By the small lake, on a wooden deck table, lay flat Qing tea. Gu Xichen, clad in black and white duality, and Peng Hua sat facing each other.

"The Chief Retainer? You truly aren't tempted?" Peng Hua took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, regarding Gu Xichen with surprise.

"What's the rush? That girl might not have the purest of intentions yet," Gu Xichen lightly patted the water surface, startling the nearby small fish into a hasty retreat. He shook his head.

Just now, in the banquet hall, thanks to Fuya Ming’s diligent mediation, an outright conflict was avoided, and the matter of betting with spirit stones naturally dissolved without resolution. Gu Xichen had calmly finished dinner after refusing Jin Cheng’s proposal to appoint him as the Chief Retainer of the Hook Breaker Guild. Citing fatigue from the past few days, Gu Xichen returned directly to his room to rest. Was it an illusion? When Gu Xichen refused Jin, he thought he saw a flicker of relief—a faint smile—at the corner of Fuya Ming’s mouth.

"Jin... this woman!" Fuyao Fan gently fanned a cool breeze. Gu Xichen narrowed his eyes, silently listening to every rustle of the surrounding wind and grass.

"That woman?" Peng Hua sneered. "She counts as a woman? Sigh. But didn't you notice? That woman strongly resembles someone. From her demeanor to her temperament, she is strikingly similar."

"Oh? Who?" Gu Xichen already had an answer in mind, but he genuinely wanted to hear Peng Hua's expert opinion.

"That damned siren, Siren!" Peng Hua spat out the words through gritted teeth. "That wicked woman looks almost exactly like that wretched siren. Ugh, I was initially interested in trying to seduce her, but seeing her appearance—I don't want to feel like I'm holding Siren every time I embrace her! Even if I'm physiologically immune to yang addiction, developing a psychological yang ailment would be a total loss for me."

Gu Xichen was momentarily stunned, then abruptly shuddered violently. The image of Peng Hua amorously embracing Siren—that terrifying association made every hair on his body stand on end.

The divine sense that had been subtly covering a certain distant palace suddenly registered movement from Fuya Ming and Jin. Gu Xichen gestured to Peng Hua, and the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Bewitching Charm Talisman burst forth in a faint glow, enveloping his body. He silently dissolved into a gentle breeze blowing in from the side. Mo Lii Qing, who had been lounging on a sofa inside the palace moments ago, suddenly sprang up in a swift, athletic movement. He twisted his body, instantly transforming into the likeness of Gu Xichen, and swaggered over to sit opposite Peng Hua.

"Come on, one jar?" The transformed Gu Xichen stared wide-eyed at Peng Hua.

"One jar isn't nearly enough! For a true hero, ten jars!" Peng Hua Li Xuan grew excited, unhesitatingly pulling out jar after jar of aged fine wine from his storage pouch.

The door to the palace room was suddenly pushed open from the outside. A maid cautiously poked half her head in, quickly glancing at the two figures—Peng Hua and the fake Gu Xichen—sitting opposite each other drinking. Suddenly, Mo Li Shou’s large, florid face thrust close to the maid's face. He growled in a muffled voice, "Hey, girl, what are you looking for? Did you take a fancy to my subordinate?"

The maid shrieked in terror, clutched her long skirt, and fled. Moments later, the intelligence that "Gu Xichen is currently drinking heavily with Peng Hua" was promptly delivered into the hands of certain interested parties.

Having already walked a long distance from the palace, Gu Xichen looked up at the sky. The wind-and-rain summoning technique recorded in the Great Desolation Scripture rose at his will. Dark clouds rapidly piled up in the heavens, and a fine, drizzling rain began to patter down. Nodding in satisfaction, Gu Xichen once again clearly experienced the exhilaration of wielding the power of heaven and earth so effortlessly.

Unleashing the Water Evasion technique from the Great Yin Scripture, Gu Xichen’s body transformed into a wisp of vapor, merging with the fine rain.

Fuya Ming and Jin, escorted by several Hook Breaker Guild operatives, exited the palace and boarded a small shuttle craft. Just as the water vapor that was Gu Xichen attached itself to the top of the shuttle, the craft lifted silently into the air, emitting not a single sound as it sped toward the distant, pitch-black mountain range.

The technology used in this shuttle was exceptionally advanced; it lacked the usual plasma vents at the stern. It broke the sound barrier with incredible speed, yet produced no sonic boom. The small, petrel-shaped craft ghosted silently through the high altitudes, reaching the airspace above a colossal mountain range several thousand kilometers west of the City of Glory in barely thirty minutes.

Gu Xichen’s divine sense locked onto Fuya Ming and Jin inside the cabin. Both were staring fixedly out the viewport at the passing scenery. It wasn't until the shuttle entered the mountainous area that Jin lazily yawned and asked with genuine puzzlement, "Sister Fua Ming, are you really going to cooperate with this Gu Xichen? Do you know what I saw on him just now?"

Fuya Ming frowned slightly. "You shouldn't have provoked him that way. That was a very direct insult to him."

Jin nodded, showing a touch of belated fear, her brow also furrowing. "When I spat that mouthful of saliva, I didn't think of that point. But I regretted it quickly afterward."

Her enchantingly beautiful eyes rolled, overlaid with an eerie purple luminescence. Deep within her pupils, two profound vortices could faintly be seen slowly spinning—a pair of divine eyes that seemed capable of penetrating space and traversing time. Jin spoke in a low voice, "What I saw on him—the people who have directly or indirectly died by his hand number no less than a million. I highly doubt his identity as a mercenary; no mercenary kills that many people. Not even the leader of the Star Alliance’s largest pirate group, the 'Mad Demon' Clan, has..."

A million people killed directly or indirectly by himself? Gu Xichen’s eyes widened in surprise. He carefully tallied the numbers on his fingers—perhaps even more? Those killed directly, hundreds of thousands alone on Paradise Star. Indirectly? Who knew how many people had died from the weapons he sold during his years at the Gu Corporation? And how many soldiers from Hadwar Defense Company had died on the battlefield? If all of that counted as dying indirectly by his hand, then a million seemed like a conservative estimate!

"Interesting psychic ability. What is this girl's power? Prophecy? Or time tracing? If it's a precognitive ability, that's terrifyingly powerful. If it's time tracing... well, the most suitable job for her isn't piracy; she should be a criminal detective!" Gu Xichen maliciously evaluated Jin's ability in his mind.

"A million people?" Fuya Ming was clearly startled by the number. But her expression quickly shifted to excitement. "Isn't that even better? If he has the capability to kill a million people, that's exactly who the current Yafic Kingdom needs. Jin, what you said has actually strengthened my confidence in forming an alliance with him!"

Jin pouted and glanced at Fuya Ming, then, like a slug, she crawled into Fuya Ming’s embrace, gently fiddling with the strands of her short hair.