Chapter 1 He's Injured?

“I’m not here for the Holy See relics,” Zhang Yuanqing said, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, showing no sign of getting up. He scrutinized Deng Jingguo, “Alliance Master Deng, are you injured?”

“While the Moral value disappeared, evil practitioners wreaked havoc in Chinatown. I led people to clean them up, which attracted the attention of an evil faction’s Overlord,” Deng Jingguo explained simply.

*Oh*, he was injured by an evil Overlord. New York County didn't collapse. These civilian righteous practitioners really played a role. If it were only up to the official practitioners, they simply wouldn't be able to handle it! Zhang Yuanqing smiled and opened his inventory, taking out a tube of diluted life essence and throwing it over. Deng Jingguo caught the life essence, raising an eyebrow. He walked down the stairs and sat opposite Zhang Yuanqing.

“What do you want from me?”

As he spoke, he placed the life essence on the coffee table.

“I want to incorporate the Anti-Black and White Alliance,” Zhang Yuanqing said bluntly, cutting straight to the chase.

Deng Jingguo narrowed his eyes and said coldly, “Are you here on behalf of the Five Elements Alliance, wanting to develop the Anti-Black and White Alliance into an unofficial organization? I’m sorry, although the Anti-Black and White Alliance is composed of Chinese people, it has nothing to do with the First District, and we have no interest in working with the Five Elements Alliance.”

It’s common for official organizations to win over civilian organizations. After all, there are a lot of wild free practitioners, and it’s impossible to eliminate them all, nor is it possible to recruit them all. Developing them into an unofficial force is the best option.

It’s like the government co-opting local powerful families. As long as they give some benefits, the local powerful families can work for the government without the need for official positions, and they can also help maintain local order.

As for the local powerful families breaking the law, minor violations of the law are understandable, as long as the overall situation is not chaotic, it can be tolerated.

Under the background of continuous strong attacks from the evil camp, it is understandable that the Five Elements Alliance wants to gather forces, but Deng Jingguo cannot agree. First of all, as a local force in the Free Federation, he has no sense of belonging to the Five Elements Alliance. Secondly, he does not want to be controlled by others. Finally, the return of Yuan Shi Tianzun to the Lingjing (Mystic Realm) has given him a very bad impression of the Five Elements Alliance.

Alas, the Five Elements Alliance doesn’t have a very good reputation in the eyes of fellow villagers... Zhang Yuanqing sensed Deng Jingguo’s resistance and disgust, and smiled: “I don’t represent the Five Elements Alliance, I represent myself.”

“Yourself?” Deng Jingguo scrutinized the swordsman in front of him with a strong gaze. As a strong and irritable Thunder Mage, he didn't laugh out loud out of consideration for their past relationship.

Zhang Yuanqing smiled, raised his hand, and wiped his face: “Perhaps this way, our conversation will be smoother.”

That cold and stern face rippled with light, and then froze into a spirited and youthful face.

Deng Jingguo looked at this face, first stunned, instinctively feeling a little familiar. A few seconds later, he suddenly stood up, his serious face filled with shock: “Yuan, Yuan Shi Tianzun?”

“It’s me!” Zhang Yuanqing stood up, opened his inventory, took out the Sacrificial set and put it on, activated the set effect, and snapped his fingers.

Starlight rose, he appeared at the dining table, and then, in the dreamy starlight, returned to the sofa.

“I have another identity!” His face rippled again, turning into Ju Mang, and then he took out the Form and Spirit Destroying Blade, the Demon Oil Painting, and other Overlord items.

Deng Jingguo was dumbfounded, standing rooted to the spot.

No further explanation was needed, he already believed that the person in front of him was Yuan Shi Tianzun, and at the same time realized that the rising star Ju Mang, who was making waves in New York County, was Yuan Shi Tianzun in disguise.

No wonder he was so powerful, no wonder Ju Mang could freely control and use Yuan Shi Tianzun's legacy.

After a long, long time, Deng Jingguo sat down again, his eyes fixed on Zhang Yuanqing with hidden excitement: “You’re not dead?”

“I’ve been resurrected!” Zhang Yuanqing smiled: “There’s an item in the Second District called the Mother God’s Womb, a rules-based item for the Minstrel profession.”

Deng Jingguo nodded slowly, without asking more. He reached out and picked up the diluted life essence on the coffee table, injecting it into his arm veins. Soon, his pale face gradually turned rosy.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing grinned.

Deng Jingguo put down the injection and asked, “Have you been promoted to Overlord?” Zhang Yuanqing nodded.

Deng Jingguo pondered, “Want to build your own power?”

Zhang Yuanqing nodded again.

Deng Jingguo thought for a few seconds and said, “If it’s you, I don’t mind cooperating with you, but to be honest, joining the official organization would be a better choice with your talent and potential. All official organizations in the world have the scale they have today because of centuries of accumulation.”

“It’s too difficult for you to build your own power from scratch. The upper limit in the next ten years will only be a large civilian organization, but what’s the point for you? In ten years, you may have already joined the Five Elements Alliance headquarters and become one of the most powerful people in the world.”

The effort and the return are not proportional.

For peerless geniuses, joining the official organization directly saves the time of painstaking management and allows them to become leaders of large organizations. Fu Qingyang is the best example.

Assuming that Fu Qingxuan had not joined the Five Elements Alliance, but instead established her own organization, then she would at most be a demigod with a significant force.

Far from being comparable to the honor of "Marshal."

Zhang Yuanqing smiled, “I’m not cultivating a force, I’m assembling a force. The core organizations currently include the Jishi Society of the Free Federation, the Mechanical Technology Research and Development Company in the country, the Zhisha Palace, and the Lingjing (Mystic Realm) gang I established myself. Among them, there are seven Overlord members. The backers are the Merchant Guild, the Goddess Association, and Fu Qingyang of the Five Elements Alliance.”

“Now, I want to develop the Anti-Black and White Alliance into a cooperative organization. In the future, it can help you annex the Black Dragon Society, the Baolin Society, and the Hong Society, or bring them under your command as well.”

Deng Jingguo listened in a daze: “This, this…”

Zhang Yuanqing crossed his legs, “Alliance Master Deng, have you heard of the Sun Lord…”

Chapter 2 Old Acquaintance

At dawn, the Denson River in New York County.

Zhang Yuanqing sat by the river, above him was the dark blue sky, and in front of him was the black, rippling surface of the river.

Having just experienced a catastrophe, order had not yet been restored. The river, which was usually full of boats, was now silent and vast.

“You’re still not dead?” A voice came from a distance.

A tall and straight young man walked against the cold morning breeze, with messy short hair like in an idol drama, handsome features, and a cynical smile on his lips.

It was the sixth-generation single-lineage knight of the Holy See.

He stopped beside Zhang Yuanqing, holding the railing with both hands, looking out at the dark river surface, “What do you want from me? I told you last time, I’m preparing for a copy.”

“As long as you haven’t entered the copy, you can’t possibly watch evil practitioners wreaking havoc everywhere, so my invitation for you to come to New York County doesn’t count as a disturbance.”

Zhang Yuanqing turned his head, looked at the other party’s as-always punchable face, and said, “Xia Zuo is dead, he died in the Killing Instance. He sacrificed himself for the sake of order. I think I should tell you about this.”

Zhai Cai was silent.

He sighed, “This is the destiny of a knight!”

When he said this, there was no affectation or cynicism on Zhai Cai’s face, but seriousness and sincerity, as if it were his belief.

The two did not speak for a long time, as if silently mourning the knight who died in the instance.

After a moment, Zhang Yuanqing, looking at the river, said, “There’s one more thing. I have successfully been promoted to Overlord and want to build my own force, but this is different from a Lingjing (Mystic Realm) gang. There are no Lingjing (Mystic Realm) constraints, so I would like to ask you for a favor, to have the core members of the organization sign a contract of never betraying or harming each other.”

Hearing this, Zhai Cai sneered, “Friend, your scope is a bit small. For such a small matter, you only need to borrow an item from me, why does this knight need to personally take action?”

Zhang Yuanqing was waiting for him to say this, his smile cheerful, “The core members are all Overlords, at least eight of them!”

Zhai Cai’s expression froze, his eyes widened, “How did you kid manage to win over so many Overlords?”

Zhang Yuanqing’s smile grew even more cheerful, “Relying on character and charm.”

Chapter 3 The Abandoned

In the early morning, a thick fog shrouded the remote northern city.

Far from the city, the simple iron gate of the orphanage lay forlornly on its side, rusty, twisted and deformed, having been violently dismantled.

Yellow warning tape was wrapped around the damaged hinges, blocking the empty gate.

A figure emerged from the fog and stopped at the entrance of the orphanage.

He was wearing a thin jacket, a sports headband, his hands in his pockets, his head slightly lowered, his collar turned up, covering half of his face.

He stood at the entrance of the orphanage like a statue.

After a long while, he seemed to have mustered enough courage, and stepped into the orphanage.

The warning tape that sealed the door like a spider web automatically broke and hung down weakly.

The lively orphanage was now quiet, lifeless, and uninhabited. The camphor tree in the corner also seemed weak and lifeless. On the small playground, a rusty basketball hoop stood alone, the mottled frame covered with dew, and there were a few shocking spots of black and red on the cracked ground.

That was blood that had not yet been cleaned.

The Demonic Eye Heavenly King slowly walked through the small playground and pushed open the door of the classroom—the orphanage only had one classroom.

The desks and chairs in the classroom were piled up in the corner, clearing out an open space. Sixteen small corpses were placed in the open space, sealed in body bags.

The city’s crematorium and the hospital’s morgue were full. The crematorium was burning corpses overtime. Because they had no families, these children were temporarily left here, waiting for the hospital or crematorium to take over.

The Demonic Eye Heavenly King stood quietly in the classroom, his hands in his pockets, without saying a word. Underneath the sports headband, scarlet blood flowed out.