Yan Hai's group planned to watch the rest of the matches before heading back to the county. With all the contestants from Nanguan Second Middle School now out of the competition, everyone had plenty of free time, so the siblings Yu Fei and Yu Miao spent a few days sightseeing in Y City.
One day, as Yu Fei was about to enter the venue, he suddenly felt a chilling aura sweep over him like a wave. His heart clenched, but his incredibly fast reflexes allowed him to control his reaction.
Feigning nonchalance, Yu Fei took two quick steps, bounded up the seven stairs, and turned to look at Yu Miao.
"Hurry up, Sis! What's with the dilly-dallying, didn't you eat?"
"I'm coming!"
Yu Miao yelled back, extremely annoyed.
"You've only been practicing for a few days, what's with all the showing off?"
"If you don't show off after practicing, then wasn't all that practice for nothing?"
...
Just now, Yu Fei's gaze had been fixed on his sister, but he had locked onto the source of the chilling aura with his peripheral vision.
It was a man in his thirties, with shoulder-length hair that obscured half his face. His eyes were dazed, and he wore a gray jacket.
Yu Fei committed the man's appearance to memory.
People streamed in and out of the venue entrance, including no small number of Second and Third Realm Martial Artists, yet none of them seemed to sense the chilling aura.
This was thanks to his talent, [Profound Sight], an ability that could detect goodwill and malice.
The long-haired man's malice wasn't directed solely at Yu Fei. As far as he could tell, the man harbored a deep and profound malice toward everyone there.
Yu Fei found this strange, but after a moment's thought, he deduced a possible reason.
The Yu Kingdom was generally a stable country, but Martial Artists cultivated supernatural powers, and that great power ultimately belonged to the individual.
It takes all sorts to make a world. Some people were naturally drawn to destruction, while others wanted to take shortcuts.
As a result, evil cults and dark organizations appeared one after another in the Yu Kingdom. 'Perhaps this long-haired man is a member of one.'
'For this guy to appear so openly, he must be planning to cause trouble.'
At this thought, Yu Fei grew restless. He was just a low-level, first-realm Flesh-level Martial Artist, and his sister was a fragile, ordinary person. If something unexpected happened, the risk was far too great.
'What should I do when I'm in trouble?'
'When in trouble, call the police! No, wait, this is the Yu Kingdom. The police only manage ordinary people. I need to find the Martial Arts Administration Bureau!'
Yu Fei muttered to himself.
'But I don't know anyone from the Martial Arts Administration Bureau. And what if there are other extremists inside the venue?'
After some thought, Yu Fei quietly sat down next to Yan Hai and sent him a text message.
"I think I saw a cult member at the venue entrance!"
BING!
Yan Hai silently took out his phone.
"?"
Without looking at Yu Fei, Yan Hai continued to type.
"How did you know?"
"The guy is radiating malice at everyone coming in and out of the venue!"
Yu Fei paused, then continued to type.
"You have to believe me, there's definitely something wrong with that guy. The worst that can happen is a false alarm, but if he's for real, this could be huge!"
...?
"Do you have a picture?"
Yan Hai felt this was all a bit far-fetched, but one couldn't judge Martial Artists by ordinary standards. He had worked in a special department before, and as outlandish as this sounded, he had seen far stranger things.
"No, I didn't dare take one!"
Yan Hai thought for a moment before sending another message.
"Describe his appearance and what he was wearing. Also, send me his location and the time you saw him. Leave the rest to me."
"1"
"?"
"It means 'got it'!"
Shortly after, Yu Fei quickly sent the information over. He saw Yan Hai fire off a few messages, then return to watching the competition as if nothing had happened.
Yu Fei decided he'd better stick close to the big shot for the next few days and not go looking for trouble.
Although the official propaganda in this world claimed public safety was good, Mr. Gao had once told him that all publicly released information was heavily censored.
For instance, eight years ago, a small border town with thirty or forty thousand people had simply vanished, but there were no news records of it whatsoever.
There were many things you could never learn about unless you were strong enough. This world was not a safe place.
When they returned to the hotel that afternoon, Yan Hai urgently informed everyone that they were to return to Tianning County immediately. No one objected.
A Third Realm Martial Artist held a high status and possessed exceptional judgment, so everyone listened to his counsel.
It was already 6:00 PM by the time they gathered everyone and set off. The ride was bumpy, and the roads were difficult to navigate at night. It wasn't until 10:00 PM that Yu Fei and Yu Miao finally arrived home.
Yu Wei was already asleep, but their parents had waited up for them and kept dinner warm.
At the dinner table, Yu Miao chattered excitedly, describing all the details of the competition to their parents. Yu Fei, meanwhile, focused on devouring his food. He was starving.
Right now, she showed none of the calm composure she usually maintained in public.
Only in front of their parents can those who've been away from home truly act like children again.
For passing the preliminary rounds, Yu Fei had been rewarded with ten Vitality Elixirs, putting his cultivation back on the fast track.
Combined with the energy fluid from the Aurora Martial Arts Hall and a small amount of Blood Storage Powder, Yu Fei had a good chance of breaking through the Flesh-level within two months.
Two days passed in a flash.
As the New Year approached, the population of Tianning County swelled each day, like a school of fish returning upstream. The normally quiet and spacious county town even began to experience traffic jams. A closer look revealed that more than half of the cars were from out of town.
Yu Fei trained diligently every day, while Yu Miao and Yu Wei spent their days having fun. One afternoon, while he was at the Aurora Martial Arts Hall practicing his fist techniques, he suddenly got a call from Yan Hai.
"Yu Fei?"
"Mr. Yan, it's me!"
"I'm calling with an update on that dangerous cult member you reported."
Yan Hai paused before saying, "Your report was accurate!"
"I knew a guy like that was no good..."
Yu Fei thought back to that moment. 'Thanks to the perception from my talent, [Profound Sight], I could feel that the long-haired man's malice was overwhelming. It wasn't aimed at any single person, but at everything around him. What kind of good person is like that?'
"Let me finish," Yan Hai cut in. "Based on the information you provided, the relevant authorities quickly locked onto the suspect. After tracking and investigating..."
As Yan Hai laid it all out, Yu Fei began to understand the full picture.
Evil cults and dark organizations in the Yu Kingdom, both large and small, were as numerous as the hairs on an ox. For various reasons, it was difficult to eradicate them completely, so they could only be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
For over eight hundred years of the New Calendar, if one were to name the most resilient evil cult, it would have to be the Illuminati.
Throughout history, the organization had been annihilated numerous times, yet it always managed to rise from the ashes when least expected.
If you were to rank the world's dark forces, the Illuminati had never made it into the top three, but it had also never dropped out of the top ten.
Apparently, some time ago, crucial intelligence from the Illuminati's high command had been deciphered, allowing the Security Bureau to launch a precision strike. The cult suffered devastating losses, and the long-haired man was one of the fugitives who had escaped from the capital, Shenjing.
"So, that's the gist of it. Thanks to your lead, they ended up killing several Fourth Realm cultists, including a number of Third Realm core members. Objectively speaking, you've done a great service!"
Yu Fei was pleased. His own power was still low, so the more stable and safe his environment, the better it was for him.
"Whether I get credit for it or not doesn't matter. The important thing is that everyone is safe."
Yu Fei said with a laugh.
"It doesn't matter? I was going to try and get you a reward in the form of some cultivation resources, but if you don't care, I'll just forget it. I'm hanging up now."
Yan Hai's calm voice came from the phone, and Yu Fei instantly panicked.
"Wait, wait, wait, Mr. Yan! I was kidding! I'm desperately short on resources! You know my situation—my talent isn't great, and I've just been stumbling along the path of martial arts, relying on nothing but my own tireless willpower. This student's life is hard!"
On the other end of the call, the corners of Yan Hai's mouth curved up slightly.
"Alright, enough with the dramatics. This will probably take a while; it has to go through the proper procedures. Just wait for an update."