Two Lines

One spoke, and the others listened. Inside the laboratory, Su Yu did the talking, Wu Jia kept the atmosphere lively, and Bai Feng and Hong Tan chimed in with questions from time to time. The mood was wonderful, and Su Yu felt genuinely happy. Toward the end, Su Yu revealed the real purpose behind his return. "The reason I came back this time is to make a huge scene!" Su Yu ground his teeth. "Grandmaster, Master, our lineage has been pushed around for so many years! Anyone and everyone wants to kill us. The myriad races of the heavens are too tricky and too numerous to handle all at once, so let's kill off our internal enemies first!" "Vulgar!" Bai Feng chided. "Who taught you that? Talking about killing this and that all the time! As a Civilization Master, you sound just like a reckless warrior. For people like us, it's called sending them to heaven!" "Master is right!" "Uncle is right!" Hong Tan was left speechlessly exasperated. These rascals! Still, looking at them, Hong Tan couldn't help breaking into a faint smile. They were all so young; even Bai Feng was nothing more than a child in his eyes. He glanced at Wu Jia, whose mood had brightened, and then at Su Yu, who looked ready to wage total war. "Some things cannot be rushed," Hong Tan began. Looking at Su Yu with a solemn expression, he said, "The ones targeting our lineage—or rather, targeting the entire human race—aren't those Shanhai and Sun Moon cultivators. It is that Invincible lurking in the dark. All these years of enduring, biding our time, and waiting have been because of that Invincible! "And precisely because he is an Invincible, many of humanity's Invincibles have no way to act, nowhere to strike! "The root of the issue still lies with that Invincible, because no one knows who he is! He could be King Dazhou, maybe King Daming, or even King Daxia, King Daqin... None of them can be ruled out! In this situation, nobody dares to act rashly, and no one dares to be alone with another Invincible..." Hong Tan sighed. "A single turd in the pot has made the Invincibles across the entire Human Realm lose their trust in one another! That fellow's harm far outweighs his sheer strength!" If it were an open, face-to-face enemy, the human race wouldn't fear having one more Invincible opponent. What they feared was someone hiding in their own ranks! Lurking right among their own, such a person did more damage than ten or more enemy Invincibles combined, systematically eroding human unity. Su Yu nodded. "True. If it were merely an Invincible, that would actually be easy to handle! If all else fails, lure him to the ancient city and have the stone statue squash him!" Easy for you to say! Hong Tan cursed inwardly. Damn you! Why did Invincibles sound so cheap when coming out of this boy's mouth? Smashed to death by the stone statue? Is that stone statue your family pet? Then again, considering Su Yu was the castellan of Xinghong Ancient City, claiming it was his wasn't entirely wrong. Su Yu quickly asked, "Grandmaster, then what is the Great Xia Prefecture's ultimate goal right now? What is the plan? Who is the target audience? Is all of this just to catch that Invincible?" He added, "If I stir up trouble, will it mess anything up?" At those words, Hong Tan glanced at Wu Jia and Bai Feng. Bai Feng grumbled gloomily, "Why are you looking at us? Are we not qualified to hear it?" Hong Tan considered for a moment, then nodded. "Take Jiajia outside. The two of you are too weak; others could easily sense your thoughts." "..." Bai Feng was struck by overwhelming indignation and grief! He glared at Su Yu. Su Yu offered a beaming smile. "Teacher, my willpower is nearly at the Shanhai Realm. Even an Invincible can't see through what I'm thinking." Your willpower is lacking, and your physical body is even weaker, so keeping you in the dark is only natural. Bai Feng wanted to vomit blood! Wu Jia had initially felt a bit upset, but now she suddenly didn't mind. The grandmaster wouldn't even let her uncle listen; clearly, he just thought they were too weak and could give things away. And this supposed "too weak"... included someone of Bai Feng's caliber. Bai Feng really wanted to drop dead! Dammit! My student can listen, but I can't? I... I don't want to live anymore. ... Bai Feng walked away, and Wu Jia gleefully hurried after him—to tease him... no, to comfort her martial uncle so he wouldn't be too heartbroken. Once they were gone, Hong Tan sealed the laboratory doors. Looking at Su Yu, he took a moment to organize his thoughts before speaking: "The Xia family of the Great Xia Prefecture, as well as the academy, indeed have a certain plan. Naturally, I don't know the entire plan, but the objective of the Xia family and Head Wan is to locate that Invincible and draw him out! "In fact, they tested the waters several times before, but that fellow is extremely cautious. Even when my senior brother came here last time, the guy only showed up with a divine character clone, while his true body never appeared! "If that fellow doesn't die, first, the human race will never unite as one. Second, if traitors go unpunished, a second traitor might emerge!" Su Yu nodded. "So this time, including you founding the Multiple Divine Characters Academy and promoting the disassembly art for divine character battle techniques, was it all to raise the stakes and force him out?" "Yes!" Hong Tan nodded. "And those stakes still weren't high enough! That fellow sabotaged my master back then, and he has been constantly targeting me and my senior brother, including our entire lineage. He must be killed! Relying on these alone might not be enough to draw him out, so the stakes had to be raised further. That's why arrangements were also made in Nanyuan!" He continued, "Beyond that, there are many other factors—the God and Demon students, the core scions of various prominent families, the All-Races Cult, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, the gathering of myriad races... all of them are chips on the table!" Su Yu fell into thought, then nodded. "I see. But couldn't that fellow see through it? He might also realize that we're baiting him!" Hong Tan sighed. "He might know, and he might see through it. That is why we must keep raising the bets! Raise them to the point where he has no choice but to step forward, to make a move, to show himself! Or make him feel that the risk of exposure is already so high that striking is no more dangerous than staying idle... All of this requires a battle of wits between both sides!" Su Yu nodded again. "Then what role do those God and Demon students play...?" "They attract more experts, making that Invincible believe he can fish in troubled waters, and that the Great Xia Prefecture won't be able to handle it all! For example, dozens of Sun Moon experts arriving from the God and Demon races, to the point where even an Invincible might secretly slip in..." Su Yu frowned. "An Invincible infiltrating? If that happens, can the Great Xia Prefecture withstand it?" "Hard to say." Hong Tan wasn't certain either, but he smiled. "Regardless of whether we can hold out, after this, that traitor will definitely be exposed. As long as he dares to appear and make a move, even if we can't kill him, we can force him to completely defect from the human race, eliminating everyone else's misgivings. The next time we encounter him, he will merely be an Invincible in the enemy camp, rather than a comrade standing at our side. That way, the situation becomes crystal clear!" Su Yu pondered it and agreed. In truth, the Great Xia Prefecture might not strictly expect to kill the person. Drawing him into the open was enough! Once his identity was exposed, that fellow would have nowhere left to hide. "However..." Su Yu still harbored some worry. "However, what if there's more than one traitor?" "..." Hong Tan's body shook. After a long silence, he said in a low voice, "No, there's only one. An Invincible has already reached the pinnacle; in the human race, they hold supreme status and immense authority. The human race hasn't reached the brink of total annihilation yet. A single traitor is already unimaginable; how could there be more?" "What if there is?" "There isn't!" "But what if there really is?" Are you looking for an argument? Hong Tan cursed inwardly! Saying there wasn't was just a way to comfort himself. Couldn't this brat Su Yu read between the lines? If there really were another... to be honest, it wasn't as though no one had considered it. But if there truly were, it would spell disaster. That was everyone's greatest fear, and the fear shared by the other Invincibles. What they dreaded most was having more than one traitor among their ranks. If that were the case, the situation would truly be hopeless. Su Yu continued, "Especially regarding the Quest Realm—the Eight Great Families hold power there, yet trouble keeps arising. Do the Invincibles of the Eight Great Families truly know nothing? Why has no one intervened? Their stance is so blatant that I suspect there's a traitor Invincible among the Eight Great Families, perhaps even more than one..." Hong Tan explained, "Not necessarily. The Eight Great Families might just be targeting us, or perhaps they simply don't care about us. They have probably been secretly cultivating their own Multiple Character Civilization Masters." Su Yu understood. "Even so, their attitude remains questionable!" Hong Tan didn't contest that. Su Yu asked, "Then is there anything I can do?" Hong Tan thought for a moment before answering, "Yes. Create some chaos, kill a few experts of the myriad races, draw out even stronger opponents, and force the myriad races to commit more forces to the Great Xia Prefecture!" He added, "In short, muddy the waters—that's your specialty! The Great Xia Prefecture right now isn't afraid of chaos; the more chaotic, the better! The greater the chaos, the greater the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. If the Heaven Hunting Pavilion gets involved as a third party, it will make the mess even bigger and help deflect suspicion from the Great Xia Prefecture, making that fellow believe it isn't an intentional trap set by us, but rather the result of too many external variables!" Su Yu nodded. Understood! Sure enough, it was right up his alley. Stirring up trouble! Creating chaos—the bigger, the better. As for whether the Great Xia Prefecture could handle it if the chaos spiraled out of control, Su Yu figured Wan Tiansheng was here, so they must have some confidence. "What about Manor Head Xia's side...?" "That side is their affair!" Hong Tan said calmly. "Don't worry about them. Manor Head Xia... Manor Head Xia's side might launch their move in tandem with us, drawing the attention of the myriad races' Invincibles and giving that hidden Invincible an opportunity. Because Xia Longwu is about to attain the Dao, humanity's Invincibles won't be able to provide reinforcements, and that includes King Daxia. Tell me, isn't that an exceptional opportunity? It also provides the traitor Invincible with a golden opening. Everyone will be rushing to support Xia Longwu and acting independently. He can act on his own just like back then, or stage a sham battle against an Invincible of the myriad races..." At this moment, Su Yu finally understood everything completely. He thoroughly grasped the Great Xia Prefecture's two lines of action! The first line was on the All-Heavens Battlefield, with Xia Longwu, pinning down both humanity's and the myriad races' Invincibles. The second line was in the Human Realm, within the Great Xia Prefecture, baiting that traitor Invincible into the open. Xia Longwu's attempt to attain the Dao was meant to present that Invincible with an opportunity, letting him know that such a chance came once in a millennium. Otherwise, it was virtually impossible to find an opening to deploy his true body in ordinary times. Only during Xia Longwu's breakthrough, when heaven and earth fell into chaos, would the disappearance of a single Invincible go largely unnoticed. "Then... what about Manor Head Xia himself...?" Su Yu felt that Xia Longwu would be in grave danger. Naturally, the Great Xia Prefecture would be in extreme danger as well! Including Wan Tiansheng. If two Invincibles arrived—one human traitor and one colluding Invincible from the myriad races—how could they match them? He completely understood what Xia Huyou had told him that day. Despair! The Great Xia Prefecture might end up completely annihilated in this single battle. Xia Longwu would fail to attain the Dao, and the Great Xia Prefecture would be razed to the ground! The Xia family, along with Wan Tiansheng and the others, might very well be laying this trap with the mindset of mutual destruction. Perhaps it could hardly even be called a trap anymore! Perhaps the other side knew full well what the Great Xia Prefecture intended, yet the Great Xia Prefecture was gambling everything anyway, wagering it all on a sliver of hope—hope to break the deadlock. Su Yu sighed inwardly. Today, he had finally understood the Xia family's resolve. The Xia family was still the same Xia family—a clan of Invincibles. From the very beginning, this clan had never entertained the thought of compromise! At this moment, Su Yu's emotions were a tangled knot. "Then... Grandmaster, what about you...?" "Me?" Hong Tan smiled. "My role is simple: promote the disassembly art for divine character battle techniques, and perform the disassembly myself to show people that our multiple-character faction might have discovered a way for Civilization Masters to attain the Dao as Invincibles. Both Teacher Liu and I are bait. If an Invincible truly comes, we won't be able to join the fight, but we will draw a tremendous amount of fire!" Exceedingly dangerous! The danger was terrifying, because if that Invincible truly arrived, the first ones he would kill were undoubtedly them, without exception. "What about Martial Uncle Chen?" "Your martial uncle guessed some of this, which is why he went on a killing spree. He's also provoking that fellow, signaling that he's getting close to tracking him down. Most of the people your martial uncle killed likely had ties to that person." Understood! So this entire game had begun all the way back then. No, perhaps even earlier. Even Liu Wenyan's emergence from seclusion had been meant to draw that fellow out. And the catalyst for all of this likely stemmed from Xia Longwu's breakthrough. Thinking of this, Su Yu's eyes flickered. "Manor Head Xia slaughtered in all directions on the All-Heavens Battlefield, earning the title of Blood Slaughter King and inciting powerhouses from all sides to want him dead. Could it be..." Was that orchestrated from the start as well? Was Xia Longwu constructing a persona? Cultivating the persona of an iron-blooded, merciless slaughterer? As the head of a prefecture, Xia Longwu had sometimes displayed an excess of bloodlust! Previously, Su Yu hadn't understood. He had heard that Xia Longwu once wiped out an entire minor race whose students Wan Tiansheng had recruited. Back then, Su Yu had found it thoroughly satisfying. Reflecting on it now, it had been far too impulsive. Minor races were weak; what was the point of slaughtering them? It only provoked wariness and resentment, bringing endless trouble upon himself. Xia Longwu's immense difficulties in attaining the Dao were tied directly to those actions. Was Xia Longwu truly just a mindless brute? Not likely! If that were the case, why hadn't figures like Qin Zhen stirred up nearly as much turmoil as Xia Longwu? Xia Longwu wasn't the only one seeking to attain the Dao; the myriad races knew that full well. Yet Xia Longwu alone was their priority target for assassination. At this point, Su Yu had a flash of insight. Had Xia Longwu intentionally courted trouble and cultivated that persona for himself? All for the sake of what was to come? Fifty years... Xia Longwu wasn't that old, was he? Then who... had guided Xia Longwu to build that persona and maintain it for fifty years, so that today, his breakthrough would genuinely draw out the Invincibles of the myriad races for an ambush? He thought of Wan Tiansheng! He couldn't help asking, "Grandmaster, does Manor Head Xia have a connection to Head Wan?" "You didn't know?" Hong Tan said softly. "Well, perhaps you really didn't. Hardly anyone knows anymore. Head Wan... could be considered Manor Head Xia's teacher." Su Yu jolted! Indeed! In that case, this layout had been set into motion decades ago. Then again, Wan Tiansheng had known from the start that there was a traitor Invincible, so he had likely been waiting for an opportunity like this all along! And the Xia family had been cooperating with him the entire time. That would mean King Daxia and the others likely knew the full extent of Wan Tiansheng's strength. Once you dug deep enough, everything fell into place quickly. At this stage, Su Yu had completely seen through the intentions of the Xia family and Wan Tiansheng. His feelings were complicated! Using Xia Longwu as a chip, using the Great Xia Prefecture as a chip... the Xia family and Wan Tiansheng were utterly insane. "Grandmaster... can... can you win?" "Who knows?" Hong Tan chuckled. "Who could possibly know? There's no such thing as a guaranteed win! We can only say we'll do our utmost! Besides, the Xia family and Head Wan probably have other contingencies. I won't bother worrying about those. Our task and objective are simple: draw that fellow out, and then... settle old scores and take our revenge! We'll kill off those bastards who bullied us in the past! As for the rest, let them handle it; it's not our concern. "I'm telling you all this because your strength has grown, and I was worried you might blindly meddle and stir up unwanted trouble." Hong Tan added with a helpless look, "In truth, this plan has been in motion for a long time. That includes me opening the Multiple Divine Characters Academy. I originally planned to shock the myriad races with the opening, but look at you... Back in August, when you caused such an enormous commotion, I imagine not just me, but Head Wan and the Xia family were probably cursing you up and down. You rascal, you truly know how to cause trouble!" Su Yu thought about it and suddenly grinned foolishly. It seemed so! Back then, he had only thought about taking the heat and drawing attention away from his grandmaster. Thinking back... they must have been cursing his name to high heaven! With that in mind, he couldn't help asking, "Then when I claimed earlier that the Zhou family practiced multiple characters, was I cursed for that too?" He had just said it offhandedly at the time, but it had redirected a huge amount of attention toward the Great Zhou Prefecture. So it turned out the Great Xia Prefecture wasn't afraid of the spotlight—they were desperately craving it! He had previously thought the Great Xia Prefecture was in a tough spot and that his accidental remark had shifted the focus to the Great Zhou Prefecture, so they ought to thank him. Looking back now, they had probably been dying for everyone's eyes to be on them, only for it all to vanish in an instant. It was a miracle they hadn't exploded with rage! Hong Tan said amusedly, "Good that you realize it! You should know that once Xinghong Ancient City quieted down, Head Wan and Manor Head Xia could finally sleep peacefully!" It had been agonizingly hard! They had endured decades in the shadows waiting for this exact moment to erupt, only for a wildly disruptive brat to show up out of nowhere. How could they not lose their minds? Su Yu gave a dry laugh! Got it! In other words, making trouble in the Great Xia Prefecture right now was completely fine—the bigger, the better, and the more trouble stirred up, the better. At that thought, Su Yu hesitated. "If I stir up trouble, it might easily attract an Invincible. Won't that be a problem?" Hong Tan smiled. "This is the Human Realm. Invincibles don't just pop up that easily." Su Yu muttered a few words under his breath. Hard to say. For instance, if I expose my identity, or claim I know how to reverse death qi, or that I can learn the cultivation methods of the myriad races, or that I have a golden booklet in my head, or if I squish the little fur ball... Any of those could easily draw an Invincible! Or if I massacre the people from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, that might draw an Invincible too. "Then what if I really draw an Invincible here?" "Then let it happen!" Hong Tan said flatly. "If one really comes, so be it! The more that come here, the greater Manor Head Xia's chances of successfully attaining the Dao over there. As long as one side succeeds, it won't be a loss, will it?" Before undertaking this, everyone had already weighed the costs of victory and defeat. If this side truly failed, they would rely on Xia Longwu successfully attaining the Dao, joining forces with King Daxia to turn the tables! Su Yu nodded. In that case, I don't need to hold back at all. With that, the broader picture was settled. Hong Tan said no more, and soon after, Bai Feng and Wu Jia returned. Neither of them asked about what had just been discussed. Su Yu quickly said, "I can't stay for too long. My identity as Xuan Jiu is still useful! Moving forward, Teacher, I'll also need you to help provide cover for me. I'm still using the Bai Junsheng persona, but I might be slipping out frequently..." Bai Feng nodded, then muttered a curse: "You little brat, that fellow Junsheng won't dare to step foot outside his door in the future, just like Cui Lang!" As he spoke, he couldn't help laughing. That was a good thing, though! If he didn't dare to go out, he could just cultivate diligently. Su Yu chuckled as well, then said, "Never mind that. Grandmaster, now that you've reached the Sun Moon Realm, you need Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid. I still have a bit left..." Su Yu truly had a substantial amount of Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid. He had received 300 drops the first time and 800 drops the second, totaling a full 1,100 drops. Su Yu hadn't used much himself; when strengthening his acupoints, the ten drops awarded by heaven and earth last time had been more than enough. Su Yu didn't skimp; he had always been generous toward his own people! "Grandmaster, here are 500 drops of Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid. You'll need..." Hong Tan's expression grew complicated. This was truly returning a drop of kindness with an overflowing spring. Su Yu had never received much from him. Naturally, the little fur ball didn't count. Yet now, the boy casually showered them with massive amounts of heaven origin qi, merit points, and Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid. "You'll need it yourself once you reach the Sun Moon Realm. Even though you're plagued by death qi right now, you will shake it off sooner or later. We believe in you..." Su Yu dismissed it casually: "Grandmaster, I have plenty! I have 1,100 drops in total, and I'm only giving you 500. Not only do you need it, but many others do as well. If nothing unexpected happens, I think Senior Xia Yunqi and the others will probably reach the Sun Moon Realm soon too!" "Hm?" Hong Tan looked at him. Su Yu said nonchalantly, "Definitely. I can roughly guess the condition of their seas of will. At a crucial juncture like this, the more the multiple-character lineage stands in the limelight, the better! Someone will certainly find a way to help them step into the Sun Moon Realm!" Su Yu wasn't stupid; he could deduce this much. "If several of you use it to bolster your strength, it's better than where you are now, and you'll be able to kill enemies much more comfortably! We don't want everyone feeling aggrieved in the final battle—that would be too miserable!" Su Yu's words were blunt, prompting Bai Feng to kick him. What kind of talk was that! Hong Tan, however, smiled. "Fair point. In that case, I won't stand on ceremony with you. The only thing I can do is kill a few more bastards to forge a better path for you young ones!" He accepted the resources without further fuss. Next, Su Yu took out another stash of goods—heaven origin qi. Handing it to Bai Feng, he said, "Teacher, you can make do with this for now!" "I still have some. I haven't even finished what you gave me last time." Last time, when Su Yu posed as Cui Lang, he had asked Xia Huyou to deliver numerous treasures to him. "It's fine, I have plenty!" Su Yu smiled. "I'm out of heaven and earth mysterious light since I need it myself, but as for these things, I'm loaded! Not just that, I currently have a terrifying amount of Sun Moon blood essence—over 1,000 drops!" The others stared dumbfounded. How was that possible?! Where did he get so much? That was Sun Moon blood essence! Even if a single Sun Moon expert yielded ten drops, that required a hundred Sun Moon cultivators! How could you possibly have that much? Su Yu explained, "Back in the ancient city, I fleeced quite a bit through entrance fees, security deposits, and subsequent payouts—that alone was nearly 500 drops. Later, during the city lockdown, I did a massive deal with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, and almost all of it was paid out in Sun Moon blood essence..." All things considered, the amount of Sun Moon blood essence on him was truly staggering. The group remained in a daze! Since when was Sun Moon blood essence counted by the hundreds and thousands? Had Su Yu scooped up all the blood essence of the Sun Moon cultivators who had died across the myriad races over the years? Even if not entirely, a huge chunk of the blood essence accumulated by the myriad races over the years had been hauled away by him. The myriad races also fought among themselves, after all; Sun Moon cultivators fell in combat, and the security deposits paid by the major races had come from their long-term reserves. Su Yu had simply swept in and cleared them all out! Su Yu chuckled. "So I'm not short on cash. Take it, everyone. I have more than enough money!" What I'm giving you is just pocket change! Of course, he only said that for effect. Heaven origin qi might be pocket change, but Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid definitely wasn't. Su Yu turned his gaze to Wu Jia. Wu Jia was already at the ninth layer of the Wanshi Realm, on the verge of the Soaring Realm—meaning her physical body was about to soar, and her willpower wasn't far behind. She could have broken through earlier, but she had chosen to keep opening acupoints. "Senior Sister, regarding you... I need the heaven and earth mysterious light myself, so I can't give you too much. But ten wisps of heaven and earth mysterious light plus some heaven origin qi should be enough for you to temper your body." Not everyone was a monster like him. For an ordinary cultivator, a single wisp of heaven and earth mysterious light was enough for a round of body tempering. Wu Jia didn't refuse or offer unnecessary words; she simply accepted the items her junior brother offered. If she remained weak, she would only drag them down and cost them more in the end, so taking these resources now was the wiser choice. Su Yu smiled. "Also, the Great Xia Prefecture isn't safe anymore. Senior Sister, you should head to the Great Ming Prefecture! Go find Wu Lan; she's over there, doing pretty well for herself..." Wu Jia looked at him, her voice slightly subdued: "Then... then I'll go! I know I can't help you with anything... Junior Brother, can we find my master?" "We can!" Su Yu nodded. "I've already tasked the Heaven Hunting Pavilion with searching for him with all their might! Don't worry, Martial Uncle is strong and cunning..." "My master isn't cunning!" Wu Jia protested. Just because you're my junior brother and very powerful doesn't mean you can speak ill of him, or I'll hit you! Su Yu shrugged and chuckled. "Alright, let's not debate that, but Martial Uncle will be fine. With his methods, ordinary people can't do anything to him, nor can they find him!" Chen Yong... was no soft target. He had slain so many enemies, and despite countless people hunting him, none had tracked him down. That was sheer capability. Chen Yong had bided his time for decades, and now that he was out in the wild, he had likely shed all restraint just like Su Yu, using every trick in the book. Wu Jia muttered a few more words before nodding. "Then I'll head to the Great Ming Prefecture." "Mm! I'll put in a word with Manor Head Zhu..." Listen to that! Bai Feng and Hong Tan exchanged looks, completely speechless. What kind of status did this kid possess now? 'Just go, and I'll put in a word with the manor head to look after you.' Anyone listening would think Su Yu was a manor head himself. Well, technically, he was! He was the castellan of an ancient city, and strictly speaking, his status might even be slightly higher than Zhu Tiandao's. There was simply no comparing them! With these matters resolved, Su Yu thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "Grandmaster, when you caught the little fur ball back then, where did you find it?" "The little fur ball?" "The one you called the God-Devouring race." "Oh!" Hong Tan said with surprise. "What about it? Right, that little thing vanished. Did you take it with you? Don't lose it; that creature possesses formidable lethal power and severely counters Civilization Masters!" Su Yu nodded. "I took it with me. I'm just asking about its background. Its race seems quite powerful! I want to know where you caught it; maybe the entrance to its race's realm is nearby." Inside his mind, the little fur ball didn't care at all; it couldn't remember anyway. How could it recall such things? It had been in a daze back then, fleeing blindly the moment it left the passage. Who knew where it had run off to? Hong Tan explained, "When I caught it, it had already been wandering for some time. I picked it up in the northern section of the eastern war zone, near the Immortal race's territory, around Tianwang Ridge." Su Yu noted the location, then asked, "When you caught it, did you run into any danger?" He was wondering whether squishing the little fur ball would truly summon an Invincible. Yet when Hong Tan caught it, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to have occurred. "No!" Hong Tan thought back, then added, "I'm not sure if there was. When I caught it, it felt... kind of dangerous, but at the same time it didn't. I didn't pay it much mind; after all, danger is normal on the All-Heavens Battlefield. Why do you ask?" Did he run into trouble? Hong Tan wondered if the boy had faced a crisis. Did that little creature bring danger? Su Yu laughed. "Nothing much. It's just that this little creature might be the son or daughter of a Half-Emperor. Whatever, as long as you're fine, Grandmaster." *Drip!* A drop of sweat fell! From Hong Tan's brow! He stared at Su Yu. Don't mess with me, that's nonsense, how could that be possible? I casually picked it up off the ground, and now you're telling me I snatched the direct offspring of a Half-Emperor? What a joke! To the side, Bai Feng was equally stupefied. Staring at his master, he suddenly gave a thumbs-up. Incredible! You old man are truly something! You actually brought back the offspring of a Half-Emperor? Inside Su Yu's mind, the little fur ball wriggled bashfully. *Don't praise me like that; my big-big is super amazing, but I'm just so-so!* Su Yu chuckled, having thoroughly rattled Hong Tan. Moving on from the topic, he said, "I'll take my leave now, lest staying too long raises suspicion! Moving forward, I'll be making some moves. Teacher, you can also use resources to issue missions through the Heaven Hunting Pavilion... to leverage their power. As for the money, spend as much as you want; after all, that money will end up back in my hands anyway!" Bai Feng smiled. "Alright, you kid... you've really made a name for yourself. Take care of yourself, and don't get too arrogant!" "Got it!" Su Yu was in high spirits. Meeting his teacher and grandmaster today was probably the happiest time he had experienced in a long while. Of course, a few people were still missing. Teacher Liu Wenyan wasn't here, Chen Yong wasn't here, and his own father wasn't here. If everyone were gathered together, he would be even happier. Su Yu quickly vanished, departing as covertly and briskly as he had arrived. Once he was gone, Hong Tan and Bai Feng looked at each other and took a deep breath. Bai Feng stood up and said, "Teacher, I'm going into seclusion. I'll emerge once I break through to the Lingyun Realm!" Hong Tan nodded. "Me too. With so much Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid, even if I can't immediately hit the mid Sun Moon Realm, reaching the third layer shouldn't be difficult. It's not a major breakthrough between realms!" Seclusion! Strengthen themselves! Su Yu had grown so powerful; remaining this weak was frankly embarrassing. Moreover, the coming storm was about to break. This time, the Multiple Character faction would certainly shine brilliantly. Truth be told, with Su Yu around, both of them suddenly felt a strange sense of security. Despite being a master at stirring up trouble, the kid almost never suffered a loss when it truly counted. Admittedly, relying on a junior for a sense of safety was rather humiliating. The master and disciple exchanged a moment of mutual sympathy before both hurrying off to cultivate in seclusion. As for Wu Jia, she prepared to pack her things and head to the Great Ming Prefecture for shelter. ... Someone was actually watching this scene unfold. Inside the Xiuxin Pavilion. Wan Tiansheng let out a heavy sigh. *Damn you! I showed you the River of Time and gave you such an enormous benefit, yet you didn't give me a single damn thing! I really feel like knocking you out and robbing you blind!* Su Yu truly was an ungrateful bastard!