Chapter 1 - 1

Chapter 768: Departure (2)

Su Yu blanked out. Crops? What was this little fellow talking about?

Wu Lan snorted with an unsightly expression and said, "This fellow has gone mad. He has been claiming that all our characters are his crops. Do you understand now?"

Su Yu frowned and looked at the little furball. Noticing what was happening, the little furball hurriedly hid behind Wu Lan's head in fear while stealthily looking at Su Yu through the gap between her hair. He had not included Su Yu in his list of farms!

Su Yu expressionlessly said, "Furball, remember this. Only the crop I give you belongs to you. Otherwise, none of them belong to you. Do you understand me?"

This little fellow was still too young. Wu Lan thought that the little furball was joking, but that wasn't the case. The little furball truly viewed their characters as food. And if one day he believed that these crops were ready for harvest, he would not hesitate.

Su Yu had to train the little furball well and make it very clear that there were things where the furball had to absolutely obey him. The little furball looked at Su Yu, not daring to make any noise.

Su Yu said, "Remember this. This applies to characters, willpower, and seas of willpower. You can only eat what I allow you to eat. You can only enter the seas of willpower I allow you to enter. If you dare to enter seas of willpower without permission in the future...well, let's just say that I believe a destroyed furball can be quite yummy as well."

"Yi yi ya ya..."

The little furball suddenly started speaking in his native tongue. From the tone of his voice, he sounded rather wronged. He knew that very well. He could sense that although he could eat Su Yu's characters, Su Yu was also capable of eating him. Yes. That was what his instincts were telling him.

Su Yu was capable of directly absorbing a destroyed character. He had personally witnessed that. Others could only use the willpower and character intent of a destroyed character to nourish their characters. But Su Yu could directly absorb the willpower and character intent. There was a difference between the two.

The little furball was quite afraid. In his mind, Yummy was capable of eating him as well.

"Okay. I understand."

The little furball answered obediently. The others smiled, but none of them said anything. This was Su Yu's pet. No, this was no pet. This fellow was actually very scary. And he would be even scarier if Su Yu couldn't keep him under control. This fellow would absolutely create a disaster if left unchecked.

Without experts capable of suppressing this fellow, he would be able to consume the characters of every single cultural researcher below the Mountainsea Realm of a city within a single day. That was a terrifying prospect.

Without their characters, cultural researchers would lose their combat strength, their character abilities, and their abilities to refine pills, forge weapons, craft talismans, and tame beasts. That would create a massive chaos. They had not mentioned it before, but they were actually somewhat scared of this little fellow.

When Wen Zhong said that they had played with him, that wasn't exactly accurate. To be precise, they were studying him for a way to counter this race. If this was a big race, it would be an extremely terrifying race. Thus, it would be better for them to learn more about this race in advance.

Su Yu said, "Eat a few of Senior Brother Jin's human characters. You're not allowed to eat more. Do you understand?"

"Ok!"

The moment the little furball heard that, he grew excited. His previous pitiful appearance vanished, replaced by an eager expression. He had almost fully digested the Sunmoon character intent he had eaten not long ago. It had been some time since he last ate something and he was starting to get hungry. He personally believed that he was living a pitiful life of starvation.

Jin Sheng had a look of melancholy as he said, "I really can't bear to part with them. Sigh. I spent so many years forming them. On average, I need ten years to form one. And it also isn't easy to grow them to the second tier..."

But right after saying that, his face stiffened.

Holy shit!

What the fuck? Where were his human characters?

Immediately after, his sea of willpower started roiling. Without the human characters, his myriad race characters seemed to have been liberated. One after another, they lit up. His entire sea of willpower turned violent as the characters shone brightly.

Everyone else stared at him in stupefaction. At this moment, the little furball had reappeared outside. As a Cloudbreach, he had no problem eating the characters of a Skysoar. It was too easy. He had instantly devoured six of Jin Sheng's characters.

With a confused look in his eyes, Jin Sheng's characters started shaking. Previously, his characters repelled each other greatly, resulting in his inability to break through. But now, the repelling force of the human characters had vanished, reducing the repelling force by about ninety percent.

Even his divine and devil characters were not emitting that much repelling force. In the blink of an eye, his life force erupted. His willpower also swept out. Su Yu hurriedly released a burst of willpower to protect Wu Lan. There was no need for him to worry about everyone else.

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Jin Sheng shone brightly as one character after another flickered around him. His willpower and apertures had reached a sufficient level for advancement. He had only been held back by his characters. But now, his characters started progressing into the third tier.

In the blink of an eye, golden light erupted from his turbid eyes. His skin also started improving, as though his entire person had turned younger. In less than ten minutes, he reopened his eyes. His aura had reached the level of a Cloudbreach.

He looked at the others and blankly said, "I didn't feel anything at all. This little fellow is too scary."

It was too terrifying. He was still in the middle of a conversation when his characters vanished. Six of them were gone! How was any Skysoar supposed to contend against Su Yu?

No cultural researcher stood a chance against Su Yu. That little fellow was probably capable of eating the characters of early Cloudbreaches as well. But it would probably be somewhat difficult for him to eat the characters of middle and late-stage Cloudbreaches.

Generally, the main character of a cultural researcher would be at the same level as their cultivation. The other characters would be weaker. Thus, a ninth-stage Cloudbreach with ten characters would probably only have a single third-tier character with the rest left at the first or second tiers.

This little furbal would be a terrifying opponent for these people. Realizing that, their fear of the little furball deepened. Could Su Yu really keep this little fellow under control?

Su Yu himself wasn't confident he could fully control the little furball. He was only sure that the little furball couldn't do anything to him thanks to his golden book. But he could hardly do anything to the little furball. Sure, the Soul Expanding Hammer worked, but his cultivation level must be higher.

Thus, he should avoid letting the little furball surpass him in cultivation. Or at the very least, the furball couldn't surpass him by that much. It wouldn't be a good thing if he was still a Skysoar while the furball was already a Mountainsea.

He tossed that thought to the back of his mind and smiled, "Congratulations, Senior Brother Jin."

He was now a Cloudbreach. Not a single phenomenon had appeared. Clearly, Jin Sheng wasn't talented enough to manifest a phenomenon. But he had still advanced instantly relying only on his own source qi and willpower instead of pulling from his surroundings. That was proof of how solid his foundation was.

After all, he had been stuck for so many years because of his characters. He had progressed considerably in all other aspects. With his issue solved, he was able to instantly break through.

After recovering from his joy, Jin Sheng said, "The repelling force of human characters is quite strong. No, it is very strong. I also have some divine, devil, and immortal characters. But their repelling force combined is weaker than the repelling force of the human characters."

Jin Sheng spoke in excitement, "In that case, some of the veteran Mountainseas can probably advance straight into the Sunmoon Realm after removing their human characters. Of course, they also need to meet the other requirements for advancement."

Wen Zhong sighed, "As humans, we have to avoid cultivating human characters. Is this really a good thing for us?"

It was quite sad. Why could humans not cultivate human characters?

Jin Sheng said, "Unless they focus exclusively on human characters. Perhaps this is an entirely different path..."

Wen Zhong said, "Over three hundred years ago, humanity did the same. Nobody cultivated human characters. As a result, we still don't have even one cultural researcher Invincible today. I suspect that only human characters can help a human cultural researcher become an Invincible. If that's the case, can Zhou Polong even succeed?"

This was Wen Zhong's conclusion from this little test and all his gathered information. Perhaps advancement was only possible for those exclusively cultivating human characters.

Jin Sheng helplessly said, "I don't know. It's not like everyone has the talent to become an Invincible. For most people, they are happy with the Sunmoon Realm. Who will worry about what comes next?"

"True." Wen Zhong nodded. That was right.

Even if cultivating non-human characters might completely block one's advancement, that would only be applicable to Invincibles. But one would have a higher chance of becoming a Sunmoon if one cultivated only non-human characters.

"Senior Sister Kong, do you want to give this a try as well?"

Su Yu smiled and asked the others. Were they interested in trying? From that little test, he could confirm one thing: Jin Sheng was not Lan Tian. He still wasn't too sure about the others.

Should he take this chance to verify all their identities? Deep inside, he was still quite worried. Was Lan Tian hiding near him? Previously, it was Zhao Ming. Could it be one of these old-timers this time? The closest people to Su Yu in Great Ming were the people here.

Wu Lan was cleared because the little furball could freely enter her sea of willpower like his personal farm. But that wasn't the case for the others.

Cao Hui said, "Forget about me. I'm only a seventh-stage Skysoar. I'll consider it again after opening a few apertures and reaching the ninth stage. I still can't bear to part with my characters for now."

"Same here." Wei Qi said, "I'm also a seventh-stage Skysoar. Yuxian is already at the eighth stage, though. Do you want to try, Yuxian?" ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel·fire·net

Kong Yuxian said, "No thanks. I still need my human characters for my willpower extraction projects. How am I supposed to proceed without those characters? Junior Brother Su, just help us when we're really about to die. Since we know you can help, we don't have to be so afraid anymore."

"..."

Jin Sheng looked at the speechlessly. "Am I the only one to do this? You guys are being too excessive!"

"Don't complain when you've benefited so much. You're now a Cloudbreach. And you still have so many characters left. Why do you even care about those characters?"

Su Yu had nothing to say. What could he do if they were unwilling? Was he supposed to force them?

Su Yu did not order the furball to forcefully enter their seas of willpower. Even if one of them was Lan Tian, the rest were innocent. There was no need to do something so drastic. Furthermore, it wasn't like they could do anything to Lan Tian if he really did show himself.

They couldn't even defeat him. Doing that would only create more unnecessary troubles. With Jin Sheng's successful advancement, they were all in a great mood. The dinner lasted until late at night.

Chapter 769: Departure (3)

Midnight.

Su Yu was about to leave for the Heart Paradise Island when Wu Lan appeared at the entrance. She stared at him grudgingly and snorted without saying anything.

Su Yu laughed and asked, "What is it?"

"You know why!"

"What do I know?"

"Why are you still acting?" Wu Lan snorted again and showed him her nostrils and said, "Do you think I'm dumb? Before you left Great Xia, you invited everyone to a meal as well!"

Su Yu was surprised. So she managed to guess it? What a surprise. So she wasn't so silly after all!

He smiled and switched to voice transmission, "I'm going out for a stroll. Don't tell anyone. A lot of people want me dead."

Wu Lan snorted again and replied with voice transmission, "Are you going to come back?"

"Of course."

"In that case, I'll forgive you. You're not allowed to run off alone. Even if you do intend to leave, you need to tell me or I would have come this far for nothing. You promised me the aperture fusion art but it wasn't done! How long are you going to be away?"

"I don't know. I will probably visit my dad as well. It has been a while since I last saw him." For more chapters visıt novel·fıre·net

"Fine." Wu Lan nodded understandingly.

She had just seen her father during the new year. Meanwhile, Su Yu had not met his family during the new year.

Su Yu said, "Cultivate hard. I left some heavenly source qi to you. Use it stealthily. Don't let anyone know about this. Use it to open more apertures. If you can't advance through willpower cultivation, just advance through physical cultivation. Enter the Skysoar Realm as soon as possible and start forging your body. That way, you will have the ability to protect yourself."

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Wu Lan raised her head proudly. She naturally knew how she should cultivate. "I'll be able to extract willpower with my character technique soon."

"Are you done forming your characters?" Su Yu was quite speechless. Who was she trying to fool?

She needed twenty characters. How many had she formed? If he remembered correctly, she only had six characters. More importantly, those six might not even be compatible with this character technique.

"It's better if you can focus on human characters. Sure, they are weak, but it doesn't matter to you since you're not a fighter..."

"Who says I'm not a fighter!"

Wu Lan snorted again. She was a fighter in the field of research! Only brutes would focus in nothing but combat. Naturally, that was not what she said back when she was at Great Xia. There was no helping it. After all, Su Yu had grown much stronger than her. Thus, she no longer liked to talk about combat strength.

What could she do if weak was one of her characters? It was as though even the heavens were calling her weak. How infuriating!

Su Yu laughed and said, "The three Mountainsea beasts are left in the basement. If you need to go somewhere, you can use them as your guards. I already told them about this. They will obey you during the duration of my seclusion. Of course, be polite toward them. Don't force them to betray you."

"I also left a merit card in the cultivation realm with four hundred thousand merit points in it. If the research center needs money, use the card. Or you can use the money if you need it for anything else. Also...forget it. That's all."

Wu Lan's curiosity was piqued as she hurriedly asked, "What else?"

She hated it the most when people left her hanging without finishing their words.

"It's nothing important. If anyone asks about me, you can take a stroll at Heart Paradise Island and tell them that I'm still there. Don't tell anyone about this. Principal Niu will cover for you, but I'm worried that you're not good at acting..."

"Pfft!"

Wu Lan didn't even deign to give a reply. Acting? That was easy!

After saying all he had to say, Su Yu started leaving. Wu Lan followed him for a few steps. As he walked further and further away without looking back, she asked, "Are you really going to return?"

"Yes."

"Where am I supposed to find you if you end up not coming back?"

"If I end up not coming back...don't look for me."

Wu Lan puffed her cheeks unhappily and said, "If you don't come back, I'll sell the research center and return to Great Xia! I will ignore you in the future! We will go separate ways!"

Su Yu smiled and waved his hand before vanishing into the darkness of night. In front of the research center, Wu Lan kicked a nearby pillar unhappily. That bastard was running away again!

He had yet to give her the promised aperture fusion art! She had even come up with a name for it! Why was Su Yu running all the time instead of focusing on research? Why couldn't he stay and work on the research?

18th of May.

After visiting his elder sister at Great Ming Cultural Research Academy, the flippant Cui Lang swaggered out of the academy. He did not forget to whistle at any female student he saw, attracting countless furious curses.

This damn womanizer! The nerve of him!

He had been maintaining a very low profile for some time as he was terrified of a certain woman and her Sunmoon grandfather. Now that the Sunmoon had entered seclusion, this bastard was starting to get all cocky again. Everyone who was familiar with him couldn't help but shake their heads. It would seem like not a single genius of Great Ming was a normal person.

On the way, Cui Lang even saw a familiar face: Bai Junsheng.

Bai Junsheng knew Cui Lang. He teased, "Love Sage Cui, you seem very at ease recently. Are you not afraid of that tigress?"

"Pfft!"

Cui Lang nonchalantly said, "She went to the Allheaven Battlefield. What am I afraid of? I'll go out to party again. I have a year to party non-stop. Little White, do you want to join me? We can return next year."

"Forget it."

Bai Junsheng gloomily said, "I have yet to graduate. Do you think everyone is free like you? You can party around, but watch out. Don't make the same mistake. By the way, what is your current weaponsmithing level?"

"I'm definitely better than you. Little Junior Brother, you're not enough to compete against me."

Bai Junsheng was left with nothing to say. There was no arguing that Cui Lang was better than him. Thus, he snorted and said, "Just wait. By the time I reach the ninth-stage Skysoar Realm, I'll surpass you."

"Pfft!" Cui Lang sneered before leaving. Without looking back, he said, "Partying is the only thing worth doing in life. I can only advance after I party to my heart's content. Damn it. The past few years have been absolutely miserable."

"May you meet the tigress again."

Bai Junsheng offered his blessing. This damn bastard only cared about partying. He also longed for a life like that, but he had yet to graduate. What an annoying bastard. May that bastard receive a beating, chased by his ex-girlfriends, and captured by the Sunmoon before being forced into marriage after leaving Great Ming. That would teach him.

Outside the academy, Cui Lang, or to be precise, Su Yu smiled.

That was a wide and bright smile. It would seem like his acting was decent. Even the Sunmoon tailing him was no longer following him. But he still had to be careful. Recently, he had sensed someone following him several times. He guessed that this was a secret protector assigned by Zhu Tiandao, but he did not need something like that.

Fortunately, that expert seemed to have lost him. He wondered if it was because of his disguise or if Xu Bin, his stand-in on the island, was too good at acting. Yes. To be safe, Niu Baidao had summoned Xu Bin back and forced him to act as Su Yu on the island.

He would remain as Su Yu until the real Su Yu was back. His sole mission was to stay in seclusion. It didn't matter if he wanted to do so or not. He wouldn't be allowed to do anything else apart from that.

To make it more convincing, Old Niu had even destroyed about a dozen of Xu Bin's acupoints. After all, Su Yu was officially in seclusion to recover his acupoints. Then again, Xu Bin was also very good at disguise. Niu Baidao and Zhu Tiandao wouldn't have noticed him at all if it wasn't for the Super Sensory Jade.

At the same time.

Hu Qi was seated alone in front of the Super Sensory Jade. A short while later, Niu Baidao's voice transmission arrived, "It's fine now. That fellow must have exited the city by now."

Hu Qi left without saying anything. The dot on the jade representing Xu Bin on the Heart Paradise Island transformed from the Mountainsea Realm to the Cloudbreach Realm. That was Su Yu's actual combat strength according to the jade. As the creator and controller of the jade, Hu Qi was able to easily change the label on it.

After leaving the hall, she sighed. Hopefully, everything would be fine. Some of her old friends were really at the end of the line. She looked in the direction of the prefect's residence and lowered her head with guilt. She could only apologize to her student, Zhu Tiandao. This one time, she wished to be selfish. She hoped that he would understand her.

Prefect's estate.

Zhu Tiandao was lounging on his chair while listening to some music when he smiled. Had the kid departed?

His people failed to follow that kid? Forget it. So be it. Since the kid did not want a protector, he wouldn't force it.

That damn Umbra was only strong without the brain to use his strength. Su Yu had called for dinner last night. Thus, he would definitely be leaving today. Meanwhile, that dumb Umbra was still waiting around the Heart Paradise Island. No wonder he had remained a servant all this while. He had the cultivation of a seventh-stage Sunmoon but the brain of a seventh-stage Source Opening cultivator.

"A troublemaker has descended from the heavens. Oh, how he loves making trouble..."

Zhu Tiandao started singing. This departure from Great Ming could very well be the start of Su Yu's journey to troublemaking. Whatever.

Perhaps it was time for the kid to suffer some hardships. Only then would he realize how much Old Zhu loved him. He would then realize that he should return and focus on cultivating instead of running everywhere.

Zhu Tiandao continued humming to the music, confident that everything was still within his grasp. Not far away, Zhu Hongliang had just returned home. When he heard his grandfather singing, he blanked out. Was this something good or bad?

Why did he have a feeling that nothing good would happen whenever his grandfather sang? Did an enemy of his grandfather die or something? What a pitiful guy.

Chapter 770: Assassination (1)

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Beilian City.

This was a large city of Great Ming near Starfall Mountain. After going past the Starfall Mountain and traveling a few hundred kilometers, one would reach Nanyuan City of Great Xia.

Teahouses and restaurants were always the places where rumors and information were exchanged. Great Ming did not lack storytellers. Even with the existence of televisions, this form of entertainment was still popular in Great Ming. After all, the shows in television were boring and repetitive. Meanwhile, these storytellers were much more interesting.

In Great Ming, storytellers shouldered a heavy responsibility as well: dissemination of gossip.

At the moment, within a teahouse in Beilian. Su Yu was seated comfortably in a private room with one leg over the other while drinking tea and listening to the storyteller.

The storyteller's voice filled the restaurant, "Just last night, a Mountainsea elder of Great Yuan was killed! The criminals are getting more and more brazen! Great chaos is coming!"

"Let us do a little calculation here. Just how many experts have perished over the past few months? First, a Mountainsea official was killed at the Rising Sky Sea. Then, a Mountainsea was killed in Great Tang. Next, a Mountainsea was assassinated in Great Qi. Last night, a Mountainsea was assassinated in Great Shang..."

The storyteller continued with an agitated voice, "Four Mountainseas in a row have been assassinated over the past few months. All of them were important individuals. Through our analysis, these assassinations were carried out by the same group of people. They are too audacious!"

Someone asked in astonishment, "Great Shang is not far from us. Has the chain of assassinations spread to even Great Shang? I thought the Six-Winged Divine Sect was the culprit. But all their Mountainseas were dead while their Sunmoons were in hiding. How are they finding the courage to continue these assassinations?"

The storyteller sighed, "Who knows? All sorts of people are appearing to do whatever they want nowadays. This is sign of great chaos. The various prefectures have increased their security measures. Great Ming is actually doing quite well. Five Sunmoons attacked us not long ago but all of them were killed, scaring anyone else that might also harbor evil designs against us."

"Sigh. These are troubled times. These criminals are actually brazen enough to start assassinating Mountainseas. This is too scary."

Someone asked curiously, "Why kill these people? What's special about them? There are so many Mountainseas around so why are they the targets?"

The storyteller smiled, "You asked the right person. It is said that these experts all used to be commanders in the Allheaven Battlefield. They were all individuals with great military contributions. They were brave and good at war. I suspect that the myriad races might be planning to restart the war against humanity. The first step of their plan is to assassinate the fierce commanders of humanity."

An anxious look covered the storyteller as he said, "This is so troublesome. The commanders who have retired from the frontlines need to be careful. Great Ming might not enjoy fighting in wars that much, but we also have a few retired commanders as well. If something happens to them...sigh."

Inside the private room.

Su Yu had a pensive look. Four Mountainseas of four different prefectures. All were former military commanders in the Allheaven Battlefield.

Were the myriad races really preparing for a war? In his opinion, the storyteller's analysis made sense. But that also seemed too brazen. Several Mountainseas had been killed in a row. Were the assassins the myriad race Sunmoons hidden in the Human Realm?

While he was thinking, a different voice rang out, "I can accept that the others were fierce commanders. But I know that dead Mountainsea from Great Shang. Back then, the army he led was stationed not far away from our Heavenly Dao Army. How is he a fierce commander? Sure, I won't deny that he had killed some myriad race enemies, but he is definitely not a good man. I heard that he loved to send a squad of cultural researchers out on a lone mission before each battle. And he would always wait until everyone was dead before sallying out to kill the weary enemies." New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novèlfire.net

"Is that so? How are we not aware of this? Don't make up stories. His reputation was quite good."

"You are free to believe what you want. I heard this from a different person from Great Shang. We would occasionally meet each other when we were rotated back to the main headquarters."

The storyteller asked. "Is that true? I have never heard of that. His reputation was quite good. Even if you're right, that might be a strategic move. We can't deny that he was a fierce commander just because of this. Old Huang, don't talk drivel. We should respect the dead. You don't want to get misunderstood as a cultist, right?"

The other person nodded and said, "We're in Great Ming, right? I wouldn't have dared to say that in Great Shang."

He was merely joining in on the gossip. As for proof, well, this was merely a hearsay. How was he sure if this was true or not?

Inside the private room.

Su Yu looked at the person who had spoken as a different thought appeared in his mind. Sending a small squad of cultural researchers out and only sallying out to kill the exhausted enemies after the cultural researchers were all dead. In short, that was a fishing operation.

Cultural researchers...myriad races...

Bait...the multiple character faction cultivators were perfect baits. Qin Zhen of Great Qin once told Su Yu that he had used multiple character faction cultivators to catch several whales, including some Sunmoons.

Out of nowhere, Su Yu had a feeling that those dead cultural researchers were probably those from the multiple character faction. But he wasn't sure since it was only a hunch. Since even the culprit was already dead, Su Yu did not think too much about it.

There was no denying that a lot of multiple character faction cultivators had died over the years. The faction was already small in the first place, so when they start losing large number of members, it was inevitable that the faction would start declining.

Those from the multiple character faction also enjoyed going to the battlefield as they could be considered the combat faction of the cultural research field. Thus, it actually wasn't surprising that they would have a comparatively higher rate of casualty.

While Su Yu was thinking about all that.

Great Xia City.

Talent Fostering Bureau.

Ji Hong was reading some information about the four dead commanders.

After a long while, he sighed, "Chen Yong...you are stepping on the path of madness."

The others had yet to notice anything, but that wasn't the case for Ji Hong. Some links could be found between these four and the multiple character faction. Some of the links were minute, but after checking the other information he had gathered, he noted that wherever these people were stationed, multiple character faction cultivators would either go missing or fall in battle.

"The dead cultural researchers at the Rising Sky Sea were not actual members of the multiple character faction, but they were the ex-members who were expelled by Chen Yong back then."

Of course, they had not all died at the same time. Rather, one would die every three to five years. Thus, the entire matter didn't look suspicious. After all, the Rising Sky Sea was filled with demonic beasts. It wasn't too surprising for some moderately strong cultural researchers to die every now and then.

But if one compiled all the information, one would notice that all the dead cultural researchers were related to Chen Yong one way or another. And the day that the commander was killed, Chen Yong was also nearby.

He was probably also nearby during the deaths of the Great Tang and Great Qi commanders. Ji Hong still lacked information about Chen Yong's whereabouts during the death of the Great Shang commander. That was mainly because the two Sunmoons of the Six-Winged Divine Sect had fled, leaving Chen Yong completely unobserved.

"Killing four Mountainsea commanders in a row..."

Ji Hong had a complicated look in his eyes. That was a capital crime. Chen Yong would definitely die once he was caught. Did Chen Yong have any proof of their wrongdoings? Even if he had proof, the proof was definitely not strong enough. Otherwise, he could have exposed them to Great Xia. With strong enough proof, Great Xia would not be afraid to do something about it.

Since he had not done so, his proof was clearly not strong enough. Thus, he had decided to take things into his own hands. If he was discovered, he wouldn't be able to escape death. Even the cult rarely did something like assassinating military officials of the human race.

Ji Hong sighed and went through the information about the four Mountainseas yet again. There must be something linking all four of them together. Had they been carrying out the orders of the hidden Invincible? Or were they secret cultists?

Ji Hong had been investigating this matter since half a year ago, including the list of dead multiple character faction cultivators on the battlefield, their location of death, time of death, and the armies they served during the death.

Even the deaths of the multiple character faction cultivators in the Human Realm had been investigated. He was slowly arranging all the information he had obtained. With his eyes shut, he sank into thought. Gradually, he found a certain direction all the information was pointing toward.

"He's not doing this for a personal grudge. There is no need for that Invincible to kill so many multiple character faction cultivators for something like that."

Ji Hong finally had a direction, but he still couldn't be sure who the culprit was. But in truth...he already knew enough to make some things very clear. The dead commanders had not interacted with each other much. They only shared a single similarity. They had once served in the Allheaven Battlefield at the same period of time.

Thus, the Invincibles stationed there during that period of time were the most likely ones to get in touch with all these people. Between seventy to fifty years ago, all these people were serving at the Allheaven Battlefield.

Twenty years.

Someone might have recruited them over that period of time. Who was that person? Who were the Invincibles stationed there at that time?

Humanity had quite a lot of Invincibles, and the whereabouts of most of them were unknown. Great Qin King was the sole exception as he had never stopped guarding the frontlines. The other Invincibles would be stationed at the Allheaven Battlefield after a certain period of time. Each Invincible would be rotated out after at least ten years.

At any given time, there would be more than ten human Invincibles stationed at the eastern sector. Which Invincibles were there between seventy to fifty years ago? It would be quite hard to get a concrete answer.

But it wasn't impossible. If this line of thought was correct, then that Invincible would be one of them. After all, not even Invincibles could freely go everywhere and recruit everyone they wanted. After all, the Invincibles of the other prefectures would always be on the watch.

Thus, only when one was stationed on the same battlefield would one have the opportunity and time to perform some recruitment. An Invincible would never recruit someone for no reason. That Invincible must have noticed something during their time there to reach a conclusion that these people could be recruited.

As for the recruited commanders, they had probably agreed to join because the Invincible had met them personally. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so easy to push Mountainseas into action.

"How terrifying."

Ji Hong had a clear direction to pursue. He only needed to figure out the list of Invincibles stationed there during those years. One of them would be the traitor. Sure, he still didn't have a clear answer, but the scope of the investigation had been greatly narrowed down.

He didn't know the exact number of Invincibles in the War Shrine and Knowledge Seeking Realm. But the number wouldn't be lower than thirty. And with this new clue, two-thirds of them could be cleared of suspicion.

"Chen Yong..."

Things would get even more dangerous for Chen Yong. That fellow was too crazy. All the people he killed must be the ones that had been recruited by the unknown Invincible. By killing them, he was basically telling the Invincible that he had caught onto the Invincible's tail.

"He is risking himself. The moment his actions are exposed, that Invincible can get him killed openly without risking exposure."

Ji Hong sighed with regret. After a while, he shut his eyes and tried to calm his mind. He needed to be more careful as well. In the course of his investigation, he had gathered a lot of information, including some military secrets. That might have attracted some attention as well.

"Chen Yong...since you're attracting all the attention, I'll be the one to hide in the shadows."

He could only pray that Chen Yong would be safe.

Chapter 771: Assassination (2)

Great Ming.

After finishing his tea, Su Yu walked out of the teahouse. It was a sunny day outside.

Riding on a cloudrush horse, Su Yu moved in an unhurried manner. It was not Cui Lang's style to rush his travel. Instead, he should be taking his time to appreciate the beautiful scenery and women around him.

Past the city gate, he saw that a merchant caravan was not far ahead. When the caravan of earthdragon beasts saw that Su Yu was going in the same direction, one of them said,

"Brother, this is the direction to the Starfall Mountain and Great Xia. Are you heading to Great Xia as well?"

Su Yu looked over and lazily replied, "Yeah. Are you heading there as well?"

"Yes." The burly man laughed and said, "You're traveling alone. A lot of experts have been killed on the Starfall Mountain not long ago, but that is still a dangerous place. Why don't you join us?"

Su Yu yawned and said, "It's fine. Brother, just be honest if you wish to borrow my strength. I, Cui Lang, am a straightforward person. I won't agree to act as a guard for free."

The burly man laughed heartily. That was true. These days, nobody without some ability would dare to travel to the wilderness alone. When he noticed the white robes Su Yu was wearing, he guessed that this was a cultural researcher. And seeing how polite the guards were when Su Yu went past the gate, he guessed that this was an expert. That was why he had offered to travel together.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to invite a random individual to join them, especially when they were going to be traveling through the wilderness.

"You are truly a straightforward person, Brother. That was indeed what I was thinking." The burly man asked doubtfully, "Cui Lang...Brother, are you the Prodigal Swordsman, Cui Lang?"

Several people in the group recognized that name. The women in the group snorted coldly. Cui Lang was quite famous in Great Ming. Naturally, he was also famous in Great Tang. He was a scumbag.

Of course, men would be more understanding of him, but most women disliked him. For them, he was a dirty womanizer!

Su Yu laughed, "You know me? It has been many years since I last left home. I can't believe that people still know me. Sure enough, a genius will be famous no matter where he goes. Since you are smart enough to know me, I'll agree to travel with you. But I won't be rushing the journey. I'll take my time. If you're in a rush, you may travel without me."

"We're in no rush!" The burly man was overjoyed. Cui Lang was already a high-stage Skysoar a few years ago.

He might already be a Cloudbreach.

For this caravan master, Cui Lang could be considered a big shot. After all, the caravan master was only an early Skysoar with only thirty-six acupoints. There was a big gap between him and an elite academy graduate like Cui Lang. With a Skysoar in it, this could be considered a rather respectable merchant group.

Su Yu approached them on his horse and said, "Brother, it has been a few years since I last left. Have any famous beauties appeared as of late? Can you tell me more?"

Once again, the surrounding women snorted. Su Yu curled his lips and said, "Sisters, stop snorting. You won't be able to attract my attention doing that. I have high standards."

"..."

The burly man felt incomparably awkward. He hurriedly said, "What are you doing? Be polite! Lord Cui might be a kind man, but you should still remember your manners. Lord Cui, ignore them. They are ignorant since they came from small towns..."

Cui Lang was either a late-stage Skysoar or a Cloudbreach. For them, he was an absolute big shot. It was rumored that he had a good temper. It was too bad that he was such a womanizer. If it wasn't for his rumored good temper, these women wouldn't have dared to snort in his presence.

Su Yu waved his hand, "It's fine. I'm used to this. In my presence, all women would either grin from ear to ear or sulk like I'm their greatest enemy. And the sulking ones are generally quite ugly. They are angry because I don't usually bother wasting my time on ugly people..."

The burly man felt even more awkward. According to the rumors, Cui Lang had a dirty mouth. It would seem like that was true.

He decided to move on from the topic. He said, "Lord Cui..."

"Stop. Just call me Brother Lang."

The burly man laughed awkwardly and said, "In terms of beauties, I did hear about some of them. But I doubt you will be interested. Most of them are from the major families. They are quite troublesome to deal with."

Su Yu's expression changed as he nodded, "Looks like everyone still remembers my past deeds. Sigh. A single slip may cause everlasting sorrow."

A different person in the group laughed and said, "Lord, your story has been told countless times during the past few years. The storytellers have only stopped recently. But with you out and about again, your new deeds will start spreading before long."

The person who had spoken was only an Infinite Strength cultivator. He was quite respectful when speaking, but he couldn't hide the excitement in his voice. There was no helping it. This was the legendary womanizer once hunted by a ninth-stage Sunmoon.

He really wanted to ask if the granddaughter of that Sunmoon was really so ugly. Otherwise, why would Cui Lang flee so desperately?

Su Yu said with contempt, "They have nothing better to do. Those bastards are the reason why I was forced to stay in Great Ming for so long. Damn those storytellers for spreading my story everywhere! We should cut down half of the storytellers in Great Ming!" Thıs content belongs to NoveI[F]ire.net

The caravan master laughed and said, "You're right, Brother Lang. But cutting down half of the storytellers is the same as cutting down half the fun in Great Ming. Brother Lang, are you visiting Great Xia to experience the beauties from the divine and devil races?"

Su Yu's heart skipped a beat as he smiled and said, "Impressive. Looks like you're quite well-connected to know about this. Have those students arrived? It is already late May. They should be arriving right about now, right?"

"I have no idea." The burly man shook his head, "It has been two months since our last visit to Great Xia. Since Great Xia has been rather chaotic during the past two months, we haave not been going there. We're only moving some goods over now because we heard that things have calmed down recently."

"What goods are you delivering?"

Su Yu looked at the earthdragon beasts. Each of them was carrying a large amount of goods. There were cars in the Human Realm, but these vehicles were not suitable for travel in the wilderness.

There were rapid transit beasts in Great Ming, but these beasts were expensive with limited carrying capacity. Thus, earthdragon beasts were the more efficient methods of travel for these traveling merchants.

"Only some unimportant items."

The burly man laughed and said, "We are delivering a large variety of items, including casual writings of the cultural researchers in Great Ming. Those items are wanted in Great Xia so we can earn a little bit of profit for our cultivation by making this trip."

Su Yu smiled, "Willpower texts? You actually dare to peddle willpower texts?"

"There is no such restriction in Great Ming. Meanwhile, Great Xia only restricts the outflow of willpower texts, but not the inflow."

The burly man said, "These are casually written texts, and there aren't a lot of them. They aren't worth much. If we're lucky, we can probably earn a few hundred merit points. But there are so many of us so each of us won't receive much. There is no helping this. Unaffiliated cultivators like us don't have access to too many missions. As for the Allheaven Battlefield, it is too dangerous for people who are not part of the military."

Su Yu nodded, "This is miserable. There are dozens of you and you only stand to make a few hundred merit points per trip? You guys really can't compare to me. A cultural weapon I make casually can fetch hundreds or even thousands of merit points..."

"..."

Those were hurtful but true words. The burly man was quite speechless. He knew that Cui Lang was a weaponsmith. He smiled and said, "Brother Lang, do you have any unwanted casual creations on you? Maybe..."

"Don't even think about it. I only gift my cultural weapons to beauties. Are you a beauty?"

"Hahaha! Brother Lang is indeed a romantic person!"

The burly man didn't know what else to say. This damn bastard was still as flippant as ever. Was he not afraid that the Sunmoon from Great Tang would come after him?

They resumed their travel. As Su Yu was moving at a leisurely pace, the caravan was forced to slow down as well. But with a strong expert with them, their safety was assured. Thus, they didn't mind it. Being safe was better than being fast but unsafe.

As they moved, the burly man said, "The Starfall Mountain has become a lot more peaceful nowadays. Back then, we had to take the long way around it each time we traveled. That place used to be filled with bandits and cultists. We really need to thank Su Yu for this. Because of this, our distance traveled has been shortened by a few hundred kilometers per trip."

"With the passing of time, some bandits are starting to gather there again. Fortunately, these new bandits aren't as strong as the old bandits. Most of them are at the Great Strength and Infinite Strength Realms. And they only want some money as the passage toll. Thus, we don't have to worry too much about murders and robberies anymore."

Su Yu doubtfully asked, "In that case, why are you still worried? You're already a Skysoar."

The burly man sighed, "There is no need to fight them unless absolutely necessary. These people are too troublesome. Unless you can kill all of them in one fell swoop, they will keep bothering you like an annoying fly. As merchants, we don't want to get entangled with these people. But we did report this to Great Ming so we're waiting for Great Ming to clear these bandits. After all, Great Ming has recently gained tens of thousands of Skysoar soldiers. Tsk tsk, how incredible. A random 100-man squad is probably enough to clear all these bandits."

Su Yu nodded, "I wonder if there are beauties among the bandits..."

Why was this the first thing on his mind? The burly man resisted the urge to roll his eyes. But he was slowly getting used to this. He smiled and said, "There might not be beauties among the bandits. But there will be plenty of beauties in Great Xia. I can buy you a trip—"

"Tsk. No thanks. The places you frequent are probably low-end venues."

"Hahaha. Brother Lang is right. But I'm too poor so there's no helping it."

"..."

The conversation continued as they traveled. Su Yu also took this chance to ask for the recent updates of Great Xia. Nothing big had happened. Everyone there was still busy scolding Xia Xiao'er for accepting myriad race students. Eventually, the burly man touched upon something Su Yu was interested in.

"Brother Lang, you need to be careful during this trip. I know you won't provoke the ladies from large families, but Great Xia City is really filled with people from large families. I heard that a lot of children from the influential families of the two holy lands have arrived to further their studies."

"There are even descendants of Invincibles among them. And even more of them are the descendants of Sunmoons. Including the myriad race students, Great Xia City is in total mess right now. It only looks calm because Great Zhou is in an even bigger mess recently. This will probably be our final trip to Great Xia for a long time."

Su Yu nodded. Descendants of large families? How many of them had arrived? There were even Invincible descendants? All these people were probably aiming for Hong Tan's disassembly method.

They conversed as they traveled, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the Starfall Mountain.

Half a day later. After killing a fresh Skysoar with one strike, he snorted arrogantly. Under the burly man's gaze of worship, he proudly said, "I can forgive them for not greeting me with beauties, but how dare they try to rob me? No matter what, he's a Skysoar. How dare he do something so dirty? Disgusting!"

Silence descended. Everyone in the group looked at him with admiration. It didn't matter if they were sincere or not. That was the expression they were giving him. He was actually quite incredible.

A Skysoar had been killed with one strike. That was a Skysoar! In their entire merchant group, the burly man was the only Skysoar. In that case, Cui Lang was definitely strong enough to kill their leader with one strike. No wonder their leader had been so polite toward him.

Cui Lang truly deserved his reputation. After spending a few years in Tiandu, Cui Lang seemed to have grown even stronger. Truly worthy of being a genius widely talked about in two prefectures back then.

Su Yu wasn't thinking about any of that. He was busy wondering about the origin of that Skysoar.

Were these bandits from the cult? That might not be the case. Perhaps these bandits were sent here by some other powers. And it was likely that they were here to look for his so-called ruin. Nobody would believe it even if Su Yu announced that such a ruin did not exist.

This place wasn't too far from Nanyuan. Thus, it was very likely that these people had been sent here to look for the ruin. They were merely pretending to be bandits as a cover. But with their strength, they were probably on guard duty instead of being part of the actual search team.

Even if there were actual experts here, these experts wouldn't dare to attack Cui Lang. After all, the search for the ruin was best carried out in secret. And Cui Lang was a celebrity in Great Ming. If he ended up dying here, Great Ming would investigate this place. And that would cause these ruin-seekers a lot of trouble.

Su Yu was right.

Not long after their departure, someone arrived at their previous location. After taking a look at the corpses, he muttered, "Cui Lang, unofficial student of Niu Baidao. If it wasn't for that person, Niu Baidao would have accepted him as an official student long ago. This fellow has left Great Ming."

Someone else appeared beside him. He laughed and said, "Since that person is in seclusion, it is normal for Cui Lang to come out at this time. Forget it. Don't attract trouble. There is no need to waste our effort for someone dead. That guy was too stupid. Why did he stop Cui Lang? After staying in Tiandu for so many years, Cui Lang must be going crazy from boredom."

"True." The other person said, "The ruin is probably not here on the Starfall Mountain. Su Yu wouldn't have exposed this place otherwise. Even that person from Great Ming is ignoring this place. Is it possible that the ruin is in Nanyuan?"

"Yes. But we can't go there. It's too dangerous. There are Sunmoons in the city."

"Sigh."

"Invincible ruin...if we can enter it, even if we can't become Invincibles, we will be able to enter the Sunmoon Realm. What a pity."

"There is nothing to regret. Great Xia will fall into chaos soon. The experts stationed in Nanyuan will probably leave at that time. After all, nothing has been found in Nanyuan even after so long..."

"Even without them around, there is no guarantee that we will be able to find the ruin."

"At the very least, we should try our luck. It isn't like ruins are things you can encounter just because you're strong. Su Yu was only at the Source Opening Realm when he found the ruin."

After a short chat, the two vanished. None of them cared about their dead companions. As for Cui Lang, they ignored him as well. He wasn't their target. They had nothing to gain from killing him. Instead, they would attract more trouble. Even if Great Ming ignored Cui Lang's death for some reason, the Sunmoon from Great Tang might get involved. It was fine for them to bicker with each other, but who could be sure that the Sunmoon wasn't already viewing Cui Lang as his grandson-in-law.

At this moment, Su Yu turned to look behind him and smiled. Two Cloudbreaches. He wondered which family they belonged to. Or perhaps they were cultists. Whatever. There was no need for him to do anything about them.

Cui Lang wasn't the type of person to get involved in matters unrelated to him. Killing the two Cloudbreaches would only expose himself. He was near Nanyuan. He only needed to travel one day after leaving the Starfall Mountain to reach Nanyuan. He had returned yet again.

He gazed into the distance. He still couldn't see anything, but he couldn't help sinking into a melancholic mood. He only hoped that this small city could enjoy its peace forever. Unfortunately, this was his birthplace. Rumors of the Invincible ruin had attracted too many eyes to this place.

Chapter 772: Bidding Reason Farewell (1)

Nanyuan.

The moment Su Yu laid eyes on Nanyuan again, his mind turned blank momentarily. But he quickly regained his calm. A slight anger could be seen deep in his eyes. The city had changed.

Beside him, the burly man exhaled in relief to see Nanyuan. It would be much safer here. He only needed to worry about selling his goods next, but it wouldn't be as troublesome as traveling through the wilderness.

"Brother Lang, thank you for your protection." The burly man laughed heartily and said, "Things will be almost completely safe after arriving at Nanyuan. We will be selling as much as possible in Nanyuan."

Su Yu asked in surprise, "Nanyuan? I remember that Nanyuan isn't a main commercial hub. Are there enough buyers here?"

"Not in the past, but that has changed. There are a lot of people here nowadays."

The burly man knew that Cui Lang had not traveled for many years, so he explained, "Isn't this Su Yu's hometown? Brother Lang, you probably understand this. Since the Xia Family has not been able to find his ruin, others are starting to try their luck. And most of those people are here. It's not like Su Yu himself will dare to return right now."

"Thus, the number of people in Nanyuan increased. Initially, the Xia Family prohibited outsiders from coming. But some people started claiming that Prefect Xia must be hiding here to complete his advancement. That forced the Xia Family to open the city for everyone. Rather than let those people sneak into the city, they might as well let them enter openly. That will make monitoring easier."

Su Yu smiled, "Ruin? Just because Su Yu was born here, the ruin is here as well? That isn't necessarily the case, right?"

"Yes, but it's quite likely. The temptation of a ruin is too big." The burly man said, "Brother Lang, why don't you take a stroll around the city as well? The ruin definitely favors geniuses. People like us have no hope, but you might get lucky and stumble upon it."

"Genius? Heh."

Suddenly, several individuals rode their earthdragon beasts over. The youth leading the group was riding on a fierce tiger Skysoar. When he heard the conversation, he sneered with contempt. Without bothering to say anything else, he tried to ride past them.

That was merely a casual remark from him. He didn't deign to say more. As far as he was concerned, anyone riding on a cloudrush horse was not worth his time.

But Su Yu's eyes turned frosty. All these people were intruding upon his home to look for the ruin. Had they asked him about it? He had been itching to do something. This would be an excellent excuse. The youth was just about to ride past him with a ray of sword light dropped from the sky.

"Impudent!"

Someone behind the youth roared in fury. But before that person could move, the youth's mount was beheaded. The youth dropped to the ground alongside his dead mount. He scrambled back to his feet while several individuals hurriedly stood in front of him.

A middle-aged man with a scar on his face looked at Su Yu with an unsightly expression, "Who are you? How dare you try to kill a Sunmoon descendant in Great Xia?" Follow current novᴇls on novｅlfire.net

Su Yu sneered, "Don't bother playing this game with me. Your Grandpa Lang is a seasoned traveler. What have I not seen before?"

Looking at the furious youth, Su Yu asked, "Brat, which family are you from? You must have never suffered the hardships of life before. Do you think everyone will spoil you like your daddy? Wimpy brat, if you had said more, you would have been the one to lose your head instead."

"You—"

The man with a scar stopped the youth from speaking and said, "My young master was too hot-headed. But sir, you killed my young master's mount without saying anything. You should at least leave your name to us, right?"

"I never shy away from giving my name. Listen closely. I am Cui Lang of Great Ming." Su Yu grinned, "Do you know me? Which family are you from? Tell me. Let's see if it's a family your Grandpa Lang can't afford to offend."

"Cui Lang?" The man with a scar frowned and said, "Prodigal Swordsman, Cui Lang? You're out of hiding?"

Su Yu glared at him and said, "Does your Grandpa Lang need to report to you each time I leave home? Don't get too cocky just because you're a Cloudbreach. I've met plenty of Mountainseas and Sunmoons before. You're only a garbage Cloudbreach. If you want to pick a fight, try me. I dare you."

The disturbance right in front of the city gate had attracted the attention of the nearby people. A small crowd had formed atop the city wall. The man with a scar was indeed a Cloudbreach, but he was only an early Cloudbreach.

And he finally knew who he was facing.

The Prodigal Swordsman, Cui Lang.

Some also called him the Womanizer Swordsman.

This fellow was no warrior. He was a cultural researcher who had insisted on calling himself a swordsman for some reason. His backer was an immensely powerful seventh-stage Sunmoon, Niu Baidao of Great Ming.

There was also that Sunmoon from Great Tang. As outsiders, there wasn't much they could say. It was very likely that Cui Lang would obtain a ninth-stage Sunmoon as a backer as soon as he agreed to the marriage.

The man with scar saw that the youth still looked unhappy, but he wasn't surprised that the youth didn't know who Cui Lang was. It had been a long time since Cui Lang was last active.

He stopped the youth from saying anything and said, "This is a misunderstanding. My young master didn't mean any malice. This is his first time leaving the family. He's still young. Please be lenient with him. As for the dead tiger, so be it. I hope this is enough for you to vent your anger."

"Uncle Scar!"

The youth was unwilling to accept this. That was a very expensive mount his family had tamed for him.

Uncle Scar solemnly said, "It's fine. This is only a misunderstanding. Young Master, remember to speak cautiously in the future."

The youth was still unhappy, but he finally realized that this person was probably someone they shouldn't provoke. Thus, he had no choice but to swallow his anger.

Su Yu sneered and swaggered forward as he said, "Forget it. I won't waste my time bickering with a brat. I'm a very agreeable person. If it was anyone else, he could have waited until you left the city before killing you in the wilderness. You wouldn't even know how you die. Back when your Grandpa Lang used to travel the world, I saw a lot of similar situations.

"There are so many young geniuses from large families that think they're some hot shit since they have never experienced the hardships of society. And many of them died miserably. Your Grandpa Lang also nearly died many times before learning one thing: When you're outside and encounter someone you can't offend, wag your tail like a good dog. And when someone dares to provoke you, fuck them up!"

"..."

Uncle Scar remained silent. The youth had a look of fury, but he didn't dare to say anything either. Beside Su Yu, the burly man silently moved his caravan through the gate. In such a situation, the best choice was to not get involved.

On the city wall.

A large number of people had gathered there.

In the past, Nanyuan only had several Skysoars. But only a few months later, the city was filled with experts. Even Mountainseas could be seen on the city walls. All of them saw what happened outside the city.

One of them laughed, "It's Cui Lang."

"Who?"

Those who didn't know Cui Lang immediately found out after asking around.

So that was why. That was someone who had survived sleeping with the granddaughter of a ninth-stage Sunmoon without taking any responsibility. What else could they say?

"Who are those people?"

"I think they're from Great Yuan's Hao Family."

"Hao Family? A Sunmoon family. I remember it. This is the family of that person from Great Yuan's Astronomy Department. Even those from his family are here..."

"These are probably from a branch family. Otherwise, they would at least have a Mountainsea dao protector."

"Branch family...in that case, they really need to lie low here. It might be fine if it's someone from the main family. But a mere branch family will only suffer after provoking Cui Lang."

Sure, the Cui Family was not a family of experts. But this fellow was backed by two late-stage Sunmoons. If that youth was from the direct line of descent of a Sunmoon, he could probably try provoking Cui Lang. But since he was from a branch family, he should forget about it. Since he was the weaker party, what could he do apart from bowing?

"Looks like Cui Lang is quite strong. He killed a sixth-stage Skysoar tiger with a single hit."

"He was already a late-stage Skysoar a few years ago. It is likely that he's near the Cloudbreach Realm right now. Maybe he's already a Cloudbreach. A sixth-stage Skysoar is nothing for him."

"Why is he here?"

"Who knows? That person from Great Tang has recently entered seclusion. This kid must be out to relax after staying in hiding for so long."

After entering the city on his horse, Su Yu looked around. The more he looked, the worse his mood became. There were a lot of experts in the city.

Despite his bad mood, he maintained his flippant smile as he said, "Wow, why are there so many friends here?"

Right after saying that, he greeted a nearby man and said, "Isn't this Brother Wang? Do you remember the days when we used to frequent brothels for free in Great Song? Sigh. Time sure flies..."

The expression of the person he was pointing at changed. That person said, "Brother Cui, we only met once. I never did that. You must have mistaken me for someone else. And I'm not surnamed Wang."

Chapter 773: Bidding Reason Farewell (2)

Someone else laughed, "Since it's a Wang, is it Wang Qi of Great Song? Brother Lang, after staying in hiding for so many years, have you forgotten the names of your friends?"

Su Yu laughed, "It doesn't matter. A name is merely a form of address. As strangers coming together by chance, why bother with such trivialities? Everyone, are you all here for Su Yu's ruin? Did you find anything? Can you take me with you? Don't worry. I won't fight over the ruin. I only want to see if there is a living ancient beauty in the ruin..."

Everyone was speechless. This guy sure was straightforward.

With a light tap on the ground, Su Yu leaped onto the city wall. After looking left and right, he said, "This is weird. Is the Xia Family letting us do as we please? We can even get on the city walls freely now?"

He looked at his so-called Brother Wang and said, "Brother Wang..."

"I'm a Huang, not Wang."

"Ohhhh, Brother Huang." Su Yu laughed heartily and said, "It doesn't matter. A name is just a name. Brother Huang, are there no Great Xia experts around?"

At the very least, he didn't see any expert from the military around. Only some regular soldiers below the SKysoar Realm could be seen. They were all silently standing guard in their respective positions. And they had completely ignored him when he moved onto the city wall. Something like this would never happen in the past.

Brother Huang could only helplessly explain, "Nanyuan isn't a strong city, and Great Xia is too tied up to deploy their forces from somewhere else here. As long as we don't create trouble and disturb the local populace, Great Xia will let us be. If you do disturb the local populace, some people will naturally come knocking."

"I see." Su Yu nodded, "I was surprised that nobody did anything when I killed that beast. Did Great Xia say that they will also ignore all fights between outsiders?"

"You're a sharp one, Brother Lang." The youth said, "That's indeed the case. According to Marquis Xia, they won't take responsibility for the security of all outsiders. But all outsiders will be required to pay for any damage done locally. As long as you pay up, he will let you be. So if you're rich enough to pay the fines, you can probably do anything you want."

"That sounds like him." Su Yu nodded. He crossed his arms and looked at the group that had arrived at the same time as him. "That kid had the courage to provoke me. Which family are they from? If they're not strong, maybe I'll just kill them all later."

"Brother Lang." Someone else said, "They are members of the Hao Family. That's a Sunmoon family from Great Yuan. This is only a small matter. And that's a Mental Tempering Stage brat. Why waste your time on some ignorant kid?"

Su Yu smiled, "That was a joke. Don't take me seriously. That's such a cute kid. I wouldn't bear to kill him. I have been roaming the world since I was twenty-five. It has been ten years since then. I have only killed a small number of people. How can I murder people indiscriminately? That was merely a joke."

The man with scar felt very helpless when he heard that. This was very troublesome. They had just arrived and they had already provoked someone like that. That fellow had probably gone mad from hiding for so long and was looking for someone to vent his anger.

"Please forgive us, Brother Cui. I will visit you with my young master tonight to offer our apology. I hope you will be willing to meet us."

Su Yu laughed, "Forget it. I will let this go because of you. This is just a small matter. It's nothing. We're all fellow travelers so we naturally need to show mutual respect. Just remember to watch your mouth in the future. Just look at me. I'll be very obedient in the presence of Invincible descendants. As for Sunmoon descendants, I don't mind fighting it out. At worst, I'll just seek shelter in Great Tang."

Holy shit!

Someone cursed inwardly. Wasn't this fellow unwilling to get married? Why was he thinking of going to Great Tang now? What a useless scoundrel who was living off a woman. A shameless scoundrel.

Then again, there was really nothing these people could do. If he really did seek shelter in Great Tang, even those from regular Sunmoon families wouldn't be able to touch him.

Su Yu smiled and descended from the city wall. While walking away, he said, "I'll be taking a look around. Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and stumble upon the ruin. That would make me rich. By the way, where's the mayor's residence? I'll go have a chat with the mayor. Also, apart from Su Yu's teacher, Liu Wenyan, does he have any relatives in the city? I'm from Great Ming and Su Yu is now a member of Great Ming. We're basically family. It is only natural that I visit his relatives now that I'm here."

"Brother Wang...I mean Brother Huang, do you want' to come with me? Maybe we can even visit Su Yu's house. Do you know the location of his house?"

The expression of that youth changed as he hurriedly said, "Sure. I'll go with you."

Visiting Su Yu's house! They might really be able to find something. Cui Lang sure was fearless. He had actually aimed for Su Yu's house right after arriving.

The youth ignored the expressions of those around him and hurriedly followed Su Yu. "Brother Lang, I arrived a few days earlier so I have learned some things. Su Yu has a few teachers here, including the principal of Nanyuan Secondary School. But that is a public servant of Great Xia so we can't rashly disturb him."

He added, "As for Su Yu's house, it's guarded by the Martial Dragon Guards. We can't get through them easily."

Su Yu smiled, "It's fine. My teacher is Principal Niu. And Su Yu is quite close with my teacher. Thus, I can be considered his senior brother. We're family. I'm only visiting the house of my brother. It will be fine. We're doing this out in the open. We're not thieves. Am I right? Su Yu had forgotten the location of his ruin and told me to look for the ruin on his behalf. This is acceptable, right?"

When the others heard that, they were all rendered speechless. What a shameless guy. It seemed like Cui Lang had not changed much. They reckoned he hadn't even met Su Yu before. How were they brothers? Sure, Cui Lang was probably important enough in Great Ming to meet Su Yu. But it was total nonsense that he was close to Su Yu.

Everyone knew that in Great Ming, Su Yu spent most of his time with Mountainseas and Sunmoons. He was also the VIP of the prefect. Why would he waste his time on someone like Cui Lang?

Mayor's residence.

Wu Wenhai was still the mayor. But as of late, he seemed to have aged a lot. When he met Su Yu, he looked rather calm. As a mayor, his status was quite high despite his weak strength.

He was only meeting Su Yu, or to be precise, Cui Lang, because this was a visitor from Great Ming and a graduate of the Great Ming Cultural Research Academy. And this was also an unofficial student of Niu Baidao.

Wu Wenhai was very straightforward, "Brother Cui, if you're here to look for the ruin, go ahead. Just avoid disturbing the local populace. As for anything else we might have found, Great Xia would have long taken what they could long ago. I am only seeing you to ask if Su Yu is doing well in Great Ming."

Su Yu smiled, "He's very well, but he was recently injured. Right before I left, he entered seclusion at my teacher's place. He even told me to visit his house and clean it up for him. Can I go to his house?" Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on noⅴelfire.net

"..."

Wu Wenhai gazed at Su Yu doubtfully and asked, "Are you sure about that?"

"Cough, cough. Of course."

Su Yu laughed awkwardly. It was clear he was lying.

Wu Wenhai frowned slightly and said, "Since you're claiming that you're here on Su Yu's request, sure. But you will need to bear the consequences for it. Since you know Su Yu, you should know that he is a petty person. If you lie about this and intrude upon his property, well, think about the consequences yourself. I won't say anything else."

Su Yu said, "Of course. Don't worry. He's close to my teacher. I'm really planning to only clean the place for him. The place must be full of dust now since it has been empty for so long."

Beside him, Brother Huang looked very impressed with his ability to lie through his teeth. Wu Wenhai was not interested in continuing the conversation. After asking a few more questions about Su Yu, he sent them away.

Right as Su Yu was about to leave, Wu Wenhai said, "Nanyuan is still a territory of Great Xia. I advise you to follow the laws while you're here. Nobody wants to see anything bad happen."

"Definitely!"

After leaving the mayor's residence, he laughed, "Let's go to Su Yu's house!"

"Brother Lang, are we really going?"

"Of course. But...be very clear that I'm not inviting you to go with me. If you go, you will need to deal with Su Yu in the future. I will only protect myself."

"..."

Brother Huang gloomily said, "This wasn't what you said before!"

Earlier, Cui Lang had promised to take him along!

"Haha, I was joking. You can come with me if you want. But I'm serious. I'm not worried that Su Yu will find me in the future because of this. I'm really going there to help clean his place. My teacher is very close to him. But that's not the case with you..."

Brother Huang started hesitating. After a long while, he said, "I'll wait for you outside. Brother Lang, if you find anything, don't forget your brother."

"Of course." Su Yu grinned. At that point, they had arrived at the entrance to his old neighborhood.

Several soldiers from the Martial Dragon Guards were standing there. One of them was a familiar face, Xia Bing. He was the squad leader of the Martial Dragon Guards stationed in Nanyuan. He was now a fourth-stage Skysoar. He had improved a lot, but he was still too weak compared to many of the outsiders in the city.

When the two youths arrived, Xia Bing frowned. The other soldiers also glared at the two ferociously. These two were clearly outsiders.

An old man was walking past when he saw the two. He started cursing, "Damn it. Why are all sorts of bastards coming to our place? When that Su kid returns in the future, he will cut them all down!"

This was an old man with a fiery temper. This was very normal in Great Xia. Some of their common citizens might be weak, but they weren't a patient bunch. They had plenty of retired soldiers among the common populace. And they were standing right within Great Xia. There was no need for them to fear these outsiders.

Su Yu blanked out when he saw what happened next. Noticing what was happening, Brother Huang hurriedly pulled him aside. An one-armed old man had attempted to ram into him, but the old man had missed since Su Yu had been pulled aside in time.

The old man stared at Brother Huang gloomily and swore, "Damn it! How dare you ram into me? Are you trying to bully me?"

He walked away while cursing non-stop.

Chapter 774: Bidding Reason Farewell (3)

While Su Yu was blanking out in stupefaction, Brother Huang sent him a voice transmission, "Be careful. The people here are quite hostile toward us. Great Xia doesn't want us to disturb or even touch them. If one of them rams into you, you might be fine. But if that somehow kills them, you are dead. Not even being a Sunmoon descendant will protect you. The old people here are quite crazy. A few days ago, an old man jumped in front of someone riding a beast and died. That fellow was directly dragged off and executed."

Su Yu was shaken. Someone was already dead? Then again, that wasn't too surprising. The people of Nanyuan were quite ferocious. As this was a small city, a lot of the locals knew each other.

Su Yu only knew those close to him, but his father knew a lot more people. In fact, almost everyone in Nanyuan knew Su Long. As far as the locals knew, Su Long's son seemed to have obtained something incredible. As a result, he was schemed against by villains and forced to leave. And these outsiders were here to snatch what he found. For the locals, these outsiders were no different than thieves.

Since Great Xia was not willing to kill them, the locals were using their own ways to get these people killed. Thus, these elderlies started using their lives to get some young geniuses killed. This was already a common practice here.

After a short silence, Su Yu said, "The people here sure are crazy."

"Damn right." Brother Huang gloomily said, "Some newcomers were clueless and allowed the locals to ram into them. Guess what happened to those people. Just keep an eye out when you're here. No matter what, we're within Great Xia. If you create trouble, they won't mind killing you to warn the others."

Brother Huang was speaking from the perspective of an outsider. But Su Yu only got one thing from that. Some locals had died. They had died because of him. It didn't matter how old these people were or how weak they were. It also didn't matter if they did so for the pride of Nanyuan. Su Yu only knew that they had died because of him.

Lives were lost.

Su Yu's feelings turned complicated. In truth, he didn't mind all these outsiders here. He knew very well that there was no ruin here. He was only here to visit his house and those close to him. But when he heard that some of the locals had died...he suddenly developed an intense hatred toward these outsiders.

For the locals, these people were thieves. How could they waltz in and take something that belonged to Nanyuan? Meanwhile, the outsiders all believed that anyone who found the ruin was entitled to it. If Su Yu could benefit from it, why couldn't they benefit from it as well? The ruin was left by the ancient humans, not his family. As both parties were viewing things from different perspectives, they viewed things differently.

Su Yu stopped thinking. His smile returned as he looked at Xia Bing and said, "Sir, I'm Su Yu's friend. I already have the mayor's permission to visit Su Yu's house. Can you let me through?"

Xia Bing looked at him coldly and asked, "Cui Lang of Great Ming? Sure, you may enter. But Huang He, you're not allowed to enter."

Brother Huang stiffened. Fine. So be it. Su Yu smiled and entered the neighborhood.

As he walked, he muttered, "So which block is it?"

Xia Bing did not answer, but Huang He answered, "Unit 302 of Block 4..."

"Got it." Get full chapters from novel⁂fire.net

Some of the neighborhood elderlies were chatting idly with each other when they noticed the newcomer. All of them stopped talking and gazed at him coldly. Su Yu smiled and ignored them.

When he reached his block, he still had the same smile on his face. But anger was raging in his heart. Someone was inside his house. Some outsiders had intruded upon his house! When he went upstairs, he noted that the door of his house was left half-opened.

He laughed and said, "Has someone arrived before me?"

Soon, the individuals in the house looked at him. They were surprised to see him.

Su Yu didn't know them as none of them was a familiar face. But one of them looked like a government servant of Great Xia. That person asked, "Who are you?"

"Cui Lang of Great Ming."

Su Yu took a look at his house and flashed them a wide smile, "Why is the place in such a mess? What are you guys doing? This is the house of my brother, Su Yu. I'm here to clean the place for him. What am I supposed to tell him when he learns that you guys have turned his house into such a mess?"

"Su Yu?"

The outsiders looked at him. Some of them were youngsters and some of them were middle-aged individuals. The government servant said, "Cui Lang? You know Su Yu?"

"Cough, cough, yes, definitely. We're friends."

Excluding Su Yu, there were five people in the house. Apart from the government servant, there was a young man, a young woman, a middle-aged man, and a middle-aged woman.

The young man finally recalled who Cui Lang was. He smiled and said, "I remember this name. You're related to the previous director of Great Tang's Talent Fostering Bureau, right?"

That reminded the others who Cui Lang was.

Su Yu smiled, "Looks like I'm quite famous. Who are you?"

"Zhou Hongbo of the Knowledge Seeking Academy."

"Liu Han of the War Shrine Academy."

"Wow. You're from the two holy lands. I am honored to be in your presence."

Su Yu stepped through the door and looked around. The couch in the living room had been damaged. Many of the plates in the kitchen had also been damaged.

When he stepped into his bedroom, he had to try really hard to suppress his anger. He crouched down and picked up a photo frame. That was a picture of him and his father. With the same smile on his face, he turned around and asked, "Did a robbery happen here? Why is it so messy?"

The government servant sighed and said, "A few days ago, some people lured the guards away before breaking in. But there is nothing here. It would have been discovered long ago otherwise. You guys refused to believe me when I told you, but look. Even the expert who had sneaked in here didn't find anything."

Su Yu said, "This is a private property. It belongs to my brother, Su Yu. Why are you intruding without permission? Is Great Xia freely allowing this to happen?"

The government servant merely shrugged and smiled without saying anything. These people were from the two holy lands. Nobody wanted to offend them.

Zhou Hongbo smiled and said, "You misunderstand us, Brother Cui. We're only here to try our luck at finding the person who had broken into this house. We're basically here to catch the thief for Su Yu."

Su Yu nodded, "I see. So did you find anything?"

"No. That person is quite strong..."

"Is this all those from the two holy lands are capable of?" Su Yu laughed, "Looks like I have overestimated you people."

Zhou Hongbo did not let that comment provoke him. He said, "It's not so easy. Someone capable of luring the guards away before breaking in is probably as strong as a Sunmoon."

"True."

Su Yu took a look at his messy house again before smiling. His beautiful childhood. During his previous return, his house had been the same. But this time, everything changed. If his father returned and saw this, he would probably have a hard time recognizing that this was his own home.

Su Yu still remembered how he used to make the house messy when he was a young boy. Every time that happened, the burly and coarse father would always clean the house with great care, as though he was taking care of the most precious thing in his life.

That old apron that his father had used for many years was now left on the floor, as though it was some dirty rag.

When Zhou Hongbo saw Su Yu placing the photo frame on the bedside cabinet, he asked, "Director Sun, can we have a talk with Su Long?"

The middle-aged government servant shook his head, "No. Su Long is serving in the army. No outsiders can meet him."

"How regretful."

The youth shot the middle-aged man beside him a glance. The middle-aged man said, "Hasn't Su Long been reassigned to the headquarters? We can find him there. We need to find out if there is really a ruin in Nanyuan as soon as possible if we don't want more chaos here..."

"You have to ask the marquis about that." Director Sun said, "I can let you check this house, but I can't make the choice to take you to Su Long. That is up to the marquis."

The people from the holy lands frowned. Marquis Xia was a very troublesome person.

At this time, Su Yu smiled, "Everyone, you've already seen all you can see here. It doesn't matter if I'm really Su Yu's friend. No matter what, this is my excuse to be here. Can you move out and let me clean this place? By doing this, I might be able to use this as an excuse to get close to Su Yu in the future. Don't get in my way."

Zhou Hongbo smiled and said, "Sure. We won't be disturbing you, Brother Cui."

There was nothing else to see here. Staying was pointless. They then walked away with smiles on their faces. Even after everyone left, Su Yu maintained the smile on his face. His willpower spread out as he started cleaning the house. He even hummed as he worked, looking as though he was in a good mood.

After a while, he entered his bedroom again. There, he carefully wiped the footprint on the photo of him and his father. He gathered every footprint and speck of dust found in the house.

This was his house. It wasn't a place people could enter as they pleased. Not only had they entered without permission, but they had even reduced it into such a mess. That wasn't appropriate. And they had even stepped on the photo of him and his father. Were they blind?

Su Yu walked to the window and looked at the group that had just arrived downstairs. A smile formed on his face. Even the two holy lands were tempted? And Great Xia was offering the service of showing people his house? Were they charging for this service?

Who was Director Sun? Was this his idea or was this Xia Xiao'er's idea? Was his house a place just anyone could enter? Did they not need to ask for the owner's permission? The owner was still alive, not dead!

Downstairs, Zhou Hongbo looked back and noticed Su Yu gazing at them behind the window. He even waved at them with a smile.

Zhou Hongbo also smiled before transmitting his voice to the middle-aged man beside him, "Teacher, is this Cui Lang related to Su Yu?"

"He's the unofficial student of Niu Baidao. He might have met Su Yu before. As for their relationship...what manner of relationship could they have?"

The middle-aged man was sure that Cui Lang was lying. It was clear that Cui Lang was full of lies. Zhou Hongbo nodded and tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

After Su Yu was done cleaning the room, he smiled. With a handful of dust in his palm, he said to the furball, "Eat this. Memorize the smell for me."

"Don't wanna..."

The little furball refused.

No way. This was not food! So dirty!

"If you eat this, I'll get you some yummy stuff to eat. Hurry up. Or you won't get anything yummy from me anymore."

The little furball was still greatly against this idea. This was unacceptable. That clump of dust smelled terrible. But...Yummy seemed very angry at the moment. He could see that Yummy's sea of willpower was roiling intensely. Left with no choice, the little furball could only agree.

Before long, the clump of dust vanished. Inside his sea of willpower, the little furball retched. That was disgusting. He felt like throwing up.

"Will you be able to recognize the smell when we encounter it again?"

"I need to either eat a character or enter the sea of willpower."

"Fine."

Su Yu did not say anything else. That would happen. Whoever it was that had entered his home, damaged his stuff, and stepped on the photo of him and his father, he would not let it go.

It wasn't like he was out on a trip to perform acts of kindness. He had been planning to do something. He might as well get started in Nanyuan. These days, it was pointless to stay reasonable.

According to reason, nobody should enter his home without permission. But so what? They had still turned his home into a public toilet that everyone could visit. Thus, he decided to stop being reasonable.