Chapter 222 The name of Dongxuan spread throughout the provincial capital!

"Where is this? The outskirts of the Qingmu District?"

Jiang Yun thought to himself.

He could feel several presences lurking in the surrounding forest, mostly at the Silver and Gold Rank, with a few even reaching the Amethyst level!

The Vicious Beasts here were more than a grade stronger overall than those in City C's Misty Forest.

However, these presences seemed to keep their distance from the teleportation formation, not daring to approach easily.

Seeing that no one was around,

Jiang Yun immediately took action, removing the mask from his face and shedding the iconic, oversized black robe, revealing his clean-cut features and the ordinary clothes of Jiang Yun underneath.

Beside him, the Nine-Tailed Fox also emitted an extremely subtle, nearly imperceptible ripple. Her appearance and figure remained unchanged, but that ethereal, attention-grabbing Immortal Qi seemed to recede significantly, making her look more like a stunningly beautiful ordinary girl, though her temperament remained cold and aloof.

Looking at the familiar yet strange, peerless face of Su Qingxue before him, a curious thought suddenly popped into Jiang Yun's mind.

When this Nine-Tailed Fox transformed into human form,

did she have her own unique human appearance cultivated like the demons in Xianxia TV shows from his past life, or was she merely relying on illusions to mimic the appearance of a real person?

"Hey, Mother Fox."

He couldn't help but ask.

"The face you're using now belongs to the Su Family's Su Qingxue, right? I'm a bit curious, do you have your own human form? Or... can you only transform by copying the appearance of a human?"

"By the way... is the... real Su Qingxue still alive?"

Jiang Yun didn't actually care much about the answer.

It was pure curiosity.

After all, he had no real connection with the original Su Qingxue of the Su Family.

Hearing this, Su Qingxue

turned her head.

Those eyes, which had returned to a deep black, gave Jiang Yun a faint glance.

Then... she unhurriedly produced an exquisite little pastry from somewhere and placed it in her mouth.

After chewing and swallowing slowly,

she coolly uttered a few words.

"The contract does not state that this Empress must tell you such things."

Finished speaking,

she turned directly, chose a direction, and walked forward with light steps, leaving Jiang Yun with an elegant and distant view of her back.

Jiang Yun looked at her stubborn, arrogant, and cold demeanor and couldn't help but curl his lip.

"This fox... she really won't take the slightest loss or let a single word slip. Could it be that she has this same foul temper among her Qingqiu Fox Clan, which is why she was sent out on such a dangerous mission?"

He shook his head helplessly.

Suppressing his curiosity,

he quickly followed her.

The two traveled through the forest for a few minutes.

During that time, several reckless Gold Rank Vicious Beasts were indeed attracted by the scent of living humans and pounced from the shadows.

However,

before these beasts could even get within thirty feet of the pair, they seemed to hit an invisible wall of Qi, whimpering as they were flung backward, fleeing into the distance in a daze.

Later,

as if finding it troublesome, Su Qingxue allowed an extremely faint trace of her presence as a high-level being to leak out.

Instantly,

all the spying eyes and presences in the forest vanished without a trace, leaving a dead silence broken only by the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Soon,

they found a relatively quiet city gate entrance in the Qingmu District.

The city guards merely checked their identification as a matter of routine. Both produced their Su Family disciple identity tokens, and the guards waved them through after a glance.

Although it was late at night,

the main roads of the Qingmu District were still brightly lit.

Some night market stalls were still operating, and while the pedestrians weren't as dense as during the day, they still walked in groups of two or three, reflecting the unique prosperity of the provincial capital.

Having prior experience,

the two quickly found a public Earth-Walking Camel Beast station and boarded a large camel beast carriage heading toward the Su Family market.

There were already seven or eight passengers on the carriage, most of whom looked like ordinary residents or low-level Beast Tamers finishing their day's work.

The camel beast moved with steady steps,

and the carriage swayed gently with the bumps.

Jiang Yun and Su Qingxue chose seats in the back, trying to lower their presence as much as possible.

However,

the idle chatter of the passengers inevitably drifted into their ears.

And the center of the conversation

was none other than Great Master Dong Xuan, who had become famous throughout the provincial capital in the Starfall District today.

"Have you heard? Something massive happened today at the Starfall District Appraisers Guild!"

A middle-aged man lowered his voice,

yet he couldn't hide his excitement.

"How could I not! The whole provincial capital is going crazy with the news right now!"

A fat man dressed as a merchant chimed in,

spittle flying everywhere.

"A sixteen years old Grand Tutor Level Appraiser! My God, I've lived for forty years and I've never heard of anything so ridiculous!"

"More than just a Grand Tutor! He was directly appointed as a Grand Elder by the Appraisers Guild! He's on equal footing with President Yun Xi and Vice President Lin Yan!"

An elderly man who seemed somewhat knowledgeable stroked his beard, his face full of disbelief.

"A sixteen years old Grand Elder... this is simply... simply a myth! No, even myths wouldn't dare be written like this!"

"Is it true? sixteen years old? It couldn't be a rumor, could it?"

A young woman expressed her doubt.

"Absolutely true! My nephew is on duty in the Starfall District and saw it with his own eyes! On the Wanjian Heavenly Altar, that radiant Sun-Level curiosity called the five-colored origin divine seed was appraised one by one by that master, triggering heavenly phenomena! Master Shi Potian, the head of the Qian family, the War Beast Sect Leader... those big figures we usually struggle to even catch a glimpse of were all following behind him to offer congratulations!"

The middle-aged man gestured excitedly.

"Heavens... sixteen years old... what kind of Prodigy Genius must he be?"

The young woman covered her mouth,

her eyes filled with shock and yearning.

"Exactly! Someone like that is destined to be a True Dragon soaring through the Nine Heavens! Our provincial capital will likely become famous throughout the Federation because of him!"

The fat merchant sighed with emotion.

"It's a pity I couldn't see this Legendary master's true face with my own eyes. I wonder what kind of presence such a person has? He must surely have the grace of a Dragon and Phoenix and the countenance of the sun!"

The old man looked full of regret and longing.

"I heard he was wearing a mask! A big figure like that would have a very mysterious identity! But to have such achievements at sixteen, he must be exceptionally handsome and possess extraordinary poise!"

Stars twinkled in the young woman's eyes as she spoke.

In the carriage,

everyone chimed in, getting more excited as they spoke, as if they were discussing not a stranger, but a star about to illuminate the era.

Their tones were filled with amazement, worship, curiosity, and a hint of reflected glory.

Jiang Yun sat quietly in the corner.

Listening to these fanatical discussions about himself,

the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly.

His mood was somewhat complex.

These people would never imagine

that the mysterious and lofty sixteen-year-old Legendary Grand Tutor and Grand Elder they were talking about was currently wearing ordinary clothes, sitting on this slow-moving Earth-Walking Camel Beast carriage just like them, listening to their various exaggerated imaginings and words of worship.

Jiang Yun sighed and leaned quietly against the back of the seat.

"I really didn't expect... the news to spread so quickly."

Although Jiang Yun's face under the mask was calm and waveless,

waves were once again stirred in his heart.

From the time he completed the assessment on the Wanjian Heavenly Altar to this moment sitting on the public camel beast carriage in the Qingmu District, it had only been half a day at most.

However,

everything that happened in this half-day,

the explosive news of him becoming a Grand Tutor and being promoted to Grand Elder at sixteen, had already swept from one district to another like a wildfire. It had spread rapidly from the lofty meeting halls of major powers to the post-meal chatter of these ordinary citizens, becoming known to all and passed from mouth to mouth!

The speed and breadth of this dissemination

far exceeded his previous expectations.

The information network of the provincial capital,

along with the subversive and Legendary nature of the sixteen-year-old Grand Tutor topic itself, had combined to create this wildfire of public opinion.

"Fortunately..."

A trace of relief quietly surfaced in his heart.

Jiang Yun was once again incredibly certain that his choice to leave the Appraisers Guild quietly through the secret teleportation formation was a correct and even vital decision.

Just imagine.

If he had chosen to walk grandly out of the main entrance of the Starfall District Appraisers Guild at that time, what kind of scene would that have been?

He would likely have been instantly submerged by a surging tide of people who had heard the news the moment he stepped out of the gate.

Worshippers, the curious, opportunists, those with ulterior motives... countless gazes would have focused on him like searchlights, countless arms would have tried to reach out and touch the legend, and countless questions would have surrounded him.

At that time,

let alone returning smoothly to the Su Family, it would have been truly difficult to move a single step. Every move would have been exposed to everyone's sight, with no privacy or room for maneuver left.

That would have completely contradicted his original intention of separating the identities of Dong Xuan and Jiang Yun, and it would have also dragged the Su Family and everyone related to him into the center of this storm of excessive attention, bringing endless trouble.

Thinking of this,

Jiang Yun stole a glance at Su Qingxue beside him.

Su Qingxue was currently sitting quietly, her head turned to look at the street scenery flashing past the window, as if she were deaf to the heated discussion in the carriage.

Only those slightly trembling, long eyelashes seemed to leak a very faint, unidentifiable emotion.

Jiang Yun's brow furrowed slightly.

"This Mother Fox also had quite a harvest today, so why does she look a bit unhappy? But thinking about it carefully... a Vicious Beast coming alone to a dangerous place full of humans, she must likely be incredibly apprehensive and uneasy in her heart every moment."

...Soon,

another ten minutes or so passed.

They arrived at the Su Family market.

The two returned to the Su Family following the familiar path.

It was now the middle of the night.

Jiang Yun and Su Qingxue returned to the Su Family's grand courtyard.

Jiang Yun's residence, prepared by the Su Family head, was the Yunqi Courtyard.

In the night, the small courtyard was quiet and silent.

Not many Su Family disciples were walking about outside.

The two walked straight ahead.

Occasionally, they encountered a few deacons who had seen Jiang Yun before.

They would call out very respectfully,

"Son-in-law."

Although Jiang Yun's reputation in the provincial capital or even the Qingmu District wasn't large yet, and certainly wasn't as praised as the name of Dong Xuan,

he was already somewhat well-known within the Su Family.

Soon,

the two arrived before the gates of the Yunqi Courtyard.

But at this moment,

Su Qingxue's footsteps suddenly stopped.

She didn't turn her head; her gaze seemed to fall on a corner of the courtyard wall, and her voice reached Jiang Yun's ears very calmly.

"There are two humans within a hundred meters ahead, and they seem to be staring at us..."