5: Chapter 5 Star Demon Cult

A few minutes later, Su Wu strolled along the empty street.

He certainly wasn't wandering aimlessly; his goal was clear: District D, the official residence of the Deputy Commander of the City Defense.

Since the other party wanted to cut off his son's path, he would personally reconnect it. To the current him, the once-unreachable power players of Canglan City were merely ants with slightly louder voices.

"Even a Deputy Commander is, at most, a newly-entered Grandmaster whose blood and Qi have not been purified. Before a Great Grandmaster, how are they different from the Body Refinement Realm?"

Su Wu's heart was as calm as water. He was not a bloodthirsty person; twenty years of sinking into obscurity had worn away his impetuousness, leaving behind the deepest restraint. As long as the other party was sensible, he did not wish to start a killing spree in this Base City.

However, just as he stepped onto a bustling commercial street on the edge of District D, several presences behind him caught his attention.

...

"Captain, there's something wrong with this Su Wu."

In the shadows, several men and women wearing specialized form-fitting combat suits were communicating rapidly via headsets.

"According to the records, Su Wu was once a Grandmaster. Twenty years ago, his Dantian was shattered and his Meridians were completely destroyed by a palm strike from an extraterrestrial powerhouse. Such injuries cannot be healed even with Earth's current top-tier restoration fluid. He should only have the residual physical strength of the Body Refinement Realm."

The cold and stern young man known as the "Captain" narrowed his pupils to the size of pinpoints, staring fixedly at Su Wu's back.

"But he has an indescribable aura. When I tried to probe him with my strength at the Peak of the Innate Realm, it actually felt like looking down into an abyss. Should we retreat, or take action?"

"The higher-ups gave a direct order. Liang Jianmin reported him for colluding with the Star Demon Cult, and the case of the Vicious Beast sneaking in last night is directly related to him. If we let him escape, we won't be able to explain ourselves. Keep following him and find a deserted place."

...

Su Wu walked seemingly nonchalantly, even glancing with interest at a Martial Arts Exam advertisement on a roadside holographic screen.

Their tracking skills were, in his eyes, as childish as playing hide-and-seek. He deliberately slowed his pace, leading these 'tails' through the bustling neon lights until they finally stopped in front of an abandoned heavy machinery factory.

Collapsed cranes and rusted steel beams were everywhere, and the wind whistled through them like a dying gasp.

Su Wu stopped and slowly turned around, the setting sun casting a long shadow behind him.

"You've followed me for three blocks. Aren't you tired? Come out and get some sun."

As his voice fell, three men and two women slowly emerged from the silent corners in a pentagram formation, blocking all of Su Wu's paths of retreat.

The stern young man leading them was named Han Feng, and the dark alloy long saber in his hand glowed with a heart-palpitating blue light. He stared intently at Su Wu, the doubt in his eyes deepening: "Su Wu, a Grandmaster of a generation twenty years ago, has now fallen to such a state. But I'm curious—since your Dantian is ruined, how did you manage to repel Liang Qi at the City Defense Bureau? Aside from cultivating the Star Demon Cult's evil technique of sacrificing one's life force, I can't think of any other possibility."

Su Wu burst into laughter, the tolerant laugh of an elder looking at an ignorant junior. "The Star Demon Cult? That kind of sideshow that sells one's Soul for power isn't even worthy of my attention. As for you all, you believe whatever Liang Jianmin says. Is that brain of yours just there to add to your height?"

"Arrogant!"

One of the young women's eyebrows shot up. She was the team's scout and the most prideful. With a sharp cry, her figure moved like a bolt of green lightning. Two daggers as thin as cicada wings sliced through the air with a shrill whistle, aiming directly for Su Wu's eyes and throat.

This strike was the full-force outburst of a Innate Realm expert.

Su Wu stood his ground without even raising a hand. Just as the tips of the daggers were less than an inch away, his body strangely shifted back by one position.

In that instant, within the girl's perception, Su Wu seemed to turn into a weightless afterimage. No matter how sharp her blade Qi was, she couldn't touch him at all.

"Taking a life without evidence. Your style of doing things is truly as rotten as ever."

Su Wu sighed, a flash of coldness appearing in his eyes.

"Together! Take him down!"

Han Feng saw the clue; this was an extremely profound movement technique.

He gave a low shout and unsheathed his long saber, bringing down a several-meter-long True Qi blade light. At the same time, other team members either threw punches like cannon fire or fired hidden weapons coated with anesthetic toxins. The combined attack of five Innate experts was enough to make even a Grandmaster find it troublesome.

However, Su Wu wove through the dense network of attacks as if strolling through a garden. Whenever an attack was about to hit him, he would either slightly lean aside or flick his finger, nonchalantly deflecting those mountain-heavy forces.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The attacks of the team members actually hit each other, crashing into the abandoned machinery and exploding into a pile of Mars.

And throughout it all, one of Su Wu's hands remained in his pocket, his expression so indifferent it made one's scalp tingle.

"Stop!"

Han Feng suddenly sheathed his saber and stopped everyone, drenched in sweat. His chest heaved violently, and the look he gave Su Wu was no longer one of suspicion, but deep terror.

He finally realized it.

Su Wu wasn't using any evil techniques at all; it was purely a dimensional reduction strike in terms of martial arts Realm. If Su Wu were truly an evil cultist of the Star Demon Cult, with the speed he just displayed, their necks would have been snapped long ago.

"Your Excellency... just what is your Realm?" Han Feng's voice began to tremble.

Su Wu stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over these young people toward the distant District D official residence, his tone distant:

"It doesn't matter what my Realm is. What matters is that evidence isn't something you just make up. Liang Jianmin wants to use me as a scapegoat, and you want to be the blade in his hand? Or has the person behind you become so arrogant that they think they can just eliminate someone in the Base City at will? Since you can kill as you please, why can't I?"

These words left Han Feng and the others drenched in cold sweat.

However, at this moment, Su Wu had already begun to move.

His figure swayed slightly on the spot and instantly disappeared. Immediately after, several members of the correction team felt a chill on their necks, and then their breath was gone.