"Yes, yes..." Ming Lin nodded quickly. His teacher had warned him repeatedly before leaving, telling him never to clash with Xia Hanshi.

"Hmph..." Bu Siqi said coldly, finally letting it go. "You young people have no idea about the blood feud between us and Yuan Capital."

"Those people from Yuan Capital have always had close ties with various Deceitful God’s Followers. Nothing they do should be surprising."

Ming Lin fell silent, but he was already seventy or eighty percent convinced. After all, the matter was of great importance. With Wu Chenpei still fighting on the front lines, Judge Xia must have been absolutely certain.

’Old Bu doesn’t seem to be acting. He genuinely doesn’t know,’ Su Chen realized.

...

「Meanwhile」

In the guest house that Ying Feng had provided for the contingents from Yuan Capital and the other two cities, there was no shortage of amenities. The main rooms were all equipped with Gravity Training Chambers.

Inside Hongxuan’s room, viscous, crimson waves of fire churned within the Gravity Chamber. His torso bobbed in the sea of flames as he struck various stances. Molten veins coursed across the surface of his skin, and with every breath, he exhaled tassels of golden-red sparks.

His brow was furrowed tightly until, at a certain moment, he abruptly opened his eyes. White streams of air erupted from every pore on his body. He staggered, and the surrounding crimson flames suddenly spiraled out of control, converging on him.

Hongxuan snorted coldly and absorbed all of the billowing crimson flames before exhaling a puff of smoke. His expression turned grim.

This was the third time his training had gone out of control in the last two months. The Body Refining Technique required extremely precise control over the flow of elements to coordinate with his movements and achieve the best results.

A single moment of inattention could result in a backlash.

It was only because of his vast experience that he reacted instantly, avoiding injury.

The image of Su Chen merging three dragons from that day kept surfacing in his mind, growing more profound with the passage of time instead of fading.

’This man...’ Hongxuan’s brow furrowed. Even after becoming a Saint and having his Talent further enhanced, he wasn’t confident he could compete with him.

’Rather than competing with him head-on for that slim chance, it’s better to eliminate him beforehand.’ Thinking about how Yuan Capital’s plan was nearly complete, he calmed his mind. ’If he could make it off Red Thunder Star, he might have been able to cause some waves. What a pity.’

’The Royal Court...’ Hongxuan forced himself to change the subject, no longer thinking about Su Chen. ’The Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator is bound by old loyalties to the Bronze Ancient King.’

’Once I become the chosen one, I’ll enter the Ancient King’s sight. In an instant, I’ll cross an unimaginable chasm and settle the score with my family’s past enemies.’

As he imagined the scene of being the center of everyone’s attention, Hongxuan’s thoughts drifted. He closed his eyes, only to snap them open again.

His mind grew increasingly restless, so he stopped his training and decided to go out for a walk.

But just as he stepped out of his room, Hongxuan came face-to-face with a young man. Both of them froze for a second.

’Hongxuan... What is he doing here?’

Xu Siyuan’s brow furrowed. He had been about to scout out the area, but he’d run into this guy instead.

The Faceless Ghost Followers had a file on him, suspecting he wasn’t a native of Red Thunder Star.

’Judging by his clothes, he’s not a staff member. Why would he be here?’

Hongxuan wondered subconsciously.

For a moment, the two of them were frozen, neither making a move.

Xu Siyuan’s mind raced. Just as he was about to speak, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. Tang Chen rushed over, his face pale. He didn’t even spare a glance for the person standing in front of Hongxuan as he said urgently:

"Something’s happened! The Judicial Court has sent people to surround the guest house."

"Hm?" Hongxuan snapped back to his senses and looked at Tang Chen in surprise. "What’s going on?"

Tang Chen was stammering, "...They said... they said we’re colluding with the Faceless Ghost Followers and harboring the Faceless Divine Son!"

"What?"

Both Hongxuan’s and Xu Siyuan’s expressions changed at the same time, showing nearly identical looks of disbelief.

’Has the Judicial Court gone mad?’ Hongxuan couldn’t help but think. But then, panic seized him as another possibility suddenly occurred to him.

’How did they find me?’

Xu Siyuan found it hard to believe. He had been meticulous, and the methods he used were far from the crude disguises of the other Believers. ’Could Ying Feng have really seen through them?’

"Let’s go!" Hongxuan gritted his teeth and started to lead Tang Chen away. But after just two steps, he caught sight of Xu Siyuan’s astonished expression out of the corner of his eye and subconsciously felt something was off.

However, right now he was more concerned with the Judicial Court’s objective and didn’t have time to overthink it. He simply gave a casual order, "Bring this guy along, too."

Xu Siyuan froze, almost lashing out, but he held back.

He couldn’t believe he would have been exposed for no reason. Besides, this Hongxuan seemed even more panicked than he was. ’Perhaps there’s more to this situation.’

...

"This is a huge operation..." Su Chen commented, looking down from the hovercar. All roads within a ten-kilometer radius had been rerouted.

On their way here, they had even seen members of the Inspectorate evacuating large crowds of civilians.

Following the directions, the hovercar stopped nearby. Su Chen and the others got out and stared at the guest house, which was completely surrounded, layer upon layer.

Almost everyone from the Judicial Court, aside from the essential staff needed to keep things running, had been mobilized here.

Hundreds of shuttle-shaped flying devices hovered in the low sky like a steel swarm of bees. Eerie blue charging crystals extended from the cannon muzzles on their underbellies, casting an intersecting web of targeting rays around the guest house.

On the ground, tracked war vehicles formed a steel barricade. The twin-barreled turrets on top of each vehicle were synchronously calibrating their angles. The Judicial Court’s emblem, etched onto the heavy armor plates, glinted with a cold light.

The Judges formed a circular defensive formation, fully armed, their presence grim and silent.

Entering the temporary command camp, they found Lei Tieyan. His face was ashen, his chest heaving, and he was furious to the extreme. "Xia Hanshi, you’d better be able to handle this!"

"You’re here." Xia Hanshi completely ignored him, his gaze falling on Su Chen and the timidly shrinking Ming Lin.

"Teacher, Judge Lei," Su Chen greeted.

Ming Lin also called out, "Judge Xia, Judge Lei."

’Judge Lei seems absolutely furious,’ he couldn’t help but mutter to himself. ’What’s going on?’

"Teacher..." Teng Liang walked in, his expression cold and detached. "The lockdown is complete. Even if everyone inside dies, the outside world won’t know a thing."

"Xia Hanshi!" Lei Tieyan couldn’t hold back any longer upon hearing this. "That’s all your speculation! What if Yuan Capital resists to the death? What happens then? Are we just not going to the ruins anymore?"

"Resist to the death?" Xia Hanshi sneered. "Wu Chenpei might resist to the death, but what about the other two?"

"Besides, you overestimate Wu Chenpei. Back when we killed his brother, he was grief-stricken and swore he would have his revenge in this lifetime. And then he just took his men and left."

"Once his initial fury passes, he’ll recognize the reality of the situation. He needs to rely on Su Chen if he wants to live. Just like in the past, he’ll make the safest decision."

Ming Lin looked completely lost. ’What are these two talking about?’

"You gambler!" Lei Tieyan still didn’t approve of Xia Hanshi’s plan.

"If we don’t take this gamble now, then once they kill Su Chen, you won’t even have a chance to," Xia Hanshi said sharply.

Lei Tieyan froze, asking in shocked suspicion, "They want to kill Su Chen? How do you know that?"

Xia Hanshi glanced at him. "They definitely will. When that time comes, we’ll have to choose: either we swallow our anger and endure it, or we flip the table."

"I dare to flip the table. Do you? Does Chong Jingtian? Do the others?"

"That’s just wild speculation."

Even though he realized Xia Hanshi was relying purely on guesswork, Lei Tieyan, while still angry, was not as furious as before. To a certain extent, he had been persuaded by Xia Hanshi.

Ming Lin’s expression was blank. ’How did this suddenly become about whether Su Chen lives or dies?’

He had a faint feeling that today’s events had little to do with the Faceless Ghost Followers.

’Old Xia didn’t discuss this with anyone. He just went ahead and did it, forcing the Judicial Court and Ying Feng to go along with him,’ Su Chen was starting to understand.

’So audacious,’ he marveled once again.

"Xia Hanshi..."

Just then, a muffled roar came from outside. A slight change came over Xia Hanshi’s face. "Let’s go. Let’s see how they try to talk their way out of this."

Su Chen and the others followed Xia Hanshi outside.

Downstairs at the guest house, the people from Yuan Capital had already gathered, glaring like tigers watching their prey at the Judges surrounding them.

The one who had let out the resounding roar was Lu Kai. Clad in Platinum Armor, his expression was grave. The moment Xia Hanshi arrived, he bellowed, "Xia Hanshi, what in the world do you think you’re doing!?"