Watch Your Conduct

Early the next morning.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes and glanced out the window. It was fully light outside.

He had spent the night here at the guest quarters — two full days without closing his eyes, since controlling the Mechanical Guardians through the Beast Tide had demanded his constant attention.

It wasn't only Si Tingxue who had been running on empty. He had been too.

A full night's sleep, and a comfortable one at that. He felt refreshed, in high spirits.

He stepped out of his room and glanced down the hallway. Every other door was shut.

Li Qinghe's, Si Tingyu's, and Si Tingxue's rooms. They were probably still resting.

Lu Yuan left the guest quarters and headed to the military district mess hall.

Along the way, Guard Corps soldiers who spotted him greeted him with visible excitement, their eyes warm with respect.

Word of what he had done during the Beast Tide had spread to virtually every soldier at Camp 257.

He returned each greeting with a nod, picked up breakfast at the mess hall, then made his way back to the guest quarters.

He had barely returned when he heard sounds from the kitchen.

He paused, peered around the corner — and found a tall, golden-haired figure with her back to him.

Si Tingyu.

She heard him and turned.

At the sight of him, she smiled. "Just woke up? I'm making breakfast — give it a few minutes."

Lu Yuan blinked. "You cook, Instructor?"

He had eaten at Si Tingyu's quarters a few times back at the Talent Camp, but it had always been the work of the smart home robot. It had never once occurred to him that his instructor might actually know how to cook.

Si Tingyu continued chopping vegetables without missing a beat. "Just a hobby."

Lu Yuan glanced at the breakfast he was still holding, then quietly tucked it away into his Battle-mark Space.

*A rare chance to eat something the instructor made herself. Better not mention I already bought food.*

He settled onto the living room couch. Just then, a bedroom door opened and Si Tingxue stepped out.

She noticed him sitting there, paused briefly, then closed the door behind her and walked over.

She took the sofa seat beside him.

"Morning, Si Tingxue," Lu Yuan said with a smile.

Si Tingxue gave a small nod. "Mm."

Then neither of them had anything else to say.

Before long, Si Tingyu brought out a pot of porridge and set it on the dining table. "Breakfast is ready," she said with a smile.

Si Tingxue rose silently and made her way over. Lu Yuan followed.

Si Tingyu glanced toward the bedrooms, brow furrowing slightly. "Where's Qinghe?"

"Still sleeping in, probably," Lu Yuan said with a grin.

Living alongside Li Qinghe at the imperial capital had given him a thorough understanding of her habits. For all her strength and talent, she was, at heart, a remarkably lazy woman. She slept until she woke on her own, then lay in bed a while longer even after that. She dropped her clothes wherever they happened to land — including, well.

Lu Yuan had seen it more than a few times.

Black ones, mostly.

Things around the house ended up wherever she'd last set them. If not for the smart home robot, Li Qinghe would have been completely hopeless at daily life.

"I'll go wake her," he said.

Si Tingyu nodded. "Please."

Lu Yuan knocked on the bedroom door.

"Qinghe, time to get up!"

A muffled, half-conscious sound drifted through the door. He couldn't make out a word.

He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Li Qinghe was sprawled across the entire bed in a completely boneless sprawl, a thin white blanket draped loosely over her. Her snow-white arms and legs were fully exposed, and the faint outline of dark undergarments was visible beneath the blanket.

Lu Yuan cleared his throat. Heat crept up the back of his neck.

Even so, he quietly committed the image to memory for safekeeping.

*Okay. This is bad. Very, very bad.*

It was his first time seeing Li Qinghe asleep, and it was — well. It was something.

"Qinghe, time to get up," he said.

"Mmnh..."

She stirred at the sound of his voice, eyes slowly opening. She sat up, dragged a hand through her long black hair, stretched with a yawn, then looked over at him — lips curving into a grin.

"Morning, little Yuan."

Lu Yuan glanced down and noticed the blanket had slipped entirely off. His mouth twitched. "Come on, at least keep some dignity — I'm standing right here."

Li Qinghe waved a yawning hand. "It's fine, it's fine. It's only you."

Then something occurred to her. Her eyes lit up and she fixed him with a sly look.

"Little Yuan — want to see a little more?"

Lu Yuan's pulse jumped. "You mean it?"

Li Qinghe narrowed her eyes, a slow smile spreading across her face.

"In your dreams."

The next thing he knew, a foot connected with his chest and he went airborne, sailing backward through the doorway and slamming into the wall of the hallway. The door clicked shut.

Lu Yuan rubbed his chest. A bit stuffy — but she'd controlled the force. No real injury.

His pride, though. That was a different story.

*He'd actually believed her for a second.*

You couldn't trust a word out of a woman's mouth.

He stared at the firmly closed door, then turned and shuffled back to the dining room.

He was immediately met with Si Tingxue watching him from the corner of her eye — the exact expression reserved for something stuck to the bottom of a shoe.

Beside her, Si Tingyu's expression was equally difficult to read. Her tone, however, was entirely earnest:

"After all, Tingxue and I are right here. You and Qinghe really should watch how this looks."

Lu Yuan: "..."

*Of course they heard.*

Well, obvious in hindsight. They were all Gene Warriors. The door hadn't even been shut. Strange if they hadn't caught every word.

Lu Yuan, whose shame threshold was never particularly high to begin with, went slightly red. He sat down quietly and began on his porridge.

After a moment, his expression shifted to genuine appreciation.

"This is really good, Instructor. Remarkable strength and remarkable cooking — is there anything you don't excel at?"

He meant it. Si Tingyu had a genuine talent in the kitchen.

Si Tingyu smiled. "Have more if you like."

Before long, Li Qinghe emerged.

Once breakfast was finished, she draped herself across the couch with the loose, unstudied ease of someone with no plans and no intention of forming any — the very picture of a person horizontal by choice.

Si Tingyu turned to Si Tingxue. "Tingxue, shall I take you back to Camp 306?"

"Mm." A nod.

Si Tingyu glanced over at Li Qinghe. "Qinghe, wait here. We'll head back to the fortress together once I return."

"Sure, fine." Li Qinghe was already playing a puzzle game on her phone, her reply barely invested.

Si Tingyu didn't press her. She led Si Tingxue out the door.

Finding himself with nothing pressing, Lu Yuan settled onto the couch beside Li Qinghe and took out his phone to browse the Battle Net.

No sooner had he sat down than Li Qinghe swung her bare feet into his lap and shifted into a more comfortable position, showing no signs of moving anytime soon.

Lu Yuan glanced at her — fully absorbed in her game — and just smiled, saying nothing.

After a while, Li Qinghe's brow furrowed in frustration. She nudged him with her foot. "Little Yuan, help me beat this level!"

She tossed her phone over.

Lu Yuan caught it with easy familiarity and took over. The same routine as back at the imperial capital.

Just then, Li Qinghe's own phone lit up — someone calling.

Lu Yuan glanced at the contact name: *Grumpy Old Man.*

Lu Yuan: ???

"Qinghe, you've got a call."

He handed it back to her.

Li Qinghe answered. "Hey, Grandpa... mm... mm! I'm at Camp 257... Little Yuan's here too... You want to meet him?"

She glanced over at Lu Yuan. He had absolutely no idea what was happening.

She smiled into the phone. "Sure, I'll bring him by."

She hung up. Lu Yuan was already piecing things together.

"Qinghe — that was...?"

Li Qinghe stretched, the feet still resting in his lap flexing idly. "My grandpa. He's known about you for a while — always wanted to meet you. He's at the front line right now, so he figured he'd take the chance. We'll head to the Frontline Fortress."

Lu Yuan's mouth twitched slightly. "Your grandfather... that wouldn't happen to be the Shadow Battle Emperor?"

Li Qinghe's grin turned wicked. "Who else would it be?"

She poked him in the chest with her foot. "Scared?"

"Of course not," Lu Yuan said, perfectly straight-faced. "I've long admired the Senior Battle Emperor. Meeting him would be an honor."

Li Qinghe's lips pursed. Boring.

"We'll leave once Tingyu's back... Oh, and finish this level for me first!"

"On it."

Si Tingyu returned in barely ten minutes. At her speed, Camp 306 was under a minute's flight away — even with the round trip accounted for, the delay meant she'd had things to wrap up there.

She came through the door and found Li Qinghe's feet still settled in Lu Yuan's lap. Her expression flickered almost imperceptibly.

"Qinghe," she said. "Ready to go."

"Coming~"

Li Qinghe sat up and put on her shoes. Lu Yuan rose as well.

Si Tingyu glanced at him, mildly puzzled. "Lu Yuan too?"

"Mm. My grandpa wants to meet him."

Si Tingyu's expression cleared with understanding. She nodded.

The three left the guest quarters together. Li Qinghe gripped Lu Yuan's shoulder, launched them both into the air, and shot forward — the wind shrieked past them and the trees below blurred into one continuous streak.

The sheer speed of a Battle King was something else.

Within moments, a massive fortress materialized before them.

All three flew toward the military district, but Si Tingyu, having no reason to meet Li Qinghe's grandfather, parted ways with them there.

Li Qinghe brought Lu Yuan deep into the military compound, to a small courtyard.

He swept it with a glance. Plainer than the one where he had met the Tianrao Battle Emperor — no elaborate gardens, no decorative flourishes. Just quiet, unpretentious space.

Li Qinghe knocked on the door. A voice answered from inside.

"Come in."

She pushed it open.

Two old men sat together at a table, sharing a drink.

One had ash-gray hair, looked slightly gaunt, and wore dark robes. The other had salt-and-pepper hair, an extraordinarily powerful build, and wore a martial training outfit.

The robed man savored his drink with undisguised contentment. The burly one watched him with an expression of barely suppressed heartache, resentment simmering quietly behind his eyes.

*What exactly is this man's problem?* Lu Yuan thought, vaguely unsettled.

Before he could dwell on it, Li Qinghe stepped forward.

"Grandpa, I brought Little Yuan."

"Hmm?"

The robed old man set down his cup and turned to look at Lu Yuan.

The burly old man turned as well, a faint smile on his face.

"Oh? 'Little Yuan'? Qinghe, that's an awfully affectionate name — is he your young man?"

Even Li Qinghe went momentarily blank at that.

She fixed Rafael with a pointed look. "Senior Rafael, I'm starting to think Grandpa's Insect King Wine is running a little short..."

Rafael: "..."

Now it was his turn to go blank.

Li Xinghai burst out laughing. Then he turned to Lu Yuan.

"So you're Lu Yuan? I heard there was a Talent Camp kid who showed up with an entire army of Mechanical Guardians and helped wipe out the beast tides at multiple defensive camps during the outbreak. That must have been you."

"Wait — that's the Lu Yuan everyone's been talking about? No wonder the name sounded familiar." Rafael looked him over, then broke into a broad grin. "Kid, not bad at all. That kind of ability at your age — honestly, you're a step ahead of where I was back then. I like what I see."

Lu Yuan smiled, a touch self-conscious. "You're both far too generous."

Rafael's tone shifted, more serious. "That said — don't let yourself lean too hard on external tools. Your own strength has to come first."

"Understood." Lu Yuan nodded.

Li Xinghai smiled easily. "Old White Demon, that's one thing you don't need to worry about with this one. Normal Awakening, and he's already got Lord Grade genes inscribed at Second-rank — the drive for personal growth is clearly there. He's not the type to hide behind his tools."

"Lord Grade at Second-rank?" Rafael looked up, plainly startled. "Now that's something."

He let out a slow breath. "Back in my day, I started as a normal Awakening too. At Second-rank I'd only managed Chief Grade genes. I climbed to where I stand through sheer stubbornness — risking my life at every single step. If you stay focused on your own strength, you should be able to go further than I did. A lot of those born with inherited advantages start from a higher platform but never develop the will to push for higher-tier genes — they fade into the crowd in the end. Your starting point means nothing. What carries you to the summit is talent and an iron will."

Something in the shared experience of normal Awakening seemed to warm Rafael's view of Lu Yuan naturally.

"I appreciate the guidance, Senior," Lu Yuan said sincerely.

Even if their paths weren't the same.

This man had risked backlash at every step, forcing higher-grade genes into his chain one by one until he'd clawed his way up to Battle Emperor rank. Every single rung had been a gamble with his life.

Lu Yuan, by contrast, just needed to evolve.

At the end of it, what he spent was Spirit Crystals. The difficulty was nowhere close.

Which was precisely why he had genuine respect for someone who had climbed from a normal Awakening all the way to this height.

Beside them, Li Xinghai continued to smile.

His reason for summoning Lu Yuan here wasn't only curiosity. Part of it was exactly this — he wanted Lu Yuan to hear Rafael's story, to let one normal-Awakening veteran's path speak to another's future.

They shared the same starting point, after all.

And while Lu Yuan was already somewhat ahead of where Rafael had been — Lord Grade at Second-rank, versus Chief Grade — the truly treacherous part still lay ahead. King Grade genes, Emperor Grade genes, even Battle Emperor Grade genes: the residual willforce locked within them dwarfed anything below that threshold. That was why there were a reasonable number of Fourth-rank Battle Venerables in the world, yet the ranks beyond King Grade thinned so sharply. The wall only grew steeper as you climbed.

And from what he could see, the words had landed. Lu Yuan had taken them to heart.

Li Xinghai felt quietly satisfied.

"You're a good one," he said warmly. "That girl Qinghe was lucky — went on one assignment and found a talent like you."

"Senior Battle Emperor is far too kind," Lu Yuan replied.

Li Xinghai waved the praise off with an easy gesture.

"Qinghe calls me Grandpa. You're the younger brother she's brought back — you can call me that too."

Lu Yuan blinked. Then he smiled.

"Grandpa."

From beside them, Rafael chuckled. "Rare to come across a young talent like this. If you ever run into trouble or need anything, feel free to come find this old man."

"Thank you, Grandpa Rafael," Lu Yuan said.

*Two Battle Emperor-level backers in one conversation. Not bad at all.*

*Qinghe really delivers.*

*And then there's Amy — and Grandpa Adams has always been good to me too.*

His thoughts wandered pleasantly for a moment.

After a little more conversation with Li Xinghai and Rafael, Li Qinghe led Lu Yuan out, leaving the two elders to their drinking in peace.