"Greetings, Uncle Fu. Sister Gu is too courteous. If I have the chance, I will naturally visit."

Cece made his salutations, then immediately handed over the wooden box he was holding.

"Uncle Fu, this is a gift from my young master. From the rough countryside, it's just some local specialties, but I hope you will accept it with a smile."

"Local specialties are great. Nowadays, the most uncommon and precious things are local specialties. I won't stand on ceremony."

Uncle Fu laughed heartily, clearly delighted, and wouldn't disdain it. The unique local specialties, treasures not purchasable even with money, were too precious to be dismissed.

He accepted the gift and took a step forward.

"This must be Young Master Qing. I've heard much about you, and now upon meeting you, you indeed have a remarkable appearance, a true talent among people."

"You're too kind, Uncle Fu. I am Qing Ziyu." Yu Ziqing politely made his salutations.

Just from this meeting, Yu Ziqing could roughly gauge the sincerity of the other party.

A master of the Cave Void Realm rising to greet a Third-tier Body Cultivator was already an extraordinary courtesy. After all, in this world, strength still spoke the loudest.

If you were a Tenth Tier big shot, even if your identity was just a beggar, you could storm the palace and spit at Emperor Li, questioning why begging near the Imperial City was forbidden. Even Emperor Li would have to smile and ensure you could continue begging.

Uncle Fu was subtly indicating how they intended to handle the relationship between the two sides.

Simply put, they were giving great face, showing sincere intentions.

It also implied that currently, you represented Jinlan Mountain, acting as its spokesperson outside its borders. Meanwhile, within my power structure, I am not of equal standing. Therefore, even though I am Seventh Tier, I take the initiative to greet you.

But that was all, because strength was position itself.

Yu Ziqing understood this and confirmed another thing.

No matter in records or actions, these people firmly believed the King of Hungry Ghosts was slumbering in Jinlan Mountain.

Yet, in reality, those standing high enough considered this utter nonsense, though it was a nonsense they couldn't help but agree with.

This was the most crucial reason the other side was willing to show Yu Ziqing such courtesy.

Ultimately, it was about strength.

Strong enough to be feared, even knowing you couldn't strike.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Uncle Fu noted Yu Ziqing's appearance and flipped his hand to retrieve a jade box.

"Forgive this old man's presumption, but Young Master Qing seems unwell. I have some body-nourishing pills that I no longer use, and offer them to you to restore your health, hoping you won't find them beneath you."

"You're too kind, Uncle Fu. It's just a minor injury."

"Oh? Young Master Qing is injured?"

"Encountered a madman a few days ago, covered in tattoos. I couldn't tell if he was some branded fugitive. He blocked us, ready to attack. That madman wasn't bad, leaving me with a constant headache. Who knows when it'll heal."

Yu Ziqing rubbed his head and glanced at Cece.

"Cece, what was that guy's name again?"

"Young Master, we forgot to ask his name. But I guessed he was called the Seventh Floor. He carried a token with what probably was his name carved on it."

Yu Ziqing turned back, continuing to speak.

"Oh, right, that's what he was called, Seventh Floor. Quite a peculiar name."

Uncle Fu's eyelid twitched slightly, a jolt in his heart.

Seventh Floor…

Covered in tattoos, quite powerful.

He had a rough idea of who it was.

Had appeared a few times, dealing in intelligence exchanges with certain individuals from Dali, holding the fourth seat in the Seventh Floor ranking, at Refining God Sixth Tier.

Once pursued, he instead assassinated four of his pursuers at the same level, injuring a Seventh Tier Qi Refinement cultivator, and left effortlessly.

Such a character died at the hands of these few people?

The highest cultivation among them was only Fourth-tier, and that was a non-combatant spy from the Shadow Department?

The other three were uniformly Third-tier novices.

From the moment Su Li entered, he had connected the details from the dossier. That severed arm feature was striking. One of his purposes was to gather more information from Su Li.

Unexpectedly, Su Li was now with these people like Yu Ziqing.

And had previously been ambushed by the Seventh Floor.

From these few words, Uncle Fu captured an immense amount of information, each piece astonishing him.

"Uncle Fu, what's the matter? Do you recognize that exiled madman?"

Uncle Fu snapped back to reality, his smile vanished, replaced by a solemn face.

Whether Yu Ziqing truly didn't know or pretended not to know, Uncle Fu felt compelled to speak the truth.

"Young Master Qing, may I take a look at that token?"

"Cece, bring it out for Uncle Fu to see."

Uncle Fu took the token, examined it closely, and confirmed thoroughly that it belonged to the Fourth Figure of the Seventh Floor, who met a grisly end at their hands.

"If I'm not mistaken, this person held the fourth rank, and the Seventh Floor is an intelligence trade organization that has always remained hidden. This person hid well, only to die in Dazhen now.

Young Master Qing, tread carefully, as these people shun head-on confrontations, fond of treacherous schemes."

"Then I'll have to think of a plan to kill them all and turn them into fertilizer in the locust forest."

After some more idle talk, Uncle Fu arranged for a welcome for the guests.

Yu Ziqing displayed no restraint in dining, with no dish on the table he didn't like. In honesty, it was indeed the most sumptuous meal he had since landing, even extravagant enough to feature three kinds of wine.

After the meal, Cece and the others were settled in, while Yu Ziqing followed Uncle Fu to the study for a private discussion.

Here, Yu Ziqing dispensed with pleasantries, cutting straight to the chase.

"Uncle Fu, did you come alone this time?"

"Young Master Qing, I'm the only one here for now. If something is found, that might change."

"I can give you a precise piece of information. The White Sun Holy Mother has emerged, somewhere west, over ten thousand miles from here.

If you seek to eliminate her, it's best to do so swiftly. If you wish to wait, then once you locate her, please inform me.

Those evil Daoists have upset those back home, so I must promptly flatten their base."

"It won't come to that, it won't come to that…" Uncle Fu's heart jolted, hastily intervening.

If those millions of hungry ghosts from Jinlan Mountain's Forbidden Land descended, indeed no one could contain it.

He hadn't anticipated this level of wrath.

Likely, those above hadn't expected Jinlan Mountain's reaction either.

"Young Master Qing, please calm yourself. The White Sun Evil Cult is a common enemy worldwide Dazhen, Dali, Daqian, and every sect and faction bears the responsibility to eradicate it upon discovery.

With this generation's White Sun Holy Mother emerging, she must be eliminated early to prevent her from growing too potent to destroy.

Young Master Qing, with a rough location known, you needn't worry about the rest.

The White Sun Evil Cult gathers mortals, and once a general location is known, it's hard for them to hide, quickly pinpointing their position."

A preliminary probe from above naturally required thorough follow-through, to first eradicate those White Sun Evil Cultists.

Moreover, with this generation's White Sun Holy Mother emerging, regardless of the previous conclusion's truth, it necessitated exterminating their contemporary leader.

The claim of a common enemy was indeed true, albeit usually contingent on not harming one's interests, leaving most unconcerned.

Uncle Fu knew full well this custom. In the past, if the White Sun Evil Cult rampaged across Dazhen, Dali would likely watch the spectacle unconcernedly. But this time, with the Eastern Palace in charge, attitudes noticeably shifted.

From a subordinate's viewpoint, he could only obey orders and fulfill tasks as instructed.

Yet at his level, even those above rarely forced him into unwanted tasks.

One reason for sending him this time lay in his personal disdain for the White Sun Evil Dao.

After the contact, Uncle Fu began writing a report for those above.

"Reporting to Your Highness, I have met with Qing Ziyu from Jinlan Mountain's Forbidden Land.

From merely my observation, this person doesn't resemble someone from a remote village, nor do they give the impression of newfound wealth from previous poverty.

If not for his way of eating... exceptionally distinct, with many common dishes appearing as if never seen before, unfeigned by any means, I would suspect he wasn't even from Jinlan Mountain.

His speech and deportment inadvertently reveal behavior uncharacteristic of a rural brute.

Through several hours of conversation, I distinctly sensed his insights and thoughts are not the accumulation of a day or a moment.

One might daringly claim, those from Jinlan Mountain's Forbidden Land were never ordinary even prior, and only recently forced into the open."

Uncle Fu wrote for an hour, meticulously documenting every detail, fearing personal bias, emphasizing objective facts, before adding his insights and conjectures.

Upon completing the record, he reviewed it with the pen still in his grasp, checking for omissions.

At that moment, a three-inch-tall figure climbed onto the table. The little human bore a round face, hair in a rounded bun, tied with a red ribbon, clad in a bright red robe.

The little one looked at Uncle Fu in contemplation, anxiously stamping its foot.

"Hey, are you done writing?

I won't catch today's Tea and Food Bureau treats if you're late. It's the one day Master Liao personally prepares, miss it and it's next month.

And if I'm not on duty next month, I won't get any. Hurry up.

With this dawdling, several flowers have already bloomed and withered!"

Uncle Fu cracked a faint smile, set down his pen, and made a courteous bow.

"Master Posthouse, as it's presented to His Highness, one cannot tolerate any carelessness. Please wait a moment longer."

After mulling it over, Uncle Fu produced a jade vial, cautiously pouring out a drop of sweet rain and handed it to the Posthouse.

"This drop of sweet rain, I'll give to Master Posthouse. I hope you'll tread carefully on the road and personally deliver it to His Highness."

The Posthouse sniffed, grinned broadly, and forgot its haste. Cradling the sweet rain, stowing it up its sleeve, and then sat cross-legged on the bookshelf, waving happily.

"No worries, I'm not in a hurry, missing it just means missing it. Next month's okay. Delivering to His Highness requires precision. Take your time, no rush."