Peaceful days always seemed to fly by, and Su Mo had almost forgotten what it felt like to be entangled in fights and killings.
Today, the martial arts hall was closed. Instead of going to work, Su Mo went out alone for a stroll, though in reality, he was using the opportunity to familiarize himself with the surrounding area.
By now, he had gained a fairly comprehensive understanding of the nearby buildings and roads. If someone were to come after him, he would at least know which way to run.
He stopped in front of a Chinese restaurant, his eyes fixed on the Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles listed on the menu inside. His throat involuntarily bobbed a few times.
“If you want to go in, just go. What’s there to hesitate about?” A pleasant voice sounded behind him. Su Mo turned around to see Sakurai Mii, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, standing right there.
“Just didn’t want to raise any suspicions,” Su Mo said, his words a mix of truth and falsehood.
Sakurai Mii walked over and took his hand. “Come on, I’ll go with you. Order whatever you feel like eating.”
Su Mo inwardly groaned, silently praying that the original owner of this body wasn’t secretly logging in at that very moment.
The owner was from Huaxia. He had noticed Su Mo peeking inside earlier and now pointed in the direction Su Mo had been looking. “This section is for noodles. We have Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles, Beijing zhajiangmian, Shanxi sliced noodles, Shaanxi…”
Su Mo’s lips moved slightly. He pointed at the menu. “Beijing zhajiangmian. That one!”
The owner’s eyes lit up. Switching to Chinese, he asked tentatively, “From Beijing?”
A flicker of excitement flashed in Su Mo’s eyes before he suppressed it, forcing a smile. “Just lived there for many years, that’s all.”
As he said this, a faint trace of melancholy colored his words, tinged with what seemed like regret or perhaps longing.
Sakurai Mii, who was also looking at the menu, kept Su Mo’s changing expressions in her peripheral vision. She was quite satisfied with the emotions he naturally displayed.
The two ate while chatting about their experiences during their time apart, just like old friends reuniting after a long separation.
“So, did you make it?” Su Mo slurped a large mouthful of noodles, a bit of the fried sauce just landing right on his dimple.
Sakurai Mii knew he was asking about the Celestial Ranking competition. “No. This year was too competitive. Maybe because of the non-aggression pact, a lot of old-timers hiding in the shadows came out to compete. Someone like me just ends up being part of the background.”
Her tone held no disappointment; instead, there was a hint of excitement.
Su Mo looked at her suspiciously. “Why are you so happy about getting beaten?”
Sakurai Mii shook her head. “It’s a shame you weren’t there. You have no idea how spectacular the competition was this year.”
She took a sip of apple juice and continued, “Several people who were on the ranking list in previous years got knocked off. And there was someone who actually managed to lie low for these five years and reach A-rank, making a stunning debut.”
Hearing this, Su Mo gradually became interested, wanting to know who this master of the “lying low” strategy was.
It definitely couldn’t be Ye Qingyu, because far from lying low, she was quite flamboyant.
Not only was she flamboyant, she also encouraged Su Mo to be the same…
If she weren’t so incredibly capable, she’d have died who knows how many times already.
Still, Su Mo was quite looking forward to her ranking. Having just broken through to A-rank, her power had surged dramatically.
“Tell me, who made the list?”
Sakurai Mii counted them off on her fingers one by one:
“First place, Fern. Second, the Western Divine Pope. Third, the Beast God. Fourth, Ye Qingyu. Fifth, High Priest Sato. Sixth, Smith. Seventh, Park Hee. Eighth, Long Tianyu. Ninth, Howard. Tenth, Atrov. Eleventh, Luo Wanqing. Twelfth, Oda Shin.”
Su Mo was startled upon hearing this. Wasn’t Luo Wanqing that slightly eccentric Elder Yuheng? How did he suddenly become so powerful?
But that wasn’t the most surprising part. The most eye-catching was Park Hee in seventh place.
Su Mo clearly remembered that five years ago, he was just barely holding the line. He figured this must be the “lying low” expert Sakurai Mii mentioned.
Although Smith hadn’t been on the list before, news of him reaching A-rank had already spread, so his appearance wasn’t all that unbelievable.
As for Ye Qingyu’s ranking, Su Mo wasn’t surprised at all.
Although, like Park Hee, she had only recently broken through to A-rank, her strength surpassed that of the veteran A-rank powerhouse Sato I. While she didn’t make the top three, it wasn’t a disappointment, as those three were in a league of their own.
Truly worthy of being Huaxia’s number one female war goddess!
Huh? Oda Shin made the list too?
From the information provided by Wei Yang, Su Mo knew that Oda Shin, one of the Four Great Crimson Sun-level samurai, was indeed very strong, but he hadn’t expected him to be this strong.
The only regret was that Nan Gongxuan didn’t participate… again.
But perhaps this was also a kind of warning. He seemed to be declaring to the world: “Look, even without this A-rank of mine participating, our people can still occupy three seats on the Celestial Ranking!”
After finishing her list, Sakurai Mii saw Su Mo deep in thought and asked, “What do you think?”
Su Mo replied, “The other changes back and forth aren’t that significant. The main thing is, Goryeo has someone on the Celestial Ranking this time, and in seventh place at that. Meanwhile, Vancountry, one of the seven major supernatural nations, has no one on the list. So, there’s definitely going to be some drama at the ISO Committee next.”
“You’re right,” Sakurai Mii agreed. “It’s been fifteen years since the seven major supernatural powers were established. Vancountry has long fallen behind the development of the other six nations. On the other hand, Goryeo has come from behind, displaying an incredibly rapid development momentum. The committee might very well have to add another seat at the table. After all, that’s an A-rank we’re talking about.”
Su Mo couldn’t help but wonder: Is there some special rule about East Asia? Originally, two of the seven major supernatural powers were from here, and now Goryeo has joined the ranks.
Counting on his fingers, there are already four A-rank powerhouses here alone, making up half of the world’s total.
And that’s just the ones who are publicly known. If you add in the missing Elder Tian Shu, and that seemingly incredibly powerful, possibly A-rank Taoist priest secluding himself atop Gua Tai Mountain… the scale becomes downright frightening…
The two chatted idly while enjoying a delicious meal.
After eating, Sakurai Mii placed a hand on Su Mo’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Don’t rush back just yet. I’ll take you somewhere.”
Su Mo’s heart stirred: Was the observation period over?
It was supposed to be a month, but it had only been twenty days.
“Where to?”
“To meet someone.” Sakurai Mii didn’t specify who, instead giving Su Mo a riddle.
He wisely didn’t press further.
The two arrived at the west side of the city and entered an extremely luxurious-looking villa. A middle-aged man in his fifties was watering flowers in the courtyard, using a watering can made from high-grade jade.
Su Mo even walked carefully, not daring to step too heavily, because the floor looked expensive—the kind he couldn’t afford to compensation if damaged.
At this point, he had already guessed who they were about to meet: Nishimura Koishi.
Nishimura Koishi, who, like Ueshibun Fumi, served as a Vice High Priest!
One of them was greedy for wealth, the other for lust, but both possessed formidable personal strength and professional competence. They were the right and left arms of High Priest Sato I.
It was precisely because of their presence that Sato I could peace of mind cultivate in peace and reach A-rank.
“You’re here?” The middle-aged man watering the flowers said casually.
Su Mo looked up. It was indeed Nishimura Koishi.