Liu Wenyan's Return

After laboring through the entire night, the sky was already bright by the time Su Yu stepped out of Old Zhao's research institute. Students were beginning their morning classes. At this moment, Su Yu was still examining the small hammer inside his mind. It was remarkably overbearing—it had even shoved aside the small blade outlined by his divine character battle technique. Impressive! Of course, the battle technique blade had been outlined by Su Yu himself, whereas this small hammer was the work of a Lingyun Seventh Layer cultivator who had once reached the Lingyun Ninth Layer. "Everything is in place!" Only now did Su Yu feel that he was fully prepared. What lay ahead would be a phase of rapid advancement. Reading texts of will, outlining divine characters, strengthening his willpower, breaking through into the Wanshi Realm... As for Wan Tiansheng summoning him... No need to bother! Su Yu had no idea what the head prefect wanted, and the man was absurdly strong anyway. Su Yu would stall for as long as he could, waiting until his grandmaster returned before dealing with it. And if his grandmaster didn't return, he would simply drag things out until Wan Tiansheng came looking for him again. ... Just as Su Yu was heading off to class, outside the Great Xia Prefecture... After two days of travel, a battered old car came creaking along the road. At the colossal entrance to the prefecture city... Today, the area was eerily silent. The city guards stationed at the gate had retreated to both sides. All around, squads of formidable Longwu Guards stepped forward, directing everyone else toward other gates to enter the city. The widest thoroughfare was completely cleared of traffic. Beside the gate stood a row of powerful figures. Some were drenched in blood, some wept openly, some looked on with heavy sighs, and some craned their necks in eager anticipation. "He's here..." Someone in the crowd murmured a low gasp! The battered car came to a halt ahead. Prefect Wang climbed out, glanced at the crowd before him, gave a dry laugh, and stepped to the side. Inside the car, Liu Wenyan opened his eyes. He stepped down, looking at the dozen or so old friends waiting for him, suddenly seized by an urge to turn and run. *I have returned!* *Fifty years!* *I am stepping into the capital of the Great Xia Prefecture once again. Master, I'm back!* *And yet... I have not returned as an invincible sovereign!* At the same time. Not far away, atop a small pavilion, another group of experts stood quietly watching the scene. There was Elder Yu, his face pale; Elder Sun, wearing a complicated expression; representatives from the Jiutian Academy; and figures from the Wendao Academy. On another side gathered yet another group. There were officials from the Yuqiang Department, instructors from the War Academy, and representatives from the military. They all silently watched the gate. They gazed at the gray-haired old man. Fifty years ago, when he left, he had been in the prime of his youth. Now, returning at last, what remained of his former glory? ... At the entrance. Liu Wenyan looked at his old friends, many of whom he could barely recognize, and offered a wry, bitter grin. "I'm... back..." "It's good that you're back!" The middle-aged man who had previously joined Wu Yuehua in intercepting Elder Sun grinned, flashing his teeth just as he had in the old days. "It's good to have you back... You should have returned long ago..." Wu Yuehua stood proud and aloof, looking down at the scruffy old man. He had changed—changed so much. He looked nothing like he used to! When she saw him briefly last time, it hadn't hit her so hard. But seeing him today, and thinking back fifty years to when she saw him off at this very spot, brought a profound, indescribable ache to her heart! "So you still remember the way back..." Her words carried a tone somewhere between resentment and heartache, prompting several people around her to chuckle softly. The sorrow gradually faded. It was enough that he was back! It was enough that he had returned alive! Liu Wenyan looked around and spotted Elder Sun, the officials from the Yuqiang Department, the Longwu Guards, and farther off, Marquis Xia and Director Hu... He gave a faint nod. The bitterness vanished, replaced by a warm smile as he called out a greeting to all sides. "Come, let's head over to Ruoling's place... I want to see him!" With that, he started walking. Without excessive pleasantries, he bypassed the waiting crowd and walked toward the city—toward Eighteenth Middle Academy, the final resting place of Zhang Ruoling. A monstrous genius of days gone by lay buried there, yet how many still remembered? Wu Yuehua and the others fell into step behind him, keeping half a pace back. Just like the old days! Even though many in this group were in the Shanhai Realm, and even though he was merely in the Tengkong Realm. The group walked silently forward. All around them, total silence reigned. After an unknown amount of time, a voice resonated through the air: "Liu Wenyan, back when you were expelled from the Great Xia Civilization Academy, you swore never to set foot in the Great Xia Prefecture again. Why break your oath today?" "Shut your trap!" Wu Yuehua's gaze turned instantly glacial! A massive cauldron shot into the sky with a deafening boom, instantly obliterating a small hill in the distance! Amidst the crumbling mound, a Shanhai expert stepped out into the air. With a single hand raised, he supported the massive cauldron and said coolly, "Wu Yuehua, don't resort to violence at the drop of a hat. That explosive temper of yours is just as bad as ever!" Wu Yuehua looked at the man, her expression dark. Among the crowd, several Shanhai experts leveled cold, sharp glares, ready to strike. Liu Wenyan smiled, turned toward the man, made a calming gesture with his hand, and chuckled. "Oh, it's you. Still alive, I see. I thought you died years ago." High in the air, the old man holding up the cauldron replied calmly, "I'm alive, and I won't be dying anytime soon. Liu Wenyan, do you intend to break the promise you made all those years ago?" Liu Wenyan smiled. "I never intended to break it. Rest assured, I won't enter the main city; I'm only going to the Eighteenth Middle Academy to see an old friend. Of course, if you think I shouldn't even visit an old friend, then fine... I'm breaking my oath. What are you going to do about it?" He spoke calmly and frankly. *I'm going regardless. What can you possibly do?* The old man ignored him, turning his gaze toward the Yuqiang Department experts, and then toward Elder Sun and his companions. "What does the Great Xia Prefecture have to say about this?" From the Yuqiang Department's side, a middle-aged man stepped forward and said coolly, "This is your personal grievance. Do not drag the Great Xia Prefecture or anyone else into it. Since Liu Wenyan is a native of the Great Xia Prefecture, he has every right to come and go. The Great Xia Prefecture does not close its borders!" *Does not close its borders!* Because they possessed the confidence and strength to back it up! "A personal grievance?" The old man's tone shifted slightly. "Expelling Liu Wenyan and his peers back then was not over personal grievances; it was because they nearly destroyed the Great Xia Civilization Academy! The Yuqiang Department even issued a decree back then expelling them, forbidding them from ever returning!" The middle-aged man frowned. "Did we? You must be misremembering. The decree stated that they could not return until their debts were fully paid! Someone has already cleared those debts on his behalf. Now that Liu Wenyan has returned, the Yuqiang Department will not interfere." "Cleared his debts?" The old man's brow furrowed. "Who paid them, and how much—" Before he could finish, a colossal seal descended from above, blotting out the sky! A thunderous crash echoed across the immediate area. With a resounding thud, the old man was slammed straight into the earth. Wu Yuehua recalled her cauldron, shooting a sidelong glance toward the spot where the great seal had emerged. She cursed silently under her breath, *You almost smashed my cauldron!* "Enough useless chatter!" A voice bellowed from the void. "Resolve personal grievances on your own! Shan Tianhao, who gave you the right to question the Yuqiang Department? Tell Zhou Polong to come ask me himself! Dare question the Yuqiang Department again, and I'll end you!" The old man flew out from underground, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Showing no anger, he looked toward the void and said, "Director Ji, I'll take this blow today! Since you claim he has paid his debt, then let it be so. But the debts Liu Wenyan owes go far beyond that. I'd like to see what he has left to pay them with!" The old man shot a glare at Liu Wenyan before taking to the air and departing. Liu Wenyan smiled, entirely unbothered. Cupping his hands toward the distant void, he called out with a chuckle, "Thank you, Director Ji!" No answer came. Liu Wenyan didn't mind. Looking at the retreating figure of the old man, he sighed softly. "To think Shan Tianhao could actually reach the Shanhai Ninth Layer. I used to look down on that fellow back in the day. When I was only in the Yangxing Realm, I defeated him in three moves, and he was already in the Tengkong Realm back then..." He shook his head. Times truly had changed! A man he had once defeated so handily was now a Shanhai Ninth Layer expert! Glancing at Wu Yuehua and the others, he sighed. "Why... haven't any of you reached the Shanhai Ninth Layer yet?" Even Wu Yuehua had only recently broken into the Shanhai Eighth Layer. Wu Yuehua rolled her eyes at him. *Was that considered slow?* Beside them, the middle-aged man who had spoken earlier flashed a grin. "Brother Liu, we're still young, after all." "Young..." Liu Wenyan wore a look of wistful nostalgia. They weren't young anymore. Fifty years had already gone by. Looking at the middle-aged man, Liu Wenyan smiled. "He Qi, what cultivation stage are you at now?" The middle-aged man rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Shanhai Seventh Layer." "Not bad." Wu Yuehua was left speechless and snapped, "That's enough from you! A mere Tengkong critiquing this person and that person—why don't you look at your own cultivation first!" The others chuckled again. Liu Wenyan laughed as well, choosing not to bicker with her. As he continued walking forward, he remarked, "I feel like I've forgotten something... Ah, whatever, forget it." He knew what he had forgotten. He had forgotten Old Wang! Well, that was fine. Old Wang should hurry back. Old Wang couldn't afford to get involved in his affairs anyway. Serving as academy prefect in Nanyuan for a few more years, then retiring in comfort to live out his golden years—how wonderful that would be. Behind them, Prefect Wang watched the group depart. Smiling, he climbed into his beat-up car and started the engine to head back, harboring not the slightest resentment or displeasure. He felt only a touch of nostalgia and goodwill. It was a pity that no one would call him stingy anymore, and no one would dump scapegoat troubles on him either. He wished Liu Wenyan smooth sailing in whatever lay ahead. The small car drove slowly away. Liu Chuan, the young man who had appeared earlier, quietly followed behind to escort him back to Nanyuan. The group gradually vanished into the distance. ... Farther away. Marquis Xia watched for a short while before turning to leave, casually tossing away a watermelon rind. How boring. They hadn't even come to blows! Only Shan Tianhao had shown up—the vice prefect of the Great Zhou Civilization Academy and head of their Divine Character College. Zhou Mingren hadn't even shown his face. What a pity; he had missed out on a grand spectacle. As he walked away, he pondered matters. A moment later, he turned to Director Hu and asked in surprise, "Why are you following me again?" "..." Old Hu felt utterly exhausted. *We're heading in the same direction, don't you know that?* *I'm not following you; I'm heading back! Don't you realize that?* *Could you stop picking fights with me?* "Prefect..." "Acting prefect! Call me Marquis!" "Marquis!" Old Hu sighed wearily and asked, "Has Old Ji broken through to the Riyue Realm?" "How would I know?" "Shan Tianhao couldn't block that seal just now. Old Ji's strength is growing more terrifying by the day." "Pretty impressive, yeah..." Marquis Xia gave a perfunctory nod, musing as he walked, "Pity I didn't get to see a good show! Did Wan Tiansheng restrict Zhou Mingren? He claimed he was going to dig up graves, so why hasn't he made a move?" Chuckling, he added, "Once he digs, a fight is guaranteed to break out. That's the real show!" "Marquis!" Old Hu sighed. "You are the prefect, even if only an acting one! This is not something to watch for amusement. You should persuade Dean Zhou to abandon the idea, or things will spiral completely out of hand." Marquis Xia replied with utter insincerity, "Persuade him of what? Would he listen to me? He has Zhou Polong backing him—would he fear me? Let me tell you: he's talked about digging graves all this time without doing it precisely because he was waiting for Liu Wenyan to show up! If Liu Wenyan didn't appear, why would he bother digging anything?" Old Hu frowned. "A pretext?" "Not quite—it's just making use of an opportunity. His student was severely injured, so he used grave-digging as an excuse to see if he could smoke out that Liu fellow. And look, didn't he smoke him out?" Marquis Xia chuckled. "Dig up Zhang Ruoling? Nonsense. He's digging for Liu Wenyan!" Old Hu nodded slightly. "I felt something was off before. So he truly was waiting for Liu Wenyan to return. But even if he has returned, are they really going to start a war? Marquis, you cannot simply wash your hands of this." "Of course I'll manage it!" Marquis Xia said breezily, "They've been fighting in the dark for so many years, so they might as well take it into the open! For every square patch of ground they smash, they owe a thousand merit points in compensation... Oh, right, that Shan Tianhao—make him pay! Wu Yuehua and Old Ji too—they all have to pay!" "Anyone who breaks a piece of Great Xia soil must pay up!" "And another thing: people coming from other great prefectures? No problem! They can come as they please. Every visiting Tengkong expert costs a hundred merit points per day of stay." "A Lingyun expert is five hundred merit points a day." "A Shanhai expert is a thousand a day." "A Riyue expert... those guys are rich. Five thousand a day!" Marquis Xia tallied up the numbers in his head, then paused to add, "Remind them: no harming bystanders. Injure one, pay ten thousand merit points. Kill one, execute a culprit three tiers higher!" The so-called execution of three tiers higher... was the Great Xia Prefecture's strictest wartime military order. If one of their Tengkong cultivators died, the offending party had to offer up a Riyue expert for execution—an unending blood feud! Yet Marquis Xia voiced this chilling rule with casual ease. Accidentally kill a Tengkong? Whichever faction was responsible would have to surrender a Riyue to be decapitated. As for whether the Great Xia Prefecture had the power to enforce it... no one doubted it for a second. Old Hu's expression shifted slightly, and he couldn't help asking, "So you're just going to let them fight it out?" "What else?" Marquis Xia turned his head, looking surprised. "Fighting in the shadows is far worse, don't you get it? Every single day, one side plots against the other, back and forth—isn't it exhausting? Settle it once and for all—isn't that better? Those who die can blame their bad luck, and those who survive... count how many human experts they killed, round up the victors after it's over, and make them pay tenfold. Kill one human Tengkong, then go to the All-Heavens Battlefield and kill ten enemy Tengkongs... Isn't that the standard practice? We hold the house edge, so what are we afraid of?" Marquis Xia chuckled. "The Vanguard Camp is going to get a massive influx of recruits soon. Those old Invincible bastards will be laughing themselves to death—another batch of death-sworn soldiers delivered right to their door! How wonderful! No wages needed, no military funding required, and all their spoils must be handed over. Pure free labor!" Marquis Xia calculated further, musing, "Liu Wenyan will be priced at the Shanhai tier! Whoever kills him will have to kill ten Shanhai enemies to make up for it. That fellow is worth that much!" "..." Old Hu was at a complete loss for words. After walking a short distance, he spoke again: "Are you truly not stepping in?" He still felt uneasy! If this continued, the chaos would grow immense. Marquis Xia said impatiently, "Step in how? Suppress them? Or ship them all off to the All-Heavens Battlefield? When they're united in appearance but divided at heart, causing trouble on the battlefield would be even worse! It's better to let a batch of them die right here until the rest are terrified; then they'll naturally disperse! Reckless, aggressive hotheads are everywhere—are we supposed to sit on them every single day? We've suppressed them for fifty years; did it do any good?" This wasn't day one! Fifty years of grievances and feuds, and they still hadn't resolved them to this day. It was only escalating! They might as well let them fight it out to the bitter end! "Still, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction might not stand much of a chance..." Old Hu shook his head and couldn't resist saying, "I'm worried Yunqi will return, and I'm worried Ping'er will get involved once she finds out about this." Marquis Xia rubbed his chin. That was a fair point. It involved members of the Xia family after all! Pondering for a moment, he added, "As for Yunqi... whatever! Whoever kills Yunqi must go to the battlefield and kill ten Riyue experts. Xia family lives are expensive. If Yunqi really dies, well, nothing can be done—I'll just sweep his grave for him. Quite tragic, but trading his life for ten enemy Riyue experts makes it worth it! Doesn't the Zhou family have experts? Tell Zhou Polong to do it. If he can't kill ten Riyue experts, let Longwu slay him to vindicate his Dao. Conveniently, that saves him the trip to the All-Heavens Battlefield!" "..." Old Hu was utterly speechless. *All you care about is money!* *Even your own Xia family members are calculated in terms of monetary value.* *Have you lost your mind?!* What on earth was this fat bastard thinking? "I suspect you're cursing me in your head..." "I am not!" Old Hu denied it immediately! "You definitely are. Old Hu, you're cursing me!" "Has the Marquis reached the Riyue Realm?" "I have not!" Old Hu breathed a sigh of relief. "Since you haven't, you have no proof that I'm cursing you, do you? If you aren't in the Riyue Realm, how could you know what I'm thinking?" Marquis Xia glared at him. *Not bad, learning how to checkmate me now, are we?* Too lazy to argue, he continued walking toward the prefectural residence. After a while, he thought of something else and added, "Right, compile a complete list of everyone who shows up from both factions and give it to me! Also, investigate anyone fanning the flames from the shadows down to their roots!" "Also, that kid Su Yu over at the Civilization Academy... came up with some Soul Devour Art or whatever—keep an eye on that! And send the Longwu Guards out for a sweep. We don't feed freeloaders here. Have them round up some All-Races Sect scum to execute for fun. The news has been so dry lately; the public is losing interest, making it hard to sell ad space. Next time you take a few of those bastards to be beheaded, remember to recommend the sabers from our Xia Commercial Firm—top-notch for executions, guaranteed never to leave a neck half-severed!" Marquis Xia rambled on, issue after issue. Just as they neared the prefectural residence, he suddenly turned back to look at the troubled Old Hu and said, "Digging up graves carries serious taboos! Damn it, it's making people afraid to even bury their dead! If they fail to dig it up, fine. But if they actually succeed... you go dig up the Zhou family's ancestral graves... Wait, isn't the Zhou ancestral burial ground over in the Great Zhou Prefecture? Never mind, just dig up the graves of Zhou Mingren's branch, or King Dazhou will come hack me to pieces!" Marquis Xia yawned lazily and said, "The dead are already dead, and they died on Great Xia soil. We can't just let people dig them up, can we? Zhang Ruoling... was my classmate, honestly. Even if they don't show respect for the monk, they should at least show some for the Buddha! And they still want to dig him up? As if his life wasn't tragic enough." "Understood," Old Hu acknowledged. "Anything else to instruct?" "Of course there is!" Marquis Xia said grumpily, "Business has been slow lately. Now that two major clients have finally arrived to spend money, don't stop them! When they fight, make sure to send people to survey and measure the land. Not a single cent less—the moment the fight is over, collect the payment! Anyone who refuses to pay, raid their family estate!" "Also, that genius from the Great Zhou Prefecture... Shan Tianhao's grandson, right? What stage of Tengkong is he at now?" "Sixth layer!" "Sell him that Golden Dragon Pill from our inventory! Opens eight divine apertures in a single day—impressive, right? Fifty thousand merit points. He buys it whether he likes it or not. If he refuses, he's banned from entering the Great Xia Prefecture. If he dares set foot here, break his legs! If he sneaks in, slaughter him as an All-Races Sect infiltrator!" "..." Old Hu was speechless. *You... have truly gone mad for money.* *You'd even scheme like this!* *Open eight divine apertures my foot!* *He'd be lucky to open one or two!* *And you want to charge fifty thousand merit points!* Would the boy buy it? If he didn't, his legs truly would be broken the moment he dared enter the Great Xia Prefecture! Old Hu felt deeply, profoundly exhausted. With Marquis Xia running the show, the Great Xia Prefecture had practically turned into a den of unscrupulous merchants, fleecing every person who crossed their path. As if that weren't enough, Marquis Xia added, "I almost forgot something. That fellow Zhou Mingren owes me 398 peak Shanhai texts of will. He probably can't afford to pay. Take the IOU and go find Zhou Polong; make him foot the bill. I can't be bothered squeezing a pauper like Zhou Mingren!" "Marquis!" Old Hu couldn't remain silent any longer. Frowning, he said, "If you want to help the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, then just come out and say so! Carrying on like this makes it glaringly obvious that you're targeting the Single Divine Character Faction. There is no need to make an enemy of the Zhou family for no reason. Either take a clear stance, or simply deny them the chance to fight at all!" "Help the Multiple Divine Characters Faction..." Marquis Xia rubbed his fleshy chin, muttering, "Did I do that? That wasn't my intention..." He thought it over, then struck an expression of sudden enlightenment. "It's not that I'm helping them—it's that the Single Divine Character Faction is just so damn rich! I'm jealous! No wonder; even I felt like I was playing favorites. Turns out it's because the Multiple Divine Characters Faction are all broke paupers!" He looked as though he had finally grasped the truth, completely enlightened! Old Hu frowned at him. *Are you serious?* No one could ever fathom what truly went through Marquis Xia's head. Old Hu vaguely felt that he was still biased toward the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, though he had no definitive proof. Marquis Xia paid him no heed, grinning as he said, "Just do as I say. Be a good, obedient subordinate! A fat sheep has arrived; we have to shear it! The Zhou family... Zhou Polong represents the Zhou family? Stop joking around. Zhou Potian might, but Zhou Polong? Zhou Potian can't even be bothered with this nonsense. I was on the comms with him just the other day. That fellow—say what you will, he's a master at business! His name sounds domineering, but deep down, he's just like me!" Marquis Xia sighed with admiration. "I need to learn from him. That fellow is brilliant—not long ago, he traded with the god race and bought ten thousand Fire Swine to breed domestically. Now the Great Zhou Prefecture sells Fire Swine meat as ordinary pork. Damn it, I need to take notes!" What a headache! Old Hu felt that he had better leave before his head exploded; holding a normal conversation with this man was impossible. "Marquis, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave!" "Go on, then!" Marquis Xia waved him off. Shortly after Old Hu left, Xia Xinyi approached and said softly, "Father, Hong Tan has already entered the Human Realm. He'll be back soon!" "What about Yuwen?" "He's almost back as well." "And Yunqi?" "No news yet." Marquis Xia nodded, considered it, and said, "Before Hong Tan returns, don't let them fight! Have people tie Zhou Mingren down first. Right—send those fellows to demand payment from him, and don't let him leave until he pays!" "Understood." "Also, deploy all the Longwu Shadow Guards. The All-Races Sect won't just sit and watch; they'll definitely want a piece of the action. Keep a close eye on them! Whether we can wipe out the All-Races Sect in the Great Xia Prefecture depends entirely on this operation!" "Yes!" "Furthermore... isn't that Su Yu kid planning to hold some auction? Tell Huyou to urge him along. Hurry up, stop dawdling! It's best if everything converges at once. And wasn't there a bounty issued to the All-Races Sect to assassinate him? It's too low! Damn it, who dares commit murder in the Great Xia Prefecture? Find someone to raise the bounty—bump it up to five thousand merit points!" "Father, this..." Xia Xinyi was startled. *That much?* Marquis Xia grinned. "What of it? Baiting the hook for some fishing—isn't that fun? As for the identity... pretend to be someone connected to Zheng Yuming. A Shanhai expert was nearly killed, so isn't it entirely normal to spend five thousand merit points on revenge?" "..." "If that doesn't work, use someone from the Huang family. Huang Qifeng was nearly killed too; can't they spend five thousand merit points to take a life?" Marquis Xia tossed out idea after idea before taking a deep breath and laughing. "Go, knock on your brother's door and tell him to come out! Stop playing dead! If Zhou Polong actually dares come, tell your brother to hack him to death with a single strike!" "..." Xia Xinyi said blankly, "Brother Longwu is in closed-door seclusion. Father, this..." "Damn it, you idiot! How did I end up with a son like you? An embarrassment—not even as clever as your nephew! You just stick to running errands honestly. Don't even dream of taking over the Xia Commercial Firm. If Huyou doesn't become the prefect, the firm belongs to him. If he does become the prefect, I'd rather dissolve the firm than hand it to you..." "...Father..." Xia Xinyi looked utterly helpless. *Am I really that incompetent?* Marquis Xia couldn't even be bothered with him. Talking to fools was pointless—"Brother Longwu is in seclusion"... did this son of his ever use his brain at all? "Father, dissolving the Xia Commercial Firm wouldn't be good. I think Chan'er is quite capable..." Xia Xinyi made one last struggle. *If I'm no good, you still have a granddaughter!* Marquis Xia stopped in his tracks, thought about it, and turned around. "Chan'er... Sigh, why does everyone in the Xia family have to be so stubborn? She's clearly my son's daughter, my granddaughter, so why does she share the exact same temperament as my eldest brother's line? Were Huyou and Chan'er switched at birth back then?" "..." Xia Xinyi was speechless. Of course they hadn't been switched! Did he even need to ask? Could Shanhai and Riyue experts fail to recognize their own children? Besides, the two weren't even born on the same day—they were months apart. ... While the Xia family father and son fretted over their children, Liu Wenyan was chatting as he walked. "We don't have a Riyue expert on our side; we can't contend with that realm! Zhou Mingren is nothing, but I worry about a Riyue expert stepping in! Plenty of people are waiting to watch the show. Wu Yuehua..." "Did you just call me by my full name?" "..." Liu Wenyan felt exhausted. "Yuehua, if we don't fight this battle and make them suffer, we can't guard the graves of Ruoling and the others forever. We have to hit them hard enough to hurt! Doesn't your Wu family still have a Riyue expert? Your mother is still around, isn't she?" "..." Wu Yuehua's face turned dark! Liu Wenyan cleared his throat lightly. "Don't misunderstand; I was just worried she had gone to the All-Heavens Battlefield. Ask your mother to come out and hold down the fort for us. We'll just borrow her for a few days. Once we win this clash, and once I become an Invincible expert, I'll give your mother a boost!" "..." The rest of the group pretended not to hear. Wu Yuehua glared at him. "My mother is in secluded cultivation. She hasn't emerged in years!" "Death seclusion?" "More or less!" "Then... try calling her out anyway. If nothing else works, tell her you're getting married. Once she hears that her spinster daughter is finally tying the knot, she might just come out!" "...*Cough, cough, cough*..." A chorus of coughing broke out all around them. Sure enough, Brother Liu was still Brother Liu. After all these years, he hadn't changed a bit. They had worried that decades of setbacks might have broken his spirit. "Are you marrying me?" Wu Yuehua stared at him with burning eyes. "If you marry me, I'll go tell her!" "..." Liu Wenyan looked at her for a moment, then gave an awkward chuckle. "At our age, discussing such things is hardly appropriate..." "I knew it! Liu, are you still pining after Hu Ping and Zhao Mingyue, you heartless bastard?!" "..." Liu Wenyan acted as though he hadn't heard a word, marching forward with broad strides. *Little Su Yu, are you seeing this?* *This is what women are like!* *Stumbling blocks on the path of cultivation!* *Obstacles!* *She's already seventy years old, yet she's still clinging to things from fifty years ago!* Then again, Old Hu of the Hu family was formidable. Why hadn't there been any word from Hu Ping? Having Old Hu step in would work just as well. And as for the Zhao family, that simpleton Zhao was exceptionally powerful—a peak Shanhai cultivator who could definitely hold the line. He was also a vice commander of the Longwu Guards, so pulling him in would carry immense weight! Liu Wenyan mused internally: *Should I try contacting those two tigresses later?* *Except Wu Yuehua is right here. If I contact them now... what a mess!* Liu Wenyan let out a soft sigh, feeling a headache coming on. *I haven't returned in fifty years, yet I still have to face these tribulations. Truly terrifying.* Behind him, seeing how quickly he was walking, Wu Yuehua huffed! Her chest was filled with frustration! Yet watching his retreating back, she soon felt a pang of heartache and helplessness. Fifty years ago... he had never looked so worn and ragged! Back then, that Shan Tianhao wouldn't have even been fit to carry his shoes! Since when did the rest of them have to be the ones standing up for him?