Wielding the Thunders Across Two Worlds

"The Taoist Research Institute has been empty for almost a month."

"Mr. Gu hasn’t shown up either."

"It’s rare for him to be gone for this long. The longest he was away before was no more than half a month."

"Something must have happened over there. Did Mr. Gu and the others run into a powerful enemy?"

"We don’t know the situation, and we can’t help. We should have had them take a few strategic weapons with them."

"Get real. Against opponents who can fly through the sky, burrow into the earth, and turn intangible, strategic weapons would be useless."

"Nothing bad happened to them, right?"

"The chances of that are low. After all, they can travel between worlds, but their enemies can’t. And I’m sure they wouldn’t go out of their way to provoke a powerful foe. As for an enemy attack..."

"If they can’t win, they can still run, can’t they?"

Just as the Taoist Office was discussing the matter, they received a message from Yangcheng.

"The Daoists are back."

"Daoists?"

"Yes, plural." The speaker nodded. "Quite a few people came back this time: Taoist Zhi Qing and Taoist Changyi from the Celestial Master’s Mansion; Taoist Yuan He and Taoist Yangshuo from the Pure Yang Sect; Taoist Han Xuan and Taoist Zhan Qing from Sanmao Mountain; and Taoist Xuan Yong and Taoist Jingyi from Lao Mountain."

"All the young Daoists are back. That makes sense. They have families; it’s about time they went home to visit."

"Is Mr. Gu back?"

"He’s back."

"Did you tell him about that Frank business?"

"Not yet. He flew off as soon as he brought everyone back."

"Send it to his phone!"

...

Gu Zhao had just taken flight when his fully charged phone started buzzing with a series of notifications.

Gu Zhao was used to it. Most were from his parents, Xiao Ya, and Jiang Shishi. Some were from Zhang Hang and old classmates, along with a huge pile of assorted junk messages.

He unlocked his phone, but before he could check their messages, he saw a text message from the "Taoist Office" at the very top of his screen.

"Hm?" Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow. He opened the text and couldn’t help but chuckle.

’Well now, this is never-ending, is it? They clearly know so much, so why are they still targeting Xiao Ya?’

Gu Zhao read the description in the text, clicking his tongue. ’Sending a beautiful woman to "make friends" is one thing. At least she’s easy on the eyes and provides some emotional value. But what’s the meaning of sending a handsome guy? Are they looking down on me?’

"What’s he trying to pull? It’s not going to be that cliché, is it?" Gu Zhao muttered, but a hint of anticipation flickered in his eyes. He sped up.

After returning home, he checked Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi’s messages and social media feeds, learning that they had a traditional music performance at the Xinghai Concert Hall tonight.

So, Gu Zhao changed his clothes, went downstairs, got into his new Aito, and zipped over to the Xinghai Concert Hall. After parking, he leaned against the car and swept the area with his Divine Sense, immediately finding his target.

Aaron Frank.

The second son of the Frank Clan from Huaqi Country—an important figure with inheritance rights. He was handsome, had an eight-pack, and wasn’t just a Columbia University master’s graduate in economics. He was also skilled in combat, racing, piano, and bartending—a true renaissance man.

’A honey trap, huh?’ Gu Zhao thought, looking at the blond man in the driver’s seat of a Rolls-Royce Phantom across the street. He shook his head. ’Too bad he doesn’t have a round face and a full beard. He wouldn’t find much of a market in Rongcheng.’

Just then, the performance ended.

Although summer hadn’t yet arrived in most of the country, it was already hot in Yangcheng. Audience members emerged in twos and threes, mostly dressed in short sleeves and skirts, calling out to one another as they went to find a place for a late-night snack.

Once most of the audience had dispersed, the orchestra members who had been performing backstage came out.

It was just a routine orchestra performance, with no post-show dinner or group activities planned. Everyone changed their clothes and removed their makeup. The instruments were loaded onto a bus, and those heading back to the orchestra building hitched a ride. The rest went their separate ways.

Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi, naturally, were not going with the group.

Their performance had already begun by the time Gu Zhao brought everyone back, so they had no idea he had returned. They had already made plans with Erin to get hot pot after the show.

"Here, they have a local style of hot pot," Jiang Shishi explained to Erin. "The format is the same, of course, but in Yangcheng, it’s usually a small pot with mainly seafood, and the flavor is lighter."

"Mhm, something light sounds good." Erin nodded repeatedly, touching a bump on her chin that was a little sore. "I’ve been eating too much spicy food lately. It’s making me break out."

Jiang Shishi gloated, "Even we don’t dare to eat like that. I didn’t realize you could handle so much spice."

"I heard spicy food is good for your skin!" Erin argued.

"But you can’t eat too much of it," Xiao Ya said with a laugh.

"But it’s so delicious!" Erin had just finished speaking when she saw Xiao Ya stop in her tracks, her brow furrowing slightly.

Erin followed Xiao Ya’s gaze and saw a handsome, six-foot-tall man with blond hair and blue eyes striding toward them, a bouquet of flowers in his hands and a sunny smile on his face.

"Wow!" Nearby pedestrians also noticed the scene and let out soft gasps of envy. Following the handsome blond man’s path, their eyes landed on the three stunning women—two Chinese and one foreign.

Some people started whispering among themselves, and a few women couldn’t resist pulling out their phones to start recording.

However, some onlookers noticed that all three women facing the handsome blond man looked displeased.

But in the blink of an eye, two of the women’s faces broke into happy smiles, their eyes curving into beautiful crescents, as if they had just seen their long-awaited boyfriend.

And seeing the smile blossom on Xiao Ya’s face, Aaron’s own sunny grin grew even wider.

’I knew it. No one can refuse me. Those two previous rejections were just her playing hard to get.’

Aaron pushed the memory of his conversation with the Celestial Xia personnel that morning to the back of his mind. ’Just a bunch of savages. They want to stop me from bringing a Superpower User back to Huaqi, but they don’t dare offend the Frank Clan or lay a hand on me. A bunch of useless cowards.’

Then he saw Xiao Ya walking toward him with a smile.

Frank hid the disdain in his eyes. The person before him was, after all, tied to a human-shaped strategic weapon. He raised the bouquet of flowers, offering it to the approaching Xiao Ya. "For..."

Then he saw Xiao Ya open her arms and rush right past him and his outstretched flowers.

Aaron: ???

Aaron turned around just in time to see Xiao Ya throw herself into the arms of a Celestial Xia man.

Aaron stood there, dumbfounded. Then he heard a chorus of "oohs" from the crowd, accompanied by the flashing of camera lights.

The image of a handsome, flower-bearing blond man turning his head in shock to see the object of his affection leap into the arms of a Celestial Xia man was frozen on the phone screens of everyone around.

"What a great shot!"

"This is definitely going viral!"