"Would Young Supervisor Song have any doubts about the outcome this time?"
Xu Huaiyi thought it over before answering. "Probably not."
The Flying Boat cut through the clouds, sunlight spilling onto the deck through the thin mist.
After a moment of silence, Xu Huaiyi suddenly asked, "Fellow Daoist Gu, your cultivation..."
She hesitated, then said it anyway. "You're at the Second Layer of the Third Realm now?"
After seeing it happen so many times, she had grown somewhat accustomed to Gu Chengming's constitution—the kind that gained a realm every time he went on a mission. When he confirmed it, she smiled faintly, let her gaze linger on his face for a moment, then turned back to the sea of clouds outside.
For the rest of the journey, they occasionally exchanged a few words about Longevity Sect's plans going forward or the latest happenings in Capital City. The atmosphere was neither warm nor distant, and remained so until the outline of Capital City appeared on the horizon.
Xu Huaiyi stood and tucked the files into her sleeve, then straightened her clothes.
"I'll go report to the Imperial Observatory first."
She walked to the cabin door and paused, turning her head slightly. "Take care, Fellow Daoist Gu."
"You too, Fellow Daoist Xu." Xu Huaiyi gave a slight nod and departed first in a streak of clear light.
Gu Chengming watched her retreating figure until the streak of light vanished into the river of fortune above Capital City.
Town Night Division
Zhou Qingmu was in much better shape than when he had seen her last.
She was still in a wheelchair, but some color had returned to her face. The cross-bladed saber still rested across her knees, but the hand gripping it was no longer pale. It had the healthy color of