God-Level Special Forces Soldier

However, although everyone came to this conclusion, they all admitted one thing: given time, Bai Xiaoxuan will definitely become a peerless prodigy!

Showing such talent at such a young age, no wonder she’s earned unanimous special attention from the upper echelon.

By comparison, in the eyes of the higher-ups, it’s obvious that long-term development is far more important than a momentary win or loss, because a sect isn’t some Jianghu con man selling Strength Pills—make a quick score and run, fire a shot and change locations.

Watching the disciples break up in twos and threes, retreating in all directions, Xu Ming gave a somewhat bitter smile: "After this, Xuanxuan’s matter will probably reach the ears of Wind Blade Valley and Profound Spirit Valley."

The women around all nodded in agreement, clearly sharing the same view as Xu Ming.

Chen Zhenfang’s gaze moved, sweeping across the faces of Xu Ming and the others one by one. Her eyes narrowed: "Are you blaming me?"

"Wouldn’t dare!"

Xu Ming explained, "I only stated a fact, that’s all. Please don’t overthink it, Senior Sister; I just want to know one thing—do you have any wise ideas about how to handle the follow-up problems?"

"Handle problems?" Chen Zhenfang sized Xu Ming up from head to toe. "What problem needs handling?"

Unable for the moment to figure out what Chen Zhenfang meant, Xu Ming could only answer honestly: "Of course Xuanxuan’s issue. Once the other two sects learn what happened on the arena today, they definitely won’t just sit back and ignore it, right?"

Chen Zhenfang let out a cold snort. "So what?! Do you think they can join hands and come storm our gates?"

Such words of boundless boldness instantly left Xu Ming choked and speechless. He could only give an awkward laugh and say, "With Senior Sister holding the fort, Wind Blade Valley and Profound Spirit Valley naturally wouldn’t be stupid enough to go that far!"

Chen Zhenfang had no intention of happily accepting Xu Ming’s flattery. Instead she said, "Then that’s that. Even if they know, what of it? Bai Xiaoxuan is bound to stand on her own sooner or later. If she keeps growing under our protection, sure, the road will be smooth sailing all the way."

"But what you need to understand is that the price of smooth sailing is her losing the ability to protect herself when faced with danger!"

Speaking up to this point, Chen Zhenfang’s tone grew heavier: "Otherwise, what do we need Bai Xiaoxuan for? You lot could just keep propping things up forever, couldn’t you?"

This string of relentless questions truly left everyone dumbstruck. They couldn’t even find a point to start refuting her.

After a long while, seeing them all keeping silent, Chen Zhenfang went on, "I know you think Bai Xiaoxuan is still too young. Honestly, it’s not like I don’t see that. She can wait, you can wait—but I... may not be able to wait that long."

At these words, everyone was startled, gazes snapping toward Chen Zhenfang in unison, blurting out, "Senior Sister, you..."

However, Chen Zhenfang didn’t let them finish. She directly waved her hand, cutting them off. "I hope all of you will seize the time. Xu Ming, you’re a smart man. From the bold moves you’ve made these past days, you clearly already have some plan in mind."

Xu Ming was just about to speak when Chen Zhenfang again took the lead: "You don’t need to tell me what you’re thinking. Just do it the way you’ve planned. As long as I’m still here, the sect’s safety is not something you need to worry about."

With that, Chen Zhenfang no longer paid them any attention. She turned and left straight away, leaving the gathered higher-ups standing there deep in thought.

It had to be said, the amount of information hinted at in Chen Zhenfang’s words just now was quite large. She said she couldn’t wait, and then all those things she told Xu Ming—all of it sounded more and more like she was implying her end was near.

And once Heartbreak Valley loses Chen Zhenfang, it truly can’t afford to keep resting on its laurels...

——

Two days flew by. Ever since Sugai Yishu’s incident hit the front page of the newspapers, Sugai Yasuaki’s days really have gone just as he anticipated, drawing a huge wave of suspicion.

At least judging from the reaction within the Mizuno Clan, it was clear that to the clan, Sugai Yasuaki and his son absolutely couldn’t wash their hands clean of involvement in Sugai Yishu’s matter. Plus, with Sugai Kifumi stirring the pot...

For a while, the situation showed a strong tendency toward pinning the crime squarely on them.

But that was only normal. On the surface, everyone knows that Sugai Kifumi and his son Sugai Yishu have always been all smiles and hidden daggers with Sugai Yasuaki. And now that Sugai Yasuaki has secured a marriage with a royal princess, he’s firmly pressed down Sugai Yishu and his father.

So he’s this eager to strike back in revenge—especially when it’s family. Who would dare provoke him in the future?

Within the Mizuno Clan, the "ironclad evidence" people believed proved Sugai Yasuaki’s involvement was his car and the surveillance footage of him appearing at the scene of Sugai Yishu’s incident.

Sugai Yasuaki naturally knew that no matter how he explained it, nobody would believe him, so he adopted a dodging tactic—either avoiding any mention of it, or changing the subject, in any case never giving a direct answer.

However, this tactic could only buy him temporary peace. If he couldn’t produce solid evidence proving he had absolutely nothing to do with the incident, he’d never shake off suspicion. Sugai Yasuaki understood this perfectly well.

Yet just as Sugai Yasuaki was fretting so badly he was about to hire someone to sneak into the hospital and stab that bastard Sugai Yishu to death, a savior quietly surfaced.

And the ones who pulled him out of this mess... were exactly the Shanchuan Five Brothers whom Sugai Yishu had hired.

Over these two days, the five first exposed Sugai Yishu’s breach of contract, then escalated to threats—if they didn’t receive full payment, they’d take things a step further.

Upon hearing of this, Sugai Kifumi of course flatly refused to admit anything. He promptly issued statements one after another, directly accusing the Shanchuan Five Brothers of spewing nonsense and even openly and covertly hinting that the mastermind behind them was Sugai Yasuaki.

Naturally, Sugai Kifumi wasn’t an idiot. He knew very well his son’s character could absolutely do something as untrustworthy as that.

So while he blasted the Shanchuan Five Brothers in the newspapers and media, he was also secretly sending people to contact them, hoping to quietly put the matter to rest.

Sugai Kifumi’s hints really did work: more and more people started suspecting Sugai Yasuaki, thinking that he was utterly ruthless, willing to go that far even against his own uncle and cousin.

On this, Sugai Yasuaki was utterly unable to argue his way out. He could only hide in the shadows, watching Sugai Kifumi’s performance on stage through gritted teeth, using every bit of willpower to suppress the fury in his heart.

In this situation, Sugai Yasuaki had no choice but to seek out Xiao Tian. After hearing about his predicament, Xiao Tian gave him a sympathetic smile and offered an answer that was unexpected yet perfectly logical...

When Xiao Tian heard Sugai Yasuaki frankly admit he wished he could just hire someone to kill Sugai Yishu directly, he shook his head with a smile. "I’d strongly advise you not to do that."

"Mr. Xiao, why do you say that?" Sugai Yasuaki, whose mind was gradually being clouded by anger and who was losing his grip on reason, asked in bafflement.