Sikong Luohe? Deep City's Greatest Genius, Ji Luohe?

"You heard right. These are Demon Stones! Demon Stones from the Dark Secret Realm!"

Ji Xuejun looked extremely solemn as she enunciated every word.

"How is that possible? Could you have mistaken them?"

Shock appeared on Cao Yiming's face. He stared at the black stone in his hand in disbelief. The tiny stone seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, crushing him until he could barely breathe.

"No mistake! Lin Yu found this stone with his ability, and more importantly, we encountered the mastermind behind it all in the secret realm!"

"The mastermind? Who is it?"

A sharp gleam flashed through Cao Yiming's eyes as the aura of a seventh-rank powerhouse erupted from him. Everyone within a kilometer felt as if a small mountain had been placed upon their hearts. For a moment, all was silent.

"That's Little Cao's aura. Did something happen?"

Inside the Guardian Office, Elder Li, who had been leisurely listening to music, had a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

Cao Yiming was the successor he had chosen. He was steady by nature. Unless something major had happened and shaken his mind, he would never lose control so recklessly—especially within the heavily guarded Guardian Office.

"No, I need to go take a look!"

A sharp light flashed in Elder Li's eyes. He transformed into a gust of wind and vanished in an instant.

At the same time, the Guardian Office guards also sensed Cao Yiming's aura. Their expressions changed drastically as they rushed toward Cao Yiming's office building.

"Director Cao, don't just release your aura whenever you feel like it."

Ji Xuejun helplessly rubbed her forehead. This was going to cause a damn commotion.

Cao Yiming also came to his senses and quickly withdrew his aura, an embarrassed expression appearing on his face. Just as he was about to speak—

Bang!

The door to Cao Yiming's office was slammed open, and Elder Li's figure instantly appeared inside.

After appearing, Elder Li looked at Cao Yiming and Ji Xuejun in the office, utterly bewildered.

"Teacher, why did you come over?"

Cao Yiming, who had been sitting behind his desk, hurriedly stood and walked over when he saw Elder Li.

"Little Cao, what the hell are you doing? Why are you releasing your aura for no reason?"

Elder Li looked at the two in the office and asked in confusion. From the situation here, it did not look as though anything had happened.

"Ah! Sorry, Teacher. Little Jun just told me something, and I got a little carried away. I disturbed your rest."

Cao Yiming apologized sincerely to Elder Li. Elder Li was not only the former director of Banyan City Garrison Office, but also Cao Yiming's teacher.

The reason Cao Yiming had been able to become the director of this Guardian Office was not only because of his own strength and natural disposition. More importantly, Elder Li had put in a great deal of effort. Otherwise, there were plenty of people stronger and more senior than him—how could this position have fallen to him? Thus, Cao Yiming held his teacher, Elder Li, in especially high regard.

"What important matter could stir you up so badly?"

"Teacher..."

"Director, are you all right?"

Just as Cao Yiming was about to explain things to Elder Li, his assistant, Little Li, rushed in with a worried expression and interrupted him.

"I'm fine, Little Li. Why did you come too?"

"Director, we sensed the aura you released just now and were afraid something had happened here, so I came over. The Guardian Office is currently on alert as well."

After explaining to Cao Yiming, Little Li noticed the other two people in the office and quickly bowed to greet Elder Li and Ji Xuejun.

Cao Yiming had not expected his mistake to put the entire Guardian Office on edge. He looked at Little Li apologetically.

"Little Li, nothing is wrong here. Go tell them to lift the alert."

"Yes!"

Little Li saluted the people in the office, then withdrew. Before leaving, he did not forget to close the office door behind him.

"Teacher, it's like this..."

After Little Li left, Cao Yiming told Elder Li about what Ji Xuejun had just said. At the same time, he handed the Demon Stone to Elder Li. Elder Li had personally lived through the Demon Dragon Calamity, so he would certainly recognize a Demon Stone.

Elder Li took the Demon Stone and examined it carefully for a moment. Then, with a grave expression, he muttered, "It really is a Demon Stone! But that shouldn't be possible! Weren't all the Demon Stones in the outside world destroyed? Could someone have secretly brought it out of the Dark Secret Realm?"

Seeing even Elder Li confirm that the black stone was a Demon Stone, Cao Yiming no longer had any doubts. He turned to Ji Xuejun and said, "Little Jun, didn't you say you knew who the mastermind was? Teacher is here now, so tell us everything in detail."

"Mm!"

Ji Xuejun nodded, then told the two of them about encountering Sikong Luohe in the secret realm.

"The Eternal Night Church's Right Protector, Sikong Luohe! An eighth-rank Guardian Envoy with a dark-type ability?"

Elder Li lowered his head in thought. Suddenly, he snapped his head up.

"It's him!"

Seeing Elder Li's reaction, Ji Xuejun knew that he had already identified Sikong Luohe. She asked, "Teacher, do you know this person?"

"Mm. If I'm not mistaken, the Sikong Luohe you mentioned should be a genius from Deep City thirty years ago. Little Jun, you're too young, so you might not know, but Little Cao should have heard of him!"

"Thirty years ago, Deep City..."

At Elder Li's words, Cao Yiming began searching through his memories. After a while, his eyes lit up.

"Teacher, are you talking about Deep City's greatest genius from thirty years ago—the owner of an SS-grade dark natural-type talent, Ji Luohe? Wasn't he already dead?"

"Ji Luohe?"

Ji Xuejun looked at Elder Li and Cao Yiming in confusion. Wasn't he Sikong Luohe? How had he become Ji Luohe again?

"It's normal that you don't know. The Dragon Glory Special District erased all information related to Ji Luohe. Only those who had been around during his era might remember something. But after so many years, they have probably long forgotten that such a person ever existed."

Elder Li spoke calmly.

"Yes. Ji Luohe once swept aside all Awakened of his generation with his exceptionally rare natural-type talent. Back then, he was unrivaled in fame. Even the geniuses of Upper Capital and Demon Capital were overshadowed by him. What a pity. Something happened back then, and this super genius with limitless potential ultimately fell. I never expected him to still be alive—and to have joined a cult organization."

Cao Yiming spoke from the side, the regret on his face impossible to conceal.

"Elder Li, was that incident really as the Ji Family claimed back then?"

In the end, Cao Yiming could not help voicing the doubt in his heart. The Ji Family he referred to was Deep City's foremost family. Its head, Ji Hao, was an established Emperor-rank powerhouse, and the family was among the strongest in the entire Freedom Federation.

"Whether it was or not is no longer important. We only need to know that he is now the Eternal Night Church's Right Protector, and our enemy!"

It was obvious that Elder Li knew something, but he did not explain it to them. There were some matters he could not say much about, as they involved an Emperor-rank powerhouse and his family. Elder Li did not wish to bring them up again.

Ji Luohe—no, Sikong Luohe now—was neither family nor friend to him. Even if Ji Luohe had suffered some injustice, it was not Elder Li's place to seek justice for him.

Besides, the situation now was that Sikong Luohe was clearly plotting something. Though they did not know what he wanted to do, finding him and stopping him was the most important matter at present.