Invisible

Less than three minutes passed between Li Qingyue summoning his Reignbow Arbiter Martial Soul to fight and the battle ending.

Only after both bodies exploded completely did a passing resident see the gruesome scene. Panicked screams and cries rang out.

Only then did the guards of this so-called wealthy neighborhood come rushing over.

They stared in horror at the carnage, then fumbled to call the City Police.

Watching from a distance, Li Qingyue felt nothing in particular.

He swept the area once more with Stellar Hunt Mark. After confirming that no one else lay in hiding nearby, he calmly turned and left.

But his gaze had begun to turn cold.

He could not keep living in this neighborhood.

Something had already happened here. If those two really had been sent by the Qiangu Family, the family might have noticed his attack.

Even if he had not been exposed yet, the Qiangu Family would inevitably send someone to investigate their deaths.

When that happened, even if there was a ninety-nine percent chance they would not suspect him, he refused to gamble on the remaining one percent.

Twin Martial Souls truly were a problem.

Most of the time, he used Ancestral Phoenix only as a powerful aid in alchemy and Forging. Even so, someone might discover it.

In fact, given Mu Chen and the others' keen eyes, they had likely already realized his Martial Soul was among the finest of the fire type.

Li Qingyue did not know whether they would connect it to Flame Phoenix, but he did not want to gamble on that either.

Mu Chen was unlikely to betray him.

And with his ties to the Leng Family, even if Mu Chen had guessed something, he probably would not tell anyone.

Others, though, were another matter.

Someone might happen past his forging room one day and notice something amiss.

That was why Li Qingyue almost never used his Ancestral Phoenix Martial Soul except while forging or refining pills.

If only I could refine pills and forge equipment in a small world.

Then no one would ever notice anything unusual about me.

As Li Qingyue thought this over, a contemplative look entered his eyes.

If he remembered correctly, Gu Yue did possess a Pocket Secret Realm.

She had casually created it when she was the Silver Dragon King. It was not particularly large, but it would be more than enough for him.

Getting the realm from Na'er as she was now, however, was all but impossible.

And once Gu Yuena had fully recovered, obtaining it would probably be even harder.

At that thought, Li Qingyue shook his head.

There was no telling how things would turn out.

By then, he had reached the bus stop.

The bus ride from here to the Blacksmith Association took only half an hour.

The route ran through a remote, wealthy district, so buses were scarce—but passengers were scarcer still.

He could find a seat easily almost every time.

And no one deliberately fought a delicate-looking boy like him for a seat, especially when most people mistook him for a girl.

He had grown used to sitting down.

Half an hour soon passed, and his bus pulled up smoothly outside the Blacksmith Association.

After getting off, he headed straight for the upper floors.

The staff upstairs—or rather, the attendants—were long accustomed to seeing Li Qingyue.

The boy came here often to forge, and his connection to Mu Chen was no secret.

As Mu Chen's last Final Disciple, his status alone commanded attention.

That title amounted to an official acknowledgment of the boy's talent and worth. They could hardly fail to take him seriously.

Li Qingyue returned the attendants' smiles instead of ignoring them or putting on an aloof air.

He gave them a warm smile and walked into the office.

Mu Xi was already seated inside.

The girl held a pen and paper, waiting quietly for Li Qingyue.

Mu Chen smiled when he saw Li Qingyue and beckoned him over.

"Sit down, Qingyue."

"Today I'll go over some Forging techniques for Thousand Refinement."

"I know you already have a deep understanding of Thousand Refinement, but learning some of the specialized techniques for first- and second-grade Thousand Refinement should help you a great deal."

Mu Chen spoke gently.

Li Qingyue's progress in Forging over the past few years had clearly pleased him immensely.

Li Qingyue had not spent much time practicing Forging specifically, but the boy's talent was simply too great to ignore.

He was mild-mannered and quick-witted, neither a naive innocent nor an unruly troublemaker.

He was clever and sensible, handled people well, and showed Mu Chen due respect as his teacher.

Mu Chen was genuinely fond of Li Qingyue.

Seeing the look on her father's face, Mu Xi could not help pursing her lips.

She liked Li Qingyue a great deal too.

After all, it was hard not to like someone so good-looking and gentle, someone who cared about how others felt.

In truth, that was where the difference in their temperaments and social awareness lay.

When you met someone in real life who seemed to suit your every need,

it often did not mean you were naturally made for each other.

It meant the other person's social awareness and intelligence far exceeded yours. They could adapt to your habits and remember every little detail about you, creating that sense of a perfect fit.

Time spent practicing Forging always passed quickly.

When the two-hour afternoon practice session ended, Li Qingyue came out and found Leng Xiaoyue waiting at the door.

Gone was the sharp, professional air she had worn earlier. Exhaustion filled her eyes, and dark circles hung beneath them.

She looked at Li Qingyue, anxiety plain in her eyes. "Something terrible happened outside our building. Two Qiangu Family spies were killed at the entrance to our neighborhood."

"From the direction they were going in the surveillance footage, they were probably headed toward our neighborhood. But for some reason, their bodies suddenly exploded."

Leng Xiaoyue drew a deep breath. Fear lingered in her eyes, along with a trace of relief.

If Li Qingyue had still been there, he really could have been hurt.

She had seen Li Qingyue leave before it happened to those two, so she was not too worried now.

Once she had made sure Na'er was safe, she had brought her straight here.

Li Qingyue paused at Leng Xiaoyue's words.

He had clearly killed the two with Shattered Star Flurry, without going to any great lengths to hide it.

Yet from what Leng Xiaoyue was saying, the cameras had not captured him at all.

That surprised Li Qingyue.

Seeing him frown, Leng Xiaoyue wasted no words. She hurried over and handed him her phone, which held the surveillance recording.

Li Qingyue looked at it.

He never appeared anywhere in the footage. Not a single trace of him had been left behind.

The two men truly seemed to have exploded out of thin air.

They were visibly resisting something, but that moment's delay was enough. Their bodies were pierced one after the other, cracks spread across them, and then they burst apart.