Chapter 5028 — The Proximity Plan

Otherwise, if any real disturbance had broken out, even though ordinary people could never reach their level, some rumors and gossip would inevitably surface locally, and from those Wei Zhao could have worked backward to the truth.

Since there was nothing at all, it meant those Heaven-Realm experts were either not in Xima City, or had chosen to keep a low profile like the little cold girl. Two possibilities—and Wei Zhao reckoned the latter was far more likely.

Never mind the others; that Sun Baimei would certainly not let him off so easily. Even if he was not in the urban center of Xima City, he would surely still be active in the surrounding area, waiting for Wei Zhao to show his hand.

And so Wei Zhao's attention inevitably returned to the little cold girl. If he wanted accurate intelligence, it seemed the only place to look for a breakthrough was on her.

"If only Little Nine were still here." Wei Zhao suddenly thought of Tu Ranran. In the past, whenever he needed to dig up any information, she was the one who looked into it for him. In that regard Tu Ranran was a true expert—far more professional than a half-baked amateur like Wei Zhao. Unfortunately, she was now comatose like the other Inheritors and could be of no help at all.

Still, though Tu Ranran could not help, Wei Zhao thought of another avenue: the Mysterious Investigation Bureau.

With so many Heaven-Realm experts appearing in the secular world, no matter how secretive their movements, Wei Zhao was confident that the Bureau, with its channels in every quarter, must have picked up some traces. Their intelligence was bound to be fuller than his own after just being projected here.

He did not yet wish to contact Qiu Lingshan and the others, but that did not mean he could not get the Bureau's intelligence! The Bureau had its own exclusive website—and after three years, if he had not been holding a smartphone with internet access, Wei Zhao truly might not have thought of it.

He entered the address, reached the login page, and found that his account and password still worked. The phone swiftly redirected him to the site's internal pages.

"Just as I thought!" One glance and Wei Zhao's eyes lit up. The most prominent headline at the top was a strikingly urgent warning—and it was exactly what concerned him.

"According to the latest intelligence, a large number of high-level cultivators have recently been moving about. Their origins are unknown. All members are to exercise caution and vigilance. Any information must be reported at once. Generous reward."

That short headline fully confirmed Wei Zhao's earlier guess: the secular world's cultivator factions had indeed not yet clashed with those Heaven-Realm experts of unknown origin. Up to now they had likely only gathered a few traces; the two sides had not truly met—more precisely, no blows had yet been struck.

Otherwise the headline would not have called them merely "high-level cultivators of unknown origin"—it would have said plainly that they were Heaven-Realm experts!

Wei Zhao deliberately checked the time of the notice: just one week ago, which by his reckoning was three days before he himself was projected here. In other words, these Heaven-Realm experts had appeared only recently and had not yet made any major moves. It was impossible to judge their purpose, or whether they would break the cultivation rules of the secular world.

Apart from this emergency notice, the site offered no further accurate intelligence on the matter. Clearly, though these suddenly emerged Heaven-Realm experts were considerable in number, they moved with great secrecy, with organization and discipline—so much so that even the Mysterious Investigation Bureau found it hard to truly track them.

One thing could be certain: these people were no ordinary wandering cultivators. They must belong to some common hidden organization—though what kind of organization that was remained unknown.

To learn the answer, peripheral investigation alone was plainly useless; if it had been useful, the Bureau's methods would have uncovered the truth long ago. In Wei Zhao's view there was only one way: ask these people to their faces—and the little cold girl next door, an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, was a ready-made target.

At this point, clarifying the origins and intentions of these Heaven-Realm experts was no longer Wei Zhao's business alone; it concerned every cultivator in the secular world. If only for the sake of Qiu Lingshan and the others, Wei Zhao had to find a way to settle this question—and settle it properly before returning to Cloud Terrace Island. Otherwise, even on the island, he would never cultivate in peace.

Silently he released his spiritual sense and kept watch on the little cold girl next door. He was not afraid of her noticing: though his present soul body was only at the peak of the Heaven Rank, the strength of his spiritual sense was far beyond that. Even shrunk twentyfold by the soul projection, it was still not something a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator could detect.

He did this not to spy, but to make it easier to manufacture another chance encounter. After all, the misunderstanding last time had come first; letting things simply take their natural course would never improve relations. He had to think of a way to take the initiative and curry some favor.

Wei Zhao was no master of romance; frankly, he had no idea how to win a woman's heart. But one need not have eaten pork to have seen a pig run—he would simply do whatever they did in idol dramas. It did not matter if he did it clumsily; he was not courting her, after all, only trying to get on good terms.

After much racking of his brains, Wei Zhao finally produced his first chance-encounter plan: buying breakfast.

He knew that the vast majority of cultivators still kept the habits of ordinary people—sleeping at night and rising early, say, or three meals a day. Those top-tier beings of absurdly high cultivation had long grown indifferent to such habits, but cultivators of lesser strength—especially the more sentimental female ones—tended to keep them for good.

The little cold girl was only an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, fitting the condition perfectly. And she was injured; people tended to be especially sentimental when hurt, and to prize these familiar daily routines all the more. Wei Zhao was certain she would eat breakfast.

These past few days, however, perhaps because she was recovering from her injury, the little cold girl probably found it inconvenient to go out. Wei Zhao had not observed her buying breakfast—but that merely gave him the chance to curry favor. Buying a girl breakfast was a plot device utterly devoid of technique, yet remarkably effective.

The sky was fully bright. Wei Zhao noticed the little cold girl next door seemed about to go out, and at once hurried to push open his door, just in time to come face to face with her.