Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Mysterious Powerhouse

Moonlight filtered through the canopy, scattering like shattered, shimmering jade on the ground.

Liu Ming listened carefully to Su Yu’s description of the scene. He rubbed his nose and paced back and forth for a moment before repeating,

"You’re saying you went to the bathroom at night, heard a noise outside the Sword Hall, and then got attacked, only to be saved by that mysterious Sequencer."

"And this mysterious Sequencer is at least Tier Two?"

"Also... the abilities he used were unlike anything you’ve ever seen, not belonging to any known Sequence on the current list?"

"That’s about right."

Su Yu nodded. He walked to the edge of the lake, closed his eyes to enjoy the gentle night breeze, and waited for Liu Ming to speak.

Despite Su Yu’s words sounding like something out of a joke, Liu Ming didn’t doubt him in the slightest. He just rubbed his nose, his voice turning a bit heavy.

"This is a bit troublesome..."

"Yu, you awakened your Sequence late, so you might not know... there are other power systems in this world besides the Sequence system. So, he might not necessarily be a Sequencer."

"But regardless of his system, the fact that he possesses such strength means he must have at least a basic understanding of this world."

"And yet, he hasn’t made contact with us officials. Who knows, he might have ulterior motives."

Liu Ming stroked his chin and shook his head.

"Let’s not worry about him for now. Since he didn’t make a move against Yu, it means he’s not interested in us at the moment."

"But the Spiritual Sect is getting more and more rampant, even targeting Yu. We have to deal with the Spiritual Sect first."

Liu Ming’s logic was simple.

Deal with whoever poses the biggest threat first.

The mysterious powerhouse was indeed mysterious, but at the end of the day, they didn’t even know if he was friend or foe. There was no need to raise a storm over it.

"So what’s our next move?"

Wang Yu, Liu Ming’s subordinate who had been standing by, suddenly spoke up.

"First, we need to ensure Yu’s safety. I’ll request a Tier Two Sequencer from Cang City headquarters for close protection. Yu, you come up with an excuse for your brother. It would be best if this person could move into the Sword Hall."

"Okay, I’ll just say it’s a classmate." Su Yu nodded, then added, "But it would be best to send someone young. It’d be hard to explain if it’s an old man or some middle-aged uncle."

"Don’t worry."

"We’ll make sure your brother doesn’t find out."

Liu Ming finished and continued,

"Our top priority is ensuring Su Yu’s safety. Next, we need to figure out the Spiritual Sect’s true objective—why they’re going around killing people for no reason. Wang Yu, when you get back, compile a file on everyone who has died recently and send it to me."

"Yes, sir."

Wang Yu replied immediately.

"Alright, that’s the plan for now. Yu, you head back first. It’s almost dawn. The person from headquarters will contact you when they arrive."

Liu Ming glanced at the descending moon and the reddish clouds around it. Dawn was clearly breaking.

Su Yu nodded and went straight back to the Sword Hall.

Liu Ming and his subordinate got back into their parked car and started the engine.

...

「The next day.」

Su Xing had barely slept. He quickly washed up, then went outside with Su Yu for their daily morning run.

Su Yu was back to his usual self, clinging to him and calling him "bro" over and over. It was as if the battle-hardened Su Yu from yesterday had been a figment of his imagination.

After they finished their run,

Su Xing picked up his phone, intending to check his schedule for his three classes today. But as soon as he unlocked the screen, a trending headline popped up.

[Flashes in Cang City’s Night Sky. Is This Some Kind of "Special Effect"?]

Su Xing tapped on it.

He watched in surprise as a video, filmed by someone on a distant building, began to play. He never imagined that footage of his "White Line Slash" from last night would have been recorded by a bystander and posted online.

The distance must have been too great, though.

Only the blurry flashes of his sword were visible; the Spiritualist Follower enveloped in the light couldn’t be seen clearly.

In the video, dozens of brilliant white lines suddenly flashed across the otherwise peaceful night sky, like someone frantically swiping their screen in Fruit Ninja, leaving viewers dazzled.

Su Xing instinctively scrolled down to look at the comments.

"What kind of special effects are these? So cheesy!"

"If you believe this is real, you might as well believe I’m Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Just send me 50 bucks."

"Hey handsome, I believe you. Can I come help with the digging?"

"Holy crap, did you guys see that? I think there’s a person in the white light!"

"A person my ass! The guy above you must be seeing things."

"Seeing things +1"

"+1"

Besides the doubters, there were also so-called experts coming out of the woodwork. Some started explaining it as a special astronomical phenomenon, while others used various data analyses to prove it was definitely a special effect. In short, the theories were all over the place.

Because of this,

the post’s popularity on the trending list kept climbing.

It soon reached the number one spot.

Su Xing read the comments for a while.

He suddenly noticed Su Yu standing beside him, also looking at his phone screen.

Su Xing smiled and said, "Yu, why are you standing there so quietly? You scared me."

"Bro, do you think it’s real or fake?"

"This video?" Su Xing put on a surprised expression and said with a straight face, "Looks fake. I’ve never heard of an astronomical phenomenon like this. It’s probably special effects."

"Haha, true." Su Yu also smiled, scratching the back of his head. "I just... feel like there’s a little bit of truth to it."

"Oh, right, bro. A classmate of mine is coming over this evening. He wants to stay with me for a bit. Is that okay?"

"Stay here with us?"

Su Xing showed a surprised expression,

but his mind was already racing. He immediately understood Su Yu’s unspoken meaning. ’The officials are sending someone to protect my little brother.’

’So, that Spiritualist Follower yesterday was really after Su Yu?’

Su Xing’s eyes narrowed, a terrifying killing intent flashing within them before quickly vanishing. He just smiled and said,

"Of course."

"Is there anything you need me to prepare?"

Su Yu waved his hands, leaving with a, "Thanks, bro! We don’t need anything. I should get back to my homework."

After last night’s defeat,

Su Yu had a newfound appreciation for the importance of strength. He couldn’t just activate his Adjudicator Sequence or rely on someone to save him every time he ran into trouble.

’I have to train even harder.’

’Otherwise, I won’t even be able to protect myself, let alone my brother.’

...

「Afternoon, at the Sword Hall.」

Students stood one by one on the light blue mats. In front of them, Coach Su Xing walked to the sword rack, returned a heavy sword, and then announced,

"Class dismissed."

"Goodbye, Coach!"

"Oh, right! For tomorrow’s class, we’re going to try having it online. Tell your parents. If it doesn’t work out well, we’ll go back to having class here at the Sword Hall."

"Okay!"

Online classes.

This was the best news for some students.

Slacking off during online classes was practically foolproof. The students who already struggled to pay attention in class immediately cheered. The great age of slacking off had officially begun.

Switching the Sword Dao classes to an online format,

was a decision Su Xing had made after discussing it with the hall master.

The number of students attending class at the Sword Hall had been dwindling day by day, which meant most parents were worried about the safety of the area. Who would let their child take classes every day in a district where people were frequently getting killed?

’To prevent these parents from pulling their kids out of class,’

’and to avoid ending up with no classes to teach, I chose to hold them online. If I can still earn points from online classes, then it’s obviously a better choice than teaching in person.’

’If I can’t earn points,’

’then I’ll just switch back to normal classes at the Sword Hall later.’

Su Xing nodded, pleased with his decision. After the students had all left, he finally opened his system panel to check his earnings for the day.

[Sword Dao Points: 3]

’Three Sword Dao Points.’

’This is the richest I’ve been in days.’

’I’m going to go all out on allocating points when I get back.’

’But whether to upgrade [White Line Slash], [Breath of the Sword], or consider leveling up other Tier One skills... that’s something I need to think about carefully.’

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

"Excuse me, does Su Yu live here?"