Huang Zhong’s voice was not loud, but the moment he spoke everyone fell silent: “Everyone, hear me out.”

The crowd fixed their eyes on him, waiting for what he would say next.

He continued calmly: “Although we still don’t know exactly who those people are, I can stake my life that they are not here for Sui Bian.”

A few voices rose at once, puzzled and sharp: “What do you mean? Didn’t they keep saying they were here to seize Sui Bian?” another added, “Yeah, did we mishear them, or did they make a mistake?”

Someone in the back cut in, urging restraint: “Don’t argue, let Huang Zhong finish first.”

After that brief commotion the room quieted again, and Huang Zhong went on: “I’ve been in contact with Sui Bian the whole time. Besides Old Black Daoist, there is another person at his side, and she is the true target of those people.”

Tie Gu gave a cold snort, his tone sour with suspicion: “What, another of Sui Bian’s damsels in distress?”

Huang Zhong shook his head: “No. Her surname is Yu, given name Zhao. She is a forty-eighth-generation disciple of the Five Elements Dao Sect.”

The room drew in a collective breath, shock rippling across grim faces.

Because Sui Bian wanted to give these old fellows a grand surprise, he had told no one about Yu Zhao’s existence except his closest confidant, Huang Zhong. Naturally, the others had no idea the Middle Thousand World now contained another young cultivator from the Cultivation World.

Someone’s voice came out tight with disbelief: “But how can that be? There hasn’t been an Ascension from the Cultivation World in nearly a thousand years.”

Nerves tightened all around. Even Tie Gu, who moments ago wanted to drag Sui Bian back and thrash him, stared at Huang Zhong with agitated excitement.

Huang Zhong explained succinctly: “Yu Zhao did not come by the normal path of Ascension. She entered through an ancient Dao field, caught the eye of a great cultivator of the Great Thousand World, and by a twist of fate arrived in the Middle Thousand World.”

He sketched out Yu Zhao’s experiences in brief. Many listened with half-belief. It was not that they were unwilling to accept it; it simply sounded too implausible. A genius gifted enough to attract the favor of a great cultivator in the Great Thousand World, yet by accident cast down to the Middle Thousand World and, by sheer coincidence, discovered by Sui Bian—such a chain of happenstance was almost too neat.

Qian Si, however, cared more about something else. She asked quietly: “Huang Zhong, you mean they are after Yu Zhao. What does she have on her that is worth coveting?”

Huang Zhong answered, letting the weight of each word land: “Yu Zhao is a top-grade Water Spiritual Root. When she first arrived in the Middle Thousand World, the Earth, Wind, Fire, and Lightning clans captured her as a Furnace Cauldron. She barely escaped.”

He left the rest unsaid, yet everyone present understood. Furnace Cauldrons came in grades. A top-grade Water Spiritual Root was an exquisite, upper-class Furnace Cauldron. Paired with certain secret techniques, Yu Zhao would be nothing less than a walking, human tonic.

Tie Gu ground out an oath through his teeth: “A pack of shameless wastes, daring to treat one of our Cultivation World people as a Furnace Cauldron; I’ll flay them alive.”

Another spat, disgust rising: “I knew it, the way they were snapping like mad dogs—turns out they’re beasts wearing human skin.”

A third voice slammed Sui Bian and Old Black Daoist out of mingled anger and worry: “And Sui Bian and Old Black Daoist too, the two of them together couldn’t protect one Yu Zhao; who knows how much she suffered out there.”

A moment ago their grievances were aimed at Sui Bian; in an instant their fury shifted to those unknown cultivators.

Huang Zhong’s eyes, which had hidden a deep worry, steadied at last: “They seized Yan Yi and the others to force Sui Bian to show himself. We cannot give them what they want.”

“But…” someone began, the voice fraying.

From their Ascension out of the Cultivation World to arriving in the Seven Mists Realm, these cultivators from different sects and regions had twisted into a single rope. They treated one another like family. Yu Zhao was important, but many had not even seen her face; compared with her, it was only natural that the companions they lived with day and night weighed more heavily on their hearts.

Huang Zhong swept his gaze around the room: “We are anxious, but they are even more anxious. This is a test of who loses their patience first. When they show themselves, we negotiate. Until we see Sui Bian and Yu Zhao, Yan Yi and the others will remain safe.”

The others thought for a time. With no better plan on hand, they could only agree for now.

Meanwhile, in the city next to Four Seas City, the patriarchs of the Wind, Fire, Water, and Metal clans sat together. Their juniors stood in ranks behind them, which made the space behind the main seat—reserved for the Earth Clan’s patriarch—look especially bare.

Patriarch Tu spoke first, his voice low and heavy: “What is the situation now?”

A beat of silence followed. The Water Clan patriarch was the first to answer: “Those people in Four Seas City are holed up inside the compound and refuse to come out. They seem determined to hold out to the end.”

The Wind Clan leader added with a frown: “Not only are they staying inside, they have cut off all contact with the outside. We can’t see what they’re doing in there.”

The Fire Clan patriarch smashed a palm on the arm of his chair, impatience flaring: “I don’t have time to play cat-and-mouse with them. Tu Zhen Yue, say the word—what do you need me to do?”

Tu Zhen Yue ignored him and turned instead to the taciturn Mu Clan patriarch: “Have those captured cultivators said anything?”

The Mu Clan patriarch shook his head, a puzzled crease between his brows: “Strangely enough, after wailing twice at the beginning, they adjusted quite quickly. Today they were actually sitting together brewing tea and tasting wine.”

The other patriarchs traded looks, their expressions turning odd. Did those people not understand they had become prisoners, to have leisure for such things?

The Metal Clan patriarch spoke slowly, as if reciting what he had just gleaned: “I have already sent people to find out. These captives are all from a Lesser Thousand World. After ascending to the Middle Thousand World they clung together for warmth, but I hear there have been no Ascensions from there for the last few centuries.”

Tu Zhen Yue’s eyes narrowed to a point: “Then is Yu Zhao also from that same place?”

The Wind Clan leader turned to Feng Jiu Si: “Jiu Si, you speak.”

Feng Jiu Si answered with careful solemnity: “Based on what I currently know, there is only the smallest chance that Yu Zhao is from the same place. Those who ascend to the Seven Mists Realm have all reached the Void Refinement Stage, but when I met Yu Zhao she was only at late Nascent Soul. Moreover, the others ascended at sites within the Seven Mists Realm, while she came from the direction of Auspicious Palace. Most importantly, there is a credible report from a witness who personally heard Yu Zhao call Sui Bian ‘father’. Therefore, they are very likely father and daughter.”

He said the last sentence like a nail hammered into wood, firm and ringing. The others thought it over and, in the end, agreed with his conclusion. If not tied by blood, why would a man risk his life to protect someone he had only recently met? Besides, both Yu Zhao and Sui Bian were notorious for their taste in beauty. To make sense of appearances, a blood relationship felt especially tidy.

The Fire Clan leader, however, raised a doubt: “No. If Yu Zhao were only Sui Bian’s daughter, why would those people in Four Seas City also be dead set on protecting her?”

Someone answered with an easy laugh: “You don’t know this. Those who ascended from the Cultivation World are unusually united and fiercely protective. Just a few days ago, I hear they stormed the underground black market to save someone and they are still posted on the bounty board.”

Another added matter-of-factly: “If Yu Zhao is Sui Bian’s daughter, she counts as half one of their own.”

A third chuckled darkly: “For all we know they haven’t even told Sui Bian and Yu Zhao that we’ve encircled them. Those two might still be out there living it up.”