Wei Zhao had entrusted Qiu Lingshan and the others to her care, and now she had done everything within her power. Even if she could not fully guarantee their safety, her conscience was clear; she could close her eyes in death without regret.

Yet at the very last moment, as Leng Leng shut her eyes and waited for death, a figure abruptly appeared at her side. Then a familiar icy aura surged heavenward, taking solid form—and it forcibly withstood Xue Jianming's strike, One Sword Falls from the Nine Heavens. Less than half an instant passed, but half an instant was enough for him to pull Leng Leng out of danger.

"The Heartless Ice Force?!" Xue Jianming's eyelid twitched violently at the sight. That familiar icy aura was unmistakably the Heartless Ice Force—the man's identity was all but spelled out: this was Bing Wushuang!

"It's you?!" Xue Jianming was not the only one shocked. Even Leng Leng, whose life had just been saved, was struck speechless once she made out the newcomer's face. For no reason at all, why would Bing Wushuang step in to save her?

Wei Zhao had never told anyone that he had secretly brought Bing Wushuang and the others under his wing. Only two people in the world knew: himself, and Lin Dongfang.

Leng Leng knew none of this, and so her astonishment at that moment matched Xue Jianming's exactly.

"Go," Bing Wushuang said, with no intention of explaining anything. He signaled at once for Leng Leng to flee first. Her condition was pitifully weak now, but with the abundance of pills Wei Zhao had given her to heal her wounds, she would recover before long; so long as she was careful, protecting herself should pose no problem.

"Thank you." Leng Leng knew this was no time for dawdling. She offered her thanks and turned to leave. She had to heal her injuries quickly, and she had to hurry after Qiu Lingshan and the others before they got too far away. As for why Bing Wushuang had saved her—that question would have to wait for another day.

Watching Leng Leng escape with his own eyes, Xue Jianming grew frantic and hastily made to strike again. But the Heartless Ice Force had already enveloped him first. His heart lurched, and he did not dare act rashly; instead he eyed Bing Wushuang with wary apprehension.

"What's this? You're helping them?" Xue Jianming looked Bing Wushuang up and down, his expression unfriendly. By any reckoning Bing Wushuang ought to be Wei Zhao's enemy—and he had even joined the Center alongside Xue Jianming. What did the fellow mean by stepping in to save Leng Leng?

"Because I felt like it," Bing Wushuang said placidly, his face blank.

"Hmph. This is a task the higher-ups assigned to me. You dare to sabotage it? Where did you get the nerve?" Xue Jianming snorted. In the past, because of the gap in their strength, he had shown Bing Wushuang a degree of deference, but there was no need for that now.

"Is that so? That is your task; it has nothing to do with me. The only order I was given was not to provoke Wei Zhao." Bing Wushuang spoke as though it hardly mattered.

"You—" Xue Jianming choked on his words. His footing was somewhat shaky, because the strict prohibition against provoking Wei Zhao had come down from the Center's headquarters, whereas his scheming with Dr. Spectacles against Wei Zhao's associates had been his own initiative. Pulling strings in the dark might be one thing, but it could not be brought into the open—otherwise it was insubordination. And not just him; even Dr. Spectacles might not have the nerve for that.

"Then let me ask you—before this you were clearly only in the late Golden Core stage. Why has your strength suddenly become Golden Core Perfection? You were hiding your power all along?" Xue Jianming frowned. A moment ago Bing Wushuang had blocked his One Sword Falls from the Nine Heavens with nothing but the materialized Heartless Ice Force; even a half instant was proof enough that the fellow's strength was at least equal to his own—already a peer at Golden Core Perfection.

One had to understand that the Heartless Ice Force was only an aura, not a true offensive or defensive technique in the strict sense. That Bing Wushuang could accomplish such a thing with the Heartless Ice Force alone was unnerving even to think about.

Even Xue Jianming had to admit that although they stood at the same realm, if they truly came to blows, the other man's odds of victory were plainly above his own.

"The feeling is mutual. Aren't you the same?" Bing Wushuang glanced at him, the corners of his mouth curving into a mocking arc. "You thought you could shake me off and go curry favor with the higher-ups in secret, and that would put you above me?"

"You knew?" Xue Jianming was even more shocked. Dr. Spectacles had told him plainly that headquarters' key-cultivation program was strictly confidential and would never be disclosed to anyone. How did this fellow know?

"A thing like that—did you really think you could keep it utterly hidden?" Bing Wushuang said, eyeing him sidelong.

"Don't tell me you joined the key-cultivation program too?" Xue Jianming's suspicion deepened. Thinking it over carefully, before he himself had taken the initiative to curry favor, Dr. Spectacles had clearly valued Bing Wushuang more highly—so it was not at all impossible that he had been brought into the program.

Bing Wushuang wore a faint, ambiguous smile, neither confirming nor denying. In Xue Jianming's eyes he only grew more unfathomable. Naturally, there was no need for him to reveal his connection with Wei Zhao—let the fellow torment himself with doubts.

Sure enough, the more Xue Jianming thought about it, the more convinced he became. Bing Wushuang's leap from late Golden Core to Golden Core Perfection coincided exactly with the last month before he himself had gone to join the Center's key-cultivation program. It was far less dramatic than his own rise, but to advance two levels in a mere month—as far as he knew, only the Center could manage such a thing.

As for why Bing Wushuang had not risen six levels in a row like himself and had stopped at Golden Core Perfection, the reason was not hard to find. When he had joined the key-cultivation program, he had been told that with the mortal world's Center's current technology, they could at best raise a person swiftly to Golden Core Perfection—that was the limit. As for the next tier, the Nascent Soul stage, that technology was still only in the experimental phase, nowhere near mature enough to be put into formal practice.

With Bing Wushuang stirring the pot like this, it was no longer realistic for Xue Jianming to chase after Leng Leng and the others. Setting aside whether he could even find them again in the near term, finding them would do him no good. Bing Wushuang spoke little, but his earlier action had laid his stance plainly on the table: if Xue Jianming dared touch Leng Leng and the others, he would strike.

Facing Bing Wushuang, weighed down by years of accumulated intimidation and by the unfathomable air the man had just displayed, Xue Jianming truly had little confidence in opposing him head-on. To win would bring him no benefit; to lose would leave him covered in shame—was it not a waste of effort?

"You're sheltering Leng Leng like this—what exactly are you after?" Xue Jianming asked in a low voice.

"I told you just now. I felt like it," Bing Wushuang said, his face still expressionless. No one could tell what he was thinking.

"You—!" Xue Jianming was furious. It was bad enough that the fellow had jumped out to ruin his plans, but he would not even offer the most basic explanation. Whose side was this fellow on, anyway? (To be continued.)