As the communication concluded, Kalia’s subordinates reported intercepting a message sent to an anonymous address: “Mr. Y has returned to Wudang Mountain and is staying at the [Redacted] Hotel.” Yang Ying’s suspicion was thus confirmed.

“What are your thoughts?” Yang Ying inquired.

Kalia theorized, “I believe that if the Ape-Worship Cult intends to deal with the Commander, they will certainly dispatch a stronger contingent than last time. Such a force would not be assembled easily. Mobilizing personnel tonight or tomorrow is too late, but they might send people to ambush the Commander the night after tomorrow.”

“The night?” Yang Ying repeated the word.

“Precisely,” Kalia affirmed. “The Ape-Worship Cult usually operates under the cover of darkness. Their completely black cloaks and ape masks are far too conspicuous. If they showed themselves in broad daylight, wouldn't that be courting death?”

“That is true enough,” Yang Ying mused, picturing the scene of Ape-Worship Cult members fully arrayed walking down a busy street—it would certainly be incongruous.

“Does the Commander have any other instructions?” Kalia asked.

Yang Ying waved his hand. “I trust your execution; I have no other orders. However, keep a close watch on the Ape-Worship Cult’s movements over the next couple of days. Communication ended!”

Kalia snapped a salute. “Yes! Commander, you must also remain vigilant. Communication ended!”

The next two days passed just as Kalia had predicted; the Ape-Worship Cult did not seek them out.

The snow had not stopped, and the ground began to accumulate a layer of white. However, the Swordsman Qualification Examination had been moved indoors. Their matches were conducted one by one, no longer spread across a hundred separate rings.

Although the later bouts featured increasingly skilled combatants whose exchanges were visually spectacular, Yang Ying could sense a sudden tacit understanding developing between them. Their swordsmanship had subtly shifted from practical combat to exhibition flair.

Perhaps, in their minds, having already secured the title of Swordsman, fighting with deadly intent in these final matches was an endeavor with diminishing returns.

Under these circumstances, their most formidable, hidden techniques were being deliberately withheld.

Yang Ying felt that the gains from the third and fourth days were less significant than those from the second day; only the final semi-finals and the championship match held any real excitement.

The four-day grand event concluded successfully, and Yang Ying was preparing for his journey home, formally bidding farewell to the Xin mother and daughter.

“Keep in touch; until we meet again,” said Xin Jinyun.

“Good. Keep in touch; until we meet again,” Yang Ying replied.

Yang Ying felt profoundly fortunate to have encountered them just as he began his journey on Earth. Now that his time on the planet was drawing to a close, the achievements he had secured were more than satisfactory, and this success was inseparable from the help they provided.

Upon returning to his hotel, Kalia’s contact arrived promptly.

“Commander, we have intelligence. Based on an intercepted communication, the personnel dispatched by the Ape-Worship Cult departed Berlin half an hour ago. They are scheduled for a layover in Shanghai before proceeding to Wudang Mountain. According to airport flight schedules, they will arrive at Wudang Mountain in three hours. Regrettably, we could not ascertain the number of people sent.”

Yang Ying slapped the table. “That’s excellent work. The numbers aren’t the issue. No matter how many they send, can they outnumber me?” If the human forces in Starfield were translated into equivalent population figures, they exceeded three thousand. He could bury them under sheer numbers if necessary.

Kalia saluted. “The Commander speaks the truth. I shall await good news from the asteroid belt.”

Three hours later, two middle-aged men dressed in tight-fitting clothing walked out of Wudang Mountain Airport, each carrying a suitcase. The man in the lead had graying hair, appearing older, but his eyes were piercingly bright, and his demeanor was stern and intimidating.

The second man exuded an aura of aloofness, silent and trailing slightly behind the first.

The leader said, “Let’s change into our formal attire first, then we’ll locate the target.”

The other nodded, without uttering a word.

The pair slipped into an unoccupied alley. Seconds later, they emerged, having swapped their civilian clothes for the black cloaks and ape masks. They stashed their travel cases within the alley, intending to retrieve them after the mission was complete.

Both ape masks were fashioned from silver. The leader’s mask bore a sorrowful expression, while the second man’s mask was fixed in a vacant, deadened stare.

All of this was observed by Yang Ying from high above. Hovering in his Ghost fighter, he used the ocular sensors of his Ghost operative suit to zoom in, rendering everything outside the airport with perfect clarity, down to the finest detail. The leader’s psychic strength registered at eight thousand, and the other at five thousand five hundred—both confirmed energy manipulators, certainly not easy opponents. The undercover agent, David, was nowhere to be seen.

The two Ape-Worship Cultists moved into the urban area. The leader, wearing the Sorrowful Ape Mask, unleashed a wide-area Soul-Searching Technique to detect the presence of any Awakened individuals. However, Yang Ying, observing from the heights, remained undetected despite being within the technique’s effective range, as he had already deployed his Breath Concealment Art—the perfect countermeasure to Soul Searching.

Yet, he had prepared a suitable lure for the two operatives working below.

“Found him! Let’s go!” the Sorrowful Ape Mask bellowed. Instantly, his muscles bulged, and he grew five centimeters taller. He leaped onto the rooftop of a nearby building, sprinting toward the location his senses indicated. He cleared the nearly ten-meter gap between adjacent buildings with a single bound.

The Vacant Ape Mask also experienced a muscular surge, though he only gained three centimeters in height, clearly weaker than his leader, but more than enough to vault across the rooftops, following closely behind the Sorrowful Ape Mask.

Even if someone glimpsed two dark shadows flashing across the rooftops, a second glance would reveal the shadows had vanished, leading them to dismiss the sighting as a trick of the eye.

“He’s moving, trying to leave the city! He must have sensed us too; let’s pick up the pace!” shouted the Sorrowful Ape Mask. Immediately, their speed increased. The flaw in the Soul-Searching Technique was that while it located an enemy, it also exposed the user.

The two cultists followed the psychic trail out of the city limits and into a stretch of wild, desolate land outside the perimeter. The Sorrowful Ape Mask yelled, “He’s close, about five hundred meters ahead! Think you can escape us!”

The pair chased their quarry until they reached a clearing in the woods, where a single figure stood waiting in the center.

Prior to their departure, the two men had memorized Yang Ying’s appearance perfectly. They recognized him instantly—the figure before them was their target: Yang Ying.

“With your mere apprentice-level strength, you thought you could evade the pursuit of two of us?” the Sorrowful Ape Mask snarled, his voice dripping with chilling intent and murderous aura.

The Vacant Ape Mask quickly deployed an interference antenna, which emitted a deep purple barrier that enveloped the entire clearing.

“Hahaha…” the ‘Yang Ying’ in the clearing laughed. “I am honored to have you two come here to hunt me today. Since the barrier is active, there is no need for further words. Let us see what skill truly prevails.”

The Sorrowful Ape Mask raised his hand and fired. In less than the blink of an eye, the shot struck the ‘Yang Ying’ directly in the head, causing the figure to dissolve into thin air.

“A True Mirage!” the Sorrowful Ape Mask cried out in shock.

Yang Ying’s voice echoed from all directions. “I have always wanted to test the effect of an illusion against an Awakened. It seems it can even deceive the Soul-Searching Technique—truly pleasing.”

As the voice faded, four spheres of deep crimson fire materialized out of thin air in the clearing. Within each sphere burned a pair of eyes as bright as searchlights, sending a chill through the two Ape-Worship Cultists.

High above, Yang Ying watched as the two figures were enveloped in a dim, yellowish glow, and he smiled faintly. “Matters on Earth are concluded. Tomorrow, I can return to the universe with peace of mind.”