Chapter 1 A Glitch in the Matrix

This was a young waiter whose delicate features were fixed on Zhang Yuanqing with a look of madness, loathing, and the stubbornness unique to the mentally ill.

"So it's Shizu (Grandmaster) ah. What brings you here? You should have given me a heads-up so I could drag out the Italian cannon to welcome you," Zhang Yuanqing said, instantly recognizing the identity of the "fodder."

"Shizu?" The Pure Yang Sect Leader examined Zhang Yuanqing, a manic smile playing on his lips. "That little wretch took you as a disciple? Very well, very well. I've been hesitating whether to use the killing move I've been accumulating for a thousand years on her. Since you worship her as your master, there's no need to be polite."

*Accumulating for a thousand years?* This old codger taking me as a disciple wouldn't be to use me as a shield, would he?

Zhang Yuanqing raised an eyebrow. "You snuck into the banquet just to spout nonsense?"

He could tell that this Pure Yang Sect Leader wasn't the real deal, just a low-level spirit servant possessing the waiter, so he wasn't in a rush to deal with him, hoping to glean some information.

Because he was just fodder, both Uncle and the Marshal hadn't warned him.

"No, it's a death notice, Yuan Shi Tian Zun. I will take your life in seven days," the Pure Yang Sect Leader laughed wildly. "You are destined to be my stepping stone to regain my peak. When I seize your foundation, I will enter Lingjing and take revenge on that little wretch."

With that, he raised his hand and slammed it toward his forehead.

Zhang Yuanqing snorted coldly. The low-level spirit servant possessing the waiter instantly turned to ashes.

The Pure Yang Sect Leader was struck by lightning. His body stiffened, and before his hand could touch his forehead, he collapsed limply to the ground.

Zhang Yuanqing walked to the urinal, unzipped his pants, pulled out his "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," and emptied his bladder while pondering the death notice.

The Pure Yang Sect Leader absorbed the Eight Elders' primordial spirit and thought he was hot stuff again?

"If he really wants to kill me, he has a trump card up his sleeve, so he could just launch a sneak attack. Isn't this action today just stirring up trouble? It's a bit contrived?"

"But if he doesn't want to kill me, just a feint, then what's the purpose?"

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't figure it out no matter how he thought. The Pure Yang Sect Leader was crazy and not bound by moral values, so it didn't seem strange for him to do something illogical.

But behind him stood the Master of Taiyin. Ling Tuo had just replenished a portion of the Pure Yang Sect Leader's primordial spirit, and the latter immediately turned around and put on this show.

To say there was no reason was too far-fetched.

"I'll observe the stars tonight!" Zhang Yuanqing shook his "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and left the public restroom.

After the banquet ended, Zhang Yuanqing spent half an hour observing the stars on the rooftop. The celestial phenomena showed everything was normal. He not only divined for himself but also for the people around him, and he didn't find anyone who would encounter a crisis in the near future.

So he snapped his fingers and came to the training room, where he saw Qian Gongzi (Young Master Qian) practicing his slashes over and over again. If the star observation couldn't provide information, then he would rely on logical reasoning to analyze it.

Fu Qingyang held his sword in a horse stance. Each slash emitted a sharp whistling sound, and every ten slashes caused the muscles under his loose training uniform to ripple.

"Boss, has your near-Dao sword skill had a breakthrough?" Zhang Yuanqing asked curiously.

"No," Fu Qingyang said flatly. "Sword skills require accumulation over time or enlightenment between life and death."

He had only been promoted to Ruler for half a year. In half a year, his near-Dao sword skill had already had a leap in improvement, so it was impossible to make another breakthrough in the short term.

*Little Fu, you have to work hard. Little Zhang next door is almost catching up to you!* Zhang Yuanqing was secretly delighted.

Fu Qingyang glanced at him, his face cold. "If you have nothing to do, get out and don't disturb me."

Zhang Yuanqing quickly put away his joy and told Fu Qingyang about the banquet. "I always feel like something's wrong, but I have no clue."

Fu Qingyang said coldly, "You're almost catching up to me, how come you're still as clueless as before?"

Zhang Yuanqing bowed. "Boss is extremely intelligent and insightful. I was just being arrogant."

"You don't act like a Ruler at all." Fu Qingyang turned his head and continued to slash his sword, ignoring him. Zhang Yuanqing sat cross-legged on the side, patiently waiting for him.

About a quarter of an hour later, Fu Qingyang, who was slashing his sword in a bow stance, suddenly said, "He wants to scare you!"

"Scare me?" Zhang Yuanqing pondered.

Fu Qingyang practiced his slashes while saying, "If you were the target, there's no need to alert you. Since he said it in front of you, there must be another purpose!"

"You just got a bargain from Ling Tuo, so you must be afraid of retaliation. The Pure Yang Sect Leader benefited from the last hunting battle, and he just swallowed the Three Elders' primordial spirit. Now he dares to go deep into enemy territory to give you a death notice. Under normal circumstances, what would you do?"

Zhang Yuanqing said without hesitation, "To show respect for the Master of Taiyin, I would hide. I would hide in a gang instance or have my backer monitor and protect me at all times."

Fu Qingyang nodded. "That should be their purpose, but I haven't figured out what the significance of doing this is yet."

After a pause, he continued, "Ling Tuo is the Master of Taiyin. He may have observed something in the future river, which cannot be analyzed by reasoning and insight."

"The time node is seven days, which means it's not very far away. Yuan Shi, what do you want to do recently?"

*"The thing I want to do most recently is have children with your cousin!"* Zhang Yuanqing muttered in his heart, frowning. "So, it's something I'm going to do recently that might touch Ling Tuo's interests. But he can't kill me immediately, so he deliberately arranged for the Pure Yang Sect Leader to show up and intimidate me, wanting me to suspiciously hide in a gang instance or stay at home and accept the protection of Chairman."

"Something I want to do recently, and it involves Ling Tuo." Zhang Yuanqing narrowed his eyes sharply. "I seem to know what it is. If nothing unexpected happens, I will go to the capital tomorrow to ask Elder Zhao about the Tong Zhou Association."

Fu Qingyang stopped slashing and looked over. The two's eyes met, and their expressions became extremely solemn.

A taxi stopped at the entrance of an old hutong (alley). The young man wearing sunglasses and a mask paid the fare and stood on the side of the road, gazing at the historically rich hutong.

If you had to say how rich the historical atmosphere was, it wasn't that much. It was more like the atmosphere of the 1960s and 70s.

Zhang Yuanqing walked into the old hutong that he had seen in TV dramas, with gray walls and black tiles, mottled double wooden doors, and several households still retaining the original manual water wells at their doors, as if walking in the Beijing of the last century.

After walking a few steps, he saw Xiao Zhao (Little Zhao), with a serious expression, coming out from the corner ahead.

Xiao Zhao with the serious expression waved at him.

Zhang Yuanqing quickly stepped forward, pulled him to the corner, looked around, and said in a low voice, "Are you sure you want to go see Elder Zhao with me? If he is really a traitor and I expose him, this is my clone, so I will die, but you may be in danger."

"What evidence do you have to prove that my great-grandfather is a traitor?" Xiao Zhao was unconvinced.

"No evidence, but I encountered something yesterday." Zhang Yuanqing told Zhao Chenghuang (City God Zhao) about the Pure Yang Sect Leader scaring him.

Xiao Zhao's face turned even more ugly. "If Great-Grandfather is really a traitor, since you have exposed him, then there is no need to kill me, because it won't silence anyone."

"That makes sense…" Zhang Yuanqing sighed. "I understand your desire to witness it firsthand, then let's go together."

Zhao Chenghuang led the way, saying, "Great-Grandfather has been handling affairs outside in recent days, but I just called him and told him you wanted to see him, and Great-Grandfather immediately agreed. I think Great-Grandfather is worried that I will take you to the basement, and the guardian spirit servant can't deal with you, so he simply came to deal with you himself."

A few minutes later, Zhao Chenghuang led him to the front of a courtyard house and knocked twice on the beast-head door knocker. "Great-Grandfather, Yuan Shi Tian Zun has arrived."

The rusty wooden door creaked open on its own.

Zhao Chenghuang led Zhang Yuanqing inside. The courtyard covered an area of more than one hundred square meters, with locust trees, a water well, and three rows of blue brick houses with a single ridge. Under the locust tree were a tea table and wooden benches.

Elder Zhao, with gray hair and a stern expression, sat upright at the tea table, brewing tea.

Zhang Yuanqing strode forward, looked at the face that resembled Zhao Chenghuang by three or four points, and bowed to greet him. "Elder Zhao."

"Sit down!" Elder Zhao nodded slightly.

The two sat down. Elder Zhao laid out the already scalded teacups, picked up the teapot, and poured in the dark brown tea soup, saying, "You came at the right time, try it."

Zhang Yuanqing held up the teacup, took a sip, and praised, "The tea soup is clear, the tea taste is pure, slightly bitter but not astringent, and it has a sweet aftertaste when it first enters the throat. Good tea, really good tea."

Elder Zhao nodded with satisfaction. "You know how to drink tea too?"

"I don't know, the words just now were all nonsense." Zhang Yuanqing was very honest. Elder Zhao understood what he meant and said unhurriedly, "You instigated Chenghuang (City God) to enter my basement. According to my temper, I should drive you out today. But he has received a lot of care from you, and I remember this favor. Ask whatever you want, but I may not answer you."

"Elder Zhao, are you a member of the Tong Zhou Association (Common Boat Association)?" Zhang Yuanqing went straight to the point.

"Tong Zhou Association?" Elder Zhao glanced at Zhao Chenghuang, and suddenly said, "You are here for this matter?"

At this moment, Zhang Yuanqing clearly sensed the emotions of astonishment and surprise from the old Zhao's emotions. He tentatively asked, "What did Elder Zhao think we were here for?"

Elder Zhao did not answer, but said, "What do you want to know about the Tong Zhou Association?"

Zhang Yuanqing did not hide anything and told Elder Zhao the whole story of his investigation of the Tong Zhou Association. Then he asked, "Who do you think attacked Huo Zhengkui (family friend of Guan Ya)? Besides the three alliance leaders, who else do you know was from the Tong Zhou Association?"

"I heard from Gang Leader Jiang (Jiang Jing) that a certain branch of the Tong Zhou Association had internal strife."

"All the members are dead, do you know about this?"

He asked all the doubts in one breath. Elder Zhao picked up the teacup, took a sip, and a trace of reminiscence appeared on his stern face.

"It's been almost a hundred years, if you didn't mention it, I would have even forgotten about the Tong Zhou Association. Tong Zhou Association..."

"It was actually a very loose organization, and it was also very secretive. We needed to hide ourselves at all times, responsible for assassinations, and at the same time prevent being wiped out by the evil camp."

"I joined the Tong Zhou Association only because there was no official organization in the local area at that time. The countries were constantly at war, like a plate of loose sand, and the Tong Zhou Association called on capable people in the name of patriotism and had sufficient funds, so it quickly took root and grew in strength throughout the country."

"Communications were not developed at that time, except for the Tong Zhou Association headquarters, no one knew the specific list, and no one knew how many branches there were in the country."

"The large branches had many experts, and their reputation could still be spread, while the small branches were silent from establishment to dissolution. The Tong Zhou Association members I know are almost all dead, and you also know the rest."

"Alas, it's been a long time, and the communications were poor. In addition, the Tong Zhou Association may have consciously hidden itself, so even demigods don't know much about this organization."

Zhang Yuanqing said in a deep voice, "I have checked, the earliest time recorded in the Five Elements Alliance's database for the promotion list of killing instances is 1956, and you became a Ruler before that, which means you have the ability to attack Huo Zhengkui."

Elder Zhao put down the teacup and stared intently. "There were indeed very few Rulers at that time. According to your logic, the existing demigods are all suspects, including those demigods from the Lingjing aristocratic families."

"But only you are a member of the Tong Zhou Association. How do you know they are not members of the Tong Zhou Association?"

Zhang Yuanqing carefully sensed Elder Zhao's emotions. There were no obvious flaws, but the other party was a high-level Ruler, and a Night Tour God with strong spiritual power. No flaws did not mean innocence.

Seeing that Great-Grandfather and Yuan Shi Tian Zun were arguing, Zhao Chenghuang said, "Great-Grandfather, there is one last question."

Elder Zhao retracted his gaze, picked up the kettle, and poured tea soup into the empty teacups. "Regarding the last matter, what I know is relatively clear. The one that disintegrated due to internal strife was the North China Branch. Internal strife is just a rumor, the truth is not so!"