He's Here

A few days later, the energy fluctuations inside Rebecca's room gradually stilled. Si Tingxue's gaze sharpened, and a faint smile touched her cool, delicate face.

She knew Rebecca had finished her inscription.

With Lu Yuan in there standing guard, she hadn't been particularly worried — but now that it was over, a quiet wave of relief washed through her all the same.

Then the smile on Si Tingxue's face went rigid.

A faint, unmistakable sound drifted through Rebecca's door.

In an instant, she understood. Her fair cheeks flushed visibly crimson, and she stood rooted to the spot, mind blank.

She snapped back a moment later, a flicker of irritation stirring in her chest. She raised her hand to knock — then her fist hovered before the door, suspended. She let out a quiet, pointed breath and slowly lowered it.

*Why is Rebecca making such... such strange sounds?!*

She cringed inwardly with mortification. *Were the sounds I made yesterday anything like that?!*

She shifted her weight to leave — but something inexplicable kept her planted there beside the door, unable to move.

The next morning, Lu Yuan woke to find Rebecca wound around him like an octopus. He smiled softly.

Unlike Si Tingxue, who slept with quiet composure, Rebecca was the type who needed something to hold. The rows of stuffed toys crowding her room made that abundantly clear — it just happened that what she was holding tonight wasn't a doll, but him.

A moment later, Rebecca stirred and blinked open her eyes.

Those amber irises drifted from haze into focus. Then her face broke into a radiant grin.

"Morning, A-Yuan~ Hehehe~"

She nuzzled contentedly against him, glowing with satisfaction.

Lu Yuan chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Want to sleep a little longer?"

The inscription had drained her enormously over the past few days — and then there was last night on top of it. She had to be exhausted.

Rebecca gave a soft hum and tightened her arms around him.

"...Then stay with me."

He smiled helplessly. "Alright."

A little while later, a knock came at the door.

Rebecca, who had just drifted off again, jolted awake. Something crossed her mind, and real alarm swept across her face.

"Oh no, oh no — Xiao Xue is going to kill me!"

Lu Yuan could already feel a thin thread of icy aura pressing through from the other side of the door.

He managed something resembling a calm smile.

"You rest. I'll go handle it."

Rebecca shivered and gave a rapid nod. "Okay! Good luck!"

She pumped a little fist in his direction, then yanked the blanket over herself and burrowed completely out of sight.

Lu Yuan stared at the blanket-shaped lump.

*...Is she seriously throwing me to the wolves right now?*

He gave a wry shake of his head, climbed out of bed, called out a "just a moment," dressed, washed up, and finally stepped into the corridor.

Si Tingxue was standing outside, her expression as cool and composed as ever. She fixed him with a pointed look the moment the door opened.

Lu Yuan cleared his throat. "Good morning, Tingxue."

Si Tingxue let out a short, unimpressed huff.

"...How is Rebecca?"

"Inscription was a success."

She gave a small nod. Then she lifted the food box she was carrying, a light flush rising to her cheeks as she averted her gaze.

"...I made this for Rebecca. She must be exhausted."

Si Tingxue understood better than anyone just how draining it was — the inscription, and then that. After Lu Yuan had left following her own inscription, she had quietly eaten some spirit fruits before going back to sleep.

So she had put something together for Rebecca as well.

Lu Yuan blinked, caught off guard.

Si Tingxue rolled her eyes and let out a quiet huff.

"...You. Out."

She took hold of his arm and steered him away from the doorway, then walked in herself and shut it with a firm click.

Lu Yuan stood in the corridor staring at the closed door, the picture of innocence.

Inside, Si Tingxue crossed to the bedside.

The Rebecca-shaped pile under the blanket heard the door close and the footsteps approaching, and started to tremble.

Si Tingxue sighed softly. "Come on — eat something first. You must be exhausted."

A small, cautious head emerged from beneath the covers. Rebecca's eyes landed on the food box, and she let out a sheepish little laugh.

"Xiao Xue, you're the absolute best~ A-Yuan was seriously incredible — I feel like my whole body is about to fall apart."

Si Tingxue's face went scarlet. "...Don't say things like that! Just eat!"

At that moment, her gaze drifted down to what was visible beneath Rebecca's blanket, and the corner of her mouth twitched.

*That cannot possibly be a natural human endowment.*

*How can there be such a gap between people?*

She let out a low, aggrieved huff, set the food box on the table, and sat down in a chair to stew in silence.

Outside the room, Lu Yuan tried to listen in on their conversation — but some form of interference was clearly blocking him, and he caught nothing at all.

He rubbed his forehead, resigned.

With the relationship those two had, there probably wouldn't be any real trouble. He tried not to worry about it, made his way to the sitting room, and had the servants bring breakfast.

As he ate, he turned things over in his mind.

Si Tingxue's and Rebecca's Transcendent Genes were solid now — genuinely impressive. With continued Gene Armament upgrades, he could absolutely groom them into extraordinary warriors of the highest tier.

Beyond those two, there were Yeye, Amy, and Wang Lingling.

All three had broken through to Battle King Rank earlier and had already completed their Transcendent Gene inscriptions — but during a Battle King Rank inscription, there was a hard limit to how much Lu Yuan could directly assist. He had done what he could: passed along the spirit fruits and spirit liquids he had on hand, along with a set of Sovereign Grade Gene Armaments for each of them.

Fortunately, their natural talent was nothing to dismiss. They had each inscribed Emperor Grade Transcendent Genes, and once they broke through to Battle Sovereign, they would be ready for Sovereign Grade Transcendent Gene inscriptions.

On top of all that, Lu Yuan was thinking of asking whether they wanted to come to the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin. Li Qinghe and Si Tingyu could look after them when the time came.

As he ate, he took out his Communication Crystal and reached out to Yeye.

Her face appeared in the crystal moments later.

The moment she saw Lu Yuan, the vague, faraway quality in her eyes brightened. A faint smile curved her lips.

"A-Yuan. What is it?"

"Where are you right now?"

"Youming Palace. Training."

"I've got some gifts ready for you — I'll bring them over when I can."

"Mm."

Unlike Rebecca or Si Tingxue, Yeye simply nodded at the mention of gifts and asked nothing further.

"Oh, by the way," he added, "do you want to come to the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin?"

Yeye tilted her head and thought for a moment, then nodded. "Mm. I was planning to."

"Then I'll introduce you to a few friends. We could all go together — some of them are already in the Upper Layer; they can take you in with them when you're ready."

Yeye considered this. "Is it Amy and the others?"

After the Aier Mechanical Ruins, Yeye and Amy had gotten to know each other and, from what Lu Yuan gathered, still met up occasionally.

He nodded. "That's right. Them."

"Mm. Okay."

Then something seemed to occur to Yeye. She looked at him, a subtle, unusual expression drifting through those habitually still eyes.

"The Ancestor said he went to Great Qi Star and met you."

"That's right," Lu Yuan said. "The Tianming Sage came to Great Qi Star intending to help us deal with the Saint Grade Aberration Feral Beasts — but by the time he arrived, they were already gone. Made the trip for nothing, I'm afraid."

A faint smile surfaced on Yeye's face. "The Ancestor has a good impression of you. He said my taste is excellent."

A note of rare, quiet pride crept into her voice as she said it.

Lu Yuan blinked at that, genuinely surprised, a smile breaking through before he could stop it. He hadn't expected the Tianming Sage to frame it quite like that.

The hint of smugness on Yeye's face was quietly charming.

"Of course," he said. "Yeye has the finest taste of anyone — I'd better keep working hard just to be worthy of it."

"You already work very hard," she replied softly. A brief pause, then: "Oh — when you come back from the Upper Layer, are you going to challenge the Rankings?"

"That's the plan."

"With your strength, you'll definitely take first. We should celebrate properly — make something delicious?"

Her eyes brightened.

He saw the look and understood immediately: Yeye was using "celebrating" as a pretext for some elaborate food-related scheme.

He smiled helplessly and nodded. "No problem."

After chatting with Yeye, he tried to reach Amy — but she didn't seem to have entered the Land of Origin yet, and the crystal wouldn't connect. He'd have to try again in a few days.

Before long, Si Tingxue emerged from Rebecca's room and came through to the dining area.

"How is she?" Lu Yuan asked when he saw her.

"Ate, then went back to sleep."

He thought for a moment. "I'm planning to head to the Central Plaza in White Cloud City shortly. Come with me?"

Si Tingxue paused, something clicking into place. "Going to challenge the Rankings?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll come." Something lit up in her eyes. "A-Yuan — with my current strength, do you think I could pass the qualifier rounds?"

He blinked, then laughed. "Absolutely. You've inscribed a Sovereign Grade gene now — have a little faith in yourself. Your Gene Armaments are Sovereign Grade quality too. Even among the geniuses on the King Rankings, someone with your level of power would already be sitting near the top. Once your tempering proficiency climbs higher, you might even have a shot at the top three."

If Yeye and Amy had been able to inscribe Sovereign Grade genes when they first broke through to Battle King Rank, first place on the Rankings would almost certainly have belonged to Yeye — Innate King Grade combined with a Sovereign Grade Transcendent Gene meant she'd be practically untouchable.

But he hadn't had the resources then, and the Evolution Cube hadn't yet been capable of producing anything that powerful.

Now, though, he privately judged Si Tingxue and Rebecca to be the stronger pair. Even armed with spirit fruits, spirit liquids, and a set of Fifth-rank Sovereign Grade Gene Armaments, defeating either of them would still be an uphill battle for Yeye.

The gap between a Sovereign Grade and an Emperor Grade Transcendent Gene was simply enormous.

Si Tingxue's eyes lit up, and she smiled. "Then I'll give it a try."

Lu Yuan nodded. Then he added, "Oh — you and Rebecca are both at Battle King Rank now, so you're eligible to enter the Upper Layer. Planning to go? Li Qinghe and the instructor said they'd train together with you all when the time comes."

Si Tingxue hesitated, a conflicted look crossing her face. "Mm..."

Seeing her indecision, Lu Yuan remembered that she had a thoroughly paralyzing inability to make choices.

"Just go," he said simply.

"Okay."

She nodded. Then something else seemed to occur to her, and an odd expression settled across her features.

"...Besides me and Rebecca — are there others?"

Lu Yuan cleared his throat and looked subtly to the side.

Si Tingxue rolled her eyes and said nothing.

White Cloud City. Central Plaza.

Space rippled.

Lu Yuan appeared with his arm around Si Tingxue's waist — materializing from nothing.

She became aware of the eyes from various faction observers scattered around the square and felt a flush creep up her cheeks. She pulled free of his arm with quiet self-consciousness.

"...Be proper in public."

Lu Yuan blinked. A teasing grin spread across his face.

"So I don't need to be proper at home?"

"...Pervert."

He put on his most aggrieved expression and let the matter drop, steering her toward the stone stele.

By now the crowd filling the plaza had spotted them. The moment Lu Yuan came into view, observers from a dozen different factions straightened, eyes flashing with recognition and barely concealed excitement.

"It's actually him — he came!"

"Hiss... how long has it been? He only just broke through to Battle Sovereign a few months ago, right? He's here to challenge the Rankings already?"

"...Honestly, even if Lu Yuan came to challenge the Rankings the day he broke through, I wouldn't be surprised. His combat power at Battle King Rank was on a completely different level."

"Fair point. Do you think — in this short a time — he could make it to first on the Emperor Rankings?"

"..."

Clusters of onlookers murmured among themselves, every whispered conversation circling back to Lu Yuan. More than a few had already drawn their Communication Crystals to send word back to their respective factions: he had arrived.

After two consecutive Rankings runs, Lu Yuan's name had become extraordinarily well-known throughout the White Cloud Star Domain. Major organizations had tried to recruit him, dangling compensation packages that most Battle Emperors could only dream of.

Among the watching crowd, a woman of the Nightshade Race spotted him and her eyes went wide. She immediately drew her Communication Crystal and sent word back to her clan.

She gazed at Lu Yuan with open, barely restrained reverence — the look of someone in the presence of an idol.

Unlike observers from most other races, this Nightshade operative had more context than most. She had witnessed it firsthand: during the Beast Tide at Dark Night City in the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin, Lu Yuan had displayed combat power that stood at the absolute pinnacle even among Battle Emperors.

The news hadn't spread widely within the Nightshade Race. Only those at Battle King Rank and above, along with a select few of their most gifted young warriors, were privy to it. She knew because she was an intelligence operative — and because Princess Anastasia had personally instructed her: if Lu Yuan ever came to the Central Plaza to challenge the Rankings, notify her at once.