Grand Ming.

Su Yu, mid-meal, received news of Hong Tan’s breakthrough. A surprised exclamation escaped his lips, “My grandmaster has emerged from seclusion?”

Wen Zhong, Jin Sheng, and the others were present.

Wen Zhong nodded, “I heard this from the prefect. This morning, he mentioned both Hong Tan and Zhou Mingren had emerged. They both entered the Sunmoon Realm almost simultaneously. Great Xia truly boasts exceptional talent. Two additional Sunmoons have appeared. And Hong Tan is quite the young one.”

He spoke with a touch of envy. Grand Ming had many seasoned cultivators, but most lacked true strength. Great Xia, while often losing their young, possessed a remarkable strength in their youth.

Indeed. For someone like Wen Zhong, Hong Tan was a youth. Even Wan Tiansheng could be considered young. Anyone under a hundred years of age was a youth to the elders of Grand Ming.

Jin Sheng chuckled, “It’s unavoidable. They are fearless in battle, while we are engrossed in research. It’s illogical for us to surpass them in combat.”

“Not necessarily. Talent and luck also play a role.”

Su Yu laughed, changing the subject, “Senior Brothers, any progress on the aperture fusion art?”

“None.”

A disheartened reply, and silence descended.

After a moment, Wen Zhong recovered, “Be patient. Don’t just focus on us. Visit the Bai Family. Your source soul acupoint remains elusive. Perhaps it’s not a matter of insufficient acupoints and apertures. You’ve surely opened more than Bai Tianhao. Why did he find the source soul acupoint, and you haven’t?”

Su Yu nodded thoughtfully. He had considered visiting the Bai Family before, but other matters always intervened. The time had come.

He had opened many acupoints, yet the source soul acupoint remained hidden. What was the problem? He had some free time, as he still lacked immortal blood essence. Should he visit the Bai Family now?

Bai Family…Bai Junsheng. An unexpected visit wouldn’t be appropriate. Should he speak with Bai Junsheng first?

With that thought, Su Yu took a bite of food, “Precisely. I’ll visit them later this afternoon. A late afternoon visit is not against Grand Ming etiquette, is it?”

“Cultivators don’t overly concern themselves with etiquette.” Wen Zhong said, “Do you want me to accompany you?”

“No, I’ll go myself.” Su Yu said, “I’m not well-acquainted with the Bai Family. Would it be impolite to inquire about their ancestor’s secrets out of the blue?”

Jin Sheng said, “Easily resolved. The Bai Family is a warrior clan. Bai Junsheng, the sole son of the family head’s first son, has recently entered the Skysoar Realm through physical cultivation. Since you possess ample divine and demonic blood essence, gifting some to him might encourage the Bai Family to share the notes left behind by Bai Tianhao.”

Bai Junsheng, a newly ascended Skysoar, needed blood essence for body forging. He likely hadn’t even completed his first forging. The Bai Family head, Bai Feng’s grandfather, was a Mountainsea in seclusion. With him absent, his first and second sons would struggle to acquire divine and demonic blood essence.

Divine and demonic blood essence would be the perfect gift. Su Yu had given his remaining first divine and original demonic blood essence to Xia Huyou, but he still had some from his Great Qin acquisitions.

With a plan formed, Su Yu felt more confident.

As for Hong Tan, Su Yu wasn’t overly concerned. A Sunmoon, a multiple character faction Sunmoon, was a formidable achievement. There was no need to worry about this grandmaster. He was a patient man, unlikely to act rashly.

Su Yu had heard of the disassembly method, but refrained from inquiry, unwilling to become involved. The entire matter seemed suspicious. They had agreed not to hastily release the disassembly method. Now, they were making a great fuss about it.

Of course, the masses were unaware of the details. They only knew Hong Tan had mastered a crucial skill, sparking an evolution among cultural researchers. This had drawn considerable attention, which was beneficial to Su Yu, reducing the scrutiny on him.

“The grandmaster can handle the pressure. If he can’t, he can simply return to seclusion.”

Su Yu couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought. His only concern now was Chen Yong.

Ten Sunmoons were searching for him, yet he remained missing. Nobody knew his whereabouts. The search for Chen Yong was being conducted with great fanfare. He could easily learn of the search and use the attention to eliminate those he wished to target.

Su Yu began preparations for his visit to the Bai Family. The Chen Yong matter was now the grandmaster’s concern. He had done all he could.

***

Simultaneously.

On a desert mountain in the eastern region of the Human Realm, near the Rising Sky Sea.

The three largest seas of the Human Realm—the Rising Sky Sea in the east, the Falling Sky Sea in the west, and the Limitless Sea in the south—were considered danger zones. The Allheaven Prefecture in the north was also a dangerous region.

Inside a cave on the desert mountain.

Chen Yong leaned against the wall, roasting a beast. Pale Feng Ji, chest stained crimson, smiled, “Chen Yong, your cooking is improving. When you decide to stop cultivating, you could open a restaurant.”

Chen Yong smiled, saying nothing. After roasting the beast, he tore off a drumstick, tossed it to Feng Ji, and began eating. After a while, he softly asked, “Can you continue?”

“I won’t die yet.”

“Good.” Chen Yong said, “After this meal, we’ll head to the Rising Sky Sea.”

Feng Ji nodded, asking no further questions.

Chen Yong chuckled, “You’re still the same. Even after so many years, you still don’t enjoy conversation.”

“I’m accustomed to silence.” Feng Ji chuckled, “Since you wish to speak, tell me what we’re doing at the Rising Sky Sea.”

“We’re there to kill…” Chen Yong casually said, “…a few enemies.”

Feng Ji nodded, asking no further questions.

Chen Yong was compelled to elaborate, “Do you know who we’re killing?”

“No.”

“Then why do you nod so readily?”

“I only survived until today because of you. My life is yours. I will kill anyone you wish dead.”

“…”

Chen Yong laughed, “Since I’m already here, I don’t intend to return soon. It’s rare for me to leave the academy. This is a rare opportunity, as there are no eyes on me now. Do you still remember Little Cap?”

“Yes. The bald fellow who always wore a cap. You expelled him from the multiple character faction, right?”

“Yeah.” Chen Yong said, “Back then, I expelled them hoping to preserve some seeds for the multiple character faction. But some were unwilling to spare them even after expulsion. Little Cap was here at the Rising Sky Sea gathering materials when he died. I secretly had people investigate. His death was no accident. He was deliberately targeted. In fact, most of those I expelled from the faction back then are already dead.

“The only reason my junior brother and I are alive is because we prefer to stay in the academy. Our teacher has been watching over us. Otherwise, we would have perished. Too many multiple character faction experts have died over the years.”

Feng Ji nodded, “Yes. It might not be noticeable if you’re not paying attention, but upon closer inspection, you’ll see that too many multiple character faction experts have died.”

“We can’t do anything about the Allheaven Battlefield, as the myriad races will target us. But even when our people conducted missions within the Human Realm, many perished. My investigation suggests the Rising Sky Sea is where most of them died.”

After a brief pause to eat more roasted meat, Chen Yong said, “I suspect this place is the lair of that person.”

“The unknown person?”

“Yes.” Chen Yong nodded, “So, I’m here to take revenge and kill some people. Let’s see if that’s enough to lure that person out. Even if they remain hidden, we need to make it clear that we’ve identified them. We’ll force them to act. Since they’ve been active recently, it’s obvious they’re cornered. They must be worried about exposure. We’ll exploit that fear and force them to reveal themselves.”