"That’s right. Everyone covets the title of Morning Star. Your disciple has a few promising prospects who might be able to gain recognition, or even become one of the chosen." Qing Cang was sincere, making no attempt to conceal his ambition.

This was a rare opportunity. Otherwise, once the Spirituality was retrieved, it would surely trigger fierce contention. Trying to vie for it then would be exponentially more difficult.

The Bronze Giant mused for a moment. "Someone on that planet has already gained recognition. It is your martial uncle’s home star, after all. It’s rare for another talent to emerge."

"Master!" Qing Cang hurriedly knelt on the ground. "I will only take three people. I implore Master to grant my request!"

"Hmm..." The Bronze Giant fell silent for another moment before saying, "If that is the case, then I shall permit it."

A flash of joy passed through Qing Cang’s eyes, but then he immediately heard the Bronze Giant’s faint warning:

"Just one thing: do not rashly kill the one who has been recognized."

"Qing Cang wouldn’t dare!" His heart tightened, and he was about to leave.

Just then, the Bronze Giant suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise, looking with considerable astonishment at the constantly vibrating red statue beside him.

"Strange..." he said.

"Master, what is it?" Qing Cang asked, confused.

"Another person has unexpectedly gained recognition. Interesting." The Bronze Giant seemed to be contemplating.

"Another one?" Qing Cang was also stunned and couldn’t help but say, "That Red Thunder Star... not only is it shrouded and eroded by the Nether Fog, but it was targeted by the Deceitful God long ago. Its population has dwindled. How could it possibly produce two recognized individuals?"

He knew full well how high the standards of the Morning Star Spirituality were.

And now, two people had been recognized in succession. It was truly astonishing to him.

’Could it be... an outsider?’

A sudden suspicion arose in Qing Cang, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of urgency. If a chosen one were to emerge, it would be troublesome.

Perhaps because two recognized individuals had appeared in a row, the Bronze Giant’s interest grew. "Red Thunder..."

He flicked his hand, shooting out a beam of bronze light that condensed into hundreds of precise components. Pulled by an Invisible Power, they assembled with a continuous series of CLICKS and CLACKS.

By the time it landed before Qing Cang, it had already transformed into a palm-sized Bronze Figurine, which then sank into Qing Cang’s body.

Qing Cang sighed inwardly. ’Now I’ll have to do things by the book.’

"Go," the Bronze Giant said. Qing Cang acknowledged and withdrew.

......

Ying Feng, at the city entry inspection point. A line of people with reserved expressions was disembarking from a dilapidated spaceship. None of them looked very old.

They had just gotten off when they were herded to the side to be questioned by the inspectors.

"People from Ancient River City?" The examiner looked at the documents, his suspicious gaze sweeping over every person before him.

"It’s already the middle of June. Why are you so late? According to the report from your city, you should have arrived half a month ago."

A middle-aged man who seemed to be in charge gave a bitter smile and showed off his bandaged, severed arm. "We encountered Mutant Species on the way. It was a difficult fight, and we barely made it out alive."

"Mutant Species?" The examiner’s expression softened, but he didn’t believe the story so easily. He immediately accessed the spaceship’s log and began to search it.

The model of this dilapidated spaceship was somewhat outdated, but it still had a few external sensors that had recorded the Mutant Species’ attack. It was a flock of vicious birds with blue wings.

"They were actually Ice-Winged Birds..." The examiner’s face changed slightly. "Those are a Tier Three colonial Mutant Species."

"Yes..." A look of grief appeared on the middle-aged man’s face. "It took more than ten of my brothers sacrificing themselves to barely lead them away."

The examiner sighed, then offered a smile. "Alright, brother. It’s a routine check, don’t mind it. Inspections have been tighter recently."

The middle-aged man waved his hands repeatedly. "It’s fine, no problem."

The examiner thought for a moment, then added a reminder, "However, all the evaluation exams for the various organizations in the city have been suspended. I’m afraid you’ll have to stay in Ying Feng for some time."

"The exams are suspended?" The middle-aged man looked dazed. They couldn’t communicate during their journey, so he hadn’t heard the news. He quickly asked for the details.

When he learned there was no definite time for the exams to resume, he couldn’t help but look anxious. "This... What are we supposed to do? I didn’t bring much money. We lost a lot of the precious metals we’d prepared during the Mutant Species attack on the way here."

The examiner immediately reassured him, "You don’t need to worry about that. Ying Feng has arranged for unified housing. Basic food and lodging will be covered by Ying Feng, but you’ll have to pay for any extra expenses yourselves."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man finally breathed a sigh of relief and couldn’t help but say, "Ying Feng is very considerate."

After their identification documents were distributed, the group entered the city. Most of the young people from Ancient River City were very curious about Yingfeng City, looking all around as they walked.

But one person among them had a radiant smile on his face. Like the others, he marveled aloud at all the novelties in Yingfeng City, but inwardly, he was thinking,

’I wonder who it was that saw through the faceless shell I created.’

The Faceless Followers in Yingfeng City had been wiped out long ago. It would take some time for new ones to infiltrate and gather information.

To this day, he still didn’t know what had happened in Yingfeng City to cause the destruction of the expensive vessel he had paid a great price to create. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Of course, investigating why the vessel was destroyed was only one of his objectives.

’First, I’ll toss out some bait for you all to take.’

Breach Ying Feng? He had no desire to do such a thankless task. His goal from the very beginning had been one thing only: to lure the vast majority of Yingfeng City’s forces out of the city.

’Hmm... this guy... I think he has a distant cousin in the Judicial Court. His position is decent enough. What was his name again?’

He searched his memory and quickly found it. The name was He Kang.