"Respected Elder Tiaozhan Gaofeng:
"In the wake of the turbulence brought on by the tribunal, the Alliance Leaders have realized that the infighting among the Ten Elders will only bring endless calamity to the Five Elements Alliance. After painful reflection, they have decided to curtail the headquarters' authority and independently establish a judicial body and a supervisory body. I have been personally tasked with overseeing the formation of both departments. You are a highly respected senior—unpretentious, earnest, loyal, and upright. Hereby, I, Fu Qingyang, sincerely invite you to return to the Five Elements Alliance to serve as the Chief Presiding Judge of the Judicial Department."
"Respected Elder Old Man and the Dog:
"Your impassioned words at the tribunal earned my deep admiration; you are an elder of noble character and unyielding integrity. You must already be aware of how events unfolded following Yuanshi's return to the Spirit Realm. As a great man once said: 'Idle boast that the strong pass is like iron, yet today we stride across its summit anew.'
"To us, the Ten Elders are that iron-strong pass. Now, I have crossed that treacherous barrier and seized this opportunity for reform. This was an opportunity Yuanshi forged for me, yet it brings me no joy. The man has passed, leaving only a mess of garbage behind.
"To return to the point: I have already extended an invitation to Elder Gaofeng, hoping he will take up the post of Chief Presiding Judge of the Judicial Department. Yet as you well know, despite his honest and upright nature, he has a disposition prone to bribery and shares deep ties with the Central Court. Therefore, I wish to grant you the second seat in the Judicial Department, so that you may serve as his check and balance."
"Respected Elder Huangsha Baizhan:
"I am very pleased to have the opportunity to work alongside you once more..."
Inside the spacious, luxurious study, Fu Qingyang sat before his computer, his slender fingers typing rapidly as a continuous, crisp clatter echoed through the room.
The date was October 8th, the fifth day after Yuanshi Tianzun returned to the Spirit Realm.
Over the past few days, Fu Qingyang had thrown himself wholeheartedly into establishing the two major departments. He took care of everything personally, forgetting to eat and sleep, almost as if using work to numb himself.
The Nine Elders were nominally supposed to participate and assist him in setting up the Judicial and Supervisory Departments, but for nine peak Dominators, simply not actively obstructing him was already their form of deference to the Alliance Leaders.
Fortunately, Fu Qingyang was exceptionally capable and had at his command a cadre of well-trained White Tiger Guards with outstanding professional skills. They worked overtime to compile lists of members who had resigned from the Five Elements Alliance, assigning them to different posts based on their personalities.
As for elder-level posts, Fu Qingyang handpicked them himself. The four elders who had publicly announced their resignation from the Five Elements Alliance at the tribunal were his top targets, followed by elders who had been sidelined from the core of power, and then elders from Cai Qinhe's faction.
Those elders were now retainers without a master, making this the perfect time to bring them under his banner. Otherwise, it would be difficult for Fu Qingyang to stand against the Nine Elders.
Once the structures of the two major departments stabilized, he would slowly recruit members away from the Nine Elders' factions.
In Fu Qingyang's departmental blueprint, the members of the two departments would primarily consist of Earth Monsters and Scouts. Scouts were sharp and skilled at investigation, while Earth Monsters were unpretentious and upright, making them the best candidates to serve as internal law enforcers.
Lingjun and Huang Taiji had also been brought over by him. Considering that the young gentleman was vulnerable to sexual bribery, Fu Qingyang placed him in the Judicial Department.
Huang Taiji was steady and righteous, so he was assigned to the Investigation Department.
It was worth mentioning that over the past two days, the atmosphere on the forums had done a complete hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. After headquarters posted the announcement stating, "The Alliance Leaders have resolved to separate the Judicial Department and Investigation Department as independent entities, with Fu Qingyang heading their establishment," the grassroots Walkers in the various branches had erupted in fervent celebration.
In their eyes, this signaled the Alliance Leaders' stance—a clear rebuke and reduction of the Nine Elders' power.
It matched the hopes and expectations of the grassroots Walkers.
Overnight, Fu Qingyang became the brightest star in the Five Elements Alliance, winning over vast legions of supporters. People transferred all the admiration and sorrow they felt for Yuanshi Tianzun onto him.
Finishing the final invitation letter, Fu Qingyang closed his laptop and stepped out of the study.
Striding in handcrafted white leather boots, he made his way to the headquarters of the mechanist arts company next door. Scholars were hard at work tightening screws in a bustling fervor, turning out mechanist creations in batches.
Inside the CEO's office, Xiahou Aotian had his legs propped up on the desk, his weight leaning back against the chair. He tilted his head back, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"How long has he been like this?" Fu Qingyang asked the security guard reassigned from the White Tiger Guards.
The White Tiger Guard sighed. "Ever since the tribunal ended. Half-dead, completely listless. He has no interest in anything. Without him playing the clown, work has gotten dull."
Fu Qingyang fell silent. It seemed Yuanshi's death had dealt a heavy blow to this heartless fellow.
It was hardly surprising. In the past, this guy's lifestyle could be summed up in four words: living in isolation.
Psychologically, that is.
He had never felt much belonging toward the Xiahou family. Instead, it was this group of young people who started a business and ran dungeons together who had made him understand the meaning of companions and friends.
And the core of that small circle was undoubtedly Yuanshi Tianzun.
Fu Qingyang stepped into the office and tapped on the desk.
*Knock, knock!*
Xiahou Aotian rolled his eyes over, glancing sideways at him. "What is it?"
Once a person gave up and turned into a couch potato, their entire aura changed, carrying a transcendent air of being detached from all worldly things.
"Borrow a divination prop for me from the Xiahou family head. Dominator-grade. Borrowed today, returned today," Fu Qingyang said.
"Oh," Xiahou Aotian muttered, then closed his eyes to rest his mind.
Without another word, Fu Qingyang walked out and headed to Yuanshi's compact villa.
In the living room, Fu Xue was leaning lazily back on the sofa with her eyes shut, enjoying a massage from a bunny girl. Yet her brow remained furrowed, clouded by a trace of sorrow.
Xie Lingxi had returned to the Xie family and would not be coming back.
Queen stayed secluded in her room, quietly processing her grief.
What Fu Qingyang truly worried about, however, was Guan Ya. Having lost the first man in her life—and her beloved—his older cousin had locked herself in her room these past few days, neither eating nor drinking, cut off from the world.
Fu Xue, who had been unreliable her entire life, had shown rare dependability recently: she did not disturb or offer hollow comforts, simply keeping a silent vigil over her daughter.
"She still hasn't come out?" Fu Qingyang asked, looking down at his aunt.
Fu Xue opened her eyes and waved for the bunny girl to withdraw. She sighed.
"Let her be by herself. When I first divorced your uncle, wasn't I in the exact same state? Feeling like living was pointless, like the whole world had turned gray."
Fu Qingyang said coldly, "Yet if I recall correctly, it wasn't long before you were sleeping with handsome young men outside."
Fu Xue shrugged. "Exactly. There are so many handsome men in the world; someone will always bring you joy. People don't live just for love. Love is merely a spice for life; making money is life's ultimate pursuit."
Fu Qingyang suddenly remarked, "It's still not too late for you to go back and cling to the Miller family's coattails."
Fu Xue rolled her eyes.
"All my assets are tied up in the mechanist company. What's the point of clinging to the Millers? Sigh, Guan Ya is as stubborn as a mule. With Yuanshi returning to the Spirit Realm, it'll take her years to walk out of that shadow. Besides, I can't control her anymore—she's already level five."
On the surface, she appeared calm, but Fu Qingyang could tell his aunt felt a deep sense of sorrow and loss over the young man's death.
Fu Xue picked up her wellness tea and took a sip. "What about you? You've completely burned bridges with the Nine Elders, stripping away two-thirds of their authority. This is a fight to the death. Aren't you afraid they'll orchestrate an assassination?"
For example, selling out Fu Qingyang's movements and intelligence to the Dominators of the evil faction.
That kind of maneuver was routine in Heaven's Punishment.
"Below level nine, anyone who comes is looking to die," Fu Qingyang said flatly, then turned and walked away.
Stepping out of the small courtyard, he pulled out his phone and dialed Zhao Chenghuang's number.
"Chenghuang, borrow a stargazing prop for me from your great-grandfather. Dominator-grade."
"Done!" Zhao Chenghuang agreed without hesitation.
At four in the afternoon, Xiahou Aotian had a White Tiger Guard deliver an Eight Trigrams compass. The stargazing prop was personally delivered by Zhao Chenghuang, arriving in Songhai at eight in the evening.
Putting both props away, Fu Qingyang went up alone to the villa's rooftop.
On the back of a yellow paper talisman, he wrote: *Probability of reviving Yuanshi Tianzun!*
Then he stuck it to the rim of the Eight Trigrams compass.
***
Good Music Hotel.
Inside the large suite at the end of the corridor, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, dressed in a red gown, sat before the vanity. With a wooden comb held lightly in her fair hand, she hummed a brisk melody, elegantly combing her hair.
*Ding!*
The phone on the table chimed.
She set down the comb and picked up the phone to check the message.
[Fu Qingyang: Conference call. Link sent.]
The corner of the Palace Master's lips curled upward. Opening the messaging app, she first accepted Fu Qingyang's friend request, then received the link he sent over.
Tapping the link, her phone interface switched to the conference call.
Pressing the microphone button, the Palace Master chuckled softly. "You finally reached out to me. Two days later than I expected. My, my, did Yuanshi Tianzun's death hit you that hard, making you this sluggish?"
Fu Qingyang ignored her teasing. The microphone icon beside his avatar lit up:
"Hold on. There's one more person."
***
The northwestern Gobi, Soldier Master sect.
Inside a single-story house built of clay and brick, Demon Eye Heavenly King was dead drunk.
After the Soldier Master sect withdrew from the Capital City, the Bewitching Demons had engaged in a continuous two-day, two-night revelry. Though they had suffered heavy losses in the battle, the Five Elements Alliance had suffered even worse.
An internal split had nearly occurred, the Nine Elders had been stripped of their authority, and twelve Dominators had fallen since the end of the tribunal.
Yuanshi Tianzun, whom the three major evil organizations feared deeply, had also returned to the Spirit Realm.
The entire Five Elements Alliance was like that frequently lost swordsman, nerfed slash after slash.
For a long time to come, they would not need to worry about searches and arrests by the Five Elements Alliance.
Only Demon Eye Heavenly King had quietly returned to his quarters, shut the door, and drank alone, drinking himself into a stupor.
Wine did not intoxicate; a man intoxicated himself.
*Ding-dong!*
The phone chimed. Demon Eye Heavenly King opened his bleary, drunken eyes and focused on the screen.
"I am Fu Qingyang. Add me as a friend to discuss how to revive Yuanshi Tianzun."
Demon Eye Heavenly King sobered up instantly. In that moment, he heard his heart pounding wildly and the roar of blood coursing through his veins.
Adrenaline surged uncontrollably.
Without the slightest hesitation, he copied the phone number and added him as a friend.
Fu Qingyang promptly sent over a link.
Demon Eye didn't even pause to consider if this might be a trap. He tapped it directly, and the phone interface jumped to the online meeting room.
Only two people were inside the room: one was Fu Qingyang, whose avatar was a selfie of himself in a white suit, and the other was a woman wearing a red gown and a silver mask.
The third was Demon Eye's own cartoon avatar of the Three-Eyed Boy.
The moment Demon Eye joined, he heard the woman in red scoff with a chuckle. "What a childish avatar."
Fu Qingyang, on the other hand, said indifferently, "A pleasure working with you."
Only Demon Eye understood what he meant. The Soldier Master sect had been able to seize the window when the Nine Elders, Alliance Leaders, and Sect Master were away from reality to launch a surprise raid on the Capital City precisely because they had Fu Qingyang acting as their inside man.
Ignoring both of their remarks, Demon Eye Heavenly King swiftly retrieved a sound-dampening prop before speaking with undisguised urgency:
"You can revive Yuanshi Tianzun? How! Fu Qingyang, if you dare deceive me, I will personally come to Songhai and tear you to shreds."
Although his level had not advanced, his Eye of Bewitchment had undergone a transformation.
Even an expert as formidable as the Fear Heavenly King would suffer an agonizing loss of spiritual control and a tremendous weakening if caught under the gaze of that Eye of Bewitchment.
If it was like that for higher levels, then for Spirit Realm Walkers of the same level or lower, a single glare was basically enough to send them back to the Spirit Realm.
Demon Eye's Eye of Bewitchment, like Fu Qingyang's Skill Approaching Dao, was a god-tier technique capable of slaughtering Walkers of the same level with ease.
The microphone on Fu Qingyang's avatar lit up, his tone unchanged, perpetually cool and calm: "The Chu family's Mother Goddess's Womb can resurrect the dead, even if both body and soul have been obliterated."
Demon Eye Heavenly King's boiling blood instantly turned cold. In a heavy voice, he said:
"The condition for using the Mother Goddess's Womb is that a blood relative must be sacrificed, and sufficient flesh and blood rich in spiritual power must have been left behind while they were alive.
"If Yuanshi Tianzun's parents are still alive, I can capture them and bring them to the Northwest. But where are we going to obtain blood rich in spiritual power?"
Just as he finished speaking, the red-gowned woman's microphone lit up:
"I possess a flesh-and-blood clone of Yuanshi Tianzun."
Demon Eye Heavenly King heard his heart pound wildly once again. Holding down the microphone button, he asked, "R-really?"
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter hummed in affirmation.
"I can send that clone over. The problem is, the Northwest is the Soldier Master sect's territory, guarded by the Four Heavenly Kings. Reviving Yuanshi Tianzun inside a den of wolves carries far too much risk.
"Furthermore, while Asura is asleep, an expert of his caliber perceives every move within the stronghold. You had better find a way to smuggle the Mother Goddess's Womb out of the Soldier Master sect."
Fu Qingyang chimed in, "I convened the two of you tonight precisely to discuss the specific details. I already used stargazing and divination props beforehand to calculate the outcome; the operation to revive Yuanshi Tianzun will proceed smoothly. However, because it involves the upper echelons of the Soldier Master sect, the result might not be entirely accurate."
*Surprisingly reliable...* Hearing this, Demon Eye Heavenly King felt greatly reassured. He said:
"Fear Heavenly King runs around all day. Longing for freedom as he does, he won't let himself linger in one place for long. As for Asura, he won't care. To him, we are all ants, and Yuanshi Tianzun is an ant among ants.
"Would you care about the resurrection of an ant?"
He wouldn't even bother rejecting an ant.
While Yuanshi Tianzun was a thorn in the side of the evil organizations, that was only true relative to Dominators and Saints.
Demigods did not care about Yuanshi Tianzun's life or death, let alone Asura, the paramount powerhouse among demigods.
"What about Silver Moon, Ghost Blade, and Miejue?" Fu Qingyang asked.
Demon Eye Heavenly King pondered for several seconds before replying:
"We just need to lure them out of the Northwest. When Silver Moon's parents were young, they were smuggled into the Free Confederation and imprisoned on a plantation as slaves for their entire lives. What he hates most in this world is someone calling him a slave. He prides himself on personal freedom and claims no one can be his master—he even dares to curse Asura.
"To deal with him, all you need to do is make a phone call and say: 'Vile offspring of lowly slaves, roll over here and die!'
"He will lose all reason and come to fight you to the death."
"A good idea," Fu Qingyang nodded, giving his affirmation.
Demon Eye Heavenly King continued, "As for Ghost Blade, it's even simpler. Send him a challenge scroll, and he will accept the fight."
"And what about Heavenly King Miejue?" the Palace Master asked.
Demon Eye Heavenly King thought for a moment. "Miejue is bloodthirsty by nature; if three days pass without shedding blood, his entire body feels miserable. Tomorrow happens to be the third day. I just need to tell him that a small military unit has recently infiltrated the Northwest, and he will charge over in excitement."
Fu Qingyang and the Palace Master fell silent for a moment.
Their greatest headache had been figuring out how to revive Yuanshi Tianzun in a den of wolves and pull off an unhurried retreat right under the noses of Asura and the Heavenly Kings.
Who would have thought it could be solved just like that?
Indeed, having an inside man was truly wonderful.
Chapter 643