Chapter 175: The Hunt Begins
Not long after Zhang Yu returned to his apartment, he received a response from Xiong Haohan.
Xiong Haohan: Thank you, Student Zhang Yu. The quality of the candidate you introduced this time was excellent. The company is already processing the payment, and it will be transferred to you today.
A short while later, Zhang Yu received the 100,000-yuan finder’s fee, and his heart leaped with joy.
Zhang Yu mentally calculated the money he had worked so hard to earn yesterday; his savings had once again grown to nearly 300,000.
However, Yu Xinghan had yet to reply to his message, prompting Zhang Yu to muse, “I was hoping to discuss the Spirit Realm with him further, but does that guy ever stop once he starts working? So diligent, just as you’d expect from a Golden Core disciple.”
Several hours later, Zhang Yu received a message from Yu Xinghan.
Yu Xinghan: Zhang Yu! This work really is profitable, and it helps with cultivation!
Zhang Yu couldn’t help but mutter, “Has this kid gotten addicted? Am I going to be the ruin of him?”
Fu Ji said, “This was a trial he had to face sooner or later. Selling his essence for cash is better than spending money somewhere and having to give up his essence anyway, right?”
Zhang Yu seized the opportunity to ask about the Spirit Realm.
In response, he received a magnanimous reply from Yu Xinghan: A trivial matter. I’ll give you a fifty percent discount for tomorrow’s cultivation session in the Spirit Realm as a thank you.
Zhang Yu could feel the excitement in the other party’s words.
Before he could reply, Yu Xinghan sent another message: Don’t refuse, it’s just a small sum. Hold on.
Yu Xinghan: Alright, I’ve already earned back the discounted amount.
Zhang Yu’s brow twitched as he thought to himself, This kid… his potential in the Immortal Dao has become even more terrifying.
After setting a time with Yu Xinghan to log into the Spirit Realm the next day, Zhang Yu knew that the hunt for the evil god was next, and he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
Although he had resolved not to act recklessly without absolute confidence, Zhang Yu still felt a sense of tension.
Zhang Yu asked, “Have you prepared the false intelligence we’re sending through the Spirit Realm tomorrow?”
Fu Ji replied, “We’ve been over this so many times. You think I’m not prepared?”
“But Zhang Yu, there’s something I have to say, even if you won’t like hearing it.”
“It’s about Bai Zhenzhen… Do you plan to keep hiding the information about evil gods from her?”
Zhang Yu frowned at her words, his voice turning cold. “You’re still thinking about having Zhen perform the ritual with you?”
Fu Ji said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “And why not?”
“Given our current relationship, we’re partners. Would I harm you two?”
“Performing the ritual to gain a boost in potential—why would anyone refuse such a great opportunity? If Bai Zhenzhen were given this chance, do you think she would pass it up?”
“For a top student like her, with such a perfect chance to improve her results, I guarantee she’d accept it in a heartbeat.”
“As for betraying you or anything of the sort, it’s even more impossible given your friendship.”
“This is an absolutely massive boon for her, a tremendous stroke of fortune that would greatly increase her chances of passing the Foundation Establishment exam.”
“The same goes for you. Take this hunt for my colleague, for instance. With Bai Zhenzhen’s help, the success rate would be that much higher.”
“This is mutually beneficial, a clear win-win situation. I don’t understand why you’re so reluctant.”
Zhang Yu’s reluctance was, of course, well-founded.
According to Fu Ji, the prerequisite for enhancing one’s potential was completing the contract ritual.
And the ritual itself invariably involved fulfilling the evil god’s wishes. This was tied to the very nature of the ritual, a rule established by the evil god kings that not even Fu Ji could alter.
This meant that after Bai Zhenzhen’s potential was stimulated, she would also be bound by the ritual.
“What if after Zhen completes the ritual, you just make a few simple wishes and have her fulfill them on the spot?”
Fu Ji sighed. “If I could agree to that, I certainly would.”
“But a ritual is like a talisman; many of the rules embedded within it can’t be changed just because you want to.”
“Every surge of a wish is sensed by the evil god kings.”
“If I were to casually expend all of a contractor’s wishes, it would be seen as slacking off and betraying the company’s interests. Both Bai Zhenzhen and I would suffer from the ritual’s backlash.”
Hearing this, Zhang Yu’s brow furrowed even tighter, because if what Fu Ji said wasn’t a lie, then erasing the ritual’s influence would be more troublesome than he had originally thought.
“Zhang Yu, I’m by your side at all times. What do you have to worry about?”
“Without Bai Zhenzhen’s assistance, without the help of such a vital combatant, if you were to fail while hunting my colleague, do you think Bai Zhenzhen wouldn’t be affected?”
“Besides, this is a chance for Bai Zhenzhen to become stronger, to pass the Foundation Establishment exam and get into one of the Ten Greats. Shouldn’t you let her make the choice herself?”
At the mention of the Foundation Establishment exam, Zhang Yu sighed helplessly in his heart.
It was precisely the pressure from those top prodigies from the Immortal Capital during the exam, and the urgency of the second round of the Foundation Establishment exam in two months… that was forcing him to push forward with the plan to hunt the evil god.
But even if his potential was enhanced, what about Zhen? In her current state, could she defeat those experts from the Immortal Capital and pass the Foundation Establishment exam in the future?
If Zhen had been born into one of Songyang’s powerful families, with her talent and strength, she could have easily entered one of the Ten Greats without even needing the Foundation Establishment certification.
But as a poor person…
Zhang Yu felt he couldn’t make this decision for Bai Zhenzhen, so after some thought, he decided to give the choice to her.
Under the bridge that night.
Upon hearing Zhang Yu’s detailed account of the evil gods, Bai Zhenzhen was surprised.
“Evil gods? Aren’t those just urban legends? They actually exist?”
Fu Ji, in her doll form on Zhang Yu’s neck, spoke up. “Of course they’re real. For example, Zhang Yu’s potential was unlocked by me.”
Seeing the doll speak, Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes widened in shock.
After another round of explanations, and after confirming that Zhang Yu was not being controlled by the evil god and that the one before her posed no immediate threat, Bai Zhenzhen’s gaze turned fiery.
Her eyes, looking at Zhang Yu, seemed to say: So you really have been using a cheat! And you’ve been using it for this long before letting me in on it? I let you play with my True Spiritual Root a long time ago.
Fu Ji asked, “So, if we were to perform the wish-granting ritual to unlock your potential, would you be willing?”
Ever since participating in the Foundation Establishment exam, Bai Zhenzhen had felt a torrential pressure constantly chasing her from behind.
No matter how fast she progressed or how valiantly she pushed forward, she always felt it wasn’t enough.
Now, hearing Fu Ji’s words, Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes shone brightly as she said, “Is that even a question? I wish I could boost my potential right this instant.”
Zhang Yu sighed internally, knowing this would be her answer, but he still cautioned her, “But after the ritual is complete, you’ll have to grant her three wishes. For instance, this one’s first wish was for me to fulfill a thousand wishes for her. These evil gods don’t have good intentions.”
Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu and said, “But you have her under control for now, don’t you?”
“Yu-boy, I have to get into the Ten Greats.”
“Since there’s a way to increase my chances right now, and it doesn’t even cost me money, then taking a little risk… I’m willing.”
“This is my own choice. Even if something happens in the future, it’s a price I’ll have to pay myself.”
Zhang Yu nodded slightly. “I understand.”
Bai Zhenzhen looked at Fu Ji and said, “Shall we start then? Is here okay? Hurry up and boost my potential.”
Fu Ji gave an awkward laugh, “My power is too weak right now; I can’t do things like that yet.”
“Before I can enhance your and Zhang Yu’s potential, we have to hunt another evil god.”
The next day.
Not long after Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan logged into the Spirit Realm together and arrived once more at the Dao-Querying Hall.
Inside a dilapidated apartment.
An old computer screen suddenly flickered, displaying lines of text that appeared to be entirely intelligence on Zhang Yu.
A scruffy, bearded man was drawn to it.
The man’s name was Li Quan, a high school graduate from many years ago, who was now a top-tier delivery man after being ‘optimized’ by his company at the age of 50.
But he had another identity in secret: a believer of an evil god.
At this moment, the evil god with whom he had signed a contract was in the form of a teddy bear, sitting in a corner of the room, engrossed in a video game.
Li Quan looked at the evil god and said, “Master, we’ve received a message from the Shadow Gu that you had Song Xu plant.”
The teddy bear nodded nonchalantly. “Mm-hmm.”
Li Quan had no choice but to ask again, “What’s the next step?”
The teddy bear clicked its tongue, impatiently pressing the pause button. “Was it all sent from a proxy machine?”
Li Quan nodded. “The intelligence was routed through three layers of proxies. They shouldn’t have found our location.”
The doll sighed. “Ah, what a hassle. That Song Xu is just too hardworking. What’s the point of trying so hard?”
The teddy bear’s name was Huoshan. Although he was an evil god, unlike Fu Ji who was bent on climbing the ladder, dreaming of financial and cultivation freedom, Huoshan had always felt that mixing around on the first level was perfectly fine.
What was the point of competing to move up? In the end, didn’t the evil god kings take the largest cut?
Instead, it was better to comfortably stay on the first level, with no need for a nine-to-five job or temporary work; whenever he was short on money, he had believers to work for him.
All the household chores could also be done for free by his most loyal believers.
As for anything he lacked or needed… in short, he could have his believers work hard to buy it for him.
Although he couldn’t be called fabulously wealthy, a life of just eating, drinking, and playing at home every day was enough for him.
At least, in Huoshan’s eyes, this life was much better than the rat race of constantly striving for performance on the path of an evil god, right?
Therefore, his goal for a long time had been to sign up society’s workhorses, specifically looking for couriers, delivery men, and construction workers to contract with. They could earn money for him, were less likely to attract attention, no one would care if they died, and they were all relatively easy to deceive.
It wasn’t until Huoshan signed Song Xu that things began to change.
“That guy Song Xu… is too much of a try-hard.”
“Sigh, maybe we should just forget about this business of hunting a colleague. It feels too troublesome. What if it backfires? Isn’t life pretty good right now?”