The plan hatched by the three conspirators was simple, yet audacious.

First was the mastermind, Sanquan Daoist. Having infiltrated the Four Seas Gang years ago, he was now a core member. He knew every patrol route, every personality, and every trap. His role was to coordinate from the center, ensuring the trio remained above suspicion.

The second was Tang Ping’er of the Joyous Union Sect.

Her task was the most delicate. The treasury was guarded by the Vice-Leader of the Four Seas Gang, a terrifying Nascent Soul great expert. Tang Ping’er would disguise herself as a humble Qi Condensation loose cultivator and infiltrate the gang. Using the Joyous Union’s secret arts, she was to become the Vice-Leader’s exclusive plaything. At the critical moment, she would use her charms to bewilder and stall him, buying time for the others.

The third was the muscle, Lu Yutian of the Blood Fiend Sect.

As an Elder of his sect, his strength was formidable, but his true value lay in a specific secret technique: the Blood-Stained Firmament.

The Four Seas Gang’s treasury was protected by horrific restrictions. Brute force was impossible; it would trigger alarms instantly. They needed to dissolve the wards silently. The Blood-Stained Firmament was the key—a method to corrupt and neutralize the restrictions, opening a window for theft.

“You two are not yet members of the Four Seas Gang,” Sanquan Daoist whispered. “Coincidentally, I am in charge of the next recruitment drive. I will bring you in.”

“From that point on, we must act as strangers to avoid suspicion. I trust Fairy Tang’s abilities implicitly.”

Sanquan turned to the large man. “Brother Lu, as a Golden Core expert, the Gang will welcome you with open arms. However, new experts are watched closely. You must gain their trust, display your strength, and earn the right to enter the Inner Hall.”

“Only then will you be close enough to the treasury.”

“We must be especially careful before we strike,” Sanquan warned, his eyes narrowing. “And after we succeed, we must have an immediate escape route…”

Inside the talisman-isolated restriction, their voices were hushed, heavy with the weight of a plot involving “Nine Deaths and One Life.” They believed their privacy was absolute.

They were completely unaware that the unremarkable loose cultivator sitting at the adjacent table had heard every word of their “loud” conspiracy.

When the trio finally dispersed, Gu Xiu did not leave immediately. He poured another cup of tea and sat for half an hour, savoring the brew before leisurely heading toward the Listening-to-Rain Pavilion.

Their plan was identical to the one he had seen in the dream of A Glance of Ten Thousand Years.

He didn’t need to do much. In fact, he didn’t need to participate at all. He simply needed to wait for the mantis to stalk the cicada, and then play the role of the oriole behind them.

But before that…

I can feel the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation approaching, Gu Xiu mused, walking through the bustling streets. With my foundation from re-cultivating, I should be able to proceed directly to Foundation Establishment.

However… if I can elevate my cultivation technique to the Heaven Rank before breaking through, I might achieve Perfect Qi Condensation.

Five hundred years ago, the world called him a “Banished Immortal,” a prodigy without peer. They sang praises of his boundless future. But Gu Xiu knew the truth.

He was “unrivaled” only because the true monsters of that era—the ones capable of suppressing a generation—had not yet emerged. He had merely stood shoulder to shoulder with the best of the visible world.

Now, walking the path again, Gu Xiu refused to be limited by his past achievements.

He didn’t just want to be unrivaled among peers.

He wanted to suppress an entire era.

His current foundation was solid enough to build a Golden Core eventually, but if he could forge his Indestructible Dao Platform using a Heaven-rank technique… that would be true perfection.

He would give himself a few days. If he could break through the technique’s limits, good. If not, he would establish his foundation regardless. He would not let perfection become a shackle.

Lost in thought, Gu Xiu suddenly sensed a disturbance. He turned his head.

At the entrance of a roadside tavern, a mob was kicking and punching a familiar figure curled on the ground.

“You damn beggar! No money, yet you dare to trick us out of wine?”

“Hit him! Break his legs!”

“I thought he was some expert when he walked in, but he can’t even produce a single spirit stone! Beat him to death!”

Gu Xiu raised an eyebrow. The victim was the old drunkard shrouded in Dao Rhyme, the same one he had seen at the city gate when he brought the puppet Haigi back.

Gu Xiu watched for a second, then turned and walked away.

He was past the age of meddling in the affairs of strangers.

He had barely taken two steps when a commotion erupted behind him. Someone had intervened. The voice was vaguely familiar.

Gu Xiu glanced back.

A middle-aged scholar dressed in Confucian robes stood between the mob and the drunkard. The man radiated a palpable “Righteous Energy.” If a disciple of the Azure Mystic Sacred Land were here, they might have noticed a striking resemblance between this scholar and a certain high-ranking member of their sect.

Gu Xiu’s eyes narrowed to slits.

He watched for a heartbeat, then turned his head decisively and vanished into the crowd.

The middle-aged scholar seemed to sense something. He looked up sharply, his gaze piercing through the throng, locking onto the space where Gu Xiu had just been.

A flash of killing intent surged in the scholar’s eyes.

Just then, the old drunkard reached out with a dirty hand and patted the scholar’s arm.

“Thank you, young man! You saved my old bones!”

The scholar was distracted. When he looked up again, the back that had felt so familiar was gone, lost in the sea of people.

Gu Xiu didn’t remove the Three-Body Mask until he was nearly at the door of the Listening-to-Rain Pavilion.

His brow was furrowed.

That man has been avoiding me for years, Gu Xiu thought. I didn’t expect him to come to Cloud Firmament City as well. Truly… the world is small.

He shook his head, pushing the encounter aside, and stepped into the pavilion.

The scene inside stopped him in his tracks.

Su Rumei was standing in the main hall, looking exasperated. Xiao He was on her knees before the manager, tears streaming down her face.

“I beg Manager Su, please don’t transfer Xiao He away! Xiao He wants to stay at the Listening-to-Rain Pavilion. I want to serve Immortal Feng!”

“You silly girl,” Su Rumei sighed, rubbing her temples. “You are a cultivator now. In the eyes of mortals, you are an Immortal! You don’t need to be a slave or a servant anymore. Do you not understand?”

“Then… can Xiao He beg Manager Su to abolish my cultivation?” Xiao He grabbed the hem of Su Rumei’s dress. “Let Xiao He just be a mortal again!”

“What nonsense is this?” Su Rumei stared at her, stunned. “Do you know that cultivation increases your lifespan? It is the path to longevity!”

Xiao He shook her head vigorously. “Manager Su, my birth father was a cultivator. He didn’t live past forty. He died in a meaningless fight.”

“The path of cultivation is dangerous, yes, but it is better than being a mortal,” Su Rumei argued. “As a cultivator, you can move mountains and fill seas. You can be free and unfettered!”

“What freedom?” Xiao He sobbed. “From the time I was born, I saw my father worry about spirit stones and survival every single day. There was no freedom.”

Su Rumei fell silent. She was a dignified Golden Core cultivator, known for her silver tongue and business acumen. Yet, facing this rookie who had just glimpsed the threshold of the Dao, she found herself… unable to refute her.

“You and Feng Bugui are only master and servant,” Su Rumei asked, her voice softer. “You haven’t known him long. Why are you willing to cripple yourself just to serve him tea?”

Xiao He pursed her lips. She looked up, her eyes clear and resolute.

“Because Immortal Feng… he treats Xiao He as a person.”

“What?” Su Rumei blinked.

Then, the realization hit her.

Xiao He was an orphan. Her father was a loose cultivator who died young. She had sold herself to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion as a slave. Even if she had talent, she was property. A tool.

A servant is not a person.

But serving Gu Xiu… for the first time since her father died, she felt human.

“Besides, Xiao He has self-knowledge,” the girl continued softly. “I know my talent is low. I was lucky to ascend, but I will never reach the heights you speak of. Moving mountains? Longevity? Those are too far away for me.”

“If being an Immortal means I can no longer serve Immortal Feng, then I would rather be a mortal.”

Su Rumei remained silent.

Perhaps the girl was right. Rather than fighting for a sliver of opportunity in a cruel world, living precariously day to day, perhaps being a maid who poured tea for a kind master was a better life.

“If Xiao He wants to stay, then please trouble Manager Su to let her remain.”

Gu Xiu walked into the room, his voice calm. “I don’t have many demands. I imagine it won’t hinder her cultivation.”

Xiao He gasped, jumping up with joy. She looked at Su Rumei with pleading eyes.

Su Rumei, however, froze.

She stared at Gu Xiu, her heart hammering against her ribs.

It wasn’t because he had pleaded for the girl. It was because she hadn’t heard him enter.

She was a Golden Core cultivator. Even without actively using her Divine Sense, the fluctuation of spiritual energy in a lower-ranked cultivator should have been as loud as a drumbeat to her senses.

But Gu Xiu…

Spiritual energy contained within. Not revealing the slightest trace.

This is…

A Heaven-rank cultivation technique?

Shock rippled through her. She knew “Feng Bugui” had excellent control—he had achieved Minute Subtlety—but previously, she could still gauge him. Now? He stood right in front of her, and if she closed her eyes, he felt like empty air.

This meant his technique had evolved. It was at least Half-Step Heaven Rank.

Unity of Ten Thousand Techniques.

Who exactly is this man?

“Manager Su?” Xiao He asked tentatively.

Su Rumei snapped out of her daze. She forced a smile. “Since Fellow Daoist Feng is willing to keep you, then you may stay.”

“Thank you!” Xiao He cheered, practically skipping toward the kitchen. “I’ll make dinner for Immortal Feng right now!”

Su Rumei watched the girl leave, noting the condensed, stable aura radiating from her.

Before coming here, Su Rumei had harbored doubts because of the Shadow’s warnings. But in this moment, looking at the enigma that was Feng Bugui, she made a decision.

She brushed her finger against her storage ring.

Inside sat five Earth-rank cultivation techniques she had painstakingly collected over the years.