"Have a seat first. Here, sit over here."

Seeing Logan standing there in a daze, apparently lost in thought, while Yi remained where he was looking a little awkward, Silco finally spoke up.

Logan came back to himself and said, "Right, let's sit down and talk first."

Following everyone's lead, Yi sat down beside Logan. On his other side was Jayce, towering several heads above him with that broad, heavy build of his.

Yi was not very tall, just a little over five foot seven, and he looked lean and almost frail.

But at this point, no one in the room dared underestimate him. After all, the man had just taken one light step and vaulted three stories into the air. What the hell was the difference between that and flying?

He had barely sat down when Logan asked him, "Yi, earlier I felt the sword intent you released, so I'm curious, in the Twin Cities, who could possibly make you want to fight? I could feel that battle intent of yours from far away."

Yi seemed a little hesitant, as if weighing whether he should mention Jax at all. But then he remembered that Jax had already entered the Twin Cities and was still waiting for him, and Logan...

To be honest, Yi could not see through Logan.

There was a power in Logan that felt strangely familiar and deeply comforting, but Yi's spiritual strength was immense. He was not the sort to let that alone sway his judgment or make him lean instinctively toward Logan.

Still, if Logan had been able to sense him, then there was no reason Jax could hide inside Zaun. Logan would only need to investigate a little to find him immediately.

Thinking that through, Yi spoke.

"At Zaun's docks, I encountered someone. Calling him human doesn't quite seem right, but he is certainly not Vastayan either. His situation is... unusual. My guess is that he may be some special kind of human from the ancient world, but I couldn't tell which people he came from."

"?" Logan looked momentarily dazed.

Yi had said the man was human from the ancient world, and that raised a problem, Logan actually did know ancient humans. Lissandra, that living fossil, was one. And her true form did not look all that different from a human's. Aside from the snow-white hair, she was even kind of pretty.

Just as Logan was wondering whether this might be some demigod from a forgotten corner of Runeterra lore, Yi's next sentence snapped him right back.

"He called himself Jax. He said he came from... Icathia?" Yi said.

"He said his name was Jax?!" Logan slapped the table.

Right, of course. How the hell had he forgotten Jax?

If you were talking about someone who could rival gods while still in a mortal body, then Jax was the name that stood at the top. Even Yi, sitting right in front of him, did not quite reach that level.

Because Jax had a real record of killing a demigod.

It was written clearly in Jax's own lore. Thousands of years ago, in ancient Shurima, back when Setaka still ruled, Shurima had arrogantly demanded Icathia's submission. Icathia's ruling council chose resistance, elected a mage-king, and the Kohari were formally re-formed.

Jax was among the first to join the army. During the war, he personally killed a proud Ascended and brought back the body. The people of Icathia, wild with joy, lifted the Ascended's corpse onto their shoulders and held a massive parade through the newly liberated streets.

And that had been Jax from thousands of years ago.

Jax had already belonged to a special strain of humanity to begin with. His people lived far longer than ordinary humans. And later, he obtained the last light of Icathia. That magical flame greatly extended his lifespan and altered his body.

Which meant the Jax of today could only be stronger than the one from those ancient days.

He might not wield the power of laws, and he might not be a true demigod in the sense of possessing divinity, but through martial prowess alone, he could kill beings that mortals called gods.

The mortal martial saint, Saijax.

To call him the absolute pinnacle of martial skill in Runeterra was not an exaggeration in the slightest.

As for why Logan had not expected Jax to show up here...

That was because if you opened up the Universe pages and searched every nation in the world, you still would not find a place where Jax was staying.

Ever since Icathia had summoned the Void and been destroyed for it, Jax had wandered the world. He traveled from land to land, seeking powerful opponents to refine his combat skill, while also searching for future allies to prepare for the war to come. He was busy, and his whereabouts were always a mystery.

And now he had come to Zaun...

Wait, why?

Why the hell would Jax come to Zaun?

If you thought about it normally, Zaun had once been part of Shuriman territory, so Jax had probably come here ages ago already. And back then, he would have left disappointed. Janna had been too weak at the time. Forget finding allies, he probably could not even find a decent sparring partner.

So Logan had genuinely never considered the possibility of Jax.

Watching Logan suddenly jolt upright, Yi asked in confusion, "You know him?"

"I know of him. That doesn't mean he knows me," Logan replied.

"But he looks like someone who has lived a very, very long time, at least a thousand years. How exactly do you know him?" Yi asked.

Before Logan could answer, Jayce grinned and said, "Because of Janna."

Vander nodded. "Because of Janna."

Yi immediately understood. "Your Zaunite god?"

Out in the void, Janna, who had not fully drifted back to sleep yet, narrowed her eyes.

Chirp!

God, what a headache. Why was this somehow about her again?

"If it's Jax, then I get it. Odds are he saw you and challenged you, right?" Logan asked Yi.

Yi nodded and smiled. "That's exactly what happened. I also want to fight him. Just as he said, for people like us, it's difficult to find an opponent who truly fits. But I didn't agree immediately. I made an appointment instead."

Then Yi added, "Because right now, I have something more important to do."

He drew in a deep breath and looked at Logan seriously.

"I hope I can have your help, Logan."

"My help?" Logan looked at Yi and nodded. "Tell me. If it's something I can help with, then I will."

At the side, Silco narrowed his eyes and studied Yi for a moment, clearly thinking about something again.

"My homeland, Wuju, was destroyed by war, and it is still a wasteland now." Yi looked directly at Logan and began recounting his circumstances. "Ionia is different from other places. A desolate land cannot simply be restored by planting trees and improving the soil. It requires magic."

"We need magic to awaken the spirit of Ionia from its sleeping, chaotic state. Then the spirit of Ionia can influence the spirit realm, which in turn will rebalance the material realm. So what I need is a large number of magical tools."

Jayce understood immediately. He slapped the table and said, "So what you need is a lot of Hextech crystals?"

Yi nodded bitterly. "I know Hextech crystals are precious. I looked into it before coming here. On the market, each Hextech crystal is effectively priceless. More importantly, the Twin Cities don't sell Hextech crystals at all."

"But I truly have no other choice. I have to change Wuju's condition. So I came to Zaun and shamelessly asked for your help, Logan. If there's anything you need from me, say it. For Wuju's sake, I'll agree to it."

Logan looked at Yi and smiled. He understood.

Yi was trying to atone.

Wuju had become what it was now, and whether directly or indirectly, Yi was part of the reason. That had become his fixation.

Who knew what choices future Yi would make, but he would reopen the mountain gates and become the head of the Wuju School again, and one of his female disciples would eventually become a Darkin, although that whole story was a mess, with two different timelines and all that.

Anyway, Logan understood what Yi meant.

"You seem to have misunderstood something. Hextech crystals aren't nearly as precious as you think," Logan said with a laugh.

Yi blinked in surprise, and Jayce explained, "The core materials in Hextech crystals are really just all kinds of stone and ore. You use the special properties of the minerals, engrave runes into them, trigger resonance, and create magic that way. But stripped of the production process, Hextech crystals are basically just pieces of rock."

"And now the Twin Cities have mastered Noxian runecraft, which means we don't even need special minerals anymore. We can inscribe runes into ordinary stone now. So the base value of Hextech crystals has dropped even lower."

As he said that, Jayce suddenly looked a little strange.

He had basically become the richest man in the Twin Cities by selling stones made out of a pile of sand, hadn't he?

"Then..."

"I agree," Logan said, cutting Yi off. "Yi, I'll send people to Ionia to investigate the situation in Wuju. That works out nicely, actually. I know people over there. Your seer, Karma, and I are very close."

Yi was not surprised to hear that.

As a sword master with strong spiritual power of his own, he knew that Karma had left the Lasting Altar several times.

With gratitude in his voice, he said, "Then I leave it in your hands."

"However..." Logan suddenly changed direction.

"Please, go ahead. I can agree to anything," Yi said, taking a deep breath.

There was no free lunch in this world. Logan agreeing to help at all had already made Yi incredibly grateful. He had never expected the Twin Cities to work for free and labor on his behalf without asking for anything.

So Yi had already prepared himself for a price.

Logan smiled. "Two things, Yi. I want your help with two things."

"First, I want you to teach me swordsmanship. I'm really envious of the sword intent you released earlier. I use a sword myself, but mine only works in the material realm. I want to learn the Wuju path, the kind of sword art that can cut into the spirit realm and deal with things there too."

Yi looked at Logan and at the Spirit Blossom seed mark between his brows, then made his decision.

"There is only me left in Wuju now. I am the only person in this world who still knows Wuju swordsmanship. This art should not die with me. I agree, Logan. I will teach you the Wuju blade."

"What about me? Can I learn too?" Jayce immediately asked from the side.

Sure, the Twin Cities' technology had advanced to the point where Jayce could fly, dive, and basically do whatever he wanted through machinery, but flying with technology and being able to fly under your own power were two completely different things, all right?

If he had the option, of course Jayce wanted to fly on his own.

Yi looked at Jayce, hesitated, then shook his head. "This sword art... you can't learn it."

"I can't learn it? I'm a once-in-a-generation genius!" Jayce said, offended.

"There is magical energy flowing in your body, that much is true, but far too little of it. And your spiritual strength is not enough to let you meditate upon the sword within. If you truly want to learn, then you need to be prepared to spend decades training in meditation first," Yi said seriously.

After hearing that, Jayce stopped insisting.

Ten years? Give the Twin Cities ten years at their current pace and Jayce would probably have built rockets and launched them into space already. What the hell would he need a sword for?

Returning to the main topic, Yi looked at Logan and asked, "And the second thing?"

"That appointment you made with Jax, I'm joining it too. Something that fun obviously has to include me." Logan grinned. "I'm curious, out of the three of us, who's the strongest human in Runeterra?"

"..."

"Don't make that face, Yi. Just like you said, people like you and Jax have a hard time finding suitable opponents in Runeterra. Well, the same goes for me. I need evenly matched opponents too, people I can spar and exchange ideas with. And besides, Jax will definitely welcome me."

"All right, you're not wrong. My first impression of him was that he was a complete battle maniac. He'll definitely be thrilled to see you." Yi nodded, but then he added in an odd tone, "But... Logan, are you sure you can keep up with us?"

"What? Hey, Yi, don't underestimate me. I'm really strong," Logan said, looking exasperated.

Then he narrowed his eyes and released his power.

His hair began turning white from the roots outward. In moments, his irises took on a faint pink hue, and white spread through his hair as well.

The law of Spirit Blossom changed Logan's eye color, while Kanmei changed his hair.

Seeing that, Yi said with a helpless laugh, "That's not what I meant. Your power is beyond question. In fact, if I really fought you to the death, I doubt I would win. But the problem is, I don't think Jax and I would use law-based power or supernatural abilities in our spar."

"First, Jax doesn't use the power of laws. Second, compared to supernatural power, what we care about more is our own martial skill and technique."

"And you..." Yi left the rest unsaid.

Logan understood what he meant. His hair turned black again, and his eyes returned to normal. He looked at Yi awkwardly and curled his lip.

His strength came from the system. As for martial skill and technique... Logan had swordsmanship granted by ancient souls, but among ordinary humans, his wind blade arts were incredibly strong. Put them in front of Jax and Yi, though...

That really was kid stuff.

So Yi's attitude made perfect sense. Without raw power in the equation, Logan really did look like a child in his eyes when it came to technique and skill alone.

At the side, Silco smiled.

So Logan could get shut down too.

"Whatever. You're bringing me anyway."

"No point waiting for another day when we can do it now. Yi, let's go find Jax right now. You don't need to worry about your homeland. Silco will start handling it."

Silco nodded. "Leave it to me, Mr. Yi. Stay in Zaun for now. Right after Logan's wedding, I'll send people to deal with your homeland's situation."

"Thank you." Yi nodded.

Logan had already reached out and grabbed Yi by the arm. The moment Yi felt that touch, he froze for an instant.

It had been a very long time since he had allowed any kind of close contact with another person. And now, with Logan holding his arm, he felt something difficult to describe.

The emotions he had been suppressing with sheer spiritual strength suddenly surged up all at once.

If Logan had some kind of affection meter system, he would probably be completely baffled right now.

Because the system would likely be flashing something like, Wuju Sword Saint, Yi, affection +50, +50, +50...

And then Logan would start questioning Yi's taste in men.

"Come on, Yi, let's go."

Logan led Yi toward the window, waved to Silco and Vander behind him, then flew out together with Yi.

Yi silently followed after him, his heart complicated with emotion. In the end, though, he only gave a gentle smile and shook his head.

"If it's a spar, then we'll need to find the right place. A fight between us would affect far too many people," Yi said.

"I know the perfect place," Logan replied with a grin, glancing back at him.

"Then...?"

"The north. We'll borrow her territory for a bit. She definitely won't mind."

"..."

"I'll follow your lead," Yi said.

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