Chapter 525: I Beseech the Heavens, Distinguish the Loyal from the Treacherous!

【At the ferry crossing between Dongming Mountain and Tingxuan Mountain, you and Ah Dou waited from summer until autumn.】

【One day at the hour of Zi, you placed the sleeping Ah Dou on Black Wind's back and led Black Wind to the ferry crossing to wait.】

【You knew that Ji Wuqing would appear today with the people from the Torch Society.】

【While you waited, several Blue-Skin Tribe members popped out from somewhere nearby, looking just like Na'vi from Avatar.】

【These few Avatars were shifty-eyed. Seeing you alone with a child, they immediately harbored ill intentions.】

【"Brother, where are you taking a child all by yourself so late at night? There's no ferry at midnight."】

【They held gleaming blades in their hands.】

【You swept a glance over them and found their highest cultivation level was only Innate Martial Artist.】

【They wanted to rob your Uncle Chen with that?】

【Don't make your uncle laugh.】

【You said without even turning your head.】

【"Robbery."】

【"Oh! You're pretty sharp. I barely opened my mouth and you already knew what I wanted to do."】

【"I was talking about me."】

【The other party took a good long while to process what you were saying.】

【"You want to rob us? Haha, that's hilarious!"】

【You extended a single finger and used a move you hadn't used in a long time.】

【Shattering Star Ripple Finger!】

【"Pfft!!"】

【The one who had just been laughing had his throat pierced clean through, front to back, and collapsed to the ground with a thud, sleeping like a log.】

【"He laughed himself to death. How do you want to die?"】

【The remaining Blue-Skin Tribe members were scared to tears and immediately dropped to their knees begging for mercy.】

【"Please spare us, Senior! This is our first time robbing people!"】

【"Life isn't easy for us either! We can't eat our fill or stay warm! Hic-"】

【"Please show us mercy! We're all struggling to survive!"】

【You looked at these Blue-Skin Tribe members with contempt and shook your head in disappointment.】

【"Even your lies have no creativity. You can't even put effort into being criminals. You're an embarrassment to your peers. What's the point of living!"】

【You still pointed a single finger, but this time you used the "AOE" effect, turning a single piercing beam into a scattering burst of light, sending them on their way.】

【After counting the spoils of battle, you sighed even more.】

【"The Source Stones I got from robbing you aren't even enough to cover the divine power I used to kill you. Boring..."】

【You weren't after their valuables, though.】

【It was their residence permit Compasses.】

【As everyone knows, Immortal Qi on First-tier Stars comes at a cost.】

【The Holy Dragon Society, through some unknown means, controlled the flow of Immortal Qi. On First-tier Stars rich with Immortal Qi, before Immortal Qi can enter a cultivator's body, it must pass through the residence permits they issue.】

【Without the corresponding residence permit for a given planet, one cannot normally absorb Immortal Qi for cultivation.】

【Bizarrely, this mechanism applied even to Immortal Kings without exception.】

【"Lucky these weaklings were using temporary residence permits."】

【Temporary residence permits aren't bound to specific individuals. Anyone can use them, as long as the balance on the permit is sufficient.】

【But temporary residence permits are valid for a few years at most, which is clearly insufficient for the long road of cultivation.】

【However, for someone whose identity is difficult to handle, it was a workable stopgap.】

【Therefore, in the black markets of First-tier Stars, large quantities of these temporary residence permits of unknown origin circulated.】

【"I'll make do with these for now. Later I'll have Ji Wuqing help me get two official residence permits."】

【You heard Ah Dou murmuring on horseback, likely about to wake up. Probably the commotion just now had disturbed him.】

【So you raised a hand and flung out several strands of divine power. Since the Qi Refining Art you cultivated was the Ji family's «Triple-Origin Body Tempering Mystic Art», your divine power could automatically convert into Triple-Origin True Fire.】

【You directly set all the Blue-Skin Tribe corpses ablaze.】

【Ah Dou woke up and, seeing several fires burning nearby, asked curiously.】

【"Uncle Chen, why is there a fire?"】

【"Uncle was afraid you'd be cold, so I lit a few fires to warm you up."】

【"Thank you, Uncle Chen."】

【Don't thank your Uncle Chen. Thank those Blue-Skin Tribe members.】

【Suddenly, from a tree by the shore, a familiar voice came.】

【"Hey! Why do I feel like the aura of that move you just used resembles my Ji family's «Triple-Origin Body Tempering Mystic Art»? You're not from my Ji family, are you?"】

【Ji Wuqing.】

【She had arrived at some point without you knowing.】

【Ji Wuqing had already reached the Late Stage of the Transcendent Realm. It was no surprise she could conceal herself from your perception and approach silently.】

【Moreover, she bore you no hostility, so the Traffic Light's danger-detection ability didn't raise any alarms.】

【You turned to look at Ji Wuqing. She still favored purple robes as always, her long hair cascading like a waterfall from the tree all the way to the ground.】

【"Wuqing, you're here."】

【The vision around you turned yellow.】

【Because Ji Wuqing tightened her grip on the treasured sword in her hand.】

【"You know me?"】

【You showed no panic and spoke the code phrase.】

【Ji Wuqing nodded slightly.】

【"So it really is you. But in our secret letters, the name I mentioned was my original name 'Xiaoyue'. How did you know the name I use on Vermilion Violet Star is 'Wuqing'?"】

【Your eyes darted around. You thought to yourself that this improper Old Wuqing was quite guarded.】

【"I've long investigated certain matters on Vermilion Violet Star. You're quite a celebrity there. At a young age, you defeated many long-famous veterans. You're the once-in-a-millennium prodigy of our Human Race's younger generation, a heroine among women!"】

【Having played emperor on Blazing Star for so long surrounded by sycophants, you'd picked up a thing or two by osmosis.】

【These words pleased Ji Wuqing, and the yellow in your vision vanished on the spot.】

【"I see. Then the child on that strange horse must be the Child of Destiny discovered on Blazing Star?"】

【"Indeed."】

【"Leave him to me. I'll take him to the base. You can go back."】

【"No, I must stay with this child."】

【"You didn't mention this condition before."】

【"Communicating through the Torch Tree wasn't convenient before, so I couldn't go into such detail. But now I must make it clear. I absolutely must stay with this child. Otherwise, I'd rather raise him alone."】

【If Ah Dou were left alone at the base, his fate would be the same as in the sixth simulation, whereabouts unknown.】

【Your vision turned yellow again.】

【Ji Wuqing's tone turned somewhat brusque.】

【"Such unreasonable demands. I'm afraid I cannot comply. The Child of Destiny is a matter of grave importance. It's impossible to hand him over to you alone. Give me the child!"】

【Ah Dou was now ten years old. Add to that two years of mixing with the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and the others, and he was quite sensible. He immediately chimed in to help.】

【"I only trust Uncle Chen! I'm not going with you, you long-haired female ghost!"】

【You: "..."】

【Ji Wuqing: "??"】

【The air was silent for a few seconds.】

【Ji Wuqing: "Long-haired female ghost?! Ah!! You little brat, who are you calling?!"】

【You: "Damn Old Wan! What have you been teaching Ah Dou every day!"】

【Ten Thousand Souls Banner: "What the hell does that have to do with me? I'm more wronged than Dou E! I beseech the heavens, distinguish the loyal from the treacherous!"】