Over the next period, Zhang Yuanqing led Queen, Little Green Tea, and Li Chunfeng across the various districts of Songhai and surrounding county-level towns, hunting down the evil classes on his list one by one. In just a single day, he killed twelve Transcendent-stage evil classes, earning 230 Reputation points. Adding the 120 Reputation points gained from slaying Bloody Mary, his Reputation score now stood at 500 points.
“Five hundred Reputation points... Sigh, it still doesn't feel like enough. Zhao Feichen's bodyguard wasn't an official Deacon, meaning he rarely went out of his way to hunt evil classes. If it were an official Deacon with deep accumulations, my five hundred points would probably only be enough to kill one person.”
In the living room of Fujia Bay Villa, Zhang Yuanqing lay on the sofa, enjoying shoulder massages and leg rubs from his female teammates.
Massaging his shoulders from behind was Xie Lingxi, while Queen was working on his legs.
“It's plenty, it's plenty! I only have thirty Reputation points,” Xie Lingxi said in a sweet, pampered voice. “Five hundred points will last Brother a really long time.”
Queen said, “I only have 110 Reputation points, and that took several years to build up.”
Unlike Zhang Yuanqing, she had almost never killed Order-faction classes from her own camp. Even when encountering rogue Order practitioners who committed misdeeds, Queen would choose to arrest them and hand them over to the branch.
If she was truly forced by circumstance to kill a rogue Order practitioner, the branch would also offer compensation, which included being permitted to execute captured evil classes.
Ignoring their reassurances, Zhang Yuanqing fell into deep thought.
“Now that Guan Ya isn't around, you've suddenly let yourself go wild,” Li Chunfeng remarked from the side of the living room, standing up for Guan Ya, who had braved life and death with them. He then offered his advice: “If you really want to pull off something big, your best bet is to find an evil-class black market and wipe them all out in one swoop.”
“Evil-class black markets aren't that easy to find,” Zhang Yuanqing said, shaking his head.
Li Chunfeng nudged him. “Can't that son of yours seek treasures?”
“He's my godson,” Zhang Yuanqing corrected, then shook his head. “I already tried that back when I was gathering items. He couldn't detect black markets.”
Black markets certainly had materials and even items, but Little Doubi had never unearthed a single black market during that period. That was because the organizers of black markets set up restrictions to seal off any aura.
And large black markets like Wanbao House had illusions on the outside and guild instances on the inside.
Without real capability, who would dare run a black market?
His tone steady, Li Chunfeng said, “I recall you obtained a treasure-seeking cloak. Do you still have it?”
“Still do...” Zhang Yuanqing nodded.
Because that item belonged to a foreign class and was neither armor nor a weapon, it hadn't been sacrificed to the Hundred Refining Furnace back then. Originally, he had gathered twelve items, plus the spoils seized from the Level 5 Swordsman, making fourteen in total.
Filling the Hundred Refining Furnace's energy had only consumed eight items, leaving six behind, and the Treasure-Seeking Cloak was one of them.
Li Chunfeng countered, “Then why not let your son wear that item and give it a try? You might not find black markets set up by major organizations, but small ones shouldn't be hard.”
Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up slightly, and he nodded in contemplation. “That's indeed worth a try...”
Acting the moment the thought took root, Zhang Yuanqing sat up and exhaled a stream of Yin Qi. It dropped to the floor and materialized into a tiny infant spirit with sparse downy hair.
“Aba~”
Like a pet taken out for a walk, Little Doubi paddled his four limbs happily and crawled all over the place.
“Time to work!” Zhang Yuanqing patted his son's head affectionately.
“Aba aba~” Little Doubi blinked innocent eyes and kept crawling around as if he hadn't understood his master's order.
He's getting smarter and smarter—he already knows how to play dumb. Sigh, he really did have a rough time back then... Zhang Yuanqing felt a twinge of guilt, then said, “Once we finish this stretch of work, I'll let you play video games.”
He mimed the motions of gripping a controller.
Little Doubi stopped dead in his tracks, cocked his head to look at his old father for a few seconds, and suddenly let out a high-spirited “Aba!” Paddling vigorously toward the doorway, he quickly vanished from sight.
“Hah! Even if you got smarter, you've got a kindergarten diploma at best!” Zhang Yuanqing said smugly.
Then he noticed Li Chunfeng, Xie Lingxi, and Queen all looking at him with utter contempt.
“Is Yuanshi bored out of his mind lately? My undercover agents told me he's uprooted over a dozen black markets across Songhai and Jiangnan Province over the past few days.”
Elder Dog spoke over the call with Fu Qingyang in a solemn tone.
“They're just small black markets where Transcendent-stage scoundrels gather,” Fu Qingyang said casually. “It's not as though you old folks care about Transcendent-stage ants anyway.”
“You can't look at it that way. Reputation adds up bit by bit. As you know, September to December each year is a brutal ordeal for Dominators.” Elder Dog's voice was grim.
Before Fu Qingyang could respond, he chuckled and added, “Ah, never mind, let him be. The bigger the ruckus he makes, the more it will intimidate low-level evil classes and keep those gutter rats in line. Just remember to have him keep a low profile after September.”
On the whole, Elder Dog was rather pleased that Yuanshi Tianzun was aggressively cleaning up evil classes in the Songhai region.
Fu Qingyang grunted an affirmative. “I've already warned him.”
“Why is he accumulating Reputation?” Elder Dog's voice suddenly dropped.
Fu Qingyang spoke bluntly: “His expression at the time told me he's preparing to kill Saints from our own camp.”
“...” Elder Dog sighed. “Fine, then.”
This wasn't unusual. Most assertive, prodigal talents consciously accumulated Reputation and Morality Points—the former in preparation for killing Spirit Realm walkers from their own faction, and the latter to ensure that if they ever killed innocent people, they wouldn't end up wanted by the Spirit Realm.
It was just that Yuanshi Tianzun had a prior record, which made his actions particularly sensitive.
After a brief silence, Elder Dog said, “Headquarters called me today, repeatedly verifying whether Bloody Mary was really killed by him. I told them I didn't lift a finger.”
Fu Qingyang said, “They called to verify with me as well.”
“That kid...” Elder Dog chuckled. “Headquarters finds it hard to believe he could single-handedly take down a peak Level 5 Saint. This is a solid, undeniable achievement. Many Transcendent-stage geniuses are merely elites once they ascend to Saint. Headquarters must be thrilled yet anxious right now.”
Fu Qingyang said in a deep voice, “It is also possible that they will pay even closer attention to Yuanshi Tianzun's psychological state and increase their efforts to rein him in.”
Elder Dog sighed, “That's inevitable. Even the Grand Marshal was suppressed back in the day. And even now, she must maintain a degree of separation from the Fu family. The Five Elements Alliance can place supreme power in her hands, but never into the hands of the Fu family.”
Jinshan City.
After lunch, Zhang Yuanqing arrived at Wuhen Hotel by taxi.
“Two hundred thousand in cash!”
He pulled four stacks of bills from his backpack and placed them on the front desk.
Auntie Xiao Yuan put away the cash with a calm expression, though a flicker of joy showed in her eyes. She had always been short on money; the hotel had been running poorly, often failing to make ends meet.
Since Yuanshi Tianzun's arrival, he had given her nearly a million yuan in total.
It greatly eased the team's financial strain.
“I don't have anything going on today, so I'll hang out here for the afternoon.” Zhang Yuanqing naturally rounded the checkout counter and sat down on the recliner Xiao Yuan used for resting, admiring the mature woman's lush, alluring figure.
“Auntie Xiao Yuan, my Reputation has reached one thousand.”
“That much?” Xiao Yuan turned around in surprise, only to catch him staring blankly at her rear. Her face instantly darkened, and she glared daggers at him.
Feeling guilty like a caught thief, Zhang Yuanqing hastily shifted his gaze.
Xiao Yuan gave a soft snort and said, “At the end of August, Master Wuhen will gather redeemers from various places to give a sermon, guiding them toward benevolence. If you have time, you can come listen.”
“Brainwashing?” Zhang Yuanqing resisted instinctively.
Xiao Yuan sneered. “You can think of it that way.”
Sensing that she had gotten a bit sulky, Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly explained, “You know Master Wuhen is an Illusionist, and Illusionists specialize in that sort of thing. It's only natural for me to have misgivings.”
Xiao Yuan said calmly, “Master Wuhen uses his sermons to dissolve the hostility in everyone's hearts and soothe painful emotions. If you want to construe it as brainwashing, so be it. I think listening would do you good. Yuanshi, you're a good person, but you can be very extreme at times. People who are extreme carry no small amount of hostility.”
Handing out the nice-guy card out of nowhere... Zhang Yuanqing nodded. “All right, I'll come when the time arrives.”
Xiao Yuan said gently, “It's also about time you were introduced to everyone.”
In the afternoon, after the peak food-delivery rush ended.
At the same open-air food stall in the old city district, Human Blood Bun warmly received Kou Beiyue and his subordinate.
“Boss, from this day forth, you are my boss.” Human Blood Bun bowed and scraped, wearing an obsequious smile as he ushered Kou Beiyue to a seat.
That Yuanshi Tianzun sure acts fast... Hearing this, Kou Beiyue knew Yuanshi Tianzun had taken care of matters. He raised his chin at once and declared, “When has Kou Beiyue ever shot off an empty promise? My word is always solid as iron!”
Human Blood Bun chimed in hurriedly, “Yes, yes, absolutely! Boss, your word is worth a thousand pieces of gold! Passionate, bold, standing proud, sharing life and death in a single conversation!”
Little Fatty looked at him with displeasure, thinking to himself: Is this guy trying to compete with me for favor?
Human Blood Bun waved over the waiter, ordered grilled skewers and beef pot, then lowered his voice. “Who killed Bloody Mary?”
Kou Beiyue shook his head, looking profound. “That's not something you need to know—”
“It was Yuanshi Tianzun, wasn't it?” Human Blood Bun asked.
“...How did you know?” Kou Beiyue was dumbstruck.
Did you think the Spirit Society wouldn't investigate an incident of this magnitude? Having long understood Kou Beiyue's intellect inside and out, Human Blood Bun bypassed the question and said, “That guy Yuanshi Tianzun has gone on an absolute killing spree lately, destroying over a dozen black markets across Songhai and Jiangnan Province. The freelance classes around Songhai are frightened birds now, too terrified to even step out their doors.
“I knew it—once that kid ascended to Saint, he was bound to be a disaster for freelance classes. Look, the prophecy came true! Beiyue, if the opportunity arises in the future, we can keep cooperating with him. I'm fully committed to having you as my boss.”
Although he spoke in such terms, there was no panic or dread on his face; on the contrary, he was bursting with smug satisfaction.
Human Blood Bun figured that a few more collaborations and a few more sacrifices of Spirit Society cadres would eventually pave the way for his triumphant return to Songhai, earning Gu King's favor.
What was this called? Cultivating bandits to enhance one's own standing.
Moreover, while the kid Kou Beiyue had few virtues, he was fiercely loyal, and he had an extraordinary connection with Yuanshi Tianzun. As long as Human Blood Bun clung tightly to Kou Beiyue's coattails, he wouldn't have to worry about official purges even after returning to Songhai.
Feeling on top of the world, Kou Beiyue patted the baby-faced man's shoulder. “Mantou, stick with me and I won't mistreat you.”
“Naturally, naturally! A toast to Boss!”
As the two clinked their glasses, Good Minister Chooses His Master to Slay reminded them, “If you drink, don't drive. If you drive, don't drink.”
“We ride electric scooters,” Human Blood Bun said.
“An electric scooter is still a vehicle.”
“Hey, are you picking a fight, kid?”
Good Minister Chooses His Master to Slay sighed. “Yuanshi Tianzun is getting more and more terrifying.”
Back in the Transcendent stage, he had also been a seed contestant, a genius. But after ascending to Saint, that aura faded. Although he was still stronger than an ordinary Saint, he was by no means a genius among Saints.
It was like a top student from a small town who looked down on the world in an environment suited to him, only to quickly burn out and become mediocre once he reached the big city.
Most Transcendent-stage geniuses ran into similar dilemmas; only Yuanshi Tianzun continued to surge forward triumphantly.
Little Fatty couldn't help feeling a bit disheartened.
“Anything interesting happening lately?” After several rounds of drinks, Human Blood Bun casually asked.
“It's mid-July right now; everyone is keeping relatively quiet,” Little Fatty said, not bothering about whether Human Blood Bun and Kou Beiyue could understand the deeper implications.
Taking a sip of alcohol, Little Fatty suddenly remembered something, his tone turning serious: “Right, I recently received an internal notice from the Nihility Sect. Quite a few Illusionists in Jiangnan Province and Huaihai Province have mysteriously vanished, suspected to have been murdered, but it doesn't look like the work of the officials.”
“Probably enemies settling scores,” Kou Beiyue said.
“Or maybe people from the Spirit Society's Southern District Branch did it,” Human Blood Bun chimed in.
Neither of them showed much interest in the matter.
Little Fatty knitted his brows tightly. “Not necessarily. The organization instructed us to probe into this matter through our respective channels.”
Having said that, he looked at Kou Beiyue.
The implication was clear: when it came to intelligence, no organization could rival the officials.
“Fine, I'll inquire about it for you.” Kou Beiyue nodded, looked down, pulled out his phone, and began composing a message to ask Yuanshi Tianzun.
Little Fatty watched with an expectant look.
In the glow of the setting sun, Zhang Yuanqing returned to Fujia Bay. Sitting by the stone table in the front courtyard, he took out the parchment given by the old crone.
The ten-day deadline had arrived; the Ghost Mirror was about to become his.
He took out several relatively cheap materials one after another and laid them on the table, when a chime sounded from his pocket, notifying him of an incoming message.
Zhang Yuanqing pulled out his phone, took a glance, and his expression instantly grew grave.
Illusionists in Jiangnan and Huaihai Provinces mysteriously vanishing? The Nihility Sect believes it isn't the work of the officials? After reading through the message Kou Beiyue had sent, his immediate thought was:
Sect Master Chunyang!
Chapter 385