Leaving the Prefecture

Primordial Spirit Research Institute. At the end of Anping Year 350, Su Yu had rushed to the Great Ming Prefecture, spending a lonely New Year's Eve on the road. Now, he was about to set out on a long journey once again. The Great Xia Prefecture was his first destination. There were still too many things there that he could not forget, could not let go of, and could not leave behind. These nearly six months in Great Ming had given him a great deal. He had attained fame and wealth, a solid backing, and reliable patrons. Su Yu was deeply grateful to the Great Ming Prefecture. He felt genuine gratitude toward the Zhu family and individuals like Niu Baidao. Though he was leaving this time, he had no intention of departing permanently. Still, as the day of his departure drew near, a tinge of melancholy and reluctance crept into his heart. Once he stepped out of Great Ming, he would have to rely entirely on himself. Anything was possible! In this turbulent era when the Human Realm was on the brink of chaos, no one could say for certain whether stepping out into the world meant he would ever return alive. *** Inside the Four Seasons Pavilion on the sixth floor. Tonight, Su Yu was hosting a banquet. He had pulled the elders—Wen Zhong, Jin Sheng, and the rest—out of their laboratories to treat them to dinner. It was now May 17. Wu Lan felt a strange sense of deja vu. Then she remembered! Back when Su Yu was about to leave Great Xia, he had also hosted a banquet. Jiang Mu, Zhao Ming, Xia Huyou, Zheng Yunhui, Wu Jia... they had all been there that day. Not long after, the incident at Starfall Mountain occurred, and news of Su Yu fleeing to Great Ming swept across the entire Human Realm. And tonight, Su Yu was hosting a feast again. As Su Yu ate and drank, a faint smile remained on his face. Raising his cup, he said, "Brothers, Sisters, my injuries have yet to fully heal, and I've also gained some insights into the Primordial Spirit Apertures. Therefore, I've decided to enter official seclusion starting tomorrow! "Principal Niu invited me to cultivate on his Yuexin Island. It's safer and more spacious there, so I'll probably head over tomorrow morning. "This period of seclusion could last a month or two at the shortest, or quite a while if things take longer. I can't say for sure how much time it will require." Su Yu smiled and continued, "Over the past few months, all of you have sacrificed so much for the Primordial Spirit Research Institute..." Wen Zhong sighed. "Don't put it like that. Compared to you, us old fellows are completely useless! We haven't produced results with the Primordial Spirit Apertures, nor the spirit fusion method, nor the lifespan extension method..." As he spoke, he shook his head with a heavy sigh. A bunch of old-timers whose ages added up to well over a thousand years—no, nearly two thousand—couldn't even match a young lad. It was truly embarrassing. The others wore helpless expressions as well. That struck a painful nerve! Su Yu chuckled. "Brother Wen, you know my circumstances. Without the legacies left behind by our predecessors, where would I be today?" "You can't dismiss it like that!" Wen Zhong shook his head. "If nothing else, that aperture fusion method of yours certainly wasn't handed down by ancestors! And as for the Primordial Spirit Aperture Opening Art, even if you inherited some foundations, I can tell it was merely experimental with no overarching theoretical framework. Yet you managed to compile a complete technique from scratch. That in itself is true brilliance—explaining the principles clearly without pretension, making it accessible and easy to learn. That proves you understood and mastered the technique inside and out. That's something countless people can't pull off, including many top experts!" Jin Sheng nodded in agreement. "Junior Brother Su, don't sell yourself short. We aren't petty kids who envy talent. At our age, we've long moved past such pettiness. Your understanding of cultivation techniques is remarkably profound, far deeper than ours, and your comprehension is top-tier..." Su Yu grinned. "Well, if you keep praising me like that, I might actually take it seriously! You're making me blush, senior brothers!" The others chuckled. Praising him? Hardly an exaggeration. Su Yu's mastery of cultivation arts was indeed formidable. He put practice before theory, seamlessly blending empirical results with theoretical models. In the field of pioneering techniques, he truly deserved to be called a master. Of course, that was limited to techniques below the Shanhai Realm. If the elders couldn't even see that, they would have been utterly blind. Su Yu's techniques carried traces of the myriad races, but his explanations were precise, articulated clearly in human script, laying out every principle and step of cultivation with utmost clarity. Achieving that required immense skill. None of the old men viewed him as an empty vessel. After sharing a laugh, Su Yu turned serious. "Since my seclusion might last quite a while, if any of you wish to break through right now, I can help. "You all know my little fur ball. After what Brother Jin mentioned last time, I spent a lot of time thinking about it. Divine character repulsion might not be an issue of foreign characters repelling human ones; it could very well be the human characters repelling the foreign ones. If any of you wish to break through, I can have the little fur ball devour your human divine characters. It won't leave any side effects and will dramatically reduce the repulsion. "Your foundations are exceptionally deep. The only thing holding you back is the severe repulsion preventing your divine characters from advancing. Once your characters advance, Brother Wen can enter the Shanhai Realm, and Brother Jin and the rest of you can step into the Lingyun Realm." The elders exchanged glances. Wen Zhong stroked his beard and mused, "It's still hard to let go. My divine characters aren't the primary problem; my main hurdle is fusing apertures. Of course, having too many divine characters might also increase the difficulty of aperture fusion. "As for Junior Brother Jin and the others, their issue is purely having an excess of divine characters!" Wen Zhong looked toward Jin Sheng and the others, smiling. "Why don't you guys give it a shot? Consider it an experiment for our junior brother. That little fur ball hasn't been tested or done any real service yet. You guys play with it every single day, so you might as well give it a chance to earn its keep." Su Yu couldn't help but laugh. Using the phrase "play with it" was rather amusing. These days, Su Yu rarely kept the little fur ball inside his sea of will. Usually, it hung around the first floor playing with the rabbit, which led to the elders constantly fussing over it. Of course, from the little fur ball's perspective, it was probably the one playing with them. After all, who could say whether the fish found joy in the water? Jin Sheng sighed helplessly. "It's really hard to part with them!" Even Wu Lan couldn't resist chiming in this time. "Senior Brother Jin, you have way too many divine characters! Why not give me a few instead? You've outlined thirty-two divine characters already. You might have the most in the entire Human Realm..." Jin Sheng waved his hands dismissively. "Nonsense, complete nonsense! How could I possibly have the most in the Human Realm? Some of the Invincibles have lived for centuries. Even if they didn't outline many in their youth, who knows how many they have now? I'm definitely not the highest. Take Director Hu and Senior Brother Wen, for instance—they might not have fewer than me." Wen Zhong chuckled. "I can't speak for my teacher, but as for me, my battle technique only uses fourteen characters, and I outlined another twelve that I needed, making twenty-six in total. That's still fewer than you." Here, these elders measured their characters in dozens. Having spent centuries doing little else while remaining stagnant in cultivation, outlining divine characters for fun had become their pastime. Su Yu shook his head in amusement, feeling thoroughly helpless. Back in Great Xia's Multiple Divine Characters Faction, almost no one had outlined that many, not even Hong Tan. Only Liu Wenyan, having too much free time like these elders, had outlined quite a collection. The others generally kept their total below twenty. All things considered, Su Yu was on the higher side, having outlined twenty-one divine characters to date. Wen Zhong spoke again. "Junior Brother Jin, why not give it a try? It's a great opportunity to verify whether the repulsion stems more from human characters or foreign ones. That way, we can see if omitting human characters entirely eliminates the repulsion and allows one to advance smoothly into the Sun Moon Realm." Jin Sheng hesitated for a moment. After weighing his options, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll give it a shot! I'm going to lose six characters in one go!" "..." Everyone was speechless. Even after losing six, wouldn't you still have twenty-six left? Su Yu smiled and called out, "Fur ball, come up!" His voice reverberated outward. A moment later, the little fur ball phased through the spatial layers like an intangible phantom, appearing inside the Four Seasons Pavilion. Its large eyes blinked. Spotting the old men, it seemed delighted—it could play with the humans again! Playing with Su Yu was boring, and it couldn't mess with him anyway. Playing with everyone else was far more entertaining. Its figure vanished in an instant. In the next breath, Wu Lan snapped irritably, "Get out of there!" *Pfft!* The little fur ball popped out of the void. Just a split second ago, it had slipped into Wu Lan's sea of will to inspect the crops it was cultivating. Coming back out, it looked rather disappointed. "Little Wuwu, my veggies aren't ripe yet! They don't smell good at all!" "Huh?" Su Yu froze. What crops? Wu Lan's face darkened, and she huffed, looking at Su Yu. "You've spoiled this little thing completely! It actually claimed that our divine characters are vegetables it's growing! Can you believe that?" Su Yu frowned and glanced at the little fur ball. Looking slightly frightened, it ducked behind Wu Lan's head, peeking out timidly through the strands of her hair to steal glances at him. *I didn't mean you!* Su Yu said coolly, "Fur ball, remember this: only the crops I give you are yours. What I don't give you isn't yours to touch, understand?" This little guy was still too young. Wu Lan assumed it was joking, but it wasn't. It genuinely believed their divine characters were its personal vegetable patch. The day it decided the crops were ripe, it might very well harvest them. Su Yu had to make sure the little fur ball understood that only Su Yu's word was law! The little creature looked at him timidly, not daring to utter a sound. Su Yu narrowed his eyes. "Did you hear me? Divine characters, willpower, and seas of will—you are only allowed to eat divine characters when I tell you to, and enter a sea of will when I permit it! If you burrow into someone's sea of will without permission again, I think a crushed little fur ball would taste quite delicious to absorb!" "..." "Squeak, squawk..." The little fur ball suddenly babbled a few words in its native racial tongue, sounding distinctly aggrieved. It knew that while it could eat Su Yu's divine characters, Su Yu... could seemingly eat it as well. Yes, he truly could. When a divine character shattered, Su Yu could absorb it directly. It had felt it before. Others merely nurtured characters, but Su Yu absorbed them outright. The two were entirely different. The little fur ball felt a wave of dread. The yummy-smelling guy could eat fur balls too. "Got it!" The little creature answered meekly. The elders smiled and said nothing. This was Su Yu's pet—or rather, not a pet at all. This creature was terrifying. If Su Yu couldn't keep it under control, that would be truly frightening. If it were unleashed upon the world, it would cause an unprecedented catastrophe! Without a powerhouse to stop it, every Civilization Master below the Shanhai Realm in a city could be reduced to pure willpower practitioners within a single day. Without divine characters, Divine Character Masters would cease to exist. Losing divine characters... that would be disastrous. They would lose their combat strength, divine abilities, pill-concocting techniques, and weapon-forging skills, along with their talisman-crafting and beast-taming arts. Chaos would ensue. Though the elders had never voiced it aloud, they had harbored a lingering wariness. Wen Zhong's claim that they had been playing with it wasn't entirely true; they had also been studying it, hoping to find a method to counter its race. If this race existed in large numbers, it would pose an immense threat. They needed to understand it in advance and, ideally, find a way to restrain it. Su Yu dropped the subject and smiled. "Go ahead and devour a few of Brother Jin's human divine characters as a test. Don't eat more than permitted, understand?" "Okay!" The little fur ball instantly perked up, shedding its earlier timidity. It looked eagerly toward Jin Sheng—there was food! A few days ago, it had consumed remnants of a Sun Moon divine character, which were now mostly digested. It had been starving with nothing to eat for days, feeling quite pathetic. Jin Sheng let out a wistful sigh. "I really can't bear to let them go. Ah, I've spent so many years outlining them, averaging one every ten years. Raising them to Tier 2 wasn't easy either..." Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly froze. *Damn!* *What the hell? My human divine characters are gone?!* In the next instant, his sea of will surged. With the human divine characters gone, his myriad-race characters felt as though an immense restraint had been lifted. One by one, they unfurled and expanded. Momentarily, Jin Sheng's willpower fluctuated violently, and the radiant glow of divine character advancement flared! The others watched in utter bewilderment. By then, the little fur ball had already zipped back out. Having reached the Lingyun Realm, devouring the divine characters of a Tengkong cultivator was child's play. It simply dove in and took its fill. It had swallowed six characters in a single gulp! Jin Sheng stared in a daze as his remaining divine characters began to resonate. Previously, his thirty-two characters had repelled each other so intensely that nurturing them had been impossible, let alone advancing them. Yet now, stripped of the human characters' repulsion, the clashing forces diminished by ninety percent. In the blink of an eye, even his God and Demon divine characters showed little resistance to one another. Within moments, Jin Sheng's aura surged dramatically! A wave of willpower swept across the room! Su Yu pulsed his willpower slightly to shield Wu Lan, while the other elders were well equipped to protect themselves. Light shimmered over Jin Sheng as divine characters flickered in and out of sight. His willpower and divine apertures had already met the required standards; the only missing piece had been the level of his divine characters. Now, characters were advancing to Tier 3. Almost in an instant, the cloudiness in Jin Sheng's aging eyes vanished, replaced by brilliant golden light. His sagging flesh gradually regained a youthful luster! In less than ten minutes, Jin Sheng opened his eyes! His aura had firmly stepped into the Lingyun Realm! Looking around at everyone, Jin Sheng muttered in bewilderment, "This... I didn't feel a thing. This little creature... is utterly terrifying!" It was simply horrifying! He had still been speaking when his divine characters vanished. Six of them, just like that! If a Tengkong cultivator encountered Su Yu, would there even be a fight? A Civilization Master running into Su Yu was essentially waiting for death. For this little creature, devouring the early-stage Lingyun characters—meaning early Tier 3—would probably be effortless, wouldn't it? Mid-to-late Tier 3 characters might pose a slight challenge. However, Civilization Masters typically focused on cultivating one core divine character that matched their overall cultivation realm, leaving the rest relatively weak. A ninth-stage Lingyun master with ten divine characters might have only one at peak Tier 3, while the rest remained at Tier 1 or 2. If they ran into this fur ball... the consequences were chilling! Realizing the creature's terrifying potential, a faint trace of worry surfaced in everyone's minds. Could Su Yu truly keep it in check? In truth, Su Yu couldn't guarantee absolute control either. The only certainty was that the little fur ball couldn't harm him, because his golden album could blast it away or crush it instantly. He had other counters, such as the Mind Expansion Hammer, but those required him to be stronger than the creature first. A quiet concern lingered in Su Yu's thoughts: the little fur ball's cultivation realm had better not outstrip his own. Being slightly above him was manageable, but if he was in the Tengkong Realm while it reached Shanhai, things would become precarious. Suppressing these thoughts, Su Yu smiled and said, "Congratulations, Senior Brother Jin!" He was now in the Lingyun Realm! No grand phenomena appeared, as Jin Sheng clearly lacked the capacity to trigger them. Still, achieving an instant breakthrough through self-sufficiency without disturbing the ambient Yuan Qi or willpower proved just how profound his foundation had been. Over the years, the only thing holding him back had been the rank of his divine characters. Now, he had stepped into Lingyun in the blink of an eye. After savoring his joy for a moment, Jin Sheng quickly said, "Human divine characters truly carry tremendous repulsion! No, calling it immense is an understatement! I have God, Demon, and Immortal characters... yet without the human characters, the combined repulsion among all those races was still smaller than what the human characters caused!" Excited, Jin Sheng added, "If that's the case, as long as veteran Shanhai experts shatter their human divine characters, they should be able to advance to the Sun Moon Realm! Wait, their other attributes must meet the requirements as well, but if divine character suppression is their sole bottleneck, they'll surely succeed!" "Humans not cultivating human divine characters..." Wen Zhong sighed. "I wonder if that's a blessing or a curse!" Humans unable to cultivate their own race's divine characters—what kind of logic was that? Jin Sheng countered hurriedly, "Then one would have to cultivate human characters exclusively. Perhaps these are two distinct paths. Completely abandoning human characters..." Wen Zhong interrupted, "That was how things were over three hundred years ago—no one cultivated human characters. Yet back then, the Human Realm didn't possess a single Invincible Civilization Master. I suspect that only by cultivating human characters can one ever reach the Invincible Realm! If that's true, can people like Zhou Polong truly succeed?" Following this experiment and other corroborating evidence, Wen Zhong had arrived at this chilling deduction. Was cultivating human divine characters truly a prerequisite for reaching Invincible? Jin Sheng said helplessly, "I wouldn't know about that. Besides, not everyone can become Invincible. If it allows people to reach the Sun Moon Realm... who cares about long-term side effects? What do you think?" "True enough!" Wen Zhong nodded; that was a fair point. Even if there were repercussions, they would only concern the Invincible Realm. For those striving for Sun Moon, avoiding human divine characters offered a much higher chance of success. "Senior Sister Kong, do any of you want to try?" Su Yu looked smilingly toward the remaining three: Kong Yuxian, Wei Qi, and Cao Hui. Would they be willing to give it a shot? At the very least, Su Yu was certain of one thing: Jin Sheng was definitely not Lan Tian. As for the others... it was hard to say. Should he test them? A lingering worry sat in his heart. Could that fellow Lan Tian have infiltrated his inner circle once again? Last time it had been Zhao Ming; could it be one of these elders this time? When it came to proximity to Su Yu, only these few and Wu Lan stood closest to him. As for Wu Lan... the little fur ball slipped into her sea of will to tend its crops all the time, so she was ruled out automatically. The other three, however, remained suspects. Cao Hui chuckled. "Count me out. I'm only at the seventh stage of Tengkong. I'll wait until I open a few more apertures and reach the ninth stage before considering it. I can't bear to lose them right now." "Same here," Wei Qi chimed in with a grin. "Old Cao and I are both seventh-stage, while Yuxian is at the eighth. Why don't you try, Yuxian?" Kong Yuxian smiled. "I won't. I still need a few human characters to carry out willpower extraction work. If I lose them, what will I use for research? "When we're on the verge of kicking the bucket, Junior Brother Su can help us out. At least we know it works now." "..." Jin Sheng stared helplessly at the others. "So I was the only guinea pig? You guys are terrible!" "Don't act aggrieved when you got the sweet deal! You've reached Lingyun and still have plenty of characters left—why are you complaining?" The group chatted and laughed. Seeing their reactions, Su Yu let the matter drop. Since the three elders were unwilling, what else could he do? Force them to undergo the test? Su Yu didn't order the little fur ball to force its way into their seas of will. Even if Lan Tian were hiding among the three, the other two were completely innocent. There was no need to go that far. Furthermore, if he actually smoked Lan Tian out, the situation would become impossible to handle. He couldn't beat him, nor was he certain to kill him. It was better not to invite trouble upon himself right now. With that settled, the mood remained bright following Jin Sheng's breakthrough. They drank and ate late into the night before finally parting ways. *** Late at night. Just as Su Yu prepared to head to Yuexin Island, Wu Lan suddenly appeared at the entrance of the institute. In the dead of night, she stared at him with an unfathomable gaze, letting out a cold huff without uttering a word. Su Yu smiled. "What's the matter?" "You know very well!" "Know what?" "Stop playing dumb!" Wu Lan huffed again, tilting her nose up at him. "Do you take me for an idiot? Back in Great Xia, you treated everyone to a meal just like this!" Realization dawned on Su Yu, along with a touch of surprise. She had figured it out? She wasn't as oblivious as he thought—quite a rarity! Su Yu smiled faintly and transmitted his voice silently, "I'm heading out for a stroll. Don't tell anyone. Plenty of people want me dead out there!" Wu Lan huffed and replied via voice transmission, "Are you coming back?" "Of course!" "Then fine, I'll let you off the hook. But don't you dare run away for good! Even if you do, you have to let me know, or else my trip here was completely wasted! You promised to research the spirit fusion method with me, and we haven't even figured it out yet!" Sounding slightly aggrieved, Wu Lan transmitted, "How long are you going to be gone?" "I don't know. I might go visit my dad; I haven't seen him in a long time." "Alright, then!" Hearing that, Wu Lan thought it over and nodded. That made sense. She had seen her father over the New Year, while Su Yu hadn't seen his at all. Su Yu smiled and sent, "Cultivate diligently. I left some Heaven Yuan Qi for you—use it secretly and don't let anyone notice. Open your apertures first. If your willpower can't advance, focus on your physical body. Reach Tengkong quickly and begin body tempering so you have at least some ability to protect yourself." "Like I need you to tell me!" Wu Lan looked down at him proudly. *I know how to cultivate on my own!* Then she added smugly, "I'll soon be able to use a divine character battle technique to extract willpower!" "Have you finished outlining it?" Su Yu was speechless. Who was she trying to fool? That required twenty divine characters, and how many did she have? Around six, wasn't it? More importantly, the six characters she had outlined weren't even suited for that battle technique. "You'd better outline human divine characters. Human characters are weaker and won't cause much repulsion for you. It's not like you engage in much combat anyway..." "Who says I don't fight!" Wu Lan huffed again. *I am a Civilization Master fighting on the research frontlines! Pure brawlers are mere brutes!* Of course, she hadn't talked like that back in Great Xia. Yet after spending nearly six months in Great Ming, she had started to see things that way. Naturally, the main reason was that Su Yu's combat strength had left her so far in the dust that she hated discussing battle prowess altogether. Who told her outlined divine character to include the word 'Weak'? Perhaps even the heavens considered her a bit weak—how infuriating! Su Yu smiled and didn't argue further. He transmitted again, "There are three Shanhai great demons in the basement. If you go outside, you can have them escort you. I've already spoken with them in advance; during my seclusion, they will follow your commands! Naturally, be polite with them, and beware of betrayal!" "Also, I left a merit card in the cultivation chamber containing 400,000 merit points. If the institute requires funding, draw from that. You can use it for yourself as well. And... never mind, forget it." Wu Lan grew anxious and transmitted, "And what?" Cutting off halfway was infuriating! "Nothing. I was going to say, if anyone asks, you can take a trip to Yuexin Island and pretend I'm in seclusion... Just don't tell anyone. Principal Niu will help cover for you. I'm just worried your acting won't hold up..." "Hmph!" Wu Lan ignored his jab. *Who says I can't act?* *A piece of cake!* After offering a few more pointers, Su Yu prepared to leave. Wu Lan walked with him for a few steps. As Su Yu walked away without looking back, she suddenly transmitted, "Will you really come back?" "I will!" "And if you don't, where do I find you?" "If I don't come back... then don't bother looking." Wu Lan puffed out her cheeks and transmitted once more, "If you don't come back, I'm going to sell this institute, go back to Great Xia, and never speak to you again! We'll go our separate ways!" Su Yu let out a laugh, waved his hand, and swiftly vanished into the night. Standing before the entrance, Wu Lan kicked a pillar, feeling deeply disgruntled. *He's running off again!* *My spirit fusion method hasn't even been developed yet.* She had already come up with the name, yet Su Yu had abandoned the project to run around all day. Wouldn't it be better if they researched it together? *** May 18. At the Great Ming Civilization Academy, Cui Lang, who had supposedly come to visit his sister in seclusion, strolled out with a loose, jaunty swagger. Along the way, he whistled at several female students, drawing a barrage of angry scolding. That flirt had certainly grown bolder! He had kept a low profile previously, terrified that his pursuer's backer would hunt him down. Now that that Sun Moon expert had entered seclusion, he was strutting around again. Those familiar with Cui Lang couldn't help but shake their heads—the geniuses of Great Ming were rarely up to any good. On his way out, Su Yu ran into an acquaintance: Bai Junsheng. Spotting Cui Lang, Bai Junsheng recognized him and teased, "Master of Romance Cui, living quite freely lately, aren't we? Aren't you afraid that tigress will come after you?" "Tch!" "Cui Lang" scoffed dismissively. "She went to the All-Heavens Battlefield—what do I have to fear? Yours truly is heading out to gallop free today! I'll wander for a year and a half before coming back. Little Bai, want your big brother to take you along?" "Forget it!" Bai Junsheng grumbled, "I haven't graduated yet. You think everyone has nothing better to do like you? Watch yourself out there—don't get cornered again! By the way, what level has your weapon-forging reached now?" "Better than yours! Junior brother, you're not cutting it!" Bai Junsheng was left speechless, unable to refute the claim. Cui Lang was indeed better than him. He huffed, "Just you wait! Once I reach the ninth stage of Tengkong, I'll definitely surpass you!" "Tch!" "Cui Lang" snorted in disdain once more, chuckling as he walked off without looking back. "Wandering freely is the true path! After a good romp outside, a breakthrough is guaranteed. Damn it all, these past few years nearly suffocated me to death!" "I curse you to run into that tigress the moment you step out!" Bai Junsheng cursed after him! *All he knows is running wild. I want to do that too, but I haven't graduated yet.* *That guy is truly obnoxious.* *I curse you to get beaten up the second you walk out, ambushed by women, captured by a Sun Moon expert, and forced into marriage—let's see if you dare run wild after that!* *** Stepping beyond the academy gates, Su Yu suddenly broke into a grin. A radiant smile spread across his face! His acting hadn't been half bad; the Sun Moon expert shadowing him in secret seemed to have stopped following. Still, he had to remain cautious. Previously, he had sensed someone trailing him on several occasions, guessing it was an operative sent by Zhu Tiandao. But he had no need for protection—he didn't want anyone following him. Coming out this time, that presence was gone. He didn't know whether the tracker had been duped or if Xu Bin on the island was putting on a convincing performance. Indeed, as an extra layer of insurance, a certain cross-dressing master had been conscripted by Niu Baidao to play Su Yu! Until Su Yu returned, that fellow would be Su Yu, with his sole mission being to stay in seclusion. He had to remain in seclusion whether he liked it or not! No leaving, no going out, no sending messages, no doing anything—just pure seclusion! To make it convincing, Old Niu had deliberately shattered more than ten of his apertures, which would take him quite some time to heal. That guy's shapeshifting abilities were truly impressive. If not for the Super Perception Jade, neither Niu Baidao nor Zhu Tiandao would have been able to spot him. *** At the same time. Before the Super Perception Jade, Hu Qi stood alone. After a moment, Niu Baidao's voice came through: "That's enough. That fellow should have left the city by now." Hu Qi said nothing, turning to leave in silence. On Yuexin Island, the dot representing Xu Bin shifted from Shanhai to Lingyun—Su Yu's official strength. As the jade's creator and controller, altering an individual's marker was well within her power. Stepping out of the grand hall, Hu Qi let out a soft sigh. *May everything proceed smoothly!* Some of her old friends were hanging by a thread. Looking toward the Prefecture Lord Manor, Hu Qi bowed her head in silence. *I'm sorry, Teacher was selfish just this once and quietly altered the Super Perception Jade's program. I hope you can understand.* *** Prefecture Lord Manor. Zhu Tiandao lay on his recliner listening to opera tunes, chuckling softly. *He left?* *Shadow failed to keep up?* *Forget it!* *Let him be!* Since Su Yu didn't want him around, there was no need to force it. Shadow was a muscle-headed fool with strength but no brains. Su Yu had hosted a banquet last night, so he was bound to leave today; yet that idiot bird was still keeping watch around Yuexin Island. No wonder he was stuck being a mere hired hand! *A seventh-stage Sun Moon expert with the brain of a seventh-stage Kaiyuan!* "Down from the heavens fell a troublemaker, oh what a troublemaker he is..." Humming a little tune and singing along, he mused that Su Yu leaving Great Ming might very well turn him into a walking calamity. Whatever! Let the kid suffer a little out there so he would realize just how much Old Zhu cared for him. Then he would hurry back to earn money and cultivate instead of running wild across the world! Zhu Tiandao resumed humming his tune. *I, Zhu Tiandao, have everything under control!* Not far away, Zhu Hongliang, who had just returned home, heard his grandfather singing and paused in surprise. Was this good news or bad news? He always felt that nothing good ever happened whenever his grandfather started singing! Could it be that several of his grandfather's old rivals had been hacked to death? How truly pitiful!