Chapter 273: Cultivating Feelings?

After a brief conversation, the group had become much more familiar with each other, and they began chatting casually while having their meal.

During this time, Su Ming learned from Bai Ruxiang the reason why they were heading to Tianfeng City.

Just as Su Ming had guessed, neither Bai Ruxiang nor Bai Xiaoyan had received an invitation from Xu Xiayan to go to Tianfeng City. Instead, at Bai Xuefei’s request, they were brought along as attendants.

The only one Xu Xiayan truly valued was Bai Xuefei, and only Bai Xuefei would receive the Wang Family’s high regard, abundant resource allocation, and intensive training.

As for Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xiaoyan, although they wouldn’t get the meat, they could at least have some soup. Even if they weren’t valued or trained by the Wang Family, as long as they stayed by Bai Xuefei’s side, any small favor they received would benefit them greatly.

Moreover, Tianfeng City was the center of the world, the Holy Land for Professionals with the richest resources among all human Base Cities. There, anyone willing to work hard could obtain more and better resources than in a remote rural Base City like Longyao City to improve themselves.

Therefore, Bai Xuefei had the idea to bring her sister along.

As for Bai Xiaoyan, Su Ming only found out now that she was somewhat directly related to Bai Xuefei and Bai Ruxiang.

Simply put, Bai Xiaoyan’s mother was actually the younger sister of Bai Xuefei and Bai Ruxiang’s mother—her biological sister.

Thus, strictly speaking, Bai Xiaoyan was a cousin of Bai Xuefei and Bai Ruxiang, though she was much younger and had always been taken care of by them.

When Bai Xuefei decided to come to Tianfeng City, aside from Bai Ruxiang, the first person she thought to bring along was Bai Xiaoyan.

For this reason, Bai Xiaoyan became the second attendant chosen by Bai Xuefei, which was quite fortunate for her.

As for the remaining Wang Yihan, it went without saying. She was a descendant of the Tianfeng City Wang Family’s branch left in Longyao City to guard the Seal. Although many generations had passed, as the only direct descendant of the Longyao Wang Family, the purity of her Bloodline was highly recognized by the Tianfeng City Wang Family. Additionally, since her Bloodline was related to the Seal and the Longyao Wang Family had been wiped out, leaving her as the sole survivor, the Tianfeng City Wang Family had to take her back for key protection and training, no matter how you looked at it.

To put it bluntly, Wang Yihan’s importance was countless times greater than Bai Xuefei’s.

Once they arrived in Tianfeng City and returned to the Wang Family, Bai Xuefei would become a Professional sponsored by the Wang Family—a potential stock for early investment. However, Wang Yihan would directly become a core member of the Wang Family, transitioning from the Eldest Miss of the Longyao Wang Family to the Eldest Miss of the Tianfeng City Wang Family. Her status was far beyond that of an investment target.

In other words, among the group, the one with the highest treatment and the brightest future wasn’t the famous Bai Family Genius from Longyao City, the young Upper-Rank Professional, but this Wang Family Eldest Miss who hadn’t even enrolled in the Demon Hunter Academy yet and was only sixteen years old this year.

As for Su Ming…

“Going solo?”

Bai Ruxiang, Bai Xiaoyan, and Wang Yihan looked at Su Ming with slight astonishment.Just moments ago, Su Ming had informed them that he hadn’t received any invitations, wouldn’t have anyone to recommend or sponsor him, and didn’t even have accompanying personnel like Bai Xuefei or Bai Xiaoyan. He would be starting from scratch in Tianfeng City with no background, building everything from the ground up through his own efforts.

This left the three women utterly astonished and bewildered.

“Impossible!” Wang Yihan was the first to voice her disbelief.

How could others not understand Su Ming’s situation? She knew better than anyone!

With Su Ming’s capabilities, how could he possibly lack invitations, recommendations, or sponsorship?

This was the same formidable individual who, before even turning twenty, could effortlessly dominate Upper-Rank Professionals of the same star level!

Compared to this “bad guy,” even the so-called youngest Upper-Rank Professional in history, who achieved the rank at twenty-three, seemed utterly mediocre!

Someone of his caliber, even without revealing his true identity, should have no trouble securing a recommendation just by displaying a fraction of his abilities.

Wang Yihan found herself at a complete loss.

Truth be told, she had assumed Su Ming would join the Wang Family like Bai Ruxiang and the others, working alongside her.

That way, she would have ample opportunities to pester him into returning her father’s keepsake.

Now, suddenly being told that Su Ming wouldn’t be joining the Wang Family and intended to go solo—this was something Wang Yihan simply couldn’t accept.

Even Bai Ruxiang was deeply perplexed. “I noticed Lady Xiayan seemed to hold you in high regard, so I thought…” She left the rest unsaid, but everyone understood the implication.

Xu Xiayan had indeed been quite transparent about her favorable attitude toward Su Ming, leading everyone—including Bai Xuefei—to believe he might join the Wang Family under their sponsorship.

Even though Su Ming had previously claimed to be merely an ordinary passerby, and those in the know were aware he was just an unremarkable junior student at the Demon Hunter Academy, everyone still assumed he must possess some exceptional quality to warrant Xu Xiayan’s special attention.

In fact, it would be more logical for Su Ming to have extraordinary abilities.

After all, this was someone closely connected to both the Young Miss of the Xu Family and the Young Miss of the Yun Family Estate—hardly an ordinary figure.

It was precisely because of this reasoning that Bai Ruxiang and the others hadn’t been surprised by Su Ming’s presence among them, despite his reputation as an ostensibly ordinary yet controversial figure.

Unfortunately, Su Ming remained adamant about playing the role of a casual extra.

“Elder Sister Xu is only being particularly kind to me because of Xu Qianqian,” Su Ming explained with a laugh, adopting the demeanor of a clueless novice that left Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xiaoyan exchanging doubtful glances.

“Who are you trying to fool?” Only Wang Yihan remained entirely skeptical, refusing to believe a single word.

A clueless novice? A mere extra?

Could any of these labels possibly apply to this “bad guy”?

Carrying a legendary Divine Artifact, capable of overwhelming Four-Star Underground Professionals, and even Lord Crow—whom her own father struggled to handle—could do nothing against him. Such an individual was bound to make waves in Tianfeng City.

In Wang Yihan’s eyes, Su Ming’s journey was clearly that of a hidden dragon preparing to enter the sea.

Leaving the small pond of Longyao City for a place like Tianfeng City, this hidden dragon would undoubtedly transform rapidly into a true Dragon.

When that time came, the entire city of Tianfeng would become his stage—a battlefield where he could fully demonstrate his prowess.Wang Yihan had no doubt that Su Ming could achieve great fame in Tianfeng City, becoming a renowned figure that others would look up to.

Yet such a person was now pretending to be a clueless newcomer and acting like an extra right before her eyes—utterly shameless!

“I get it! You’re planning to play the pig to eat the tiger… mmmph…!”

Before Wang Yihan could finish her sentence, she was once again silenced by Su Ming.

Calmly covering Wang Yihan’s mouth, Su Ming offered a friendly smile to Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xiaoyan.

“I’m finished eating, and it seems this one is done too. We’ll head down first to… cultivate our relationship. Please take your time.”

Saying this, Su Ming stood up and dragged Wang Yihan away.

“Mmmph…!”

Wang Yihan struggled fiercely, breaking free just enough to shout.

“I haven’t finished eating… mmmph…!”

Poor Young Miss Wang’s protest was cut short as Su Ming covered her mouth again and hauled her off.

Wang Yihan: “o(╥﹏╥)o.”

She really hadn’t eaten her fill yet!

The tearful Young Miss Wang was dragged away by Su Ming, leaving Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xiaoyan staring in stunned silence.

“Ruxiang sister, this…”

Bai Xiaoyan was at a complete loss.

Bai Ruxiang gazed in the direction Su Ming and Wang Yihan had disappeared, muttering to herself.

“So they do know each other after all?”

Unable to confirm this, Bai Ruxiang could only sit there puzzled before motioning for Bai Xiaoyan to continue their meal.

As for our poor Young Miss Wang, only she knew what oppression and threats she endured from Su Ming during this time, or how many unequal agreements she was forced to sign under duress.

To ensure this forgetful silly girl wouldn’t carelessly spill secrets and undermine him, Su Ming took special pains to properly discipline… ahem, educate her.

Afterward, Wang Yihan indeed didn’t dare speak recklessly anymore.

But she gained another nickname for Su Ming.

“Despicable big villain!”

……

The four-day, three-night journey felt neither long nor short.

In the blink of an eye, the trip was nearly over.

When the fourth day dawned, Xu Xiayan notified everyone that Tianfeng City was approaching.

Everyone perked up and gathered in the Ark’s main hall at Xu Xiayan’s summons.

Su Ming also arrived, bringing Little Hai’er—who had stayed in her room these past days—to invisibly follow behind him.

However, upon arriving, Su Ming immediately faced Xu Xiayan’s somewhat resentful gaze.

“Hurry over, we’re almost at our destination.”

Xu Xiayan’s tone carried palpable frustration, puzzling the other women present.

“What’s wrong, Xiayan sister?” Bai Xuefei asked bluntly.

The Bai Family’s proud genius daughter hadn’t appeared before Su Ming during these days. According to Bai Ruxiang, she had either been dining alone in her room or visiting Xu Xiayan.As for Su Ming, Bai Xuefei seemed to show no curiosity toward him at all, even displaying a faint disregard—an attitude nearly identical to when they were preparing to enter the ruins for the secret mission entrusted by the Six Great Families. Rather than being aloof, it was more a matter of complete indifference toward Su Ming, coupled with a slight aversion to men.

“Young Lady Xuefei isn’t particularly fond of mingling with men, so don’t take it to heart.”

Bai Ruxiang had once apologized to Su Ming in this manner.

Su Ming, of course, didn’t mind. In fact, he wished everyone would treat him with the same disinterest as Bai Xuefei—that would make his life much easier.

Unfortunately, unlike Bai Xuefei, Xu Xiayan paid a great deal of attention to Su Ming.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Xu Xiayan brushed off Bai Xuefei’s remark, yet the faint resentment in her tone was unmistakable.

How could she possibly tell Bai Xuefei that she had been subtly working behind the scenes these past few days, trying to lure Su Ming into joining the Wang Family?

But Su Ming had never shown the slightest interest, leaving Xu Xiayan frustrated time and again—enough to vex this former Young Miss of the Xu Family.

Now, with Tianfeng City almost in sight and Su Ming still refusing to join the Wang Family, Xu Xiayan couldn’t help but feel resentful.

Once they reached Tianfeng City, Su Ming could simply walk away, and winning him over afterward would be far more difficult.

Of course, Xu Xiayan would never voice these thoughts aloud.

She composed herself and addressed the group.

“Come on, I’ll take you all to the deck for a look.”

With that, Xu Xiayan turned and led the way toward the deck.

Su Ming and the others exchanged glances but eventually followed.

Before long, the six of them had gathered on the Ark’s deck.

By then, the Ark had already deactivated its stealth mode.

The resplendent alchemical airship soared through the high altitudes, bathed in sunlight, its Aura undeniably majestic.

But Su Ming and his companions were no longer focused on the airship—their attention had been captured by the distant scenery.

On the horizon, a colossal entity gradually took shape, coming into view for Su Ming and the others.

First came the towering city walls.

Then, an overwhelming sprawl of buildings, one after another, stretched out like mountain ranges.

The vast urban area unfolded before them, bustling like a thriving marketplace or a vivid street scene.

That was…

“Tianfeng City—the center of the world, humanity’s Holy Land, a fortress gathering the most outstanding and powerful Professionals on Earth.”

“Its population reaches 300 million, making it the most populous and largest Base City today. Among them, Professionals alone number in the millions, with an average of two or three out of every hundred residents being a Professional. Thus, it’s also considered the place where the ratio of Professionals to ordinary people is the closest in this world.”

“What you’re seeing now is only the outskirts of Tianfeng City. There’s still quite a distance to the central urban area.”

“Take a good look. This will be the world where you’ll strive and make your mark in the future.”

Xu Xiayan’s voice, carried by the wind, reached their ears, leaving them deeply awestruck.

“A population of 300 million?”

“Millions of Professionals?”

“On average, two or three out of every hundred people aren’t ordinary?”

These staggering statistics left them utterly astonished.It is important to know that Longyao City has a population of over 60 million, yet there are fewer than 100,000 Professionals. On average, there might not even be one Professional among every thousand people.

In contrast, Tianfeng City boasts a population of 300 million and millions of Professionals, with an average of two or three Professionals per hundred people—a remarkably high proportion.

At the very least, as far as Su Ming knows, even Yinze City, the foremost of the Four Coastal Base Cities, has a population of just over 90 million and only a little more than 100,000 Professionals. It would be considered quite good if one or two Professionals emerged per thousand people.

Tianfeng City overwhelmingly surpasses Yinze City, not to mention Longyao City, which isn’t even fit to hold a candle to it.

In any case, Su Ming had never imagined that a Base City could accommodate 300 million people and cultivate millions of Professionals.

To put it simply, the population alone is enough to rival that of a major country.

This isn’t merely Tianfeng City; it is practically the Tianfeng Nation.

“While we still have time, let me give you a brief overview of the situation in Tianfeng City.”

Xu Xiayan spoke up, capturing everyone’s undivided attention.

(End of Chapter)