208: Return home

Bayin City.

A small peripheral city on the southwestern border of Great Xia, bordering the Vermilion Bird Empire.

Compared to the chaos of the counties below, this place seemed much better.

"You're a new face, kid. What are you doing here?"

A Prefecture Soldier stopped Xiao Weiqing's vehicle.

"Entering the city to replace my Wristband."

"Replace a Wristband?"

The Prefecture Soldier's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he immediately shouted:

"Kid, your background looks suspicious. Turn off the engine, get out, and submit to an inspection."

Xiao Weiqing was no fool; he pulled out a stack of Great Xia Coins.

"Make things easy for me."

The Prefecture Soldier squeezed them, nodded with satisfaction, and without a word, walked back to continue checking others.

However.

Just as Xiao Weiqing was about to step on the gas, another Prefecture Soldier approached.

"Kid, get out and submit to an inspection."

Looking past this soldier, he saw two more Prefecture Soldiers watching him with greedy eyes.

Xiao Weiqing sneered; they were treating him like an ATM.

"I don't want to cause trouble."

The soldier scoffed, "You want to cause trouble? Cults have been rampant lately, and I think you—ugh..."

Xiao Weiqing grabbed the soldier's throat. "You're a disgrace to Great Xia. Believe it or not, even if I kill you, nothing will happen to me."

"Look closely. My Wristband isn't lost; it's just unusable for certain reasons."

"Get lost!"

Xiao Weiqing tossed the extorting soldier aside, his gaze sweeping over the others, making them afraid to move.

He entered the city.

He drove to the Extraordinary Service Hall.

"Hello, how can I help you today?"

A beautiful woman in professional attire asked; her name tag read Wang Lingling.

"My Wristband is broken. I need a replacement."

Xiao Weiqing held out his wrist.

Wang Lingling took out a device and scanned Xiao Weiqing's hand.

The device emitted a red alarm accompanied by a 'beep... beep... beep...' sound. Wang Lingling wasn't surprised; this was indeed a sign of a Wristband malfunction.

"One moment, please."

Her fingers tapped the holographic screen, revealing Xiao Weiqing's information.

"Xiao Weiqing, 19 years old, Luo Jiang Prefecture."

"???"

"???"

A series of question marks followed, leaving Wang Lingling completely confused.

As she tried to click further, four large red characters suddenly popped up on the screen.

"Insufficient clearance!"

This was the first time she had encountered this in her five years on the job.

"Please wait a moment. I'll get the Supervisor."

Wang Lingling went to the back, and after a short while, a middle-aged woman walked over.

She tapped the holographic screen several times.

However, judging by the red light reflecting off her face, it was clear the Supervisor's clearance was still insufficient.

The middle-aged woman stood up and looked Xiao Weiqing up and down.

"Wait here."

The middle-aged woman headed to the second floor.

Five minutes later.

A balding old man came down.

"Director Wang, it's him."

Director Wang looked at Xiao Weiqing's youthful face and had a hunch.

He operated the holographic screen for a bit, but "Insufficient Clearance" still popped up. Director Wang's expression said "as expected," and he smiled:

"Please wait a moment!"

Then, Director Wang ran back up to the second floor with surprising speed.

The middle-aged woman and Wang Lingling were very surprised. They hadn't expected the usually fierce Director Wang to smile, let alone use honorifics for a 19-year-old youth.

A minute later.

Director Wang brought a box.

He scanned it with the same device Wang Lingling had used.

"Your Wristband can only be replaced at Luo Jiang Prefecture or your Academy. This is a Temporary ID that can be used to board aircraft. Please go to Luo Jiang Prefecture to replace your Wristband as soon as possible."

Xiao Weiqing took the card. "Thank you."

"Lingling, take Xiao Weiqing to the Airport."

"Huh? Oh, okay."

After the two left.

The middle-aged woman asked, "Director, what's this young man's background? Is he the Prefecture Head's son?"

Director Wang shook his head. "I don't know if he's the Prefecture Head's son, but I know he is a true Genius—the kind whose fall would be a loss to all of Great Xia."

Wang Lingling drove Xiao Weiqing to the Airport. "You'll need to fly to Zhaohua Prefecture first, then take an aircraft from Zhaohua Prefecture to Luo Jiang Prefecture."

"Thank you."

After a dozen or so hours of travel.

He finally returned to Luo Jiang Prefecture.

Stepping out of the South Gate Air Harbor, Xiao Weiqing finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm back."

It was now three in the morning, and Xiao Weiqing couldn't wait to return to Ziwei Courtyard.

"Entry denied!"

"Huh?"

Xiao Weiqing stood at the Villa's entrance, looking bewildered.

He tried entering the password, scanning his palm, and scanning his pupils, one by one.

"Entry denied!"

"What's going on?"

Just then.

A woman descended from the air.

"Xiao Weiqing, it really is you."

"You're not dead?"

Qian Yi's tone was filled with joy and relief.

Xiao Weiqing said irritably, "Teacher Qian, we haven't seen each other in so long. You don't have to curse me."

"You brat, who's cursing you?"

"Do you have any idea? If you hadn't shown up, the Academy would have declared you dead."

"Why?"

Qian Yi said, "Because Zhou Yan said you died inside the ruins."

Xiao Weiqing clenched his fists. "Where is Zhou Yan?"

"He was heavily injured and went back to the Zhou Family."

"That piece of trash!"

"What exactly happened? What happened inside the Three-Star Civilization Ruins?"

Xiao Weiqing briefly explained the general situation.

"You encountered a Demon God?"

Qian Yi covered her red lips, unable to believe it.

"Yes, it was definitely a Demon God. With just one finger, it turned the Temple to dust. The aftershock reached through the Transmission Channel and injured me. I rested for a week before returning to the Academy."

"How are you now? You didn't sustain any hidden injuries, did you?" Qian Yi reached out and ran her hand over Xiao Weiqing's body. "Good, good, you're fine."

"Teacher Qian, I'm fine. I've already recovered. By the way, where is my teacher?"

Xiao Weiqing was a bit puzzled. Since Qian Yi had noticed his return, there was no reason Ning Xing wouldn't know.

"Principal Ning went to the entrance of the Purple Forest Demon Realm."

"The entrance to the Purple Forest Demon Realm?"

"Yes. Shortly after you entered the Three-Star Civilization Ruins, the entrance to the Purple Forest Demon Realm, which was supposed to switch its anchored coordinates, was suddenly imprisoned by a mysterious power."

"What does that mean?"

Qian Yi said, "It means this Demon Realm entrance has been anchored to a specific location in the Demon Realm and no longer changes."

"Then doesn't that mean..."

"We could go to war with the Yao Race at any moment," Qian Yi said.

Xiao Weiqing was silent for a moment before saying, "Could it be because the Three Star Civilization was destroyed that the Yao Race can now spare the effort to deal with us?"

"Principal Ning and the others suspect the same. Currently, Great Xia has gathered a large number of experts to guard the entrance of the Purple Forest Yao Race."

"Did my teacher say when he'd be back?"

"It should be in the next few days. If you need anything, you can contact him via your Wristband."

"My Wristband is broken." Xiao Weiqing raised his wrist.

"I see. Go get a replacement tomorrow; you can do it at the Academy."

"Okay, I understand."

After Qian Yi left, Xiao Weiqing called for the Butler and finally managed to open the Villa doors after some effort.