Treasure Hunting

Chapter 23 An Unpredictable Woman

"Why do you feel inferior to senior disciples? I think you are talented enough. You possess double martial speed. That is a great achievement even among your peers. As long as you cultivate hard, I'm sure that you will achieve greater success. So you should never look down on yourself. If you have any questions regarding cultivation, you can ask me. It would be my pleasure to help you with it," Elva said softly. It was odd that she consoled Zachary while he was in a gloomy mood. She treated the other disciples with indifference all the time and had never showed concern for any man. If a disciple from the Welkin Sect was present, they would be surprised by what Elva said to Zachary.

"Thank you very much, Elva. Your offer is just too good to refuse," Zachary replied as he nodded in agreement. He chuckled and thought that Elva had no idea what he truly intended to do. Even though she looked cold and aloof, she was quite a sensitive person. 'Maybe it won't be that hard to finish the sub-quests related to her, ' he thought.

'Damn! Why did Elva treat that bastard so nicely? She has never treated me like this. I can't believe she even offered to help a guy she barely knew. That is so unfair!' Bruce thought to himself with rage. He stood not far from Zachary and Elva. His muscles tensed when he heard their conversation. Clenching his fists, he did his best to stay motionless and quiet. A strong feeling of jealousy flooded him.

He had originally planned to go to Elva and talk to her. He was frustrated because Zachary had given her a better pill than his this morning. It never occurred to him that he would see them talking. His heart was filled with jealousy when he heard the sweet words Elva had for Zachary.

Bruce's strength was more powerful than Zachary's or Elva's, so they weren't aware of his presence. Since Elva expressed her willingness to help him, Zachary wanted to seize the chance. "Although it is a little late, I do have some questions and want to ask for your advice. I wonder if it would be too much of a bother to ask you about those while we take a walk," Zachary said.

"Sure, let's go," Elva replied after hesitating briefly.

Zachary and Elva walked side by side as Bruce watched with keen envy. It was not long before they disappeared from Bruce's range of sight.

"Zachary, you will live to regret what you did today! I will definitely have my revenge for this insult," Bruce murmured to himself angrily and then disappeared in the darkness.

Zachary and Elva headed towards the back of the mountain where it was quiet and isolated.

In the world where he used to live, he was a playboy and was skilled in flirting with women. He had countless lovers who lined up from one end of the street to the other. So it was a simple matter for him to beguile an innocent young girl like Elva. A few jokes and anecdotes later, she dropped her defenses. He could sense that she was no longer cold and apathetic like before.

"It never occurred to me that you are such a witty talker. I initially thought that you were a low-key person. Although I had met you a few times, I still didn't know your name at that time. It surprises me now to find that you seem totally different than what I have initially thought," Elva confessed as she stared at him.

"Really? But that is normal since we all undergo changes in our lives. Maybe someday you'd change too. There might come a day when you will change into a regular girl someday..." Zachary said, grinning.

"Do you mean that I'm different from other girls in a bad way? But maybe you are right. I'm indeed different," Elva replied when she heard what he said. A cold smile crossed her face as she became the aloof beauty again. Zachary's words might not be arrows but they pierced her heart. She ached with sadness when she heard those words from him.

Sensing that something was wrong, Zachary felt his heart skip a beat. He became aware that he said something wrong.

"That is not what I meant to say. I'm so sorry if my words caused you any discomfort. Actually, I don't think that you are a strange girl at all. I think you are a nice girl with a strong personality," Zachary explained, looking worried.

"You don't need to explain anything. Let's just go back," Elva said as her lips curled upward. She then turned around and started to walk back.

"Elva, wait!" Zachary exclaimed. He reached out his hand unconsciously and tried to stop her. It was not a good idea to let their encounter end like this. If he made Elva feel uncomfortable, it would not do him any good in later quests. To his surprise, she immediately turned around and faced him as he called out her name.

He never expected Elva to stop walking when he called her. His stretched out hand ended up touching her breast. Although it was initially only a light touch, he was surprised by her soft, smooth skin and was not able to stop himself from touching it further.

"Wow, you need to wear at least a D cup bra. I didn't expect this!" Zachary murmured to himself in disbelief.

Elva was shocked by Zachary's movements. She froze as her face flushed red with embarrassment. After she had recovered from her initial shock, she shouted, "I can't believe that you are such a pervert!" Burning anger filled her eyes. Elva stretched out her fair arms and flew in the air before Zachary was able to say or do anything. She moved her arms crosswise and generated martial energy of Heaven Level within her body. The martial energy turned into the shape of a phoenix that surrounded her body.

Elva's intense aura struck Zachary's head. An ominous feeling suddenly washed over him as he realized that she was totally agitated. Knowing that he would not stand a chance against her, he immediately left without a second thought.

Boom!

There was a loud explosion as the phoenix blew the area where Zachary stood mere moments ago. The phoenix generated powerful energy that devastated the entire place. The attack created a small crater where the explosion hit the ground. A cloud of dust and dirt filled the area. Zachary's forehead was filled with sweat-soaked dust. As he turned around, he quickly realized that he was merely a few feet away from the devastation. He knew that he had underestimated Elva and he felt regret over what happened.

Zachary decided to run away from the scene as fast as he could.

He turned himself into a shadow and left the place at his full speed.

"Bastard! I will not let you leave just like that!" Elva roared at the fleeing Zachary. She didn't really use her best skill when she attacked Zachary. If she did, he would not get a chance to run away. She wanted to have another competition with Zachary. She was confident with her speed and was sure that she would be better than him this time. She would not let one failure in the past break her fighting spirit.

In a split second, Elva followed Zachary at her full speed. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Two shadows followed each other and dashed in the dense forest with inhuman speed.

'How can this happen? Why is he much faster than before?' Elva thought to herself in surprise. She chased after Zachary at her full speed but she failed to catch up with him. She had been practicing her martial skills since she lost the competition to Zachary. She thought that her strength had greatly

improved after all the training, so she couldn't resist the temptation to get back at him. But to her surprise, he was way faster than before. It was beyond her ability to even get close to him.

'So he was hiding his true strength all this time? If I can't even catch up with him, it means that there are very few people in the Welkin Sect that can match his power in terms of speed!' Elva mused in silence. She still remembered vividly that Zachary, a mere nobody, possessed double martial speed in the selection. Everyone was speechless when he made a breakthrough to the Mortal Level. He even brought a four-grade pill to cure her injuries. All those things supported her theory that he had been hiding his true strength.

Elva suddenly felt inferior to Zachary. She almost accepted that she had lost the battle to him.

But she didn't want to give up even if her chance of winning was slim. She would persevere until she succeeded. So she took a deep breath and set off to chase after Zachary.