Once the playful chatter wound down, Fargo rose from his seat, jerking his chin at Jay. Before leaving, he turned toward Lucas and bowed deeply, the weight of respect clear in the gesture.
"Your Majesty," he said simply.
Lucas gave a brief nod, granting silent permission. Only then did Fargo straighten and leave with Jay. The two slipped out, their lightheartedness giving way to quiet determination. Fargo refused to send Jay into such a dangerous mission without every scrap of information and a solid plan to back him up. Preparation ca first, always.
anwhile, Zhao Li Xin saw no reason to linger. He excused himself with his usual calm grace, retreating to his quarters. Within the quiet of his ring, cultivation awaited. Before he left, he leaned down to murmur to Lory that she might have to sleep alone tonight. She pouted, but gave a small nod of understanding, watching him go.
The mont the door shut behind him, Lory spun toward Fredhardt, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "So," she said, leaning forward eagerly, "is everything I need ready?"
Fredhardt slid a white envelope across the table. "It’s ready. Congratulations—you’re new idenity is Jennifer Rowen, senior reporter for Lustre magazine."
"Oh, I’ve heard of Lustre magazine. They interviewed once—though I was only twelve at the ti." Lory flipped open the envelope and plucked out the press badge, waving it like she’d just won a carnival prize.
"Yes," Fredhardt replied humbly, "and they’ve agreed to help us. Though really, who would dare refuse a request from Noxcra?"
"Jennifer Rowen," she mutter then grin mischivously. "So I’m Jenny now?"
"Yeah. Since you once used Raven Jane as an alias, I figured Jenny would feel natural," Fredhardt said dryly.
Lory tilted her head, lips quirking. "Hmm. It does sound familiar."
"Exactly. We don’t want you going blank when soone calls you Jean," he teased.
"Hey, I’m aprofessional," Lory shot back, narrowing her eyes.
"Better safe than sorry." Fredhardt shrugged, unapologetic.
With a little huff, Lory slipped the badge back into the envelope.
"Fine. Just make sure my cover with Allure magazine holds up. They’re going to check every detail."
"Please," Fredhardt scoffed, his pride pricked. "You talk with the professionals here." he open his arms and said smugly.
Before the banter could continue, Lucas cut in with the calm authority of soone who had already mapped five moves ahead.
"Don’t let your guard down. Alinna might appear harmless, but Salvo is another matter entirely. You’ve seen what kind of man he is. And be careful of the other Constellation mbers. Aside from Lucia Viora, there’s Timothy Caron. We don’t have concrete proof yet, but he’s suspected of orchestrating the mysterious deaths of several public figures who opposed S.A.I.N.T. and Luxemborough."
Lory’s brows shot up. "You an, like the deaths of so of Hugo’s friends? If you don’t have proof, how do you know?"
"Because," Fredhardt said, tapping the table for emphasis, "we got information from our dear friend at the WGA—Victor Kross. Timothy used to be one of the World Guild Association’s mbers, and he’s a powerful Gifted with the ability to transform into an animal."
Lory blinked, stunned. "Transformation Gift? Whole transformation, or partial?"
"Victor wasn’t sure," Fredhardt admitted. "But usually he only shifts part of his body—arms, claws, things like that. Guess what showed up at most of the cri scenes?" He raised his brows.
"Claw marks?" Lory guessed rhetorically.
"Yeah, and when there weren’t marks, the aftermath still looked like a beast had torn through the place. Brutal. Like a robbery gone wild." Fredhardt shook his head, still grim at the mory of the cri scene photos.
"But that’s still not proof that Timothy was the culprit, right?" Lory frowned.
"Yeah, but Victor swears the signature is his. Timothy’s use of violence escalated to the point it endangered civilian lives. Instead of restraint, his behavior grew increasingly erratic, until it reached a level that compelled the WGA to expel him. His thods were deed excessive, even by hunter standards," Fredhardt explain.
Lory’s eyes widened. "So this lunatic gets tossed out of the Guild—then sohow ends up with S.A.I.N.T.? And not just as a mber, but as a Constellation?"
"Oh, he didn’t go straight there," Fredhardt replied, almost nonchalant. "First he slipped into the underground Guild. After leaving a trail of bloodshed for years, his... ’talents’ caught the organization’s eye, and eventually, they recruited him."
Lory huffed, folding her arms. "Bad Timmy!"
"More like crazy Timmy," Fredhardt corrected dryly.
Lucas finally spoke, his voice calm but edged with warning. "That’s why you need to be careful, Lory. The Constellation isn’t just dangerous, it’s unpredictable. Timothy is only one of many. Don’t let your guard down, and above all, don’t risk your identity being exposed."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Lory answered with a confident smile.
___________________________________________
Zhao Li Xin had postponed his cultivation for the exhibition, but now that it was over, and with nothing of importance left to distract him, he returned to his mythical realm to resu training.
The mont he opened his eyes inside the realm, he was greeted by a shrill, ear-piercing wail.
[Maaasteeer, you finally caee!]
His already gloomy face darkened another shade at the fire spirit’s screech. Snapping his eyes open fully, Zhao Li Xin imdiately understood the cause of the panic.
The once-elegant manor lay strangled beneath a suffocating embrace of vines. Erald tendrils clawed at cracked stone walls, spiraled around broken pillars, and carpeted the floors in wild green.
The beautiful and neat gardens had vanished, swallowed by a chaotic wilderness of towering grasses and snarled branches. What had been a sanctuary now looked more like a forgotten jungle.
[It’s because of that stupid boy—Jade!] the fire spirit shrieked.
His small body erupted in flas, scorching the creeping growth in a furious blaze. Yet the victory was fleeting, within breaths, the vines sprouted anew, thicker, mocking, reclaiming what they had lost.
Zhao Li Xin’s gaze swept over the corrupted grounds, his expression carved from stone. The overgrowth kept crawling, writhing as if defying him.
"Jade."
Zhao Li Xin didn’t need to raise his voice. The single word rolled out low and resonant, heavy enough to crush stone.
For a minute there’s no answer. But Zhao Li Xin’s keen eyes caught a glimpse of a small, trembling butt sticking out from behind a bush.
His sigh ca slow, long, and sharp with restrained patience.
He lifted his hand. Flas roared to life around him, sweeping outward in a blazing tide that devoured the riot of greenery.
Half the realm burned clean under his fire, and when the trees dared to sprout again, his flas consud them a second ti. With a flick of his wrist, he ford an array seal, locking the regrowth in stillness. The ss remained, blackened and charred, but it was no longer spreading.
[Finally!] The fire spirit let out a shrill cry of relief.
Zhao Li Xin strode toward the bush, each step heavy with unspoken finality. His voice followed, sharp and unyielding:
"Jade. Co out."
A small head peeked over the leaves. Tear-streaked cheeks, flushed red, quivered with guilt.
"Papaa... Zhao," Jade whimpered, his voice broken. "I’m sorryyy..."
Zhao Li Xin’s face remained stoic, devoid any warmth or anger. "What happened?" he asked flatly
"I-I don’t know... it just—happened." The boy finally stepped out, and Zhao Li Xin’s sharp eyes narrowed in scrutiny.
At first glance, Jade looked almost the sa as before, small fra, untidy hair, that sa timid expression; however, on closer inspection, he noticed s change in the boy.
His limbs had lengthened, his stance less wobbly, carrying the faint balance of a child entering his seventh year. His face, though still round, had lost a trace of babyish softness. And when he spoke, his words no longer stumbled and cracked like before; his tongue moved with an ease that showed a leap in intelligence.
But it wasn’t just growth in body and mind.
A quiet pressure radiated from the boy, an aura that hadn’t been there before, raw and uncontrolled, spilling out like water through broken dam walls.
"You got stronger," Zhao Li Xin muttered, his tone flat, yet his eyes glinted with curiosity. It seed the boy possessed the sa as his Mother, vissa. The power that later beca her curse.
"I—I just wanted to tend the flowers," Jade hiccupped, tears streaming down his face. "But then—then—everything grew, and I couldn’t stop it!"
His small hands rubbed furiously at his cheeks, but the more he wiped, the faster the tears welled up. Soon his nose joined in, and shiny trails of snot ran down, clinging stubbornly.
Zhao Li Xin’s mouth tightened in revulsion. The clean-freak lord flicked a pristine silk handkerchief at the boy as though flinging away a contaminated object. "Wipe your face," he ordered curtly.
Zhao Li Xin then turned his back before the ss could further offend his eyes. He exhaled slowly, surveying what had beco of his dominion. The once-majestic grounds were unrecognizable: thick vines coiled around broken pillars, flowers blood grotesquely oversized, choking one another, and wild grasses sprouted through stone tiles.
Smoke still curled from patches where fire had burned unchecked, leaving black scars and drifting ash. The air carried both the damp scent of overgrowth and the acrid tang of char.
Such a beautiful place, reduced to chaos in re monts. He cannot let his dear wife see this ugly place!
With a flick of his wrist, Zhao Li Xin traced a sharp, deliberate sigil in the air. Energy pulsed outward like a silent command, his dominion answering him instantly.
The invasive vines shriveled, grass and blooms withered into nothing, and the charred scars vanished as though they had never been. Stone, soil, and air bent to his will, restoring themselves to the immaculate order he demanded.
When the work was done, silence settled once more, broken only by Jade’s uneven sniffling. Zhao Li Xin’s gaze shifted back to the boy, lingering longer this ti. A thought gnawed at him; the boy’s power had overwheld even this dominion.
A place ant to be untouched by any force but his own, and yet, it had bent beneath Jade’s will as if compelled to obey.
Just how vast will this child’s strength grow if unleashed in the real world?
The idea was troubling, though not without its allure. But the reality remained: Jade could not yet control it. His power surged like a storm without an anchor, untad and directionless. And worse, their natures were incompatible.
Zhao Li Xin was a cultivator; his strength built layer upon layer through discipline and ti. Jade’s, on the other hand, erupted like a hurricane, imnse, chaotic, and unrestrained. Moreover, the idea of teaching other people, let alone a chil,d is beyond impossible for soone like him.
Patience had never been Zhao Li Xin’s virtue. His subordinates, Bei Li Yan, used to complain that he was a terrible teacher and not suited to teach anyone.
As soone born a genius, Zhao Li Xin had never walked the sa path as others. Where ordinary cultivators crawled step by step, he leapt, soaring past obstacles as though they barely existed.
Blessed with a rare intelligence and a body unlike any other, he had beco a unique existence that never existed before. Naturally, anyone who tried to follow his path ended up lost, bewildered, or broken.
Only a scarce few, such as the Four Palace Kings and the Mong brothers, had managed to glean fragnts of his thods. Even though they had never truly caught up, only brushed against the faint afterimage of his shadow.
And now, before him, stood a child. A boy with no particular brilliance of mind, yet burdened with a staggering power that dwarfed reason itself.
The contrast was sharp, almost laughable. Zhao Li Xin’s eyes narrowed, and his conclusion ca swiftly, without hesitation.
’No. I cannot handle him.’ he accepts defeat without further struggle.
There was only one person who surfaced in his mind, soone who possessed not only intelligence and strength but also patience and kindness, virtues he himself utterly lacked.
He would need to call his wife.
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