Good idea. Xiaoyao Sword Immortal is an undercover operative for the Five Elements Alliance, so he can completely team up with Jumang to secretly investigate the Pope's relics. It holds up from every angle, and the Covenant of Freedom won't suspect Master Tongtian.
Zhang Yuanqing nodded in agreement with the President's suggestion, then asked, "Where do you think the Holy See's treasure might be?"
Mr. President shrugged. "Could be in the Spirit Realm, or could be in ancient ruins. In the real world, there are occasional secret realms left behind from antiquity—what our country's terminology refers to as grotto-heavens and blessed lands.
"Back then, the Xiaoyao Organization unsealed a certain ruin and nearly unleashed an evil entity from the distant past. Fortunately, that place had plenty of treasures, so they gathered materials to construct a Zoo to contain that ancient malice."
Zhang Yuanqing hurried to ask, "You belong to the Void profession, which excels most at treasure seeking, and you can freely enter and exit the Spirit Realm. Can you find the Holy See's treasury?"
Mr. President shook his head. "Since it requires a key to open, that means the treasury is sealed. I might be able to penetrate the seal, but seals cut off aura and coordinates. The world is vast; it won't be easy to find."
"Not easy to find means it can be found."
"Not easy to find means it could take years, or even decades. Rather than wasting time on that, you'd be better off working hard to collect the Holy Plate."
*Makes sense...* Zhang Yuanqing was left speechless, so he turned to another serious matter. "In a few days, I have to enter a multi-player dungeon. Mr. President, I have a premonition it'll be a Dominator-stage dungeon. What's your advice?"
This was an extremely important issue. First of all, multi-player dungeons differed from solo ones. In a solo dungeon, he could call in backup and summon Zhao Youqing, the Spirit Realm's top powerhouse, to steamroll the run.
Multi-player dungeons, however, teamed up multiple Dominators.
And which Dominator in the Second District hadn't heard of Yuanshi Tianzun's illustrious name? Who didn't know about his connection to Empress Sandao? The moment he summoned the Empress, his identity would almost certainly be exposed.
If he didn't summon her, surviving a Dominator-stage multi-player dungeon with his current power would require going all out, and those signature skills and items would just as surely give him away.
The best option was to have the President pull him out of the dungeon, but doing so would inevitably cause him to drop a level.
"If you don't want to drop a level, there's another way: slaughter all the Dominators in the dungeon. If only you survive, no one will know Yuanshi Tianzun has resurrected. However, if that happens, I'll be punished by the Spirit Realm," Mr. President said.
"I'm different from Empress Sandao. She is an NPC inside the Spirit Realm; her actions are judged by the Spirit Realm as part of normal program operation. I am a player. A player forcibly interfering with a dungeon is like a bug, which the Spirit Realm will scan and purge. If I merely pull you out, the backlash is negligible to me. But if I silence all the Dominators in the dungeon... while the backlash wouldn't kill me, I'd have to pay a heavy price."
Zhang Yuanqing sighed, rubbing his temples in exasperation.
Among the matched Dominators, there were bound to be good people. Indiscriminately slaughtering Orderly Dominators just to hide his resurrection went against his principles.
Yet if he dropped a level, climbing from Level 5 back to peak Level 6 would take at least two S-rank dungeons. Recovering in time before clearing the killing trial would be virtually impossible...
Most fatal of all, November's dungeon was also a multi-player one. If he dropped another level, he wouldn't even qualify to participate in the killing trial.
"I have plenty of items on me. Even if I drop a level, I can still dominate the Saint stage; it'll just make fighting Dominators much harder. As for November's dungeon, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." As Zhang Yuanqing said this, he dropped frantic hints to the President: *Hurry up and think of a solution for me!*
The President patted his shoulder in delight. "Those who take things one step at a time are wise men. We think alike."
"..."
*What use are you then?*
Zhang Yuanqing left the hotel, concealed his figure, donned the Gale Gloves, and flew toward Manhattan.
Returning to the bank building, he took the elevator up to his bedroom. Even now, he had not thought of a sound solution to the dungeon problem.
A peak Saint in dual professions, plus a bound purple-gold set—these factors alone doomed him to enter a Dominator-stage dungeon.
*Careless of me. Had I known, I should have waited until reaching Dominator before upgrading the purple-gold set... Actually, there's another option: enter the dungeon first, and if the teamed Orderly Dominators are all villains, I'll summon Youqing and wipe them all out in one fell swoop. But that can only be a contingency plan; the probability of everyone being evil isn't high...*
Mulling it over, Zhang Yuanqing undressed, stepped into the bathroom, and rinsed himself under the showerhead.
Tonight was supposed to be the day the Wealth Boy Zhang Yuanqing funded his girlfriend with a thousand drops of essence.
As he washed, he put those annoying troubles out of his mind.
*Still, having a girlfriend is great. A girlfriend chases away worries.* He stroked his little head, musing inwardly.
After showering, Zhang Yuanqing threw on a bathrobe and was just about to snap his fingers to Starshift into his girlfriend's room when two dull thumps echoed in his ears.
*Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump-thump...*
Drum-like sounds rang out continuously, growing increasingly violent. The heart in his chest was like an overloaded motor, pounding with a tearing agony.
Clutching his chest, Zhang Yuanqing staggered a few steps and slid slowly down against the wall. His chest heaved visibly, as though something inside were trying to bash through skin and flesh to burst out.
Beneath the bathrobe, his skin rapidly stained pitch black, black veins bulging one after another. His pupils and sclera darkened to solid black as well, while a dreamy nebula emerged between his eyebrows.
The nebula then blurred, morphing toward a face twisted in a mixture of tears and bitter laughter.
The seal on the Illusion God relic had loosened, its evil power corroding Zhang Yuanqing's flesh and soul.
He was well prepared for this. Swiftly grabbing a stack of Evil-Breaking Talismans, he slapped them onto his glabella and chest and ignited them with solar power. Two bursts of dim golden light erupted, dispelling a portion of the mental pollution.
Forcing his mental focus together, he burned through talismans one after another, his willpower coordinating with solar divine power to suppress the mental pollution.
At times Zhang Yuanqing squirmed and rolled on the floor; at times he curled up trembling, or smashed his head against the wall. His sweat glands opened like floodgates, secreting madly.
The Night Wanderer's tenacious mental fortitude and resilience kept him conscious throughout, agonizing in torment.
After who knew how long, the tidal waves of mental pollution finally subsided and then vanished.
The black heart stabilized, fusing even deeper with him.
Sprawled out on his back, every muscle twitching and aching, Zhang Yuanqing paid no mind to his physical exhaustion, instead focusing on the changes brought by the Illusion God relic's further awakening.
The function for modifying Spirit Realm IDs had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.
He could now devour character cards to acquire other people's Spirit Realm IDs. A devoured character card would be permanently stored in the black heart, becoming an enduring alternate persona.
However, this devouring was limited to stripping the ID; skills and inventories tied to the character card were not included.
The sole purpose of this ability was to deceive the Spirit Realm, allowing him to enter and exit the Spirit Realm under the stripped ID's profession and level.
Simply put, if Zhang Yuanqing stripped Brother Red Chicken's character card, in the Spirit Realm's "program," he would register as a Level 5 Fire Demon. When the time came to enter a dungeon, the Spirit Realm would automatically assign a dungeon suitable for a Level 5 Fire Demon.
This ability was, in essence, the pinnacle of the Illusionist's disguise skill—the ultimate form of that ability.
The target of deception had shifted from mortals to the Spirit Realm itself.
"Feels pretty useless..." Zhang Yuanqing muttered, mentally drained.
A few seconds later, as his mind gradually cleared, he suddenly nipped up in a kip-up, his face glowing with excitement.
"I can devour a character card and take over someone else's Spirit Realm ID. If the devoured target has already entered the Spirit Realm this month, I can bypass October's dungeon entirely and not have to enter at all!"
Zhang Yuanqing clapped his hands together. "Perfect!"
*Ah, so tired. Feels like all my strength has been drained. No aiding Sister Guan Ya tonight...* Once the excitement faded, he felt every cell groaning, urging him to sleep immediately.
Zhang Yuanqing fished out his phone and texted Guan Ya: "Hole!"
Guan Ya: "?"
Zhang Yuanqing: "Too!"
Guan Ya: "Get some rest early."
Tossing his phone onto the nightstand, Zhang Yuanqing didn't bother to wipe himself down. He burrowed under the covers and fell fast asleep.
The next morning, Zhang Yuanqing ate breakfast at the Heaven's Punishment staff cafeteria and brought his team members to the office area.
With no outsiders around, Yuan Ting walked out holding a water cup and said, "Want to hear about President Donna's romantic affairs? You know, New York's number one beauty."
"Yes, yes!" Brother Red Chicken nodded vigorously, a besotted expression drifting across his face as he recalled the charming, gentle, and moving Donna Caroline.
Tianxia Guihuo and Zhao Chenghuang also silently perked up their ears.
Sun Miaomiao curled her lip. "A woman like that—could you finish telling her romantic escapades in three days and three nights? No chitchat during work hours."
The moment she spoke, Zhang Yuanqing, Brother Red Chicken, Tianxia Guihuo, and Zhao Chenghuang collectively shooed her away. "Shoo, shoo, shoo!"
Stamping her foot, Sun Miaomiao huffed and stormed into the office.
The vigorous young men huddled around Yuan Ting to listen to Donna's scandalous affairs. This president was truly an extraordinary figure. Ordinary walkers of the Desire profession only used their beauty to please others; she was different—she played with emotions.
She had a gentle disposition and proper conduct, treating others with polite warmth that felt like a spring breeze. She was a woman whose motherly and virtuous-wife traits were maxed out.
When facing younger lovers, she offered gentle whispers of care, tolerating their tempers like a mother, listening to their troubles, and offering encouragement and doting affection.
When facing older lovers, she acted as a dutiful wife—serving hot tea when they arrived, taking their coats, kneading their shoulders and backs when they were tired. If a man wished to confide his worries, she was the most loyal and quiet listener, quietly providing emotional value while never imposing her own opinions.
Her lovers depended on her spiritually above all else, sometimes driving for hours just to share a meal with her and drink a cup of hot tea.
Until she crossed paths with the Demon Lord—the Demon Lord, that lecherous fiend.
Back when that bastard was in New York, he forcibly claimed Donna for himself, punching the Chief Executive Officer, stomping on the Archbishop of the Sea God, and pinning a Dominator from the Dionysus Club beneath his crotch.
He beat Donna's paramours until they dared not voice their rage, then holed up with New York's number one beauty, not stepping outside the room for three days.
"The Demon Lord was truly a despicable, shameless scoundrel!" Brother Red Chicken said, so envious his cells were practically undergoing plasmolysis.
"Bastard!" Zhang Yuanqing chimed in.
Zhao Chenghuang and Tianxia Guihuo wore grim expressions, nodding in agreement.
To think such a peerless beauty had been claimed day in and day out by a lowlife like the Demon Lord.
At that moment, a young woman in business attire entered the Five Elements Alliance's office area. Her pale green eyes swept across the room, and she walked straight toward the Saints.
Zhang Yuanqing found her somewhat familiar. After a moment of thought, he recalled that she was one of the secretaries from Winnie's office.
"Director Winnie invites everyone over for a meeting in Conference Room 3."
"Nicola, did something happen?" Guan Ya noticed that the secretary's expression was slightly off.
Chapter 690