Zheng Yunan was just about to go into seclusion and consolidate her cultivation before the uing grandpetition, but when she heard that Wu Di had returned to the n, she immediately set aside her ns and dashed over to his residence.


    Now that the Skyspan Trading Company was involved, the Wu Family dared not show Wu Di any discourtesy. From its scenery to its decorations, the residence they’d assigned him was exquisite.


    Zheng Yunan sat in front of the residence’s lotus pond and asked, “why didn’t youe here with that senior?” Ye Zichen had left an extremely deep impression on her.


    “Master is..... Busy attending to his own affairs.” Wu Di naturally couldn’t tell her that his master was currently the Skyspan Trading Company’s prisoner, so he had no choice but toe up with an excuse and change the subject.


    “See? You’re calling him ‘master.” I told you that senior intended to ept you as his apprentice.”


    Zheng Yunan smiled sweetly. In her heart, she was delighted that Wu Di had found himself a good master.


    “Let me tell you a secret.I heard it from my grandfather. Our Raging me City changes city lords every hundred years, right? Well, the city lord is the head of the Wang Family. His hundred years are almost up. I heard that the other two great ns will send their nsmen to spar with us. In truth, their goal is to witness the strength of the younger generation and determine which family gets to decide the next city lord.”


    “Really?”


    This news contained an awful lot of information. The decision of who to elect city lord had been ced on the younger generation’s shoulders; this overturned the past few thousand years of tradition.


    Wu Di’s eyes brimmed with wide-eyed astonishment. Zheng Yunan nodded assuredly. “My grandfather wouldn’t lie to me. The other two ns will only send their ns’ top elites. If you can stand out amongst the crowd, then our family’s opinion of you will definitely..... Wu Di, don’t overthink things, I’m not....”


    In truth, Zheng Yunan said all that to encourage Wu Di to try his best during thepetition. When she saw his expression shift, she hurriedly tried to exin herself but couldn’t quite find the right words.


    “It’s fine, I don’t care.” When Wu Di saw her beautiful face ovee with rm, heughed and waved away her concerns. In the n, only she and her grandfather were kind to him. He knew that Zheng Yunan’s intentions were good. How could he possibly be angry with her?


    “A few days ago, I might have cared about the n’s opinion, but now? They can think whatever they like. I’m happy so long as my master doesn’t look down on me. As for the n..... Can they truly be considered my ‘family?’”


    For instance, despite his true status as son of the n head, he was certain that his family had only arranged such a lovely residence for him because the Skyspan Trading Company had escorted him here and announced him as “Young Master Wu.”


    People respected strength. If he wanted respect, he had no choice but to be strong. He was currently most concerned with his own strength. His master was an exception, but otherwise, he didn’t care about others’ opinions.


    “Actually.....” Just as Zheng Yunan was about to talk some sense into him, Wu Di cut her off.


    “Nevermind. Sit with me for a bit, okay?” With that, hey on the ground and stared up into the sky. The light of the setting sun offset me-colored clouds. He couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “I wonder how Master is doing?”


    There was absolutely no need to worry about Ye ZIchen. Wu Di’s master was currently having the time of his life.


    He’d eaten all the tes of beef the servants had brought him. The ground around him was littered with empty gourds of immortal brew. Some of them still dribbled alcohol onto the floor.


    Once he was thoroughly stuffed with meat and booze, Ye Zicheny on the ground and fell fast asleep.


    “I said, let there be fire......” he murmured in his sleep. As he spoke, he unconsciously lifted his hands. They met and rapidly formed a series of hand seals.


    Whoosh!


    A fireball appeared in the palm of his hand. The mes were ghostly white throughout and flickered in the wind.


    “ze......” he muttered, still fast asleep. It was as if someone added fuel to the mes; the fireball in his hand whooshed as it expanded until it was fully half a meter tall.


    As the light emanating from the mes prated his eyelids, he saw fire in his dreams as well, but he was asleep. What did he care.....?


    In his sea of consciousness, his dream-self flung the tongue of me away.


    At the same time, his physical body swung its right hand as well, flinging the fireball into the shed’s woodpile.


    Whoosh.


    The shed burst into me.


    .....


    Night fell.


    The first team to leave in search of the ck-robed thieves had returned as well. Xue Honghong sat in the estate’s main hall and looked them over.


    “How did it go? Did you retrieve the stolen auction goods?”


    “We found them all.”


    An attendant took out two rings. Xue Honghong epted them and scanned both rings with her immortal awareness. When she confirmed that everything was still there, she sighed in relief, then asked, “did you capture the thief?”


    In truth, she’d asked purely out of habit. They’d already crossed paths with these thieves countless times, but they’d never caught any of them alive.


    As expected, the other team shook their heads grimly. “It’s the same as before. The moment we capture one of them, they drop dead. We’ve still yet to uncover the cause of death. However, one of them managed to escape despite heavy injuries. A few of our brothers are still out looking for them.”


    “Dammit!” Xue Honghong mmed the sides of her chair. Five years ago, the ck-robed thieves appeared out of nowhere. Since then, they’d robbed the Skyspan Trading Company at least ten times.


    She’d tried pouring all the resources she had into investigating their origins, but had yet to uncover any leads.


    This time, she’d led the team responsible for transporting goods to auction personally. Even so, those thieves had somehow managed to snatch the ring right from under their noses. Fortunately, they’d managed to retrieve everything, but she still had no idea who was behind all this.


    “The men in ck.......”


    At that moment, the estate’s servants shouted frantically, “there’s a fire! Hurry and put it out!” Practically every servant in the building came rushing through the main hall carrying buckets of water, including quite a few members of the merchant escort team.


    Xue Honghong set aside the issue of the men in ck, rose, and walked outside.


    The instant she stepped outside, she saw the towering mes in the backyard. The intense ze spread rapidly. It was already on the verge of swallowing every guesthouse in the yard.


    “How did it catch on fire?”


    Unbeknownst to the others, while they wondered about the fire’s origins or hurriedly tried to douse the mes, Xue Honghong gnashed her teeth. Her petite frame trembled with fury.


    Others might not know, but to her, it was clear as day.....


    This fire had started in the woodshed!