Chapter 391 – Key Targets of Attention

After confirming the news from the Midnight Labyrinth, Su Ming thought for a moment and made a call to Chi Qian.

The call was answered almost immediately.

“Commander! Are you alright!?”

Chi Qian’s slightly urgent voice came through from the other end of the Terminal.

Su Ming could hear both anxiety and pleasant surprise in her tone, feeling a warmth in his heart.

“I’m fine,” Su Ming reassured her gently. “Sorry for making you worry.”

“No, as long as you’re okay,” Chi Qian replied, clearly relieved though still somewhat shaken. “After we emerged from the Midnight Labyrinth, we received an official notification from Tianfeng City saying you had been brought back and were currently recuperating, unable to return immediately. I thought you had suffered serious injuries.”

It was evident Chi Qian had been genuinely concerned about Su Ming’s condition.

After all, during the battle on the Tenth Floor of the Midnight Labyrinth, it was only with Su Ming and Hai’er’s help that they managed to escape unscathed. Had anything happened to Su Ming because of this, Chi Qian likely wouldn’t have been able to recover from the grief.

“If I had known this would be the outcome, I would have…”

A trace of regret tinged Chi Qian’s shaken voice.

She had assumed their Commander would be safe, given the life-saving and escape tools he had provided them—believing he could at least escape unharmed even in the worst scenario—which allowed her to retreat with the others with peace of mind.

If Su Ming had ended up in danger, Chi Qian would probably never have felt at ease again.

Su Ming could clearly detect the regret and lingering fear in her tone.

For this female legend who had once lost comrades and partners, everything she had now was hard-won. Losing it again would likely be unbearable.

“But I’m fine, aren’t I? I wasn’t injured—just encountered some issues and fell unconscious,” Su Ming explained, though he avoided going into detail before quickly changing the subject. “What about all of you? Is everyone okay?”

On the other end, Chi Qian seemed to shake her head.

“Though the process was perilous, fortunately, we’re all safe,” Chi Qian said. “Mu Yan, Qing Qing, and Yao Yao sustained quite a few injuries from the attack by Sin that day, but thanks to the alchemical tools you gave us, they managed to escape. It’s just that reuniting was a bit complicated.”

Because the escape tool Su Ming provided functioned like a random teleportation scroll, although Mu Yan and the others successfully escaped when it was activated, they were unlikely to be transported to the same location.

The three were separated that day. If not for the astonishing clash between Su Ming and Qing Qing, which threw the Phantom Demons throughout the Midnight Labyrinth into panic and made them unwilling to fight, they might have faced fatal danger in their condition at the time.

Afterward, although the three didn’t manage to regroup, they were rescued by Tianfeng City officials who entered the Midnight Labyrinth to provide support.Helplessly, the collision between Su Ming and Qing Qing had caused an extremely intense commotion. Coupled with the fact that even the Guardian Deity was alarmed and dispatched, under Old Ling’s instructions, Tianfeng City later sent a rescue team into the Midnight Labyrinth to save those trapped inside.

Mu Yan and the others encountered the rescuers and were brought out of the Midnight Labyrinth, finally reuniting successfully.

As for their injuries, with the help of alchemical potions, they naturally recovered quickly.

On the other hand, Chi Qian, who hadn’t triggered her life-saving artifact and wasn’t teleported to another floor, was unfortunately caught in the collapse of the tenth floor while still there and was buried alive for a time.

But in the end, Chi Qian was also rescued and successfully exited the Midnight Labyrinth.

“Captain Xu and the others are fine too. We escaped together back then, were buried alive together, and were rescued together in the end.”

As Chi Qian spoke, her tone grew heavier.

“However, those who were responsible for receiving us outside the Canyon that day…”

She didn’t finish the sentence.

Clearly, it was still a painful topic.

Even Qiao Zhi had died, and Zhu Yun was severely injured. The fate of the others could easily be imagined.

In any case, those who narrowly escaped that disaster were certainly few.

Su Ming once again recalled the published list of casualties and confirmed that the only person he knew on it was Qiao Zhi, with no one else. Only then did he feel slightly relieved.

“Bai Xuefei should be fine too, so Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xiaoyan won’t be too devastated.At the very least, Su Ming hadn’t seen Bai Xuefei’s name on the casualty list, proving that woman had also narrowly escaped the disaster.

The others weren’t so lucky.

“After this battle, whether it’s our dozen or so teams who entered the tenth floor for the SS-rank mission or those teams who entered the Midnight Labyrinth seeking treasure, almost all suffered heavy losses.”Chi Qian sighed and said, “I heard that Captain Xu’s mission this time has been deemed a failure.” Not only is there no hope of promoting to an S-rank team, but the captain’s strength has also significantly declined. Whether they can continue to be called the strongest A-rank team remains to be seen.”

Hearing this, even with Su Ming’s mindset, he felt very uncomfortable.

Recalling how Xu Xiayan had prepared for this SS-rank mission for half a year, paying countless costs, and only after being extremely cautious did she decide to formally challenge the S-rank team position, even hiring eleven teams for it.

In the end, just when mission completion seemed within reach, due to Sin’s interference, they suffered such heavy losses.

This made Su Ming mark another grudge against the mercenary organization Sin in his heart.

How much Xu Xiayan had taken care of him, Su Ming had seen it all clearly.

Though he never said it out loud, Su Ming had always kept it in mind, silently grateful to Xu Xiayan.

Now, because of Sin, Xu Xiayan’s half-year of preparation was completely wasted, and she suffered such heavy losses. If given the chance, he would definitely avenge her for this.

Chi Qian’s following words further solidified Su Ming’s resolve in this regard.”Captain Xu has been very worried about you, Commander. She’s called me many times over the past two days just to ask about your condition.” Chi Qian said this: “If you’ve returned, you should let her know you’re safe.”

“I will.” Su Ming nodded.

He had originally planned to meet with Xu Xiayan anyway.

Not just because of recent events, but also because of what he had learned from Old Ling.

For that matter, he needed to meet with Xu Xiayan.

If he could also check on Xu Xiayan’s condition and confirm the status of ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’, that would be good too.

Afterwards, Su Ming also checked with Chi Qian about the situation with ‘Azure Mercury’, learning that all the girls were currently at home and hadn’t gone out.

Before confirming that he was safe and sound, the team definitely couldn’t operate normally.

Of course, even though he had returned, the team’s activities would have to be temporarily suspended.

After such a major incident, and with him becoming so famous throughout Tianfeng City, how could the team’s activities continue unaffected?

For the coming period, the entire ‘Azure Mercury’ would probably need to take some time off.

This actually worked out well.

“This is a good opportunity to resolve my own matters first.”

Having made this decision, Su Ming told Chi Qian about his plans, asking her to lead the girls in taking some time off.

“So when will you be back?”

Chi Qian quickly asked.

“Soon.”

Su Ming didn’t give a specific time, only saying this.

“Alright.” Chi Qian reluctantly accepted, saying: “I’ll tell Yanyan and the others.”

“Thank you.” Su Ming said: “Take this opportunity to focus on your cultivation, especially Yaoyao. She’s not far from being promoted to an Upper-Rank Sorcerer. When that happens, she’ll be an Upper-Rank Professional at just fourteen years old, enough to make history.”

Hearing this, Chi Qian smiled wryly and said: “But that still can’t compare to you, Commander.”

Now, who didn’t know how much of a Prodigy Su Ming was?

An eighteen-year-old Upper-Rank Professional might not be as shocking as Tong Xinyao becoming one at fourteen, but the key was that Su Ming wasn’t just any newly promoted Upper-Rank Professional, nor was he an ordinary Professional.

Dual professions, with one at Six-Star and one at Five-Star – this was simply earth-shattering.

Even if Tong Xinyao could successfully get promoted to Upper-Rank Professional this year, becoming a super prodigy who reached Upper-Rank at just fourteen, whether she could reach Five-Star by eighteen in four years was still unknown.

Just this alone meant Su Ming, as an eighteen-year-old Five-Star Sorcerer, already surpassed Tong Xinyao.

Not to mention that Su Ming wasn’t just a Five-Star Sorcerer, but also a Six-Star Hunter.

A Six-Star Hunter.

She herself was thirty-three, and only with Su Ming’s help, using Red Vein Stone, had she managed to reach Six-Star and become a Six-Star Hunter.

And what about him?

The Commander achieved it at eighteen.

With this, she was still considered a legend by the world.

If even she was seen as a legend, then what was the Commander?

A myth?

“Indeed, only that true legend at the peak of Tianfeng City can compare with our Commander.”

This thought had occurred to Chi Qian once before.

Now, Chi Qian had this thought again.

Unfortunately, Chi Qian didn’t know that Su Ming had already met that so-called true legend.Moreover, the other party even admitted that they were no match for Su Ming.

Unaware of all this, Su Ming hung up the phone after finishing his conversation with Chi Qian.

Then, Su Ming dialed again, this time calling Xu Xiayan.

Just like Chi Qian, Xu Xiayan answered the call almost instantly.

“Su Ming?” Xu Xiayan’s voice, tinged with exhaustion yet brimming with pleasant surprise, immediately came through. “Are you alright?”

The urgency and delight in her tone, so similar to Chi Qian’s, left Su Ming momentarily at a loss for words.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Xu Xiayan grew anxious and pressed, “You are Su Ming, right?”

“…Yes, it’s me.” After a brief pause, Su Ming finally replied, “How are you holding up?”

“What do you mean, how am I holding up?” Xu Xiayan chided gently. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”

Indeed, compared to Chi Qian, Xu Xiayan was more worried about Su Ming.

After all, unlike Chi Qian, Xu Xiayan didn’t originally know that Su Ming possessed life-saving and escape tools.

Chi Qian could remain calm over the past two days, reassuring herself that Su Ming, with his many miraculous methods, would surely be fine. But Xu Xiayan had no such reassurance.

Thus, Xu Xiayan was genuinely concerned about Su Ming, unaware of his actual condition.

Su Ming also knew that having been unconscious and missing for two days, someone with Xu Xiayan’s anxious nature had likely spent the entire time worrying and fearing for him.

At this thought, Su Ming couldn’t help but smile wryly.

“Let’s not talk about me for now. Tell me about you,” Su Ming said. “I heard from Chi Qian—are you really doing okay?”

“…It seems you really are fine,” Xu Xiayan fell silent for a moment before sighing helplessly. “As for me, as you can see, I’m fine. At least I’m unharmed and free of any ailments. It’s just that ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ will probably need quite some time to recover its Origin Qi.”

“As long as you’re safe, that’s what matters,” Su Ming nodded. “Don’t blame yourself. No one could have predicted such an accident.”

“I know,” Xu Xiayan took a deep breath. “Who would have thought that this time, the largest mercenary organization from the underground world would show up? Not to mention Vice Captain Li Wu taking action personally, but even a legendary Divine Artifact made an appearance. Who could have foreseen something like that?”

Facing such formidable foes, even S-rank teams would struggle to gain an advantage, let alone ‘Summer Chasing Smoke.’

The S-rank team that was completely wiped out outside the Midnight Labyrinth was a stark example.

Of course…

“What I never expected even more was that the junior I regarded as a hometown kid, the fresh graduate who just left the Academy, would turn out to be so capable,” Xu Xiayan said with a teasing smile. “Ming Wang? Su Ming? How straightforward! Why didn’t anyone think of it?”

“Enough,” Su Ming replied irritably. “I’m almost fed up with it.””That’s actually a pretty good situation, just feeling annoyed.” Xu Xiayan seemed to know what Su Ming was referring to, saying: “For an unprecedented prodigy like you who might remain unmatched in the future, now that you’ve been exposed, what awaits you next will definitely be recruitment attempts from various factions, even coercion and inducement. Not to mention you’re holding a Divine Artifact—if you didn’t have some strength right now, someone might have already come looking for trouble with you.”

Xu Xiayan was quite straightforward, immediately grasping what Su Ming was worried about.

Unfortunately, she didn’t know that anyone daring to cause trouble for Su Ming had probably already been stopped.

“Because of your situation, even our Wang Family’s Family Head and the highest authorities have approached me, and even sought out Xuefei, Ruxiang, and Xiaoyan to gather information about you from us.”

Xu Xiayan offered a warning.

“I heard even Wang Yihan, who was cultivating at the main family, has been summoned by the Family’s higher-ups. You’ve truly become the focus of everyone’s attention now, little brother Su Ming.”

Hearing this, Su Ming’s eyebrows immediately furrowed.

(End of Chapter)