Arrangements

"Right now?"

Lu Yuan blinked, surprised, and glanced sideways at Si Tingyu.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Si Tingyu looked at him.

He thought it over, then shook his head. "No problem. Right now, then."

He had nothing pressing anyway, and if Elder Si Qi wanted to see him, there was no reason to delay.

Si Tingyu nodded, then said softly, "The Ancestor is at the palace. Just take me straight there."

Lu Yuan nodded and was about to teleport them both when Si Tingyu suddenly said, "Wait."

"What is it, Mentor?"

He tilted his head, puzzled.

Si Tingyu glanced down at her training clothes. "I need to change."

He understood at once and gave a small nod. "Of course. I'll wait."

She stepped into the changing room nearby and returned in a white shirt and blue jeans.

"Let's go."

Lu Yuan placed his hand on her shoulder, and the two of them vanished from the underground training chamber.

An instant later, they materialized before the vast palace complex.

This was the Red Maple Empire's imperial palace. Lu Yuan had visited twice during Harvest Day banquets and once more when he came to see Si Tingxue — making this his fourth time here.

The spatial disturbance from their arrival quickly drew a Battle Sovereign-rank powerhouse: a middle-aged man in full battle armor with sharp, unyielding features. When he recognized them, the tension in his bearing eased, and he inclined his head.

"Your Highness, the First Princess. Elder Lu Yuan."

As he spoke, his gaze lingered on Lu Yuan for a moment, curiosity and something close to wonder playing in his eyes.

Lu Yuan didn't take offense. He understood perfectly.

News of his breakthrough to Battle Sovereign rank had almost certainly spread to every corner of Great Qi Star by now. He hadn't checked Battle Net, but it wasn't hard to guess — this guard had likely already heard, hence the look.

Lu Yuan gave the man an easy smile and dipped his chin in greeting. The guard quickly returned the gesture.

Si Tingyu's expression remained composed as ever. "I'm here to see the Ancestor."

The Battle Sovereign straightened. "My Lord Si Qi is currently in the small courtyard behind the rear mountain." He glanced briefly at Lu Yuan. "My Lord left instructions — if Elder Lu Yuan were to come, Your Highness may take him there directly."

Si Tingyu wasn't surprised. She simply nodded. Lu Yuan, on the other hand, felt an unexpected warmth at the consideration.

"We'll head over, then."

They bid the guard farewell and walked deeper into the palace grounds, passing through sections that were closed off even during Harvest Day banquets — areas no outsider had ever been permitted to enter.

They wound through a small grove of trees, climbed partway up a gentle hill, and arrived at a level clearing on the slope. There, Lu Yuan spotted a small courtyard — modest in size, but with a quiet, understated elegance.

Si Tingyu walked up and knocked on the gate.

It swung open on its own. Si Qi's voice drifted out:

"Come in."

The courtyard was a handful of dozen square meters — an ornamental rock formation and small pond on the left, a pavilion on the right.

Two people sat inside the pavilion. Lu Yuan looked, and his eyebrows rose slightly — it wasn't just Elder Si Qi. Elder Li Xinghai was there too.

Both old men were watching him as he approached, warmth creasing their aged faces, admiration clear in their eyes.

Si Qi, whose bearing usually carried a natural air of authority, wore the trace of a smile.

"Ah Yuan is here? I hear you've already reached Battle Sovereign rank?"

"Greetings to you both, Elders."

Lu Yuan offered a respectful nod to each in turn, then smiled. "Yes — just broke through."

In truth, his power had likely placed him at the very pinnacle of Great Qi Star. But he gave no indication of that.

Li Xinghai laughed in amazement.

"Qinghe's adopted little brother — I never imagined he'd turn out to be such a staggeringly gifted young man. What a surprise." His wrinkled face shifted into a sly grin. "Speaking of which, I hear things have been progressing between you and that girl?"

Lu Yuan felt a twinge of awkwardness. *Does this old man know about the time I kissed Sister Qinghe?*

Beside him, Si Tingyu's eyes narrowed. She turned a measured glance toward Lu Yuan, questions written plainly on her face — evidently, she hadn't heard anything about this.

Having her stare at him like that only made it worse.

Si Qi let out a quiet, pointed harrumph and threw a look at Si Tingyu — a faint undercurrent of reproach in it — before schooling his expression back to seriousness.

"Old Li, this isn't the time for that. Let's get to the matter at hand."

Li Xinghai pocketed the smirk and gave a solemn nod. "Go ahead, then."

Seeing both their expressions turn grave, a chill of anticipation settled over Lu Yuan. *What exactly is this about?*

Si Qi looked at him and said, "About a month ago, a Saint-grade Aberration Feral Beast appeared on Great Qi Star. I assume you've heard?"

Lu Yuan nodded. "Yes. Tingxue told me."

If it weren't for that Saint-grade Aberration, he might still be grinding for money right now — certainly not breaking through to Battle Sovereign rank this quickly. Thinking about the roughly several million Seventh-tier Spirit Crystals he'd burned through made his chest ache. That was a fortune even a Battle Emperor would covet.

Si Qi nodded and continued. "The creature still hasn't been captured. But based on tracking the traces of what it has devoured, it appears to have fully recovered its original strength — and may have surpassed it. On top of that, it's extremely cunning. It won't give us another chance to surround it. Great Qi Star no longer poses any meaningful threat to it."

Beside him, Si Tingyu's brow creased, a dark look crossing her face. Si Qi hadn't mentioned any of this to her. She hadn't realized the creature had grown so rapidly — not just recovering but pushing beyond where it started.

A rare heaviness settled over Lu Yuan's expression as well.

After a moment's silence, Si Tingyu asked, "Ancestor, didn't you seek Battle Saint assistance from Sky-Mending City?"

Si Qi gave a slight nod and glanced at Lu Yuan. There was a small smile on his face. "We reached out through Ah Yuan's connections. The Tianming Sage has agreed to come and help."

Lu Yuan blinked. Neither Yeye nor the Tianming Sage had said a word to him about this.

"However... the Tianming Sage needs time to arrive — likely more than half a month. What worries us is the window in between. The Aberration Feral Beast may make a preemptive move during that time, and those of us at Battle Emperor rank will be in the most danger — we are the only ones who can threaten it. If we fall, given how ravenous that creature is, it would devour every living thing on Great Qi Star before long."

Li Xinghai's expression had gone grim.

"When it comes down to it, we underestimated how fast that thing recovers. The cosmos is vast — even a Saint needs considerable time to cross certain distances, unless they happen to possess a Spatial Type Transcendent Gene. But Saints like that are notoriously hard to find."

He shook his head. Clearly, they hadn't managed to locate one.

Lu Yuan understood that completely. A Saint with a Spatial Type Transcendent Gene would almost certainly have gone into the Restorer profession. They'd be extraordinarily busy at all times, and tracking one down on short notice was never going to be easy.

He felt quietly relieved that he hadn't pinned his hopes on the Elf elder.

His thoughts drifted to the question of the gap — if any — between his own current power and the Aberration Feral Beast. *Maybe a fight would be worth testing.*

But he had no idea where the creature was. Even the Battle Emperors had found nothing more than feeding traces...

A thought struck him. He might be able to investigate those sites himself. With his Saint-grade Spatial Type Transcendent Gene, if there were traces of spatial movement in those areas — provided not too much time had passed — he might be able to trace the movement coordinates back to an origin.

So the next time either elder turned up evidence of a feeding site, he could follow along...

But he was only a Battle Sovereign. What reason would he possibly give?

He hadn't worked that out yet when Si Qi's voice cut through his thoughts.

"And so, Great Qi Star remains in danger. The reason we've asked you here is this: you are the greatest prodigy on Great Qi Star. If the Aberration Feral Beast strikes before the Tianming Sage arrives — and we Battle Emperors cannot hold it — we need you to board a ship and leave Great Qi Star with Tingyu and the others. You are the ones worth preserving. You are Great Qi Star's hope."

Lu Yuan stared at the two old men, caught off guard.

"What about you? Why wouldn't you come with us?"

Li Xinghai shook his head. "Ships capable of spatial transit are scarce on Great Qi Star — there aren't enough for everyone. What few we have can carry only a portion of the planet's prodigies. You are the seeds of humanity on Great Qi Star." He paused. "And even if we had ships enough to take everyone — that would likely trigger the creature to act immediately. We Battle Emperors have already drawn its attention. If we tried to flee, it would follow. When the time comes, if you make your escape, we will buy the time."

Silence fell over Lu Yuan and Si Tingyu both.

Si Tingyu pressed her lips together. "I want to stay too. I'm Battle Sovereign rank — perhaps I can help."

Si Qi shook his head gently. "Against something at Battle Saint level, a Battle Sovereign is no different from an ordinary person. Even Battle Emperors are desperately frail."

A trace of self-deprecation crossed his face. Without their Saint-grade trump cards, they likely wouldn't have even managed to wound the creature, let alone survive.

He turned to Lu Yuan. "Ah Yuan. Among those being arranged to leave, you are the most powerful, and the most gifted. When the time comes — please take care of Tingyu and Tingxue for us."

Li Xinghai grinned. "I'm sure you'll take very good care of Qinghe too."

Lu Yuan was quiet for a moment, then gave a calm nod and a smile. "Understood."

Internally, however, his mind had gone somewhere else entirely.

*Should I just... tell them? That I'm actually absurdly powerful right now — that I probably have Saint-level combat strength, and might not even rank among the weakest at that tier? That I could probably go a round with the Aberration Feral Beast?*

*...They'd think I'd gone mad.*

He could hardly blurt out that he'd already engraved seven Saint Grade Transcendent Genes and had several Saint-grade Gene Armaments on top of that. All that would prove is that he had a way of evolving Transcendent Genes — it didn't explain how a Battle Sovereign reaches Battle Saint-level combat power. A divine artifact? That excuse didn't hold up either.

But honestly, there was no need to complicate things. What Lu Yuan actually needed was to find the Aberration Feral Beast's location — and he could do that through his Shadow Clones.

His Shadow Clones now operated across an enormous sensing range, and they shared all of his current abilities, including his spatial ones. If the Aberration Feral Beast had used any spatial movement, there was a real chance a Clone could trace it.

And even if direct tracking failed, he could simply hide a Shadow Clone in each elder's shadow.

At his current level, combining the stealth and concealment of the Shadow Sacred Domain with his spatial power's layered concealment — neither elder would ever detect a Clone.

Whenever either of them received a lead on the Aberration Feral Beast, they'd naturally go to investigate. He could observe through the Clones and follow along.

The only awkward part was that hiding a Shadow Clone in two old men's shadows felt rather like spying. A bit undignified, if he was being honest.

Especially when the subjects were two elderly men.

*That's... a little uncomfortable.*

But he could configure the Shadow Clones to run in passive dormant mode — not actively feeding him any perception, simply waiting until specific keywords surfaced. Something like "Aberration Feral Beast" or "feeding traces." At that point, the Clone would activate and relay what was happening.

With his current mastery over shadow-force, that level of fine-grained control was easily within reach.

And if the creature did make its move before the Tianming Sage arrived, he'd step in himself — engage it, keep it occupied, at minimum ensure it couldn't direct its attention toward Great Qi Star's Battle Emperors and civilians.

With all the abilities at his disposal, plus Spirit Crystals providing essentially limitless Spirit Power recovery, even if he wasn't a match for the Saint-grade Aberration in a straight exchange, he could stall it. For years, if it came to that. More than enough time for the Tianming Sage to arrive.

*Alright. That settles it.*

He'd agree to the elders' plan for now, and handle the rest as it came.

The moment he said yes, the relief that spread across Li Xinghai and Si Qi's faces was unmistakable — warm and heartfelt.

"Good. That's all we needed."

Li Xinghai smiled and nodded. "Of course, it may never come to that. Once the Tianming Sage arrives, it should all work itself out."