Zhang Baichuan watched Su Ye leave the Patrol Bureau.
He nodded with satisfaction, then made a call.
A moment later...
Yujing.
The Su Family.
Su Xingchen hung up and stood by the window, staring into space.
"Third Sister, what are you daydreaming about?"
Su Mingyue came out of her room and found Su Xingchen at the window, looking lost.
"Did something happen?"
Su Xingchen looked at her sister. "Su Ye joined the Patrol Bureau."
"What?! That slacker from the Slums?! How could that be?!"
Su Mingyue cried out. She couldn't believe it.
How could someone who was still at the Third Level of Kaiyuan at eighteen join the Patrol Bureau?!
"Third Sister, did you ask someone to look after him? No, that's not it. Su Ye must be using the Su Family name to bluff his way around Fangyuan City! Trust a slacker from the Slums to pull strings!"
"Hmph. Didn't he have the nerve to leave the family?! Let him fend for himself! Wait, I remember now. The director of the Patrol Bureau in Fangyuan City... Zhang Baichuan, was it? Wasn't he your squad captain when you went into the Secret Realm? He must have recruited Su Ye!"
"Isn't that an abuse of his position?! What happened to discipline?!"
"No, I'm calling him!"
Su Mingyue raised her smart wristband to call Zhang Baichuan.
"Second Sister!"
Su Xingchen stopped her agitated sister.
Disbelief and disappointment flickered in her eyes.
"Second Sister, Su Ye didn't get into the Patrol Bureau through connections. He earned his place."
"Please!"
Su Mingyue scoffed.
"How could that slacker possibly do that?!"
Su Xingchen smiled bitterly.
"Su Ye isn't a slacker. He's a Supernatural Ability Awakener."
"What?!"
The mocking smile on Su Mingyue's face slowly froze.
"Su Ye... awakened a supernatural ability?!"
Su Xingchen nodded.
"And it's a Body-Type Supernatural Ability, the kind best suited to combat."
In truth, when Su Xingchen first heard the news, she had only been surprised for a moment before accepting it.
The higher a martial artist's cultivation level, the more their body's genes and bloodline developed.
That was why the children of high-tier martial artists often had greater cultivation talent and were more likely to awaken supernatural abilities.
For example, all the Su sisters had awakened their own abilities.
Su Yang, on the other hand... had good martial talent but had not awakened an ability.
As a child of the Su Family, it was no surprise that Su Ye had awakened one.
Su Mingyue had clearly thought of that too.
"Hmph... What a waste of the Su Family bloodline on that slacker. He's only at the Third Level of Kaiyuan... So what if he awakened an ability?"
Su Xingchen shook her head again.
"Second Sister, Su Ye has already reached the Seventh Level of Kaiyuan."
"What?! How is that possible? How long has he been back?!"
"It hasn't even been a week since Su Ye left the Su Family. That means he broke through four minor realms in seven days—no, less than seven days. Even Xiao Yang couldn't match that cultivation speed back then."
Su Xingchen even suspected that Su Ye's earlier cultivation had been slow because his body had used most of its energy to awaken his ability. Now that it had awakened, his cultivation level had soared.
But why had his ability awakened so late?
Thinking of how Su Ye had spent his childhood in the Slums, Su Xingchen felt a faint pang of discomfort.
He had grown up without the Su Family's nutrient potions and medicinal baths, and he'd had to work to earn his own money... No wonder he had only awakened his ability at eighteen.
If Su Ye had grown up in the Su Family...
Perhaps things would have been completely different.
After her initial shock, Su Mingyue shook her head sharply.
"Xingchen, you're comparing that slacker from the Slums to Xiao Yang? That's an insult to Xiao Yang! Hmph. So what if he's reached the Seventh Level of Kaiyuan? At his age, Xiao Yang had already reached the Peak of the Second Heaven of Transcendent!"
"Besides... Xingchen, why are you paying so much attention to that little slacker? He left the family. He's no longer one of us!"
Just thinking about how Su Ye had dared to attack her beloved younger brother Su Yang—and mocked him as a fake—made anger flare in Su Mingyue's chest.
Su Xingchen shook her head.
Second Sister seems to have forgotten... Su Ye has the Su Family's blood in his veins. How could we not care about him at all?
But Second Sister had a point.
Su Ye had left the family.
And even with his newly awakened ability, he could not compare to Xiao Yang.
That was how cultivation worked: fall behind once, and you kept falling further behind.
She only hoped Su Ye could live in peace and not bring trouble to the Su Family.
The sisters let the subject drop and went downstairs together.
"You shouldn't let anything else distract you right now, Little Sister. Focus on cultivating and raise your cultivation level as quickly as you can. I hear that place is about to open. If you gain an opportunity there, you'll have a better chance of becoming a War God one day."
"Mm, I know, Second Sister. I'm close to a breakthrough myself, which has left me restless... I'm going into seclusion after this. I'll settle my mind and won't come out until I break through."
"That's the right attitude, Little Sister. The greatest reason the Su Family stands among Dong Huang's Seven Great Families is our own cultivation."
As the sisters walked away,
a figure slowly emerged around the corner.
It was Su Yang, his face dark.
"Su Ye... awakened a supernatural ability?!"
"No wonder. No wonder Zhang Xuan said he'd run into trouble and couldn't continue. Su Ye became a Patrol Bureau officer... Of course. The son of a mere merchant wouldn't dare provoke an officer who'd awakened a supernatural ability."
There was only contempt for Zhang Xuan in Su Yang's voice, not anger.
Zhang Xuan's incompetence mattered less than Su Ye's sudden awakening.
"Su Ye, you've already left. Why can't you just wait quietly to die? Why do you have to keep making trouble?!"
Su Yang clenched his fists.
As long as Su Ye lived, his very existence would be a constant reminder... Su Ye was the true blood descendant of the Su Family.
And he was a fake!
Of the Su Family's five children, including Su Ye... every one of them had awakened a supernatural ability.
Except him.
"Is bloodline really that powerful?!"
"No. Once someone's dead, even the strongest bloodline is useless."
Meanwhile,
on the Southeastern Battlefield,
news that Su Ye had awakened a supernatural ability and joined the Patrol Bureau reached Su Zhengdao and Xuanyuan Mingmou.
Su Zhengdao was pleased at first... That's my son. Of course he has some talent.
But he soon frowned and waved the messenger away.
Hmph. That unfilial son left the family!
Who wants to hear about him?!
Xuanyuan Mingmou merely sneered.
"He joined the Patrol Bureau? What a coward!"
Before you continue