Chapter 237: Return to the Spirit Realm

Chapter 237: Return to the Spirit Realm

"Fu Qingyuan and the Primordial Heavenly Venerate—one of them must die..." Kou Beiyue gasped, pressing further:

"What plan do you... colleagues have? How do you intend to hunt down the Primordial Heavenly Venerate?"

Blood-Stained Bun stared at Kou Beiyue—handsome of face, sharp of gaze, like a young wolfdog—and fell into silence.

A chill ran through Kou Beiyue's heart; he wondered if his excessive concern had aroused the other's suspicion.

Just then, he watched Blood-Stained Bun's gaze shift from gravity to pity, and the man sighed:

"Beiyue, I just told you—this year's summit is being held in Jiangnan Province, to discuss how to hunt down Order-class Professionals... it hasn't even started yet!"

Oh, right, it hasn't started... Kou Beiyue realized at once, his face burning slightly.

He awkwardly changed the subject:

"That summit—how does one attend? Could we go just to see the excitement?"

Kou Beiyue wanted to use this thread Blood-Stained Bun provided, to try infiltrating the enemy's ranks and gather intelligence for the Primordial Heavenly Venerate.

He had now reconciled with his parents; the family had returned to Jinshan City. The three hundred thousand yuan in compensation allowed his physically worn father to recuperate for a year and a half without worrying about livelihood.

These past days, his parents' only occupation was clutching the explanatory pamphlets issued by the Public Security Bureau, carrying a case of milk, visiting every relative they had.

Though the murderer who killed their daughter remained at large, being able to clear the scandal and restore their son's innocence—for humble folk like them—was treatment akin to being reborn.

Therefore, Kou Beiyue felt deep gratitude toward the Primordial Heavenly Venerate. If the chance arose, he would surely risk his life to repay this kindness.

Blood-Stained Bun pondered for a few seconds, his eyes flickering, and smiled:

"Just watching the excitement won't do, but you can participate—so long as you take part in the mid-year Slaughter Dungeon, you can attend the summit. Of course, you're an independent cultivator; you'll need a recommendation from our Spiritual Ability Association.

"If you want to participate, I can arrange it for you."

Kou Beiyue's heart leapt with joy:

"Good, it's settled then!

"But, Bun—aren't you participating?"

Blood-Stained Bun shook his head repeatedly: "My level isn't high enough; I'm not qualified for the Slaughter Dungeon."

Hearing this, Kou Beiyue's face showed astonishment:

"Level not reached? Impossible—you're clearly no weaker than me."

Blood-Stained Bun looked at him with the gaze one reserves for a fool:

"I'm Level 4..."

"Ah? Oh..."

After a stretch of silence, both their phones chimed *ding-dong*, an electronic notification sounding:

"You have an xxx order!"

Kou Beiyue and Blood-Stained Bun instantly entered combat mode, sprinting out of the logistics company, racing toward their little electric scooters.

“Let's handle the real business first. I got a bad review from a user today, damn it,” Ren Xue Mantou complained.

“Oh, a bad review is truly unbearable; a whole day's good mood is ruined. But getting a bad review is still better than making you run up the stairs. There are so many villains in society these days; they order a few bucks' worth of takeout and treat themselves like Empress Dowager Cixi.”

“Just kill that kind of person. I'm going to kill the user who gave me a bad review tonight. Bro, keep at it, work hard delivering takeout, create a beautiful future~”

……

Since he had an online meeting today, and it would run a bit long, Zhang Yuanqing worried his aunt might drop by to play games, or that his maternal grandparents might overhear the meeting content, so he planned to stay at Fu Qingyang's grand villa for a day.

After lunch, Zhang Yuanqing requested a single room and took a two-hour nap.

Then, refreshed and energetic, he rose; a bunny girl delivered a full set of unopened clothing, including casual wear, sweatpants, running shoes, socks, and a box of what seemed to be very expensive underwear.

“You may take a shower; afternoon tea time is coming up soon.”

The tall bunny girl wore a smile, flaunting the allure of a mature beauty to the fullest, and spoke softly:

“Mr. Yuanshi may also draft a menu; the kitchen will prepare it specially for you, be it Chinese or Western cuisine.”

Fu Qingyang's life is truly extravagant to a heinous degree. Draft a menu? How about twenty-year premium abalone... Zhang Yuanqing laughed:

“Food doesn't matter, but I only drink Ice Cola!”

After showering and changing into a set of expensive clothes, Zhang Yuanqing sat at the desk, habitually popping open a sticky note, writing down the preparations he needed to make before entering the Slaughter Instance.

One: Gather materials, refine a Yin Corpse.

Two: Apply to the Five Elements Alliance for diluted Life Essence, and contact the Palace Master of the Slaughter-Stopping Palace to see if he could procure another vial of Life Essence (Concentrated).

Three: Gather sacrificial materials, for a rainy day.

Refining a Yin Corpse is a rigid necessity, needing no explanation.

Life Essence is the same; the experience in the Aphasia Village Instance let Zhang Yuanqing taste the benefits. Diluted Life Essence can treat severe injuries, while undiluted Life Essence can regrow severed limbs.

For a profession like the Night Wanderer, capable of astral projection, a single vial of Life Essence can bring one back from the dead.

Large-scale Slaughter Instances are the most perilous, with the most participants

Crises are guaranteed to abound; the more trump cards prepared, the greater the security.

Third point: Gather sacrificial materials.

Zhang Yuanqing planned to treat this as a contingency measure. The reason it wasn't a trump card but a contingency was because the materials were too damn expensive.

Among the sacrificial materials, there is a core component—an item imbued with the Divine Power of the Sun.

It didn't specify what exactly; anything containing the Divine Power of the Sun would suffice.

Zhang Yuanqing was originally overjoyed, because he happened to possess an artifact imbued with the Divine Power of the Sun: the Demon-Subduing Pestle!

But then, just as he eagerly searched the official database for the other materials, his whole being felt wrong.

The twelve materials mentioned—Yin Jade, Saint-grade Yin Corpse bodily fluids, Bloodstone, Soul Crystal, and so on—were all relatively scarce, precious materials exclusive to the Night Wanderer's Spirit Realm.

The total value reached twenty million.

A single set of materials could bankrupt him... and it still wouldn't be enough!

So he dismissed the notion of trying.

But he had no intention of giving up; the more expensive the materials, the better the sacrificial effect would surely be. Thus, he devised a plan: borrow from the Songhai Branch, and through their channels, procure a set of materials sufficient for a single sacrifice.

If he ended up using the sacrifice inside the Killing Instance, all this preparation would be worth it.

If the sacrificial materials went unused, he could return them to the Songhai Branch upon exiting the instance, and the debt would be wiped clean.

The worst-case scenario: he set up the sacrifice, but died inside the Killing Instance… then he wouldn't have to repay the debt at all. Dead men tell no tales, and dead men owe no debts.

Anyway, no matter how you sliced it, he wouldn't lose out!

Zhang Yuanqing sat at his desk, pondering for a long while, before writing down the fourth item:

Use one Teleportation Jade Talisman.

He planned to enter an instance first, then attempt to use the Teleportation Jade Talisman inside to enter a second instance.

If this scheme worked, then whenever he faced an insurmountable, unresolvable life-or-death crisis in the Killing Instance, he could use the talisman to teleport out of the Killing Instance.

Zhang Yuanqing took out his phone and sent a message to Little Green Tea:

"Girl, set up a meeting with the Palace Master for me. 2 AM, the usual spot!"

Xie Lingxi: "Oh (pouts)."

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. The bunny girl pushed the door open, wheeling in a dining cart.

Watching the curvaceous, lovely-faced bunny girl bustling about setting plates and pouring drinks, Zhang Yuanqing once again marveled at Fu Qingyang's extravagant lifestyle while simultaneously finding him utterly lacking in romance.

Ling Jun had told him in private that Fu Qingyang had many flaws; he liked to play it cool and flaunt his wealth, possessing every bit of the aristocratic scion's pomp, with absolutely no connection to the word "low-key."

But his biggest flaw was his indifference to feminine beauty.

Zhang Yuanqing had nodded in agreement at the time, saying, "Yeah, yeah, keeping so many beautiful bunny girls at home—if it were me, I'd be feasting and making merry every night."

Ling Jun had sneered, "You can feast and make merry right now. With the fame and status of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, you could find a hundred bunny girls. You're just a loudmouthed college student with a lecherous heart but no guts."

Zhang Yuanqing had been furious, because Ling Jun's read on people was terrifyingly accurate!

...

International Building.

The Assistant's Office. Annie, her blonde hair gleaming, sat before a computer composing an email.

She detailed all the intelligence gathered since arriving in China within the email. This included the "negotiation" results between Mr. Bill and that mysterious President, the specific details of the Demon Lord's demise, the whereabouts of the Fallen Holy Grail, and the outcome of the Official Arena Tournament.

Annie was a member of the Goddess Association's Foreign Affairs Department.

Every member of the Foreign Affairs Department was a stunning beauty; pick any one at random and she would draw countless male admirers. Their job was to maintain relations with allied factions, recruit members from unfamiliar factions, and so on.

Beauty was their habitual tactic, but most of the time, the Foreign Affairs members maintained a tantalizingly close-yet-distant relationship with their targets.

High-end seduction is just: you can see it, but you can't have it.

Only when necessary would they invite the target to share a bed, thereby "controlling" the other party to achieve their aims.

"...In my opinion, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable's talent is no less than the Demon Lord's; his future achievements will be immense. The Association has lost the chess piece that was the Demon Lord and should replenish it promptly. I am willing to recruit the Primordial Heavenly Venerable on behalf of the Association. I hope the Association can dispatch someone to take over my duties and arrange another assistant for Mr. Bill."

A target like the Primordial Heavenly Venerate truly requires a shared journey to Mount Wu to achieve the effect of control.

Annie finished writing the email, checked it over several times, and clicked send.

A dozen minutes later, she received a reply from the Foreign Minister:

"We have gathered absolutely no intelligence regarding the Primordial Heavenly Venerate; he rose too quickly, like a comet. His battle record during the Transcendent stage is sufficient to rival that of any major figure in their youth, including the Demon Lord.

"Because of the Demon Lord's death, the Chairwoman is angry to this day; knowing of the Primordial Heavenly Venerate's existence, she will certainly be very interested. I will report to her promptly. Annie, you did well, but please do not be anxious. The Slaughter Instance is about to open, and I believe the opportune moment is to wait for his ascension to Sainthood.

"We can take the opportunity to observe his potential; you know, the Slaughter Instance's score ranking is the basis for measuring a newborn Saint's potential."

Annie, having already purchased the pig-tail novelty prop, closed the email with confidence and rose to head toward Mr. Bill's office.

"Bill, the Minister approved my application. After the Slaughter Instance ends, she will arrange a new assistant for you."

Annie pushed open the office's glass door and said with a smile.

Mr. Bill, sitting on the soft sand of the lounge area, a cigar pinched between his fingers, smiled and said:

"You can perfectly well be both my assistant and serve the Primordial Heavenly Venerate; I do not mind."

Annie's expression turned serious:

"Please do not question my professional ethics."

Mr. Bill shrugged.

Annie and Bill had a proper superior-subordinate relationship, that of assistant and boss.

Bill was a client of the Goddess of Beauty Association; her task was to maintain this client well and handle affairs for him.

Work like maintaining an alliance relationship rarely requires the use of beauty, because both parties share common interests. Of course, neither the Goddess of Beauty Association nor the Merchants' Guild explicitly stipulates that the two parties cannot engage in relations.

However, according to the characteristics of the profession of love and lust, once the service content shifts from handling affairs to handling physiological desires, the relationship between the two will change.

Annie would become the superior, and Bill the subordinate.

Mr. Bill is a shrewd businessman; he would not make such a low-level mistake.

"Then, before you leave me, could you answer my confusion?" Mr. Bill, possessing the charm of a mature middle-aged man, set down his cigar and smiled:

"What task did the Goddess of Beauty Association assign you? Regarding the Demon Lord, I don't feel a dead man who has returned to the Spirit Realm needs investigating."

Annie thought for a moment and said with a straight face:

"The secret task the Association gave me is to find all things related to the Demon Lord, such as the Demon Lord's successor, the Demon Lord's mistress, the Demon Lord's family. Hmm, I don't think this is a secret that needs keeping."

Mr. Bill asked:

"Find things related to the Demon Lord... the reason?"

Annie sighed:

"The Chairwoman had a moment of muddle-headedness and gave a very important item to the Demon Lord. While the Demon Lord lived, the Chairwoman could control him, but the Demon Lord died, and that item vanished without a trace.

"The Chairwoman asked someone to divine it and learned that the item did not return to the Spirit Realm."

"I suppose there is no way for me to know what that item is." Bill laughed.

Annie also revealed a bewitching smile: "That is the secret."

Bill nodded, then continued:

"One would so like to believe—your Chairwoman, so sharp-witted, also has her moments of confusion?"

Annie's expression turned strange in an instant:

"The only time the Chairwoman is ever confused is in bed. I've heard the Demon Lord is a rare man indeed—one who can make the Chairwoman beg for mercy."

"..." Mr. Bill suddenly grew angry, fuming:

"I don't believe it. I refuse to believe any man could accomplish such a thing. The Demon Lord must have used toys—yes, definitely toys!!"

...

Having savored the exquisite afternoon tea, Zhang Yuanqing locked the door, drew the curtains, and produced a teleportation jade talisman.

*Snap!*

He exerted force with two fingers, crushing the talisman.

In the next second, the talisman transformed into a curtain of light, coalescing before him:

[Please select your destination. If traveling to the real world, visualize the scenery of your destination in your mind. If traveling to the Spirit Realm, speak its name and designation!]

Zhang Yuanqing pondered a moment, then spoke softly:

"Jinshui Amusement Park, Designation: 6203."