Within a secluded courtyard.
The white-robed sorcerer of the Celestial Surveillance Bureau sat upright on a couch, regarding the middle-aged man with amusement. "Ren Ye... didn't Xu Hu tell you that Star Source alone wouldn't be enough to get the Azure Dragon Book Slip?"
"Then what will it take?" The middle-aged man who called himself Ren Ye frowned.
"Are you Fourth Tier?" After a moment's thought, the white-robed sorcerer asked quietly as he drank.
The middle-aged man looked at him calmly without answering.
"Make a trip to the Southern Border for me. Once it's done, I can give you the Azure Dragon Book Slip." The white-robed sorcerer raised his arm and flicked his wrist.
Whoosh!
A streak of light shot toward the middle-aged man's face, moving too fast for the naked eye to track clearly.
Yet the middle-aged man raised his arm with perfect composure. Without any Star Source Fluctuation around him, he extended a single finger and tapped the streak of light with precision.
Hum!
At the touch of his finger, the light dispersed, revealing a Celestial Surveillance Bureau secret-order token wrapped in a strand of intent.
"What a powerful physique." The white-robed sorcerer's eyes lit up.
The middle-aged man toyed with the token. "What's this for?"
"What you need to do in the Southern Border, and how to do it, are all in the secret-order token. Just sense it with your consciousness. Whether you go is entirely up to you," the white-robed sorcerer said softly. "If you do go, come back here and wait for me once you have a result."
"Farewell."
The middle-aged man understood his meaning, turned, and left.
The white-robed sorcerer made no attempt to keep him, merely humming a tune as he raised his cup and drank.
A short while later, the middle-aged man