30: Chapter 30 "The Forces Behind the Scenes"

Canglan Base, atop the steel wall.

The night wind howled, carrying the chill characteristic of the wilderness. Three Martial Emperor-level inspectors from the Federation were standing on the wall, their gazes fixed intently on the wilderness tens of kilometers away, where the energy fluctuations had just subsided.

Just a few minutes ago, that place had been like purgatory, with flames soaring to the sky and Saber Qi raging.

That was a battle belonging to the Martial Saint Realm.

"Is it over?" Zhang Ye swallowed, his voice somewhat hoarse.

Just as the three were filled with doubt and suspicion, Swoosh—!!

A purple-gold streak of light tore through the pitch-black night, coming from afar and approaching rapidly, accompanied by a suffocating sonic boom.

"It's here!" The hearts of the three tightened, and they instinctively raised their protective Qi and blood.

Boom!

The streak of light landed heavily on the wall, instantly cracking the hard alloy ground and kicking up clouds of dust.

When the dust settled and the brilliance faded, a tall, upright figure slowly walked out from the shadows.

He was wearing that casual gray outfit, without even a speck of dust on him, his expression as calm as if he had just gone downstairs for a walk.

Su Wu.

In his hand, he was dragging an old man covered in blood, with limp limbs, dead or alive unknown, just like one would carry a dead dog.

When the three inspectors saw the old man's face clearly:

"Hiss—!!!" A uniform sound of gasping echoed.

Although that face had been beaten out of shape and was covered in blood, that iconic gray robe could not be mistaken.

It was Uncle Li!

It was that high and mighty, orthodox Martial Saint from the Mars Li Family—Uncle Li!

At this moment, his aura was as weak as a gossamer thread, his chest collapsed; where was there any trace of his previous arrogance?

"This... this..." Zhang Ye felt his brain was about to explode.

He had imagined countless endings: Su Wu defeated and killed, or Su Wu heavily injured and fleeing, or even the two fighting to a draw.

But he had never imagined that Su Wu could actually capture a Martial Saint alive! And beat him into such a state!

Defeating and killing are two different concepts, and killing versus capturing alive is an even greater chasm!

To capture a Martial Saint alive, one's strength must be at least two small Realms higher than the opponent, reaching a level of complete suppression!

Could it be... that this Su Wu is a mid-stage, or even high-stage Martial Saint?!

Heavens! What kind of Dragon was hidden in this shallow water of Canglan Base!

Su Wu casually switched the unconscious Uncle Li to his other hand, his gaze sweeping indifferently over the three federal officials who were already scared silly.

"What are you staring at?" Su Wu's voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable majesty.

"Where is Li Xinghe?"

"Ah?" The three looked at each other, their minds blank, their mouths opened, but because of excessive shock and fear, their throats felt blocked, and they couldn't make a sound for a long time.

"Are you mute?" Su Wu frowned slightly, and the pressure of a Martial Saint that he had just experienced in battle inadvertently leaked out a bit.

Crack! The floor tiles under the three men instantly shattered.

"At... at the Tianhao Hotel! In the presidential suite on the top floor!" Zhang Ye was the first to react, so scared he almost knelt down, his speech speed as fast as a machine gun. "That's the place the base uses to host foreign guests! Li Xinghe has been there since the assessment ended!"

"Thanks." Su Wu nodded, not even looking at them again. With a tap of his toes, his entire person turned into a purple-gold streak of light again, shooting towards the direction of the base city center.

Not until Su Wu's aura completely disappeared did the three people on the wall feel the mountain pressing on their hearts lifted.

"Phew... phew..." The three breathed heavily, discovering that their backs were already soaked with cold sweat.

"The sky has changed... it has really changed." Inspector Du looked in the direction Su Wu had left, muttering to himself.

Canglan Base City center, Tianhao International Hotel.

In the top-floor presidential suite, the luxurious crystal chandelier emitted a soft light, and expensive Persian carpets covered the floor. Everything here showcased nobility and ease, seemingly isolated from the world of slaughter outside.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn Earth native!" Li Xinghe sat on the leather sofa, holding a bottle of expensive red wine, but he was gnashing his teeth as he drank.

Although his face had been treated to reduce the swelling, the stinging sense of humiliation was like a maggot in the bone, impossible to shake off.

Li Xinghe gulped down a mouthful of wine, his eyes flashing with a resentful light.

In his view, Uncle Li taking action was a dimensionality reduction strike.

A Martial Saint killing a Grandmaster, what difference was there from crushing an ant?

Su Yu was likely already a corpse, or struggling between life and death in Uncle Li's hands.

"Hmph, what Genius, what first place. In the face of absolute strength and background, they are all trash!" Li Xinghe comforted himself this way, trying to use the Family's glory to fill the sense of frustration in his heart.

Just then.

Boom!!!

A deafening explosion erupted without warning.

The explosion-proof door made of special alloy was actually kicked away by a terrifying force like a thin piece of paper!

The twisted and deformed door panel whistled across half the living room, crashing heavily into the floor-to-ceiling window, shattering the entire bulletproof glass.

"Ah!!" Li Xinghe's hand shook, spilling red wine all over himself, and he sprang up from the sofa, looking at the door in terror.

"Who?! Who dares to intrude into this young master's room?!"

The dust settled.

Standing at the door was a middle-aged man.

Su Wu.

He was expressionless, and in his right hand, he was carrying a bloody person.

"Li... Uncle Li?!"

When he saw the face of that bloody person, the anger on Li Xinghe's face instantly froze, replaced by extreme fear.

That was his Dao protector! That was his Li Family's Martial Saint! That was his greatest confidence to run rampant on Earth!

At this moment, he was being carried in someone's hand like a dead dog?

"This... this is impossible... this is an illusion..." Li Xinghe stumbled back two steps, fell onto the sofa, his lips trembling, unable to even say a complete sentence.

"What? Surprised?" Su Wu sneered and walked into the room in big strides.

"Is this the 'orthodox Martial Saint' you relied on? Is this your confidence to kill my son?"

"Thump." Su Wu threw the half-dead Uncle Li at Li Xinghe's feet.

Blood splattered onto Li Xinghe's skin, the warm touch finally making him realize—this was not a dream.

"Ahhh!" Li Xinghe let out a shrill scream, crawling backward with hands and feet, shrinking into the corner of the sofa.

"You... don't come over!!"

"I warn you! I am the direct descendant young master of the Mars Li Family! My father is the head of the Li Family! My grandfather is a powerhouse of the Star Lord Realm! If you dare to touch a hair on my head, the Li Family will never let you go!!"

At this point, he was still trying to use the Family's name to scare away the middle-aged man in front of him.

Unfortunately, he had met Su Wu.

Su Wu approached step by step, the powerful aura suppressing Li Xinghe until he could barely breathe.

"Li Family?" Su Wu stood still in front of the sofa, looking down at this shivering ant, his eyes full of contempt.

"If the Li Family is full of people like you, then I would like to see what they can do to me."

Although he said that, Su Wu knew very well in his heart.

The current him really couldn't afford to provoke the entire Li Family.

But he couldn't show weakness, and he couldn't kill him.

Killing Li Xinghe would mean an irreconcilable blood feud, and the Li Family would retaliate at any cost.

Therefore, he had to attack his heart.

He had to put on a show.

Seeing that the threat was ineffective, Li Xinghe's psychological defense completely collapsed.

"You... what exactly do you want?" He said with a crying voice, his face covered in tears and snot.

"What do I want?" Su Wu's eyes flashed with cold light, he suddenly leaned down, grabbed Li Xinghe by his expensive collar, and lifted him into mid-air.

"Weren't you very arrogant before? Didn't you send this old thing to take my son's life?"

"Now, be arrogant for me to see again?"

"Wuwuwu... I was wrong! I was really wrong!" Li Xinghe hung in mid-air, kicking his legs like a helpless child. "Please, let me go! I have money! I can give you a lot of money! One hundred million? One billion? As long as you let me go, I will give you anything!"

"Money?" Su Wu sneered, his eyes full of disgust.

Smack!!

Su Wu swung his arm and slapped Li Xinghe hard on the face.

This slap didn't use Qi and blood, it was purely physical strength, but it was enough for Li Xinghe to remember for a lifetime.

Half a bloody tooth flew out. Li Xinghe's left cheek instantly swelled up like a steamed bun, and he was hit until he saw stars, his head buzzing.

"This slap is for my son."

Smack!!

He slapped again with the back of his hand.

"This slap, uh--- I just wanted to hit you."

Li Xinghe was beaten silly, his eyes unfocused; besides crying and begging for mercy, he had no thoughts of resisting.

"Stop hitting... stop hitting... I'm just a fart, please let me go..."

Watching the once arrogant Mars noble begging like a dog, the baleful energy in Su Wu's heart finally dissipated by more than half.

He threw Li Xinghe back onto the sofa like trash.

"Listen well." Su Wu straightened his slightly wrinkled collar and put on an unfathomable expression.

He turned around, back to Li Xinghe, looking at the broken night sky outside the window, his voice becoming low and mysterious:

"Uncle Li, I know you are awake."

On the ground, Uncle Li, who had been pretending to be dead, trembled slightly and struggled to open a slit in his eyes.

"Go back and tell those old immortals in your Li Family."

Su Wu's voice carried an arrogance that looked down on the world, and... a kind of unfathomable heritage.

"Do you really think... that this small Canglan Base could produce a Martial Saint out of thin air?"

"If it weren't for the fact that the force behind me does not want to be exposed too early, and does not want to haggle over the trivial skills of your Li Family... today, both of you would have to die here!"

After saying these words, Su Wu's figure flashed, and he jumped directly out of the broken floor-to-ceiling window, disappearing into the vast night.

Leaving only the old and young in the room, shivering in the cold wind.

"The... force behind him?" Uncle Li gasped with difficulty, his eyes full of terror.

Yes! How could a Loose Cultivator be so strong? How could he have such skills for cross-Realm fighting?

Unless... he is a descendant of some ancient hidden Sect! Or a "Guardian" secretly cultivated by the top of the Federation!

Canglan Base, A District, Cloud Peak Manor.

Su Yu was anxiously pacing back and forth in the living room, cold sweat all over his forehead, his eyes looking at the wall clock every few seconds.

"It's all my fault... it's all my fault..." Su Yu muttered to himself, his nails digging deep into his flesh. "If I hadn't provoked Li Xinghe, Dad wouldn't have gone to risk his life against a Martial Saint... That's a Martial Saint! If Dad has any mishap..."

Thinking that his father might die, Su Yu felt the sky was about to collapse, his heart felt like it was being tightly gripped by someone.

"Aiya, stop pacing, you're making this Venerable one dizzy." On the sofa, Xiao Bai was lying there gnawing on a roast chicken, but its rolling eyes betrayed its anxiety.

"That... if Boss really gets beaten to death, we should run away quickly." Xiao Bai said incoherently, wiping the grease from its mouth. "I just checked, running south is fine. Let's find a deep mountain and old forest to hide for a few hundred years, and come out to take revenge when you become a Martial Saint, wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Shut up!" Su Yu suddenly turned back, glaring at Xiao Bai with red eyes. "Run if you want! I'll wait here! If... if Dad really doesn't come back, I'll go and risk my life against that old thing!"

"Tsk, why are you so ungrateful? This Venerable one is making a strategic retreat..." Xiao Bai shrank its neck, and its voice lowered.

Actually, it was also panicked in its heart; if that "long-term meal ticket" kicked the bucket---

Just as this person and beast were falling into despair.

Swoosh—

A familiar sound of breaking air sounded.

Immediately after, a figure descended from the sky like a meteor, landing steadily on the lawn of the courtyard.

Su Yu and Xiao Bai rushed to the floor-to-ceiling window.

Only to see in the moonlight, Su Wu with his hands in his pockets, looking relaxed, smiling at them in the room.

Not only were there no wounds on him, but even his clothes were not messy.

"Dad!!" Su Yu let out a cry of pleasant surprise, rushed out, and hugged his father.

At this moment, whatever demeanor of a Grandmaster, whatever dignity of a powerhouse, was all thrown to the back of his mind.

He was just a child worried about his father.

"Dad, are you okay? Where is that old man? Are you hurt?" Su Yu felt Su Wu all over, his voice choking.

"Silly child." Su Wu felt a warmth in his heart, let his son hug him, and smiled while ruffling Su Yu's hair. "Who is your dad? A mere old man from Mars, wanting to hurt me? I've already sent him back."

"Boss! Boss, you're finally back!"

At this time, a white shadow also darted over.

Xiao Bai directly hugged Su Wu's thigh, rubbing its face frantically against his pant leg, its fawning appearance was simply unbearable to look at.

"Wuwuwu, Boss, you scared me to death! Just now that guy insisted on dragging me to run away, but I righteously refused! I said Boss has world-shaking skills, a mere Martial Saint is nothing! I swore to wait here for Boss's triumphant return!"

As Xiao Bai spoke, it secretly winked at Su Yu.

Su Yu: "..."

He had seen shameless, but never this shameless.

Su Wu looked at this scene with amusement and kicked Xiao Bai lightly: "Alright, stop acting. With your cowardly look, you were probably planning an escape route just now, right?"

"Hehe..." Xiao Bai wasn't embarrassed when exposed, and rolled on the ground, acting cute. "That wasn't for preserving the revolutionary fire."

Su Wu shook his head, looking at Su Yu with gentle eyes.

"Yu'er, this matter is resolved. The Li Family shouldn't dare to come looking for trouble for a short time."

"However..." Su Wu's tone changed, becoming solemn.

"I can only scare them for a while. Once they come to their senses, or investigate my background clearly, a bigger storm will come."

"So, we can't stop, hurry up and get stronger!" Su Wu patted Su Yu's shoulder.