Su Ze walked into the office. Beyond the glass wall, the world was bustling with traffic and vibrant with life. Situ Jiayang pointed to the sofa nearby, and Su Ze walked over to sit down.
"Let me ask you a question first," Situ Jiayang said, extinguishing a cigarette butt. "Do you hate your father?"
Su Ze was taken aback. Was this related to the outcome of the meeting? Still, he answered honestly, "Yes, I do."
"Why?"
"Because... he never fulfilled his responsibilities as a father."
"Your father has been arrested. He leaked your information to Rakshasa, and the charge is leaking state secrets." Situ Jiayang tossed a document to Su Ze.
Su Ze looked at the file in his hands. It contained a mugshot of Su Daqiang, with the date of imprisonment listed as the day before.
"Old habits die hard," Su Ze said expressionlessly.
Situ Jiayang didn’t seem to care much about the matter. He had only mentioned it casually after seeing the report.
"Let’s get to the main issue," Situ Jiayang said, leaning back in his chair. "Are you afraid of death?"
"...No," Su Ze shook his head.
Situ Jiayang stared into his eyes. "But I can see that you’re afraid!"
Su Ze raised his gaze, and the faint trace of panic in his eyes vanished under Situ Jiayang’s scrutiny, replaced by coldness.
"It’s not death you’re afraid of," Situ Jiayang realized, sighing. "This damn world..."
"Uesugi Akizuki entrusted Uesugi Akizuki to you, didn’t she?"
Su Ze nodded. "She also gave me a sword, the Autumn Slash Cherry..."
"Stop," Situ Jiayang waved his hand to cut him off. "That’s your business. I don’t want to know, and try to keep it to yourself as much as possible."
Situ Jiayang scratched his head and smiled. "Honestly, when you were selected for the key cultivation list, my initial thought was that you’d be trained into a highly loyal killing machine."
"That’s something I wanted, yet also didn’t want to see happen."
"Now, it seems you’re a loyal genius with flesh and blood... and that’s the last thing I wanted to see."
Su Ze was momentarily stunned.
Situ Jiayang chuckled. "Because when people like you die... I’ll feel sad. If you were just a loyal killing machine, it would’ve been easier... I wouldn’t feel so much pressure."
Su Ze remained silent, even nodding slightly in agreement.
"As for the final outcome of the meeting..." Situ Jiayang raised his hand, and a stream of law energy swirled in his palm.
Su Ze’s pupils contracted. The energy felt like standing at the edge of a storm’s eye. The law swirling in Situ Jiayang’s palm seemed like an entire world compressed into it—vast and majestic!
"It’s up to you," Situ Jiayang said. "If you choose to go, this law energy will be yours. Use it to maximize the benefits."
Situ Jiayang lit another cigarette. "Internal strife, external threats—wolves in front, tigers behind."
"China desperately needs a windfall. We’ve been pushed to the brink of collapse by countless disasters. The reason we’ve trained you is so that you can pull the nation out of its dire straits in the future."
Situ Jiayang exhaled a puff of smoke and flicked the ash. "Out of the three who go, if even one returns alive, it’s not a loss. If two come back, it’s a huge gain. If all three return..."
Situ Jiayang’s lips curled into a smile. "To the world beyond the spatial gate, we are the disaster."
It might sound exaggerated, but if even one person could return with twice the law energy they currently possess, allowing them to grow to the Rolling Flame Realm, then as long as they didn’t encounter a god, it wouldn’t be a fantasy for one person to annihilate a mid-level or mid-high-level world.
"China has over a dozen people who meet the criteria, but only seven were invited. You’re one of them. However, only three will ultimately enter."
"Two spots have already been confirmed. There’s only one left. If you don’t want to go, another candidate will take your place from the remaining four."
Su Ze fell silent for a moment, then reached out toward the swirling law energy.
"If you return alive, you’ll need to form your own team. We, the Forerunners, need a powerful squad that can deter external enemies..."
...
Night fell.
The black domain enveloped Su Ze once again.
"You should have your answer by now, right?" A young man appeared in the darkness.
"I’m in," Su Ze said.
The domain dissipated, and a faint blue mark appeared on Su Ze’s arm, glowing dimly in the dark.
A bright morning.
In a deserted wilderness.
Su Ze instructed Xiao Hanhan, "Put more strength into it... Good, now faster."
Her wine-red hair was tied into a high ponytail, like that of a kendo girl.
With every swift movement, her ponytail swung from side to side. Sweat dripped down her snow-white skin, following the graceful curve of her swan-like neck, soaking her clothes.
Xiao Hanhan’s cheeks were flushed, and she pursed her lips, diligently following Su Ze’s instructions as she performed various movements.
After some time, Su Ze lit a cigarette, savoring the refreshing scent in the air as he exhaled a puff of smoke.
Exhausted, Xiao Hanhan clung to the Autumn Slash Cherry, panting heavily as she watched Su Ze leisurely smoke. Her red dress pooled around her as she sat on the ground, holding the sword like a little panda clutching a bamboo stalk.
Don’t misunderstand—Su Ze was simply teaching Uesugi Akizuki how to use the Autumn Slash Cherry.
Uesugi Akizuki had always been highly talented, and Su Ze had long wanted to teach her some self-defense skills. However, he hadn’t had the time.
During her studies, Uesugi Akizuki had learned a lot from her teachers and had now mastered the basics of energy release. However, she was still far from being combat-ready.
"You shouldn’t sit down so quickly after exercising," Su Ze said, walking over to help the girl up.
Once on her feet, Xiao Hanhan looked around dazedly, like a sleepy little hamster just waking up.
"Try one more time. If you can wield the Autumn Slash Cherry well, we’ll head back," Su Ze said, pointing to a rock thirty meters away.
Uesugi Akizuki nodded, gripping the hilt and sheath tightly. She crouched slightly, adopting a battōjutsu stance. Her gaze sharpened instantly, like an eagle soaring in the sky, poised to strike its prey!
The light and sharp Autumn Slash Cherry left its sheath in a flash! The blade’s cold gleam was almost a blur as it was drawn!
A faint pink light streaked through the air under the sun, slicing through the ground and carrying a sudden gust of wind toward the rock thirty meters away. In the next moment, the rock was cleanly split in two!
A finger-width trench was left in the ground. Su Ze shook his head slightly. For a beginner, this was already impressive, but it still fell short of his expectations.
The little shrine maiden’s understanding of the sword wasn’t deep enough.
The last time Su Ze had used the Autumn Slash Cherry, his strike had left almost no trace. The trench on the ground was only as wide as the blade itself, and the rock showed no visible damage.
However, upon closer inspection, one would notice a fine, seamless crack running through the rock. With a gentle push, half of the rock would slide off cleanly along the crack.
The Autumn Slash Cherry’s lightness and sharpness granted its wielder exceptional mobility on the battlefield. Su Ze desperately hoped Xiao Hanhan could master the sword quickly.
He glanced at the increasingly bright mark on his arm. After all... his time was running out.
Su Ze didn’t know if he would return alive this time. He only hoped that Xiao Hanhan could grow stronger quickly in his absence.