"The President also asked me to hand this item over to you." Diana's voice broke through Zhang Yuanqing's train of thought. Looking in the direction of her voice, he saw the Minister of Foreign Affairs take out a palm-sized disc.
The disc's face was carved with the celestial constellations, the yin-yang trigrams, and densely packed tadpole script. A single glance was enough to make one's head spin, one's vision blur, and one's mind descend into chaos.
As a Day Wanderer, Zhang Yuanqing was entirely unaffected. He scrutinized the runes on the surface. "An astrological item? No, it's countless times more intricate than my Great Luo Astrolabe."
"This is a rule-based item the President traded for from that Lord of Stars using a Shard of the Compass of Light," Diana said.
Zhang Yuanqing's spirits lifted as a surge of interest took hold. He picked up the heavy bronze disc and read the item information:
[Name: Turtle Shell Diagram]
[Type: Tool]
[Function: Deduction]
[Description: A component of the Yellow River Chart and Luo River Inscription. Born in antiquity, the Turtle Shell Diagram corresponds to the stars in the heavens and accords with the yin-yang trigrams. It can forecast the evolution of events over a period of time in the near future. The prophesied content cannot be disrupted, concealed, or misled.]
[Remarks: As the saying goes, things must not exceed three; exceeding three spells disaster!]
After reading the item attributes, Zhang Yuanqing placed the Turtle Shell Diagram into his inventory to claim ownership. When he retrieved it again, an understanding of its functions and price came naturally to him.
The Turtle Shell Diagram could foresee good and bad fortune within the next fifteen minutes, relaying it back to its master as a complete, vivid vision.
The visions were free of fragmentation, blurriness, or cryptic symbolism.
For instance, if within fifteen minutes Zhang Yuanqing were to be favored in bed by the beauties of the Association of God of Beauty, that would count as good fortune! Who bedded him, how many joined in, from taking off clothes to putting on protection, from squats to hip thrusts—every detail of the process would be crystal clear.
The predicted visions could not be disrupted, misled, or obscured by any power—unless the target of the prediction held the status of a demigod.
At the Dominator stage, even a peak Dominator had no way of influencing the vision.
The price of the Turtle Shell Diagram was this: for every three predictions, the fourth would bring an omen of extreme calamity upon its master.
An omen of extreme calamity did not mean certain death; by properly utilizing life-saving measures, one could mitigate the danger and keep their life.
"What a treasure! It expands the margin for error—a blessing for high-end players!" Zhang Yuanqing was reluctant to part with it. The Turtle Shell Diagram could drastically improve one's survival rate in S-rank dungeons.
After all, S-rank dungeons afforded virtually zero margin for error; a single mistake meant the difference between life and death.
Yet if one could make three mistakes, the outcome might be entirely different.
*Sigh. If only they'd given this to me two months earlier, I might already be Level 9 by now...* Zhang Yuanqing shook his head with regret, feeling as though fate were toying with him.
When he needed it, it hadn't shown up.
Now that the momentum had shifted and the window had passed, here it was!
*Or maybe I'm being toyed with by the Taiyi Sect Master!* Zhang Yuanqing grumbled internally.
He stowed the Turtle Shell Diagram away and said, "Minister Diana, I've shared everything about my experience on Paphos Island with Annie. You can draft the dungeon guide now, though I doubt a guide will be of much use. Since matters here are concluded, I'll take my leave."
With a sharp snap of his fingers, he dissolved into starlight and vanished.
...
New York County, Heaven's Punishment branch.
In the Chief Prosecutor's office, Zhai Cai sat on a leather sofa with his legs crossed, wrapped in a black mink coat, gently swirling a glass of mizuwari.
His female assistant, An Dieqi, whose hairline was slightly high, held a stack of files and spoke in a steady, confident cadence:
"In addition to the aforementioned items, our company requires a five-percent cut of all profits generated by the Heaven's Punishment branch in New York County. If you agree, the big boss can assume office today."
Winnie Berrent didn't even listen, completely ignoring the assistant. Looking at Zhai Cai as he swirled his tumbler, she said:
"I won't agree to your terms. Your appetite is too big, and headquarters won't sign off on it. Besides, I find this pointless. Once you take up your post in the New York County branch as head of the Enforcement Department..."
She hinted, "There will be plenty of ways to make money."
Her meeting with Zhai Cai today was on behalf of Heaven's Punishment headquarters to recruit him as the Chief Executive Officer of New York County.
During the disaster where Morality Points vanished and demigods besieged the Sea Emperor, the official faction in New York County had suffered devastating blows. Over the past two months and more, the ranks of low- and mid-tier Spirit Realm walkers had been gradually refilled.
Yet when it came to Dominator-tier titans, Heaven's Punishment headquarters had never found suitable replacements.
—The rampage of the Twin Gods of Wind and Thunder had inflicted heavy casualties on Heaven's Punishment headquarters.
At this moment, Zhai Cai—having returned from an S-rank dungeon, reached Level 8, and seen his strength skyrocket—entered Heaven's Punishment's sights.
Following initial contact, Zhai Cai showed an inclination to join Heaven's Punishment, leading to today's negotiations.
"Not the same!" Zhai Cai took a sip of his whisky and chuckled. "What headquarters officially promises is legitimate, reasonable income. Grabbing benefits through one's position is illegal and leaves you open to having scores settled later on."
Winnie countered coldly:
"Headquarters can grant it today and revoke it tomorrow. Never expect politicians to keep their word. On the other hand, under-the-table profits are unspoken rules. As long as your status stands, no one will touch you."
Zhai Cai pondered for a moment, then shrugged. "You've convinced me."
At that moment, both looked toward a corner of the office. Dazzling starlight welled up, and Yuanshi Tianzun stepped out from the glow.
Seeing that it was him, the tension in Zhai Cai and Winnie dissolved.
Winnie smiled. "What brought you here? I heard you went to the headquarters of the Association of God of Beauty in Windy City a month ago. You're out of the dungeon so quickly?"
Toward this prodigy of the Second District, she harbored immense goodwill and regarded him as a friend.
Accepting the chilled cola that An Dieqi handed him, Zhang Yuanqing grinned:
"Heaven's Punishment really is well-informed. I just came out of the Association of God of Beauty's guild dungeon, and I'm already Level 8!"
Level 8... Winnie and Zhai Cai stared blankly, momentarily stunned.
Though young, they had been Spirit Realm walkers for years, braving perils across the Spirit Realm to reach their current standing. Yet Yuanshi Tianzun had taken merely a single year.
The gulf between them defied description.
Looking at Yuanshi Tianzun, whose gaze was deep and steady and whose demeanor had grown increasingly poised and distinguished, Winnie's mind drifted for a second, recalling her beloved lover.
Back then, he too had been brimming with such vigor and promise, yet now he lay buried beneath the yellow springs.
"Just looking at you pisses me off!" Zhai Cai curled his lips and put down his tumbler. "You two reminisce. I'm leaving."
"I came looking for you," Zhang Yuanqing said, glancing at him.
"Looking for me?" Zhai Cai pointed at himself, utterly skeptical. "You came to the Heaven's Punishment branch to find me? Did you stick a tracker on me or something?"
Zhang Yuanqing didn't answer. He produced a music box and lifted the lid, allowing clear, spring-like chimes to reverberate through the room.
Once the soundproofing barrier was set, he said:
"Sir Knight, I'd like to ask a favor of you, though I don't know if you're capable of doing it."
"If you want help, just ask. You could skip the second part; it sounds like a challenge." Zhai Cai sat back down and took a sip from his glass. "Let's get this straight first: if it's too dangerous, I'm not doing it."
*Where did your chivalric code go? Shouldn't the proper response be: 'As a Knight, even if it means climbing mountains of blades or plunging into cauldrons of boiling oil, name it and I won't hesitate!'?*
Zhang Yuanqing scoffed inwardly, but kept his expression steady and calm. "I want to hunt down the Protectors of Dark Night Rose, but they're under the concealment blessing of Taiyin, so I can't lock onto them."
"Looking for people?" Zhai Cai turned to Winnie. "If it's finding people, you should turn to Minister Winnie. New York County has a rule-based item called the Eye of the Sky. You served here before, so you know that yourself."
Winnie shook her head. "The Eye of the Sky is a Dominator-tier rule-based item, but as far as I know, Dark Night Rose's Protectors have the concealment blessing of the Lord of Taiyin. The status is too high; even the Eye of the Sky can't locate them."
If the Eye of the Sky could pinpoint Dark Night Rose's Protectors, the Five Elements Alliance would have borrowed it long ago.
Zhai Cai gave him a look that said, *If even a rule-based item can't do it, what makes you think I can?*
Zhang Yuanqing said, "I have an idea, but I need to clear up two things first. One: with that item, can your power of rules encompass the entire globe? Two: does your level of control over that item allow you to pull it off?"
"Technically, yes, but what are you planning?" Zhai Cai asked warily.
"I need you to establish a rule: globally, no one may bestow or receive the blessing of Taiyin." Zhang Yuanqing laid out his audacious plan.
"Piss off!" Zhai Cai rejected the audacious plan without a second thought. "Are you trying to get me killed? I'm a mere Dominator—what right or qualification do I have to restrict a demigod?"
Normally, rules laid down by a Knight could not constrain beings of higher status than oneself, but neither would they suffer backlash—at most, the rule would simply fail to take effect.
Yet with the Paladin Armor, things were different. That was a demigod item possessing administrator authority; it could genuinely succeed... but that was by no means fortunate. The armor had sufficient status, but the person wielding it did not.
The only outcome would be the demigod being momentarily checked, followed by him dying from the backlash and returning to the Spirit Realm.
"What if I told you that all the demigods have entered a dungeon?" Zhang Yuanqing said.
Zhai Cai hesitated. "In that case, it would merely dispel the demigod's residual power in reality. I might suffer horrific injuries, but my life wouldn't be in danger. But why should I take such a risk for you?"
Zhang Yuanqing went straight to the point: "Two Dominator-quality items."
Zhai Cai stood up and grasped his hand. "Good brother! Even if it means climbing mountains of blades or plunging into cauldrons of boiling oil, I won't hesitate for a second!"
"What an exemplary knight you are!" Zhang Yuanqing curled his lips. "You'll get the items afterward."
As long as they successfully hunted down the Protectors of Dark Night Rose, there would surely be far more than just two Dominator-quality items.
Next, Zhang Yuanqing turned toward Winnie and said, "I'd like to borrow the Eye of the Sky. What compensation do you require?"
"No compensation needed," Winnie replied with a smile. "I can take the liberty of lending the Eye of the Sky to you, so long as headquarters doesn't find out. The only thing you must be careful of is not losing it."
"You truly are a generous superior," Zhang Yuanqing said, bowing slightly.
He knew Winnie was extending goodwill, and his response signaled to her that past ties had not been forgotten.
...
Fujia Bay Villa.
In Fu Qingyang's study, Zhang Yuanqing sat before the computer, logged into Fu Qingyang's account, and used top-level authorization to comb through files on Dark Night Rose's Grand Protector.
Among the Protectors of Dark Night Rose, the only one whose Spirit Realm ID he definitively knew was the Grand Protector, "Shanhe Yongcun."
The operational radius of the Eye of the Sky was a single city. Consequently, he had to narrow down the Grand Protector's approximate vicinity before using the rule-based item to locate him.
And when it came to the Grand Protector's movements and intelligence files, the Five Elements Alliance had certainly compiled records.
Soon enough, from the records, Zhang Yuanqing identified three cities suspected to house the Grand Protector's strongholds: two in the northwest and one in the north.
As for the headquarters of the Church of the War God, a favored haunt of Dark Night Rose's Protectors, Zhang Yuanqing disregarded it completely.
The reason was simple: Asura and Heavenly King Fear had both entered the Sun Dungeon, leaving the Church of the War God with few Dominator-tier powerhouses. The official organizations could very well seize the opportunity to strike and wipe out the Church of the War God's stronghold.
What had once been a sanctuary was no longer safe.
"With Ling Tuo inside the dungeon, the members of Dark Night Rose will surely stay low and bide their time. Holing up in a stronghold to wait for news is their best option. The Grand Protector is very likely somewhere in one of those three cities."
"I need to find three Dominators to use the Eye of the Sky on my behalf and shoulder the price of three days of blindness. Yinyao, Xiao Yuan, and Lady JoJo are the ideal choices—they're both trustworthy and willing to help."
"If none of the three cities yield any trace of Dark Night Rose's Grand Protector, I'll initiate a carpet search and recruit more Dominators, such as Elder Dog, Elder Gao Feng, and the Dominators from the Benevolence Society..."
...
At eight in the evening, Northwest, YL City.
On the rooftop of an office building in the downtown area, several figures stood amidst the brisk spring chill. One of them wore gleaming golden plate armor and carried a golden straight sword.
The heavy armor gave him a towering, imposing stature.
Resting one hand on his sword, Zhai Cai retrieved a verdant green leaf from his inventory and held it in his mouth. Then he pulled out three vials of concentrated Life Source Fluid and injected them into his jugular vein.
Feeling the surging torrent of vitality rushing through him, he planted both hands on the pommel of his sword, his pupils turning a solemn bronze.
Like a messenger of the Lord, like a general appointed by an ancient monarch, he voiced an immutable decree in a deep, reverberating tone:
"In the name of the Knight, I establish the rule: Above the heavens and beneath the earth, within the four seas, no living creature may invoke the Authority of Concealment, nor shall any receive its protection."
The golden armor and straight sword flared with light as dignified bronze ripples radiated outward.
In the unseen realm, the rule took hold!
Countless bloody fractures split across Zhai Cai's face, as if an invisible force had torn through his flesh.
He collapsed heavily with a loud clang, crimson blood seeping from the joints of his armor.
He had suffered a violent backlash that even the concentrated Life Source Fluid could not mend right away.
Without disturbing him, Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory and brought out the Eye of the Sky.
Thud!
A one-meter-tall cast-iron pillar landed heavily on the rooftop. Hovering atop the pillar was a crystal orb the size of a basketball, containing an eye closed shut.
Zhang Yuanqing looked toward Yinyao, who was dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans:
"Princess, you're up!"
Chapter 954