Let me tell you a secret, I am the true Dao-seeker of Daxia.

With the lightning-enhanced speed Su Qi possessed, dodging the black-robed man's explosive attack was almost too easy.

In fact, the opponent didn’t even see Su Qi’s escape route, still smugly believing his "certain-kill" move had obliterated Su Qi.

As for Su Qi himself,

he even had the leisure to observe the black-robed man’s condition while making his getaway.

Only after confirming the man’s half-dead state did he finally retract his weapon.

Despite how intense their battle seemed, the entire confrontation had lasted barely a minute.

Yet in that single minute, Su Qi felt utterly drained.

A sudden, inexplicable emptiness washed over his body.

It wasn’t the kind of exhaustion from depleted soul power.

More like a strange, weightless illusion, as if he were floating.

Oh no.

Were the card’s negative effects kicking in this fast?

Was this the "limbs turning to jelly" debuff?

He wasn’t sure—better check.

So Su Qi checked his status.

What he saw nearly made him pass out from sheer frustration.

Freaking energy depletion?!

He should’ve known!

Nothing good ever came from using that move.

Honestly, Su Qi really wanted a mirror to see what he looked like right now.

Were his eye sockets sunken, shadowed in leaden gray?

Were his cheekbones unnaturally prominent?

A haggard gaze?

Utter exhaustion?

And what was this about a "cute little sister"?

Which sister?

Little Yuan wouldn’t be back for at least three more months.

Help, urgent.

Could he regain his confidence through his phone?

More importantly, how? Don’t just leave it at that!

Cryptic much?

But he’d always been brimming with confidence—never once felt insecure.

Huh?

Wait, did he have another sister?

Liu Yuan?

She and "cute" weren’t even remotely related, were they?

……

Just as Su Qi was drowning in mental complaints, Li Hu swallowed hard and grabbed Su Qi’s hand, which was still resting on his shoulder. "You’re sure it’s a seventh-order cultist?"

"Then take the students and run. The Source Realm is vast—hiding won’t be hard."

His tone was urgent, deadly serious. "Call the supply point first, have them contact outside for reinforcements. I’ll buy time."

"Two minutes—will that be enough?"

"If not, there should be other instructors nearby. Make some noise, and someone will come investigate!"

Su Qi’s thoughts scattered at Li Hu’s words. He looked up sharply. "You?"

Li Hu wasn’t Su Qi. He didn’t have any earth-shattering tricks up his sleeve.

Those "two minutes" he mentioned would, without a doubt, be his death sentence.

Sixth-order was the Shadow Candle Realm, while seventh-order was the Dawnlight Realm.

The gap between their brilliance wasn’t even comparable.

So… a candle’s shadow, huh?

Even the ordinary could still illuminate others?

"Or would you rather stay? I’ll take the students and run instead?"

"You think I’m not scared of dying?"

"But I brought these kids here in one piece—I’ll damn well take them back in one piece."

"How else am I supposed to face their families?"

With that, he shoved Su Qi. "Stop wasting time. Go!"

Cultists were societal tumors, standing firmly against humanity. In the Source Realm, encounters with them left no room for negotiation.

Then Li Hu turned and strode into the moonlight, his resolve solidifying, his shadow stretching long and thin like a candle’s wick.

[Radiance +100]

This was the first time Su Qi had seen such an overwhelming amount of [Radiance].

A far cry from the scattered bits he usually scraped together with great effort.

Maybe…

he’d been going about this all wrong?

[He favors mankind.]

Perhaps it was because people like Li Hu existed in the world?

For a brief moment, Su Qi felt something stir in his chest, as if trying to leap out.

But it quickly settled back down.

He still didn’t understand.

Duty…?

Morality…?

Or…

But it definitely wasn’t stupidity.

Yet in the end, one thing remained unchanged:

Su Qi respected people like Li Hu, but he would never become one of them.

"Tiger, I already crippled him."

Well, technically, it wasn’t entirely Su Qi’s doing.

Under normal circumstances, crippling a seventh-order opponent would’ve been difficult without paying a steeper price.

But the guy had a few screws loose—he’d used a mutually destructive technique, crippling himself in the process.

The moment Su Qi said this, all the courage drained from Li Hu’s body. "Are you messing with me? Can’t sleep, so you’re pulling my leg?"

"A sixth-order crippling a seventh-order? And walking away unscathed?"

Li Hu looked Su Qi up and down—aside from some dust, he was perfectly fine.

This wasn’t just rearranging words; this was outright nonsense.

"If you’re bored, come listen to me spin tales. Don’t joke about stuff like this."

"You’ve been to the Source Realm enough times to know what’s serious and what’s not."

"Even Yun Huang—the strongest in Jiangxia—couldn’t beat a seventh-order at sixth-order without shedding blood!"

Su Qi didn’t take offense, replying earnestly, "There really is a crippled seventh-order cultist."

"Just a few hundred meters away."

This was the result of careful deliberation.

He needed Li Hu to "take the blame."

Wait, no—wrong phrasing.

He needed Li Hu to claim the credit.

A seventh-order cultist appearing in a Source Realm reserved for martial examinees’ training? Investigations would dig deep.

If it came out that Su Qi, a sixth-order, had soloed a seventh-order, everything would be exposed.

It wasn’t that he feared being dissected in a lab.

Humanity wasn’t that stupid.

But his current freedom would vanish.

He could already picture it: grand words like "duty" and "destiny" being thrown at him, resources piled at his feet, some elder clasping his hands and saying solemnly, "Su Qi, Great Xia is in peril, besieged from within and without. The nation needs you…"

He might’ve been weak to emotional appeals.

The mere thought of such a scene made it hard to breathe.

But dragging Li Hu into this changed everything.

Two sixth-orders defeating one seventh-order? Still impressive, but not monstrous.

They could embellish Li Hu’s role—"Old Li here? Looks honest, but his sneak attacks are ruthless. He did, like, seventy percent of the work!"—and so on.

Li Hu finally wavered. "Then why didn’t you bring him here?"

Su Qi had one virtue: he rarely lied. "I was afraid he’d self-destruct."

And he genuinely was.

Cultists—or "Heralds," as they called themselves—were a special breed of crazy.

Who knew how their leader brainwashed them so thoroughly?

Just as Su Qi couldn’t fathom why Li Hu would willingly die for students he’d known barely a month,

Heralds would sometimes, to protect their secrets, scream with fanatical fervor: "The Descent is our destiny!"

Then detonate every ounce of energy in their bodies, burning themselves to ashes.

This time, Li Hu was already about eighty to ninety percent convinced and began speaking sarcastically: "So you’re saying I should go ‘collect the corpse’? Meaning my skin’s thicker than yours, so I won’t get blown to bits, huh?"

"Come on, Old Li, I’ll let you take the credit."

The two continued chatting as they walked, the distance of a few hundred meters not being too far.

Meanwhile, the black-robed man had barely managed to catch his breath. With great difficulty, he reached for his longsword, staggering as he tried to stand up.

The nerves from his forearm to his fingertips were spasming uncontrollably, leaving his hands completely useless.

Dizzy and disoriented, he failed several times to rise, swaying unsteadily before finally collapsing face-first onto the ground.

Listening to Su Qi’s description earlier hadn’t given him much of an impression.

But now that Li Hu had arrived at the scene—seeing the lingering smoke, the trees scorched by lightning, and the black-robed man already lying on the ground—his mind couldn’t help but reconstruct the earlier battle.

He realized that even two minutes would have been overestimating himself.

Thirty seconds, tops.

And that was only if he stalled with trash talk.

Don’t laugh! Thirty seconds was still impressive.

Li Hu patted his pockets again, fishing out a cigarette and lighting it for himself. "Alright, I’ll help you tie him up, but—"

Before he could finish, Su Qi placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don’t loudly scheme right in front of him."

Hearing Su Qi’s voice, the black-robed man seemed stunned, his struggles suddenly becoming more frantic.

"You—"

But he couldn’t form a complete sentence, coughing up another mouthful of blood.

All he could do was listen to the two men’s sneaky footsteps as they retreated into the woods.

Once they were a safe distance from the cultist, Li Hu exhaled a smoke ring. "What’s up?"

Su Qi’s expression turned serious. "Old Li, you should take this credit."

"Li Hu might not be much, but I don’t fake achievements."

Su Qi retracted his earlier words—he was starting to dislike people like this.

Stubborn to a fault.

But Su Qi wasn’t out of options.

"It’s not faking. I just can’t take it."

Li Hu’s curiosity was instantly piqued. "Oh? What do you mean?"

Su Qi didn’t have many virtues, but honesty was one of them. "Old Li, you’ve heard about how I was a genius back in the day, right?"

Li Hu choked on his smoke—something unheard of for a seasoned smoker like him.

His voice wavered. "Wh-what about it?"

"Do I strike you as someone who acts recklessly?"

Li Hu immediately recalled Su Qi’s earlier words: "I was afraid he’d self-destruct."

Honestly, that was pretty cautious—maybe even overly so.

"And then?"

Su Qi glanced around before lowering his voice. "So, do I seem like the type who’d recklessly dive into the Source Realm just for glory?"

"Not really."

"You’re saying… you were framed back then?"

Su Qi wasn’t here to complain to Li Hu. Back then, the Martial Academy had protected its reputation—he understood that. The hush money had been generous, so there was nothing more to say.

Come to think of it, he still had a guaranteed admission slot, didn’t he? He wondered if it was still valid.

"What I mean is… I’m Great Xia’s Pathseeker."

With a soft clatter, Li Hu’s mouth fell open, his cigarette dropping to the ground unnoticed.