Chapter 116 In the Palm

The Nihility Church (Southern Branch), as a major organization within the evil professions, has eyes and connections in all walks of life. Coupled with the nature of their profession, it's impossible they wouldn't find out if their members died at the hands of the authorities.

The Chunyang Sect Leader was unearthed from an ancient tomb in Jiangnan Province. Jianghuai Province borders Jiangnan. The unexplained deaths of illusionists in these two areas made it hard for Zhang Yuanqing not to suspect this ancient cultivator.

"The Night Watchers of the Taiyi Sect weren't targeted, but the illusionists of the Nihility Church were? Heh, dogs eat dogs... No, even if the evil professions deserve to die, at least they're still bound by morality. In comparison, the Chunyang Sect Leader is the worst!"

Zhang Yuanqing interrupted the sacrificial ritual and called Elder Gaofeng.

"Elder Gaofeng, I've received intelligence that the illusionists of the Nihility Church, Southern Branch, have been mysteriously disappearing recently. It doesn't seem like the work of the authorities. I suspect it's the Chunyang Sect Leader. You're responsible for apprehending him. Have you had any leads recently?"

Elder Gaofeng's tone turned grave after listening, "No leads whatsoever. Alas, I'm just an Earth Guard, not a scout skilled in tracking. The Grand Elder is setting me up."

After a pause, he said:

"I do have some cases here in Shengjing. Since the Guji incident, there have been several cases of unexplained deaths in Jiangnan Province. There was a ghost sighting at Yongcheng Port recently. An official Water Ghost disappeared while on a mission underwater. Afterward, the Shengjing branch sent people to search the sea and discovered a bloated corpse with signs of fighting, but they couldn't find the missing colleague. I suspect it's related to the Chunyang Sect Leader."

"By devouring the spiritual bodies of official Xingzhe, he's gaining control over the current situation and organizational distribution of the Lingjing Xingzhe..." Zhang Yuanqing gave his opinion.

"So the bizarre disappearances of the Southern Branch illusionists are likely really related to him," Elder Gaofeng sighed.

As an Earth Guard, he possesses rare defense and considerable combat power, but he's not good at tracking, scheming, or calculating.

As everyone knows, the common personality traits of the Earth Guard profession are honesty, dullness, and gentleness. Scheming against people is best left to Water Ghosts, Wood Demons, and Scouts.

"Elder Gaofeng, don't worry, I'll help you as much as possible," Zhang Yuanqing seized the opportunity to build rapport. "To be honest, that Niangniang also wants to get rid of the Chunyang Sect Leader. She says she can't sleep or eat in peace while her Shizun is still alive."

Elder Gaofeng didn't take it seriously at first, after all, Yuan Shi Tianzun wasn't a high enough level and hadn't shown any particularly strong scheming or tracking abilities in the past.

But upon hearing that the Three Daos Mountain Niangniang cared about this matter, he immediately took it seriously:

"I almost forgot, you can contact that ancient Day Traveler, Yuan Shi. If you have any ideas or strategies, remember to let me know."

"No problem!" Zhang Yuanqing, having gained the attention of the Hangzhou branch's top leader, happily hung up the phone.

Next, he sent a message to Kou Beiyue, informing him of the Chunyang Sect Leader's matter in detail.

Kou Beiyue was likely seeking a worthy master to serve. If he could use this line to convey the threat of the Chunyang Sect Leader to the Nihility Church, it would be a good strategy.

Evil professions could be used as pawns in dealing with the Chunyang Sect Leader.

With the illusionists' strangeness and methods, they might be able to grasp some clues more easily than the authorities. Then, through Kou Beiyue, he could obtain intelligence and relay it to Elder Gaofeng.

The Hangzhou branch leader would then owe him a huge favor.

"Ding!"

Kou Beiyue's phone, placed on the table, rang. He didn't check it right away, taking a swig of alcohol with his "human blood" bun.

"He replied, he replied~~!" The little fatty quickly nudged his boss, signaling him to check the message.

Kou Beiyue put down his glass, unlocked his phone with his fingerprint, took a closer look, and slapped his thigh, "Damn, looks like he's really powerful, an ancient cultivator..."

Then he continued eating skewers and drinking.

The little fatty, however, gripped the phone tightly, reading the message over and over, his heart growing cold.

An ancient cultivator who practiced both illusionist and Night Watcher techniques, an ancient cultivator not bound by morality, growing by devouring the spiritual power of Night Watchers and illusionists... As he read, his spine prickled with cold sweat.

Too terrifying, this kind of existence is too terrifying. But why would an ancient cultivator appear in reality?

I remember the church's internal records stating that all ancient cultivators were dead.

An existence not bound by morality, cultivating both the Night Watcher and illusionist professions to their peak, is simply a nightmare for Lingjing Xingzhe.

"Yuan Shi Tianzun actually told Boss such important information. No, he's not telling Boss, he's telling me." The little fatty suddenly stood up.

"There are fewer jobs now, no need to work so hard. Sit down, sit down," Kou Beiyue motioned for his little brother to sit down. "Let's have a 'Peach Garden Oath of Brotherhood' tonight."

He was clearly getting drunk.

"Ugh, Boss doesn't realize the severity of the problem at all. It's good he's mindless, mindless..." The happy little fatty couldn't drink anymore. His round face showed solemnity and unease. "Boss, I have something I need to go back for."

Having said that, he ignored Kou Beiyue's attempts to stop him, straddled the electric scooter on the street, and sped away.

The message said that the Chunyang Sect Leader hadn't recovered yet, and the illusionists who had disappeared recently were all Level 1 and Level 2, not Level 3. The threat must be nipped in the bud before he recovers.

Fujiabao.

Zhang Yuanqing concentrated his attention on the parchment, confirming that all the materials were correct. He covered the materials with the parchment and poured in Taiyin energy, chanting, "Niangniang, Niangniang, come out quickly, Niangniang, Niangniang, come out quickly..."

Amid the meaningless chanting, the parchment quickly drained the spirituality of the materials. The spiritual seal array drawn on it floated off the paper and rose rapidly into the sky, solidifying at a height of ten meters.

The next second, the array collapsed inward, turning into a circular channel. After a few breaths, vast and magnificent golden light surged out from the dark, collapsing channel.

Damn, Niangniang's aura has become several times stronger, it feels even more terrifying than Kuan Yan's aura! An oppressive, intimidating aura of a high-level ruler descended upon the world. Zhang Yuanqing, directly below, bore the brunt of it, his knees weakened, and he almost prostrated himself in worship. His whole body was pressed against the table, unable to move.

Suddenly, as the golden light approached the channel's opening, it was blocked by an invisible barrier.

After encountering resistance, the golden light rebounded in reverse, colliding with the subsequent golden light, erupting in a blinding light. The entire circular channel transformed into a small sun.

At that moment, Zhang Yuanqing received a Lingjing notification...

[Ding! You are forcibly opening the Lingjing entrance, please stop immediately, or you will be punished.]

Clearly, forcibly opening the channel between the Lingjing and reality was being prevented by the Lingjing. That barrier was created by the Lingjing.

"Hmph!"

A cold snort came from inside the channel.

Immediately, a crisp 'crack' sound came from the void. The invisible barrier at the bottom of the golden light was covered in cracks.

Then, the barrier shattered with a bang. A golden light fell, 'thud' hitting the ground, revealing itself to be a Vajra Pestle.

This item is completely different in the hands of its true master compared to the hands of a useless one.

After the channel opened, golden light descended overwhelmingly. The flowers and plants in the yard were instantly burned to ashes. Zhang Yuanqing reacted quickly, rolling away before the channel could produce cracks.

As the golden light descended, Zhang Yuanqing looked expectantly into the channel, waiting for the Ghost Mirror to fall. At the same time, he shouted:

"Niangniang, what should I do with your damned Shizun? He's so slippery, the official trash are far less intelligent than you, Niangniang, and can't catch him at all."

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A cold, magnetic voice came from the channel: "We'll discuss the details when you enter the Lingjing next time. Alright, go down, and do well in the mortal world in the future. Don't disgrace your teacher."

"Ah... Niangniang, what do you mean? Who are you talking to?" Zhang Yuanqing was stunned.

At this moment, a reluctant voice came from the channel: "Shizun, please, please reconsider~"

"The channel is about to close, are you going down on your own, or should I kick you down?" The old hag's voice was cold and ruthless, far less gentle than when she spoke to Yuan Shi Tianzun.

This, this voice is a spirit speaking, could it be Zhang Yuanqing suddenly had an unbelievable thought.

The next second, a figure in a red dress fluttered down, accompanied by a dense Yin energy.

As she landed, the channel could no longer be maintained, shrinking rapidly, and then disappearing.

The Lingjing notification also disappeared, ceasing its warnings.

Zhang Yuanqing sat at the round table, gaping at the woman who had descended. She wore a Mamian skirt from the Ming Dynasty, the bodice embroidered with exquisite dragons and phoenixes, extremely form-fitting, outlining her full and high breasts.

Her face was exquisitely beautiful, but excessively pale, her eye sockets as black as ink, her pupils scarlet, with blood-red streaks spreading out, eerily beautiful.

Princess Yinyao...

Zhang Yuanqing thought, Niangniang, I only asked you to borrow the Ghost Mirror to suppress my inner demon, not to send your disciple over.

Princess Yinyao's pair of eerily beautiful pupils looked over from afar, she snorted softly, and turned her head to the side.

Quite the Tsundere... Zhang Yuanqing felt a strange sensation in his heart.

Once upon a time, this princess had scared him so much he almost peed his pants, and now, she was still powerful, her aura at least Level 5, but Zhang Yuanqing was no longer afraid.

In just one month, he was no longer the ant of the Extraordinary realm.

At this time, Little Green Tea and the Queen rushed out of the villa, the former calling out, "Yuan Shi Gege, what just happened? Li Chunfeng was so scared he collapsed on the ground."

Li Chunfeng in the rear was holding his gun, looking as if facing a formidable enemy.

The three of them saw Princess Yinyao standing in the courtyard and stopped in their tracks, their faces showing vigilance and fear.

On the other side, Fu Qingyang and Ling Jun flew over on the wind, landing in the courtyard. Both of their faces were somewhat grave. They had sensed the aura of a high-level ruler in the neighborhood, as well as the aura of the Lingjing.

Thinking that a major incident had occurred, they had rushed over.

Sensing the dissipation of the ruler's aura and the Lingjing's aura, Ling Jun's heart eased, and he returned to his frivolous pose, scrutinizing Princess Yinyao, tsk-tsking:

"What a beautiful sister! Eh, she's a high-intelligence Yin corpse. Yuan Shi Tianzun, have you finally taken the path of a corpse-driver? What was that just now? I seemed to feel the aura of a ruler and the Lingjing. What kind of antics are you up to now?"

Regardless of whether the first half of his sentence was true or false, Fu Qingyang, as her uncle, didn't like hearing it. His sword-like eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he cast a questioning glance at Zhang Yuanqing.

*******

Wuhen Hotel.

The little fatty hurriedly returned. Without even greeting Xiao Yuan, he went straight to the elevator, went up to the second floor, and swiped open his room.

Then, he took out a technologically advanced helmet from his item bar, and lay down on the bed.

This item was bestowed upon him by the Grand Elder of the Nihility Church's Southern Branch after he advanced to Saint. Wearing the helmet, he could enter the dream world constructed by the Grand Elder.

As a promising new Protector, he had the qualification to report directly to the Grand Elder.

The high-level meetings of the illusionists were all completed in illusions and dreams.

This was also the reason why they were so difficult to arrest. When it came to being bizarre and unpredictable, the illusionists ranked first among the three evil professions.

After passing through a psychedelic and hazy void, his consciousness appeared in a grand hall.

The little fatty knelt on the ground, feeling only that the Grand Elder's aura was unfathomable, as if facing an abyss, preventing him from even having the courage to look up.

"What is it..."

The figure on the golden throne spoke slowly, the voice difficult to discern as male or female, old or young, seemingly the combined voices of countless people, both male and female, old and young.

"The matter is of great importance, this subordinate believes, it must be reported to you personally."