Chapter 544 - 200: The Gu-Raising Jar, an Ideological Education! Lying Flat and Returning to Planet Qiming
Chapter 544: Chapter 200: The Gu-Raising Jar, an Ideological Education! Lying Flat and Returning to Planet Qiming
"Don’t give me a reason to look down on you!"
Zhou Xiong jabbed a finger, nearly poking Yu Han in the nose, and cursed him out. He had none of the bearing of a Black Hole Level Powerhouse; instead, he was like an older brother furious at wasted potential.
Being cursed out like this, Yu Han seemed to shed all his pretenses and burdens. He jutted out his chin, threw all shame to the wind, and actually grew a spine.
"So what if I’m playing the coward? I’m fine with it! Besides, even the Chosen is going home to eat humble pie, so what’s so strange about me, the washed-up ’Divine Spear,’ doing the same?"
He jerked his chin toward the direction Qin Feng had left, his expression screaming, ’See? I told you so.’ "If you don’t believe me, just watch. That kid is seething with rage right now and has nowhere to vent it. I bet he’s already planning to run back to his home on Morning Star."
"Hmph."
Zhou Xiong snorted heavily, but much of the anger in his eyes had already faded.
He clasped his hands behind his back and gazed into the distance, his tone softening.
"Once Qin Feng is done licking his wounds, once he’s fully processed this, you’re to get your ass back to the Warband and report for duty."
At these words, Yu Han’s body trembled violently.
Zhou Xiong didn’t look at him and continued, "...Regarding your case from all those years ago, the Imperial Supreme Court has reached its final verdict.
You are innocent. Wan Feiyu is sentenced to death.
He’s been listed as one of the Empire’s most wanted criminals. We’ve confirmed he’s fled to the outer Star Realms of the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Races. He hasn’t been caught yet, but we’ve locked down his general area of activity. He won’t be free for much longer."
"R-Really?!"
For the first time, Yu Han’s voice trembled violently.
He had waited for this outcome for so, so long—long enough that he had almost given up hope himself.
"Mhm."
Zhou Xiong made an affirmative sound through his nose. "The Imperial Court of Justice values efficiency, but a major case like yours takes a lot of time to investigate thoroughly. Sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Good! Good!"
A terrifying light burst forth from Yu Han’s eyes. The sharp, piercing aura he had suppressed for decades seemed to return in full force at that very moment. "As soon as Qin Feng comes back, I’ll rejoin the ranks!"
"Mhm."
Zhou Xiong’s gaze seemed to pierce through the endless void.
The corners of his mouth curved into a helpless yet amused smile.
"That kid... he really did run home to Morning Star. You little rascals, how are all your brains wired the same way? The second you feel wronged, your first reaction is to run home."
His words were filled with the kind of exasperated but fond indulgence an elder has for a junior.
The bamboo forest fell silent once more.
-----------------
「Morning Star.」
「Home.」
As Qin Feng’s body materialized from a beam of light at the public teleporter in the Silver Seagull Community, a long-missed scent of fragrant earth and fresh plants instantly filled his lungs.
The planet’s gravity, the oxygen concentration in its air—everything felt so familiar, so perfectly right, as if it had been tailor-made for his body.
After spending so long in the precisely-tuned, Spiritual Energy-rich training environment of Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University, suddenly returning to this home planet with its unremarkable life force index should have felt somewhat "thin" and uncomfortable. Yet all Qin Feng felt was an endless sense of peace and relief.
He took off the Combat Suit that symbolized his elite status in the Fearless Warband and changed into a set of ordinary casual clothes he had bought at random in the capital city’s commercial district on Morning Star.
He withdrew his entire outward aura, concealing the terrifying power—enough to make the mountains and seas tremble—deep within his Top-grade Primordial Acupoints and the marrow of his bones.
Now, as he walked along the familiar tree-lined path of the Silver Seagull Community, he looked like any other tall, composed young man, no different from the residents hurrying past him.
However, the profound weight and world-weariness layered in the depths of his eyes—eyes that had witnessed too much life and death, too much slaughter in blood and fire—was something no one his age should possess.
The confrontation with Zhou Xiong and Yu Han was like a red-hot steel needle plunging deep into his soul.
That cold, cruel, yet seemingly irrefutable Imperial Iron Law had, for the first time, made him doubt the very beliefs he had fought for and protected his entire life.
He refused to accept it, but he was powerless to change it.
Zhou Xiong’s words—"If you don’t have the power to change the status quo, then you follow the rules"—had struck him like a resounding slap, knocking him from the peak of his rage.
’Yes, I’m still too weak.’
The Seventh Level of the Mountain and Sea Realm might be a godlike existence on a remote Life Planet, but before the vast machinery of the Empire and its grand narrative spanning galaxies and hundreds of millions of years, he was still as insignificant as a speck of dust.
And so, he had returned.
His steps unconsciously came to a halt before a familiar building.
—The Extreme Martial Arts Hall.
This was the true starting point of his journey on the Martial Dao.
The familiar sign had been weathered by decades of wind and rain and was now replaced with a more modern alloy material, but the two bold, calligraphic words on it were still exactly as he remembered.
On the electronic notice board at the entrance of the Martial Arts Hall, a recruitment message was scrolling by.
[The Extreme Martial Arts Hall (Silver Seagull Community Branch) is hiring Martial Dao instructors of all levels. Excellent compensation. Interested parties, please inquire within.]
Qin Feng’s gaze lingered on the message for a moment.
A thought surfaced in his mind without warning.
’I could stay here for a while. Just for a change of pace.’
He stepped inside.
The interior layout of the Martial Arts Hall hadn’t changed much, but all the training equipment had been updated, and the photos of outstanding students hanging on the walls had long since been replaced by the young, unfamiliar faces of a new generation.