Chapter 181: Evil God Promotion, Inspector Attention
Bai Zhenzhen asked again, “Right, what about this evil god’s little treasure hoard? Did you find it?”
Fu Ji replied, “How could it be that easy? The moment that evil god knew it was outmatched, it erased every last record and all the data in its head.”
“And even if you did find it, you must never touch the legacy it left behind.”
“The commotion we caused this time wasn’t exactly small; we’ve definitely been noticed by more than a few people.”
“The Inspection Team has probably already started investigating this incident, so you two need to be careful from now on.”
As she spoke, a sliver of cold, sinister evil god power materialized around Fu Ji, and she announced proudly, “However, after devouring that thing, I have now recovered to the status of a lower-rank evil god. It’s more than enough to provide cover for you on the first layer of Kunxu.”
Through Fu Ji’s explanation, Zhang Yu learned that evil gods also had a system of classification, and the key to this hierarchy was their so-called status.
Fu Ji said, “From level one to nine, evil gods have nine ranks of status. Only by attaining a higher rank can one invade a higher-level divine power network.”
“For instance, in the thirty-six layers of Kunxu, the higher you go, the higher the network level, and the harder it is to breach.”
“But now that I’ve recovered to the status of a level-one lower-rank evil god, infiltrating the divine power network of Kunxu’s first layer won’t be a problem.”
Zhang Yu knew that all of Kunxu’s networks were, in essence, divine power networks—conduits for the righteous gods to transmit information and power, which were only gradually opened for public use later on.
Listening to Fu Ji now, Zhang Yu asked, “So what can you do, specifically?”
As if wanting Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen to recognize her value, Fu Ji began to pitch her abilities like a salesperson, detailing her newfound powers as a level-one evil god.
“First, of course, is that I can now perform all sorts of rituals.”
“A detection ritual can pinpoint the location of any camera.”
“A shielding ritual can block those cameras.”
“An anti-surveillance ritual can take control of them…”
“And…”
Zhang Yu couldn’t help but interrupt, “What is your obsession with cameras? Why are all your abilities geared toward dealing with them?”
“This is what you amateurs fail to understand,” Fu Ji instructed. “The lower the layer of Kunxu, the less developed its divine power network. The first layer is the most undeveloped of them all, so the methods the righteous gods use to monitor it are the most primitive and crude.”
“On the first layer, surveillance cameras are the eyes of the righteous gods. They are the most important means by which they observe the world and monitor society.”
“If you can evade all the cameras, it’s tantamount to evading the gaze of the vast majority of righteous gods. On the first layer, that basically makes you an invisible person.”
“That’s why, among the rituals mastered by a level-one evil god, the ones related to cameras are the most numerous.”
Bai Zhenzhen recalled the way she had monitored Song Xu and his group through a camera and asked, “Then it seems Song Xu and the others didn’t use this?”
Fu Ji chuckled. “That’s because even for an evil god, rituals can’t be used indefinitely.”
“The number of rituals a level-one evil god can maintain is limited.”
“Take my former colleague, for example. He had to maintain wish rituals for eight followers, uphold the apartment building’s shielding ritual to block cameras, and cast a Shadow Gu to spy on you. He was stretched to his absolute limit; how could he have any capacity left to let his followers cast rituals at will?”
“And I’m not like him, weighed down by a portfolio of bad investments.”
“I only have you two as followers, so I can place detection rituals on both of you, allowing you to perceive the location of cameras at all times.”
“There is also the anti-detection ritual. Once this ritual is complete on you, you’ll be able to hide a portion of your data whenever your magic power or physical strength is measured, so long as a righteous god isn’t personally overseeing the test.”
“Hehe, your stats have been attracting more and more attention lately. This ritual should be perfect for helping you lie low, don’t you think?”
Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen both nodded repeatedly at her words. With no one backing them, their rapidly rising physical stats had indeed become a major source of anxiety.
Especially after they started preparing for the Foundation Establishment qualification exam, high scores had become less meaningful and were more likely to attract unwanted greed.
Director Long’s special attention when Zhang Yu was selling the seeds was a prime example.
Seeing that Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were both very interested, Fu Ji finally revealed her true objective. “In that case, as long as you prepare the necessary materials and find a suitable location for the rituals, we can begin at any time…”
But as he looked at the list of materials she kept adding, Zhang Yu frowned.
“What’s the deal with these antiques? This all adds up to over a hundred thousand, doesn’t it? Do the rituals really require such expensive artifacts?”
Fu Ji was prepared for this question and explained, “An evil god’s status is merely the threshold for initiating rituals and hacking into the divine power network.”
“The actual execution of each ritual consumes evil god power.”
“Of course, I could just steal a little bit of power from the righteous gods’ network each day. It would probably take about half a year, and then I’d have enough to perform these rituals.”
Zhang Yu looked at his phone screen, at the statuettes, incense burners, and candle holders Fu Ji had added to the shopping cart, and frowned. “So you’re saying these antiques can replenish your evil god power?”
Fu Ji explained, “Long before the divine power network was established, divine spirits already stood mighty in Kunxu, worshiped by countless people and receiving the power of their incense and devotion.”
“This power of incense and worship was the precursor to divine power.”
“Among the various artifacts that have survived from the old era, one can always find some residual wishing power. By absorbing it, I can replenish my evil god power.”
After finishing, Fu Ji continued her persuasion. “Your rate of improvement will only become more and more astonishing from here on out; you need a way to properly conceal your strength. The incident with Song Xu might have also alerted the Inspection Team, and who knows when they might start monitoring you with cameras. What if they see something they’re not supposed to see?”
“You two have so many secrets; concealment methods are what you need most.”
“Spending a hundred thousand or so for peace of mind is an absolute bargain.”
“And don’t worry that having too many ritual effects on you will cause problems during the Foundation Establishment exam. When the time comes, I can temporarily disable all rituals except for the wish-granting one. With my technical expertise focused entirely on concealment, there is absolutely no way a righteous god will discover anything.”
Bai Zhenzhen mulled it over for a moment before saying, “Yu-boy, she has a point. It looks like we can’t skimp on this hundred thousand.”
“Fine,” Zhang Yu nodded. “Let’s get everything ready.”
Fortunately, Zhang Yu had earned a decent sum from selling seeds and collecting a finder’s fee after returning to Songyang, allowing him to afford this shopping spree on his phone.
With that settled, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen resumed their cultivation.
Zhang Yu twisted his body, circulating his magic power and fluidly moving through a series of stances to temper his flesh and blood, accelerating the expulsion of waste and toxins from his system.
Ever since he returned from the Immortal Capital, Zhang Yu had seized every moment to cultivate the Spring and Autumn Endless Zen, a top-tier body tempering cultivation technique.
Over the past few days, he had not only steadily advanced the level of this technique, feeling his physical strength grow, but he had also sensed the lingering pill and alchemical toxins being purged from his body, bit by bit, during his training.
After all, for the past few months, in his bid to pass the Foundation Establishment qualification exam, Zhang Yu had completely abandoned his natural body tempering path, instead relying on a frantic regimen of alchemical enhancers and continuously consuming Crimson Marrow Primordial Pills.
While this process had allowed his cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds and his stats to skyrocket, it had also left a large amount of stubborn impurities in his body, which gradually began to affect the metabolic functions of his vital organs.
He had even felt a sharp pain from his organs just before the last Foundation Establishment exam.
But now, through the practice of the Spring and Autumn Endless Zen, he felt his flesh and blood growing cleaner, and his internal organs gradually felt light and unburdened.
After finishing another round of the Spring and Autumn Endless Zen, Zhang Yu felt a sense of comfort spread throughout his body as he glanced at the Feather Book.
Spring and Autumn Endless Zen Level 6 (14/60)
Once Spring and Autumn Endless Zen reaches level 10, I’ll start practicing those basic high school cultivation techniques and see what kind of effect the Technique-Chaining Diagram’s High School Sacred Body really has.
Over the next few days, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen cultivated while preparing the materials and venue for the rituals.
This day, inside White Dragon High School.
Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were walking out after finishing a two-hour sparring session with Yu Xinghan and Song Hailong.
Recalling Yu Xinghan’s pale face from today, Zhang Yu thought to himself, Is that guy going to be okay? I hope he doesn’t die from overwork someday.
Just then, he saw several people in Inspection Team uniforms striding down the corridors of White Dragon High School, and the surrounding students quickly made way for them.
The Inspection Team… Zhang Yu recalled the information he had just gleaned from Yu Xinghan and Song Hailong.
The disappearance of Song Xu, a top student at White Dragon High School, had not caused much of a stir. It seemed the internal details had been suppressed. The students here only knew that Song Xu had been absent for a few days, completely unaware that the academic star had died from the backlash of an evil god ritual.
Seeing the Inspection Team, Zhang Yu’s first thought was that they were here to investigate Song Xu’s case. He immediately pulled Bai Zhenzhen to the side, hoping to avoid attracting their attention.
But just as the group passed by, the woman in the lead stopped and turned her gaze toward Zhang Yu.
“Hm? You’re Zhang Yu, aren’t you?” she said, a smile gracing her lips as she looked at him. “You’re Zhang Pianpian’s… hehe.”
Both Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen tensed up as the beautiful woman proactively approached them.
The woman continued, “My name is Yun Ni. I’m the captain of the Inspection Team.”
“We’ve spoken before, don’t you remember?”
Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback. She looked far too young, completely different from the image of an Inspection Team captain he had imagined.
What Zhang Yu didn’t know was that Yun Ni’s family had produced inspectors for ten generations, making them a renowned family of inspectors in Songyang.
As an outstanding scion of her generation, Yun Ni had become a member of the Inspection Team while still in high school. After graduation, following her family’s arrangements, she had forgone university and directly assumed the position of Inspection Team captain.
Yun Ni seemed to want to say something to Zhang Yu, but her gaze swept over the surrounding students of White Dragon High, and she frowned slightly.
“Ugh, this place reeks of something foul now. Everyone looks like a demon or a monster.”
Zhang Yu was momentarily stunned, then realized she was referring to how many White Dragon students now had the appearance of demon-kin after undergoing the demonic muscle modification surgery.
Yun Ni sighed. “These things, neither human nor demon… if they ran around a school in the old days, they’d have been run through with a flying sword on the spot.”
“Who could have imagined… that a high school campus could turn into such a ghastly place.”
An inspector at her side quickly reminded her, “Captain, if anyone overhears you saying that, you’ll be reported again.”
Zhang Yu understood now. This Yun Ni was a classic anti-demon-kin bigot.
“Never mind, let’s not talk about this,” Yun Ni said, shaking her head.
She then turned back to Zhang Yu with a faint smile. “Zhang Yu, let’s find somewhere else to talk.”
Zhang Yu had Bai Zhenzhen go on ahead while he followed behind Yun Ni.
As they walked, Yun Ni asked, “Zhang Yu, have you been in contact with Song Xu recently?”