Locke's arm muscles were visibly contorted as he defended the attack. Blood sprouted uncontrollably as his skin and flesh were torn apart by the sharp and rapid rotation.

He stood his ground for a second before the powerful shinsu drill stuck as it hit his bone and immediately exploded, sending him flying backward through the air as he was pushed away by the powerful explosion.

After being sent back for a few meters in the air, he quickly stabilized himself as he performed a flip in the air and stepped back to the ground.

He looked at his arms, noticing his muscles had been torn apart and contorted into a spiral wound as blood flowed out from the wound.

It wasn't that deep but it was a decent wound. A crazy, remarkable feat if anyone considered who were the ones who did it.

Two E-ranked regulars worked together and managed to pierce a mighty Ranker's shinsu resistance and dealt considerable damage?

It was as if the two were able to dish out an attack even more powerful than those A-ranked regulars were capable of!

Granted, his resistance was only in the middle level among the Rankers, unlike the ten great families' members and the infamous Ha family. But to manage to pierce it as an E-ranked regular?

"Incredible! Both of you passed the test remarkably!" Locke exclaimed in amazement after seeing what they managed to do with the technique he had taught a year ago.

Indeed, it was obvious that Liu Guanyi and Xin learned the Amplification Shinsu Control Style from him. It was already planned from the beginning.

They would learn quickly how to control shinsu properly and create more bangs even in the heat of a battle. After all, they weren't wave controllers who had the opportunity to attack from afar in the battle.

Then, after decently grasping them, Locke would teach them this technique to make them able to take down much bigger and powerful enemies that they would face in their journey of climbing the tower. This technique was rarely known in the regulars' circle, even for wave controller regulars.

From this, it was truly apparent that the horned Ranker was sincere in teaching them and didn't hold back from passing on important skills and knowledge. It was his style, when he did things, he didn't do it half-heartedly and always carried it out in the most efficient manner.

Just like this, Locke wanted to form a good relationship with them and the princess so he did his best and taught them an extremely good and practical technique that could be used even for regulars.

"No, it was all because of your incredible teaching, sir." Liu Guanyi bowed his head and cupped his hands as he spoke humbly.

"Yes, it was all thanks to you, sir." Xin also did the same, giving respect that the amazing Ranker deserved.

Locke shook his head and beamed a smile at them. "Not really, I might be a good teacher but you are certainly prodigious learners! Your progress has surpassed my expectations."

"You negated the technique's disadvantage and increased its destructive prowess by using it in tandem with your martial arts. To be able to do this, your martial expertise must be very rich."

"However, it took quite a while to do it and you have to prevent your enemies from moving away while you prepared for the combination. I really suggest that you find a capable light-bearer to hold down your enemies."

"With a good light bearer, your team will become perfect." Locke gave his sincere suggestion.

Liu Guanyi nodded and spoke politely. "I will try to find one, thank you for your advice, Sir."

He did want to find some capable light bearer but he wanted to make sure the one that he found was suitable. Suitable as in they wouldn't jeopardize Liu Guanyi's arrangements in his team.

He was an irregular, someone who was not seen that positively in the tower.

Liu Guanyi knew that at some point, he wouldn't be able to hide it anymore from his teammates. Especially to Adori (since Xin didn't matter as he would follow him no matter what). He knew that she already suspected many suspicious points in his story.

To minimize the unfavorable effects, he wanted a tight-knit team with only a few members chosen by him personally. Liu Guanyi wanted to form a close relationship with each member so whatever would happen in the future, they would still trust him and respect him, and wouldn't harm his interests.

So Liu Guanyi didn't want to invite another person to join his team. Adori and Xin were more than enough. It wasn't like there was a more talented and important person than Adori, and easier to befriend to be loyal and also hardworking than Xin.

Moreover, a light-bearer's main job was to find information and support their teammates in the battle so it wasn't that important in his team. Even the weakest of them, Xin, could take a lot of beatings, let alone Liu Guanyi and Adori.

And the core of the team was Liu Guanyi, even though it was unwritten as Adori respected his decision and Xin followed his directions without questions asked.

If it was just to hinder the enemy movements and give lightings in dark areas, would it be worth the risks of jeopardizing his plan?

Liu Guanyi had assigned Xin as a semi-light bearer as he bought him an E-ranked lighthouse just for strictly collecting information whenever they moved a floor higher.

He didn't have a talent for light-bearing that was for sure, but he could use it to search for information easily.

And that was the most important part for light-bearers, collecting and compiling information. At least that was Liu Guanyi's consideration.

All in all, they didn't need a light bearer as an additional member as it was too risky for Liu Guanyi and he didn't necessarily need them anyway, so he didn't care about them. Not that he would say it out loud to the Ranker.

"That's good. Unfortunately, this is the last day of our training, holding you guys on the 20th floor more than this will be detrimental for your growth."

"Also, the workshop battle will be held on the 30th floor in two years so you have to move up there quickly, but I'm sure you guys can do it easily." Locke said as he seemed a little regretful for not staying longer with them.

Seeing this, Liu Guanyi rolled his eyes in his mind as he saw right through his façade. 'He probably doesn't want to spend more time considering that it's not absolute that we will repay his favor in the future. But he was right, I have to see what's about this so-called Workshop.'

Baaaanggg!

A loud sound suddenly rang out from the southeast direction, just a few hundred meters away from their spot.

Hearing this, Locke chuckled. "It seems my friend and the princess are having their fun time as well. Aren't you curious about how much Princess Adori will improve? She's not someone who uses all of her power when fighting against much weaker enemies, isn't she? She must be really excited to fight a swordsman stronger than her."

"Indeed, I wonder how far she will improve after three years of intensive training. Back then, she was already much stronger than me." Said Liu Guanyi with a smile.

However, it was different from what on his mind. "Will she be able to keep up with my growth? It would be interesting if she could. After all, having a rival and strong people to fight will make me stay sharp and spur my growth.'

Locke looked down at their faces and smiled as he said his farewell. "We have only been meeting for three years. However, you two have left a deep impression on my memory. It's unfortunate but we have to part our ways."

"However, maybe we will meet again in higher places."