Half a year later, Ji Li still remembered the first time he had met Xue Tinghai.
Back then, the Seventh Branch had been understaffed and low-ranking, and its members had felt considerable unease and uncertainty about participating in their first Joint Reception mission.
The first time he had heard Xue Tinghai's name had been from Tong Guan, who had only just joined the branch.
Ji Li still remembered the eight words Tong Guan had used to describe Xue Tinghai:
"Dark in temperament, ruthless and vicious in his methods."
The managers of the Top Ten Branches each had their strengths. Looking back now, that description of Xue Tinghai was hardly remarkable.
Neither Xue Tinghai nor his Fourth Branch could really be called conspicuous within the Heavenly Sea. It was neither the best of the lesser branches nor the worst of the greater ones, but somewhere in the middle.
The Kyoto mission had been Ji Li's first Joint Reception mission, and Xue Tinghai had been the first enemy he encountered from another branch.
What had left the deepest impression on Ji Li was their first encounter.
At the Cube Building on that snowy night in Kyoto, Xue Tinghai had anticipated Ji Li's ambush and devised a counterambush that nearly dealt the Seventh Branch a devastating blow.
But after that, Ji Li's first enemy had suffered defeat after defeat, until he fled for his life at the end of the Kyoto mission.
The White-faced Ghost Mask had also passed from his hands to Fang Shenyan's.
Perhaps the gears of fate had shifted at that very moment.
Whether through coincidence or predestination, as Ji Li made his appearance on the Heavenly Sea's stage, many of its former "players" had begun showing signs of stepping aside and taking their final bows.
First came Li Congrong,