Chapter 641: Encounter

Chapter 641: Chapter 7: Encounter

“The Bureau Chief is waiting for you inside.”

The sky platform was, in essence, a military transit station for Flying Airships. Although a massive armed Warship itself, it was fixed in place by a Spirit Vein, rendering it immobile. Thus, it couldn’t utilize the single most important aspect of an armed Flying Airship: its mobility.

The interior of the Fortress was not stuffy and cramped as one might expect, nor was it full of narrow passageways lined with True Qi pipes. The corridors were spacious and marked with directional signs. The captain from the Demon Suppression Bureau led Su Zhou and Shao Qiming to the end of a hall, stopping before a heavy, solid wood door. “This is a restricted area,” he stated, halting his advance. “My clearance isn’t high enough for me to enter.”

With that, he turned and left, leaving a smiling Su Zhou behind.

“I really don’t know if that acquaintance of yours was here from the start, or if they rushed over just now.”

Shao Qiming didn’t let his guard down. Since the Demon Suppression Bureau hadn’t confiscated their weapons and equipment, he still had a host of special combat gear in his pockets and on his utility belt. He had no particular attachment to this world, and the Tianzheng Alliance’s overly swift response still struck him as a bit strange. “Be careful, Su Zhou,” he warned. “Don’t let your guard down just because this person is an old friend of yours.”

“Think about it! For you, it’s only been about two years, but for them, more than one hundred and forty years have passed!”

“I know.”

Su Zhou was completely unconcerned. He strode forward and pushed the door open with both hands. “So what? Right now, I’m the one who wants to see them. I’ve never cared what they think of me.”

“Let’s see which old friend was in such a hurry.”

The door swung open.

In the classic-style office, a figure slowly rose, their gaze fixed blankly on the doorway.

The man still had a full head of black hair and a youthful face, yet his aura was that of a wizened old man. He met the gaze of the youth who had opened the door, his expression shifting from confusion to sudden realization.

“Su Zhou… Young Hero Su.”

The man spoke slowly, his voice laced with emotion. “I originally thought that after we parted ways, I might see you again in a few decades.”

“I never expected more than a hundred years to pass with no news of you at all. We even found the Kunlun Secret Realm, but there was still no word.”

Walking out from behind his desk, the man, who still wore a longsword at his waist, smiled at Su Zhou. “I truly never imagined you would actually return, and that I would be able to see you again.”

“You’ve gotten old, Zhou Buyi.”

Facing a man who still looked as if he were in his twenties, Su Zhou sighed. But then, he broke into a smile. “Then again, maybe ‘old’ isn’t the right word. For someone who’s already advanced beyond a Martial Saint, a mere two hundred years or so should still be your youth.”

“But these two hundred years have left no trace upon you.”

Still striking and handsome, Zhou Buyi’s once-graying temples had now returned to a full, solid black. Yet his demeanor truly held an air of age—not the frailty of dotage, but the deep weariness of one who had witnessed the endless turning of the world. “You are as young as ever, Young Hero Su.”

After their short exchange, silence fell upon the room.

Shao Qiming stood behind Su Zhou, looking at the strange man before them. He couldn’t help but wonder, ‘So this guy is the original “unit of measurement” for Spiritual Power that Su Zhou was always using… After more than a hundred years, he’s reached the Commander Tier too, huh.’

This was precisely the source of his concern—in an era of Spiritual Energy Revival, civilizations in other time streams were bound to develop faster than Earth, both in technology and in the number of Powerhouses… But since Su Zhou had said it wasn’t a problem, he chose to trust his judgment.

Soon, Zhou Buyi spoke again. His tone carried a natural Majesty, the aura of one who has long held a high position, which remained even after many years of keeping a low profile. “Back then, on Taibai White Mountain, you used your own blood to heal all the heavily wounded. But the Holy Water from that healing and the blood within it wasn’t all used up, so we sealed it away. Back then, we thought that with a Secret Technique, we could use the Spiritual Blood you left behind to know when you would return… But for over a hundred years, it never showed the slightest change, to the point that we all thought the Secret Technique was flawed.”

“But just over half a day ago, I discovered that this Spiritual Blood and Holy Water, which should have been dormant, had begun to radiate a faint light… At that moment, I knew you had returned. And then, I immediately found that you had appeared in the same old place, right there among the Taibai Mountains.”

“That Secret Technique of yours is pretty impressive.”

Even Su Zhou was a little surprised. “My Spiritual Blood can actually be preserved for over a hundred years? I guess I’m the type whose body won’t decay after death.”

Zhou Buyi stared at the ‘acquaintance’ before him, his eyes holding both surprise and doubt. But upon hearing that familiar, unrefined, and completely informal way of speaking, the man couldn’t help but let out a helpless laugh. “It’s gone through several revisions. The one you’re seeing is the twentieth-something version. Back in the day, before Master passed away, I helped improve it quite a bit myself.”

“Have a seat.”

As he said this, two chairs were lifted by an unseen Inner Strength and flew over from the side. Su Zhou sat down immediately, while Shao Qiming’s slightly slower reaction drew Zhou Buyi’s attention. “And this is…”

“A friend of mine from Kunlun.”

‘When in doubt, claim they’re a “friend from Kunlun.”‘ Su Zhou couldn’t care less if his cover story was blown; the important part was “friend,” not the “from where.” He quickly followed up, “Your master, you mean Li Daoran? Grandmaster Li has passed away, too?”

“Yes.”

At this, Zhou Buyi’s tone grew somber. He tapped on the desk, and after a moment, a service staff member entered with tea. He took a sip himself before continuing slowly, “After we annihilated the Demon Dynasty, we thought that would be the End of all struggle. We never imagined it was only the beginning.”

“First, there were those within our own ranks who wanted to reuse the Divine Wood Power. Then came the bandits, armed factions, and independent villages all over… not to mention the large, deeply entrenched forces of Anx Dynasty refugees who had settled abroad.”

“We fought campaigns from north to south. Sometimes we fought amongst ourselves, other times we fought the remnants of the Demon Dynasty and other independent refugee forces. And that’s not even counting the non-combat problems: failed breakthroughs in cultivation, sudden environmental shifts caused by the revival of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, qi deviation, major disasters from researching new technologies… With so many accidents and battles, my master… he died in a rather dishonorable assassination at the hands of the Undying Sect.”

He heaved a long sigh. “It takes a lifetime of energy to build a great nation. So many people died because their numerous hidden injuries from years of fighting made it impossible to break through, so they simply ran out of time… Hey, Young Hero Su—is it alright if I still call you that? Of all the people from back then, I think I’m the only one still alive…”

“Go ahead. A name is just a name.”

Hearing this, Su Zhou also let out a soft sigh. He had actually been mentally prepared for this kind of news. The fact that Zhou Buyi was still alive was already better than the worst-case scenario he had imagined. “You sound really lonely. No wonder you contacted me at top speed the moment you sensed I’d arrived.”

“…Yes.”

The sword-wearing man sat in his seat. He closed his eyes, reminiscing for a moment before opening them again. “Never mind,” he said. “This is what it is to be human. Birth, aging, sickness, and death. Dwelling on these things is nothing but useless sentimentality that disturbs the mind.”

“I see that you, Young Hero Su, have now broken through to the realm of a ‘Celestial Spirit Martial God,’ and your strength is so profound that I cannot see through it. The Alliance’s cultivation data will likely be of no use to you… In that case, if you’re interested, let this old bag of bones take you on a tour. I’ll show you the age of peace and prosperity that we, the Hundred Schools, have created since you’ve been gone!”

“Alright.”

Naturally, Su Zhou wasn’t going to refuse. He grinned. “Are you paying for the meals on our trip?”

“Hm? Of course.” Zhou Buyi was taken aback for a second by Su Zhou’s question, but then he laughed as well. With magnanimous flair, he declared, “For a trivial matter like that, it’ll naturally be my treat.”