Chapter 262 – The Heavily Guarded Xu Family Territory

Xu Family Estate, downtown Longyao City.

When Su Ming returned here, the place had undergone a dramatic transformation compared to his last visit.

“Wow, it’s already repaired?”

Su Ming gazed at the Xu Family Estate, which had not only been restored to its original state but also received brand-new decorations and renovations, making it even more solemn and magnificent than before. He couldn’t help muttering to himself.

He still remembered that night during the ruins exploration when the Xu Family Estate faced a full-scale assault by the main force of 『Sin』, leaving the estate as if bombarded by artillery fire, nearly reduced to ruins.

Unexpectedly, in just one month, the vast Xu Family Estate had been completely restored, even surpassing its previous state in every aspect.

“Having deep pockets really makes a difference.”

Su Ming could imagine how much money this top-tier Family—one of the few elite Families in Longyao City—had poured into transforming the Xu Family Estate into its current appearance.

This made even Su Ming, who didn’t usually resent the wealthy, feel a twinge of envy and jealousy.

“If I had that much money, I could directly invest it in acquiring Extraordinary Items. Who knows how many crystal chips I could exchange for and how many packages I could open?”

With that much money, Su Ming might even manage to unpack one or two Divine Artifact-level treasures comparable to the Blue Demon Ceasefire Ring.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have it.

“Damned capitalists.”

Su Ming could only sigh with this remark before stepping into the Xu Family Estate.

As soon as he entered, Su Ming keenly noticed that, aside from its appearance, the Xu Family Estate had undergone many other changes.

“How many Alchemy Devices and extraordinary methods have they set up in secret?”

Su Ming’s super-strong Spirit Sense, which had fully advanced to the Five-Star Sorcerer Rank, informed him that the current Xu Family Estate was like a military base armed to the teeth, with subtle fluctuations of power detectable everywhere.

Not only was there a protective system constructed from expensive treasures like alchemy tools and Alchemy Devices, but there were also many private guards of considerable Rank secretly standing guard, monitoring, and keeping watch. The level of security was entirely different from before.

Even as Su Ming walked along the broad pathways of the Manor-like Xu Family Estate, he sensed countless waves of gazes focusing on him, watching him all the way.

“What’s going on?”

Su Ming was slightly surprised.

However, on the surface, Su Ming showed no reaction, behaving like a visiting guest as he continued on his way.

Perhaps because his identity was known and someone had informed the guards in advance, Su Ming wasn’t stopped by anyone along the way. He proceeded unimpeded to the Main Residence of the Xu Family.

Here, the Xu Family’s Young Miss had come out early, standing at the entrance as if waiting for his arrival.

“Meeling!”

The moment she saw Xu Qianqian, a delighted chirp sounded from behind Su Ming.

That was, of course, Little Hai’er’s voice.

Clearly, Little Hai’er was overjoyed to see Xu Qianqian.

If it weren’t for the public setting and the many people secretly watching, which made Little Hai’er too afraid to appear openly, she would have likely swished her fish tail and rushed over by now.

In contrast, Xu Qianqian didn’t see Little Hai’er in her invisible state but spotted Su Ming immediately.After nearly a month apart, there were naturally no changes in either of them—not even a hint of unfamiliarity.

At the very least, Su Ming stepped forward directly, complaining as he spoke.

“I say, Young Miss, what exactly are you trying to teach me by summoning me here so abruptly and without any context?”

Su Ming couldn’t wait to ask.

He was genuinely confused by Xu Qianqian’s inexplicable attitude.

However, Xu Qianqian didn’t answer his question and instead asked one of her own.

“Did you get your license?”

The abrupt question made Su Ming roll his eyes.

Su Ming simply took his license out of his backpack and placed it in front of Xu Qianqian.

“See? A legitimate Professional Sorcerer license.”

Su Ming flipped open his certificate and pointed to a large “☆” symbol next to his photo.

“See? One star.”

Su Ming said in a playful tone.

“This proves I’m a great One-Star Sorcerer. Impressive, right?”

His words nearly made Xu Qianqian roll her eyes as well.

A One-Star Sorcerer?

If you were a One-Star Sorcerer, then there wouldn’t be any Seven-Star Sorcerers in this world.

Although Xu Qianqian didn’t know that Su Ming had already advanced to a Five-Star Sorcerer, she at least knew that he was hiding his true abilities.

If anyone were to blindly trust his superficial rating and star level, they would surely be led astray.

Not to mention, this guy wasn’t just a Sorcerer—he was also a Hunter, a genuine Dual Professional.

Such individuals were rare, even if you searched the entire world.

And Mo Leng, the Family Head of the Mo Family, who was considered only one step away from Six-Star, had already lost his life at the hands of this so-called “One-Star Sorcerer.”

Yet, this so-called “One-Star Sorcerer” was actually a recent graduate from the Academy—and an early graduate at that. Not only was he a year younger than her, but he had also studied at the Academy for less than two years.

If this were told to anyone, who would believe it?

“Since you’ve already obtained your license, that makes things easier.”

Xu Qianqian simply nodded and said this.

Seeing this, Su Ming stopped his antics, put away his license, and looked at Xu Qianqian.

“Alright, why did you call me here? What do you want?”

Su Ming was genuinely puzzled.

After such a long time apart, his early graduation hadn’t drawn much attention from this Young Miss. Now, she suddenly brought it up out of the blue, leaving Su Ming completely baffled.

But Su Ming felt that, given Xu Qianqian’s personality, if she had been out of touch for so long and suddenly called him over today with the air of having something to do, then this girl was probably planning something big for him.

…Surely, she wasn’t thinking that since he was about to leave Longyao City and they might rarely see each other in the future, she should call him over to drain his blood thoroughly, right?!

At this thought, Su Ming grew somewhat wary.

But the next moment, Xu Qianqian’s words left him stunned once again.

“Aren’t you planning to go to Tianfeng City?” Xu Qianqian said. “I’ll help you.”

“Huh?” Su Ming was dumbfounded.

Help me?

What does that mean?

Seeing Su Ming’s stunned expression, Xu Qianqian knew exactly how bewildered he was.

Immediately, Xu Qianqian asked Su Ming a question.”You want to go to Tianfeng City on your own, right?” Xu Qianqian looked directly at Su Ming and asked, “Let’s not discuss whether this is feasible for now. Just to achieve this goal, how much time do you think you’ll need?”

“Ah, well…” Su Ming was momentarily speechless.

Xu Qianqian spoke calmly.

“I don’t have a concrete understanding of the distance between Longyao City and Tianfeng City, so I can’t give you an exact answer.”

“But Longyao City is located in the coastal border region, while Tianfeng City, as humanity’s Holy Land, lies deep within the continent’s interior. The distance between them isn’t just separated by a sea—it’s at least divided by hundreds upon thousands of mountains.”

“Even if you have the ability to cross the dangerous wilderness areas to reach Tianfeng City, I shouldn’t need to explicitly state how much time this would require.”

Xu Qianqian’s words left Su Ming unable to offer any rebuttal.

After all, this was indeed a significant problem.

Su Ming had considered this point before, but he believed that with his Dragon Gall motorcycle for transportation and his ability to fly through Demonization, as long as he could confirm Tianfeng City’s location, he should eventually reach it successfully, even if it took some time.

But honestly, he had no real concept of exactly how much time it would require.

Probably, Xu Qianqian had considered this very point before speaking these words.

Then…

“If this were before, I truly wouldn’t know how to help you solve this problem.” Xu Qianqian looked at Su Ming and said, “But now it’s different.”

Hearing this, Su Ming’s spirits lifted.

“You have a solution?”

Su Ming quickly inquired.

If there was a method to quickly reach Tianfeng City, then he really needed Xu Qianqian’s help with this.

Even though Su Ming wanted to go to Tianfeng City on his own, if he could save that massive travel time and avoid the numerous risks along the way, he would naturally welcome it.

The precondition was that he couldn’t expose his identity or his true strength.

Otherwise, given his age, background, origins, and close connections with Xu Qianqian and Yun Langyue, someone might inevitably speculate that he could be Ming Wang.

Xu Qianqian naturally understood Su Ming’s concerns and thus spoke straightforwardly.

“Don’t worry, it’s just letting you hitch a ride. You won’t need to expose anything.”

Saying this, Xu Qianqian turned around without waiting for Su Ming to continue questioning.

“Come with me. I’ll take you to see someone.”

After speaking, Xu Qianqian walked into the Main Residence.

“Wait!”

Su Ming instinctively called out to stop her, but his movements weren’t slow as he quickly followed.

However, when passing through the Main Residence’s entrance, Su Ming’s figure paused again, slowing his steps.

There was no helping it.

Just as he anxiously passed through the Xu Family Main Residence’s entrance, another wave of gazes swept over from the shadows, focusing on him and watching him closely.

“Be careful.” Xu Qianqian noticed this and reminded him, “The Xu Family now has many more concerns than before, with unprecedented strict security. If you make any suspicious moves, you might directly attract the attention of the Family’s experts and higher-ups.”

As she said this, Xu Qianqian reached out and directly took Su Ming’s hand, pulling him along as they walked.

Su Ming clearly felt that the gazes fixed on him first became chaotic after Xu Qianqian took his hand, then gradually relaxed considerably.It was quite evident that their young miss’s intimate gesture toward an unfamiliar man had not only surprised them but also inadvertently eased their wariness toward Su Ming.

Allowing Xu Qianqian to lead him by the hand as they walked through the corridor of the Main Residence, Su Ming asked a question.

“What happened here? Did you get robbed?”

Su Ming was genuinely puzzled.

Without turning her head, Xu Qianqian replied in a calm tone.

“It’s merely a display meant to intimidate some restless elements in Longyao City right now.”

With that simple statement, Su Ming was momentarily taken aback before suddenly understanding.

“So that’s what it is?”

(End of Chapter)