"I originally planned to have a dance battle with you, maybe throw in some rap too, but you don't seem to be in the best of moods." Uncle pulled a glass of red wine from the void, then plucked out a glass of iced cola. "Go on, what's on your mind?"
Zhang Yuanqing immediately told his uncle everything about the Five Elements Alliance's plan and their absolute determination to claim the Compass of Light.
"Enforce mandatory measures?" Uncle scoffed. "Even if I stood still without moving, they wouldn't be able to lay a finger on me. As for the Succubus, not even evil demigods want to provoke her. The Five Elements Alliance is just blowing hot air."
*Take me along to see what the Succubus is like sometime, Uncle!* Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself.
"Neither the Succubus nor I like the Taiyi Sect Master." Uncle swirled his wine glass, leaning back lazily against the sofa with a smirk. "Because he's a slacker who hides behind the scenes, loafing on the job."
"Huh?" Zhang Yuanqing froze.
The Family Scum's remarks were always rambling, without head or tail. Even as his self-proclaimed true successor, Zhang Yuanqing often struggled to keep up with his pace.
Uncle took a hearty gulp of red wine and grumbled indignantly:
"Isn't it true? We demigods of the orthodox faction fight tooth and nail—even a lustful creature like the Succubus came out to brawl alongside me. But look at the Lord of the Stars. What has he ever done?
"Anyone who didn't know better would think he was just background lore written by some novelist."
Uncle set down his wine glass and shrugged. "So why should I help that slacker become the Lord of the Sun? It's not like he's my true successor."
Zhang Yuanqing sighed. "Uncle, things have come to a point where we have no choice. Backing the Taiyi Sect Master to ascend the throne of the Lord of the Sun is our only option. The Lord of the Sun cannot become a fallen one. No matter how many doubts and suspicions you have about him, once he becomes the Lord of the Sun, he is bound to belong to the orthodox faction."
Uncle put down his glass and looked his nephew dead in the eye. Uncharacteristically for his frivolous self, his expression turned solemnly grave as he asked in a slow voice:
"Yuanzi, if you give up on becoming the Lord of the Sun, the Succubus and I will hand over the fragments of the Compass of Light. But I want to hear those words from your own mouth."
Zhang Yuanqing's lips parted slightly. He wanted to say something, but the words "I'm willing" simply refused to come out.
An inexplicable emotion deep within his heart stopped him.
"See, exactly..." Uncle slipped right back into his devil-may-care demeanor. "I'm a Void demigod. If my true successor can't even reach demigod status, how will I hold my head high in the world?"
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing grew alert. "Uncle, the Grand Marshal seems to suspect our relationship. If the Five Elements Alliance traces it through my identity..."
"Don't worry. When that time truly comes, if you're still too far from being a peak Dominator, I'll compromise. A wise man submits to circumstances." Uncle knew when to yield and when to stand firm.
Uncle sipped his red wine, and Zhang Yuanqing chugged a gulp of cola. The former said:
"Let's talk about the sole-heir Knight. I gave him an ancient Knight cultivation manual. That manual is best honed on the battlefield. With basic mastery, it will allow him to briefly unleash the combat strength of an early stage level-8.
"That is his only hope. If he succeeds, we can prepare to enter the Holy See's treasury. If he fails, there's no need to mention the Holy See's treasure ever again."
*The sole-heir Knight really has it rough. Laying low for half his life, only to end up pulled into an S-rank dungeon...* Zhang Yuanqing silently prayed for Zhai Cai in his heart and let out a sigh:
"Little Fu told me this was caused by the increasing number of bugs in the Spirit Realm. If Zhai Cai dies in the dungeon, months of painstaking planning for the Holy See's treasure will go down the drain. Man proposes, but heaven disposes."
After sighing, he changed the subject:
"Uncle, in five days, I'll be entering the White Tiger Guards' guild dungeon again. Before entering the dungeon, I want to pay a visit to the Secret of the Five Elements dungeon."
He wanted to see Brother Bing, and also meet that Buliang Commander.
The Buliang Commander waist token had been acquired in the "Chaos of the Five Elements" dungeon, and judging from the Tang dynasty scenario he was forced into during the plane attack, that Buliang Commander practiced all five elements simultaneously and was suspected of being a Human Immortal. Piecing these details together made it not difficult to deduce the Buliang Commander's whereabouts.
Uncle raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. "All right!"
Zhang Yuanqing stood up to leave. When he reached the door, he turned back, took out the Black Jade Pixiu, and said:
"Uncle, help me look after this item for a few days."
Uncle cast him a puzzled look. "Why?"
Zhang Yuanqing's expression turned bitter. "My nutrition can't keep up."
...
Over the next few days, Zhang Yuanqing spent his daylight hours at Fujia Bay and returned home after sunset to accompany his maternal grandparents.
Chen Shu and the Family Scum were both unqualified children; in the end, it was his aunt and him who shouldered the burden of keeping the elders company.
During this time, he entered a dungeon once and went on a refining spree with Commandery Princess Yinyao, turning corpses into yin corpses. Among the soldiers of the Juque Army, all whose bodies were well-preserved had been gathered by Commandery Princess Yinyao.
A total of forty-six: thirty-two Extraordinary and fourteen Saints. For a long time to come, cannon fodder would not be in short supply.
Unfortunately, the Imperial Preceptor and Tuoba Guanghe had died with their bodies utterly obliterated, making them impossible to salvage. Even if their intact remains had been recovered, Zhang Yuanqing wouldn't have been able to refine them anyway.
He occasionally helped Li Dongze handle cases in Songhai. Ever since the catastrophe caused by the disappearance of merit points, although the public had "accepted" the viral infection explanation, the existence of people with extraordinary abilities had become an established fact known to the masses.
Consequently, cults began taking root and sprouting, spreading among student groups, worker groups, middle-aged women's circles, and idle drifters.
Some were scam operations using the promise of gaining superpowers as bait to defraud money, while others were founded by evil classes seizing the opportunity to expand human influence.
The former were handled by regular law enforcement, while the latter were left to the official organization.
Low- and mid-tier Spirit Realm walkers dashed from case to case every day, working overtime to the point of exhaustion, bidding a complete farewell to their peaceful, leisurely days.
Whether on the official side or in the evil faction, people were dying daily.
The forum saw battle reports and obituaries posted every day; fewer and fewer people cracked jokes, posted memes, or engaged in casual banter.
Chaos had already arrived!
It was just that Zhang Yuanqing had gradually drifted away from the joys, sorrows, lives, and deaths of these lower-tier figures. His gaze was fixed upon games and struggles at a higher tier.
...
The Xiahou family.
A massive drone measuring roughly four meters flew slowly above the family residential compound, its four rotor blades emitting a piercing buzz.
Xiahou Aotian, who had been hanging in the sky for four days, gritted his teeth and said:
"Old thing, once you've fully recovered your vitality, we'll storm the residence and force the Ancestor to kneel and admit his wrong."
From within the black iron thumb ring, the old fangshi sneered coldly:
"A path to your own doom! Don't drag me down with you."
Even in the era lauded as the "Immortal Qin," experts of the Human Immortal rank were rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, figures capable of infiltrating the palace to assassinate the First Emperor.
"Old thing, do you think the Ancestor treats me like this because he fears my potential?" Xiahou Aotian asked.
The Qin dynasty fangshi sent mental fluctuations:
"You aren't worthy!
"To a certain degree, the Xiahou Ancestor has been extraordinarily lenient toward you—lenient to an extent that surprises me.
"If one of my own descendants spoke insolently time and again, this old man would have purged the clan already."
Xiahou Aotian straightened his expression, looking thoughtful. "So I've been treating the Ancestor as an imaginary enemy all along."
Seeing this, the Qin dynasty fangshi couldn't help feeling a measure of relief.
He could understand why the Xiahou Human Immortal was lenient. This descendant possessed peerless talent and limitless potential, but what was truly rare was that he possessed the pure, innocent heart of a child.
Obsessed with academics and infatuated with research, in his spare time he only did three things: read web novels, watch anime, and show off before people.
Power, wealth, and female beauty held no allure for him, and worldly social etiquette was entirely beyond his comprehension.
If that wasn't a pure, innocent heart, what was?
Xiahou Aotian was a white lotus blossoming out of the mud of power and desire, even if this particular lotus had been thoroughly insufferable since childhood.
Just then, the thoughtful Xiahou Aotian spoke in a tone of sudden realization:
"So the Ancestor has long since submitted to me."
...The Qin dynasty fangshi did not anger easily, but when it came to Xiahou Aotian, he could never suppress his fury. "Is that your understanding of the Xiahou Ancestor's leniency?"
"Is it not?"
"Hopeless! A piece of rotten wood that cannot be carved."
As they spoke, Xiahou Aotian, still suspended in midair, saw starlight rise in the distance and coalesce into the figure of Yuanshi Tianzun.
"..." For an instant, embarrassment, shame, and mortification flashed across Xiahou Aotian's handsome face.
Zhang Yuanqing swept over, ignoring the several divine senses sweeping up from below, and said, "Why are you still hanging in the sky?"
"The Ancestor is jealous of talent and virtue," Xiahou Aotian declared self-righteously.
"Say less, or I won't be able to bail you out," Zhang Yuanqing snapped in exasperation.
His gaze swept the grounds below, locking onto the area with the densest vegetation in the compound. An old courtyard with white walls and black tiles stood there, its interior shrouded in dense mist that blocked the view.
"Is that where the Xiahou Ancestor is in seclusion?" he asked.
Xiahou Aotian nodded.
*Why do the demigods of Spirit Realm clans all love being shut-ins?* Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself, transforming into a streak of golden light that descended outside the courtyard gate.
He bowed with utter composure, as if having completely forgotten his past friction with the Xiahou family, and called out clearly:
"Junior Yuanshi Tianzun pays his respects to Demigod Xiahou."
From the courtyard came a cool, emotionless voice, drawn out with a lingering tone: "What is it..."
Zhang Yuanqing maintained his bow. "Junior has business with Xiahou Aotian. I ask Senior to accommodate."
"Granted!" the reply came from the courtyard. After a pause, the ethereal, indifferent voice added, "Tell Xiahou Aotian that if he shows disrespect to his ancestor again, this old man will hang him up for a month."
"Junior will inform him." Zhang Yuanqing could barely keep from laughing out loud.
In the air, Xiahou Aotian suddenly felt the Binding God Rope wrapped around him loosen, turning into a graceful trail of golden light that flew into the ancient residence.
He moved his stiff, aching limbs and quickly looked toward the old residence, calling out loudly: "Ancestor, have you long since submit—"
Before he could finish, Zhang Yuanqing, who had returned as starlight, clamped a hand firmly over his mouth and dragged him away toward the distance, vanishing beyond the horizon.
Once far from the Xiahou family's territory, Xiahou Aotian forcefully broke free of Zhang Yuanqing's grip and frowned.
"What do you want with me? Another dungeon? No way, I haven't even announced to the whole clan that I cleared an A-rank dungeon yet."
*Do you even need to announce it? Every time you go show off before the Ancestor, it means you've gained something outside. The Xiahou clan figured it out long ago...* Zhang Yuanqing said:
"I'm taking you somewhere interesting. Of course, if you don't want to go, you can just lend me the ring."
He pointed to the black iron thumb ring on Xiahou Aotian's thumb.
Seeing matters laid out so plainly, the Qin dynasty fangshi took the initiative to speak, transmitting mental fluctuations:
"You're looking for me?"
Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "I need to enter a dungeon to meet someone."
"Who?" the Qin dynasty fangshi asked.
"Possibly the First Emperor!" Zhang Yuanqing said.
Violent mental fluctuations erupted from the black iron thumb ring.
Chapter 888