Suspicion

The Yue family had operated in the lands of Tiannan for centuries, with deep and firm roots. If not for their wariness of the royal Liao family, they would not fear suppression by Lu Zhenhai and Wei Kongming in the slightest. Even though Lu Zhenhai and Wei Kongming held the high moral ground, their moves against the Yue family were cautious, encroaching step by step for fear of provoking the Yue family into a fight to the death. Yet upon learning that Yaoguang had become a Martial Saint at merely nineteen, with an immeasurable future ahead of him, they hesitated no longer and threw their lot entirely behind him. Early the next morning, Yue Nanxing personally visited Yuyuan. Having received Yaoguang's approval and instructions, the Yue family head issued an order. Tremors through local authority erupted from the Tiannan provincial capital and rapidly swept across the entire territory of Tiannan. Even Lu Zhenhai and Wei Kongming struggled to maintain control. That same afternoon. Ji Pingtian, one of the three presidents of the Jishi Society and a top expert who had condensed spirit intent, arrived in Tiannan by private plane and headed straight for Yuyuan without a single stop. ... At this moment, Yaoguang was on a video call in his room. Displayed on the screen was a somewhat stunned Su Chiming. "Follow the Yue family's lead. Take over water, electricity, gas, and network communications to guarantee the normal functioning of Tiannan's provincial capital. The Yue family will handle the rest: transportation, logistics, fire services, and public security." He laid it out point by point. "Someone from the Yue family will coordinate the specifics with you." "Yaoguang... Yaoguang... What... what on earth are you trying to do?" Su Chiming's voice trembled slightly. "Don't ask too many questions. Mobilize all the power the Su family can muster and work with the Yue family to keep the provincial capital running properly. That is all," Yaoguang said. "This..." Su Chiming felt his heart suspended in midair. What Yaoguang was assigning to them seemed far too surreal. "You need to change your mindset," Yaoguang said. "Do you know what the biggest difference is between an aristocratic family and ordinary families?" Without waiting for Su Chiming to reply, he continued directly, "No matter how powerful an ordinary clan or corporate group may be, they must stay within their bounds, conducting business and trade within established rules. At best, they might skirt the edges of those rules to turn a profit, but even then they tread on thin ice, trembling with fear. An aristocratic family, however..." He looked at Su Chiming on the screen. "They are the rulemakers! Every rule is designed to secure their interests while maintaining the relatively stable operation of the system, enforced by the overwhelming power in their hands to make all other factions obey and act according to the rules." Su Chiming was momentarily stunned. Then, as if realizing something, his pupils contracted sharply. "An aristocratic family!?" "Indeed." Yaoguang nodded. "An aristocratic family! An aristocratic family!" Su Chiming turned the term over in his mind. After a long while, he looked at Yaoguang in disbelief. "You... have already..." Yaoguang smiled faintly. "Reached Martial Saint." "Martial Saint!" Even though he had already guessed as much from Yaoguang's words, hearing Yaoguang admit it with his own ears still left Su Chiming frozen in place. For several full seconds, he seemed to finally digest the news, and the corners of his mouth slowly widened into a grin. "Martial Saint!" He repeated the two words once more. Then he began to laugh, his laughter growing louder and louder. "Haha! Haha! A Martial Saint! Our Su family has produced a Martial Saint! Hahahaha!" Laughter was contagious. Seeing Su Chiming laugh so heartily from the bottom of his heart, a faint smile appeared on Yaoguang's face as well. "Good! Good! Good! This is wonderful!" Su Chiming slammed his desk hard, unable to resist standing up, looking as if he wished nothing more than to proclaim to the entire world: "Our Su family has produced a Martial Saint!" At that moment, Zhang Tianji appeared at the doorway. Seeing that Yaoguang was on a call, he did not interrupt. "The Su family will have a lot to do going forward. You should prepare yourself," Yaoguang said. "Yaoguang, rest easy. I won't make empty boasts, but as long as I draw breath, the Su family will never hold you back!" Su Chiming said with a forceful wave of his hand. "Good." Yaoguang hung up the call and turned his gaze toward Zhang Tianji. Zhang Tianji immediately said, "President Ji has arrived." "Very good." Yaoguang smiled faintly. He had been anticipating this Jishi Society president for a full day. With that, he went downstairs to the outer courtyard. There he saw Zong Yan and a group of people walking into the courtyard. Among them was a familiar face. Fang Lu. However, Yaoguang paid her no heed. His gaze fell immediately upon the leading man—about fifty years old, full of vigor and spirit. His vital energy and spirit were distinctly different from anyone else's. With Yaoguang's profound understanding of the "spirit intent" stage, he guessed the man's identity in an instant. Ji Pingtian, one of the three presidents of the Jishi Society. A Rank 5 Spirit Intent Martial Saint. Mm. Roughly on par with Zhao Sheng, whom he had beaten to death. Still, that was not the point. The point was... "President Ji." Yaoguang smiled and stepped forward to greet him. "Su Yaoguang." Ji Pingtian took in Yaoguang's appearance. Noticing the youth's mental state, which was visibly beyond the ordinary, a smile appeared on his face as well. "Over the past few days, your name has been thundering in my ears. A nineteen-year-old Martial Saint is unprecedented, not only across the Central and Eastern Continents, but even within Chixing and Xuelong." "You flatter me. Please, come inside to talk." Yaoguang was polite and courteous. Ji Pingtian nodded. Just then, Fang Lu spoke up. "President." Ji Pingtian paused mid-stride and stopped. Fang Lu's gaze settled upon Yaoguang. "Su Yaoguang, before our discussions begin, would you mind answering a question? How did you manage, in just a single year, to go from a novice completely ignorant of martial arts to reaching the pinnacle of Martial Saint?" Beside them, Zong Yan hurried to explain on his behalf: "This world will always have geniuses beyond ordinary comprehension. We must not judge true, peerless prodigies by conventional standards." "That may be, but as the President just said, a nineteen-year-old Martial Saint is unprecedented not only in the Central and Eastern Continents, but even within Chixing and Xuelong. If I recall correctly, the fastest person in Chixing to achieve Martial Saint was the Nineteenth Prince of the imperial family—Jiang Xuntian! He was twenty-one when he broke through! Moreover, his foundation was laid from early childhood, nourished by countless tonic medicines, and even after starting martial arts at age twelve, it still took him nine full years to step into the realm of Martial Saint." As Fang Lu spoke, she looked toward Yaoguang. "Yet he... took merely a single year." She added, "Our investigation is crystal clear: he has indeed been practicing martial arts for only a year! And the contrast in his personality before and after is enormous! When this happens... there is usually only one explanation!" "Impossible!" Zong Yan said without hesitation, "Ever since Yaoguang stepped into the martial world, he has been slaying demons. There is no way he could be—" "A demon?" Yaoguang uttered the word. He gave it brief thought. Even certain demons found his origins suspect, so it was only natural for the Jishi Society to suspect something similar. And in certain aspects, he did share traits in common with demons. Therefore... The faint smile on Yaoguang's face faded slightly. "Whether you believe it or not, I am not a demon." "Whether you are one isn't up to you to say," Fang Lu sneered. "Fang Lu!" Zong Yan snapped displeasedly, then turned to Ji Pingtian. "President Ji, with such baseless accusations devoid of evidence, are you not afraid of driving away a genuine genius who wishes to join us?" "That is why I came in person. That in itself demonstrates our Jishi Society's sincerity," Ji Pingtian said in a deep voice. He looked at Yaoguang. "If it had taken you nine years, eight years, or even seven or six years to cultivate into a Martial Saint, the Jishi Society would nurture you with all our resources without the slightest hesitation. But the existence of demonic abominations surely makes you realize that the world is not as simple as it appears. There will always be peculiar life-forms capable of hiding within human bodies to deceive the world. Therefore, I hope you will accompany me to headquarters and submit to observation for a period of time. Once we confirm you truly are not a demonic creature, all the resources of the Jishi Society will be at your disposal." Having said this, President Ji added with heavy emphasis, "I hope you can understand and cooperate." "Go to the Jishi Society headquarters and submit to observation." Hearing Ji Pingtian's words, Yaoguang suddenly turned toward Zong Yan and Fang Lu. "This scene feels very familiar." "What do you mean?" Fang Lu frowned. "A few days ago, Xia Wuyuan, who exposed the truth about the Rebirth Society, was also held under control, kept inside the royal capital's Supreme Procuratorate. In the end... he died." Yaoguang smiled faintly. "The scene before me seems to be the very same thing... just with a different person and a different location." "Su Yaoguang!" Fang Lu barked sharply, "What are you implying? Are you suspecting that we're in league with the Rebirth Society..." "I am merely stating a fact." Yaoguang raised a hand to cut her off. "Compared to Xia Wuyuan merely exposing the Rebirth Society's existence, I directly killed the head of the Rebirth Society in Dayu and virtually uprooted their power in this country. Right now, I am likely the person the Rebirth Society wants dead more than anyone else." He shifted his gaze to Ji Pingtian. "So... do you still insist that I go to the Jishi Society headquarters to undergo observation?" Ji Pingtian shook his head. "The Jishi Society is not the Dayu royal family." "In my eyes, there is no difference." Yaoguang looked steadily at the Jishi Society president. "Now, hand over the three hundred billion Chixing coins that belong to me, and our deal remains valid. When the All-Under-Heaven Martial Meet arrives, I will still help the Jishi Society fight the Chixing Martial Saints. If you intend to go back on your word... I won't say much. We part on good terms, and that previous ten billion can serve as your breach-of-contract fee." "Su Yaoguang! How insolent!" Before Ji Pingtian could speak, Fang Lu snapped angrily, "What do you think the Jishi Society is? A place you can come and go as you please? Refusing to return to headquarters with us proves you have a guilty conscience—" "Can you speak civilly?" Yaoguang looked at Fang Lu. "If you cannot speak civilly, would you please shut your mouth?" "Shut my mouth!? You—" Fang Lu started to retort, but from within Yaoguang's less-than-burly frame, a terrifying aura suddenly surged forth, locking dead onto her. The ferocious murderous aura amassed from slaying countless demons along the way, freshly tempered in a brutal demon-exterminating battle, mingled with a sliver of newly cultivated will that surpassed spirit intent in quality. In an instant, it struck Fang Lu with an indescribable, bone-chilling dread. Goosebumps erupted rapidly across her arms. "Do you think you are stronger than Zhao Sheng and Xie Yusheng were after manifesting their demon forms?"