On the Return Journey

The three of them chatted for a while. None of them brought up what had happened earlier. Those matters were too distant from them; talking about them would be pointless anyway. Bai Feng suddenly remembered something and said, "Little Yu, I told you to call Martial Uncle. Did you do it?" Su Yu shook his head. With so much on his plate, where would he find the time? Never mind Teacher Liu; he hadn't even visited Principal Wan yet, always feeling the old man harbored ill intentions. "Call him!" Bai Feng said, exasperated. "Martial Uncle's divine character... ahem, I miss Martial Uncle dearly. Invite him over to my place as a guest, understand? You don't have a shred of manners. Martial Uncle wasted several years teaching you for nothing!" Su Yu was speechless! You just want to dissect Teacher Liu. Stop looking for excuses. Chen Yong glanced at Bai Feng, not even bothering to lecture him. He stood up and said, "I have to head back. Jiajia is still waiting there, and she's probably worried sick by now. I'm off!" Wu Jia was carrying more than eight thousand merit points after bidding. Chen Yong knew her nature; she was probably close to tears right now, terrified someone would rob her. It was too much! From the time Wu Jia had enrolled until now, she had never seen so much wealth. "The merit points—I'll transfer them over to you later..." Su Yu was about to be magnanimous for once, but on second thought, he was truly running low on merit points himself. He chuckled and said, "All right, Martial Uncle, just transfer five thousand to me. The rest is your service fee—someone is reimbursing me anyway." "You rascal!" Chen Yong laughed helplessly; he had already guessed who it was. After a moment of thought, he said, "You can have contact with the Xia family, but don't get too deeply involved!" He warned, "The Xia family has been a bit turbulent lately. Prefecture Head Xia is in seclusion preparing to advance to the Invincible Realm. Once he breaks through, the head of the Great Xia Prefecture will be up for re-election. You should know, for the position of prefecture head, there are far too many contenders!" Chen Yong cautioned, "Xia Yuwen is one of the strongest contenders!" "Xia Yuwen?" Su Yu hesitated. Last time, he had heard Hu Zongqi mention it. Thinking of this, Su Yu said in a low voice, "Martial Uncle, someone said that Zhou Pingsheng wants to replace you as director, and that the deputy director position is being reserved for Xia Yuwen." "How dare he!" Bai Feng suddenly exploded in fury! "Xia Yuwen!" "Damn it, I was wondering why the Single Divine Character Faction suddenly set their sights on Senior Brother this year after all these years of quiet. Turns out it was for this!" Bai Feng snorted coldly, thoroughly enraged. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Xia Yuwen! His ambition is big enough, but he ought to look in a mirror to see if he's even fit to be prefecture head!" Su Yu looked at Bai Feng. His teacher rarely lost his temper. At most, he might be shocked or spaced out, but an actual explosion of fury was something Su Yu had almost never seen. Right now, he genuinely seemed angry. Seeing Su Yu looking over, Bai Feng scoffed and fumed, "That Xia Yuwen—I admit he's exceptionally talented! He's powerful, too! But that man is too sinister, too cold-blooded. If he becomes prefecture head, Great Xia Prefecture will inevitably descend into chaos!" He seemed to know something, but was unwilling to say more right now. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Senior Brother, even if the director position is truly lost to that piece of trash Zhou Pingsheng, Xia Yuwen must not be allowed to enter the game! He thinks so pretty of himself, without looking at his own rotten character!" Chen Yong glanced at him, thought for a moment, and said, "Xia Yuwen is extraordinarily talented and strong, having already entered the Lingyun Realm. He even tried to win you over in the past. Junior Brother, there's no need to be so hostile toward him. Whoever becomes prefecture head of Great Xia has little to do with us." Bai Feng snapped angrily, "I'm not someone who can't stomach a loss!" Both of them stared at him simultaneously! Bai Feng was left speechless. Irritably, he said, "Fine, fine, so I can't stomach a loss! But that bastard from the War Academy beat me up... ahem, beat me, and even though I was annoyed, I could still admit he was genuinely impressive! Xia Yuwen, that bastard, is rotten to the core. Last time on the All-Heavens Battlefield, that scoundrel used an entire hundred-man guard squad as bait to hook an expert from the myriad races. Damn it, I saw it with my own eyes—the hundred-man guard was wiped out completely! That bastard used human lives as fishing bait!" He added, "When I rushed over, that guy actually blamed me for scaring off the prey! Fuck! Afterward, I went to the Demon Suppression Army to report him, and damn it, that dog actually claimed he was merely carrying out an official mission! Fuck!" Bai Feng cursed several times in succession! Clearly, there was real fury and indignance burning in his heart. Using a hundred-man guard to bait a myriad-races expert was something Su Yu didn't have a visceral concept of yet, though he still found it contemptible. As he was thinking, Bai Feng suddenly asked, "Su Yu, tell me, if that hundred-man guard had been led by your father, what would you do?" The moment those words were spoken, Su Yu's expression changed! He hadn't felt it so sharply before, but in this instant, his eyes turned bloodshot as he raged, "Scum! Beast! Someone like that is fit to be prefecture head? Chopping him up and feeding him to dogs would be too kind! What an animal—and he's supposed to be of the Xia family? He's no different from the dregs of the All-Races Sect!" "If I ever run into him, I'll cut him down on the spot!" Bai Feng looked at Chen Yong and shrugged. See? It's not that I'm jealous, nor that I can't take a loss. Look at your martial nephew—he's cursing far harsher than I am. Su Yu was furious, but after the anger passed, he suddenly felt a bit dejected. "When Teacher said earlier that he used a hundred-man guard as bait, I didn't feel that much, and even thought that if it truly killed an expert of the myriad races, it might seem worth it..." Su Yu reflected, "Only when Teacher asked what if that guard had been led by my father... did I suddenly realize that often, only the ones who bear the suffering truly understand the pain. If Xia Yuwen used those hundred men to kill a myriad-races Lingyun, when he returned to Great Xia Prefecture, everyone would only say he was brilliant and valiant. No one would care about the hundred ordinary soldiers who died..." Su Yu let out a sigh. In that moment, he felt a sudden sense of disorientation. Was Xia Yuwen brilliant and valiant? Perhaps some would think so! Leading a hundred-man guard commanded by a Wanshi, paying no personal price, and slaying a Lingyun—would the military praise and commend him? Would Great Xia Prefecture praise and commend him? Commendations would likely far outweigh any criticism! At that time, who would give a thought to the hundred fallen soldiers? Bai Feng had said Xia Yuwen was too sinister and too cold-blooded. Earlier, Su Yu had wondered if it was just jealousy because Bai Feng had always lost to Xia Yuwen, but thinking about it now, he suddenly felt that choosing Bai Feng as his master had truly been the right choice. His teacher... at least his heart wasn't so cold. Otherwise, he wouldn't need to hold such enmity toward Xia Yuwen. He had been beaten by an expert from the War Academy, yet when mentioning him, he showed genuine respect. Bai Feng truly wasn't someone who couldn't accept defeat. Chen Yong also engaged in some self-reflection at this moment. When Bai Feng had mentioned that scene, what had he thought? Had he considered Xia Yuwen cold-blooded? Perhaps... he hadn't thought much of it either. Chen Yong sighed, looked at Bai Feng and Su Yu, nodded slightly, and said no more. If before he had thought it might be fine to make contact with Xia Yuwen, on second thought now, that would probably be inappropriate. Neither Bai Feng nor Su Yu would share any common ground with Xia Yuwen. Perhaps they might change in the future, but at least right now, they hadn't changed. They still possessed hearts that hadn't turned cold! "I'll head back first. Xia Yuwen will be returning soon. Even if you're displeased with him, don't provoke him right now. Junior Brother, you're only at the Tengkong Realm—don't forget that!" Bai Feng snorted! So what if I'm a Tengkong? Once my innate divine character is formed, Lingyun or not, I'll slay you just the same! Su Yu, meanwhile, wondered whether Xia Yuwen had reached some agreement with the Single Divine Character Faction; otherwise, why would the Single Divine Character Faction fight on his behalf? If so, what about Deputy Principal Xia Changqing? He appeared to be a senior from Xia Yuwen's branch of the family. ... Chen Yong left. As soon as he left, Bai Feng snapped irritably, "Courting trouble for me again! You brat, you're getting better and better at courting trouble. Just what strength do you have? Instead of cultivating honestly, all you know is causing trouble!" Su Yu put on an innocent face. Did I cause trouble? Of course not! They're the ones looking for trouble with me! "Cultivate properly these next few days. I've already had someone post a task to search for your grandmaster. Oh, and hurry up and call Martial Uncle. Trick him into coming over so I can study him." Su Yu was speechless, but making a call was indeed a good idea. He hadn't contacted Teacher Liu in days. Su Yu took out his communicator and dialed the number. After waiting for a moment, he shook his head. "No signal." "No signal?" Bai Feng said, dumbfounded. "The communications within the city are fine, so how can there be no signal?" "No idea." Su Yu shook his head. Who knew? Perhaps the base stations outside had been damaged again. "Forget it then. You stay here and cultivate properly. Don't go running around outside over the next few days!" "Understood!" Su Yu didn't say more. He truly needed to cultivate diligently. Once the 5,000 merit points were in hand, he would see whether to purchase some more blood essence, enter a mystic realm to cultivate, or master the cultural art first. His strength was still too weak. Fighting Wang He, ranked thirty-eighth, had already put immense pressure on Su Yu. Even though his technique was Heaven tier, there was still a huge gap. Against those ranked in the top thirty, Su Yu would most likely be no match. "Cultural art, Wanshi Realm, outlining divine characters, divine character battle techniques..." Thinking of this gave Su Yu a headache. Why did it feel like there were so many things he needed to cultivate? If he had known earlier, wouldn't focusing solely on physical cultivation have been better? Wouldn't breaking all techniques with pure strength have been great? Why bother learning divine characters at all? Honestly! Grumbles aside, Su Yu still felt cultivating both was better. Warriors were mostly uncouth, devoid of elegance when fighting—hardly fitting for his image. ... At the same time Su Yu failed to make the call. On the road from Nanyuan to Great Xia Prefecture. The old principal of Nanyuan Academy drove a beat-up small truck, carrying Liu Wenyan as they moved forward. As he drove, he chattered away, "Old Liu, you're getting up there in years, so learn to look at things more openly! With your current strength, what can you even do going to Great Xia Prefecture?" Liu Wenyan didn't bother responding. Staring ahead, he drifted into a daze. Fifty years! For fifty years, he had not set foot in Great Xia Prefectural City, staying in Nanyuan for a full fifty years. For fifty years, he had barely contacted anyone. When old friends passed away, he had only grieved in silence. And now, he was returning. He felt he shouldn't be returning at this time, shouldn't be returning so soon. Yet... someone was forcing his hand. Zhang Ruoling... Scenes of the past resurfaced in his mind. Back then, he was in the prime of his youth! Back then, full of high spirits! Back then, he felt that the heroes of the world were nothing special. He, Liu Wenyan, in the Yangxing Realm, could fight Tengkong cultivators, could kill Tengkong cultivators! First place on the Top 100 Rankings was within arm's reach! His teacher was the strongest Sun and Moon of the human race! The teacher looked down upon the world, and the student was not a whit inferior. Among their peers, who could contend with them? Though he had not entered the Tengkong Realm, he viewed Tengkong cultivators as mere grass! That year, his teacher failed to vindicate his Dao, and his martial uncles and aunts died in battle one after another. When his teacher returned, he was brought back by the Great Xia King, leaving only a sliver of remains and a single divine character. Nothing else! He was unwilling to accept it; he refused to accept it. He felt there was a conspiracy. His teacher had once said that he possessed the power to battle Invincible experts, that across the heavens and ten thousand realms, he was the strongest Sun and Moon! Anyone could fail to vindicate their Dao, but not his teacher. Yet... he still died. The few seniors who returned alive carried regrets and grievances, ultimately passing away one after another with unsettled hearts. They refused to accept it as well! How could he possibly fail? Why were there two Invincibles ambushing the Fifth Generation? That year, he fused with his teacher's divine character, hoping to rekindle the Fifth Generation's glory. But heaven played a cruel joke on him: the divine character was too powerful, his Sea of Consciousness was grievously damaged, the divine character was cracked, his physical body shattered... The man who once could battle and slay Tengkong cultivators became a cripple without the strength to truss a chicken! That year, a group of close friends embarked on the same path as him. They, too, were unwilling to accept it, refusing to resign themselves. How could the Fifth Generation have failed? Even against two Invincibles, they believed the Fifth Generation would not have failed, that he could surely achieve a breakthrough mid-battle and execute both Invincibles. Something must have gone wrong! "Zhang Ruoling..." Murmuring the name, Liu Wenyan's eyes grew red. The man was already dead—dead for nine years—yet they still wouldn't let him rest? A divine character... was passing down a divine character necessarily a good thing? When he left back then, he had taken the divine character with him precisely because he did not want to ruin the next person. Why couldn't they understand? If he could not find a suitable successor, he might well have taken this divine character into the grave with him, never to see the light of day again. Lost in his thoughts, an ominous monster beast appeared ahead. The old principal was startled. A wild monster beast—trouble! Just as the thought crossed his mind, a sword flash flared, and the monster beast was cleaved into pieces! In the next moment, a figure materialized ahead. "Teacher!" The newcomer looked very young. If Su Yu were here, he would likely recognize him—it was the young man who had come to watch both of his arena matches, the one who had tried to stop the match between him and Huang Qifeng and showed goodwill toward him. Liu Wenyan looked at the young man, remaining silent. The old principal studied him and said in surprise, "Liu Chuan, is that you?" This was Liu Wenyan's student—a student from long ago. By now, he had to be close to fifty years old. He merely looked young. Rumor had it that he had remained stuck at the Tengkong Realm, serving as a teaching assistant at the Great Xia Civilization Academy, and hadn't returned to Nanyuan in all these years. Why was he here? "Greetings, Principal!" The young man looked at the old principal, smiled, and offered a greeting. Looking back at Liu Wenyan, his eyes reddened slightly as he said, "Teacher, I shall clear the path for you!" Liu Wenyan looked at him for a long time before slowly saying, "Why are you getting involved? What capability do you have to get involved? Once you entered the academy, you ceased to be my student. I merely instructed you for a few years as a teacher..." "Teacher!" The young man said softly, "I may not be strong, but I am willing to serve as Teacher's vanguard. Many people at the Great Xia Civilization Academy are waiting for your return!" "Return?" Liu Wenyan gave a self-deprecating laugh, paid him no further mind, and closed his eyes. "Drive!" The old principal scrambled to drive, calling out as he moved, "Liu Chuan, go back! It's enough that I escort your teacher. I'm just an old bag of bones, so you head back!" Liu Chuan said nothing, vanishing from the spot in an instant. Up ahead, the faint sounds of slaughter drifted over. "Old Liu..." The old principal looked at Liu Wenyan and whispered, "What's going on? Did you notify them yourself, or are you just putting on an act with me?" Liu Wenyan opened his eyes and rolled them at him. Get lost! He knew who had sent word—other than that madwoman, there was no one else. He didn't bother saying anything more; he had nothing to say to this old man. ... At the same time. Further ahead. Wu Qi cut someone down with a single sword strike, chuckling, "Why is the All-Races Sect joining the fun? Honestly, making me make a trip out here. Someone's returning—what business is it of yours?" "Great-aunt's lover... Great-uncle?" Wu Qi amused herself with the thought! ... Even further ahead. A figure flickered within the void. In the next moment, the figure materialized—it was Wu Yuehua! Wu Yuehua sneered, looking into the void. "What, you people want to block his return? What a joke!" "Wu Yuehua!" From the void, an old woman stepped out and said coldly, "Liu Wenyan was expelled and exiled! For fifty years, he has been exiled in Nanyuan and forbidden to leave! An agreement was made back then: he took the Fifth Head's divine character and was never to return to Great Xia Prefecture unless he could prove he could make up for the losses of the past!" The old woman was none other than Elder Yu Hong. The daytime dispute had ended. When Wu Yuehua brought up digging up the grave, Zhou Mingren had guessed that Liu Wenyan might find out. Sure enough! Liu Wenyan was returning! "He returns whenever he pleases! You scumbags actually want to dig up Zhang Ruoling's grave—just try it! As long as you dare, I'll slaughter you to fill his grave!" "Wu Yuehua, don't be too arrogant!" Wu Yuehua sneered. In the next instant, the void detonated, and space itself began to collapse. A moment later, Wu Yuehua stepped out. Blood dripped from the corner of the old woman's mouth; she coughed lightly, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "Useless trash!" Wu Yuehua scoffed, not even looking back as she said disdainfully, "To think you were a contemporary of the Fifth Generation. Complete trash. So what if you're in the Shanhai Realm? The Divine Pill Faction can still suppress you just the same!" The old woman remained silent. A moment later, the space ahead rippled, and another person appeared. Elder Sun stepped forward and said softly, "Yuehua, Liu Wenyan cannot return! At least not now!" "Humph!" Wu Yuehua snorted coldly in contempt! At the same time, space rippled once more, and a middle-aged man stepped out. His face was slightly pale as he coughed softly and said, "Elder Sun, don't block the path! Just you and Yu Hong won't be enough. As for Elder Li, he probably won't be able to make it!" Elder Sun's expression changed slightly. "What did you do to Old Li?" "Nothing. He wasn't feeling well and returned to the academy early!" The middle-aged man chuckled and slowly said, "Enough is enough. Big Brother Liu has kept his promise all these years, remaining in Nanyuan the entire time. If you hadn't gone so far, why would he return now?" Elder Sun's face flickered with shifting emotions. After a long pause, he said in a heavy voice, "I may not agree with Old Zhou's actions! However, the living are always more important than the dead! Zhang Ruoling's divine character could save Yuming. Zhang Ruoling is dead—he died of illness! That being the case, leaving the divine character with him is a tragic waste..." "Bullshit!" Wu Yuehua sneered, "If you die, can I dig up your divine character?" Elder Sun said calmly, "If I truly die, you may dig it up. You wouldn't even need to dig—I could leave it behind myself!" "So you're insisting on stopping us?" Wu Yuehua didn't bother wasting more words with him, her expression dark. Elder Sun said softly, "Have Liu Wenyan turn back! The academy today is no longer the academy of fifty years ago! The Fifth Generation exhausted everything the Great Xia Civilization Academy had. Because of the Fifth Generation, the Great Xia Academy of that year was nearly ruined entirely. Are we to wait for Liu Wenyan to return and repeat that disaster?" "Spoken so pleasantly!" Wu Yuehua said coldly, "Have Zhou Mingren abandon digging up the grave, and Liu Wenyan can turn back. Otherwise, we'll wait for him to return, open another school, and have a proper contest with you all!" Elder Sun said softly, "Yuehua, your mother and I were also friends back in the day..." Wu Yuehua gave a mocking sneer! Utterly dismissive! "Unless Liu Wenyan has truly recovered or even advanced to Shanhai, he has no capital or qualification to open another school!" Elder Sun shook his head and said, "Stop engaging in wishful thinking! That figure in Great Zhou Prefecture is already on the verge of advancing to the Invincible Realm! He once said that upon advancing to Invincible, he would reclaim everything from the past. You caused his father to die in battle on the All-Heavens Battlefield—that debt has yet to be settled!" Wu Yuehua's expression shifted slightly. Elder Sun added, "If Liu Wenyan remains quiet now, that person might not bother settling scores with him. But if he steps forward, that person will certainly not let him off!" The Zhou family of Great Zhou Prefecture! Powerful enough to even surpass Great Xia Prefecture! Fifty years ago, however, King Dazhou's brother died in battle, causing Great Zhou Prefecture to lose an Invincible Realm expert, leading them to remain silent for many years. Now, Great Zhou Prefecture was about to produce a second Invincible Realm expert! An Invincible who harbored a grudge against the Multiple Divine Characters Faction! Wu Yuehua's expression fluctuated, and she gritted her teeth. "So what if he advances? Shouldn't he seek vengeance against that Invincible from the god race? It wasn't the Fifth Generation who killed his father. Taking his anger out on the Multiple Divine Characters Faction is an utter joke!" Elder Sun said calmly, "Whether he seeks vengeance or not, I do not know. But back then, his father died on the All-Heavens Battlefield to rescue the Fifth Generation. Afterward, as the Fifth Generation lay dying, he instructed that a portion of his research data be given to the Zhou family, only for it to be embezzled by his martial brothers..." Wu Yuehua said furiously, "Utter nonsense! There was no data at all! As the Fifth Generation lay dying, he only said to remember the kindness of those who came to the rescue, and said nothing else. Where did this talk of giving a share to the Zhou family come from?!" Elder Sun said indifferently, "Those are not my words. Yuehua, you must understand—those are the words of the Zhou family!" "So what if it's the Zhou family?" Wu Yuehua said coldly, "This is Great Xia Prefecture! Are you risking your lives for the Zhou family? Zhou Mingren is merely a distant branch of a distant branch of the Zhou family. A dignified peak Shanhai, yet he wants to act as a lapdog for the Zhou family?" Elder Sun frowned. "No one is acting as anyone's dog. However, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction has already faded into silence, and Great Zhou Prefecture has completely abolished the Multiple Divine Characters Faction. Liu Wenyan's return now will only intensify this conflict!" "Save the nonsense! If he wants to return today, no one can stop him!" With a sharp cry, an enormous medicine cauldron materialized! With a tremendous boom, it smashed through the void, pressing down toward Elder Sun! Behind them, the middle-aged man's figure flickered, blocking Elder Yu Hong, and he smiled. "Elder Yu, you'd best not interfere. Big Brother Liu is returning today, and you won't be able to stop him!" At the same time, in various places, people were blocking paths, and battles were erupting. ... Atop a towering mountain. Xia Huyou asked curiously, "Second Grandpa, back then, Liu Wenyan hadn't even reached the Tengkong Realm. Where did he get so many connections and such immense prestige that everyone is waiting for his return? When he wasn't returning, these people didn't seem to make any moves either, did they?" Marquis Xia said lazily, "First, legitimacy! He is the successor of the Fifth Generation, the direct disciple, the eldest apprentice-brother of the sect, so he inherits the Fifth Generation's legacy! "Second, those of his generation have all grown up, and those of his generation... were his friends and comrades-in-arms back then. "Third, that guy was a genuine monster. Back then, in the Yangxing Realm, he could kill Tengkong cultivators, and not just those newly entered into Tengkong. During the Fifth Generation's era, everyone below Shanhai in the Multiple Divine Characters Faction was his lackey! "Fourth, before he was ruined, that fellow was a fool. He didn't cherish the resources of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction at all, tossing them around everywhere like an idiot, arrogant beyond measure. Yet, funnily enough, the resources he tossed around forged quite a few powerful figures! "Fifth, Liu Wenyan didn't come from an orphanage. He was born into a prominent clan, the Liu family!" "The Liu family?" Xia Huyou paused, asking, "Which Liu family?" Marquis Xia said, exasperated, "Which Liu family could it be! The Liu family that nearly gave you a wife back in the day!" "The Liu family!" Xia Huyou exclaimed in shock, "Liu Wenyan comes from the Liu family? But the Liu family was wiped out..." "Not completely!" Marquis Xia said lazily, "In the battle fifty years ago, the Liu family lost a Sun and Moon. In the great war thirty years ago across the heavens, several Shanhai experts died. In the battle eighteen years ago, several more Shanhai and Sun and Moon experts fell... Although nearly annihilated, some people survived. Isn't Liu Wenyan still alive? The Liu family killed countless enemies on the All-Heavens Battlefield and saved how many people? With Liu Wenyan still alive today, as one of the few remaining survivors, those who were saved naturally have to remember a bit of that debt of gratitude." Xia Huyou said in astonishment, "He actually comes from the Liu family. No wonder... no wonder no one dared touch him for so many years." Marquis Xia chuckled. "No one daring to touch him means it's inconvenient to touch him; touching him brings trouble! But Liu Wenyan hiding obediently in Nanyuan was fine—now he insists on stepping out. The moment he steps out, experts from all factions will take notice. Many people don't want to see the Multiple Divine Characters Faction rise again, understand?" "Why?" Xia Huyou said, perplexed, "Just because of the Zhou family? The Zhou family is far away in Great Zhou Prefecture. This is our Great Xia Prefecture, the territory of my Xia family! Is it their Zhou family's turn to throw their weight around?" "Nonsense!" Marquis Xia snapped, "What do you mean, throwing their weight around in our territory? This is something the Xia family cannot easily meddle in! Back then, Zhou Zhan truly died on the All-Heavens Battlefield while trying to rescue the Fifth Generation. King Dazhou said nothing, so your great-grandfather couldn't say much either, leaving the younger generation to resolve these grudges among themselves. "In the end, Liu Wenyan ruined himself, and Zhou Zhan's son now has hopes of advancing to Invincible. Tell me, how can our family easily interfere?" Xia Huyou nodded, feeling somewhat gloomy. "It really isn't easy to interfere. But this Zhou family... is overbearing enough! Didn't they say there was no research data on Civilization Masters reaching the Eternal Realm? Yet they stubbornly cling to it, suppressing people for fifty years—what's the point!" "Whether there is or isn't... who knows!" Marquis Xia chuckled. "If nothing else, I've always suspected that the Fifth Generation's supposed advancement data might not be actual documents at all, but quite possibly that very divine character. Many people share my suspicion, except they have scruples and can't easily move against Liu Wenyan directly!" Xia Huyou looked astonished! Marquis Xia curled his lip and said indifferently, "So suppressing the Multiple Divine Characters Faction isn't the thought of just a few individuals, but of many people, wanting to force Liu Wenyan into handing over that divine character voluntarily! Silly boy, don't look at things on the surface. The Zhou family isn't necessarily just overbearing, nor do they necessarily want to suppress the Multiple Divine Characters Faction on their own; it's simply that everyone tacitly chose to act this way, pushing the Zhou family to the forefront! "The Zhou family doesn't bother explaining, and probably covets that divine character to some extent as well, so they simply went with the flow and became the leaders of the Single Divine Character Faction." Xia Huyou nodded, thoroughly enlightened! So that was how it was! Marquis Xia chuckled and said, "What does this even count as? Right now Liu Wenyan hasn't fully returned. If he truly returns, it means he has given up his leisurely life in Nanyuan, and there will be endless trouble ahead!" Xia Huyou frowned and said, "Second Grandpa, is it really appropriate for internal strife to be this fierce? The strength of Great Xia Prefecture will also be weakened! Just look at right now, the elders of the Civilization Academy are fighting among themselves!" Marquis Xia let out a breath and said softly, "Internal strife... It doesn't really count as that. Call it a struggle before integration! The Two Great Sacred Grounds intend to integrate the various prefectures and unite the strength of the human race to form a unified front on the All-Heavens Battlefield. In the days ahead, struggles like this will not be few. Once winners emerge, the various prefectures will engage in deeper levels of cooperation." "There's even something like this?" Xia Huyou said in surprise. "So you're saying behind this fierce infighting are the shadows of the various prefectures?" "Of course!" Marquis Xia nodded with a chuckle. "Not only is Great Xia Prefecture like this, but similar situations are happening in other prefectures as well! Let them fight; in the end, whoever wins holds greater sway!" "Can't they just unite?" "Silly boy, you overestimate human nature. Uniting is not that simple! Let me ask you: if I ordered the Xia family to obey the Zhou family right now, would you agree?" "No way!" Xia Huyou answered readily. Marquis Xia chuckled. "There you have it!" "Then what about our family? It feels like we haven't gotten involved." "Our family... who said we haven't gotten involved?" Marquis Xia yawned. "Xia Changqing, Xia Yuwen, Xia Yunqi... aren't all of them from the Xia family? What do you mean our family hasn't gotten involved!" "..." Xia Huyou blinked. Why did it feel like he and Su Yu were actually on opposing sides? Their old Xia family—especially Xia Yuwen's side—seemed to be preparing to seize Chen Yong's position as director. Scratching his head, he thought, Forget it, what does that have to do with me? Across various places, fighting continued as people sought to block Liu Wenyan's return. Yet on this day, a battered little truck pressed forward undeterred, heading toward Great Xia Prefecture. On this day, across numerous regions, one powerhouse after another received word. At academies far and wide, experts packed their belongings and set out for Great Xia Prefecture. The winds and clouds were gathering! Fifty years ago, the Fifth Generation failed. Back then, Liu Wenyan, slated to become the Sixth Generation, had also failed, ending up ruining himself instead. Now, Liu Wenyan had returned. No matter the reason, many people decided to try once more, to watch once more, to wait once more!