Just as Su Mu had guessed, Maishan was indeed going to be closed off. After being refined here, Luo Wanqing’s lightning power had grown tremendously strong, even showing faint signs of a breakthrough to A-rank.
By the time they reached the summit, Luo Wanqing had just finished his training. The moment he spotted the two of them, his face broke into a delighted grin: “You’re here!”
“And me too.” Ye Qingyu descended from the sky.
The instant he saw Ye Qingyu, Luo Wanqing’s gaze darted away, almost as if he didn’t dare meet her eyes.
Su Mu secretly guessed that he’d probably been on the receiving end of one of her “lessons” before…
“What are you doing up here? Training?” Ye Qingyu eyed the lightning-struck tree with curiosity.
Luo Wanqing rumbled in his deep voice, “I dreamed this dead tree was waving at me, so I came to check it out. And since there’s been a ton of lightning energy around lately, I figured I’d do a little training while I was at it.”
As he spoke, he quietly shuffled back one step, then another—and then, without any warning, he bolted down the mountain…
Su Mu and Ye Qingyi both turned to look at Ye Qingyu. She rolled her eyes and said, “He’s the one who insisted on sparring with me. And since ‘going all out is the greatest respect you can show your opponent,’ I gave him a tiny little taste of shock.”
Ye Qingyi’s expression turned odd. “Sister, how much is ‘a tiny little taste’?”
Ye Qingyu thought for a moment, then pinched her thumb against her pinky fingertip and said seriously, “About this much.”
Su Mu: (≖_≖)
Ye Qingyi: (°ー°〃)
Heh. You’re hilarious.
Of course, being the only person who could make someone as fearless as Luo Wanqing actually scared—well, that was a feat all its own.
By now, the thunderclouds had dispersed, and everything had returned to normal. After a few seconds of quiet contemplation, Ye Qingyu walked over to the two of them and, like an eagle grabbing chicks, seized one in each hand and shot up into the air.
“I’ll leave all that business to the higher-ups at Beidou. You two just focus on your own things. I’ll take you to the capital first—after that, you’re on your own getting to Xingkong Island.”
“Is there a chance—just maybe—that I am one of those higher-ups?” Su Mu blinked.
Ye Qingyu shot back, unimpressed, “Yours is basically a ceremonial title. A bit more status, sure, but not much better than Luo Wanqing’s. You’re about on par with Nie Yun. The real power always lies with the four senior elders: Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, and Tian Quan. Don’t think Old Qin’s idle just because he’s recovering at home.”
Su Mu grinned. “Perfect. That means I get to stay carefree.”
He wasn’t just making excuses—he genuinely meant it.
“Mm, that’s good. Right now, the most important thing for you is to improve your own abilities. Staying away from power struggles isn’t a bad thing.” Ye Qingyu agreed with his outlook, then added, “Oh, by the way, Qingyu Hui is temporarily under my jurisdiction too. I figured I should let you know, since you’re the president.”
Su Mu’s eyes darted slyly. “Sister, what are you saying? Qingyu Hui was founded by you in the first place. I’m only the president to share Qingyi’s burden. You should just take it back outright—I’d be happy to have one less thing to worry about.”
Ye Qingyi grew anxious at that. “Sister, Su Mu has never been greedy for the presidency. And we’re all family…”
Ye Qingyu shot her sister a sidelong glance, her tone tinged with sarcasm. “Fine, fine. I haven’t even said anything yet, and you’re already defending him, huh?”
“I’m not…” Ye Qingyi tried desperately to deny it.
“Enough. You think you can fool anyone else with that little act, but me?” Ye Qingyu said with a huff.
Just then, Su Mu spoke up. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re planning to expand Qingyu Hui in a big way, aren’t you? With the goal of making it a second Hongye Tang.”
Ye Qingyu nodded with satisfaction. “Not bad. Hongye Tang used to be Beidou’s blade. But now that blade has developed a will of its own and started to rebel. Without a sword to counterbalance it, things could eventually spiral into disaster.”
Su Mu pondered briefly. “But aren’t you afraid Qingyu Hui might become the next Hongye Tang?”
As he spoke, a glimmer of understanding flickered in his eyes—he already knew the answer.
Ye Qingyu narrowed her eyes. “There’s a big difference between a blade given by others and a sword you sharpen yourself. Do you know why the seventh star of Beidou, Yaoguang, has always remained vacant?”
Whenever her sister and Su Mu were both around, Ye Qingyi always seemed the slowest—whether because she was overshadowed by them or just too lazy to think. It was only now that the realization dawned on her:
“I get it now. The seventh star was reserved for Wu Tian, the master of Hongye Tang. But Beidou was never comfortable with his actions, so now it belongs to you, Sister.”
“Exactly. This is my way of showing Beidou’s high-ups where I stand—and it’s also the path I’ve carved out for Qingyu Hui. From now on, Beidou can focus all its energy on dealing with those restless outsiders. As for matters at home, I’ll leave them to Qingyu Hui.”
Su Mu murmured, “Yaoguang—also known as Pojun, the breaker of armies. It governs warfare and destruction. Fits you quite well, Sister.”
Ye Qingyu’s expression suddenly sharpened. “Oh-ho! You haven’t even finished your undergrad, and you’re already playing word games in front of me, a Ph.D.? Don’t think I can’t tell you’re calling me vicious.”
Su Mu froze, about to protest—when suddenly his body felt heavy, and a fierce wind roared up from below.
Damn—free fall!
Just as he was about to slam into the mountain, his body suddenly lightened again. He turned his head and saw Ye Qingyu grinning with delight. “So? Does that fit my image now?”
Ye Qingyi covered her mouth and chuckled. Though she was worried, she knew her sister wouldn’t actually let Su Mu fall to his death.
Su Mu’s soul had nearly left his body. He gasped for air.
“How did that feel?” Ye Qingyu raised an eyebrow.
“Not bad.” Su Mu kept up his bravado.
The moment the words left his mouth, they shot up even higher than before—and then came another free fall.
Of course, this so-called “free fall” wasn’t truly free fall in the physics sense—because he had initial velocity.
Su Mu never imagined that the high school physics problem about calculating bomb trajectories from an airplane would become his reality—and that he’d be the bomb, reused and dropped twice.
This was the first time he’d traced a semi-parabolic arc without a ruler. It was even more impressive than when his math teacher freehanded a circle.
He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared. Even knowing he wouldn’t die or get hurt, the primal fear of falling from a great height kept his nerves taut.
But after the fear came a rush of pure exhilaration—so much so that when Ye Qingyu asked him how he felt this time, he blurted out without thinking: “Awesome.”
Both sisters gave him a strange look, sized him up, then exchanged glances: “Did he snap?”
Su Mu was panting heavily, but his eyes were lit up with excitement. “I just discovered a way to rapidly improve my strength!”
Seeing how genuinely thrilled he looked—not like he was spouting nonsense—Ye Qingyu asked with curiosity, “Go on. Don’t tell me I just awakened some masochistic streak in you.”
Ye Qingyi, on the other hand, looked worried and stayed silent.
“Humans have potential. To unlock it, you need to find the key—like emotions. It could be sadness, joy, or fear.” Su Mu said with conviction. “And among all emotions, fear is probably the most effective at unleashing one’s latent power. So I was thinking—could this be used as a training method for supernaturals?”
Ye Qingyu listened without praise or surprise, then said flatly, “A lot of people already know that. But it’s not suitable for most—some might end up with psychological trauma, or even suffer a mental breakdown.”
Su Mu, however, broke into a confident smile. “I was only talking about myself. I think I’ve just figured out how to train from here on out.”
