Chapter 1 The Reprieve

"Di, di."

The yellow light flickered and went out. The probes of the three projection devices slowly retracted, and the holographic projection in the study dissipated.

"Next is waiting for Tianfa's reply. Hopefully, it can be dealt with before I enter the solo Lingjing (mystic realm)," Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself. He saw the door of the study open, and Fu Qingyang, dressed in white, walked in. He glanced at him and said faintly, "Your posture is wrong. You have to straighten your back, look down at a forty-five-degree angle, and have no expression on your face. This will give you more presence and more pressure."

Zhang Yuanqing quickly got up. "Boss, what are you talking about? How can I learn from you? Wouldn't that be usurping power? I just need to follow you. Following you, boss, is where the good stuff is."

Fu Qingyang chuckled, a rare sarcastic tone. "By next year, I might be calling you boss."

*Am I leveling up too fast, making him feel pressured?* Zhang Yuanqing thought.

"There is a bit of pressure." Fu Qingyang returned to his throne. "So I will take a long vacation and enter the White Tiger Army's gang instance to train. You probably won't see me for a while."

The Lord's instance cycle is too long. Since Fu Qingyang was promoted to Lord, he has only entered an instance once, and the next instance is far away. His White Tiger Guard instances have already been cleared, so if he wants to level up, he can only follow the Marshal's example.

"Like the Marshal, enter an instance for a year?" Zhang Yuanqing frowned.

Fu Qingyang looked at him. "You seem to be mocking me!"

Fu Qingyang said coldly, "Who can train in an instance for a year like her? My goal is level eight. With my combat power plus the Swordsman's Cloak, the mortality rate will still be as high as 70%. As for the time, it will be three months at most, one month at least."

Zhang Yuanqing frowned. "When are you going into the gang instance?"

Fu Qingyang pondered. "I will enter the gang instance as soon as Tianfa's compensation arrives. Yuan Shi, I have long had the idea of entering the White Tiger Army instance, but before, you were only a level 4 Saint, and you didn't have the ability to protect yourself against experts, and you were too ostentatious. Too many evil professions wanted to kill you, so I wasn't very relieved."

"Now you are invincible below the Lord, and you have the Five Elements Power Experience Card. You can compete with a level 7 Lord, and you have the ability to protect yourself in front of an level 8 Lord. You are no longer a sapling that needs someone to look after you."

Zhang Yuanqing stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then suddenly took a deep breath and grinned. "Boss, the way you put it, I don't need you to look after me. Just focus on leveling up and don't die in the instance."

*A 70% mortality rate is okay, not a big problem.*

Fu Qingyang nodded. "When I'm not here, the Dog Elder will be watching here. The plants in the courtyard are all his eyes, and when necessary, he will descend through the plants as a medium."

"Also, Tianfa will most likely give a reply tomorrow. You are only willing to return three items, and the price you are asking is a bit high. They will definitely bargain. Just go along with it and don't be too fussy."

"Understood," Zhang Yuanqing nodded.

Fu Qingyang added, "By the way, you and Guan Ya can move here. There are many bunny girls in the villa. They are professionally trained and can provide you with assistance from life to official duties."

*Boss, leave the bunny girls to me with confidence. I will definitely use them better than you,* Zhang Yuanqing complained inwardly.

The next day, Zhang Yuanqing woke up to Xie Lingxi's crisp cry, "Brother, we're back."

He went out in his pajamas and came to the living room, where he saw the Queen and Little Green Tea carrying suitcases, sprawled on the sofa, travel-worn and very unladylike.

"You guys are so slow," Zhang Yuanqing complained.

Driving back to Songhai from Bagui Province should only take about twenty hours. They should have been back yesterday.

"We wanted to have fun too." Xie Lingxi came forward and hugged her brother's arm.

"Was the Pluto matter resolved? Did Tianfa do anything to you?" the Queen asked. Zhang Yuanqing told them about the negotiation process.

"Yay, dividends, dividends!" Xie Lingxi jumped up happily.

Zhang Yuanqing pressed her forehead and pushed her onto the sofa. "You didn't do anything, why should you get dividends?"

"If there's no credit, there's still hard work." Xie Lingxi pouted.

"Well, I originally wanted to give you a Saint-quality item each, but that would make you two too dependent on items, and mechanical weapons are about to become popular, so you two don't lack external assistance..." Before Zhang Yuanqing could finish, he heard Xie Lingxi whisper, "You seem to have forgotten your nickname, haven't you? Item Venerable." Zhang Yuanqing knocked her on the head.

"Five hundred thousand Federation coins per person, that's the decision."

The Queen immediately smiled. Getting money is also good.

She usually spends money lavishly, and her salary and bonuses are barely enough. This trip, she first received one million in stolen money, plus five hundred thousand Federation coins, for a total income of nearly five million.

Zhang Yuanqing was about to distribute the money when his phone suddenly rang. It was a call from Fu Qingyang.

"Hello?" he answered the phone.

"Come to a meeting," Fu Qingyang said.

Zhang Yuanqing perked up. He snapped his fingers and teleported to the next room.

In the spacious and luxurious study, three projection devices were already working. Three fluorescent blue lights projected a large conference table and the participants in front of the conference table, just like that day.

Zhang Yuanqing's body passed through the crowd and sat down behind the desk. His figure immediately appeared at the conference table. Everyone's eyes turned to him instantly.

Elder Miao took the lead and said, "Yuan Shi Tianzun, Tianfa Headquarters has responded." He looked at the Demon Hunter, hesitated for a moment.

The Demon Hunter said loudly, "After discussion by the board of directors, Tianfa is willing to offer a Saint-level rule-type item and a Lord-quality material. You can keep the Thunder God's Seal and the Enchanting Perfume, but you must return the Heart of the Ocean, the Disordered Puppet, and the Sword of Judgment."

The Lord-quality materials changed from three to one. Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a few seconds and said, "Deal."

Osmon and Xia Zuo breathed a sigh of relief. "Can I ask about the attributes of the rule-type item?" he asked curiously.

The Demon Hunter looked at him coldly. "You can choose not to trade, but you don't have the right to choose the rule-type item. We will give you whatever we want."

These words were impolite, but Zhang Yuanqing did not refute them and shrugged. "As long as the level is right."

Rule-type items are not common items. Saint-quality rule-type items are even rarer than Lord items. Zhang Yuanqing didn't think he had the possibility of choosing. Elder Miao immediately said, "After the meeting, please give me the mental loss fee and property loss fee, Demon Hunter."

"Yuan Shi Tianzun, you can give the returned items to Fu Qingyang. If there are no problems, the meeting is adjourned." Elder Miao took the lead in disappearing from the beam of light, and the others left one after another.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately got up, snapped his fingers, and came to the entrance of the basement. The basement had a formation seal, so he couldn't use遁术 (dùn shù, a type of escape magic) to sneak in. He swiped his access card to open the iron door and came to the sixth room on the left.

On the single bed, Pluto sat against the wall, turning his head to look over. "Will I be handed over to Tianfa, or to your Five Elements Alliance Headquarters?"

"It's all the same." Zhang Yuanqing opened the iron door and made a please gesture.

He brought Pluto to the lobby on the first floor, where Fu Qingyang was already sitting on the soft sofa in the living room, waiting.

Zhang Yuanqing opened the gang warehouse of "亡者归来" (Wángzhě Guīlái, Return of the Dead) and took out the "Heart of the Ocean" and the other three items and handed them to Fu Qingyang.

Young Master Qian didn't even bother to look and directly put them into the warehouse. Then he pressed Pluto's shoulder and looked at his confidant subordinate and said, "After the transaction is completed, I will put the items and materials into the White Tiger Guard's warehouse. You can apply for them. I won't be back."

He looked at Zhang Yuanqing. "I will try to leave the instance before October."

After speaking, he turned into a sword light, rushed out of the hall, and soared into the sky.

Zhang Yuanqing stood there for a few seconds before realizing the meaning of Fu Qingyang's last sentence.

October is the deadline for the arrival of his death tribulation.

His throat seemed to be choked by something. He rushed out of the living room. The sky was blue, and that white figure was long gone.

At eleven o'clock in the morning, Zhang Yuanqing received a text message from Fu Qingyang.

"The last two rows of the warehouse have too many Saint-quality materials. Take them in batches."

In the bedroom, Zhang Yuanqing jumped out of bed, came to the desk, and opened the White Tiger Guard's gang warehouse with mixed emotions. He scanned the materials and items in the last two rows while applying for use one by one.

There were forty Saint-quality items. He took them a full three times, filling the floor of the bedroom. With Fu Qingyang in charge, he did not check the quality and directly put them into Little Red Riding Hood. Neither the gang warehouse nor the item bar could hold so many materials.

Then came the four Lord-level materials from the headquarters and one Lord-level material from Tianfa. After the materials were received, Fu Qingyang sent another message.

"Swordsman item"

Zhang Yuanqing immediately opened the gang warehouse. After passing the application, he took out a blood-colored arm guard. After waiting for a few seconds, the item attributes appeared.

【Name: Gauntlet of Despair】

【Type: Armor】

【Function: Potential】

【Introduction: It belongs to a famous one-armed swordsman. The one-armed swordsman was weak and sickly from childhood and had innate deficiencies, so he went all out in every battle, burning his boats. Over time, this arm guard became infected with his will. The swordsman wearing the arm guard doubles the effect of burning his boats, lasting for five minutes. 】

【Note: According to the law of conservation of energy, power will not be born out of thin air. All outbreaks require a price to be paid.】

Burning boats is the swordsman's desperate skill, similar to the Night Wanderer's Howl of the Moon, but Howl of the Moon improves the Night Wanderer's skills, while Burning Boats is an all-round improvement.

Doubling the effect of Burning Boats is a very terrifying buff. This is an excellent item that allows Guan Ya to fight beyond her level.

The price is that after five minutes, she will fall into a weak state. It's enough for Guan Ya to use until level six. Zhang Yuanqing contentedly put it into the item bar. Finally, he applied to Fu Qingyang for that rule-type item.

After being approved, a simple matchbox rolled onto the desk.

*A matchbox, this thing obviously can't be used for fighting. Light a match and burn the enemy with a blister?* Zhang Yuanqing picked it up with a strange expression, held it in his hand, and read the item attributes.

【Name: Little Girl's Matchbox】

【Type: Solid Fuel】

【Function: Wish】

【Introduction: A famous little girl's matchbox. Strike a match and make a wish to the flame, and your wish will come true. This is the rule.】

【Note: The little girl didn't get roast goose and Christmas tree, do you know what that means?】

【Note: Never strike the third match, or you will see Grandma.】

【Note: The matches in the box are refreshed every 24 hours.】

【Note: Although wishes will definitely come true, it will not fulfill any wish for you.】

【Note: When the matchbox fulfills your wish, you must also fulfill someone else's wish.】

When he saw the "Introduction," Zhang Yuanqing's first reaction was, *Damn, I'm rich.*

But he felt something was wrong, because the function of wishing that would definitely come true was too bug-like and completely unreasonable.

When he saw the notes in the second glance, his heart sank.

Obviously, there are restrictions on wishing, but the content of the notes is too general. To truly understand how to use the item, you must put it into the item bar to complete the recognition of ownership.

Note 2, Note 3 and Note 4 are easy to understand. You can't wish more than three times a day, otherwise you will see your dead grandmother in heaven. The number of matches will be refreshed after 24 hours.

As for Note 5, he didn't understand it.
Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun
Lingjing Xingzhe