Change

Lu Yuan rose to his feet, curiosity in his voice:

"What's happened?"

"For some unknown reason, Beast Tides have suddenly erupted across many Forbidden Zones," Li Qinghe said. "The Endless Mountain Range and the Ice-Fire Rift Valley on our Red Maple Empire's border are both affected. They need strong fighters to go suppress them."

Lu Yuan's brow furrowed slightly. "Another Beast Tide?"

He had plans for the Endless Mountain Range and the Ice-Fire Rift Valley. His original intention had been to seal the two Spatial Rifts running through those mountains after breaking through to Battle Emperor — cutting off the stream of Feral Beasts entering Great Qi Star and rendering both Forbidden Zones obsolete.

As for the beasts already inside, the strongest among them topped out at Sovereign Grade. Not enough of a threat to matter. He'd figured it was better to leave them as training grounds for the Red Maple Empire's Gene Warriors rather than exterminate everything at once.

What he hadn't anticipated was a fresh Beast Tide.

"Understood. I'll head out now."

He left the Gravity Room and exited the Training Hall. Shortly after, Li Qinghe and Si Tingyu emerged behind him.

"We need to move quickly. This sounds serious."

Si Tingyu's expression was grave.

Lu Yuan nodded. With the two women at his side, he activated spatial movement and vanished from the spot.

The three of them arrived at a departure chamber, paid their Spirit Crystals, and used it to exit the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin.

White light blazed. Lu Yuan reappeared inside his dormitory at the Talent Camp.

He had barely materialized when he heard a door opening and footsteps from down the hall.

He stepped out to find Yang Ping emerging from his own room.

With Maige having graduated, the two of them were the only ones left in the entire building.

Yang Ping's eyes lit up the moment he spotted Lu Yuan.

"Lu Yuan! You're out too? The school just sent word — there's a Beast Tide at the border again, same as a few years back. They've issued a special mission for us to go hold the line. You heading out?"

Lu Yuan smiled. "I'm going. But not with your group. Stay sharp."

As he spoke, a thought occurred to him. He reached into his storage and produced a white jade-colored Talisman, handing it to Yang Ping.

"This is a one-time Talisman. Activate it and it summons a Sovereign Grade fire giant. If things get truly dangerous, use it."

They'd been friends for over three years — Lu Yuan had no desire to see anything happen to him. At Yang Ping's current cultivation, the best he could manage was holding the middle section of the defensive line. A Sovereign Grade fire giant was more than enough to keep him alive.

Yang Ping went blank. For a moment, the words simply didn't register.

Then his eyes went wide, and he stared at the Talisman in Lu Yuan's hand as though someone had knocked him over the head:

"S-Sovereign... *Sovereign Grade* fire giant?!"

His voice actually cracked.

Lu Yuan smiled and nodded. "That's right. Take it."

Yang Ping was quiet for a beat. Then he accepted the Talisman with both hands, visibly moved.

"Big Bro Yuan, I won't waste words. My strength probably looks like nothing to you. But whatever you need done in the future, just say the word."

"All right." Lu Yuan's expression was easy. "Go. Stay safe first, then hold back as much of the Tide as you can."

Yang Ping gave a firm nod. "Got it."

He turned and ran downstairs.

The moment Yang Ping was gone, Lu Yuan stepped out and disappeared.

An instant later he reappeared outside Si Tingyu's dormitory. He had barely raised his hand to knock when the door swung open.

Si Tingyu looked at him. "What took you so long?"

"I stopped by to remind Yang Ping."

She gave a small nod and said nothing more.

Lu Yuan thought of something. "The school is issuing tasks again — are the instructors going as well?"

"Yes. I received notice that Elder Yu is leading the team. A number of instructors will be coming to help. We need to go with them."

Lu Yuan nodded. "And Qinghe?"

"This Beast Tide is worse than the last one. Even the Night Watchman and the Red Maple Guard are sending people. Qinghe will be there too — they'll rendezvous with us before we head out."

Lu Yuan absorbed this. Si Tingyu glanced at him with a quiet smile.

"I just remembered — you're still an Honorary Elder of the Night Watchman."

Lu Yuan smiled back. "Ever since that Saint-grade Aberration Feral Beast appeared, there haven't been any troublesome Aberration Events in the Red Maple Empire, so I haven't had much to do in that capacity. Come to think of it, no one ever tracked down those Aberration Entities that were stolen by the mysterious person either. They just vanished."

The Night Watchman headquarters had dispatched agents specifically to find those stolen Aberration Entities, and Lu Yuan had followed the search closely. But in the end, the entities simply never resurfaced. He'd gradually let the matter go.

*Still, I can't shake the feeling that the Saint-grade Aberration Feral Beast and those missing Aberration Entities are somehow connected.* He couldn't think of any other reason why that Elf man would have taken them.

"Fewer Aberration Events is good news for ordinary people," Si Tingyu said softly. "I hope they never appear again."

Lu Yuan agreed wholeheartedly — though he knew that as spatial instability continued to spread, Aberration Events would almost certainly increase along with it.

"Let's go," Si Tingyu said, shifting gears with a smile. "We shouldn't keep Elder Yu waiting."

She led the way, and the two of them rose into the air as twin streaks of light, cutting toward the plaza.

They arrived to find the entire Talent Camp already assembled. Same as before — anyone not away on an outside mission had turned out. Even first-years would be put to work in support roles behind the defensive line.

At the front of the student body stood a cluster of instructors. Leading them was a white-haired, white-bearded elder with a kind, weathered face — Elder Yu himself, the same man who had administered Lu Yuan's entrance assessment the day he first joined the Talent Camp.

Flanking Elder Yu were several warriors at Battle Sovereign and Battle King Rank, most of whom Lu Yuan recognized from past encounters. The one who stood out most vividly in his memory was Hart Kaine — Weili's strict, formidable father, whom Lu Yuan had met during the competition on Ice Vein Star.

The moment Si Tingyu and Lu Yuan descended, every eye in the plaza — instructor and student alike — snapped toward them. More accurately: toward Lu Yuan.

The students, male and female alike, watched him with intense, burning gazes, their eyes brimming with open admiration.

"It's Senior Lu Yuan!"

"That's Junior Lu Yuan!"

"Senior Lu Yuan broke through to Battle Sovereign in barely three years after enrolling — that's unprecedented in the entire history of the Talent Camp. An absolute monster."

"And he topped both the Prodigy Rankings and the King Rankings. Across the entire White Cloud Star Domain, Senior Lu Yuan must be the ceiling for his entire generation."

"Do you think Senior Lu Yuan could take first place on the Emperor Rankings?"

"Is that even a question? With his strength, it's a given. I'd wager it won't be long before he goes for it."

"By then, wouldn't he be pushing for Battle Emperor?"

Excitement hummed through the crowd.

An older student spoke up:

"What's Battle Emperor? With Junior Lu Yuan's ridiculous talent, Battle Saint is the floor for where he ends up. He might even reach War God."

"Hiss..."

A wave of sharp inhales rippled outward.

Someone stared into the distance with naked longing: "If Senior Lu Yuan really reaches War God, would that make our Red Maple Empire one of the most powerful forces in the entire universe?"

"That... yeah, probably?"

Faces flushed all around.

Nearby, a cluster of young men and women chatted at Yang Ping's side — among them Min'er Ailan and Lin Wei, who had sat through the very same entrance assessment alongside Lu Yuan and Yang Ping years ago.

Both of them looked toward Lu Yuan now with complicated expressions: awe and longing, laced with something harder to name.

Lin Wei let out a quiet sigh. "We all took that entrance test together. I never imagined the gap between us would have grown this enormous. It's genuinely hard to fathom."

Min'er Ailan's pretty face was equally conflicted. "And it's only going to keep widening."

Lin Wei nodded, then turned to Yang Ping. "By the way, Old Yang — how's Lu Yuan been lately? You live with him. His strength must have grown even more from before, right?"

Yang Ping rolled his eyes. "Lin Wei, you're giving me too much credit. Lu Yuan is a Battle Sovereign — not just any Battle Sovereign, but the one who topped both the Prodigy Rankings and the King Rankings. You want me to gauge his strength... is that even remotely realistic? If he wanted to spar with me, I'd probably be knocked off my feet just from the pressure of his aura."

Everyone around him nodded in solemn agreement.

Lin Wei said, "Fair point. I was being naive. With your level of strength, how could you possibly have any real insight into how powerful Lu Yuan is?"

Yang Ping: *"......"*

They weren't wrong, technically. But somehow, hearing it stated that plainly still managed to sting somewhere he couldn't quite identify.

"By the way, Old Yang — Lu Yuan knows this Beast Tide is dangerous. Surely he'll keep an eye on you? Sticking close to you should make things a lot safer for us, right?"

A tall young man nearby, honest-faced and broad-shouldered, asked hopefully.

Yang Ping's eyes lit up immediately. He sat up straighter, visibly pleased with himself, then shot a quick glance around before sending a private voice transmission to his small circle of friends:

"Don't go blabbing this around — but Lu Yuan just gave me something. Something seriously incredible."

Min'er Ailan and the others leaned in, hungry with anticipation.

Lin Wei transmitted: *Stop teasing us. What is it?*

Yang Ping lifted his chin with a self-satisfied air:

"Ahem. Lu Yuan gave me a one-time Sovereign Grade Talisman. One that summons a Sovereign Grade warrior."

Silence.

A beat passed. Then one of the young men stared wide-eyed, voice dropping to a stricken whisper: "S-Sovereign Grade Talisman?! Good heavens — how many Spirit Crystals must that be worth? And he just... *gave it to you?*"

Yang Ping did his best to look casual about the whole thing. "Naturally. Lu Yuan's my big bro."

The young man stared at him with undisguised envy. "Brother Yang! Let's team up later — if I stick with you, the Beast Tide won't touch me."

"Relax, just stay close and I'll keep you in one piece."

Lin Wei and the others fell quiet, but inwardly they were reeling.

He'd given away a Sovereign Grade Talisman like it was pocket change. Just how far beyond them had Lu Yuan grown?

Their gazes drifted toward his figure across the plaza, minds churning.

On the other side of the crowd, Si Tingxue and Rebecca stood together.

Listening to the discussions rippling around them, Rebecca had her chin raised and a distinctly proprietary look on her face — as though all the praise were being directed at her personally. She beamed cheerfully.

"I didn't realize A-Yuan had made this much of an impression on everyone."

Si Tingxue's ice-blue eyes flickered with a faint light. Then she said simply: "He deserves it."

Rebecca considered this and nodded. "I suppose that's true..."

Then she turned to look at Si Tingxue, a sly grin spreading across her face. "Xiaoxue, you've changed so much when it comes to A-Yuan, you know."

Si Tingxue startled. A faint flush crept across her cheeks. "Me? H-have I?"

"Absolutely." Rebecca nodded with great conviction, then kept going cheerfully: "Before, you were cold and distant with everyone — the only time you ever thawed even a little was when the conversation turned to Sister Tingyu. But now? When it comes to A-Yuan, you're nowhere near as icy as you used to be. And you've always been so stubborn about—"

"*Enough.*" The tips of Si Tingxue's ears had gone unmistakably pink. She cut Rebecca off mid-itemization and pivoted sharply: "I've broken through to Battle King Rank."

Rebecca blinked. Then her eyes went wide. "That fast?"

"There's no more room to climb on the Prodigy Rankings." Si Tingxue gave a quiet nod. "It was time."

Rebecca thought for a moment, then brightened. "Then I'll break through too~ I feel like I've hit my ceiling as well."

As for the Origin Stones needed for the advancement — their Prodigy Rankings placements hadn't been exceptional, but they'd earned enough to manage it.

Si Tingxue nodded, then looked quietly toward Lu Yuan's direction. "That guy said to come find him before doing anything else after breaking through. I still haven't inscribed new Transcendent Genes."

Rebecca's eyes lit up. "After I break through too, let's go find him together?"

Si Tingxue glanced at her, then gave a measured nod. "That works. Whatever he has to say is probably the same for both of us."

Rebecca smiled and nodded. "Then I'll start my breakthrough next time we're in the Land of Origin."

At the front of the assembled students, Lu Yuan and Si Tingyu touched down, and Elder Yu and the other instructors greeted them with warm smiles.

Elder Yu glanced at Si Tingyu and gave an approving nod, then turned to Lu Yuan beside her, his expression carrying a quiet wonder:

"Student Lu Yuan. In just a few short years, you've grown to this level. I dare say these old bones of mine are probably no longer your match."

Lu Yuan smiled. "Elder Yu, you're as vigorous as ever. I still have a long way to go."

Elder Yu took the modesty with good grace and simply shook his head with a chuckle.

"This Beast Tide — we'll be counting on you young people to carry it."

Hart Kaine, standing to the side, looked at Lu Yuan with a friendly smile. "Student Lu Yuan, Weili recently joined the Night Watchman and mentioned you. Come visit the house sometime."

Lu Yuan nodded readily. "Of course, Teacher Hart. It's been a while since I've seen Senior Weili — I'll definitely stop by when I get the chance."

The other instructors greeted Lu Yuan in turn, and he returned each greeting with an easy smile.

Si Tingyu stood beside him throughout, still smiling, her gaze resting on him without ever quite wandering away.

Several of the younger instructors who had quietly harbored feelings for Si Tingyu felt the corners of their mouths twitch. Something inside each of them quietly closed a door.

Anyone with eyes could read what that look meant.

If the competition were anyone else, they might have still thought to try. But against Lu Yuan — they couldn't even muster the impulse.

These men, having broken through to Battle King or Battle Sovereign at a young age, were considered geniuses by the world around them. But there are degrees of genius.

Breaking through to Battle Sovereign in barely three years, then topping both the Prodigy Rankings and the King Rankings — that was something that had already transcended the category of genius entirely.

Before a figure like this, the will to compete simply failed to materialize.

Calling him a rival at all was probably already flattering themselves.

As the group exchanged words, a series of figures streaked across the sky toward the plaza.

Everyone looked up.

Elder Yu smiled. "The Night Watchman has arrived."