Volume 1, Chapter 40: It Is You Who Should Stay Away From Him, Li Yaqin

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The study was silent, save for the rhythmic ticking of the wall clock. Jiang Yu’s request was like a stone cast into a deep pool, shattering the stillness.
"Will you?" she pressed, seemingly reckless of the consequences.
Huo Chenyuan’s dark eyes were bottomless. He remained silent for a long time—so long that Jiang Yu felt she might suffocate in the void of his stillness.
Finally, he spoke.
"Vice Minister Li is an old comrade-in-arms of my father’s and currently a vital business partner. This meeting is a matter of professional courtesy."
He paused, watching her face turn deathly pale in an instant.
"I have to go."
As he spoke, seeing the light fade from her eyes, a strange pang pierced Huo Chenyuan’s heart, a sensation he could not name...
Jiang Yu had asked the question, suppressing the panic and unease in her heart.
The study was filled only with the ticking of the clock, each beat echoing like a hammer against her fluttering heart.

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At the base of the two pillars of light stood two shimmering gates of time and space, towering in majesty. Endless forces of light and darkness surged from within, sustaining the pillars and continuously channeling energy upward.
Ning Jiaojiao’s face flushed; it felt as though she were eavesdropping on someone else’s intimate affairs.
"I don’t know him, and I don’t need his charity. Take this back." Nangong Ran snatched the jade box from Huo Yiyang’s hand and returned it to Oakley.
Although teachers occasionally mentioned that good penmanship was important, few students paid it much mind.
The ten-thousand-foot-tall gray elephant let out a sharp, agonized roar. Its thick, long trunk heaved, spewing a torrential flood that extinguished and blasted away the magma coating its body.
Chen Jianjie seemed determined not to speak to her again; he and another boy moved to the other side.
They had spent the entire day in class—hardly any of it academic. The morning consisted of four sessions on cultivation, while the afternoon was dedicated to folklore and the art of drawing talismans. The evening brought two more sessions: practical training on how to combat demons and monsters.
Star River, however, was a shrewd businessman. Even though the conditions proposed by Gu Chen were so simple they were practically negligible, he still feigned hesitation—a classic tactic to inflate his own value.
Transforming into a giant of ten thousand feet, brandishing a golden sword of law, He Qingfan’s gaze grew stern. With a light tap of his sword tip and a sharp shout, he struck at the Yellow Springs Finger and the Nine Nether Palm.
Before dawn had even broken, a large crowd of commoners had gathered outside the palace gates, shouting, protesting, and pelting the entrance with vegetable leaves and rotten eggs.
For Huhai, this trip to Sishui County was a chance to redeem his past mistakes; though he did not handle every detail personally, he kept a close watch on the progress of events.
Gu Shanghuai frowned deeply; he had not experienced the feeling of being exposed to an enemy lurking in the shadows for many years.

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"I’m a police officer?" Qin Meng was ecstatic. Had Wang Nannan not held him down, he would have jumped right out of bed; indeed, few young men could resist the allure of such a profession.
He didn’t feel as though he were being followed until he reached the outskirts of the city, but when he turned back, he found nothing.
After lingering for a while at the gate of the Commander’s mansion, he grew increasingly uneasy. Sensing something suspicious, he prepared to return and report to Xiang Zhuang.
Wen Zixin could no longer see him clearly. Zhen Hua had never before forced her hand, but now, with her assistant appearing before her and flight tickets laid out on the table, she felt bound by so many factors that her voice died in her throat, leaving her unable to voice any opposition.
A murmur of discussion rippled through the square as some began to incite emotions and spread panic. Everyone froze, their faces turning ashen.
At the mention of Zhao Gao, Ying Zheng’s brow furrowed slightly; had it not been for Zhao Gao, Huhai would not have become the man he was today.
Who would have thought that upon returning home, Fuji Yumiko would even don a pink headband with the nightgown, hoping to look cuter.
The Lord of Nakaqi Star was struck with terror; the power of that hammer far exceeded his imagination. With no time to think, he immediately erected layers of defense.