Absolutely

“He’s insanely cool!”

Lin Xiaoxiao clasped her hands to her chest, completely transformed into a fangirl.

“Since ancient times!”

“Throughout five thousand years of history!”

“There’s never been a martial spirit capable of something like this, has there?”

“He’s just too extraordinary, too brilliant!”

“The entire internet is calling him the ‘Light of Humanity’ now!”

Watching Lin Xiaoxiao wave her arms around as though she wanted to put “Su Yuan” on a pedestal and worship him—

Su Yu sat on the sofa.

The corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Being praised so shamelessly and fervently to his face by a pretty girl—

while she had no idea that the person she was praising was him—

the feeling...

was strangely incredible.

Suppressing the urge to laugh, Su Yu nodded along.

“Mm.”

“He is pretty impressive.”

“Pretty impressive? He’s way more than that!”

Lin Xiaoxiao shot him a look and plopped back down onto the sofa.

She pulled out her personal communicator and swiped rapidly across the screen.

Then she brought up the high-definition photo that had dominated headlines across every major media outlet.

In the picture—

a figure in battered silver armor hovered amid a sky full of black ash, a spear in hand.

At its tip, that transparent edge of sharpness seemed capable of piercing straight through the screen.

“Look!”

Lin Xiaoxiao shoved the screen right in front of Su Yu’s face.

“That silhouette!”

“That aura!”

“He’s absolutely invincible!”

Su Yu looked at his own back in the photo, and the corner of his eye twitched.

He was just about to brush her off with a few casual remarks when—

suddenly—

Lin Xiaoxiao froze.

Holding the communicator, her gaze moved back and forth between the photo on the screen and Su Yu’s cool, refined profile.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Lin Xiaoxiao’s brows gradually knitted together.

A distinctly obvious trace of confusion flickered through her formerly fanatical eyes.

“Huh?”

Tilting her head, Lin Xiaoxiao slowly leaned closer to Su Yu.

Their noses were practically about to touch.

She blinked her bright, wide eyes, uncertainty in her voice.

“Su Yu...”

“Why do I feel like...”

“This Senior Su Yuan’s silhouette, and this blurry half-profile...”

“look astonishingly like you?”

The moment those words came out—

the air in the underground training room seemed to freeze for half a second.

Su Yu’s heart gave a slight jump.

Were women’s instincts really that terrifying?

Just from one blurry photo—one that did not even show a full face—she had managed to connect it to him?

Su Yu’s expression did not change in the slightest.

His deep, clear eyes were as still as an ancient well.

He looked at Lin Xiaoxiao, who was right in front of him.

After a brief silence—

he naturally leaned back, putting some distance between them.

“Really?”

Su Yu’s tone was calm, even carrying a faintly self-deprecating laugh.

“Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

“I don’t know him.”

“I’ve barely ever left River City. How could I possibly know someone so powerful that he can fight a Demon Saint across realms?”

Hearing Su Yu’s answer—

Lin Xiaoxiao stared into his eyes for a full five seconds.

It was as if she were trying to find even the slightest trace of a lie in those deep eyes.

But—

she found nothing.

Su Yu’s gaze was utterly candid—so candid that it seemed he was merely stating an objective fact wholly unrelated to himself.

Lin Xiaoxiao slowly withdrew her gaze.

She lowered her head and looked at the photo on the screen.

Then she nodded along.

“True.”

Lin Xiaoxiao murmured softly. There was a hint of relief in her voice, but more than that, there was a heartache she could barely conceal.

She now understood Su Yu’s circumstances.

An orphan with no one to rely on.

During his three years of high school in Jiang City, he had suffered more than anyone else.

“If you really had such an incredible elder…”

Lin Xiaoxiao raised her head and looked at Su Yu with exceptional tenderness.

“Even if he were only a distant relative…”

“How would a nouveau riche family like the Zhao family dare bully you so badly?”

“If this Senior Su Yuan knew how much you had suffered, he probably would have flattened the Zhao family with a single shot long ago!”

“How could he have let you endure so much hardship all alone in Jiang City?”

Lin Xiaoxiao sighed.

The last trace of absurd suspicion in her heart vanished completely.

They had the same surname.

They looked alike.

It was most likely nothing more than a coincidence.

There were plenty of people in this world who looked alike. You couldn’t assume that two people were relatives just because they resembled each other, could you?

“But!”

Lin Xiaoxiao suddenly changed tack.

She sat bolt upright and casually tossed the communicator aside.

All the heartache and regret in those bright eyes vanished in an instant.

In their place was something unprecedentedly resolute—

a nearly blind trust in Su Yu, along with an unyielding stubbornness!

She looked at Su Yu, her voice clear and forceful.

“Su Yu!”

“Although you don’t know Senior Su Yuan…”

“But in my heart, you’re absolutely no worse than he is!”

Lin Xiaoxiao clenched her little fists, her gaze exceptionally serious.

“You’re only eighteen!”

“At eighteen, you’ve already comprehended Manifested Spear Intent!”

“Even the vice president of Jingwu is fighting to recruit you!”

“That Senior Su Yuan may be formidable, but he must have cultivated for a very, very long time!”

Lin Xiaoxiao raised her chin, her voice filled with the pride of someone fiercely defending her own.

“When you reach his age…”

“When you become a Martial Spirit…”

“I believe you’ll be able to defeat Martial Saints from a lower realm too!”

“You might even become stronger than him!”

Su Yu stared at the stubborn girl before him—the girl who, in order to defend him, actually dared to put even that “Light of Humanity” in the shade.

He was stunned.

A rare trace of warmth rippled through his deep eyes.

This girl…

She really was… adorably foolish.

She had no idea that the “Senior Su Yuan” she claimed had “cultivated for a very, very long time” was actually the eighteen-year-old youth standing right in front of her.

Nor did she know that her bold declaration—that he would be able to defeat a Martial Saint once he became a Martial Spirit—had already become reality several hours ago.

Su Yu did not contradict her.

Nor did he offer an explanation.

He simply looked into Lin Xiaoxiao’s eyes, filled with anticipation and trust.

The corners of his lips lifted slightly.

A calm, confident smile curved across his face.

“Mm.”

Su Yu nodded, his voice low and certain.

“I probably can.”

“You definitely can!”

Lin Xiaoxiao waved her little fists, then abruptly rose to her feet.

She grabbed the refined-steel spear leaning against the wall.

“Ten minutes are up!”

“Teacher Su, let’s continue!”

“I’m definitely going to master this force-generating technique today!”

Su Yu watched as Lin Xiaoxiao instantly perked up and threw herself back into the dull, repetitive training.

He rose to his feet and brushed the dust from his clothes.

“All right.”

“Keep going.”

“Use your waist to generate force. Don’t stiffen up.”

The underground training room once again rang with the shrill howls of a long spear tearing through the air.

And with Su Yu’s calm, stern voice as he instructed her.

.....

Late that night.

Nie Changkong did not waste a second.

He immediately mobilized Jingwu’s highest-level publicity resources.

On the highest-level martial arts forum officially certified by the Great Xia government,

a pinned link—bolded, highlighted in red, and adorned with full-screen dark-gold effects—went live with a bang!