Chapter 120 (1): Sansan's Plan

A unique fragrance instantly filled the entire room, but Fang Che remained unmoved as he placed the pill into his mouth.

The pill melted into a stream of warmth that flowed down his throat before settling in his stomach, and there was first a blissfully cool and refreshing sensation.

However, that immediately turned to fiery heat that coursed through his entire body.

Fang Che opened up his spirit sense, and the burst of fiery heat instantly surged into his consciousness as a turbulent wave of mental power, constantly consolidating everything while expanding his consciousness.

Fang Che was instantly beset with a splitting headache, and his body was drenched in cold sweat, but his expression remained blank and unmoved.

This pain was nothing compared with what he had suffered through the night before.

In fact, he yearned for the pain to be more intense. That way, he would be temporarily distracted from his mental anguish.

His consciousness expanded rapidly with the torrential influx of mental power, and before long, it had swelled to thrice its original size.

Only then did the pill's power finally run out. Fang Che's consciousness was already over ten times larger than that of the average warrior of his cultivation base, yet it had still been expanded by threefold.

A hint of lingering fear surfaced in his eyes as he realized the trap that Chen Yin had set for him.

This Spirit Nourishment Pill was definitely not something that the average first-rank Warlord could take. It would be a miracle if they didn't explode!

If he had taken the pill as soon as he made his breakthrough, perhaps he could've survived, but the pain would've undoubtedly been far more intense.

Thankfully, his alertness had allowed him to turn a potential crisis into a blessing.

He immediately pulled out his communication jade to interrogate Chen Yin.

"Obsidian, at which cultivation base should I take the Spirit Nourishment Pill that you gave me?"

It was already past midnight, but Chen Yin's response was almost instantaneous.

"It would take one of the greatest prodigies in history to be able to handle the pill at the first or second-rank Warlord tier. Someone that can take the pill at the third or fourth rank would be one of the finest prodigies of our generation.

“A fifth-tier Warlord capable of handling the pill would be quite impressive, but beyond that, just about anyone can take the pill without having to worry about excessively severe repercussions. Have you taken it? At what cultivation base did you take it?"

"Ye Yun told me that I could take it as soon as I reached the Warlord tier. Were you trying to get me killed?!"

"But you didn't do that, right? I'm assuming you only just took the pill. What's your cultivation base right now?"

"I'm at the fifth-rank Warlord tier."

There was no response from Chen Yin for a short while, following which he suddenly declared: "Night Demon, on behalf of the Chen Clan, I am officially extending an offer for you to become an ally!"

Fang Che was rather taken aback by this.

Why is he saying this now? I'm trying to demand an explanation from him!

"I'll think about it."

"My offer remains open for three years. During the next three years, you can accept my offer at any time."

With that, their correspondence drew to a conclusion, and Chen Yin turned to Ye Yun as he declared, "He only took the Spirit Nourishment Pill today, at the fifth-rank Warlord tier."

Ye Yun was astonished to hear this. He hadn't given Night Demon any warnings, so he was shocked that the latter had been able to hold off for so long.

"What would've happened if he had taken the pill as soon as he reached the Warlord tier?" Ye Yun asked.

"There's a 90% chance that he would've died. As for the remaining 10%, he would've been reduced to a braindead vegetable."

"But you sent me to deliver so many things to him! If he had taken the pill as soon as he made his breakthrough, then wouldn't all of that stuff have gone to waste?"

"If that had happened, then he can enjoy my gifts in the afterlife. If he had immediately taken the pill after his breakthrough, then that would've been that. However, if he had taken the pill and survived unscathed, as he has now, then I would have to do everything in my power to recruit him as an ally.

“If I can't do that, then I have to kill him at all costs before someone else can make use of him! If that happens, then I would send you and Ye Feng together to put an end to him, perhaps even with additional help, and even if you had to detonate yourselves, I would have you ensure his death!"

"Is he that serious a threat?" Ye Yun exclaimed.

"You don't understand how terrifying people like him can become," Chen Yin said with a faint smile.

"So why are you extending an olive branch to him now?"

"I'm doing this because he's displayed sufficient intelligence, willpower, and alertness to make him a useful ally. He's perfectly avoided our trap while also making use of it to benefit himself, and what's most important of all is that he contacted me right after taking the pill. He's doing this as a warning to me, and he's also displaying his worth. He's not actually demanding an explanation from me.

“Instead, he's telling me that what I've given him isn't enough to sway him to my camp. It's always fun dealing with smart people like him. After this interaction, I have become even more interested in him. I can now see why Yan Beihan has taken an interest in him. If I can recruit Night Demon to my side, he could even help me surpass my brother's status in our clan in the future."

"But after this, he's going to grow very wary and distrusting of you," Ye Yun said.

"That's inevitable. Even if he becomes an ally of mine in the future, he's never going to fully trust me. However, that doesn't mean anything in the pursuit of mutual benefit. As long as I can give him what he wants or help him get what he wants, he has no reason not to join me. I have truly unearthed a hidden gem. That seems like just cause to skimp out on some sword practice for today and retire for an early night."

Ye Yun looked on with a smile as Chen Yin departed, only for the latter to suddenly turn back around as he asked, "If you were to go to the White Cloud Prefecture right now, would you be able to find Night Demon without asking him to come out to see you?"

Ye Yun thought about it for a moment, then replied, "No."

"In that case, I'm even more impressed with him!" Chen Yin chuckled.

***

Elsewhere, Xue Fuxiao was carefully scouring through all of the mountains and undergrowth on the southeastern border with his mental power, doing so with meticulous attention and vigilance.

He was still carrying Fang Che's wedding gifts, but he was in no hurry to go and see him.

Xue Fuxiao had his priorities in order, and he knew that searching for Duan Xiyang was more important than delivering Fang Che's wedding gifts.

In any case, the wedding was already past, so there was no hurry to make the delivery.

***

In the morning, Fang Che arrived in the administration hall earlier than everyone else, and the first administrators to arrive were greeted by the sight of a dazed Fang Che staring blankly at the ten vacant desks that once belonged to Zuo Guanglie and his band of brothers.

"Don't be too distraught over their passing, Chief Fang. They died fighting the good fight," Jing Xiuyun consoled.

"When is the funeral going to be held?" Fang Che asked.

"Tomorrow."

"I see. I won't attend the funeral. I'll go and patrol the northern area of the city instead. The day after tomorrow, I'll assign some people to replace them."

Everyone nodded in silence. They all thought that he simply didn't want to experience the grief of attending the funeral, and they were all very understanding of him.

Only Fang Che knew that the reason why he didn't want to attend their funeral was because he was their killer.

***

Upon his arrival in the administration hall, Cripple Hong extended an enthusiastic greeting to Fang Che, but he was met with a cold glare.

Everyone could sense the tension in the air. It had already been quite a few days since he last beat Cripple Hong. Were the beatings about to resume?

"You don't have anything to tell me, Administrator Hong?" Fang Che asked.

"I... can't think of anything," Cripple Hong stammered.

Fang Che abruptly lashed out, slapping him to the ground before sealing off all of his meridians so that he couldn't move even a single finger.

He then searched Cripple Hong from head to toe and fished out two jade pendants.

After that, he pressed a finger into Cripple Hong's dantian to seal off his spirit qi circulation.

"What have I done wrong, Chief Fang?" Cripple Hong yelled in a panic.

"You don't know what you've done wrong? You've committed a crime!"

Cripple Hong faltered slightly upon hearing this, then asked, "Can we speak in private?"

"Sure," Fang Che replied, then carried Cripple Hong out of the room by the back of his collar, leaving everyone to speculate about what transgression the latter could've committed.

***

Inside a training room, Fang Che threw Cripple Hong to the ground.

"You wanted to speak to me in private. Speak up now."

"What would you like me to talk about, Chief Fang?"

"That inn run by your friend! You don't have anything to say about it?"

Even though he was holding the two jade pendants in his hand, he couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary about them.

However, that was only to be expected. Fang Che could give his communication jade to anyone else, even a fellow demonic church member, and they wouldn't be able to detect anything special about it, either. Hence, this wasn't sufficient evidence to condemn or exonerate Cripple Hong as a demonic church member.

"So you found out, after all," Cripple Hong sighed with a wry smile.

"Explain yourself!" Fang Che ordered.

"That inn is a fish pond of mine," Cripple Hong explained. "The innkeeper is my junior brother. You forbade us from fishing, so I could only keep that fish pond around in secret. We've been working together for quite a few years. On the surface, he pretends to constantly bribe me to make me appear like a corrupt administrator, and as a result, his inn also gained a seedy reputation, making it a place where many demonic church members go to stay.

“My junior brother will keep an eye on them, and when he's sure there's one I can take care of on my own, he'll notify me when they leave the inn, and I'll go intercept and kill them. If they're too strong for me to handle, then I report them to my higher-ups, and we kill them after they leave the inn. This is how I've earned the majority of my merit points since I became an administrator at the Hall of Protectionists."