After spending over half an hour, Xu Que and Ye Gou finally managed to carve out a relatively safe spot in the dense underbrush.
"Big Brother, are you sure this place is safe?" Ye Gou cautiously surveyed the surroundings.
"Don't worry," Xu Que waved his hand dismissively. "Unless we run into a giant black bear, this place should be fine."
In truth, Xu Que wasn't entirely confident. After all, in his past life, even with his A-rank otherworldly spatial experience, he and Duan Jiude hadn't ventured into such realms more than a handful of times. But based on what he knew, the shrubs here were likely... safe.
Seeing Xu Que's confident demeanor, Ye Gou quickly shut his eyes and began meditating.
As he felt Ye Gou's aura vanish again, Xu Que found himself becoming anxious for his companion.
"Thank goodness for automatic cultivation; otherwise, I wouldn't dare push things this far," Xu Que grumbled inwardly, before extending his senses outward.
...
At the Wang family's courtyard in the capital,
"Have they not emerged yet?" Old Ye asked.
"The rift is still in the process of closing," the bodyguard replied.
"Nearly eighteen hours have passed. Isn't Xu Que usually quick with these otherworldly rifts? Why is it taking so long this time?"
...
The bodyguard remained silent. Who said Xu Que was fast at closing rifts?
Besides, this time, Xu Que had brought along a burden—there was no way things would proceed quickly.
Just as Old Ye began to grow more impatient, Ye Huan's call came in.
"Grandfather, you were looking for me?"
"Where are you now?" Old Ye asked.
"At the C-level rift entrance in the northern suburbs," Ye Huan replied.
"What about Xiao Xiang?"
"He went to the eastern suburbs; he should be with Second Uncle and the others now."
Upon hearing that the useless Second Uncle was also involved, Ye Zhen Guo's temper flared immediately.
"Who told you to bring Second Uncle along? Why didn't you inform me first?"
"My dad thought Second Uncle was just sitting around, so he..."
Ye Huan hesitated, reluctant to speak the full truth. He only dared to use Ye Sheng Jun as a shield.
"That damned eldest son of mine, trying to make me explode in anger," Ye Zhen Guo muttered, his fury bubbling.
Before Ye Huan could offer any defense, Ye Zhen Guo abruptly hung up the phone.
"Damn, did that old fool..."
Ye Huan didn't dare imagine the worst and hurriedly dialed his father's number.
Meanwhile, Old Ye wasn't dialing Ye Sheng Jun. Instead, he received a call.
"Hello, Zhen Tian, what's the matter?" Ye Zhen Guo asked.
"Big Brother, did you get the materials I sent over? Have you had a chance to look at them?" Ye Zhen Tian inquired.
"Materials?" Ye Zhen Guo glanced at his bodyguard, noticing a pile of documents on the table.
"Oh, I just saw them. With everything going on with Xu Que, I completely forgot about them," Ye Zhen Guo admitted.
"Alright then, take your time. Once you've gone through them, give me a call," Ye Zhen Tian said before hanging up.
Ye Zhen Guo walked to the table, and upon seeing the first document, he asked, "When did these arrive?"
"An hour ago," the bodyguard responded.
Ye Zhen Guo nodded, put on his glasses, and began flipping through the documents. As soon as he saw the first report, a cold killing intent flashed in his eyes. He had suspected the Chen family was behind the conspiracy, but he hadn't imagined their reach extended to Xiang City and other regions.
"Take this to the security bureau and have them investigate immediately," Old Ye ordered, placing the first document on the table.
"Yes, sir." The bodyguard saluted and quickly left the courtyard.
As the bodyguard left, Ye Zhen Guo began scanning the second document. When he saw that the Murong family had sent people to Magic City, his expression grew intriguing.
"This old fool, sending his granddaughter to test that brat... I fear this will end poorly for her," Ye Zhen Guo muttered.
As he continued to read, he learned more about the situation with the hunter companies in Magic City and other cities. Although there were more than he expected, it was ultimately a good thing for healthy competition, but he feared it wouldn't be as simple as it seemed.
Tossing the second report aside, he picked up the third—an overview of the resources submitted by each company. Though he could skip it, he still needed to get a rough idea of things. When he saw that the Zha Tian Hunter Company alone controlled 62.3% of the country's resources, he couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
"This doesn't add up. Zha Tian Company's rift count doesn't seem right," Old Ye muttered to himself.
When he flipped to the second page, he was taken aback by Xu Que's data.
"This fool... Why didn't he send me this information sooner?" Old Ye slammed his fist on the table in frustration.
Had he known about Xu Que's findings earlier, he wouldn't have needed Xu Que to personally eliminate the Chen family; he would have sent his own troops to wipe them out.
But as he thought about it, with Xu Que taking his hopeless grandson into the A-level rift, Old Ye couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.
As for his good-for-nothing grandson? Compared to the country, he was worthless...
If Xu Que had known what Old Ye was thinking at that moment, he would have been even more reserved in his long-winded speeches. After all, Xu Que had stayed in this courtyard for over an hour after wiping out the Chen family...
Old Ye picked up the phone and dialed Ye Zhen Tian's number.
...
As time passed, twelve hours had quickly slipped by.
Inside the dimensional space, the number of stars inside Xu Que's body finally broke forty. With just nine more stars, he would reach S-rank.
But with the overwhelming spiritual energy he absorbed, Ye Gou could only make do with the scraps.
"How's it going? Can you break through to B-level?" Xu Que asked.
"Big Brother, do you think I still have a chance to cultivate here, being near you?" Ye Gou awkwardly asked in return.
"Right... Sorry to drag you into this." Xu Que chuckled sheepishly. "I'll find a better place for you next time."
"It's fine, I don't mind. I'm just hoping to survive, but please don't bring me to places like this again next time."
Hearing Ye Gou's words, Xu Que kicked him lightly.
"Have some dignity! Others would be dying to get such an opportunity!"
"Big Brother, I was wrong," Ye Gou said pitifully. "But seriously, this place is too dangerous. You saw it—when we first entered, my life was hanging by a thread!"
"If you hadn't been able to save me in time... wouldn't I have been a goner?"
Xu Que flashed a wicked grin, leaned close to Ye Gou, and whispered, "You know, it's not me protecting you—it's you protecting yourself!"
"No matter how strong I get, one day I won't be by your side. So, if you want to survive, the best thing you can do is keep getting stronger by my side!"
"You can only protect yourself by becoming strong!"
Hearing Xu Que's words, Ye Gou felt a chill run down his spine.
He regretted his decision now. If he could choose again, he would rather not have followed Xu Que...
Xu Que understood his feelings all too well, as he had gone through the same thing in his previous life.
With a gulp, Ye Gou swallowed hard. "Big Brother, next time, can we avoid the A-level dimensional space?"
"Let's see."
Xu Que wasn't sure if Shen Mengchu had captured those three regions outside.
If she had, he'd really have to go to the B-level dimensional space twice.
"No, Big Brother, don't you know? The most annoying thing in the world is hearing 'Let's see'?"
"I know," Xu Que shrugged nonchalantly. "That's exactly why I said it."
...
Ye Gou was speechless. He now regretted getting on this ship.
Though he was a bit of a freak, he wasn't this neurotic.
"Alright, hurry up. Once we get deep into the forest, you won't have a chance to talk anymore."
Upon hearing this, Ye Gou immediately thought of the predatory wasps...
If Xu Que knew what he was thinking, he would've kicked him again.
Though Xu Que wanted to kill the wasp queen and raid the hive, he knew there could only be one hive and one queen in this dimensional space.