Inner Landscape Diagram

After the meeting, Xu Wuyi did not immediately leave the Battle Net. Lin Jianyi did not leave either. Leaning on his bamboo staff, he walked over to Xu Wuyi's side.

"You mentioned that path last time," Lin Jianyi said in an even voice. "How is it going?"

"It's stable now," Xu Wuyi said. "All one hundred and thirty-six meridians have been opened. My qi and blood can circulate freely throughout my body. My strength is at least double what it was a year ago. It wasn't absorbed from outside—it grew from within my own body."

Lin Jianyi fell silent for several seconds. He was not doubting him; he was processing the information. He was the Federation's Sword God and had remained at the Divine Intent level far longer than Xu Wuyi. More than anyone, he understood the weight of the words "qualitative change."

He did not ask further. He merely said, "This summoning... probably no one will be able to block a single punch from you."

Xu Wuyi said nothing.

Lin Jianyi glanced at his silence. The corners of his mouth shifted slightly, an expression that seemed like a smile and yet also a sigh. He turned and walked toward the meeting room door, his bamboo staff tapping crisply against the floor.

Three days later, Xingjing Eastern Suburbs Airport.

Ten silver-gray transport planes stood side by side on the tarmac, the emblems of the Supreme Council painted on their fuselages. The autumn wind blew across the runway, carrying the faint fragrance of ginkgo leaves.

When Xu Wuyi boarded the fourth transport plane, Zheng Yuanzheng was already waiting inside the cabin. The commander of the garrison force was much darker than he had been a year ago, and the scar on his left cheek had become two scars, but his spirits