Duan Qiu and the others felt as if the sky was collapsing and the earth was splitting, while those silently watching and scheming behind the scenes had never expected things would develop this way.
Those who had initially investigated Li Yunxian’s defensive forces and considered taking direct action had now withdrawn their plans.
They realized they would have to take a gentler approach.
But if they wanted to win him over this way, they’d have to present something real.
Ordinary mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators could be tempted with small trinkets, but Li Yunxian was the type who lacked neither money nor magic tools (and could even make them himself if he needed to). He was a true headache.
Yet, at this moment, no one had foreseen what kind of chain reaction this seemingly insignificant probe would set off.
While Li Yunxian went to see the surprise Sheng Yu had prepared, news of Li Yunxian being attacked on Qing Star was spreading rapidly across the interstellar network.
Everyone immediately recalled what had happened to others who received Li Yunxian’s authorization in the past.
At first, there was an outpouring of scolding, then people from other planets began asking if disasters on Qing Star meant they couldn’t even guarantee basic personal safety anymore.
If they couldn’t guarantee it, they argued, it would be better for Li Yunxian to come to X Star, since their planet had such-and-such cultivators, Saint Land, or Divine Artifact—there would be no problem at all.
People from various planets took to the network, boasting about the strengths of their own worlds, each sounding as if they were better than Qing Star.
News traveled more slowly on Commercial Street, so many on Qing Star only learned what had happened after seeing it online.
Reading those comments, the people of Qing Star felt deeply embarrassed.
Most were ordinary folk. Knowing that Li Yunxian was on Qing Star, they hadn’t thought much of it, just felt happy and excited—never imagining that any danger might befall him.
But now they knew!!
“With us here, you’d better give up. From now on, no one will dare try anything against Li Yunxian!!” the people of Qing Star declared angrily.
Qing Star was not weak!
The Jindan Body Cultivator who dared to act had been reduced to dust and ashes!
Yet people from other planets, seeing these words, weren’t pleased, and began to mock and ridicule them.
“Is your understanding of danger on Qing Star limited to just physical attacks?”
“You think what happened on Commercial Street today was just the act of a single individual? What a joke.”
“Didn’t anyone notice that many teleportation points on Qing Star have been sealed off?”
“And that’s just the beginning.”
“Someone wants to use Qing Star as a cage, to trap the prey.”
“Hasn’t a single person on Qing Star noticed this?”
“Even if you did, you probably wouldn’t dare say it.”
“There’s nothing to be done—when the beast tide struck Qing Star, the truly ‘clever’ schemers all fled immediately.”
“There are hardly any strong cultivators left on Qing Star now, making it the perfect place to nab someone.”
“Before anyone else reacts, Boss Li should switch to another planet.”
The people of Qing Star, reading these messages, were furious—but seeing the fragments of truth in these comments, they had to admit, a lot of what was being said made sense.
So… the Commercial Street incident was just an appetizer for Li Yunxian?
Were there still people targeting Li Yunxian?
An appetizer?
The people of Qing Star erupted in rage; the whole planet trembled, and the surge of invisible qi was no less than during the beast tide.
They would never allow Li Yunxian to be harmed on Qing Star again!
Who was it!!
The gazes of the people of Qing Star instantly became sharp as they scrutinized everyone around them.
Especially those who had only arrived on Qing Star after Li Yunxian did.
The most suspicious were those who came from places where the teleportation array nodes had been sealed.
At first, the people of Qing Star simply hadn’t imagined anyone could be so sinister—it didn’t mean they were stupid.
The entire Qing Star was in an uproar.
Those schemers, so used to pulling strings from behind the scenes:
These ants!!
They were beside themselves with rage, feeling as if their authority had been challenged.
“Just a bunch of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment rabble.” Someone fumed, but in truth, none of them dared to truly act against an entire planet.
Nascent Soul and higher cultivators couldn’t act recklessly, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist!
And even without counting those of higher cultivation, to stand against the collective will of almost all the cultivators on a planet…
It was a heart-palpitating, catastrophe-like fear.
***
Meanwhile, on the interstellar network, the people of Qing Star began searching for suspects, speaking less online, while people from other planets became curious and started to ask about the situation on Qing Star in a more polite manner.
Some even offered advice, suggesting ways Qing Star could catch those with ulterior motives.
There weren’t many such experts on each planet, but altogether, there were quite a few with the brains and ability to patch the gaps.
—Three cobblers together are better than Zhuge Liang, after all.
Gradually, the situation became a joint online-offline campaign.
In less than a day, many who harbored ill intentions toward Li Yunxian were swiftly apprehended.
Moreover, during this upheaval on Qing Star, quite a few of those caught turned out to be members of demonized foreign races who had already been deemed to have fallen into demonic ways.
—Most of these foreign races were just unlucky, and had nothing to do with the Li Yunxian incident; they were only swept up and caught during the planet-wide search.
As for the non-foreigners whose identities were confirmed but lacked sufficient evidence…
News quickly reached Li Yunxian.
“Boss, what’s your plan for today? Where do you want to go? We’ll keep those people away!!”
Those with ulterior motives could get lost! They weren’t even allowed to catch a glimpse of their boss, let alone get close!
This could be said to be the highest-level treatment on Qing Star.
Seeing these messages, Li Yunxian and the others fell silent.
Su Wenjing even transmitted directly to Li Yunxian, exclaiming, “So this is what you meant by, ‘let’s flush out those hiding in the shadows’?”
They really had come out almost all at once.
What hidden enemies? This was like tossing a flashbang—no one could hide now.
Actually, Li Yunxian himself hadn’t expected things to turn out like this.
In the cultivation world, without the network, things were much more old-fashioned.
At best, they’d build her a statue.
There was nothing like the interstellar network, where expressing an opinion could summon a thousand responses, instantly mobilizing people offline as well.
With everyone stirred up like this, no matter what anyone was plotting, nobody dared act rashly.
It was as if they’d done nothing—yet, inexplicably, everything was now safe.
It should have been a massive crisis, in theory.
Was this a good thing?
But their original goal—to flex their muscles—seemed to have gone completely unfulfilled.
Nothing could be done about it.
Li Yunxian never bothered with such trivial details.
“I’ll send you the list.” Instead of answering Su Wenjing’s question, Li Yunxian simply assigned him the task.
In Shenzhou, the righteous path completely overwhelmed foreign races; there was no restriction on Nascent Soul cultivators acting.
But here in the interstellar realm, while the foreign races weren’t quite the equal of the righteous path, they were by no means weak.
To prevent destruction from frequent high-level clashes, there was a restriction on Nascent Soul cultivators’ actions.
And because things were often this perilous overall, systems like “All Things,” powerful platforms to train the public against foreign races, had emerged.
People in Shenzhou had no need for such things.
But now, since they were in the interstellar world, they had to go along with local customs.
While Li Yunxian led a group to Commercial Street, Su Wenjing took several Nascent Soul cultivators from their group to visit high-level cultivators on Qing Star.
Ordinary people had no good way of dealing with these schemers, but those high-level cultivators did.
It all depended on what the leadership of Qing Star decided to do.
Yet just by speaking up, Su Wenjing found himself saddled with more work:
Thinking back on it all…
Was Li Yunxian the kind of NPC who would immediately assign a task to anyone who struck up a conversation?
Su Wenjing wondered as he glanced down at the list.
He fell silent.
The list was so long it wouldn’t even fit on one screen.
At a glance, Su Wenjing spotted one Integration-stage cultivator and three at the Soul Division stage.
Of those three, one was even at peak Soul Division.
There was no doubt: these people had completely investigated the cultivation levels of their group.
But…
Su Wenjing was certain that when they had first arrived on Qing Star, no one in their party had revealed their cultivation levels.
That could only mean that on the very first day they arrived—when they had shown up unexpectedly—some Qing Star cultivator of at least mid-Soul Division stage had tipped off outsiders.
“I understand.” Su Wenjing accepted the list.
Li Yunxian smiled, teasing, “Confident? There’s an Integration-stage on the list, you know.”
Su Wenjing shot her a glance. “You’re not the only one who can defeat those above your level.”
Granted, sword cultivators did have monstrous combat strength, but he was also a re-cultivated Tribulation Transcender, after all.
Since Su Wenjing said so, Li Yunxian decided not to dwell and chose to trust him.
“I’m off to have some fun, then.” Li Yunxian responded, then accepted an invitation from the Qing Star side.
Duan Qiu and the others hadn’t heard the conversation between the two, but they could see Li Yunxian’s actions.
They saw how warmly the people of Qing Star welcomed Li Yunxian, and how familiar she was with everyone here.
After exchanging today’s intelligence, once they left Li Yunxian’s room, everyone wore worried expressions.
They all looked to Su Wenjing.
“Professor Su, we can’t let Li Yunxian get stolen away by Qing Star—or rather, by the interstellar people!!”
She was Shenzhou’s genius!
Theirs!!
Those plotting against Li Yunxian with underhanded schemes were clearly their enemies.
But to them, even those on Qing Star using honeyed words to lure Li Yunxian were no good, either!
Su Wenjing was stunned—he had never considered this issue.
But his answer was quick.
“No need to worry—she’s different from us. Even here in the interstellar world, she has plenty of friends.”
“But her parents are still alive.”
“Her home is with us,” Su Wenjing said.
Yet as he spoke, he couldn’t help but feel a little odd.
A Tribulation Transcender thousands of years old, whose parents were not only alive but still young…
How strange.
The others didn’t know what Su Wenjing was thinking; they only heard the certainty in his voice and felt reassured.
Only Duan Qiu’s mind briefly surfaced the thought that Li Yunxian’s parents seemed to be divorced, and she’d lived alone for a long time—
But Duan Qiu trusted Su Wenjing’s judgment and quickly tossed aside the fleeting thought.
Thus, on the second day, with everyone confident in Su Wenjing’s assessment…
Su Wenjing’s gaze fell to the distance.
He looked at someone who was clearly meticulously dressed, their entire outfit as if straight off a runway, every accessory worn just so, even each strand of hair seemingly carefully styled—a truly flashy individual.
When this person saw Li Yunxian appear, the boredom vanished from their eyes, replaced by delight, as if they could only see Li Yunxian in the whole world.
“Boss!” Ying Wenhe hurried toward Li Yunxian. “I changed planets several times to get here at last.”
“It’s so much more real in person—you look even better in reality than in ‘All Things’!” Ying Wenhe showered her with praise.
Without realizing it, Su Wenjing’s face grew a little colder.
Who greets someone and immediately starts complimenting their looks?
Clearly up to no good.