Night fell quickly.
A knock sounded outside Chen Qiu's inn room.
"Young Master Ren, the discussion gathering has begun. Young Master Su sent me to invite you downstairs."
"Mm."
Chen Qiu answered, then immediately pushed open the door with Fat Dragon and Scholar in tow, following the attendant toward the inn's first floor. The discussion gathering was being held in the main hall downstairs.
By now, the area around the inn had been cleared out.
A grand formation had also been laid outside the inn, ensuring that nothing happening within could be known to the outside world.
When he entered the inn's main hall under the attendant's guidance—
Quite a few Sky Prodigies had already filled the hall, gathered in groups of two and three.
The moment the Su Family's young master saw Chen Qiu coming downstairs, his eyes lit up. He strode over and leaned close to Chen Qiu, lowering his voice. "Well, Young Master Ren, there's some bad news. Your identity may have been exposed. Everyone now knows your real name is Chen Qiu."
"A few days ago, someone with 9.8 billion Merit Value suddenly appeared on Quzhou's merit rankings. The name was Chen Qiu."
"And Young Master Ren happened to rise to prominence in Quzhou at precisely this time. Before that, there was no such person as you in Quzhou. There are also rumors that you killed a little monk with 100,000 Merit Value near Great Fate City, without suffering any backlash."
"Quite a few Lineages have been investigating you. By now, they have basically confirmed that you are Chen Qiu."
"Oh."
Chen Qiu chuckled. "No matter. Chen Qiu it is, then. It makes no difference."
He had never intended to conceal his identity. When he had adopted Ren Zhi as an alias, it had merely been