Gu Jianlin hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time. In his dreams, he could faintly sense a cold, subtle fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose, mixed with the scent of shampoo and body wash.
Sometimes he could even feel strands of hair brushing against his face.
Honestly, it wasn't too bad—it was quite comfortable.
He had initially planned to sleep until he naturally woke up, but instead, his phone's incessant calls early in the morning rudely jolted him awake.
After resting for the night, he had returned to peak condition, feeling refreshed and brimming with spirituality.
He got up from the sofa, and the quilt slid off his body.
Gu Jianlin froze for a moment and instinctively glanced around.
He saw the bedroom door tightly shut, with a note stuck on it that read: "Catching up on sleep, don't disturb unless necessary."
Gu Jianlin looked at the quilt on him and smiled silently.
Although Old Gu was a bit unlucky, the students he left behind weren't too bad after all.
The room was originally kept around for sentimental reasons—after all, in the Extraordinary World, anything could happen. Who knows, maybe Old Gu would pull a reincarnation trick on him someday.
But now, it seemed there was no longer a place for him here.
Gu Jianlin took out his phone to check, finding numerous missed calls and text messages.
The first message was from Scholar.
"Supreme, I've already taken Butcher to a safehouse. His injuries are incredibly severe, but fortunately, the secret medicine gifted by Pharmacist Old Thief has sustained his life. He should be bouncing back in no time. By the way, I swung by Pharmacist Old Thief's hideout early this morning and conveniently 'borrowed'—I mean, took ten vials of Fallen Angel Blood for you."
"I've also taken many of the secret medicines you requested for beauty and wellness, and they've been divided into two batches and sent to the address you provided last time."
"For now, I'll watch over Pharmacist Old Thief and await your instructions."
Truth be told, despite his initial blunders, Scholar had been handling things quite efficiently ever since.
After all, who could've predicted that the Supreme would have already broken free?
Scholar's follow-up actions were commendable.
After all, there's an old saying: if you can't resist, then you might as well enjoy.
Being the servant of an Ancient Supreme definitely elevated his status—it wasn't so bad compared to being a mere ant destined to be obliterated by the Ether Association.
The only baffling part was that Scholar couldn't understand why the Supreme wanted those beauty-enhancing secret medicines.
According to Scholar's logic, he could only infer that the Supreme aimed to use the Ancient Times' dual cultivation rituals to recover their strength as quickly as possible, and was already scouting for suitable candidates.
After reading through the message, Gu Jianlin replied: "Well done. Be cautious not to expose your location. Butcher performed admirably this time—give him all the care he needs and make sure nothing happens to him."
Though he was a brute, he was now Gu Jianlin's prize asset.
A Fourth Rank Mad King capable of initial Qilin transformation, and even of becoming a vessel for Ancient Divine Language power.
Remarkably, even after using a low-tier Ancient Divine Language once, he had only sustained critical injuries.
Gu Jianlin could only comment: A true Tiger General!
Back in the Ancient Tomb, among the five-member team, Butcher had seemed the most useless. Now it felt like a slap in the face.
Gu Jianlin shook his head, his mind drifting to the topic of those secret medicines.
His mom was just incidental—the focus was still on delivering them to Youzhu.
He imagined how thrilled she'd be upon receiving the gift. After all, she cared deeply about her appearance.
The next text message was from Chen Qing.
"Xiao Gu, I don't approve of how recklessly you handle things, but I still want to congratulate you. You've weathered the storm and genuinely established yourself in the Extraordinary World. Perhaps we underestimated you in the past, treating you like a child…"
Chen Qing's message mainly praised Gu Jianlin's courage last night and recognized his growth. Along with this, he extended an apology, acknowledging the injuries he and Lu Zicheng sustained during the prior operation.
Especially Lu Zicheng, who had consumed numerous secret medicines with severe side effects and now required hospitalization for recovery. Chen Qing, who wasn't lightly injured either, stayed by his side to look after him.
The silver lining was that their wounds were recoverable, and once healed, they were likely to advance in ranks. When they met again, they'd probably be a Fifth Rank World King along with a Fourth Rank Spiritualist.
The only downside was their temporary inability to uphold their responsibilities as Guardians.
Still, that wasn't a big deal—Minister Lu had their backs.
The message also reassured Gu Jianlin that, even without the Minister's support, there was no need to worry.
Because after Black Cloud City and West Port's battles, Gu Jianlin had become unexpectedly famous.
When he logged onto the Deep Space Network, a flood of friend requests instantly overwhelmed him.
A moment later, his phone froze and shut down entirely.
What the hell was this!
Gu Jianlin felt bewildered as he recalled the fleeting friend requests—every single one was from Captain Level Ascenders, all wanting to be his Guardian, without exception.
Left with no choice, he restarted his phone and headed downstairs with fifty yuan in hand for breakfast.
Outside, the storm had cleared, leaving the city washed clean by the rain. The air carried a crisp coolness, refreshing and invigorating.
As soon as he stepped out, he noticed the security guard in the booth downstairs had changed.
A resolute middle-aged man now occupied the guard post, his chest muscles nearly bursting through his shirt. His physique was extremely muscular, and his posture as upright as a tall spear—a man clearly skilled in military training.