53: Chapter 53 One Year Later

As expected.

The moment the clock hand ticked past three in the morning.

Buzz—!

There was no sound of breaking air, nor was there any riot of heaven and earth essence.

A vast, pure, and terrifying pressure descended over Villa No. 186 without any warning!

This aura was more than ten times more tyrannical than the previously appearing Principal Luo Ting! Under the shroud of this aura, the surrounding space seemed to be completely frozen, and even the falling snowflakes were suspended in mid-air.

"A Star King?"

Su Wu's pupils shrank suddenly, and his hand holding the teacup tightened slightly.

In mid-air, the space rippled like water. A young man who looked only eighteen or nineteen years old, with extremely handsome features, stepped slowly out of the void with his hands behind his back.

Behind him, two figures were suspended—it was the Federal Inspectors, Zhao Feng and Catherine, who had previously tried to kill with a borrowed knife above Jinglin Garden!

But at this moment, these two overbearing Fifth-Order Star Lords were tied up tightly as if by invisible chains, hanging in mid-air. Their faces were extremely distorted, their eyes filled with despair and fear, and their mouths were wide open, yet they couldn't make a sound.

The young man ignored the two people behind him, his gaze falling directly on Su Wu on the balcony, with an unfathomable chuckle at the corner of his mouth.

"Long time no see, Su Wu."

The voice was clear and gentle, yet it carried a sense of looking down upon all living beings.

Su Wu slowly stood up, his eyes meeting the young man's in the air with a hint of surprise, and he nodded: "Indeed, long time no see. I didn't expect it to be you."

Lin Feng!

The Chief Inspector of the Solar System Federation!

Memories from twenty years ago surfaced in Su Wu's mind.

At that time, Su Wu had reached the Grandmaster Realm at a young age and was hailed as the number one Genius of Jiangnan. But in front of this person, all geniuses paled in comparison.

Lin Feng entered the Great Grandmaster realm at eighteen and broke through to Martial King at twenty. He was the peerless Genius hailed by the Solar System Federation as 'once in a thousand years for Earth'!

Although the two had only met a few times, their relationship could be considered quite deep. Now that twenty years had passed, time had not left any marks on his face; instead, it had allowed his strength to reach a level unattainable by ordinary people.

"I'm not here today to reminisce."

The smile on Lin Feng's lips slowly faded, and his eyes became as deep as the starry sky.

"Luo Ting has already truthfully reported to me what happened at Jinglin Garden and the situation regarding that Star Beast."

Hearing this, Su Wu instantly tensed up.

However, Lin Feng's next move greatly exceeded Su Wu's expectations.

"An ordinary man is innocent, but harboring a treasure makes him guilty. Once the news of a Star Beast's appearance spreads, let alone a Fifth-Order Star Lord like you, even the entire Solar System would face a catastrophic disaster."

Lin Feng's voice was cold, as if stating a cruel truth. "Therefore, for the stability of the Federation and to prevent this Star Beast from falling into the hands of alien races or the Star Demon Cult, I have made a decision..."

Before he finished speaking.

Lin Feng didn't look at Su Wu, but casually raised his right hand and made a grasping motion toward Zhao Feng and Catherine suspended behind him.

Pfft!!

Zhao Feng and Catherine, two dignified Fifth-Order Star Lord Federation Inspectors, didn't even have time to let out a scream before their heads were crushed by an invisible and terrifying force like ripe watermelons!

Blood mixed with white brain matter exploded in the night sky like a fountain.

Su Wu's pupils shrank suddenly, and his heart jolted.

Killing his own colleagues?!

Even though he was accustomed to life and death, he was shocked by Lin Feng's sudden and ruthless methods.

"It's not just the two of them."

Lin Feng casually took out a white handkerchief and gently wiped his right hand, which was not stained with any blood. His tone was as flat as if he were saying he had stepped on a few ants.

"In the hour before I came here, the main residences of the Li Family, Yi Family, and Lu Family stationed on Mars... these three families have been uprooted by my people. Not even a chicken or dog was left alive."

Those were the top wealthy families of Mars! Wiped out just like that?!

"Dead people don't leak secrets."

Lin Feng tossed the handkerchief casually, and it turned to ash in mid-air. He looked down at Su Wu, a light akin to a gambler's flickering in his eyes.

"Tonight, no Star Beast awakened, and there was no soaring pillar of light. There was only the Star Demon Cult's High Priest, Ye Xiao, who raided Jinglin Garden to retaliate against the Federation and conveniently killed the high-level members of the three major Martian families."

"And Inspectors Zhao Feng and Catherine died heroically in the process of pursuing Ye Xiao."

With just a few sentences, Lin Feng had scrubbed clean this mess that was enough to trigger a massive earthquake in the Solar System!

He looked at Su Wu with scrutiny and expectation in his eyes.

Lin Feng knew very well how much political risk he was taking by protecting Su Wu and that Star Beast. But he knew even better that a monster who could break through four realms in three months, a son with Supreme potential, plus a high-level Star Beast...

This combination was worth him betting everything on a grand gamble!

Lin Feng turned around, and the void behind him rippled again.

At the moment he was about to step into the void and leave, he tilted his head slightly and left behind a meaningful sentence:

"Su Wu."

He emphasized Su Wu's name.

"I have cleared away your worries. I hope that in the near future, you won't let me down..."

Whoosh!

Lin Feng's figure and that suffocating pressure disappeared at the same time, as if they had never appeared.

On the balcony.

Su Wu didn't speak for a long time, letting the cold snowflakes fall on his shoulders.

After a long while, he picked up the cup of cold tea on the table and drank it in one gulp.

He then slowly exhaled a sentence, "After all this time, you're still the same. Thanks."

---

The next morning, soft morning light pierced through the flying snow and spilled into the living room of Villa No. 186.

Su Wu sat on the leather sofa and casually tossed a space ring to Su Yu, who had just finished his morning exercise.

"Catch."

Su Yu caught it in a scramble and asked in confusion, "Dad, what is this?"

"The 'legacy' of the Mars Li Family." Su Wu took a sip of hot tea, his tone as flat as if he were saying he had bought a cabbage this morning.

Su Yu tentatively probed a bit of Mental Energy into it, and in the next second, he gasped sharply.

Inside the vast storage space, a long saber flowing with green wind-attribute light was suspended—it was actually a First-Order Ancient Weapon! And next to the saber, an aura-gold Jade Slip was also suspended, which was exactly that top-tier spatial escape technique, "Yuan Escape."

What made Su Yu's heart race even more was the mutton-fat jade bottle stored in the deepest part.

Even through the jade bottle, he could faintly feel the terrifying blood-qi power contained within; it was the tiger ascending blood-qi pill that Principal Luo Ting had sent yesterday as an "apology"!

"Familiarize yourself with that saber and the escape technique as soon as possible over the next few days." Su Wu looked at his shocked son and instructed earnestly, "As for that bottle of 'tiger ascending blood-qi pill,' don't be in a hurry to take it. Its medicinal power is too overbearing. Wait until you have polished your Great Grandmaster Foundation to Perfection and are ready to strike for the Martial King Realm."

Although Luo Ting said the tiger ascending blood-qi pill could allow Su Yu to quickly break through to the Martial King Realm, Su Wu naturally wouldn't do something that encouraged growth by pulling the sprouts. Instead, he intended for Su Yu to use it as a Breakthrough pill.

...

A short week passed in a flash.

This afternoon, while Su Wu was feeding mutated small dried fish to Xiao Bai in the yard, that long-awaited and wonderful mechanical voice rang out in his mind as scheduled:

[Ding! Detected that your scion Su Yu has outstanding talent and has cultivated hard day and night, successfully reaching the Entry Level in the Second-Order top-tier escape technique 'Yuan Escape'!]

[Father's Glory System triggers a critical hit feedback!]

[Congratulations to the host! 'Yuan Escape' has automatically evolved to the Realm of Perfection!]

Buzz—!

The moment the notification sound fell, Su Wu felt an extremely mysterious change occur in the world before his eyes.

The originally stable spatial structure became as soft as water in his eyes. Without any hand seals or energy accumulation, he only needed a thought, and his body could blend into the void as smoothly as a swimming fish, achieving true ground-shrinking and instant travel over thousands of miles.

"As expected of a top-tier escape technique." Su Wu felt the power of spatial control within his body, a satisfied curve hooking at the corner of his mouth. "This kid's Comprehension Ability is getting more and more monstrous; he mastered 'Yuan Escape' in just one week."

...

With Chief Inspector Lin Feng's secret "cleanup" and deterrence, the Star Demon Cult's forces in the Solar System seemed to have been uprooted and completely disappeared. The destruction of the three major Martian families also made all potential enemies retract their fangs.

The Su father and son finally ushered in an extremely rare and precious period of peaceful development.

Spring went and autumn came; winter and summer alternated.

In this vast interstellar era, a year's time was but a flick of a finger.

Time flew by, and a whole year passed quietly amidst Su Yu's day-after-day of sweating like rain...