it been since you first gained your powers? Do you realize your progress is already several times that of other apprentice heroes?”

“I really hadn’t thought about it,” Li Mingxing admitted sheepishly.

“You should ask more questions, then. Honestly, I knew this would happen when you chose the training ground over the two tasks I’d picked for you. Still, I underestimated your luck—I didn’t expect you to finish that mission so quickly.” Raymond sighed. “I wonder if I’ve done you a disservice. Li Mingxing, you have four skills now. Level each of them up to one, then come see me again.”

“Why?” Li Mingxing sensed something off in Raymond’s tone.

“No reason. Just do as I say. And if you can get one close to level two, even better.” With that, Raymond drained his glass and left without looking back.

As the bartender came over to clear the glasses, she saw the confusion on Li Mingxing’s face and quietly explained, “You probably don’t know this, but once an apprentice hero becomes a full hero, their mentor is no longer responsible for them.”

Only then did Li Mingxing begin to understand, but Raymond was already gone from sight.