Bai Feng Returns

In the Great Xia Prefecture, Hong Tan had made his ostentatious move. To the east, in the Tiansheng Sea, waves churned. An eighth-stage Shanhai expert, a powerhouse stationed to guard the Tiansheng Sea, had been assassinated! The Tiansheng Sea was shaken! He had been murdered right inside his main camp! Across the Tiansheng Sea Military Base, one Sun Moon expert after another was urgently recalled. Who did it? The All-Races Cult? The demon race of the sea? Or someone else? ... The Tiansheng Sea region. Amidst the vast expanse of ocean, on an isolated island, Chen Yong coughed up blood, yet laughed with genuine cheer. "Still alive?" Beside him, Feng Qi lay flat on the ground. After a long silence, he grunted in a muffled voice, "Barely... You're remarkably strong. Even stronger than back then." "Just average!" Chen Yong smiled. "At last, that animal is dead!" Feng Qi lacked the energy to say much. After another long pause, he asked, "What next?" "We keep going!" Chen Yong smiled and said, "Heal our wounds. Once we're patched up, we keep killing! There is too much scum in the Human Realm. Since no one else is willing to clean it up, I'll do it." "As you wish." Feng Qi gave a curt reply, then quickly asked, "Can you still hold up?" Chen Yong smiled. "No matter. I walk the path of defense; this is just a minor injury." *The path of defense?* Feng Qi stayed silent. *You walk the path of defense, yet you kill people faster than anyone. An eighth-stage Shanhai merely managed to heavily injure you, only to be counter-killed by you moments later.* *And this counts as the path of defense?* "What about the people from the Six-Winged God Cult?" Chen Yong thought for a moment and smiled. "No rush. We'll lead them in circles. Whenever something happens, we pin the blame on them." Chen Yong sneered, "I'll arrange for people to build up the narrative. The Six-Winged God Cult's crimes are heinous, with countless killings to their name. The Quest Realm and the War God Hall are useless wastes who let the Six-Winged God Cult run rampant across the Human Realm. What does any of this have to do with us?" Feng Qi did not say another word. If this matter was ever traced back to them, the trouble would be astronomical. Chen Yong lacked direct evidence to prove everything. Thus, if exposed, the assassination of a general garrisoning the sea would inevitably stir up a colossal tempest. An eighth-stage Shanhai was no minor figure. Chen Yong paid it no mind. He coughed up another mouthful of clotted blood and smiled. "That kid Su Yu's aperture fusion art is quite decent, and the Body Strengthening Art isn't bad either. You can cultivate them when you have time." "It's too difficult." He had already reached the Shanhai Realm. Chen Yong was different; his physical body hadn't reached the Shanhai Realm beforehand. Chen Yong nodded. It was indeed somewhat difficult. No matter. At their current level, there were shortcuts to opening apertures. "Once we can no longer stay in the Human Realm, I'll smuggle you onto the All-Heavens Battlefield. We'll find an opportunity to slip into the major realms of the gods and demons, kill a few of their people, and snatch some Heaven Yuan Fruits or the like. That can open apertures as well." "I feel like you've completely let yourself go?" Feng Qi muttered in a low voice. Ever since Chen Yong left the academy, he seemed to have changed considerably. Chen Yong thought nothing of it. "The Great Xia Civilization Academy and the Great Xia Prefecture were both shackles! They shackled far too many people! It was a colossal cage, yet what it trapped was neither enemies nor villains, but a crowd of frustrated, helpless, indignant people who only wished the best for Great Xia!" "This colossal cage bound me, bound my master, bound my martial uncle, bound King Daxia, Manor Lord Xia, and Marquis Xia, and bound Academy Head Wan as well." "Because hundreds of millions of people remain in Great Xia, countless innocents remain, and our spirit, our roots, and our faith still reside there!" "For fifty years, it bound this group of people, keeping them suppressed and strictly disciplined. Yet with each successive incident, this cage is being shattered!" Chen Yong gave a cold laugh. "Those who broke this cage step by step will regret it sooner or later! I, Chen Yong, am merely an insignificant member among them. When all those ferocious beasts are unleashed, they will rue everything that happened today!" Feng Qi fell silent. After a long while, he asked, "What realm has Academy Head Wan reached?" "No idea." Chen Yong dropped the topic. Before long, he said, "Time to move. The Tiansheng Sea is only the beginning. Killing that fellow will soon draw Sun Moon or even Invincible cultivators to search the area. Feng Qi, this time, I'll show you the grand spectacle of the Human Realm!" Feng Qi was speechless. *You mean you're going to drag me along to slaughter your way across the entire Human Realm!* Saying nothing more, they focused on healing. Several hours later, Feng Qi had barely recovered a fraction of his strength. The two walked across the sea's surface, and Chen Yong once again vanished. Beneath the waters, a great demon had just reached out a claw when a shadow swept over, instantly obliterating it without causing the slightest ripple. A moment later, Feng Qi and the shadow disappeared simultaneously. After some time passed, a group of figures appeared. The leader's gaze was ice-cold. At this moment, the group appeared somewhat battered and disheveled. "Damn it!" Someone in the crowd cursed in a low voice, "Cult Master, do we keep tracking them? What on earth happened? Did Chen Yong and his companion really kill that garrison general?" Curse it all! A garrison general from the Eastern Sea Legion of the Tiansheng Sea had been murdered—a commanding general at the eighth stage of the Shanhai Realm, no less. As a result, several Sun Moon experts from the Eastern Sea Legion were scouring the region. Their group was a conspicuous target, and because they had been tailing right behind Chen Yong, they had nearly been surrounded and wiped out. Though they managed to escape, they still lost one Shanhai. The Six-Winged God Cult had deployed two Sun Moons and six Shanhais. One of the Sun Moons had gone to lure away the pursuers from the Eight Great Families, while this remaining Sun Moon led the six Shanhais to hunt down Chen Yong and Feng Qi. They had originally believed success was guaranteed. Yet as things turned out, two Shanhai experts were already dead! The remaining four Shanhais were all nursing injuries. Furthermore, their presence had been exposed in the Tiansheng Sea, and the death of that murdered general had been laid squarely at their feet. Assassinating a garrison commanding general! This was a capital crime, an offense that guaranteed execution. Previously, only the Eight Great Families were hunting them, but laying hands on military personnel might provoke the War God Hall and powerful garrison forces across the realm to coordinate a dragnet against them! No matter how strong they were, and no matter how vast the Human Realm was, once the two sacred lands of humanity hunted them down at the same time, they would be thoroughly crushed. "Cult Master, let's run! Flee to the All-Heavens! Otherwise... we're dead for sure!" One of the Shanhais did not want to pursue any further; they were genuinely terrified of dying. Another Shanhai had fallen this time! Cultivating to the Shanhai Realm was extraordinarily difficult. In less than a month, two of them had perished. The survivors all felt that if they continued like this, death was the only outcome. The Sun Moon Cult Master remained dead silent. *Keep chasing?* If they pressed on, they might truly die. *Yet... can we afford not to chase?* Besides, was that garrison commanding general truly killed by Chen Yong and Feng Qi? Did they even possess that kind of strength? If they did, why target that specific person? An eighth-stage Shanhai was an opponent even he would find somewhat challenging to kill, let alone Chen Yong and his companion. From the rear, another Shanhai said in frustration, "Who actually killed him? We've been handed this scapegoat, and there's no way to shake it off. Now we're saddled with the life of an eighth-stage Shanhai garrison commanding general. This is far too dangerous! Offending the military isn't like stirring up trouble in some backwater!" The military possessed countless experts! If this dragged on and provoked frontline military experts to return and surround them, those veterans would be nothing like the Eight Great Families, nor would they resemble the garrison troops stationed within the Human Realm. The military on the All-Heavens Battlefield had been engaged in relentless warfare for over three hundred years. Their methods of slaughter, tracking, and encirclement had reached absolute perfection. Escaping them would be nearly impossible. The worst part was how utterly aggrieved they felt. They hadn't killed the man! Yet if they tried to explain, who would believe them? *If not you, could it have been Chen Yong and his partner whom you were chasing?* What a joke! Feng Qi was a third-stage Shanhai, while Chen Yong had only just broken through into the Shanhai Realm. The two of them killed an eighth-stage Shanhai and framed you for it? Pure nonsense! The Sun Moon Cult Master said nothing, lingering in place for a brief moment. Right then, inside his sea of will, a jade pendant vibrated. The next moment, as his sea of will churned, a voice emerged from the pendant: "Is Garrison Commanding General Liu Qi dead?" "Dead," the Cult Master replied. "Did you kill him?" "No!" The voice came through the jade pendant once more: "Chen Yong killed him?" "Yes! In all likelihood, it was him!" After a period of silence, the pendant vibrated again. "Kill him at all costs! Watch where he heads. I will give you a list of names. He will likely make for those locations. Find a way to obliterate him!" The Sun Moon Cult Master's heart trembled slightly. He quickly asked, "My Lord, that Liu Qi... was one of ours?" "Yes." In an instant, everything became clear to the Cult Master! Chen Yong had seized their weakness! With a trace of worry, he asked, "Will you be affected, My Lord?" "No need to worry. Chen Yong has no evidence, and Liu Qi cannot implicate me. However... Chen Yong cannot be allowed to continue, or he will draw the attention of others." "Subordinate understands!" The Cult Master replied, then quickly added, "My Lord, I require assistance—an expert skilled in tracking. Otherwise, it will be extremely difficult to hunt down Chen Yong and Feng Qi. The Human Realm is vast, and we have too many reservations. We are not as nimble as they are." In pursuing Chen Yong, they found that he occasionally fled toward major cities. The moment he entered a metropolis with powerful experts, they dared not show their faces at all. Moreover, Chen Yong was excessively adept at concealing his tracks. Up to this point, they hadn't even made direct contact with Chen Yong, having only clashed face-to-face with Feng Qi once. "I will make arrangements!" A moment later, the jade pendant ceased vibrating. The Sun Moon Cult Master regained his composure, glanced at the few people behind him, and said in a heavy voice, "We continue! At this stage, if we don't kill Chen Yong, where else can we go? Even if we flee to the All-Heavens Battlefield, the Six-Winged God Race won't take us in. A bunch of useless failures—who would want us?" "At worst, we become bandits!" Someone voiced their discontent, "There are plenty of bandits on the All-Heavens Battlefield, from every race imaginable. Since we can't survive here anymore, going there is still better than staying in the Human Realm to be hunted down!" "Kill Chen Yong first, otherwise we have no leverage whatsoever. The various races have already put bounties on their heads: Su Yu, Hong Tan, Chen Yong, Liu Wenyan, and Bai Feng. Killing any one of the five would be enough to sustain us for a lifetime!" "Then we'd be better off killing Bai Feng..." "Idiot! Bai Feng is on the All-Heavens Battlefield, inside the Vanguard Camp! You want to go kill him there? Invincible experts like King Daqin are personally overseeing the Vanguard Camp. You dare to kill him there?" The Shanhais fell silent. They didn't dare! When it came down to it, Chen Yong was indeed the easiest target. Yet they truly didn't want to pursue any further; the risk was simply too high. "Let's go. They won't escape. If they killed Liu Qi, they are bound to be severely wounded. I have already picked up the scent of blood. We cannot abandon this midway with nothing to show for it. If we go to the All-Heavens Battlefield to start from scratch right now, we won't be able to take a single step forward." Despite their reluctance, without the Cult Master leading the way, they had no means of smuggling themselves onto the All-Heavens Battlefield, nor could they evade the pursuit of the Human Realm's Sun Moon experts without him. Resigned to their fate, the group had no choice but to follow. Shortly after their departure, the void rippled, and Director Hou quickly materialized. Moments later, General Zhao stepped forward, holding a spear, his brows slightly furrowed. Director Hou chuckled and asked, "Little Zhao, did you discover anything?" "Nothing!" General Zhao did not elaborate, though doubts lingered in his heart. After Garrison Commanding General Liu Qi was killed, he had gone to inspect the battle scene and the corpse. Because he had arrived quickly, he vaguely detected a subtle anomaly—a lingering, familiar aura left behind at the scene. That so-called familiar aura... was the aura of the Soul Devour Art. Chen Yong had employed the Soul Devour Art to successfully slay his target. General Zhao had sensed a trace of it because he had come into contact with the technique quite early on, and had even cultivated it himself. At present, the only ones capable of cultivating the Soul Devour Art to such an advanced stage were those among the very first batch of people who gained access to it. Opening apertures was exceedingly difficult for Shanhai and Sun Moon cultivators. So who belonged to that first batch? Chen Yong was definitely one of them! *It makes no sense! Why would Chen Yong kill Liu Qi?* *Besides, Chen Yong only recently broke through to the new realm; could he really kill Liu Qi so easily?* Killing a garrison commanding general was a capital offense! Even if one belonged to the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, or was a member of the Xia family, it remained a death sentence unless there was concrete evidence proving that Liu Qi was corrupt beyond redemption. Otherwise, death was the only outcome! Puzzled, General Zhao found it difficult to draw a conclusion. Under the circumstances, he could hardly say anything to Director Hou either. Director Hou, having noticed nothing out of the ordinary, sighed at that moment. "They're far too hard to find. And... I have a faint feeling that Chen Yong might be deliberately avoiding us." He truly felt that way! Otherwise, Chen Yong and Feng Qi could easily have fled toward major prefectures. Had they run to the capital of a major prefecture overseen by an Invincible clan, no matter how audacious the Six-Winged God Cult was, they would never dare cause trouble on the turf of an Invincible family. That would be seeking death! Yet they hadn't done that. Wherever it was remote and desolate, that was where Chen Yong and his companion went. This was abnormal! Although the Six-Winged God Cult was shadowing them, they certainly lacked the ability to completely cut off their routes for reinforcement; otherwise, they would have slaughtered Chen Yong and Feng Qi long ago. The impression he got now was that Chen Yong and Feng Qi were leading the pursuers of the Six-Winged God Cult all over the place. They simply refused to meet face-to-face with their potential rescuers! Director Hou was helpless. He had promised Su Yu to bring his martial uncle back safely, but... damn it all, every single person from the Multiple Divine Characters Faction was more troublesome and exasperating than the last. Su Yu had stirred up chaos in the Great Ming Prefecture, resulting in the deaths of five Sun Moon experts. Hong Tan was causing an uproar in the Great Xia Prefecture; though no one had died yet, Great Xia had descended into total disarray. As for Bai Feng, he was currently evacuating from the All-Heavens Battlefield, and his return journey was bound to encounter its fair share of perils. Then there was Liu Wenyan. In the Vanguard Camp, he frequently drew massive forces of foreign experts into ambushes, causing catastrophic casualties for the camp lately. Word was that Zheng Yuming of the Single Divine Character Faction and another elder, Elder Ma, had nearly been hacked to death by the foreign races because of that fellow. All of them were in the Vanguard Camp; when Liu Wenyan suffered misfortune, they didn't have it easy either. "Exasperating! What a nuisance!" A mere handful of individuals were stirring up storms across the various prefectures. The Multiple Divine Characters Faction's talent for causing trouble was truly unmatched. Helpless, Director Hou could only continue the chase! What a shame. His fine wine was gone, his good tea was gone, and life lately was practically unfit for human beings. ... At the same time. Bai Feng was indeed on his way back. At this moment, he had not yet re-entered the Human Realm. Instead, he was withdrawing along the route from the Vanguard Camp. Several Shanhai experts were escorting him! Because King Daqin personally oversaw the sector surrounding the Vanguard Camp, there was relatively little trouble there. Before long, Bai Feng and his entourage reached the entrance area. Innumerable troops were garrisoned here; this was the Human Realm's headquarters on the All-Heavens Battlefield. As soon as Bai Feng and his escort approached the headquarters, several powerful auras swept over to investigate. Shortly after, a Sun Moon expert tore through the air and landed, speaking in a deep voice, "Bai Feng of the Great Xia Civilization Academy?" "That's me!" Bai Feng nodded. The Sun Moon expert furrowed his brows slightly and said, "Our King has yet to return to the Human Realm. We heard that Hong Tan developed a divine character battle technique disassembly art, and that you once utilized it. Is this true?" Bai Feng nodded. "It's true, but it can only be used at the Tengkong Realm. Furthermore... it involves immense complications and is actually somewhat of a white elephant. One must possess a divine character battle technique in the first place to disassemble it." "It only works if one already possesses a divine character battle technique?" "Correct!" The Sun Moon expert frowned. *True or false?* If one needed an existing divine character battle technique to disassemble and integrate characters, then it was essentially meaningless to outsiders, holding value only for the Multiple Divine Characters Faction. "Bai Feng, our King wishes to recruit you into the Great Shang Prefecture, promoting you to senior researcher. You will also receive one hundred drops of god and demon blood essence, and you may re-establish the Multiple Divine Characters College in Great Shang. Bai Feng, are you willing?" Bai Feng chuckled. "I'll pass. I don't have much ability myself; I rely entirely on my master. Now that Master is reopening the college in Great Xia, I have to go back and lend him a hand." The Sun Moon expert from Great Shang furrowed his brows slightly. "Returning to Great Xia now entails tremendous danger, and the journey will hardly be peaceful! Great Xia currently lacks sufficient manpower and has dispatched no powerful figures to guard your passage. Being escorted back by only a few Shanhais carries considerable risk..." "Within the Human Realm, how much danger could there really be?" Bai Feng smiled. "If there were truly that much danger, my master would have come himself." "Your master... he cannot rashly leave the Great Xia Prefecture right now." The Sun Moon expert spoke with profound meaning. Though Hong Tan was a Sun Moon cultivator, stepping outside Great Xia rashly at this juncture was fraught with peril! Recently, the All-Races Cult had been showing unusual movements again. Not only the All-Races Cult—lately, many experts from the foreign races had likely infiltrated the Human Realm as well. Bai Feng smiled without taking the bait. Right at that moment, the passage behind them rippled, and several experts emerged moments later. Xia Yunqi chuckled. "Little Bai, our calculations were quite accurate; you truly arrived at this exact time." Xia Yunqi, Hu Ping, and Zhao Mingyue had all arrived. Seeing this, the Sun Moon expert from Great Shang hesitated slightly. "Xia Yunqi... the few of you actually came in person? To... escort Bai Feng back? Be wary of Sun Moon ambushes along the way. Lately, the All-Races Cult has gone mad, and the foreign races have gone mad as well. Did Great Xia dispatch no Sun Moon experts?" Xia Yunqi smiled and said, "No need. Besides, we cannot reassign too many Sun Moons, lest the All-Races Cult grow bold enough to infiltrate the borders of Great Xia, which would be far more troublesome. As for Bai Feng... he isn't a primary target. The All-Races Cult won't pay too high a price just for him." At these words, Bai Feng said with a look of deep grievance, "Martial Uncle Xia, I feel like... I still possess considerable value. I am my master's right-hand assistant; without me, it's very difficult for him to produce results on his own." Xia Yunqi laughed despite himself. "Is that so? Your master said that without you around, he works even faster, since all you do is cause trouble." "Nonsense!" Bai Feng grumbled, swallowing his frustration. *Fine, even though I'm the actual creator, I'm too weak and can't afford exposure. Forget it, let Master take the credit and the blame; I'll just be his humble assistant.* As the group chatted, another Shanhai expert approached, laughing from a distance. "Bai Feng, remember me? The Manor Lord has a message for you: if you wish to come home, the gates of the Great Ming Prefecture are always wide open to you! What's more, just days ago, our Great Ming Prefecture wiped out five Sun Moons and fifteen Shanhais, shocking the entire world! Even if the All-Races Cult grew bear hearts and leopard gallbladders, they wouldn't dare cause trouble in Great Ming! Your student, Su Yu, is already on the verge of being promoted to senior researcher, and the Great Ming Civilization Academy is even proposing to make him an honorary elder..." Honorary elder! Senior researcher! At those words, Bai Feng rolled his eyes dramatically. "General Huang, if you hadn't mentioned that, it might have been fine, but now that you have... I wouldn't return to Great Ming even if I died!" *What does that mean?* *Go ride my student's coattails?* *Give me a break!* *I'd rather go back to Great Xia and sponge off my master!* *What were they thinking!* Besides, his student was doing perfectly well in Great Ming, living freely and unburdened. If he went there too, what about the disassembly art? Promote it starting from Great Ming? Wouldn't that be inviting trouble upon themselves? Although he had no intention of heading to Great Ming, he still felt a prick of jealousy. Glancing at Xia Yunqi, he asked, "Martial Uncle Xia, does Great Xia have any instructions for me, or perhaps an upgrade in treatment?" Su Yu was already a senior researcher and an honorary elder. *And me?* *Am I still just an assistant researcher?* *If this continues, I quit!* *I've completely lost all face!* Xia Yunqi chuckled. "You? What do you want? Ask your master for it. We're only responsible for picking you up; we handle nothing else!" Bai Feng was helpless. *What can my master give me?* *Not a damn thing!* *Shit!* He truly felt like quitting. Comparing his student's treatment to his own—wasn't the disassembly art far more impressive than those cultivation techniques of Su Yu's? In the long run, those cultivation techniques were indeed stronger, but in the short term, the disassembly art was undeniably far more impactful. If that large group of old veterans acquired the disassembly art, their strength would surge exponentially! What a pity! He didn't dare admit he was the developer! Even his master didn't dare claim it could be applied to Lingyun and Shanhai cultivators yet; if it were truly revealed to work on Shanhais, the trouble would be catastrophic. Grievance aside, Bai Feng quickly smiled and said, "Whatever. We Civilization Masters don't conduct research for profit or fame. That student of mine has fallen a bit too deep into the arena of fame and fortune. That's no good thing. What a shame—if he had kept following me, he would have achieved far greater milestones sooner or later. Now... he can only rest on his laurels. In my view, he probably won't have the ability to innovate any powerful techniques on his own moving forward!" He shook his head, sighing with dramatic lamentation. He put on the complete posture of someone watching Su Yu exhaust his creative genius! Xia Yunqi and the others said nothing. Bai Feng chuckled and continued, "Let's not talk about him. That brat... relying on a bit of foundation, he just messes around blindly. Enough about him. Let's head back. A few years from now, that kid will probably regret not studying properly under me, ending up destitute and miserable in the second half of his life." With that, he stepped toward the passage. Xia Yunqi and the others followed. Zhao Mingyue ignored everyone else and asked, "How has Liu Wenyan been lately?" "Nothing major." Bai Feng chuckled. "Martial Uncle is doing just fine. Whenever a major battle erupts, I see him sprint straight toward Zheng Yuming and his lot. Old Zheng has had it rough; lately, he keeps getting battered by enemy Shanhais, his injuries piling up continuously. Truly tragic!" "..." The group fell speechless, and the experts behind them were equally at a loss for words. Logically speaking, such behavior was forbidden. Yet Liu Wenyan was simply too weak, merely in the Tengkong Realm. Telling him to fight Shanhais would be sending him to his death. Running away was entirely permissible. There was no helping it; he was too weak. If Liu Wenyan were truly ordered to die, a crowd of people would likely object and revolt. During massive clashes, all he could do was find a safe spot to keep himself alive. Xia Yunqi and the others chuckled as well. Soon, the group exited the passage together. Outside the passage lay the All-Heavens Prefecture. Garrison troops were everywhere! The All-Heavens Prefecture had been established specifically to guard and maintain the passage. It was a military-administered prefecture, home only to soldiers and devoid of civilian residents. Stepping out of the passage, Bai Feng drew a breath of fresh air and sighed with emotion. "The air in the Human Realm is still better, and the sunlight is brighter. The All-Heavens Battlefield may have dense origin qi, but the stench of blood is far too heavy. For an intellectual like me, it's simply inhumane!" That said, he sent a voice transmission: "Martial Uncle Xia, is my master all right?" "He's fine for now. Currently, some of the Invincibles are still waiting for his results before making their judgments. The foreign races aren't sure how far his research has progressed either. If Hong Tan was spouting nonsense and passed the materials to someone else, that would also cause complications. The foreign races should be investigating as well..." Pausing, Xia Yunqi transmitted, "You should worry about yourself instead! You were the first to use the disassembly art. The foreign races might have their eyes on you right now. Your journey home will truly not be peaceful!" Bai Feng nodded and transmitted back, "Only the few of you came to receive me? Great Xia clearly knows I'm in danger, yet they didn't send a few Sun Moons to escort me?" "There aren't enough Sun Moons to go around!" Xia Yunqi chuckled. "If we had Yuan Qingdong and his crowd come pick you up, would you dare go with them?" "Uh... forget it then!" Bai Feng sighed helplessly, muttering, "Great Xia has plenty of Sun Moons. How could there not be enough? They just look down on me!" Xia Yunqi laughed, while beside him, Hu Ping snapped irritably, "Brat, having the three of us come to receive you isn't enough? If you don't know how to speak, keep your mouth shut. Provoke us, and we'll abandon you to fend for yourself!" Bai Feng grinned placatingly. "Don't be like that, Martial Aunt! I'm on your side; you can't treat me this way..." The moment the words left his mouth, a chill ran down his spine! Glancing sideways, he saw Zhao Mingyue staring at him silently. Bai Feng shrank back sheepishly and hastily added, "Well... both of you seniors are equally wonderful! I look down on Elder Wu the most. Both of you are far better than her. She actually ambushed me and beat me, showing not a shred of elder dignity!" Xia Yunqi found it amusing. "All right, stop asking for a beating. If Wu Yuehua hears that, she'll give you a proper thrashing!" Bai Feng gave a dry laugh, swearing fiercely in his heart: *I am never, ever looking for a woman!* *Far too terrifying!* *That kid Su Yu is much better. Though... I heard that kid hasn't been behaving himself either, even concocting some Dual Wu Aperture Fusion Art. Quite the ambition—has his attitude shifted?* Joking aside, Bai Feng quickly transmitted, "Martial Uncle, that fellow Su Yu is all right, isn't he?" "He's fine. The Zhu family is shielding him. Now that he has released the cultivation techniques, killing him would not be worth the cost unless another groundbreaking technique appears. The fall of five Sun Moons was more than enough to dispel many people's reckless thoughts!" Zhao Mingyue, however, transmitted, "His situation isn't easy either. There is an extremely high probability that he holds an Invincible relic in his hands. Now that Xia Longwu has vanished, people worry whether he entered Su Yu's Invincible relic to secretly attain the Dao. Trouble will find Su Yu sooner or later; someone will definitely test him!" "What's the use of testing that kid? Even if he handed it over, Manor Lord Xia is already inside attaining the Dao." Bai Feng sighed helplessly. No one had it easy. "The Human Realm has truly become like a sieve, and those Invincibles don't even bother to manage it." He grumbled a complaint, but Xia Yunqi replied in a low, measured voice, "Manage what? Once they are lured inside, killing them on the Human Realm's territory is much easier. Why is it that Invincibles cannot infiltrate, and at most only Sun Moons can slip in? Sun Moons can still be killed and controlled. Surrounding and slaying a Sun Moon in the Human Realm is far simpler than doing so on the All-Heavens Battlefield, is it not?" Bai Feng froze for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Understood. Catching turtles in a jar. But... with things so chaotic, it might not necessarily be a good thing." "Chaos isn't necessarily bad either." Xia Yunqi smiled. "Without chaos, the major prefectures would end up fighting among themselves. The All-Races Cult stirring up trouble forces the prefectures to unite against external threats. Things you perceive as negative might not be viewed the same way by the Invincibles. Over these years, without the All-Races Cult, do you think major conflicts wouldn't have broken out among the prefectures? Sometimes, indulgence serves a grander purpose." Bai Feng nodded once more. There was some truth to that—provided the Invincibles could truly maintain control of the situation. If they lost control, that would truly be inviting wolves into the fold! "Understood. Let's ignore all that; it has nothing to do with me." Bai Feng chuckled. "Martial Uncles, let's head back! My master still needs my assistance. In this day and age, knowledge is the primary productive force. Without me, opening this Multiple Divine Characters College won't be easy. Sigh, honestly, they should have given me the title of senior researcher. It feels suffocating." Chatting and joking, the group had already traversed dozens of li. The All-Heavens Prefecture was relatively safe, guarded by heavy military forces. Once they left the All-Heavens Prefecture, however, safety would no longer be guaranteed. Along the way, they would have to cross several major prefectures, traversing vast wildernesses and rugged mountain ranges. There were even territories where demon beasts gathered! As they walked, the All-Heavens Prefecture gradually receded into the distance. Xia Yunqi stopped talking. Zhao Mingyue produced her long staff, while Hu Ping let her long sword circle around her, their willpower expanding outward. All four belonged to the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, making them a conspicuous target. Three of them were experts who had inherited the Sun Moon divine characters of their predecessors; wiping them out in one stroke would deal a crippling blow to the faction. Killing Bai Feng might also plunge Hong Tan's research into a dead end. That Great Xia had actually failed to arrange for Sun Moon experts to escort them came as a surprise to many. ... The Great Ming Prefecture. The moment Bai Feng set foot in the Human Realm, Su Yu received the news shortly thereafter. His teacher had returned! In less than half a year, Bai Feng was back. Yet this journey was unlikely to be smooth. "They didn't even send Sun Moons to receive him..." Inside the secret chamber, Su Yu furrowed his brows. Was there a secret escort, or was Great Xia truly stretched so thin that they couldn't spare Sun Moon experts for the escort? "Can Senior Xia Yunqi and the others... safely escort him all the way back to Great Xia?" Those seniors were in danger themselves. Presently, hunting down experts of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction had practically become an acknowledged objective among the foreign races, pursued without the slightest concealment. Under such circumstances, several faction experts traveling together without a Sun Moon made them relatively easy prey. After pondering for a while, Su Yu stepped out of the secret chamber. ... Moments later, a cross-dressing Shanhai flew out of the Tiandu Prefecture. Guildmaster Xu Bin of the Traveling Merchant Guild—the Thousand Hands Bandit. Flying out of Tiandu, Xu Bin felt utterly depressed. He wanted to flee, but... flee to where? "Damn it all, what on earth did those Sun Moons plant inside me? If I really run, will I truly die?" Uncertain, he let out a long sigh after a while. *Forget it. Running might get me killed, so I'd better not run. It's just running a minor errand anyway.* "At least I'm out of the wolf's den. Anything is better than staying in Great Ming. Great Ming right now... is nowhere near as carefree as before." Xu Bin sighed internally. Right now, the Great Ming Prefecture gave him a distinctly dangerous feeling. At every single moment, it felt as though someone was monitoring him. There was no freedom whatsoever! It was better to come out and handle some business; at least he had a bit of breathing room. "Su Yu..." Thinking of that fellow once more, Great Ming truly valued him immensely. Xu Bin was a Shanhai expert after all, yet he was casually handed over to Su Yu to order around. Since when had Shanhais become so worthless and devoid of prestige? Not just him—Su Yu also had three Shanhai great demons guarding him. In the shadows, a Sun Moon expert was constantly escorting and protecting Su Yu. Damn it, this treatment was even better than what the direct descendants of the Zhu family received! "Bai Feng..." Xu Bin curled his lip. *What a pathetic existence. Even your student is doing better than you. If it were your student returning to the Human Realm, seven or eight Sun Moons would probably be dispatched to escort him. You're truly miserable—you didn't even get a single one!* After pouring scorn on Bai Feng for a while, he felt that he was still somewhat better off than the man. With that thought, Xu Bin found a measure of psychological comfort.