How Could It Be Him?

In the seventh year, the four of you arrived in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

But after entering the capital, you, Gu Xinyue, and Ye Chuxue still wore grave expressions.

On the way to the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, you had heard some very bad news.

You hadn't expected that the news of you killing the sect leaders of the Three Great Sects in Green Prefecture had already reached the Central Prefecture.

Now everyone in the Central Prefecture knew that Demonic Cultivators had come there, and that the most powerful among them was at the Void Refining Realm.

In the eyes of the people of the Mortal World and low-level cultivators, you were bloodthirsty fiends who killed without batting an eye.

Still, one piece of good news was that the various major powers in the Central Prefecture didn't seem particularly concerned about you.

Inspections in each city were little more than going through the motions, as if they thought a Void Refining cultivator couldn't possibly cause any trouble.

Besides, you had completely changed your appearances. Unless you used your Spiritual Artifacts, there was little chance of being exposed.

And so, you settled down in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

In the eighth year, one year after arriving in the Great Zhou Dynasty, you had thoroughly familiarized yourselves with the capital. Your current identities were Rogue Cultivator Alchemists.

Using your identities as alchemists, you and Gu Xinyue gradually made some connections.

All year, you publicly sold pills, while secretly gathering information about Zhou Lingxi.

You planned to leave the Great Zhou Dynasty as soon as you found Zhou Lingxi.

The southern region of the Central Prefecture was still too close to Green Prefecture. And with Zhou Lingxi around, you couldn't shake the feeling that you weren't safe.

Two and a half years later, you finally learned something about Zhou Lingxi.

That day, everyone in the Great Zhou Dynasty's capital heard the same piece of gossip: on the Great Zhou Emperor's birthday, the Ninth Princess had stolen the Spiritual Herbs the ministers had given him, and had ultimately been confined for three years as punishment.

Ye Chuxue and Wei Qing were both baffled when they heard the gossip.

"Su Ming, is this confined Ninth Princess the person you've been waiting for?"

Over the past few years, Ye Chuxue had heard you say that once a princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty appeared, you would leave the Great Zhou Dynasty.

You had waited for years without hearing anything. Now that you finally had, you found that this Ninth Princess was nothing like the person Ye Chuxue had imagined.

Wei Qing, standing nearby, also looked puzzled.

"She's the Ninth Princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Does she really need to steal Spiritual Herbs? Surely she can have anything she wants!"

You didn't explain in response to the two of them. The royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty had never announced to the public that Zhou Lingxi had no Spiritual Root.

To the royal family, having a good-for-nothing among them was a stain on their reputation.

But you alone knew that Zhou Lingxi wasn't useless. She was the possessor of an Immortal Eye.

She had done this to escape the royal family and the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Now that you had learned where Zhou Lingxi was, you decided to try something bold.

After you told Ye Chuxue and Wei Qing your idea, they both froze in stunned silence.

"What? You're going to the imperial palace?"

"Going to the palace is one thing, but you're going to break someone out?"

You knew they didn't want you to take such a risk, but you couldn't wait here forever for Zhou Lingxi to escape on her own.

In about ten years, the things inside the Blood Demon Secret Realm would emerge. More importantly, you had no idea how that Mahayana Cultivator had found you.

This time, you decided not to return to You Prefecture, to see if you could avoid that calamity.

"Don't worry. I know the Great Void Technique. I just need a detailed map of the imperial palace, and I can return safely."

Hearing that, the two of them felt a little more at ease.

The next day, you went to the black market and bought a map of the imperial palace. It showed in detail who lived in each palace.

Most of the people living in the palace were underage princes and princesses. Zhou Lingxi was the only exception.

After locating the Ninth Princess's palace, you nodded in satisfaction and returned to your small courtyard.

That night, you glanced in the direction of the imperial palace.

The next moment, you vanished from the courtyard. A purple portal appeared above the imperial palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

You hovered in the air, looking down at the palace. After locating your destination, you didn't dare linger, in case someone spotted you.

Two breaths later, you appeared in front of the Ninth Princess's palace.

Seeing the two Spirit Transmutation Early Stage guards outside the palace, you didn't intend to barge in. Instead, you used the Great Void Technique to slip directly inside.

Inside, Zhou Lingxi sat curled up on a wooden bed, her arms wrapped around her knees. When she sensed something amiss, she looked up at you as you emerged from the void, her eyes empty and lifeless.

Zhou Lingxi stared at you. Her eyes shifted from emptiness to shock, then filled with hope.

"You..."

Zhou Lingxi had just started to speak when you coldly cut her off, gesturing for her to come with you.

As the possessor of an Immortal Eye, she could naturally tell that you were different from the people in the imperial palace. You were a true member of the Human Race, so she trusted you completely.

Not long afterward, you brought Zhou Lingxi to your courtyard in the capital.

Gu Xinyue and the others had been waiting for you there, afraid something might have happened to you.

Once you were back, you had no time to explain anything to them. You had to leave the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty as soon as possible, before the royal family discovered what had happened and made escape difficult.

At that moment, Zhou Lingxi saw Gu Xinyue and the others behind you, and disbelief showed on her face.

In all her life, she had never seen a normal human being above the Foundation Establishment Realm. Now, she had seen four at once.

Before dawn, the five of you left the capital.

According to Wei Qing, you only needed to head north to reach the territory of the Great Gan Dynasty.

The southern region of the Central Prefecture was in a constant state of conflict, with the various dynasties competing against each other.

The Great Gan Dynasty was the Great Zhou Dynasty's sworn enemy, so fleeing there would be the safest option.

Three months later, you reached the territory of the Great Gan Dynasty and settled in a city at random.

After spending three peaceful years in Feilong City, everyone's cultivation had improved.

Zhou Lingxi successfully broke through to Foundation Establishment, Ye Chuxue reached Core Formation Great Perfection, and although you and Gu Xinyue hadn't broken through, your cultivation had grown much deeper.

You were still somewhat dissatisfied with this rate of progress.

The gap in Spiritual Roots meant that even with the help of your talent, cultivating was still a struggle.

That day, you were cultivating in the courtyard as usual. Then Zhou Lingxi, beside you, said,

"Brother Su Ming, there's a member of the Human Race in the sky too!"

You furrowed your brow and looked up.

The instant you made out who it was, you were struck as if by a bolt from the blue, every hair on your body standing on end.

"How could it be him?"