Chapter 153: Alliance Offer

The vast torrents of spirit qi gushed violently into Fang Che's body, and it was as if his dantian had transformed into an insatiable pit, able to hold the entire world and still have capacity to spare.

All of the black bear's fur had already been stripped away to reveal its delicate skin underneath, but the skin then began to visibly age before a new layer of black fur emerged.

The fur gradually hardened before being shed, stripping the bear bare once again, only for the cycle to repeat itself.

Initially, the bear had been trembling in excitement, but at some point, it had fallen asleep, and an indescribably profound aura was sweeping incessantly through the cave.

After what seemed like an eternity, Fang Che returned to his senses, feeling as if he had just returned from a journey across multiple worlds.

His consciousness settled down, and the spirit qi around him gradually faded away.

Inside the cave, the bear was snoring quietly.

Fang Che's eyes abruptly sprang open, and two beams of white light shot three feet out from within!

The beams of white light lingered for a moment before fading away, and Fang Che gently exhaled.

His breath was tinged with a slight gray color. Those were the trace toxins within his internal organs from the food and natural treasures that he had consumed, as well as what was accumulated through everyday activities like breathing and cultivating.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

All of that had been expelled in a single breath, and with that, the breakthrough was complete.

An elated look appeared on Fang Che's face, and he discovered that he had not just reached the seventh tier, but its pinnacle!

This came as a surprise even to himself.

How did this happen? I've never progressed this quickly before!

He then took a moment to inspect his own consciousness, and he was stunned to discover just how massive it had become.

If his consciousness had been the size of an apple prior to his breakthrough, then it was now the size of a watermelon, an increase of several dozenfold!

What did I do? How did this happen?

Fang Che was perplexed.

The Formless Divine Jade hadn't done anything, nor had the divine metal.

Could it be because of the enlightened state I entered just now?

Fang Che immediately sat back down to resume his meditation, but despite his best efforts, he was unable to recapture that profound state of mind.

In the end, he could only get up with a hint of disappointment on his face.

The black bear had also woken, and it was looking at Fang Che with its eyes filled to the brim with affection.

It had benefitted immensely from Fang Che's two breakthroughs, and it couldn't be more grateful.

The bear's fur was still black, but a shock of white fur had appeared right between its eyes, and Fang Che gently stroked that shock of white fur as he said, "I wish you a happy life."

He then vanished from the cave in a flash.

The bear immediately rushed out of the cave after him, but he was already nowhere to be seen.

The bear sat down in front of the cave entrance in a dejected manner, seemingly aware that they had just parted ways for the last time.

***

Fang Che held his sheathed sword in one hand as he walked out of the valley, not bothering to fly or use any movement techniques.

In the wake of this flash of enlightenment, his mental state had been significantly altered.

He still felt as if his consciousness were among the stars, and compared with the vastness of space, the Parasite Ascension Project unfolding before him felt utterly insignificant.

A hidden weapon came flying toward him with tremendous force.

However, in this special state of mind, Fang Che's spirit sense was particularly sensitive, and he reflexively evaded the hidden weapon with ease, much to the astonishment of the six Generals that had just sprung out of hiding.

The flying dagger had been hurled by a hidden weapons master among the younger generation of the main church, and his success rate was absurdly high.

Even when it came to targets two or three cultivation ranks above him, an all-out sneak attack from him virtually never missed.

His flying daggers were extremely fast, often already striking the target by the time they detected it.

However, Fang Che had just evaded the flying dagger as casually as if he were taking a stroll in the park, and it was as if he had known the precise trajectory that the dagger was going to take in advance.

The six Generals descended to form an encirclement around him, and their leader of the group said, "We're under orders from Mistress Yan to capture you, but we have no personal vendetta against you, even though you did talk a lot of shit outside. If we all manage to leave this place alive, I believe we can be allies, so how about you tell us your name?"

"Why aren't you calling for reinforcements?" Fang Che asked.

Embarrassed looks appeared on the six men's faces upon hearing this.

Yan Beihan had instructed them to call for reinforcements as soon as they caught sight of Fang Che, but they were all Generals from the main church, and the thought of having to call for reinforcements when they already had a six-to-one numbers advantage over a General from a subsidiary church was too embarrassing to bear.

Furthermore, they also had an ulterior motive in mind.

At this point, they had realized that their chances of killing Fang Che were very slim, particularly right after he had just made a breakthrough, so why not try to befriend him?

If he could leave this place alive, he would have an immeasurable future ahead!

The leader of the group was a tall and authoritative-looking man, and he said, "There's no need for us to call for reinforcements. There are six of us here, and while that may still not be enough to kill you, we're confident that we can at least get away alive. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Ling Kong, the son of Battle Hall Master Ling Yuanfeng of the third battle hall of the main church's battle altar."

"I am Xi Yun, the son of Deputy Hall Master Xi Yunping of the third battle hall."

"I am Shang Zhi, the grandson of Enforcer Shang Qingliu of the third battle hall."

"I am Xiao Jue, the son of Enforcer Xiao Sha of the third battle hall."

"I am Zhan Meng, the grandson of Elder Zhan Yun of the third battle hall."

"I am Lu Yuan, the grandson of Elder Lu Zhihang of the third battle hall."

The six men each cupped their fist in a salute as they collectively asked, "May we know your name?"

Fang Che took a deep breath, then stuck out his chest as he proudly declared, "I am Night Demon, captain of Team A of Squad B of Battalion C of Regiment D of Incense Hall E of Altar F of the One Heart Church's White Cloud Prefecture branch helm!"

Ling Kong was astonished to hear this. "That's utter nonsense!"

"No, it's not!" Fang Che snapped. "I was only just promoted to team captain, and I don't know which branch my team belongs to yet, so I can only assign each of them a letter."

The six Generals were stunned into silence.

Never had they imagined that such an outstanding prodigy would only be a bottom-dweller among bottom-dwellers in the One Heart Church.

"Is... Is everyone from your One Heart Church this strong?"

It then quickly occurred to the six of them that they were in luck.

This was clearly an exceptional prodigy that had somehow slipped through the cracks! If they could recruit him to their side, it would be a massive addition to their party!

As Generals of the main church, they had no qualms about taking Fang Che from Yin Shengong, and any thoughts in their minds of capturing Fang Che to devour his body had completely evaporated.

"Brother Night Demon!" Ling Kong called out as he cupped his fist in a salute, following which a look of realization appeared on his face. "Hold on, why is your codename the name of the Night Demon Church?"

"It's not a codename, it's my name!" Fang Che declared.

It was about time that he made the name of Night Demon heard across the land, and this was not a bad starting point.

"That's... a very interesting name," Shang Zhi remarked.

"No one in the One Heart Church would dare to give themselves a name like this, so Yin Shengong must've been the one to give it to you, right?" Lu Yuan asked.

"That's right," Fang Che confirmed, feeling rather impressed by Lu Yuan's deductive reasoning.

Lu Yuan turned to Ling Kong and said, "I doubt this kid actually slipped through the cracks. His progression up the ranks was most likely interrupted by the Parasite Ascension Project, and I'm sure Yin Shengong will give him a huge promotion if he can get out of here alive."

In other words, it most likely wasn't going to be easy to take Night Demon from Yin Shengong.

"That's fine. It's better for us if Brother Night Demon remains in the One Heart Church," Ling Kong said with a smile.

The other five Generals' smiles widened upon hearing this, and at this point, they no longer even wanted to fight Fang Che at all.

The same applied to Fang Che.

It wasn't that he didn't want to kill them, but in the future, he would have to pave a way for himself into the Church of the Self-Righteous, so they would be much more useful as connections than dead.

"Do you still want to fight?" Fang Che asked.

He was still holding his sheathed sword in his hand, indicating that he was ready for battle.

"Nah, we'll pass this time. It would be an absolute travesty if we died by your hands. We've all already killed enough people to answer to our superiors, and we're not aiming for top-ten finishes anyway."

"All of you may already have enough, but I still need more," Fang Che sighed.

"Haven't you already killed enough as well?" Ling Kong asked.

"Pope Yin has ordered me to secure a top-three finish at all costs, and I don't have anywhere near enough kills to complete that objective. There are at least seven or eight guys that have killed more than me, and that's only out of the ones that I know!"

Fang Che had pulled that number out of his arse. In reality, he had no idea where he stood among all of the remaining Generals.

Ling Kong was silent for a moment, then exchanged a few glances with his companions, and all of them responded with slight nods.

"I have a proposal for you, Brother Night Demon, but I'm not sure if it's one that'll appeal to you," Ling Kong said.

"Do you want to propose that we join forces?" Fang Che asked.

He had to display some intelligence so that the six Generals don't regard him as a fool who doesn't know how to do anything but fight.

Sure enough, Ling Kong's eyes immediately lit up.

"You're a smart man, Brother Night Demon!"

Fang Che took a step back as he shook his head in a firm manner. "I refuse!"

"Why?"

"You're all from the main church, and you clearly already know one another. If we join forces, I'll be the odd one out, and I'm not going to be able to reap any of the benefits of our alliance!"

Fang Che knew that these people were trying to recruit him as a henchman, and he wasn't going to allow that to happen.

However, if he could join them on equal terms, then he would have six allies to help him on his killing spree, and that would certainly make his job easier.