Void Venerable opened his eyes.

He found that this avatar of his was indeed still inside a room.

He stepped out of his room.

A nearby neighbor saw him and exclaimed in surprise, “Master Po-Xu, you’ve come out of seclusion?”

Void Venerable smiled, “Yes, I finally broke through the bottleneck, my strength has greatly increased!”

The neighbor laughed, “Congratulations! I remember Master Po-Xu, you were a low-level forty-ninth-tier master before, right? Did you break through this time?”

“Just lucky, just lucky!” Void Venerable chuckled.

“We definitely need a proper celebration for this!” the neighbor said.

“No need, no need, it’s just a natural breakthrough.” Void Venerable smiled.

“Oh, I see.” The neighbor nodded, his expression somewhat calm.

Void Venerable was taken aback. Why did this person seem so calm? He had announced that he’d been promoted to an intermediate master-level artificer, so why such composure?

He immediately opened his token and checked the forum messages, focusing especially on artificer-related news.

But the postings didn’t seem abnormal.

What Void Venerable didn’t know was that the recently promoted artificers were all military personnel, and they wouldn’t be showing off on the forum.

His neighbor was also a fifty-plus-tier Chaos Dominator and naturally had channels to learn that many artificers had been promoted recently, though he didn’t know the specifics. He simply assumed Void Venerable was one of them, so he reacted calmly—any surprise had already been expended earlier.

Void Venerable felt puzzled but left the residential area and headed to the Qingfeng City Artificer Association.

He stepped into the Artificer Association.

A woman immediately greeted him with a smile, “Good day, Master Artificer. How may I assist you?”

“I’m here for a promotion assessment.”

Void Venerable said calmly.

“Oh, understood. An intermediate master-level artificer assessment?” the woman asked with practiced ease.

“Yes.”

“We’ve already arranged it, Artificer Room Yi-7! It’s prepared with fiftieth, fifty-first, and fifty-second-tier materials. If you’re confident, you can attempt a jump-tier assessment!” she said cheerfully.

Void Venerable froze, “That’s allowed? That’s different from the old rules, isn’t it?”

The woman smiled, “One must keep up with the times. If we stayed rigid like before, that would be foolish.”

Void Venerable couldn’t shake the feeling she was subtly mocking him, the former Seventh Speaker, but he had no proof.

Many of the restrictions he had placed on artificers were invisible, like numerous Association rules he had established, and now things seemed to be changing.

He was not pleased.

In the end he said nothing more and entered the artificer room for the assessment.

As soon as the artificer room door opened, staff handed him the intermediate master-level artificer badge for the fifty-second tier.

“...Is your efficiency really this high now?” Void Venerable asked.

“Once you get used to it, it’s fine,” the staff replied.

Void Venerable fell silent. The Artificer Association had gotten that used to assessments?

“I’ve been in seclusion lately. Can I check the current number of mid- and high-level master artificers?”

“Yes!”

The staff skillfully produced a sheet for him.

Void Venerable was stunned, “You even prepared this?”

The staff smiled, “It’s what we should do. With so many inquiries, we naturally prepare in advance.”

Void Venerable thought: could the First Void Speaker’s informants be asking directly like this? That would be too blunt.

He took the sheet. A few lines were listed.

High-level master-level artificers (as of ten xi before): 1,657

Intermediate master-level artificers: 82,842

Low-level master-level artificers: 520,000

“How is this possible?” Void Venerable looked at the numbers and protested, “Impossible. I remember a large number of artificers were assassinated before. How can the artificer count now be higher than before those assassinations? Especially the high-level artificers—how did they multiply several times?”

The staff looked embarrassed, “The secrets behind that are something you likely know better than I do. Many artificers are military personnel. We can’t disclose too much information, you understand.”

Void Venerable glared at the staff, silently thinking, I understand... nothing!

The situation was worse than he had imagined.

Void Venerable’s face darkened as he left the Artificer Association.

“Could it be the work of that Seven Stars Master?” he muttered, thinking of Su Yuan.

At that moment, Su Yuan suddenly sensed Void Venerable’s avatar.

Many people muttered Su Yuan’s name constantly, but this mental fluctuation was different—its magnitude matched a seventy-two rank’s coarse signature, and it wasn’t from any Speaker. That made Su Yuan take notice immediately.

Su Yuan quickly realized this was an avatar of the former Seventh Speaker.

He was surprised. This fellow actually dared to show himself again?

He knew many methods could use an avatar to lock on and even kill the original body!

Not afraid of death at all.

How should he alert the Speakers?

Su Yuan pondered briefly, then decided to notify Chaos Stone Eagle directly.

“Eagle bro, are you there?” Su Yuan sent a message.

Chaos Stone Eagle responded quickly, “What is it?”

“I need a favor!”

“Oh? Brother, say it straight!” Chaos Stone Eagle replied immediately.

“Come to my place first.”

“All right!”

Chaos Stone Eagle was obliging. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He soon arrived at Su Yuan’s home.

Su Yuan quietly told Chaos Stone Eagle, “I found a spy. I sense this person is not simple. I want you to help catch him.”

“Oh?” Chaos Stone Eagle’s eyes flicked, “Brother, don’t beat around the bush. Who do you want eliminated? I’ll take care of it, as long as it’s not a councilor!”

Su Yuan’s mouth twitched. “He really is a spy, and he may have a complicated identity. I have a special way to confirm his issue, but I can’t reveal it. So when you capture him, take the credit for yourself. Just don’t drag me into it.”

“No problem!” Chaos Stone Eagle said cheerfully.

Su Yuan immediately gave Chaos Stone Eagle the exact location and movements of Void Venerable’s avatar.

Chaos Stone Eagle left Su Yuan’s residence and headed to Void Venerable’s place to wait.

Void Venerable then used some hidden measures to verify the truth of the artificer numbers, which left him even more troubled. He felt Ying Wenzheng and the others had played him, especially that Xie Tingfeng fellow—after taking over his responsibilities, he seemed to produce hundreds of millions in quality equipment in the blink of an eye, and then set up an Artificer Bureau packed with mid- and high-level master-level artificers.

He didn’t believe this had been prepared long ago; it was hidden far too well.

When he stepped into his courtyard, time-space sealing activated, isolating inside from out and cutting off any escape.

Chaos Stone Eagle grinned at him, “Surprised? Shocked?” (Offstage sound: sepu luai zi~)