During the Sect Competition, Fuyu City was a gathering place for Cultivators from all the major sects, so it was inevitable that all sorts of people would be mixed together. Although Momen's Formations and the experts of the Great Gan Royal Family were stationed there, there was no guarantee some foolhardy thief wouldn't come hoping to get lucky.
It was also possible that some hostile faction would take advantage of the chaos during the competition to engage in some underhanded business.
Whatever the case, anyone sneaking over the wall into his courtyard in the middle of the night definitely hadn't come by to chat over tea.
Gu Chengming didn't open his eyes. He remained motionless in his meditative pose, but Spiritual Power was already quietly circulating inside him, ready to erupt at a moment's notice.
The intruder climbed over the courtyard wall and landed lightly on the flagstones. Their footsteps were exceedingly faint; without the aid of the Mortal World Illusory Body Technique, even a Fourth Realm Cultivator might not have noticed them right away.
The intruder's cultivation was no small matter. At the very least, they were highly skilled at concealing themselves.
The intruder paused in the courtyard for a moment, seemingly checking the situation inside the room.
Then the footsteps sounded again, slowly approaching the bedroom where Gu Chengming was.
—The door opened.
A slender figure slipped silently into the room.
In the darkness, the figure seemed to let out a breath of relief and slowly approached the "soundly sleeping" target on the bed.
Just as the figure was about to touch the edge of the bed, Gu Chengming moved. He sprang out of his cross-legged pose in an instant, seizing the intruder's wrist with his left hand while his right hand produced a magical artifact he'd prepared