“Your Excellency, Ninth Lord, I’ve already contacted all the lords across the country. Please give the next order.”

Late at night, a man in black slipped into a mansion no less grand than the imperial palace and reported the latest news from the imperial city to its master.

“Mmm, good.”

The Immortal Emperor was still a little groggy, wearing only a white nightgown. He waved his hand lazily, signaling he’d heard.

The man in black understood at once and tactfully withdrew.

“Yes, my lord.”

After the man in black left, the Immortal Emperor didn’t go back to sleep. Instead, he quietly took out the bracelet he always carried and gently ran his fingers over it.

The bracelet in his hand was very different from an ordinary one, yet the dragon patterns carved on it were almost identical to the one in Yuanhui’s hand.

“Your Excellency Ninth Lord, this old man has already done everything he can. Whether you’ll help me next… that depends on you…”

“You did well enough. But… it’s still far from enough.”

The voice from within the bracelet was wickedly seductive. The instant it appeared, the atmosphere in the room sank into a murky gloom. Even though the lamps were still burning brightly, there was a darkness in the air that wouldn’t disperse.

“How can that be?! For your sake, this old man has wagered the lives of my entire family. You can’t do this!!!”

“Oh? But I haven’t exactly shorted you on Soul-Restoring Powder, have I?”

“This…”

“Since you accepted certain things, there’s no giving them back. Without my Soul-Restoring Powder, with your talent, you’d be stuck at late Boundless at best. Immortal Ascension? You’d never touch that realm in your life.”

The one inside the bracelet clearly wanted to keep controlling him. The Immortal Emperor’s expression grew darker.

Sensing his dissatisfaction, that person added lazily, “Relax. You becoming one of the Four Pavilion Masters… that’s happening soon.”

…

The man in the green shirt gave a sly grin and pointed behind him at the giant bear that had just caught up. The bear rampaged along the way, snapping huge trees in half. Seeing the green-shirted man stop running, it reached out with one massive paw, trying to grab him.

“I’m telling you, you should dodge already. You’ll die, you know!”

Yuanhui tried to warn the man again and again, but the man acted like he didn’t hear. Yuanhui almost had to pull his Falling Star heavy sword out from under him—from his storage bracelet.

Then something shocking happened…

At the instant the bear’s paw came down, the man didn’t even look. He just lifted his pinky and braced it against the descending claw.

The giant paw was stopped effortlessly. With one casual motion, the man in green lifted the entire bear up into the air.

Yuanhui’s jaw nearly hit the ground. He’d just watched someone lift a beast the size of a small hill with his bare hands!

“What kind of monstrous strength is that?!”

With a loud boom, the bear was thrown far away like it weighed nothing. It crashed through several trees before finally landing in the snow, howling in pain.

“Disobedient bears have to be punished, you know~”

The man in green bared a row of white teeth and smiled cheerfully at Yuanhui.

But that bright smile made the air seem to turn colder. Yuanhui felt like he’d been locked onto by some terrifying beast. A chill crawled up from his heart.

Who was this guy? Why did he make Yuanhui feel that inexplicable pressure from the bottom of his heart?

“Rooaar—!”

The giant bear howled as it dragged itself up from the ground. It didn’t dare provoke the green-shirted man again and bolted in the opposite direction.

“...Hey, don’t run, I still…”

Seeing the bear run off, the man couldn’t help letting out a disappointed sigh.

“My two hundred thousand gold coins… don’t tell me they’re just gone?”

His figure blurred and vanished from where he stood. The next second, he appeared beside the giant bear, easily lifting it up again, then calmly walked back to Yuanhui with it.

That speed—way too fast. Way too fast.

The bear curled into a ball, held high above the man’s head, and the man strolled over, relaxed as anything.

Only then did Yuanhui finally see it clearly. The man wasn’t a martial artist at all—he was a true high-level cultivator!

“A master. A real master. Way beyond what a normal Boundless-stage cultivator could handle.” Yuanhui was stunned. He couldn’t help recalling that earth-shaking battle from that day… though this guy still fell short of that.

The bear in his arms was just as dumbfounded. What kind of power was this? It was so terrified it didn’t dare make a sound, its massive body trembling all over.

“Be good~ be good.”

The man tossed the snow ape—no, the bear—to the ground, then started petting it like a beloved pet dog. The scene was downright eerie.

A huge, shivering bear being stroked by a very good-looking man… Wait a second. The more Yuanhui looked, the more he felt the man had a bit of a feminine air to him.

Yuanhui felt his worldview crack a little.

“Just what’s this guy’s background?!”

He was surprised, but more than that, he was worried. Who knew when this man might suddenly go crazy?

“Wanna play with me for a bit?”

His tone was still somewhat refined, but at least it was easier to understand than when he first spoke.

Yuanhui glanced at the man in front of him. A trace of worry flashed between his brows, then he cupped his fists politely.

“If this brother is willing, I’ll gladly keep you company.”

The man in the green shirt instantly lit up, pointed at himself and said, “My name’s Ye—”

“Ye?!”

“Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue… it’s Ling Juxi.”

Then he pointed at the giant bear, which was still trembling in fear behind him.

“He’s Ali.”

“Ali… Uh, I’m Wu Yuanhui. Wu as in martial.”

Yuanhui finally got it. The man was called Ling Juxi, and the giant bear was Ali. His face instantly darkened with exasperation.

“I mean… you just made those names up on the spot, didn’t you?”

“Hehe, yeah.”

Damn. This guy looked so elegant and noble on the surface, yet he shamelessly admitted it. Yuanhui grumbled inwardly.

“So it’s Brother Yuanhui, huh.” Juxi grinned, giving him a friendly nickname.

The name was questionable, but at least for now, Yuanhui felt safe. He could finally let out a breath.

“I’ve still got a mission. A big restaurant in the Capital put a bounty on this little bear. If I catch him, I can buy my sister some things she likes.”

Mentioning his sister, Juxi smiled stupidly. His bangs covered most of his face, but when his hair shifted, Yuanhui caught sight of a dragon whisker pattern along his ear and jawline.

He noticed it, but didn’t really care. He just wondered idly if it was paint or a tattoo.

“Ali, run!”

Juxi patted the shivering giant bear, but got no reaction. The bear just stared at him in terror.

“Run!”

Juxi patted it a few more times. Still no response. He instantly got mad, stomped his foot, and slapped the bear, sending it flying.

“Rooaaar…”

Ali let out a miserable cry, hurting all over, like a wounded puppy with a wounded, almost resentful gaze. Yes, resentful.

Heavens. Beasts like this rarely feared foes stronger than themselves. How could it end up like this? It was bizarre.

Juxi, however, looked even more delighted. He clapped his hands, extremely excited, just like a child. He waved toward Yuanhui and shouted:

“Hurry down the mountain! You look like an academy student too, right?”

“...I’m not.”

“Eh?!”

Juxi and Yuanhui locked eyes. Both were stunned.

Juxi pointed at him, full of doubt. “You’re… not from the academy? Outsiders aren’t allowed in here, you know.”

For the first time in his life, Yuanhui had seen that massive beast chased into the depths of the snowy mountain in fear. He couldn’t help swallowing hard. This was also his first time going after such a huge beast, and he felt a little nervous. Maybe he should slip away while he could?

Then he remembered Juxi’s mysterious, unfathomable footwork and gave up the thought on the spot.

“That guy’s practically a monster. Better not mess with him.”

With his own Boundless-level martial strength, there was no way he could escape that man’s grasp. He could only sigh.

Things had already reached this point, and Juxi hadn’t hurt him. Might as well keep walking with him.

Once he figured that out, he felt calmer. A faint smile appeared on his face. But when he realized that heading down the mountain looking like this would make him very easy to recognize, he frowned. Being noticed and marked by others would be bad.

“What an interesting style…”

So Yuanhui loosened his hair, tousled it thoroughly with both hands until it hung down smoothly like Juxi’s. Then he tied up the edges of his clothes to look a bit more proper. His whole style suddenly wasn’t much different from Juxi’s at all.

By the time he finished, Juxi—who had been waiting outside for quite a while—was clearly getting impatient. But when he saw Yuanhui dressed in a similar style to himself, he gave a big thumbs up in praise.

“Didn’t think Brother Wu had such good taste.”

“Hahaha, it’s nothing. Just trying to match Brother Ye’s aesthetic, that’s all.”

With a wry little sigh, Yuanhui rushed to catch up. Juxi cheerfully led the way in front, his steps light and carefree, as if he were strolling through a garden. It looked strangely wonderful.

Watching Juxi’s footwork, Yuanhui was dazed for a moment. After a while, a glint flashed in his eyes.

“Hmph. Brother Ye, you’re underestimating me. I may be a martial artist and not a cultivator, but with the right techniques, I can make up some gaps—and surpass quite a few cultivators.”

He started to imitate Juxi’s movements. But clearly, this footwork wasn’t something you could pick up just by copying it once.

Yuanhui could mimic the form, but not the essence.

“Hahaha, Brother Ye really has skill. There’s no Chi fluctuation in the air, yet you can move almost on par with me. Can it really be just the power of your martial techniques?”

“Of course. Otherwise, how could martial artists even be mentioned in the same breath as high-level cultivators?”

The moment he finished speaking, Yuanhui suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. After copying that footwork, his limbs and bones were wracked with an indescribable pain.

As for what happened, no one understood it better than Yuanhui himself.

“You’re…”

Juxi was stunned, calling out in disbelief,

“This footwork’s pretty strange. Why would it hurt your body when you use it, brother?”

Yuanhui didn’t answer. He just gave a bitter smile, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, swallowed a healing pill, and urged the star core within his body to repair the damage as quickly as possible.

On the surface, there was nothing unusual to be seen, but Juxi clearly sensed that Yuanhui’s Chi was much weaker than before.

At the very front, the giant bear no longer had any of its earlier swagger. Terror filled its eyes as it tore through the pines, wailing madly, its mournful cries echoing without end.