The second elder didn’t bother saying too much, and hung up the phone directly after that. Feng Jiu felt even more uneasy after that, and thinking back to the words he had just heard, he paced around his office, and the more he paced, the more upset he became.

“Mr. Feng, what’s wrong?” A young man came in from outside to deliver some documents, seeing Feng Jiu fidgeting and being anxious, and he couldn’t help raise an eyebrow.

Feng Jiu turned to the person, then his eyes landed on the documents in his hands. “What is that?”

“The specific contents for the press conference.” The young man shook off his curiosity, and handed the document to Feng Jiu. “The most important thing right now is to reassure the masses. The appearance of those monsters recently has made them scared to even step out of their house, and their safety is our priority.”

“What do you know?!” Feng Jiu scratched his head, pacing up and down the room a few times. “Help me connect to the higher ups of America.”

At this time, they still needed to clarify what had happened in the United States.

“America?” The young man nodded. As he carried out his orders, he recalled the recent events that had happened in that country. “Mr. Feng, why did you ask about America out of the blue? I heard there’s been a major political shuffle, and the position of the newly appointed commander has solidified a lot from it.”

“Major shuffle?” Feng Jiu’s heart jumped. “How big are we talking about?”

He had kept an ear out regarding the happenings of the United States, since it had been a big matter after all, and even the world felt the waves from the incidents. Although Feng Jiu wasn’t really concerned about it, he was still somewhat in the know. After hearing what the second elder had said, the doubt in his heart grew bigger.

“The entire higher ups were cleaned out, but only those who had lifestyle problems whom even the higher ranking commanders were not able to touch previously.” The young man had obviously taken an interest in the matter. Not only him, who in the international political circle wasn’t paying attention to this matter?

To be able to single-handedly bring down these people, turning them in together with solid evidence, who wouldn’t be afraid? Especially the other politicians in America, they were all well aware of the dangers that they potentially faced.

The young man’s eyes lit up when he talked about this. “I heard that even the Dickens family had been cleaned out. You probably didn’t know, Mr. Feng, but the leader of the Dickens family was Claude. Klaus was just an average heir before this, but now his methods are not inferior to some of the older cunning people.”

The young man wasn’t aware that the longer he talked, the more worried Feng Jiu got. Before he was aware of it, he was still fine. But now that he knew Gu Xiqiao was related to this, he was even more shocked. “Is what you just said true? Even the higher ranking commanders couldn’t touch them?”

To think that they had been taken down by someone else instead? Especially knowing that this person might be Gu Xiqiao, Feng Jiu’s anxiety rose to a new level. He picked up his cup of tea, trying to sooth his frazzled nerves.

Even after he found out that Gu Xiqiao had been involved in the incidents, he still wasn’t concerned at first. He didn’t pay much attention to the political affairs in the first place, so he didn’t know how big an impact the incident had on America. But when he heard the young man say that, he suddenly realized that he should have been paying attention.

“Of course, otherwise, why would so many people in the political circle secretly worship that person?” The young man lowered his voice slightly. “Mr. Feng, those politicians in America don’t even dare to utter the name of the person. But I heard that that person is someone from our country, and it’s a woman.”

Clang!

The cup in Feng Jiu’s hand fell to the ground, shattering to pieces.

The sound startled the young man. He looked to the shattered cup on the ground, before looking at Feng Jiu again. His voice was cautious when he spoke, “Mr. Feng, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Feng Jiu waved his hand stiffly. “How’s the call coming?”

The young man was still holding the special phone that was used for international calls in his hand, and his tone was lighter when he answered, “It’s still being transferred. As you know, Mr. Feng, the call has to go through a lot of procedures.”

It wasn’t like you could put a call through as and when you wanted, it had to go through various channels and departments before it could be connected to any of the higher ups.

“… Tell me more about the matter in America.” Feng Jiu was the middle person between the secular world and the ancient martial arts world after all. He was used to seeing unusual things on usual days, and he had already collected himself in the last few minutes, though his fingers were still shaking.

The young man didn’t notice these little details about Feng Jiu. He brushed it off, thinking that Feng Jiu had also been shocked by the news, and continued talking excitedly.

How much impact does this incident have towards the United States? You could tell how big it was by the worshipping attitude of those politicians, and the young man in front of him was clearly also one of them, describing the incident as though he had seen it with his own eyes.

“… To think that the impact was so big…” Feng Jiu felt more distrubed the more he listened.

At the same time, Feng Jiu also recalled what happened in Mingzhou previously. He hadn’t managed to take any action at that time, before Gu Xiqiao had easily stepped in with her deliberately misunderstood Weibo post, dispersing the matter that had been about to be blown out of proportion.

Her influence on the internet seems to be incredible. With just a single Weibo, countless netizens had been convinced by her words, and a lot of them were also very influential figures in their own field.

To now know that her influence was also incredibly big in the political circles was something that was hard to swallow.

But, why did something feel wrong? That’s right, it was the United States! How could she be so bold? The ancient martial arts world were not allowed to interfere with the affairs of the secular world, after all. Did those people not stop her, and let her do as she pleased?

Feng Jiu felt like there was still a missing piece to this puzzle, but before he could continue to think more on it, the young man raised his head, a slightly dazed look on his face. “Mr. Feng, the call has been connected.”

“Give it here.” Feng Jiu didn’t notice the young man’s state, and took the phone immediately.

“Hello, Mr. Feng. I am…”

The not so fluent Chinese came through from the other end, causing Feng Jiu to almost throw down the phone in his hands. He had wanted to be connected to one of the higher ups in America, the last person he expected to answer the call was the leader of the power world in the United States?

Wait a minute? Why was he talking in such a respectful tone? Feng Jiu didn’t feel that his position was high enough that it would garner such respect in their treatment of him.

Before he could inquire about it, he realized that the leader of America’s power world was still speaking. “I heard that Mr. Feng wanted to talk about that person. Seeing that there is no other person who understands better than me, I will tell you everything you wish to know, Mr. Feng.”

That person? They didn’t even dare to utter her name? Feng Jiu’s heart thumped hard in his chest, but his voice was calm and steady as he spoke, “What in the world did Miss Gu do in the United States?”

Feng Jiu had said her name tentatively, in order to test whether ‘that person’ really was referring to her. There had always been some matters that the other higher ups of America were not privy to, but the commander must know.

“Mr. Feng, please allow me to express my gratitude to that person…” Hearing the name from Feng Jiu, the voice on the other end tightened, before the torrent of admiration and respect came flowing through until they reached the point of their discussion.

Probably thinking that Feng Jiu was well acquainted with ‘that person’, the leader of America’s power circle was detailed in his explanation.

There were only a few people in America who were well aware of the entire happening, despite what had been reported to the outside world. And it was those few who understood clearly, and the more they were aware they were, the more they realized just how terrifying Gu Xiqiao was.

But, these were all being told to Feng Jiu by the leader of America’s power world, and his previously anxious heart beat even faster once he heard everything.

Finally, when the call was about to come to and end, the leader said meaningfully, “Mr. Feng, I heard that your country intends to use nuclear weapons to fight against enemies lately. In my humble opinion, there are some things that cannot be handled by those weapons. Our country had a blessing in disguise because of that person, and I naturally hope that our friendship between our countries will be long lasting.”

“Of course.” Feng Jiu spit out the words, his throat dry.

“Even our power world doesn’t dare to touch a single hair on that person, where did you get such courage from?” The leader hung up the call after those parting words.

Feng Jiu was still holding the phone with a blank look on his face, staring at nothing in particular as he processed the words that the leader had said.

The words that the second elder previously mentioned were also echoing in his mind.

Right? Where did such bold courage come from?

Thinking of this, he immediately picked up the documents that the young man had brought in. He glanced through it quickly, and found that it mainly wanted to announce to the masses that the country was still in the midst of investigating the recent incidents that had been happening in the country, and that they had sent out special forces to suppress it. They had the most advanced weapons needed to carry out the task, and they weren’t afraid of those monsters.

But now that he thought back to what the leader of America’s power world has said, maybe there really were some things that couldn’t be dealt with by nuclear weapons. When he thought about that, the anxiety in his heart climbed up once again.

Fortunately, there was still time. He immediately gave the second elder a call, intending to contact Gu Xiqiao.

When the second elder received the call, he was in the middle of training. “Feng Jiu, can you not bother me now? I’m in the middle of training!”

“You’re already such an old fart, what training are you doing?!” Feng Jiu also retorted rudely. “Where is Miss Gu now, do you know? Can I meet her?”

“Who says I can’t train? Miss Gu said that even though our bones are old, it would still be barely possible to push us to Xiantian level. Ah, forget it, why am I even telling you this? If you want to meet Miss Gu, then you should contact Luo Wenlang, or Nine Heavens.” The second elder hung up the call after saying that, muttering under his breath. “I already told you before this, and you didn’t listen to me earlier. What do you expect me to do now when you find me?”

These words made Feng Jiu want to break down and cry.

How would he have known earlier that things would get so bad to this point?!

It wasn’t like he knew Gu Xiqiao would turn out to be such a terrifying force to be reckoned with, and that there would be monsters appearing that even their nuclear weapons would do nothing to them. He hadn’t known at that time, and so had treated it all as unimportant!

After listening to the commander’s explanation, he finally understood, but it was a little too late now.

***

“Qiao Qiao, there’s a Mr. Feng here to see you.” Mu Zong made a call to Gu Xiqiao. “I initially didn’t want to bother you, but he came through Mr. Tang’s assistant, Qin Heng.”

Mu Zong and Qin Heng had some form of close friendship between them, and knowing that Gu Xiqiao and Tang Qingqiu weren’t strangers or just mere acquaintances, adding on the fact that Qin Heng was a polite and courteous person, Mu Zong felt inclined to inform Gu Xiqiao of this matter when it came to him, instead of rejecting it like normal.

“Mr. Feng?” Gu Xiqiao was sitting on top of a tree at this time, a piece of leaf in her mouth as she watched over the group of elders who were underneath the tree. She narrowed her eyes when she received the call, and blinked when she remembered who the person was.

“That’s right. He says that you know him.”

“It’s fine. Let him wait a bit, I’m heading back to Nine Heavens.” Gu Xiqiao sat up, removing the leaf from her mouth and threw it to the side suddenly with a swoosh.

“Ow!” The second elder had been eavesdropping on Gu Xiqiao’s conversation, but he didn’t expect the piece of leaf she threw would be so powerful? He looked at the place where his clothes were torn from, and a stab of fear went through him. If he had been slow to avoid that, he may have ended up with a torn arm instead.

“Can you afford to be distracted at this time?” The great elder slapped away a ferocious beast, and took a chance to glance at the second elder. “Just leave Feng Jiu alone, Miss Gu has her own mind to make her decisions.”

The second elder smiled wryly when he heard those words, and his hand shot out to also hit a fierce beast away. “Of course I know that, it’s just…”

“What is it?” The great elder asked, turning to look at him.

“I’m afraid Miss Gu’s usual methods will scare ordinary people.” The second elder let out a sigh, slapping away another beast. “We’re from the ancient martial arts world, and we’ve seen many things over the years, and obviously we can come to accept the crazy things that Miss Gu does, but ordinary people don’t have the same heart of steel that we do. I just fear that things will backfire if Miss Gu’s methods are too aggressive.”

“You’re really thinking too much.” The great elder laughed. “To think so heavily on this, do you think Miss Gu is stupid? She’s someone who has changed the entire ancient martial arts world, and also a person so greatly sought after in the secular world. Do you think that her EQ is so low?”

The second elder paused in his actions as the great elder’s words slowly sank in. Well, that was right, wasn’t it?

When he raised his head, he found that Gu Xiqiao, who had been above them had disappeared. But at this time, he didn’t have any further thoughts on where she had gone, or what to do with the matters of the secular world.

Because several ferocious beasts chose the same time to come rushing at him alone, making him panic slightly as he hurried to defend himself. How could he think of other things in this situation?

The other elders didn’t bother about him either. What a joke, who would dare to? After being trained by Gu Xiqiao the past few days, they all knew just how much of a grudge this girl could hold. They could cry if they were to delve deeper into this topic.

***

“When is Brother Jiang coming back?” Gu Xiqiao jumped down the tree, turning to look down at Jiji.

Jiji thought about it for a while, then looked up. “You can feel Master Jiang’s presence right, Beauty Qiao? Gimme a sec, I’ll look at the map. Master Jiang has gone to the desert, so his journey should take about a couple of days.”

“A couple of days?” Gu Xiqiao nodded her head. “Has there been any movement from Chu Enterprise lately?”

She had been busy with the elders recently, and everything had been delegated over to Luo Wenlang and Mu Zong. One of the two were keeping an eye on the ancient martial arts world for her, and the other was keeping an eye on the secular world. She was lazy, but there was only so much she could goof off. There were some things that she had to handle personally after all.

Jiji had churned out all the documents that Yu Ning had sent over, and with its powerful scanning capabilities, it could pinpoint all the important points in a flash. “It’s all here, Beauty Qiao. Oh right, that strange person that Yi Tong brought back previously, Zhu Yuan has already carried out some study on him and has some clues. I’ve sent it to your mailbox, I need you to take a look at it.”

“OK.” Gu Xiqiao glanced at the transparent panel that had popped up in front of her, then snapped her fingers. “Let’s go to Nine Heavens first and settle that one.”

“Alright, Beauty Qiao.” Jiji confirmed the location of Nine Heavens, and the two of them disappeared from the spot.

***

At Nine Heavens, Feng Jiu was getting restless. Just as he raised his arm, a mechanical voice spoke. “Sir, what service would you require?”

The reverberating mechanical sound almost made Feng Jiu jump out of his skin, his heart thumping violently in his chest. Oh my f*ck, an arm that could speak?! What kind of ghosts were there in this room? Also, what’s with the decorations in this room, wasn’t it all a little too high tech?

“My apologies, Mr. Feng.” Mu Zong walked in, seeing Mr. Feng’s flustered state, reassuring him immediately. “This room was set up by Miss Gu in order to make Jiji’s body, and it contains all her favourite electrical products which are a little smarter than your usual ones. But don’t worry, they won’t harm anyone. This is the place that Miss Gu will first come to when she comes back, so it’s the best place to wait for her.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Feng Jiu waved his hand hurriedly. What a joke, how could he make any trouble for Gu Xiqiao’s right hand man? “President Mu, did Miss Gu say that she’ll see me?”

“That’s right, she’ll be here soon,” Mu Zong said, smiling.

Soon? Feng Jiu was equally anxious and anticipating.

Just as Mu Zong said that, several voices came through from outside the door. “Miss Gu.”

Feng Jiu knew that the real boss of the place was coming, and immediately stood up, waiting for her to come in. His eyes were in the direction of the glass door. It wasn’t just a glass door, even the walls were all made of glass, and so he could clearly see everything that was happening outside of it.

There was a single person walking slowly towards the room, and her pace was unhurried. Her head was slightly lowered, the soft light shining on her face, illuminating her gentle appearance. Everyone stopped to greet her as she passed, and their faces lit up with admiration and respect when they did so.

Feng Jiu didn’t doubt anymore that this person was Miss Gu, the same person that even the leader of America dreaded. Only, she was a little different than what he had expected.