Su Cha sat cross-legged on the bedside, eating ice cream. As he was about to finish, he suddenly stared blankly at the transparent little spoon. “If the Beast Taming Sect cooperates with full effort, our movements will be easily exposed.”
A bird flying across the sky, a fish swimming through the sea—either could be ‘eyes’ the Beast Taming Sect placed outside.
He looked at Ji Tianjin. “I want to return to the Flower Demon Clan to make some arrangements.”
Ji Tianjin had always supported his suggestions unconditionally and nodded without hesitation.
This time, Su Cha didn’t enter the Flower Demon Clan’s territory. He merely lingered at the outskirts of the Danhe Realm. He called out a small flower demon and gave it a few instructions, then left behind some items with Ji Tianjin before departing.
The two of them went to the outskirts of the city. Ji Tianjin released his spirit form. “Where to?”
Su Cha said, “This world also has auroras. Want to see one?”
Ji Tianjin replied, “If you want to.”
White Tiger: “…”
We came all this way—why not kill me for their entertainment.
Fortunately, it was only a joke. Su Cha quickly put away his smile and returned to the topic. “The Beast Taming Sect is located in the Nest Ridge area. It’s not too far, but not exactly close either.”
Ji Tianjin raised his eyebrows. “You want to strike first?”
“No need for complete suppression,” Su Cha mounted the white tiger. “Just stir up a little chaos.”
This time, he preferred to act as the follow-up.
“Let Su Yeling and the others make the first move.” Su Cha glanced at the map, pointed out the direction of Nest Ridge to the white tiger, and the two headed toward the Beast Taming Sect.
…
The weather grew more stifling by the day, and the screening in Tang City continued.
The oppressive heat seriously affected people’s moods. Merchants were already showing strong dissatisfaction with the inspections.
“The Xia family is just way too overbearing.”
“Cut them some slack,” a nearby vendor whispered, “After all, the latest gossip has all come from them.”
The tangled love and hatred between Su Yeling, Xia Yu, and Su Cha had basically become a staple topic during meals.
Xia Family.
Xia Yu personally drove to another villa. The entrance was heavily guarded, layers upon layers of bodyguards. Upon seeing her, they all gave a slight bow.
Xia Yu gave no response. She looked up at the tall building ahead and, after hesitating for a few seconds, finally stepped inside.
The villa was cool and unaffected by the summer heat. Xia Yu came today mainly to see her father, Xia Hunxiong.
No matter how powerful a human cultivator is, their lifespan still has a limit.
Xia Hunxiong was among the strongest of the peak-level cultivators, using a rare blood-replacement technique for cultivation. Even now, there was no sign of his strength waning.
“Father.” Knowing he disliked small talk, she got straight to the point as soon as she entered. “Brother Ling has already joined hands with the Beast Taming Sect. If there’s any trace of Su Cha, I’d like to ask you to take him out.”
Xia Yu was the most favored by Xia Hunxiong—not just because she was the daughter of his original wife, but also because, no matter how rebellious she was, she had never harmed the family’s interests. Back when she dated Su Yeling, it was still the Xia family who benefited in the end. Xia Hunxiong knew this daughter well—she wouldn’t rashly ask him to take action just to vent personal anger.
Xia Yu stated her reasoning: “After he’s done with the Flower Demon Clan, Su Cha’s next target will definitely be us. He’s already become a real force.”
Whether they liked it or not, they had to face this reality.
Xia Hunxiong put down his teacup, eyes narrowing sharply. “If there’s news, notify me immediately.”
Receiving his assurance, Xia Yu finally let out a sigh of relief. With her father stepping in, the pressure on her would ease significantly.
Life continued steadily day by day. For most people, there hadn’t been any major news since the auction. Only insiders knew that the fire started at the auction had finally ignited the last powder keg.
On an otherwise uneventful evening, news suddenly broke that Xia Hunxiong was heading out. Everyone speculated he was finally going to deal a killing blow to Su Cha.
In truth, if Xia Hunxiong wanted, he could’ve completely sealed off the news—but he didn’t. Clearly, this was meant to psychologically pressure Su Cha.
After Xia Hunxiong departed, the inner circle quietly held a small private gathering. Over drinks, they discussed the situation.
“I heard Su Cha was spotted in Zhao City.”
One attendee who had been at the auction scoffed, “The Beast Taming Sect is pretty close to Zhao City. He’s got some nerve going there.”
Someone nearby shrugged. “Su Yeling also left Tang City today. With three parties closing in, Su Cha won’t get away even if he grows wings.”
The man at the center of all this, however, had no awareness of the storm brewing around him.
Su Cha was indeed near Zhao City.
At first, he didn’t know Su Yeling was also heading this way—until he received word from the little flower demon. The Flower Demon Clan had already withdrawn their people from Tang City and were assembling a new group of elites to guard the surrounding cities, centering on Zhao City.
In addition to the Flower Demon Clan, a few forces allied with Su Yeling had also agreed to help out under the lure of shared interests.
The outer perimeter was guarded by the Flower Demon Clan, while the Beast Taming Sect, being human-centric, was unrestricted within the cities. With internal and external coordination plus the Xia clan’s patriarch—this kind of formation would frighten even the most powerful demons.
They named the operation “Eradicating Demons and Defending the Dao,” because in most people’s eyes, Su Cha must have fallen to demonic ways to have grown so powerful.
The Beast Taming Sect held great influence in Zhao City, and bounty notices for Su Cha could be seen in public areas.
“Even the mountains are plastered with banners about ‘Eradicating Demons and Defending the Dao.’ Isn’t that overkill?”
Su Cha had a complicated look on his face.
He understood the goal—to redirect public opinion and label him as a threat. But seeing it with his own eyes was another matter entirely.
At this moment, he and Ji Tianjin were hiding atop a scenic mountain. From here, they could see Nest Ridge in the distance, where the Beast Taming Sect resided.
Ji Tianjin said, “This city is becoming more and more tense. All the forces have gathered.”
Su Cha smiled at those words. “Now that everyone’s here, it’s time for the show to begin.”
These past few days, he hadn’t done anything else but instruct lotus magnolia flowers to split off into tiny blossoms and scour the world for certain rare herbal seeds.
Now, Su Cha held pills made from those very ingredients in his hand.
Ji Tianjin stepped slightly away from the pills.
Su Cha noticed from the corner of his eye and chuckled. “They only induce early estrus in beasts—harmless to humans.”
Ji Tianjin knew that too, but just thinking of the beast stampedes triggered by estrus made him instinctively keep his distance.
Su Cha gave one pill to each small white flower, instructing them to enter the Beast Taming Sect’s territory and disperse the pills.
“Do your best not to get caught.”
The little white flowers disdainfully took the pills and flew off.
Su Cha checked his watch and raised an eyebrow. “What time was the banquet supposed to start?”
Ji Tianjin: “Seven o’clock tonight.”
At seven, the Beast Taming Sect, as hosts, would be throwing a welcome banquet for their visiting allies. A meeting would also be held. The sect leader had invited many minor factions from the surrounding areas—clearly intending for everyone to contribute.
The allure of divine beasts was strong. This time, they could conveniently use the momentum stirred up by the Flower Demon Clan and the Xia family to achieve their goal.
Su Cha raised his head, staring straight ahead. There were less than fifteen minutes left until seven o’clock, but anyone who was supposed to be there had surely already arrived.
At 6:55, a chorus of beastly roars erupted from the distance. The sound waves were so intense that the trees in the scenic area swayed in a different direction from the force.
Su Cha frowned and tugged a little nervously on Ji Tianjin’s sleeve. “They’re not calling out nearly as wildly as the strange beasts did. Do you think the medicine isn’t potent enough?”
Ji Tianjin was briefly at a loss for words, then reassured him, “Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
In reality, Su Cha was being far too modest. He had no reason to doubt the drug’s efficacy—Beast Taming Sect was already in complete chaos.
Just moments earlier, the sect master of Beast Taming Sect had been preparing to deliver a rousing speech. He didn’t even get the first word out before an earth-shaking roar cut him off. Then a disciple burst in to report that the beasts had gone into an uncontrollable mating frenzy.
The sect master’s expression turned grim. Demon Beasts weren’t like ordinary animals—they wouldn’t go into heat without cause.
Xia Huihong spoke calmly, “Su Cha must be nearby.”
Only he would dare stir up trouble in front of so many people.
Su Yeling, who had remained silent the whole time, finally spoke. “Su Cha has an artifact that can turn him invisible. It can even isolate a space of its own.”
Xia Huihong was unbothered. “There’s no such thing as a truly heaven-defying treasure. Whatever it is, it’s bound to be flawed.”
If it were stable and reliable, Su Cha wouldn’t be forced into such a passive position. “I’ll go deal with him,” Xia Huihong said, rising to his feet.
Just then, Su Yeling’s phone rang. He rejected the call the first time, but it kept coming.
When he finally picked up, the Guardian Elder’s solemn voice came through: “Patriarch, there’s been an explosion in the clan.”
Su Yeling froze mid-step.
Everyone in the room had sharp ears—they all heard the voice on the other end of the line and instinctively turned to look at him.
Xia Huihong said, “Ask for the time and scale of the explosion.”
Su Cha couldn’t have done two things at once. It was either an accomplice or a traitor.
Su Yeling was already asking.
The Guardian Elder replied gravely, “Preliminary estimates count over a thousand and one explosions.”
“What did you say?!”
If this was a traitor’s doing, then the Flower Demon Clan must be riddled with infiltrators.
Everyone was at a loss—until a frenzied high-level demon beast burst into the hall, lunging at the crowd. Su Yeling kicked it away but accidentally strained an old injury on his leg, wincing in pain.
“I need to go back.”
Leaving that one sentence, he rushed back to the Flower Demon Clan.
With more and more beasts going wild outside, the sect master of Beast Taming Sect had no choice but to turn his attention to calming them down. In the blink of an eye, the three main forces of the “Eradicating Demons and Defending the Dao” alliance were down to just Xia Huihong.
The small factions who had been invited looked at each other, unsure what to do.
Someone muttered, “The former emperor died before completing his mission…”
“…”
***
As the alliance briefly fell apart, Su Cha yawned on the mountaintop of the scenic area.
“Hope Su Yeling likes the little gift I left him.”
Before leaving the Flower Demon Clan, he and Ji Tianjin had left the explosives with the little flower demons.
Private messages flooded in one after another—some reporting they’d blown up the armory, others proudly claiming they’d bombed the training grounds.
Su Cha replied sternly, reminding them to keep a low profile and not arouse suspicion.
[The elders are gathering everyone for questioning—but they didn’t summon us.]
No one would suspect these recently transformed little flower demons. Besides, not all of them had been sent out, so the numbers weren’t conspicuous.
[The plants near Ling Mountain are showing signs of developing sentience. Some of our friends who went there say they felt the plants’ intense desire to be named.]
Names held special meaning for the demon race. Everyone hoped to receive a name personally bestowed by Su Cha.
The next moment, his private messages nearly exploded—flower demons were all asking for names.
Su Cha: [Fine… but give me some time.]
After reminding them to delete the chat logs, Su Cha looked at Ji Tianjin. “Help me think of names?”
“…”
He could already feel the overexcited energy of the little flower demons. If they didn’t get names soon, they’d start pestering daily. Especially those plants about to achieve sentience—they should be named before transforming.
For the next eight hours straight, the two of them did nothing but name flowers. They didn’t even stop to drink water.
Cold mountain wind whipped around them. Su Cha rasped, “Su Yingying.”
Ji Tianjin: “Already used.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” Ji Tianjin confirmed. “It was name number 2802.”
“What about Su Xingchen?”
“That was name 1200.”
Su Cha sucked in a sharp breath.
Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, Ji Tianjin said, “Take a nap. I’ll keep going.”
Su Cha sighed, “Just five minutes.”
He was utterly exhausted. As he leaned on Ji Tianjin’s shoulder, he mumbled before dozing off, “Su… something…”
In his dream, a crowd of baby flower demons reached out their leaves and cried, “Daddy, name! Daddy! Daddy…”
And it wasn’t just a dream. Since the flowers and plants had been stimulated with spiritual energy, there was a subtle mental link between them and Su Cha. He could faintly sense their emotions.
The overwhelming voices echoed in his dream world, until finally, his mind was filled with only one word—Daddy.
Overcome, he gave in to the madness. Amid the deafening repetition, he unconsciously echoed it—
“Daddy.”
—
Far away, in the stars.
Ever since the hijacking incident, Cyril hadn’t closed his eyes. Just as he rubbed his brow with fatigue, he suddenly heard Su Cha’s voice.
His body trembled slightly, sure that he hadn’t misheard.
Daddy.
It was Su Cha calling him Daddy.
With a pained expression, Cyril covered his eyes with his elegant fingers. He didn’t even want to imagine what kind of torment the boy had endured to utter that word in such a pleading tone.
