Tong Shan was unfazed, remaining as calm as ever: "Nothing should be done to excess."

Lv Yingyue finally stopped her steps, turned around to look at him, her expression severe: "The one who should not overdo things is the Tong family, not you. The principle of the Heavenly Origin Path is that what Heaven gives, if not taken, leads to ruin.

Since you bear the burden of two families, you should understand the failings of both. Tong Shan, advance when it's time to advance!"

"I understand."

Tong Shan gave a self-deprecating smile: "But there's no rush, is there?"

"If not now, you will regret it sooner or later." Lv Yingyue withdrew her gaze: "I will speak with your elders about this; prepare for an assignment abroad."

"Assignment abroad?"

"The gentlemen above owe me many favors, and are just troubled about how to settle the accounts; at such a critical moment, if I make a small request, they would be happier to oblige."

Lv Yingyue walked in front, asking casually: "Do you like the Huang Province? Or Shuzhou? If you prefer something more bustling, East City? Or something more challenging, Thousand Islands, or directly the hardest, Central Earth?"

Tong Shan was startled for a moment and pondered for a long time, ready to speak, but then he heard Lv Yingyue's voice.

"Central Earth it is then."

She said decisively, "A child like you needs to be farther from home to mature; you should also see more of the world."

The tone remained calm, yet left no room for doubt.

Tong Shan was taken aback for a long time, gave a wry smile, and followed after.

He began to feel a headache.

.

"Central Earth is quite nice, don't you think?"

Outside Cliff City, at the gate of the old Tong family residence, the air was particularly fresh after the rain.

The old man, still in his vest and shorts, sat in his rocking chair, one hand deftly brewing a classic strong tea, the other advancing a cannon on the chessboard.

Check.

And so, the face of the wizened old woman opposite the chessboard grew darker.

As if facing an inevitable doom.

"Messy as it may be, if one just wants a place to live, there are plenty of settlements; you have the knack for causing chaos and calamity, you should be like a fish in water, free to cause all sorts of trouble as you like.

But just one thing—"

The elder sipped the strong tea, glanced at her face: "From now on, do not let me see your network appear outside Central Earth.

If you can manage that, leave now."

The old woman's face looked increasingly grim: "Old man Tong, I've already handed over the heritage book of Life Observation. A centuries-old catalogue, I've given you. The Ma line ends here.

I accept my loss, but do you mean to say you won't leave me a single path to live?!"

"The path is right at your feet, Ma Gu."

Tong Yuan laughed, raised a finger, and tapped on the chessboard at the only route left for the enemy general: "The Bookers do not harm one another; even the Ether Path can be lethal without shedding blood. You've made such a rift in my board with just one stroke; you wouldn't think you can just pat yourself off and head back to East City as though nothing happened, would you?

If I were the one who lost today, would you have let my whole family leave Cliff City alive? Just removing your network and ending your lineage is already exceedingly charitable, wouldn't you say?"

The old woman's face turned livid, veins standing out on the back of her hand.

"You severed the path yourself, don't overplay your hand."

Tong Yuan lifted a finger, pushing a thumb-sized teacup, gliding it across the chessboard to stop in front of her.

"Have a taste."

He said, "Here in Central Earth, there won't be tea leaves as fine as these."

"..."

In the silence that ensued, a trembling hand picked up the teacup, draining it in one gulp.

The teacup smashed against the chessboard, fracturing amid cracks.

"Ah Ting, see the guest out."

And thus, Tong Shan, who had been waiting for a long time, stepped forward with a smile, gesturing: "Please, Ma Gu."

Ma Gu said nothing more, gave them one last fierce look, and turned to leave.

The two quietly watched her figure disappear, Tong Ting suddenly said: "I have a feeling releasing the tiger back into the mountains might lead to complications... in the future in Central Earth, she might not be a lesser threat."

Tong Yuan shook his head from the deck chair, sighed regretfully: "A fox dies near its burrow, she won't go to Central Earth."

Tong Ting fell silent immediately.

If she doesn't take the only way out, then it's not the Tong family's fault for doing things thoroughly.

The elder slowly got up: "I'm tired, going to rest for a while. If Guardian Lv calls later, tell her I agreed and leave it to her to arrange."

Tong Ting was taken aback, then asked: "What about this game?"

The elder waved his hand without looking back: "Anyway, there's only a move or two left, you handle it."

"..."

In the silence, Tong Ting lowered his head, looked at the black chess pieces besieged on all sides, and after a long time, reached out to casually pick up a pawn that had crossed the river, snapped it down.

In the crisp echo, the last speck of dust settled.

Check.

.

Six hours later, through layers of transit, Ma Gu returned from Thousand Islands to East City. Passing through the teleportation of the Gate of Eternity, she arrived at the safe house she had prepared for an unknown length of time.

In the silence, only the ticking sound was heard.

And outside the window came the bustling noise, right in the heart of the city.

Massive energy currents from within linked the entire room, apartment, street, and even park into one, turning the safe house into an isolated haven outside the reckoning of fate.

At the very moment of entering the safe house, the frayed knotted string in Ma Gu's hand ceased its breaking apart. She could feel that the tightening layers of fate in the void had lost their target and dissipated silently.

"Life Observation, whether the upper or lower sections, just by acquiring one lower volume you intend to break the door and eradicate my line?"

Ma Gu sneered, a trace of shadow flickering in her eyes: "I must see how that old thing plans to end my life!"

At this moment, high in the sky, in the darkness of the universe, a meteor seemed to fortuitously streak across the sky. The meteor, which was originally headed towards the present world, suddenly appeared to lose its direction, and its trajectory shifted, breaking apart, scattering into countless fragments in all directions.

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