[Luofu, Starskiff Haven]
Zandar wore a round felt hat and a shawl coat.
He held a suitcase in one hand and a communication device in the other, sending a message along with the hotpot restaurant he had chosen.
Soon after, neat, extremely light footsteps approached, then stopped not far away.
They sounded like well-trained guards, extremely skilled at concealing their movements.
Zandar acted as if he hadn't noticed. He kept his head down, staring at the screen, waiting for a reply.
Then, footsteps very different from before, slightly heavier, sounded.
That person had a clear target. He walked straight toward Zandar and finally stopped about two meters away.
Zandar had already expected this when he left the ship.
He deliberately left the person in front of him hanging, his eyes fixed on the screen without blinking.
[Zero: Arriving in one hour]
Only after getting the reply did Zandar put down the communicator.
He automatically ignored the guards surrounding them and placed his gaze on the person before him, pretending to be surprised as he said, "How do you say it in Xianzhou language again? Flattered beyond measure?"
Zandar clicked his tongue in amazement.
"I really didn't expect this…"
"That a nobody scholar like me, unknown in the sea of stars, would actually attract someone as important as you."
In these past several thousand years, Guanliang had only ever been put in his place by his former superior. Everyone else treated him with politeness and deep respect.
He had heard far too many flattering words. That didn't mean he couldn't recognize malice.
Guanliang saw at a glance that Zandar was doing it on purpose.
His smile didn't reach his eyes.
"You're being far too modest."
After saying that, Guanliang recalled the details he had learned from Hua and deliberately brought up the other man's achievements that had spread across the universe.
"You are the creator of the 'Omniscient Heavenly Lord.' You are the father of an Aeon..."
Sure enough, the moment the Aeon of Erudition was mentioned, Zandar's smile instantly disappeared.
Seeing this, Guanliang stopped while he was ahead and continued, "Besides, you were once our Marshal's teacher."
"As the saying goes, a teacher for a day is a father for life. Since you came to the Luofu, how could you not inform us?"
Seeing Zandar didn't refute him, he slowly stepped forward, smiling as he reached out as if to take the suitcase from his hand.
Zandar avoided the movement.
Guanliang naturally withdrew his hand. He glanced at the suitcase and said half-seriously, "If it were someone else, I might have grown suspicious."
"Of course, with your character, how could you be carrying contraband? When leaving Starskiff Haven, there won't be any need for inspection. Let's go."
The guards followed at a distance, neither too close nor too far.
Guanliang and Zandar walked side by side. Using a special passage, they left Starskiff Haven.
After boarding a starskiff, they sat in the back row.
Guanliang frowned and sighed.
"If I hadn't happened to come to the Luofu, wouldn't we have ended up like last time, where I failed in courtesy again?"
Zandar understood the hidden meaning of the man beside him.
Wasn't he just suspecting that Zandar had said something he shouldn't have and indirectly forced Mati to death?
So after Guanliang found out he had applied to enter the Luofu again, he hurriedly followed over.
Compared to those mad dogs from the Empire, the subordinates his student had cultivated this time could at least be considered somewhat human.
Their personalities weren't as crazy… but they weren't as good as those mad dogs either.
At least dogs wouldn't forget kindness. They truly protected their master.
Zandar had no intention of continuing the conversation and very directly exposed the other party's little tricks.
"Oh? Really? Last time, after I left the Luofu, didn't you specially send warships after me?"
Guanliang smiled and said, "Sorry, please don't misunderstand."
"By the time I received the news, you had already left the Luofu. It wouldn't have been appropriate to disturb you, so I could only send ships to escort you from afar."
Without even blushing, he painted an attempted murder as protection.
Zandar raised an eyebrow.
"Xianzhou's hospitality really opened my eyes! When you escort guests, do you use your newest battleships?"
Guanliang's smile didn't change.
"That just shows your lack of experience."
"You are an honored guest. With your status, forget a mere battleship. You could freely enter and leave even the Six Commissions of the Luofu."
"Last time, Mati received you. This time, it should have been some unknown diviner from the Divination Commission accompanying you. But I thought about it, what authority would a diviner even have?"
"There are many places he couldn't show you. For example, the Divination Commission, the Sky-Faring Commission, the Commission of Balance…"
"If it were me, even the Ten-Lords Commission, where serious criminals are held and outsiders are forbidden, I could send you... oh no, bring you inside..."
Guanliang deliberately emphasized the words Ten-Lords Commission and intentionally used the wrong word midway.
Zandar replied calmly, "Unfortunately, that diviner already agreed to meet me."
He said the address of a hotpot restaurant, then added, "He said he would meet me in one hour."
Guanliang's smile immediately faded.
He didn't know Zandar's relationship with that person, nor did he know why this scholar would dare return here after barely escaping being detained on the Xianzhou.
From a benefits standpoint, Zandar was useful. Otherwise, that person wouldn't have arranged to meet him.
If Guanliang killed Zandar, that person would probably be angry.
Looks like the Ten-Lords Commission was off the table.
Guanliang took out his jade communicator and told the driver at the front of the convoy to change the destination to the hotpot restaurant.
The convoy changed direction.
The two in the back remained silent for a long time before Guanliang smiled again and spoke, "Then during this time, I will take this diviner's place in receiving you."
He opened his office software, used his authority to contact the person in charge of the district, and had members of the Commission of Balance clear the area in advance.
When they arrived, Guanliang got off the starskiff first. With his five fingers together, he raised his arm in a guiding gesture.
"Please, Mr. Zandar."
Zandar carried his suitcase and looked around. The once bustling district now only had the Commission of Balance members who arrived early and the Cloud Knights stationed on the Luofu.
He followed Guanliang into the hotpot restaurant.
After sitting down, guards who had already replaced the restaurant staff handed Zandar a device for ordering food, while another handed Guanliang a silver briefcase.
Guanliang accepted it and placed it beside himself.
Meeting Zandar's indifferent gaze, he spoke to the scholar across from him with a probing intent.
"It's a blood sample."
Zandar lowered his eyes and suddenly laughed.
If the other man's earlier actions were like the futile struggle of a creature at the bottom of the food chain, something that stirred no emotion in him…
Then now, he began to take Guanliang seriously.
For the first time, Zandar felt killing intent toward his student's subordinate.
He set down the ordering device and said unhurriedly, "The Aeon of Elation has already descended upon the Luofu. Do you know this?"
Guanliang's expression stiffened.
Zandar smiled in satisfaction.
"Since you know manners and when to advance or retreat, I'll tell you another secret."
"The one who descended here is the Aeon's true body. Shouldn't you be reporting to your superior right now so the Luofu can enter combat readiness as soon as possible?"
"After all, that's the Aeon of Elation. One small mistake and the Xianzhou might get dragged into a godly war..."
Guanliang suddenly stood up. Just as he picked up his communicator and was about to leave, Zandar let out a deep sigh and said in disappointment, "I just praised your manners. How did you forget them so quickly?"
Guanliang slowly turned back. The two men, both harboring killing intent toward each other, met each other's eyes.
Zandar looked thoroughly amused and added, "Shouldn't you be thanking me?"
Guanliang gritted his teeth.
"…Thank you very much."
———
[Scalegorge Waterscape]
Yingxing held a box in his arms, feeling uneasy.
He looked at his friend Dan Feng beside him.
For some reason, ever since returning from the battlefield to the Luofu, the other man had been completely focused on the Vidyadhara reproduction issue, and without explanation had brought Yingxing to the Scalegorge Waterscape.
He didn't even go to the Alchemy Commission anymore, nor did he scold the dragon elders.
Dan Feng was the head of the Alchemy Commission! Even if he didn't have to write reports after the war, he should at least be holding meetings with his subordinates.
What puzzled Yingxing most was that Dan Feng had stopped scolding the dragon elders.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Thinking this, Yingxing immediately stopped walking.
Dan Feng stopped as well.
The High Elder looked over at Yingxing expressionlessly.
Facing his friend's completely different, cold expression, Yingxing said stiffly, "Dan Feng, how about… you wait while I return this thing to the Artisanship Commission first?"