"Zhang Yu?"
After a brief silence, a wave of barely suppressed gasps and murmurs erupted inside the hall.
"Who is Zhang Yu?"
The vast majority of the royal family's senior members were unfamiliar with the name Zhang Yu.
"The eldest legitimate son of Marquis Yong'an—the one... the famous 'martial arts good-for-nothing,' the 'Discarded Son of a Marquis Estate'?"
"How is that possible?"
"Did Princess Fenghua mistake him for someone else?"
Even those who recognized Zhang Yu remembered him only as a discarded son of his Lineage and a bootlicker.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible."
A prince cried out, his face full of disbelief and absurdity.
"I've heard a little about that Zhang Yu from Marquis Yong'an's Estate. He's nothing but a good-for-nothing with first-grade cultivation.
"And he's a coward, always trying to curry favor with his stepmother and younger siblings. He's a laughingstock in Capital City.
"How could he possibly have such heaven-defying abilities?
"Niece Fenghua, are you sure you didn't mistake him for someone else?"
"Indeed. This is absurd."
The others echoed him, unable to accept the truth.
Having someone they considered a "good-for-nothing" slap the entire royal family in the face was even harder to stomach than being humiliated by a reclusive grandmaster.
It was a double insult to their intelligence and the dignity of the royal family.
But Du Jun abruptly rose from his seat, staring fixedly at Zhang Yu in the light screen. His eyes were filled with unprecedented shock—and a trace of bitter understanding.
"It's him... It really is him..."
Du Jun muttered in disbelief.
"Simply inconceivable. Zhang Yu isn't just a master of alchemy; he also cultivates formations. And his formation skills are no weaker than Xiao Xuan's, the Formation Grandmaster. How did he manage that?"
He simply couldn't imagine how one person could cultivate both formations and alchemy.
"President Du, you know this man?"
Xiao Xuan abruptly turned his head, his sharp gaze shooting toward Du Jun like a hawk's.
Du Jun gave a bitter smile, his expression filled with self-mockery and helplessness. "I do more than know him... He's my... friend, despite the difference in our ages."
"Your friend?"
The crowd was shocked once again.
What sort of status did Du Jun hold? He was the president of the Alchemist Guild, a man even the emperor had to treat with deference.
And he was actually "friends despite their age difference" with a discarded son of the Marquis Estate, a young man barely over twenty?
"That's right."
Du Jun drew a deep breath and spoke gravely.
"Everyone, we were all wrong about him.
"Zhang Yu is no 'martial arts good-for-nothing' or 'Discarded Son of a Marquis Estate.'
"His attainments in alchemy... are no lower than mine. In fact... they may be even greater."
"What?"
His words rang through the hall like another thunderclap.
His attainments in alchemy were no lower than Du Jun's?
Du Jun was the foremost alchemist in the Wei Kingdom, a grandmaster and an alchemy master.
A young man of twenty had alchemical skills greater than Du Jun's?
How was that possible?
"Brother Du, are you certain?"
Xiao Xuan's expression grew grave, and even his voice had changed.
A young man who had attained divine mastery in formations and whose alchemical skills rivaled Du Jun's?
Was... was he even human?
"Absolutely."
Du Jun's tone was utterly certain, and a complex gleam flickered in his eyes.
"I once watched him refine Pills with my own eyes. His technique was miraculous, and his understanding of medicinal properties had reached an inconceivable level.
"And... he casually produced a holy-grade Pill like the long-lost Bodhi Pill."
"The Bodhi Pill?"
The crowd drew in another sharp breath.
It was a legendary Pill, a sacred medicine that could improve one's aptitude and help people break through bottlenecks.
And Zhang Yu could just casually produce one?
"Your Majesty, Old Ancestor."
Just then, the intelligence chief, who had remained silent all along, presented a detailed report about Zhang Yu.
Xiao Zhengshan took the report and quickly skimmed it. His expression grew more and more complicated.
First confusion, then shock, then... bewilderment and profound disbelief.
The report documented Zhang Yu's life in detail.
This... this was the portrait of a textbook "good-for-nothing," a complete "cowardly loser," a "discarded son of his Lineage."
The person in the light screen, who controlled the Heavenly Prison's grand formation, left grandmasters helpless, and earned Du Jun's unreserved praise, was like an entirely different person!
"What... what is going on?"
The report trembled slightly in Xiao Zhengshan's hands. He looked at the intelligence chief, his voice hoarse. "Are you certain... this report is accurate?"
Cold sweat poured down the intelligence chief's forehead. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the report... is absolutely accurate. It's been checked repeatedly. As for why... I... I don't know either."
Indeed, why?
That was the greatest question in everyone's mind.
How could someone clearly labeled a "good-for-nothing" in the report suddenly become a peerless genius with unmatched formation and alchemical skills, someone who had shocked even Du Jun and Xiao Xuan?
There was only one explanation... He had been pretending all along!
He had kept up the act for three years, perhaps even longer.
The thought sent a chill through everyone.
What kind of profound scheming did that take?
What kind of flawless disguise?
He had fooled everyone in the Marquis Estate, everyone watching in Capital City, and even... the royal family's intelligence network!
"Well played, Zhang Yu... Well played, 'Discarded Son of a Marquis Estate'..."
Xiao Xuan looked at the unruffled young man in the light screen. For the first time, his eyes held deep wariness—and a trace of inexplicable fear.
"Three years of patience, then one sudden, world-shaking appearance. That resolve, those methods... This young man is terrifying."
Before you continue