"Who is it this time?"
Li Bufan raised an eyebrow.
Curious, Li Ke'er, who was eating breakfast in the living room, hurried to the door and pulled it open.
"Who are you?" Li Ke'er asked with a puzzled look, her eyes fixed on the two figures outside the threshold.
Li Bufan walked up to the entrance as well. Outside stood a middle-aged man and an elderly man; the middle-aged man wore a Tang suit, while the old man was dressed in a grey robe.
The moment he saw them, Li Bufan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Neither of them was ordinary. A distinct surge of energy existed within both of their bodies, though the energy inside the old man was somewhat denser than that of his companion.
Thinking of He Tong from the Chen Family, a realization dawned on him.
Were these two the so-called "martial artists"?
Practitioners of the Latter-day Age?
They seemed rather weak.
Li Bufan muttered inwardly. Although the energy inside their bodies was somewhat stronger than that of He Tong, in his view, it was still utterly negligible.
It hardly seemed to match even a cultivator in the Qi Condensation Stage.
As for He Tong's internal energy, it had been even weaker than theirs.
Seeing Li Bufan, the middle-aged man's pupils shrank slightly, and his nerves went taut; after all, he knew this was a suspected Martial Grandmaster!
Beside him, upon seeing Li Bufan, the old man cupped his fists in greeting and said courteously, "I am Shen Hongming. Forgive us for this uninvited intrusion, young friend."
Elder Shen's words eased the tension in the middle-aged man, who then also cupped his fists. "Ye Ning, paying respects to Your Excellency."
The two men were exceptionally polite. This scene left Li Ke'er stunned, unable to understand why these two strangers were treating her older brother with such courtesy, bordering almost on reverence.
Even Li Bufan was somewhat taken aback. He was certain he had never met these two men before, yet they approached him with such deference.
Noticing his perplexed sister, he suddenly smiled and said, "Ah, so it's Elder Shen and Brother Ye."
"You should have given me some advance notice before coming. I only made breakfast for my sister and didn't prepare any for the two of you. If you want to eat together, we'll have to go outside."
Li Bufan spoke with the casual tone of an old friend, completely throwing both Elder Shen and Ye Ning for a loop.
However, Elder Shen's gaze shifted to Ke'er, who was still holding the door, and in an instant, he understood.
"It was our presumption. We will defer to your arrangements, young friend."
Elder Shen said with a smile, and Ye Ning, snapping out of his daze beside him, nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Li Bufan turned back to his sister and smiled. "Ke'er, go back inside and finish your breakfast. I'm going out to chat with two friends and I'll be right back."
Li Ke'er looked at her brother and the two men with a doubtful expression. Her older brother had friends this old?
Yet, ever since learning her brother's true identity as an Immortal Emperor, she didn't dwell on it too much.
After all, her brother had claimed to have lived for one hundred thousand years and was practically an ancient monster; having an older friend seemed completely normal, right?
With that internal thought, Li Ke'er stuck out her tongue and replied, "Got it!"
With that, she returned to the living room to resume her breakfast.
Naturally, Li Bufan had no idea what was going through his sister's head just now, otherwise, he definitely would have given the girl a good "lesson."
Near the old residential complex.
A private dining room in a restaurant.
A few stir-fried dishes sat on the table.
"Now, shouldn't the two martial artists explain what business you have with a high school student?"
Li Bufan spoke first, his expression completely calm.
His words sent a jolt through both Shen Hongming and Ye Ning, and they exchanged glances.
Ye Ning took a deep breath, looked straight at Li Bufan, and said, "Since Your Excellency could tell we are martial artists, surely you can't be just an ordinary high school student?"
Li Bufan smiled. "And so?"
Ye Ning continued, "Last night, all forty-eight members of the Chen Family were wiped out. Every single one of them died in a massive fire."
Li Bufan's expression remained unchanged as he raised an eyebrow. "What does the destruction of the Chen Family have to do with an ordinary high school student like me?"
An ordinary high school student?
Ye Ning's lips twitched slightly at that. He glanced sideways at Elder Shen.
Seeing Elder Shen nod slightly, Ye Ning took out his phone, opened a video, and placed it on the table in front of Li Bufan.
When Li Bufan saw the footage on the screen, he raised an eyebrow. Catching sight of an object in the corner of the restaurant in the reflection, understanding struck him instantly.
"I completely forgot about security cameras. If I'd known, I would have gotten rid of them first."
Li Bufan muttered to himself. The video showed him killing the One-Eyed Brute and destroying the evidence the previous night, including footage of him entering and leaving the Chen Family estate.
At the time, he genuinely hadn't thought about surveillance cameras. After all, who had those in the Immortal Cultivation World?
In the Immortal Cultivation World, killing people, setting fires, and destroying corpses was just an everyday routine.
Having suddenly returned to Blue Star, he had truly forgotten that modern society was filled with cameras everywhere.
Ye Ning's mouth twitched slightly. What did surveillance cameras ever do to him?
"So, are you people from the police?"
"Are you here to take me back?"
Li Bufan asked again.
"We are neither from the police, nor are we here to take Your Excellency back," Ye Ning shook his head.
Mainly, it didn't look like they could take him back even if they wanted to. This guy was suspected of being a Martial Grandmaster—how were they supposed to arrest him?
If Li Bufan truly was a Martial Grandmaster, even combined with Elder Shen, the two of them would undoubtedly be no match for a Martial Grandmaster.
Hearing this reply, Li Bufan was once again surprised. These two knew when to back down; at least they had the sense to realize they couldn't capture him.
Still, he frowned. "Then why did you come looking for me?"
This time, it was Shen Hongming who spoke, his aged voice carrying across the table. "I wonder if Your Excellency has heard of the Guardian Division?"
The Guardian Division?
Hearing the name, Li Bufan felt a sense of familiarity. After rummaging through his memories, something seemed to click.
"The Great Xia Guardian Division, the one that oversees the order of all cultivators in Great Xia?"
Shen Hongming and Ye Ning nodded in unison, though Ye Ning suddenly felt something was amiss. Overseeing all cultivators in Great Xia?
"No, no, no, what cultivators? Our Guardian Division oversees the order of all martial artists in Great Xia."
Ye Ning quickly corrected.
Meanwhile, realization dawning on him a split second later, Shen Hongming's pupils constricted as he stared intently at Li Bufan.
Hearing this, Li Bufan raised an eyebrow. Wait, no—the organization that oversaw the order of cultivators wasn't the Guardian Division of the present era, but the Guardian Division of the future!
He felt a slight headache coming on. He had gotten the timelines mixed up; the current Guardian Division wasn't *that* Guardian Division yet.
"Ahem, slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue. I meant the Guardian Division that oversees martial artists."
"My apologies, my apologies. I've been reading too many novels lately. As you know, I'm just an ordinary high school student; whenever I finish classes, I like to read a bit of fiction, so I mixed things up."
Li Bufan casually fabricated an excuse and offered a cheerful smile.
Hearing this explanation, Ye Ning immediately understood. "So that's how it is. Indeed, the pressure in high school is high, so reading some novels is completely normal."
"Ah, yes, yes, exactly." Seeing this, Li Bufan couldn't help a silent sigh of wonder. This guy named Ye Ning was remarkably naive; he actually believed it.
As for the old man beside him...
Li Bufan noticed that Shen Hongming's gaze remained fixed on him, looking far from convinced by his explanation.
Yet at that moment, Shen Hongming suddenly smiled as well. "Understandable. The pressure on domestic high school students—the academic pressure on students really is rather heavy these days."
Li Bufan's lips twitched slightly. This old fox...