Chapter 1 A Villa in Fujiawan

The opulent and spacious dining room of a villa in Fujiawan. Zhang Yuanqing sat at a round table crafted from Zitan wood, perched upon a high-backed Zitan chair, also hand-carved with dragon and phoenix designs.

"This furniture is beautiful. Where did the boss steal it from?"

"I brought it out of the Lingjing. It's an antique from the Song Dynasty. I've been back in the country for a few years now, and I'll slowly replace the things at home with those of a more Chinese style."

"The idea is good, but sitting at a Chinese-style dining table eating caviar and pan-fried cod, using a knife and fork, feels weird. Hmm, the tuna belly is good, can I have a piece?"

"It's hard to change tastes in a short amount of time. Adjust slowly. I remember there's a bluefin in the freezer that hasn't thawed yet. I'll have the bunny girl take care of it for you later."

"Thanks, boss. I remember Lingjun saying you don't like local cuisine because he tricked you into eating Sichuan food in middle school, and you spent a day as a human flamethrower?"

"I seem to recall that the bluefin is all gone."

"That's too much. Lingjun is really too much. If I have the chance, I will definitely fly to BJ to teach him a lesson on your behalf. Speaking of which, Lingtu's matter has already come to an end. Why hasn't he returned to Songhai yet?"

"It seems Victoria won't let him come back."

"I heard the guide…Lingjun mention it before. Sounds like an elder of the Taiyi Sect?"

"Lingjun received her care during his childhood."

"And then Lingjun 'filially devoted' her to his bed?"

As soon as Zhang Yuanqing finished speaking, Guan Ya kicked him under the table.

At the dining table, the Fu siblings and Zhang Yuanqing enjoyed a lavish dinner. This was their first meal after leaving the instance. The three chatted idly as they ate, creating a harmonious and beautiful family dinner.

Most of the time, Zhang Yuanqing was chattering away, Fu Qingyang maintained a cold expression but answered every question, and Guan Ya played the part of a virtuous wife and loving mother, smiling gently as she poured wine for her cousin and cola for her boyfriend, hoping that life would continue like this, peaceful and serene.

"Oh, right, Xiahou Aotian got a manual on mechanical arts. Boss, you can use the armed White Tiger Guards, but you have to provide the materials yourself. That kid is dirt poor." Zhang Yuanqing remembered this.

Fu Qingyang glanced at him. "Do you know why the Lingjing families can grow and thrive? Besides the fact that the ancestors of these families were the first Lingjing Xingzhe, comparable to the Alliance Leader, the most important thing is that the three Scholar families are the official providers of items, and the three Musician families are the providers of Vitality Nectar."

"Are you saying…"

"We can be mechanical weapon providers. Mechanical weapons are cheap to produce and can be promoted on a large scale to improve the combat capabilities of official grassroots members," Fu Qingyang said.

"This is a political achievement, and also our political leverage."

With that, he took the initiative to raise his glass, a rare occurrence.

Zhang Yuanqing quickly raised his ice-cold cola and drank with his boss, thinking that his boss was indeed something, and that his own political wisdom was too low.

"There's one more thing, boss, give me Huang Taiji's phone number." Zhang Yuanqing said, "His Xirang is still with me."

Fu Qingyang didn't think much of it and nodded slightly.

After dinner, Zhang Yuanqing and Guan Ya said their goodbyes and returned to the house next door, turning off the lights to make babies.

The next day, half past nine in the morning.

The King's Gang chat group.

[Asano Ryo: In a few days, a level one executive from Heavenly Punishment is going to lead a team to visit Japan. I can't enter the instance anymore, everyone, I'm sorry.]

However, no one cared about the absence of a small fry. Instead, they were very interested in Heavenly Punishment's visit to the island nation.

[Sun Miaomiao: Heavenly Punishment is sending people to Japan again? What are they up to? We haven't had any conflicts between our officials and the Heavenly Punishment organization recently, have we?]

Although under the grand scheme of things, the orderly organizations of various countries are allies, infighting is still necessary. The biggest struggles come from two aspects: First, the competition for talent.

The Heavenly Punishment organization not only absorbs orderly professions from the First District, but for a century, it has also been constantly poaching from the Second District.

The Fu family, as a scout family, has been colluding with Heavenly Punishment for decades, and similar organizations and families are not few in number.

Second: The struggle for the right to speak in the Lingjing world.

The orderly organizations around China that have some scale are basically Heavenly Punishment's little brothers. The representative organization is the Thousand Crane Group.

Whenever Heavenly Punishment has conflicts with the Five Elements Alliance, Heavenly Punishment's executives will lead a team to comfort the Thousand Crane Group, discuss Asian regional peace issues, discuss the development of the Thousand Crane Group, and discuss cooperation between the First and Second Districts.

In short, the Thousand Crane Group is a tool used by Heavenly Punishment to slap the Five Elements Alliance and the Taiyi Sect in the face, and it is also a benchmark for Lingjing Xingzhe all over the world to see.

Let everyone see who is the boss.

Of course, when evil organizations are really causing trouble, the two largest official organizations in the world will still cooperate when they need to.

[Asano Ryo: It seems like they're going to do something, but the group leader didn't tell me]

[Tianxia Guihuo: Who is leading the team? What color is the executive?]

[Asano Ryo: I don't know who it is, but the color is bronze.]

[Yuanshi Tianzun: What does bronze mean? What level is a level one executive?]

[Hongjige: Same question!]

[Zhao Chenghuang: A level one executive is equivalent to an Elder, divided into three stages: Bronze, Silver, and Gold, corresponding to levels 7, 8, and 9. The main body of the executives are Wind Mages, and the main body of the inspectors are Thunder Mages. Of course, there are other professions as well, after all, the Heavenly Punishment organization absorbs a large number of orderly professions.]

So that's how it is… Zhang Yuanqing understood. His understanding of the First District was limited. After all, he had just been promoted to Saint and was demoted because of Wei Yuanzhou's matter, so he could no longer access information on foreign forces.

Although he could also use Guan Ya and Fu Qingyang's authority, he had been mixing in the local area and lacked interaction with foreign forces, so he had no motivation to explore foreign forces that were eight poles away.

Anyway, when he encountered serious matters, he could always obtain information from Fu Qingyang.

The only one he had a deep relationship with was the Association of Beauty Gods, and he was also very interested, but he couldn't use Guan Ya's account, because it would leave a record, and he couldn't use Fu Qingyang's either.

Using Qian Gongzi's account to check the information of the Association of Beauty Gods was equivalent to stealing his social account and posting in his circle of friends: Lonely night, looking for a date!

Qian Gongzi would give him a move that was close to the Dao.

At this time, Zhao Chenghuang sent him a private message:

[Yesterday I went to see the Grand Elder. He hinted at some inexplicable things to me.]

[Yuanshi Tianzun: Tell me.]

[Zhao Chenghuang: He didn't say it clearly. According to my own interpretation, he wants to tell you through me: In the midst of the game, take care of yourself.]

Zhang Yuanqing's heart pounded wildly a few times, and he felt an instinctive panic, suspecting that his secrets were completely exposed to the big shots.

But he quickly calmed down and thought calmly.

Zhao Chenghuang was ridiculed within the officialdom as the Taiyi Sect's crown prince, his status on par with Lingjun's. The main reason was that he was the direct descendant and only son of Elder Zhao.

And Lingjun had countless brothers and sisters.

Elder Zhao was quite low-key in the Taiyi Sect, but in fact, he was one of the first Lingjing Xingzhe, a level nine peak ruler, not much worse than the Great Elder, the Crimson Sun Executioner.

Such a figure probably had a relatively clear understanding of Lingtu's depravity and the destruction of the Xiaoyao organization.

Then, Elder Zhao must have known about the fact that Lingtu and the Sect Leader would target "wild Night Wanderers with outstanding talent."

Old Zhao is worried that I will follow in the footsteps of the Demon Lord?

[Yuanshi Tianzun: Thank you for telling me, I will be vigilant.]

After replying to the message, he glanced at the time, it was already ten o'clock.

Immediately switching interfaces, he returned to the gang chat group:

[Yuanshi Tianzun: Everyone enter the Lingjing immediately. If there are no problems, report your numbers.]

The members reported their numbers one after another.

[Yuanshi Tianzun: Xiahou Aotian, report your number. @XiahouAotian]

[Yuanshi Tianzun: Where is Xiahou Aotian?]

Xiahou Aotian was gone.

[Hongjige: Damn, he wouldn't have gone back to his family to show off, and then had his kidneys cut out by his family, would he? @Yuanshi Tianzun, I've uploaded the Vitality Nectar to the gang warehouse, take it.]

[Sun Miaomiao: That's definitely something Xiahou Aotian would do."]

[Guan Ya: No, it shouldn't be about the manual. Although I haven't had much contact with him, that guy is superficially flamboyant, but he's actually quite shrewd. He probably can't come because of something else.]

[Yuanshi Tianzun: I'll contact the Xiahou family later. You guys enter the instance first, don't worry about him.]

Everyone has a chance to participate in gang missions.

After speaking, he selected the participants' ID in the gang interface and activated the instance.

A few tens of seconds later, Guan Ya, who was fully armed beside him, faded away and disappeared.

Zhang Yuanqing first dialed Xiahou Aotian's phone, only to find that it was turned off.

Then he called Fu Qingyang to get the Xiahou family's "customer service" phone number.

"Beep beep~"

The call connected, and a sweet female voice came from the speaker:

"Hello, this is the Xiahou family service hotline. Are you calling for business cooperation or…"

Zhang Yuanqing interrupted, "I am Yuanshi Tianzun!"

The sound of a chair falling over suddenly came from the other end of the phone, and then the microphone seemed to be muted. After several minutes, a little girl's trembling voice came:

"You, are you still listening?"

Am I that scary… Zhang Yuanqing gave an "Mm" sound: "I'm looking for Xiahou Aotian. His phone is turned off."

"Ah? This, this…" The little girl didn't expect this kind of thing. She stammered, "Xiahou Aotian is a direct descendant of the family. I, I'm not very clear about his situation. Please wait, I'll have the manager call you back."

Then, a steady male voice came:

"Hello, I am Xiahou Pei. Do you want to inquire about Xiahou Aotian's recent situation?"

"Yes," Zhang Yuanqing said.

Xiahou Pei's voice became a little strange, "He, he's been hung up in the sky by the ancestor."

"What?" Zhang Yuanqing was shocked: "What do you mean by hung up in the sky?"

"The literal meaning. According to internal rumors in the family group, Xiahou Aotian angered the ancestor for some reason. The ancestor took action in anger, personally built a drone, and hung him in the sky, hovering over the Xiahou family for a day and a night." Zhang Yuanqing tentatively asked, "Your family's ancestor shouldn't have killed him, right?"

"The ancestor's thoughts are unpredictable, but I don't think so. I heard that Xiahou Aotian has advanced to level six."

"Okay, I understand."

"You're welcome. Is there anything else I can help you with?" Xiahou Pei asked respectfully.

"No, thank you." Zhang Yuanqing hung up the phone, pondering, and decided to ignore Xiahou Aotian.

The thing that angered the ancestor must not be the manual of mechanical arts. A demigod wouldn't care about such small things. Xiahou Aotian probably did something stupid again.

The Lingjing families value bloodlines and talents very much. Xiahou Aotian is now a level six Saint. As long as he doesn't do something rebellious like "I have entered the realm of land immortals, please ancestor die," he shouldn't be in mortal danger.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately dialed Huang Taiji's phone.

"Who is this?"

Huang Taiji's steady and experienced voice came from the phone.

"Godfather, it's me!" Zhang Yuanqing said diligently.

"…Speak properly." Huang Taiji took a breath.

"Brother Huang, your Xirang is still with me. Give me an address, I'll personally deliver it," Zhang Yuanqing said.

Huang Taiji was silent for a few seconds, "You want something from me?"

"Brother Huang is indeed wise, um, I want to steal two items from you, items with dual cultivation functions, preferably items with only this one function," Zhang Yuanqing said.

Items with single functions are cheaper.

"Dual cultivation is the talent of the Earth Controller profession, and it will have a discounted effect on other professions, and the number of items with dual cultivation functions is scarce…" Before Huang Taiji could finish speaking, he heard Yuanshi Tianzun's high-pitched cry from the microphone:

"Godfather!!"

Huang Taiji took a breath, "I do have a few in stock, I'll send you a list of items later, you can pick one."

"Thank you, Godfather!"

Huang Taiji silently hung up the phone.

Zhang Yuanqing excitedly rolled around on the bed, and then his phone rang.

The caller was Annie!