Surfacing

"Yaoguang, thank you so much for earlier." Stepping out of Pinweiju, Su Yaoyu expressed her heartfelt thanks. Su Yaoxue and Ran Qiu followed behind them. However, in contrast to Su Yaoxue's searching scrutiny, Ran Qiu was covering her face with her hands, feeling too mortified to look anyone in the eye. Her behavior moments ago meant she could no longer maintain an innocent, cute image in front of Yaoguang. "Let's go eat," Yaoguang said without elaborating. "I'll take everyone to a new place right away," Su Yaoyu said, beckoning Caiyun to bring the car around. "Let's head to Deyuelou next to my company. It's on me," Su Yaoxue offered. Turning toward Yaoguang, she added, "Thank you." Yaoguang gave a slight nod, accepting her gratitude. "Are the people from the Ye family still harassing you all the time?" Su Yaoyu leaned in and asked in a low voice. "It doesn't matter. Just minor nuisances," Su Yaoxue replied with outward calm. "Why haven't I heard you mention this to the family?" Su Yaoyu pressed. Su Yaoxue glanced at her. All of them... were motherless. Whether it was her mother or the mothers of Su Yaoshuang and Su Yaoqin, bearing children for Su Huaifeng had merely been a means to rake in a fortune. As for marrying into a prominent clan and becoming a wealthy matron? What a fantasy. Right up until he fell ill, Su Huaifeng had spent his days sprawled across one woman after another. To some degree, they were no different from orphans with neither father nor mother. With no backing behind her, after breaking off the engagement with the Ye family and damaging the clan's interests, it was already a blessing that the Family Disciplinary Hall hadn't punished her severely. And now she was supposed to count on the Su family's help? Dream on. Naturally, she kept these thoughts to herself, merely murmuring, "I can handle it myself." "Lately, Director Zhang has allied with Director Wei and Director Yan, trying to usurp control and stirring up endless trouble. Grandfather has been quite busy. Once this rough patch passes, I'll mention your situation to him," Su Yaoyu whispered. "Zhang Yushu is the younger brother of the wife of the Director-General of the Tiannan Development Bureau. On top of that, the Ye family and our rival Shen family are kicking us while we're down. Not to mention, who knows if there are even higher-ranking figures pulling the strings from the shadows? It won't be easy for Buzhou Group to weather this storm," Su Yaoxue said, shaking her head. "Grandfather will find a way," Su Yaoyu insisted. Su Yaoxue did not bother arguing further. She knew there was no point. So long as she ran her own company well, she could secure a fallback for her own circle. The group divided into three cars and drove toward Deyuelou, the place Su Yaoxue had mentioned. Yet only a few moments into the drive, Yaoguang suddenly spoke up. "Turn right at the junction." Lei Yun did not understand why, but she didn't utter a single question, swiftly spinning the steering wheel. Yaoguang took out his phone and sent Su Yaoyu a message, saying he had forgotten something and that they should go on ahead. Following the detour, the car soon arrived at a secluded alley. "Stop here," Yaoguang said. "Young Master..." By this point, drawing upon her ample experience, Lei Yun had also keenly sensed something amiss. A car had been tailing them. "Wait for me in the car," Yaoguang instructed. He opened the door and stepped out, walking toward the depths of the alley before vanishing into the gloom. The car that had trailed them paused briefly. A man in his thirties stepped out and followed at an unhurried pace. Watching this from inside the vehicle, Lei Yun felt an urge to follow, but remembering her young master's orders, she held her ground. She focused all her attention on the alley, ready to charge in at the first sign of trouble. *** "Quite bold of you," the man said calmly as he stepped into the alley, watching the young man who had halted not far ahead as though waiting for him. "The voice doesn't match," Yaoguang said. Back at Yulong International, the voice he had heard belonged to an old man. So the big fish still hadn't come in person? "Su Yaoguang, born in '99, father Su Huaifeng, mother Zhang Ya. Raised by Su Anping from a young age. Despite receiving a good education, your performance was utterly mediocre. Your grades were unremarkable, and your personal life was a mess... Yet a year ago, you suddenly rose to prominence, your martial arts advancing by leaps and bounds..." The man stared at Yaoguang. "So, which sect's friend has strayed into this place? State your name." "And which sect do you belong to?" Yaoguang countered. "You don't know? A rogue cultivator? Never mind. You don't carry our aura, so you clearly aren't one of us. Regardless of where you come from, once I beat you to death, I'll extract whatever information I want." His body began to mutate and demonize in plain sight. "To force our leader to pull me away from vital business just to kill you in person—you should consider it an hon—" *Whoosh!* A figure tore through the air. The moment Yaoguang realized this demon intended to manifest its true form without the slightest pretense, his power erupted violently. He knew all too well that once a demon revealed its true form, the difficulty of the battle would surge to an entirely different tier! "Presumptuous!" The man's eyes flared with feral savagery. His right arm, already fully demonized, clawed straight for Yaoguang's head. The shockwaves of raw power shredding the air with that single swipe proved this was far beyond the level of a Grandmaster! A Martial Saint! If this demon were allowed to fully manifest its demonic body, it would undoubtedly unleash the power of a Martial Saint! At that point, this claw would crush Yaoguang's skull like snapping a chick's neck. No, it was more than just brute strength! The martial mastery woven into this swipe was leagues beyond that of any Grandmaster, standing out as exceptional even among Martial Saints. That single strike felt like a microcosm of heaven and earth held in his palm, completely sealing off every path of retreat. No matter where Yaoguang dodged, the razor-sharp claws would effortlessly adjust mid-motion, tracking his evasion to seize his skull and crush it to powder. Yet against such exquisite combat skill, Yaoguang did not need to deliberate. A pinnacle Grandmaster realm, compounded by his Martial Saint progress already sitting at 85%, caused a dozen countermeasures to flash through his mind in an instant. And among them, he chose the most efficient, the most perilous, and the most ferocious! *Buzz!* Confronting the claw lunging straight for him, Yaoguang—already moving at terminal velocity—accelerated once more, his speed spiking by another third. Relying purely on this explosive surge of momentum, he tore straight through the lockdown and variations embedded in the strike! Long before condensing his third-rank Grandmaster Dao Fruit, he had already comprehended dan jin. Now, charging at full throttle, that dan jin erupted. A furnace seemed to ignite within him, releasing an inexhaustible torrent of power that flooded every corner of his frame, pushing the blood and qi inside him to the very brink of bursting forth. Had someone been able to see beneath his garments, they would have found his entire body flushed a scorching crimson, like a boiled lobster—the telltale sign of blood and qi driven to the absolute extreme. Not only had he pushed his speed to the limit via his burst of dan jin, but the Chengying Sword in his grip struck out like lightning the instant they were about to collide. Shadowless and formless. Already translucent and weightless, the Chengying Sword turned utterly elusive under the enhancement of the Formless secret art, far exceeding the limits of what normal vision could track. As the strike unleashed, his five viscera resonated in unison, driving concentrated force straight through the blade and causing it to vibrate at an astonishingly high frequency. Formless · Five Elements! This abrupt shift instantly threw the man's offensive into chaos. Even though the man's reflexes were extraordinarily swift, displaying agility far above that of a Grandmaster, his arrogant insistence on crushing Yaoguang's skull left his follow-up transition flawed. By the time he locked onto the formless, invisible Chengying Sword, the tip of the blade was already inches from his throat. "Insolence!" The half-demonized man's eyes flew wide. His black pupils turned blood-red, as if harboring an endless nightmare. With just a single glance, Yaoguang felt a terrifying sensation of his mind being wrenched outward, on the verge of plunging into an abyss of horror. Yet before that dread could turn his limbs cold, the vast knowledge accumulated from his 85% progress as a fourth-rank Martial Saint made him instantly aware of his predicament. A spirit strike! He had come under an attack of the opponent's spirit intent! Spirit intent—that was a power formally mastered only at the peak of the fourth rank, or even the fifth rank! Just as dan jin was the stepping stone from the third rank to the fourth, spirit intent was an essential prerequisite to advance from the fourth rank into the fifth! *Not good!* Yaoguang broke free from the mental assault in a flash. But that split-second delay was all the demonized man needed to firmly clamp his hand around the Chengying Sword inches from his throat. An overwhelming force halted the blade, preventing it from advancing even a fraction of an inch. At the same time, the man formed a sword-finger with his left hand, stabbing straight toward Yaoguang's exposed heart at point-blank range. That sinister, sneering expression made it clear he intended to pierce right through Yaoguang's chest, rip out his heart, and crush it to pulp! A single thought between life and death. The Chengying Sword, locked tight and seemingly immovable, violently shuddered. Star Ignition! Man possesses seven major apertures, mirroring the nine heavenly stars. This was a desperate, forbidden technique that stimulated the body's latent potential, unleashing power far beyond its normal limits! With the activation of Star Ignition, the shackles on Yaoguang's physical functions shattered, as though his subconscious had completely discarded its self-protective restraints. Drawing upon his absolute control over every ounce of his power, he concentrated it all into a single piercing point, funneling it directly into the sword. Empowered by this force transcending human limits, the Chengying Sword—once held fast in a vice-like grip—wrenched itself free from the demonized claws and drove forward with unstoppable fury. *Squelch!* The sword pierced straight through the man's throat. The explosive force fractured his cervical vertebrae, bursting out through the back of his neck. The next instant, Yaoguang's body shuddered violently. A savage, raging power exploded against his chest, piercing inward and threatening to tear his entire frame to shreds. Without the slightest hesitation, Yaoguang threw himself backward, hurtling as if blasted through the air. He skidded across the ground for two meters before stumbling back four more steps, finally slamming hard against a brick wall. *Bang!* The impact discharged the lingering force. The wall behind him spider-webbed with cracks, showering the ground with stone chips. Through sheer technical brilliance, he had dispersed the kinetic energy that had invaded his body at the very first instant. Fortunately, before that blow connected with his chest, the Chengying Sword had already severed the demon's spinal cord, stripping the creature of motor control. As a result, the blow had landed only with residual momentum, its lethal force greatly diminished, allowing Yaoguang to withstand it long enough to deflect the impact into the wall. Had that not been the case, the strike would have shattered his ribs, ripped his chest open, and pulverized his internal organs, leaving him dead on the spot. Half a second. A mere half-second difference was all that had separated life from death.