CHAPTER 427: CHAPTER 427: YOUR HIGHNESS

In the GuiXi Western Suburbs, a group of grey-robed people gathered.

With a burst of spatial fluctuation, Li Ji’s figure appeared at a specific beacon location.

The leader of the grey-robed individuals fell silent for a moment upon seeing Li Ji materialize so suddenly.

"Is it really that preposterous?"

"Yes, indeed. It’s quite preposterous. Even the beacon was forced out."

Li Ji felt somewhat uncomfortable. Beacons were not mass-produced spatial devices capable of short-distance Spatial Transfer. Such a device, as long as its location wasn’t preemptively determined, would be a very powerful life-saving item in anyone’s possession. Even with Li Ji’s status, such a thing was not to be used casually. Using one this time truly pained her.

"Did you encounter Zhang Changming?" the leader asked. "If it was him, being forced to use the beacon wouldn’t be a loss, especially since the operation wasn’t only directed towards you."

Li Ji shook her head. "I did see Zhang Changming, but the person who forced me away wasn’t him."

"Hmm?"

The leader of the grey-robed people was slightly surprised. If it wasn’t Zhang Changming, who else in the GuiXi area could overpower Li Ji one-on-one? Even if the adversary was a formidable Sixth Tier, surely Li Ji would at least be capable of escape?

"I encountered a disguised person," Li Ji explained. "His strength was very formidable, likely at the Seventh Tier level..."

Li Ji narrated the entire account of her encounter with Lu Luo to the leader of the grey-robed people.

Upon hearing Li Ji say that Lu Luo and Zhang Changming seemed to know each other, the leader of the grey-robed people interrupted her. "How can you be so sure that these two are acquainted?"

"Probably a woman’s intuition," Li Ji replied. "Their tones of voice and their attitudes were more inclined towards anger. Zhang Changming isn’t someone who angers easily. An issue that could make him angry must be something he cares about. Capturing Sequence users wouldn’t likely anger Zhang Changming. Therefore, according to my deduction, the one who angered Zhang Changming was still that disguised person."

The grey-robed leader nodded. The situation Li Ji described was indeed possible.

"Who would have thought another Seventh Tier would emerge in the GuiXi district. This isn’t the Imperial Capital," the leader mused. "The appearance of a Seventh Tier will certainly affect our plans."

"It’s not too bad," Li Ji said. "Although his strength is formidable, I have my ways. Besides, he didn’t catch me, did he? Moreover, he didn’t get any useful information out of me."

Li Ji flicked her hair, appearing very relaxed. But only she knew the immense pressure she had faced when confronting Lu Luo. His domineering presence, his unreasonableness, and his fierce combat prowess had all left a profound impression on her.

However, one thing struck her as odd. Li Ji felt that the person should be very young because his tone, voice, and attitude lacked that aged and overbearing feel.

At this thought, Li Ji chuckled to herself. "How could such a person exist? A young Seventh Tier? A disguise. It must be a disguise."

Having finished their conversation, Li Ji began working with the grey-robed leader on distributing personnel. After expending considerable manpower and resources, they had carried out nine operations this time, bringing back thirteen Sequence users. The greatest loss was Fat Jing, a Sixth Tier Sequence user of immense value. Unfortunately, Lu Luo had foiled their plans for him.

These Sequence users were being meticulously scrutinized. When it was Wang Jia’s turn, the grey-robed leader muttered with suspicion, "Huh? There’s something wrong with this woman... Not good, there’s a problem."

Just as he voiced his surprise, the Netherflame on Wang Jia’s body suddenly ignited, startling those nearby. The intense energy fluctuation allowed Lu Luo, who was far away, to instantly pinpoint their location.

"What?" Li Ji also sensed that something was amiss. If this person had indeed been marked by someone, then their location could also be exposed.

"This woman has a mark on her left by someone else," the leader confirmed.

"What do we do now? Leave?" Li Ji asked.

"Yes, leave."

These people didn’t abandon Wang Jia. Instead, they forced a potion down her throat, knocked her unconscious, and immediately began to relocate.

Most of the grey-robed people had already left, but Li Ji stayed behind, remaining where they were and making some arrangements.

The leader asked, "What are you doing? Setting a trap? Aren’t you leaving?"

"You all go first," Li Ji replied. "Don’t forget, my coming to GuiXi isn’t just for this mission. I also have to host the awards ceremony at the Association’s Grand Meeting."

The grey-robed leader nodded slightly upon hearing Li Ji’s words, as he was well aware of her identity.

"Then be careful. You still have a beacon, right?"

"Mm-hm, I do. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful."

Li Ji was quite confident in her own abilities. As long as she didn’t run into freaks like Lu Luo and Zhang Changming, she was pretty much safe in the desolate GuiXi region.

After all the grey-robed people had gone, Li Ji repositioned several cameras, then departed, keeping her distance.

"Heh-heh, let’s see who you are."

「...」

Elsewhere, Lu Luo sensed the Netherflame fluctuation and frowned slightly.

Has it been discovered?

After some consideration, Lu Luo decided to check out the place where the Netherflame had fluctuated. The Netherflame mark was an extremely covert technique, yet it had still been discovered. This indicated that the enemy’s counter-surveillance capabilities were strong; traps likely awaited him there. However, he had no other choice. If he didn’t go, he would gain nothing; if he went, he might at least obtain some useful information.

I should still go take a look.

Hurrying to the outskirts, Lu Luo quickly found traces of the grey-robed group’s passage. Clearly, people had been here, quite a few of them. Under a tree, Lu Luo confirmed this was where Wang Jia had been and where the Netherflame had been triggered. But now, the place was deserted, with no traces left behind.

Observer’s voice echoed in his mind, It’s all Zhang Changming’s fault.

"Yes, it’s all Zhang Changming’s fault!" Lu Luo agreed wholeheartedly. If it hadn’t been for Zhang Changming, he probably would have given chase. Such a pity, truly a pity!

As Lu Luo was reflecting, Observer suddenly warned, its message clear in his mind: "Above."

"Hm?"

Lu Luo abruptly looked up and spotted a camera hidden among the leaves. Fortunately, wary of traps, Lu Luo had put on his original mask.

"Oh-ho! There’s actually a camera."

Just as Lu Luo reached to take down the camera, a water gun mounted on it surprisingly triggered.

SQUIRT! SQUIRT! SQUIRT!

Water sprayed right in Lu Luo’s face. He hadn’t dodged, not because he couldn’t, but because he had subconsciously dismissed the attack as non-threatening—so much so that it wouldn’t even trigger a warning from the Faithless. So, no evasion was necessary. And indeed, he got a faceful of water.

Lu Luo wiped his mask, clearing off the water.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the camera, Li Ji was roaring with laughter. Looking smug, she seemed to have achieved some sort of psychological victory.

Yet, as she stared at the screen, meeting Lu Luo’s eyes, Li Ji sensed something was amiss. Their gazes locked through the camera, and Lu Luo’s eyes began to slowly transform. His red pupils expanded like a blood moon, the radiating lines within them resembling a ring of steel needles.

Li Ji suddenly felt an urge to vomit. Waves of dizziness assaulted her brain. This sensation...

"Contamination? This person... How could he have Contamination?"

Li Ji retreated a few steps, only to see the masked Lu Luo give a slight shudder, as if mocking her weakness. Somewhat angered, Li Ji snatched up a cup and hurled it at the screen.

BANG!

Sparks and a blue flash indicated the surveillance screen was completely destroyed. Only then did Li Ji feel somewhat relieved.

But it wasn’t over. When she looked at another surveillance screen, the image began to blur. Li Ji thought it was a poor signal and was about to adjust it when the monitor’s display suddenly changed.

A giant red eyeball replaced the original footage, appearing right before Li Ji.

"Argh!"

An intense feeling of suffocation made her recoil, clutching her throat as she desperately tried to distance herself from the sight. However, after taking a few steps, Li Ji seemed to remember something. She hastily retrieved a small vial from her bosom. This vial wasn’t for drinking, but for inhaling. After taking a few deep breaths from the vial held to her nose, Li Ji’s panic seemed to subside.

When she looked back at the screen, the giant eye was gone—it was just Lu Luo standing there, staring at the camera.

"Such intense Contamination! It’s practically on the level of a Bizarre that serves as a direct source of it. Is this person really human?"

With lingering fear, Li Ji turned off the surveillance. Her status was very high, and she had a much deeper understanding of Sequence Contamination than most people. It was just as Zhang Changming had said before: the source of Sequences was the Bizarre King. Normally, reaching the level of a Monarch like Nightmare Noah already meant exhibiting strong Contamination. And Lu Luo currently carried multiple Grade S Sequences. His own Sequence Power was already incredibly intense, magnified further by his current enhanced strength and the influence of the Doomsday Disc. Lu Luo’s power level was simply off the charts—exceptionally so! So much so that, despite them both being Sixth Tier, his Sequence Force could contaminate Li Ji, someone of the same tier.

Could this person be the one from before? Li Ji wondered. Even though Lu Luo’s current appearance was quite different from the grey-robed figure before, Li Ji could still see some resemblance in his build. For such a person to be lurking in GuiXi... wouldn’t Zhang Changming hunt him down?!

「...」

Lu Luo crushed, one by one, the cameras Observer had pointed out. He then destroyed them on the spot. He had exposed too much today; he couldn’t afford to reveal any more.

"Went out for a quick run, seemed like I did a lot, but in reality, I accomplished nothing and gained nothing," Lu Luo muttered to himself. "So unlucky."

Observer added mentally, It’s all Zhang Changming’s fault.

Yeah, it’s all Zhang Changming’s fault, Lu Luo thought with a sigh.

Feeling somewhat helpless, Lu Luo returned to the hotel where Qi Xinzhu was staying and briefly explained the night’s events.

"Capturing Sequence users?" Qi Xinzhu asked.

"Yes, that’s right," Lu Luo replied. "You and Sola were out shopping earlier, so this incident didn’t involve you. Otherwise, it would have been quite dangerous."

Lu Luo continued, "Those grey-robed individuals, when dealing with other Transcendents, met any resistance with slaughter. If you didn’t resist, they wouldn’t harm you further. However, with your temperament, not resisting would be impossible. So, if you had been with the three members of the Wang Family earlier, a fight would have been unavoidable."

"If I had been there, maybe Wang Jia wouldn’t have been taken away," Qi Xinzhu said.

"That does seem plausible," Lu Luo conceded.

The Cain Secret Cultivator Society had only lost some ordinary members, plus Wang Jia. Wang Gang and Wang Yu had survived, albeit injured. Since they had been defending from the rooftop, their situation was much better. Nevertheless, even though they survived, they were now trembling in fear, hiding in their safe house and too afraid to come out.

"Have Sola find someone to take over the Cain Secret Cultivator Society," Lu Luo said. "Just having a front will do. After all, we still need to use the Cain Secret Cultivator Society’s name for resource development operations."

"Understood," Qi Xinzhu replied.

「...」

The next day, Lu Luo went to the Sewer Square as usual to participate in his second-round match.

Upon arrival, he felt several gazes upon him. Some were indeed from ordinary competitors here, but many more were scouts from various associations.

Many people must now know about my performance yesterday, Lu Luo thought. But they probably can’t confirm my identity yet, so no one has extended an immediate invitation.

Besides these two types of people, there were others lurking in inconspicuous corners. They not only kept their gazes locked on Lu Luo but also surreptitiously took photos or aimed strange, clicking devices at him. Lu Luo had a guess about their identities—they likely belonged to another official department here, similar to the one the old man from yesterday was from.

So, I’m still being watched, huh!

Despite being watched, today’s competition had to proceed as usual. Because today’s challenger group matches now consisted entirely of previous winners, Lu Luo’s current group was filled with Third Tier Transcendents, and there were even a few Fourth Tiers. A few Second Tiers were also present, though they didn’t dare speak; their advancement yesterday had been pure luck. In today’s second round, their only role was to stand aside and tremble.

Arriving at the center of the arena, Lu Luo noticed today’s contestants were very confident. Their eyes shone with the arrogance of experts. Of course, in Lu Luo’s eyes, this arrogance seemed somewhat comical. Lu Luo paid little attention to these people; compared to them, he was more concerned about those lurking in the shadows.

With all this attention on me, will they make a move? he wondered.

With this doubt in mind, Lu Luo began the match.

Groin-Kicker from yesterday was there too, already hiding behind Lu Luo.

"Boss," Groin-Kicker whispered, "can you do that thing again like yesterday? You know, one ’Hmph!’ and all these guys just drop?"

Groin-Kicker’s request, to be honest, was quite difficult. Most of the Transcendents in the arena now were Third Tier; trying to stun a Third Tier with mere aura was a bit unrealistic. Not to mention, there were also one or two Fourth Tier experts. Opponents of this caliber already met Lu Luo’s criteria for needing to act personally.

"Probably not," Lu Luo replied.

Groin-Kicker’s face fell. "Huh? Then I’m toast!"

"No worries," Lu Luo said with a grin. "Today, let’s just call it ’Beating Up the Little Guys: Season One.’"

As he spoke, Lu Luo moved!

Steam enveloped the entire field, and Lu Luo swept through the arena like a hurricane.

Members of the Shadow Department meticulously recorded everything Lu Luo did. His intelligence was already being reported to the Imperial Capital, marking him as one of many individuals requiring top-level observation.

「...」

In the official venue of the Association’s Grand Meeting, Qi Xinzhu once again emerged victorious from her second-round group match with absolutely overwhelming strength. Her performance also attracted the attention of many, including some prominent figures.

The District Chief of GuiXi, Yun Luo’s father, was conversing with a woman wearing a veil.

"Your Highness seems quite interested in her. Would you like me to call her over?" he asked.

"No need," the woman replied. "She’s just a Fourth Tier. Outstanding, yes, but not exceptionally so. She’s very likely to win the championship; we can meet her then."

"Um, but there are Fifth Tier experts participating in this assembly. Why would Your Highness favor her?"

"Who says a Fifth Tier can definitely beat a Fourth Tier? If their foundation isn’t solid, being Fifth Tier is meaningless."

"Is that so! I don’t understand cultivation. I just assumed whoever has the higher level is stronger."

The chubby District Chief Yun spoke slowly and deliberately, appearing somewhat endearingly clueless. However, the woman sitting opposite him knew better than to think he was an easy mark.

"District Chief Yun," the woman said, "I hear GuiXi has been rather unsettled recently. Is your police force sufficient?"

"More than sufficient, more than sufficient! Your Highness is too kind to worry," he replied. "Even if I’m old and not up to it anymore, isn’t there still Zhang Changming? He’s young; he’ll be fine."

"Oh, Minister Zhang, is it? I’ve certainly heard of his great name. And I also heard that when Minister Zhang was young, he had some connection with the Bai Family. Have you heard this, District Chief Yun?"

This question nearly left District Chief Yun at a loss for words. Although he was one of the nine great district chiefs, it was best not to get involved in matters concerning the Imperial core.

"How could I possibly know about such things?" he demurred. "If Your Highness wishes to know, it would be best to ask Minister Zhang personally."

"Ask him personally, you say?" The woman mused. "Well, I suppose that’s the only way."

She rubbed her chest; the faint palm print Lu Luo had left there the previous day still lingered.

I’m also very curious about the outcome of last night’s battle between Zhang Changming and Lu Luo! she thought.