An unexpected event occurred

“What was Xǔ Tiānlí talking about when he claimed he’d only just ‘touched the threshold’?”

Sitting alone in the mysterious palace, the silver-haired girl’s lips twitched several times.

‘But hasn’t he completely mastered it?!’

After returning from the martial arts hall, Mù Qīngyǔ had eagerly entered the mysterious palace to inspect Xǔ Tiānlí’s stone door.

As expected, after he mastered the Return to the Void One-Strike Decapitation, a new book had appeared on the bookshelf.

Each ability corresponds to a fixed number of book pages.

As mastery increases, the blank pages are filled with corresponding text.

Despite Xǔ Tiānlí’s repeated claims of only having just begun, Mù Qīngyǔ discovered that very few blank pages remained when she first flipped through his book.

After waiting another night, she checked the book again today, finding all the remaining blank pages filled with text.

This signified that Xǔ Tiānlí had thoroughly mastered the blade technique.

Bang.

Closing the book, Mù Qīngyǔ rubbed her temples.

‘That couldn’t be right; something felt off.’

More than Xǔ Tiānlí’s actual mastery of the Return to the Void One-Strike Decapitation, Mù Qīngyǔ was curious as to why he had suddenly made such significant progress.

If one were to liken it to a game’s progress bar, it had shown zero for the first few days, then abruptly surged to ninety yesterday, and after another night, completely reached one hundred.

‘Why hadn’t there been any progress in the previous days?’

If his practice had progressed normally, even if Xǔ Tiānlí himself wasn’t aware, a corresponding book should have appeared within the mysterious palace.

This current situation was as if someone had deliberately blocked his practice progress, then, upon releasing their hold, opened a floodgate.

Mù Qīngyǔ didn’t believe there was any issue with Xǔ Tiānlí’s talent.

She felt that even if he were given a secret manual written in ancient script, he could master its obscure content given enough time.

‘Could there be a problem with this secret manual itself?’

Mù Qīngyǔ leaned her head back against the throne, closing her crimson eyes.

‘That Qiao Yíng, her background must be anything but simple.’

‘Where did she obtain this secret manual?’

It seemed necessary to seek her out and confirm the origins of this Return to the Void One-Strike Decapitation.

Her greatest concern remained the Otherworldly Demons.

Throughout thousands of years of conflict with humanity, Otherworldly Demons had long demonstrated wisdom no less than their rivals, with some individuals even far surpassing it.

Low-level Otherworldly Demons merely attacked humans driven by primitive desires, but high-level ones were constantly plotting to dismantle human society from within.

If this were a trap set by an Otherworldly Demon, it would be truly troublesome.

If Xǔ Tiānlí were corrupted and fell, the world would be doomed.

‘The protagonist of the original story becoming an Otherworldly Demon’s accomplice?’

‘Even if I tried to escape now, I wouldn’t be able to shake him off.’

With that thought, the worried girl reopened the book in her hands.

A page floated out, transforming upon landing.

It was still the blurred figure remarkably similar to Xǔ Tiānlí, but this time, he wasn’t sitting cross-legged.

Instead, he held a blade aloft.

Mù Qīngyǔ had been attempting to modify the Stage Two Qi Accumulation Art these past few days, but progress was slow.

Even if death wasn’t truly a consequence, the pain from those explosions was very real.

Once she confirmed there were no issues with the Return to the Void One-Strike Decapitation, Mù Qīngyǔ planned to try something different.

If she could optimize away its debilitating side effect – that a single slash would exhaust the user – the cost-effectiveness of this blade technique would immediately skyrocket.

Just then, Mù Qīngyǔ suddenly looked up at the ceiling, muttering, “Someone’s here.”

She quickly willed her consciousness to descend, leaving the mysterious palace and returning to the real world.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone was at the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Master.”

“Xǔ Tiānlí, is something the matter?”

“Someone’s here, saying they want to see you.”

Upon hearing this, Mù Qīngyǔ was momentarily stunned, wondering who could be looking for her.

‘Could it be that Father found out my location and sent members of the Four Sacred Courts?’

That would be disastrous; she absolutely couldn’t go with them.

Mù Qīngyǔ’s plan had only just begun.

If she were to separate from Xǔ Tiānlí now, meeting him again would be difficult.

‘Besides, if they’re looking for Mù Qīngyǔ, what does that have to do with me, Qín Yuè?’

“Tell them I’m busy right now and unavailable to see anyone…”

“It’s people from the Heaven’s Will Bureau.”

The Heaven’s Will Bureau?

This caught Mù Qīngyǔ by surprise.

“They wish to invite you to the branch office to discuss some important matters.”

“Still, decline.”

“They also said the matter is of great importance, and if you don’t go, Qiao Yíng might be in danger.”

Xǔ Tiānlí hadn’t heard the name Qiao Yíng before, but he could roughly guess who it was – probably the girl he’d met at the martial arts hall yesterday who was about his age.

‘It concerns Qiao Yíng?’

As if on cue, the name had appeared.

After a moment of contemplation, Mù Qīngyǔ rose and left the room.

The Heaven’s Will Bureau patrol members had been waiting for a long time at the entrance of the orphanage.

One of them was Old Cui, whom they had met before.

“I knew it!”

“If it was Young Xǔ sent to invite someone, he would definitely be able to move a master.”

“Uncle Cui, you give me too much credit.”

“So, what exactly is going on?”

“Get in the car first.”

“You’ll understand once you meet the Director.”

They had to meet the Director?

Mù Qīngyǔ recalled having met the Director of the Wufeng City branch once.

That time, on the back mountain, if he had arrived a few minutes earlier, Mù Qīngyǔ could have watched the battle between two Tier-3 Spirit Wielders from the sidelines.

The group boarded the waiting vehicle, speeding through the city center to the Heaven’s Will Bureau branch office.

This base was established in the very heart of Wufeng City, perfectly positioned for its monitoring and Heavenly Thunder systems to cover the entire city.

This wasn’t Xǔ Tiānlí’s first visit to the branch base.

He had come once or twice before when traveling with his father, but only ever explored the ground floor lobby before leaving.

Now, they entered an elevator, ascending directly to the highest floor of the base, to the Director’s office.

Before they entered, Old Cui patted Xǔ Tiānlí’s shoulder, whispering, “You’ve truly struck it rich, kid.”

“To be able to interact with the Director—you must seize this opportunity.”

“Ah, oh.”

Although the praise was directed at him, Xǔ Tiānlí knew in his heart that the Director truly wished to see Qín Yuè.

Looking at Qín Yuè’s retreating back, he noted that her face had been expressionless ever since they left the orphanage.

For a master like her, a mere branch Director was nothing to be surprised by.

‘How wonderful.’

‘When will I be like her?’

Even though she was right in front of him, Xǔ Tiānlí felt she was beyond his reach, as if one stood atop a towering mountain and the other in a deep abyss.

Upon entering the Director’s office, the two once again met Féng Yè, the Director of the Wufeng City branch.

He had already prepared everything necessary to receive guests, waiting for their arrival, and greeted them with a delighted smile.

“Miss Qín Yuè, I’m delighted you could grace us with your presence.” Féng Yè extended a hand.

Mù Qīngyǔ merely glanced down at it, then spoke coolly.

“So, what is it you want from us?”

Féng Yè showed no dissatisfaction at his hand hanging awkwardly in the air; instead, a touch of bitterness tinged his voice.

“To be honest, I invited you here simply because I need your help, Miss Qín Yuè.”

“Help?”

“Yes.”

Féng Yè’s smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

“Qiao Yíng has already made contact with you.”

“Miss Qín Yuè, you still remember her, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“To tell you the truth, she and I share a familial connection.” Féng Yè paused at this point.

“She ran away from home, deliberately came to me, and asked me to conceal her whereabouts.”

“She’s a truly worrisome child, and I apologize for any trouble she caused you.”

‘So, you’re relatives.’

‘A runaway girl…’ Mù Qīngyǔ felt somewhat offended.

“But now, Qiao Yíng has gone missing.”

Mù Qīngyǔ wasn’t particularly surprised by this.

If Féng Yè had called her to attend Qiao Yíng’s wedding, that would have truly astonished her.

“Initially, I thought she had just run off somewhere again, but I tried contacting her for a long time, and even went specifically to places she might frequent, yet I found no trace of her.”

“I see.”

“Qiao Yíng is also a Spirit Wielder, isn’t she?” Mù Qīngyǔ still didn’t show much concern.

“Isn’t finding missing persons precisely the work of your Heaven’s Will Bureau?”

“That’s true.”

“But she has called me Uncle since childhood, and I cannot be casual about her fate.”

Féng Yè pursed his lips.

“I know she caused you some trouble a few days ago, so if Miss Qín Yuè—Master Qín—can overlook past grievances and help us this time, not only will Qiao Yíng and I remember your kindness, but in Wufeng City hereafter, I will do my utmost to fulfill any request Master may have.”

‘Finding Qiao Yíng would make the entire Wufeng City branch owe us a favor?’

‘That sounds good.’

Xǔ Tiānlí’s heart had already stirred halfway through Féng Yè’s explanation.

Simply by finding the missing Qiao Yíng, they could gain so many benefits.

With the Heaven’s Will Bureau’s backing, who would dare bully the orphanage in Wufeng City from now on?

Perhaps even the persistent funding issues plaguing the orphanage could be resolved.

However, Xǔ Tiānlí’s excitement alone wasn’t enough; he still had to defer to his Master.

Unlike Xǔ Tiānlí, who was clearly moved, Mù Qīngyǔ showed no signs of delight.

On the contrary, she even seemed somewhat displeased.

“I have a question.” Mù Qīngyǔ suddenly spoke.

“What is Qiao Yíng’s identity?”

“…I apologize, but I cannot disclose that.” Féng Yè sighed.

“However, I can assure you that her background is indeed extraordinary.”

‘Isn’t that just stating the obvious?’

Mù Qīngyǔ remained silent for a moment before speaking again:

“Alright, I can help you with this.”

“But I have one condition.”

“What is it?”

“Do you already have some leads regarding Qiao Yíng’s location?”

“We do, indeed.”

“I will act alone, and you must not disturb me.”

Upon hearing this inexplicable request, not only Féng Yè but even Xǔ Tiānlí was momentarily stunned.

‘Acting alone, and not allowing anyone to interfere—doesn’t that sound like she’s planning to take advantage of the situation?’

‘Would Master really do such a thing?’

‘That couldn’t possibly be true.’

Xǔ Tiānlí firmly believed that his Master must have a profound reason for acting this way.