"Surprised to see me?"

A young girl skipped into the room through the open door, laughing gleefully.

Three people followed behind her.

Two men, one woman.

"Gu, it hasn’t been long at all, and you’re already in the Heroic Body Realm, not to mention your promotion to Demon-slaying Grand General. Incredible! Truly impressive!"

One of the men remarked with a sigh as he stepped into the private room.

"Right, I forgot to introduce them."

Entering the private room, the man who had spoken turned around, pointed at the other two, and said, "This is my third brother, Qing Yiran, and my second sister, Qing Yichan."

Qing Yiran, Qing Yichan!

The newcomers were none other than the siblings from the Qing King’s bloodline, Qing Yimei and Qing Yixiao.

This time, they were joined by Qing Yiran and Qing Yichan.

The former, not yet thirty, had strong features and a well-proportioned build. His aura had reached a state of utter perfection.

That is, his physique, Divine Wondrous, and Spirit—the Triad—were about to merge into one.

As for Qing Yichan, she had a gentle temperament, very bright eyes, and a profound gaze. From the moment she entered, she had been staring at Gu Zheng, trying to see right through him.

"Qing!"

Gu Zheng stood up, cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "You flatter me, Qing. I’ve just been a bit lucky."

"This isn’t luck. It’s because you possess Royal Blood."

Qing Yiran spoke in a deep voice, his eyes sizing up Gu Zheng. "You are of our Qing King..."

"Third Brother."

Qing Yichan suddenly spoke, interrupting him. "We have all heard of Grand General Gu’s character, and our fourth brother and seventh sister have seen it for themselves. Since we’ve come to see him today, let’s first toast Lord Gu."

"Huh? Huh?" Qing Yiran’s eyes widened, not understanding.

Qing Yixiao and Qing Yimei were also completely baffled.

"Right."

Gu Zheng, however, smiled. "It’s been a while. Let’s have a drink first."

At his words, he made a gesture, and four cups floated over to the table. He then picked up the teapot and filled each one with tea.

"There’s no wine, so tea will have to do. I hope you four won’t mind." Gu Zheng raised his own teacup.

"Tea is fine."

Qing Yichan waved her hand, and three of the teacups floated into the air, drifting to a stop before Qing Yixiao, Qing Yimei, and Qing Yiran.

The three of them quickly took hold of their respective teacups.

"Please!"

"Please!"

They toasted each other with the tea and then drained their cups.

"Last time, Qing, you left in such a hurry that you forgot something."

Gu Zheng set down his cup, took out the Jade Scroll that recorded the *Heaven-Striking Hand* from his Storage Pouch, and handed it back to Qing Yixiao. "It’s a rare chance to meet again today. Please, Qing, take this True Skill back."

"Don’t worry, I haven’t cultivated the True Skill within."

"But..." Qing Yixiao frowned.

Before he could speak, Qing Yichan, who was beside him, reached out, took the Jade Scroll, and smiled. "My fourth brother is so forgetful. Thank you, Gu, for finding this Jade Scroll. Yichan thanks you!"

As she spoke, she faced Gu Zheng and bowed slightly in thanks.

"You’re too kind, Miss Yichan. It was no trouble at all for me." Gu Zheng shifted slightly to the side.

"Even so, I should thank you."

Qing Yichan straightened up. "On our way here, we saw many acquaintances heading in this direction. I imagine they are also looking for you, Gu. We won’t disturb you any longer. We’ll take our leave for today. Until next time."

"Take care. I won’t see you out." Gu Zheng cupped his fist.

Maintaining his smile, he watched as a bewildered Qing Yixiao, Qing Yimei, and Qing Yiran were dragged away by Qing Yichan.

The four of them left the restaurant.

After walking some distance, Qing Yimei finally couldn’t hold back any longer and exclaimed, "Second Sister, weren’t we here to help, to take this chance to bring Gu Zheng back home? How come..."

"He is not of the Qing King’s bloodline."

Qing Yichan interrupted coolly, her lovely face perfectly calm.

"What?" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Impossible!"

Qing Yimei’s jaw dropped, while Qing Yixiao blurted out, "I saw Gu Zheng activate the Qing King’s Body with my own eyes! The Bronze Arms, the Bronze Legs—there’s no way I was mistaken!"

"You may not have been mistaken about what you saw, but he is definitely not of the Qing King’s bloodline." Qing Yichan’s tone remained placid. "Just now, I activated my Bloodline Resonance. I got no feedback from Gu Zheng’s bloodline whatsoever. The power of Bloodline Resonance will trigger a reaction even with the faintest trace of our blood. Gu Zheng had nothing. There’s only one explanation: he does not possess the Qing King’s bloodline!"

"But..." Qing Yimei still couldn’t understand.

"Our Qing King bloodline originates from the Heaven-Stepping Demon Elephant."

Qing Yiran suddenly interjected, "If someone, by some stroke of luck, also obtained the power of the Heaven-Stepping Demon Elephant, then it wouldn’t be impossible for them to possess Bronze Arms and Bronze Legs."

"...That’s actually possible." Qing Yixiao calmed down and mused, "Gu Zheng obtained some of the Heaven-Stepping Demon Elephant’s abilities, which is how he has a Qing King’s Body, but this Qing King’s Body is completely different from ours. The chances are minuscule, incredibly small, but it’s a definite possibility."

"The facts are right in front of us."

Qing Yichan said coolly, "Nothing is impossible. Besides, he always insisted he wasn’t part of our Qing King family. We just didn’t realize it before and mistook him for the wandering child of some uncle from the clan. Now that it’s cleared up, it saves us some trouble."

"Sigh..."

Qing Yimei sighed. "What a pity. Gu Zheng is already a Heroic Body. To break through to the Heroic Body Realm without relying on Bloodline Power... If he were part of our Qing King family, he would be a huge asset..."

"Oh, right!"

Suddenly, she remembered something. Her eyes lit up as she looked at Qing Yichan and said with a mischievous grin, "It doesn’t matter that Gu Zheng isn’t from our Qing King family. He’s so powerful, we can still bring him into the clan. We just need Second Sister to make a little sacrifice."

"Sacrifice me?" Qing Yichan didn’t get it at first, her expression puzzled. "Sacrifice what about me?"

"Marry Gu Zheng!"

Qing Yimei’s face was full of excitement. "Look, Second Sister, Gu Zheng is handsome and incredibly strong. He might even break through to the King’s Body Realm later on. If you marry someone like him, you definitely won’t be losing out. And in return, we’d get a powerful ally."

"I think that could work." Qing Yixiao nodded in agreement, smiling. "That way, he’d become one of us anyway."

"Not bad."

Qing Yiran chimed in with a laugh, "Gu Zheng’s talent is so outstanding, he’s more than worthy of being our brother-in-law. As for his status as a Demon-slaying Grand General, that’s not important. He can quit anytime. And even if he doesn’t, it’s no big deal."

"Second Sister, I think Xiaoqi’s suggestion is..."

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

Qing Yichan raised her hand and quickly flicked each of them on the forehead.

She laughed in exasperation. "You think? *You* think? I’ll give you something to think about! So this is how you sacrifice me, huh?"

"Especially you, Xiaoqi. If you want Gu Zheng to become one of us so badly, why don’t you sacrifice yourself?"

"Ouch~" Qing Yimei rubbed her forehead, looking pitiful. "I’d love to, but I’m not strong enough! A guy like Gu Zheng wouldn’t even look at me!"

"Right." Qing Yixiao took two steps back and continued to chime in, "Only Second Sister is worthy..."

"Hey, not again!"

With a strange yelp, Qing Yixiao turned and ran.

Qing Yimei giggled and followed behind him.

Qing Yichan chased after them, huffing in exasperation.

Qing Yiran, at the very back, shook his head with a faint smile and followed at a leisurely pace.

...

...

「World Tower.」

「In the private room.」

Gu Zheng let out a long breath.

’The Qing King family... I can finally shed that false identity.’

’Borrowing the skin was simple; shedding it was the hard part.’

’In the beginning, I had gained many intangible benefits by relying on this false identity.’

’As for those benefits, I’ll just have to find a chance to repay the Qing King family in the future.’

’From the moment she entered, Qing Yichan had released an invisible aura, vibrating through her own body to sense me.’

’That power was very subtle.’

’I was only able to sense it thanks to my Union.’

’Bloodline Power!’

’Qing Yichan was using her own Bloodline Power to sense the Bloodline Power in me.’

’The result, naturally, was that there was none.’

’I hadn’t equipped the Bronze Elephant Body, so where would any Bloodline Power come from?’

’Even if I had equipped it, there wouldn’t have been any.’

’Thus, the truth that Qing Yixiao, Qing Yimei, and Qing Yiran had all failed to discover...’

’Qing Yichan had "seen" it the moment she walked through the door.’

’This member of the Qing King family, already in the Heroic Body Realm, was probably on the verge of breaking through to Heroic Body: Melting Furnace!’

...

"Gu, we haven’t seen each other for some time, and now you’re already a Heroic Body. It’s amazing what a difference a little time makes."

Outside the open private room, a woman in a long dress walked in gracefully.

As she walked, she cupped her fist in salute, her bright and beautiful face full of smiles.

"Hmph. Just a stroke of dumb luck, that’s all."

Behind the woman, a young man showed open disgust on his face. He sneered as he walked, "Breaks through to Heroic Body and suddenly thinks he’s a big shot? You killed Luo Cheng out in the open, but did you even know who was backing him? Jin Pang! And behind Jin Pang is the Kao Mountain King. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of the Kao Mountain King. He’s the second most powerful expert in the Zhong Family, a King’s Body..."

"Enough!"

Nangong Yaoyue shouted coldly, cutting off Dongfang He’s tirade. "Dongfang He, you promised you wouldn’t spout nonsense. That’s the only reason I brought you with me. You’ve broken your promise. You can leave now."

"Ah, I was wrong, I’m sorry! I promise it won’t happen again."

Dongfang He, who had been warily sneering at Gu Zheng, suddenly looked crestfallen and pleaded pitifully.

Nangong Yaoyue took a deep breath, forcing herself not to lose her temper. She just waved her hand, telling Dongfang He to stand aside.

Then, she looked at Gu Zheng and forced a smile. "My apologies for that embarrassing display, Gu."

"It’s nothing."

Gu Zheng stood up, faced Nangong Yaoyue, and cupped his fist in salute. "It’s been some time, Miss Nangong. You seem even more formidable than before. Congratulations on reaching the Super Body realm."

Gu Zheng was genuinely happy to see Nangong Yaoyue again.

Back in Qingshi County, Nangong Yaoyue had helped him a great deal.

Gu Zheng still hadn’t figured out how to thank her.

It was just that Dongfang He, this tagalong, was putting a damper on things.

It had been so long, and he was still following Nangong Yaoyue. The crucial part was that Nangong Yaoyue could tolerate it.

Their relationship was thought-provoking, but Gu Zheng had no intention of prying.

After the salutations, he poured a cup of tea for each of them.

They each took their seats.

Nangong Yaoyue’s expression turned serious. "Gu, the repercussions of killing Luo Cheng are indeed significant. If you need help, I can ask the elders of my family to lend a hand."

"Thank you for the offer, Miss Nangong," Gu Zheng said gratefully. "But for now, I don’t need it. If the day comes when I do, I will certainly trouble you."

"Heh..."

Dongfang He couldn’t help but sneer, "You say that as if you have powerful support of your own..."

"You..."

"Gu! Gu!" a voice suddenly started shouting from outside.

Before Nangong Yaoyue could explode, Xiao Xianya was the first to rush into the private room.

"Gu, about killing Luo Cheng... count me in on that!"