Chapter 214: Bounty List Updated

Chapter 214: Bounty List Updated

The scenery of the Colosseum rippled like water; once the ripples settled, Zhang Yuanqing found himself back in his bedroom.

*Drip, drip...*

Fresh blood fell from his chest, the tattered T-shirt coated in a layer of viscous plasma.

Due to the exhaustion of his Yin power, the through-and-through wound on his chest hadn't fully healed; it was still bleeding slowly.

Zhang Yuanqing felt no pain, likely numbed by it all.

He walked to the full-length mirror by the window and saw his pale reflection. His clothes and pants were in tatters. Besides the horrifying wound on his chest, his arms, cheeks, thighs, and waist were covered in claw marks and bruises.

Right now, he looked like a death-row inmate who had just endured severe torture.

So tired, so awful... Zhang Yuanqing drew the curtains, slowly sat on the floor, and lay spread-eagled.

A nap would fix it; sleep is the best rest. Zhao Chenghuang, that guy, is probably receiving Life Essence treatment right now. Being a Spirit Second-Generation is nice; not something us grassroots can compare to...

I won. I'm the champion. The Houtu Boots are mine... My mind was foggy when I fled; I forgot to bring the Yin Corpse back, but it's fine, Fu Qingyang will retrieve it for me...

The exhaustion from the bitter battle surged over him, along with hunger perhaps, but he no longer had the energy to get up and eat.

...

Noon, Wuchen Hotel.

Xiao Yuan was unusually restless, repeatedly checking her phone—messages, the time.

When the time crawled to 11:40, she finally couldn't hold back. She opened the chat app and sent a message to Yuanshi Tianzun:

"Is the match over?"

The message sank like a stone into the sea, without any reply.

Xiao Yuan took a deep breath, her chest rising high beneath the white shirt, waiting patiently.

By 12:30, after sending Kou Beiyue a message about bringing food, she dialed Yuanshi Tianzun's number.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is switched off..."

Listening to the automated voice, Xiao Yuan's delicate brows furrowed slightly. The match isn't over yet?

According to Yuanshi, today's Ultimate Battle was for the championship, just between him and Zhao Chenghuang. How long could a ring match last?

It had been a whole morning; how was it not finished?

Honestly, Xiao Yuan was quite curious about the result, harboring a certain anticipation, yet she felt it unnecessary to hope. As a newcomer among Spirit Realm Walkers, Yuanshi Tianzun making the top three was already a pleasant surprise.

The possibility of winning was low; if he did win, it would rather indicate a withering of official talent.

At that moment, the hotel door opened. A delivery rider wearing a blue safety helmet entered. He had handsome features, thick brows and sharp eyes, resembling a fierce little wolfdog.

Kou Beiyue returned, carrying the rider's specialized insulated box.

He had brought a sumptuous lunch for Xiao Yuan and himself.

During this time, Xiao Yuan had made a fortune, selling Yuanshi Tianzun's information a few times and earning 200,000 by hunting Yin Corpses for him. Her funds were ample, and her diet had improved significantly.

After a period of delivering takeout, Kou Beiyue's complexion was no longer pale; it had turned a healthy wheat color.

Kou Beiyue, drenched in sweat, stood beneath the air conditioner vent at the doorway, savoring the blast of icy air before hurrying over eagerly. "Xiao Yuan, Xiao Yuan, I ran into 'Blood Mantou' while delivering an order just now."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan's brows furrowed slightly. "You still have contact with him?"

Blood Mantou was a cadre under Gu Wang, the Vice President of the Spiritual Ability Association.

Blood Mantou had distinguished himself during the Black Impermanence incident, and Gu Wang had dispatched him to Jinshan City to serve as a cadre, establishing the Jinshan City branch office, dedicated to recruiting and absorbing evil professionals.

This man held a fanatical obsession with delivering takeout; even in scorching heat, he rode his little electric scooter, insisting on delivering door-to-door, and had inadvertently met Kou Beiyue.

Blood Mantou felt that Kou Beiyue, who also liked delivering takeout, was a promising talent, so they exchanged contact information.

Although Kou Beiyue strongly insisted that he didn't like delivering takeout at all, that it was forced by livelihood, Blood Mantou simply didn't believe him.

"Relax, I know what I'm doing," Kou Beiyue shouted. "That guy isn't a good person—moody, kills without blinking—but he doesn't have a bloodlust either. He's just a run-of-the-mill bad guy. Are there fewer of that sort in the official ranks?"

Seeing Xiao Yuan's face darken, he hurriedly explained, "I just wanted to pry some intelligence out of him. It's better than you running the black market every day, right? Well, just now I pried out a piece of earth-shattering intelligence."

"Earth-shattering intelligence." Xiao Yuan let out a cold laugh.

This kid, ever since he became a Gu-bewitching Yaomo, had been under her protection, cultivating under Master Wuchen. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was green to the ways of the world.

How would he know what intelligence was important and what wasn't?

Most likely, he had been hoodwinked by Blood Mantou passing off ordinary intelligence as something special.

Kou Beiyue set down the delivery box, fished out his phone, and beamed with excitement. "Blood Mantou just forwarded me a message—an internal notification about an update to the bounty list of the Eastern Branch of the Spiritual Ability Association. Hmm, this is just the Eastern Branch's list, but I reckon all the major evil organizations will synchronize their updates in the next day or two."

The bounty list updated? Xiao Yuan gave a slight nod. That did indeed count as major intelligence; the bounty lists of evil organizations rarely shifted.

She took the phone Kou Beiyue handed over and looked closely:

"Transcendent Realm Bounty List Updated:

'Yuanshi Tianzun, reward twenty million, one Saint-tier artifact, two premium Transcendent-tier artifacts.'

'Zhao Chenghuang, fifteen million, one Saint-tier artifact.'

'Wei Wo Du Zun, fifteen million, two premium Transcendent-tier artifacts.'

'Sun Miaomiao, ten million, two premium Transcendent-tier artifacts.'

'Tudi Gong, fifteen million, one premium Transcendent-tier artifact.'

'......'"

Zhao Chenghuang, originally ranked first on the Transcendent list, had dropped to second place, while the top spot was now conspicuously occupied by Yuanshi Tianzun.

Xiao Yuan's pupils contracted slightly, her beautiful face freezing.

At this very moment, having digested this intelligence, only a single thought remained in her mind:

The arena tournament has produced a result.

Yuanshi Tianzun, victorious!

He beat Zhao Chenghuang. He actually beat Zhao Chenghuang... Xiao Yuan set down her phone, gazing out at the hotel exterior, spacing out in a daze.

After a long while, she put down her phone and murmured softly:

"I'm going to see Master Wuchen."

...

Fu Family Bay.

In the study, Lingjun circled the Yin Corpse, pacing around it, scrutinizing it from top to bottom, and said:

"A Level 3 Bewitching Yaos corpse, with the aura of an Earth Monster to boot. Tsk tsk, where did Yuanshi Tianzun dig up this Yin Corpse? I don't recall him applying to you for assistance, and you never mentioned it either."

The Deceased No. 1 was wrapped in vine after vine, emitting a low roar from its throat, struggling violently, twisting, trying to break free of its bonds and kill the living beings in its sight.

The command it received was to kill the enemy, defaulting to killing all living things.

Its master fled after inciting public wrath, leaving no time to issue a stand-down order.

Fu Qingyang sat behind the desk, speaking indifferently:

"You aren't a member of the Five Elements Alliance. I don't need to tell you everything."

He changed the subject, saying: "Go notify Bunny Girl No. 2, tell her to prepare the transfer. White Tiger Guard members, one million bonus each."

"Okay!" Lingjun left happily.

Watching the trash leave, Fu Qingyang picked up his phone and opened the chat app.

Five Elements Alliance, Elder Group.

【Dog Elder: Not bad, not bad. Now both the Transcendent Realm and Saint Realm champions belong to our Five Elements Alliance.】

【Great Tang War God: Haven't felt this proud in years. Back when the Female Marshal hadn't yet risen to power, she only took the Transcendent and Saint championships in two separate goes.】

【Luo Shen: Yuanshi Tianzun's talent is truly astonishing; his future achievements are limitless. Elder Sun's reputation for muddleheadedness can never be washed clean.】

【Fire Sea War God: Interesting. This kid Yuanshi Tianzun, I quite like him. You White Tiger troops hand him over to my Scarlet Fire Gang, ahahaha.】

Usually, the elders rarely spoke in this group. They only popped up to say a few words when there was serious business to discuss; when there wasn't, the group was dead silent.

But after the arena tournament ended, for several hours the elders still chimed in from time to time, the atmosphere relaxed and lively.

In the elders' view, this year's arena tournament saw the Five Elements Alliance utterly crush the Taiyi Sect. This was a massive matter of face.

Once one reached the Ruler realm, ordinary profits were beneath their notice; instead, face became paramount.

Fu Qingyang snorted a laugh. These "old geezers," when buying Zhao Chenghuang, they didn't hesitate at all, not batting an eye at several million. When buying Yuanshi Tianzun, they pinched pennies, a few tens of thousands, a hundred thousand at most.

Now that Yuanshi Tianzun has beaten Zhao Chenghuang, they're all beaming with joy.

That's how it is. Several million is pocket change to elders; face is what matters more.

Fu Qingyang typed out a message:

[Fu Qingyang: Thank you, Elders, for your generous contributions!]

A simple sentence, yet it struck like a resounding slap.

The Elder chat, previously buzzing with a pleasant atmosphere, instantly fell into a dead silence.

No one spoke.

Ten-odd seconds later, Fu Qingyang saw a notification pop up on his phone screen:

[You have been removed from the group chat]

...

When Zhang Yuanqing awoke, it was already dusk.

He propped up his weary frame and sat up, glancing down at his chest; the penetrating wound had long since healed, leaving not a single scar.

The wounds and bruises across his body had vanished without a trace.

His condition had recovered to thirty or forty percent, but he was starving... Dizzy and lightheaded, he rose, shed his tattered clothes, grabbed a dry T-shirt, underpants, and a towel, and crept carefully to the door, turning the lock on the deadbolt.

He cracked it open a sliver, listening for any movement in the living room.

Outside it was deathly quiet; neither maternal grandfather nor grandmother were home.

At this hour, his idle grandfather was likely out strolling, chatting with acquaintances in the compound, while his grandmother had gone to the wet market to buy ingredients for dinner.

Zhang Yuanqing quickly slipped into the bathroom, washed the blood and grime from his body, then returned to the bedroom with a mop, scrubbing the floor clean of bloodstains and the human-shaped outline congealed from blood, sweat, and water.

Then he stuffed the tattered clothes into a trash bag, went out and downstairs, and tossed them into the building's garbage pit.

With all that done, Zhang Yuanqing, now fresh and clean, headed straight for the Braised Chicken Rice shop outside the compound, ordered three portions, and caught a distinct flash of envy in the boss's eyes.

While waiting for the food, he couldn't wait to pull out his phone, disable airplane mode, and only then discovered a missed call from Fu Qingyang.

As per habit, he first messaged Auntie Xiaoyuan the news of his victory, then scrolled through the congratulatory texts one by one.

From Xie Lingxi's "Big Brother is so amazing," to Da Jiba's "Holy shit, you little bastard are heaven-defying."

From Li Dongze's "Oh my God," to Guan Ya's "Congratulations, congratulations, henceforth eel for hunger, abalone for lust."

This woman, her dirty jokes getting more outrageous by the day... The model student Zhang Yuanqing replied to Guan Ya with a bashful emoji:

"I'm still a kid, I don't understand what you're saying. Hmm, Master Bao, are you free tonight? I'm hungry."

Then he opened the White Tiger Guards group chat and saw the message where Fu Qingyang @ed him:

[Fu Qingyang: When you wake up, remember to come to Fu Family Bay to retrieve your Yin Corpse.]

[You Feng Lai Yi: Long live the Leader!]

[Qi Cilang: Long live the Boss!]

[Xiao Naofu: Thanks, Leader!]

[Heng Sao Tian Xia: Thanks, Leader!]

Even the usually silent White Tiger Guard members sent messages saying, "Thanks, Chief."

Huh? Why is no one talking about me? Am I not the protagonist today? Zhang Yuanqing felt a twinge of dissatisfaction and scrolled up through the chat history.

[Fu Qingyang: One million bonus each, not counting the mid-year or year-end bonuses.]

"!!!"

Zhang Yuanqing opened his mailbox; sure enough, he saw a text notification of a one million deposit.

[Yuanshi Tianzun: May the Centurion live a thousand autumns and ten thousand years, unifying the martial world; mandated by heaven, may his fortune and life be eternal.]

"Thanks, Boss" kowtow emojis flooded the screen.

[Seventh Brother: I'm done for, I can't out-sycophant him.]

[Little Axe: ...]

[Phoenix Arrives: Yuanshi Tianzun, don't you have the pride of a genius?]

[Yuanshi Tianzun: Beneath the Centurion's blazing holy light, this firefly glow of mine is scarcely worth mentioning.]

After sending it, Zhang Yuanqing saw Fu Qingyang send an exclusive red packet to him.

[Fu Qingyang: Don't misunderstand, this is the champion's reward. I don't encourage brown-nosing; everyone, don't follow suit.]

[Phoenix Arrives: ...]

[Seventh Brother: ...]

[Little Axe: ...]

Exiting the group chat, Zhang Yuanqing eagerly opened the forum, wanting to see the official Walkers' evaluation of him.

This was the main event.

...

In the dimly lit bedroom, Zhu Rong, dressed in a long skirt, leaned lazily against a single sofa, her slender jade legs crossed.

She gazed at the young man in the room, smiling gently:

"Give me his blood."