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An age ruled by the City Lord.

Everything was as Su Chen had said. After the battle, Su Chen didn’t participate in any power struggles the Investigations Bureau and City Guards were all given over to An Siyuan to manage, and he even allowed An Siyuan to insert people into the Origin Bureau. Most of the criminal gangs were now under the control of An Siyuan, and even the Third River Army became obedient to him with their control of the waterways. This made it so that the entire Clear River City was under An Siyuan’s control.

However, on the resource side of things, Su Chen didn’t back off at all. Most of the stores were auctioned off, with the money going over to Su Chen. He also controlled West River Forest completely, so in the coming years it would serve as a means for him to make a ton of money. Now that Clear River City was unified, he could begin to exercise control over West River Forest — because of the Three Yangs Medicine, more and more people were noticing this place and were trying to get involved.

An Siyuan had dealt with the internal struggles, but when he turned around he found that his outside enemies seemed to have accumulated even more. Because of this, he was even more unwilling to fall out with Su Chen. As a price for An Siyuan helping Su Chen to protect the West River Forest, Su Chen applied the Hemolytic Totem to three hundred of An Siyuan’s Blood-Robed Guards, giving An Siyuan another powerful branch of troops.

Even so, the pressure on An Siyuan continued to mount. The attraction of the Three Yangs Medicine would last for a long time. It was like a piece of rotting flesh that would only attract more and more flies as time went on. An Siyuan couldn’t possibly hold onto this place forever.

But so what? Based on Su Chen’s agreement with An Siyuan, Su Chen’s duties would be fulfilled in four years. After he left, the West River Forest would belong to An Siyuan. After that, however many years An Siyuan could hold onto it would depend on his own abilities. Su Chen guessed that without his help and the increasing pressure from the outside world, it would already be quite good if he could last for one or two years.

One or two years was more than enough to earn quite a fortune.

Of course, this could only be said in hindsight.

On the fourth evening after the battle, Su Chen entered the Dreamrealm, as was his habit from before — he was going to talk with Shi Kaihuang again.

He appeared in Shi Kaihuang’s room and found him sitting there, drinking tea.

His manner of living was still as simple and pure as it was before.

“Instructor.” Su Chen sat down in front of Shi Kaihuang.

“Oh, you’re here.” Shi Kaihuang seemed to be the same, but Su Chen couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong.

He couldn’t pinpoint his uneasiness. It was one that came from more than ten years of knowing being familiar with his instructor.

“How is the situation over in Clear River?” Shi Kaihuang asked.

“Everything has been taken care of,” Su Chen replied after refocusing himself.

He then recounted everything that had happened in Clear River City.

His explanation was very detailed, and Shi Kaihuang listened very intently.

Once Su Chen had explained everything, Shi Kaihuang continued to contemplate over what Su Chen had said and didn’t speak for a long time.

“Instructor?” Su Chen said softly.

“Oh, you did very well.” Shi Kaihuang finally responded.

“Instructor, is there something on your mind today?” Su Chen asked directly.

Shi Kaihuang froze momentarily before smiling. “So you still noticed, huh? Yes, your perception is quite sharp. How could you not notice it?”

“What is troubling Instructor so? Are you able to tell me? Perhaps disciple can help put Instructor’s mind at ease.”

Shi Kaihuang shook his head. “You won’t be able to resolve this. Even the headmaster won’t be able to resolve this issue.”

Su Chen felt his heart tighten.

He knew that the headmaster that Shi Kaihuang was referring to was the headmaster of the Hidden Dragon Institute.

The Hidden Dragon Institute’s Sir Yang had a good reputation in Long Sang Country, was of high social status, and possessed incredible power. Even he couldn’t resolve it? What could the issue be?”

Shi Kaihuang leisurely said, “A few days from now, I will be going to Flowing Gold Fort.”

“The Flowing Gold Fort?” Su Chen was stunned. “Why?”

The Flowing Gold Fort was on the front line of the battle between the Ferocious Race and the humans. What was the meaning behind Shi Kaihuang’s going there?

“Of course it’s to enlist in the army. The fort is heavily guarded, and to prevent nighttime ambushes, no one is allowed to enter the Dreamrealm without good reason. So from that point on, I won’t have many opportunities to enter the Dreamrealm. We won’t have a lot of opportunities to see each other in the future.”

“Enlist?” Su Chen immediately stood up. “You already have so many years under your belt, so why do you need to enlist? And weren’t you originally in the army before?”

Shi Kaihuang replied calmly, “Why do I need to enlist? The surface reason is that I am just idling away at the Hidden Dragon Institute and am ignoring my proper duties. I haven’t accepted a disciple in a few decades. Hm, from that aspect, the reason is not wrong.”

“But didn’t you already accept me as your disciple?”

“Does accepting one mean that I haven’t been shirking my duty?” Shi Kaihuang countered.

Su Chen was stunned.

Yes, did having a single disciple mean that he hadn’t been shirking his duties?

Of course not!

Instructors were instructors. Their duties were to educate disciples. A single disciple in a few decades was not something even worth bringing up.

As such, Long Sang Country had conscripted him in the end. Since you were in the army before, you can go back to being in it. In any case, in the Light Shaking Realm, there was no such thing as growing weak in old age. Someone like Shi Kaihuang might be old, but he was still full of strength and resolute determination.

“So what’s the real reason?” Su Chen asked.

A few decades had passed, but no one had ever tried to do anything to Shi Kaihuang. Making a move on him at this juncture wouldn’t be without reason.

Shi Kaihuang replied, “Naturally because they know who invented the technique for reaching the Yang Opening Realm without a bloodline.”

Su Chen’s heart sank.

Hadn’t they found out anyways?

Actually, this was not much of a surprise.

Kaihuang’s Heaven contained two characters from Shi Kaihuang’s name in it, after all.

Cloud Bat’s castle in the Dreamrealm was also located in the territory belonging to the Hidden Dragon Institute.

When factoring in a number of other clues, it wouldn’t be difficult to determine the true creator of Kaihuang’s Heaven as long they were diligent about it.

“So they attacked you?” Su Chen said, his voice hoarse.

“Nothing that serious,” Shi Kaihuang waved his hands and laughed. “I must admit that the darkness I saw before was too simple. There are a lot of things that are higher than what I’ve been able to perceive. Those Bloodline Nobility Clans aren’t afraid of a technique of reaching the Yang Opening Realm without a bloodline because that can’t shake their foundations. However, the speed at which a technique for reaching the Blood Boiling Realm and a technique for reaching the Yang Opening Realm came out must have given them cause to worry......”

Su Chen understood. “They can tolerate a method for reaching the Yang Opening Realm without a bloodline because that increases the strength of the human race as a whole, but they cannot accept a technique for reaching the Light Shaking Realm?”

“The Light Shaking Realm is a milestone that represents a fundamental change in an Origin Qi Scholar’s strength. 90% of all Light Shaking Realm cultivators belong to Bloodline Nobility Clans. A technique for reaching the Yang Opening Realm without a bloodline will result in more mixed-blood Nobility Clans, but at the very least they have mixed bloodlines, and are not bloodline-less. If a technique for reaching the Light Shaking Realm without a bloodline is created, that would represent a massive breakthrough in the cultivation paths of those without bloodlines and would rock the Bloodline Nobility Clans. They don’t want me to continue my research, so I was conscripted into the army. Once I’m in the army, I won’t have nearly as much free time on my hands.”

“They don’t want to give you time to research?”

“That’s what the headmaster told me, along with the thoughts of those Bloodline Nobility Clans. Of course, only time will tell how the situation will unfold. At the very least, before I make any more breakthroughs, there shouldn’t be any strange movements.”

Su Chen let out a long sigh.

As long as they weren’t planning on killing Shi Kaihuang, that was good enough.

Shi Kaihuang said, “I will continue researching a technique for reaching the Light Shaking Realm without a bloodline. However, I am aware that making significant progress will be very difficult. As such, I hope that you will be able to continue my research. I have a feeling that successfully completing two techniques is my limit. In the future, we will all be relying on you to continue down this path.”

Su Chen grew agitated. “But I’m not even in the Light Shaking Realm yet. How can I......”

Shi Kaihuang raised his hand. “Every obstacle is meant to be overcome. Just because you’re not in the Light Shaking Realm doesn’t mean you won’t be able to successfully develop a technique for breaking into it. Don’t you already have Wei Pei as your research subject? In the future, you might have even more. Go with assurance and do it, child. I believe in you.”