Chapter 129 (2): Extraordinary Premonition!

Unbeknownst to them, the assessment teams had actually already arrived, and they had already been observing the branch helm from all angles for three days.

In fact, some of them had even disguised themselves as merchants to discuss business with the escort agency, and over the past three days, they had been thoroughly astonished and impressed.

"Here are the assessment results, Young Master Xing."

Inside an inn, a middle-aged man was standing in a respectful bow as he offered up a stack of papers to a handsome, white-robed young man with both hands.

There was an air of regal authority about the young man, and there were five people seated beside him, looking very timid and apprehensive.

They were all warriors of appreciable cultivation bases, but they didn't even dare to breathe too loudly in the young man's presence.

The young man accepted the stack of papers, but didn't read through.

Instead, he asked, "I heard that Dong Changfeng made a breakthrough today, is that right?"

"That's correct."

"With Dong Changfeng here, all of you must be particularly vigilant in everything that you do," the young man cautioned with a solemn expression.

"Yes, Young Master Xing."

The young man rose to his feet, then strode over to the window before taking a concerned glance outside.

This was the best inn in the entire prefecture, and he was staying in the inn's most premium room, granting him a view of half of the city.

Countless warriors could still be seen converging toward Good Fortune Restaurant, and the young man murmured, "Dong Changfeng is likely going to advance a few spots up the Cloud Weapon Archive after this breakthrough. Has the main church been informed of this development?"

"Yes, Young Master Xing."

"Who's directly above Dong Changfeng on the Cloud Weapon Archive?"

"That would be Li Yao, one of our enforcers."

"Li Yao may not be able to hold on to his position for much longer," the young man sighed. "In fact, if Dong Changfeng challenges him, then there's a very good chance he'll fall to his demise."

"But a challenge from a fellow warrior on the Cloud Weapon Archive is not to be turned down. If Enforcer Li chooses to cower, then..."

"Then let him die!" the young man concluded. "If he wishes to keep his honor intact, then he must pay with his life. Of the 999 spots on the Cloud Weapon Archive, our Church of the Self-Righteous was able to claim seven hundred. We all saw this as a resounding victory, but in hindsight, it was a ruse from Dongfang Sansan all along.

“The only way for lower-ranked warriors to climb up the ranks is to defeat those above them, and in the vast majority of cases, the losers of those battles end up dead. Whenever our warriors are killed, others take their place, and they are eventually killed as well. It took us far too long to realize that Dongfang Sansan established the Cloud Weapon Archive as a hit list!

“Every once in a while, a mighty warrior would emerge among the Guardians before going on a killing spree up the Cloud Weapon Archive, challenging and slaying our warriors one by one. Now that Dong Changfeng has made a breakthrough, Dongfang Sansan will definitely take advantage of the opportunity to have Li Yao killed."

This was simply one of Dongfang Sansan's countless brilliant machinations, and even now that the conspiracy behind the Cloud Weapon Archive had been revealed, they were still trapped in the loop, having to periodically sacrifice their warriors for the sake of honor.

Those on the Cloud Weapon Archive were essentially like celebrities in the warrior world, and if one of them were to turn down a challenge from a lower-ranked warrior, then their reputation would be swept to the ground.

The young man heaved a faint sigh as he returned to his chair, and only then did he open the report in his hand.

After meticulously reading through the report, he remarked, "The rise of the Unmatched Escort Agency has truly been very impressive, and it's even more remarkable that this Helmsmaster Starlight was able to make so many people from the main church submit to him like a flock of docile sheep. If anyone of you were in Starlight's shoes, would you be able to accomplish the same thing in just a few short months?"

The five other individuals in the room with him shook their heads with wry smiles.

The report had read like a far-fetched fictional story to them, and they knew that they had no chance of replicating Starlight's feats.

"The key here is Starlight," the young man continued. "At the very beginning of the branch helm's development, he used Yin Shengong's authority to intimidate his competitors, but from there onward, he did everything through his own power, which means that he essentially single-handedly made this branch helm what it is today."

"Indeed. His only flaw is that his cultivation base is slightly lacking, but outside of that, he is truly a remarkable man!"

"His cultivation base is lacking?" the young man sneered. "What makes you say that?"

The five individuals in the room exchanged a few perplexed glances at this question.

According to the report, he was only a seventh-rank Warlord.

"Have you noticed what his cultivation base was back when he first established the branch helm?"

Everyone's expressions instantly changed drastically at this reminder.

The report had stated that he had only been a second-rank Lord at the time.

"In just four and a half months, he was able to go from a second-rank Lord to a seventh-rank Warlord, yet you say his cultivation base is lacking? Have your brains been eaten by dogs?"

The five individuals lowered their heads as they began sweating profusely.

"To think that you would miss such a key detail. It seems like all of you have been getting far too complacent of late!"

The five individuals fell to their knees in unison.

"Please forgive us for our oversight, Young Master Xing."

"Get up!" the young man ordered. "I don't care who you served in the past, you serve me now, and anyone who serves me will only be allowed to make a single mistake in their life. All five of you have just used up your one and only second chance."

The young man returned his gaze to the report in his hand, while the five kneeling individuals rose to their feet again, the backs of their robes drenched in cold sweat.

"Has a background check been conducted on Starlight?"

"Yes, Young Master Xing."

One of the five stepped forward in a timid fashion to offer up a report on Starlight to the young man, but it was only given a quick glance before it was tossed aside.

"This is all fake!"

"Fake?"

The five individuals were astonished, and they hurriedly picked up the report before reading through its contents.

The report contained a detailed outline of Starlight's life, including information like his time and place of birth, the names of his parents, at what age he was adopted by Yin Shengong...

The report was extremely detailed, and there didn't seem to be any holes in the information provided, so how could it have been fake?

"Let me ask you this," the young man began. "How old is Yin Shengong?"

"Over 2,700 years old. 2,763 years old, to be precise."

"And how old is Starlight?"

"The report says he's forty-three years old."

"What's 2,763 minus 43?"

"2,720."

"Well, I'm glad to see the five of you can at least do basic math!" the young man scoffed. "Let's subtract another one hundred from that number because realistically, Yin Shengong wouldn't have adopted anyone in the first one hundred years of his life. That still leaves 2,620 years in which he didn't adopt a single child. What makes you think he would make an exception for Starlight?"

"Per... Perhaps it was a spur-of-the-moment decision?" one of the five individuals suggested meekly.

"So you're telling me he decided on a whim to adopt a child completely unrelated to him after living for over 2,700 years?" the young man scoffed. "The report says that Yin Shengong adopted Starlight when the latter was just three years old. Is this meant to be some kind of joke?

“If you told me that Yin Shengong ate Starlight at three years old, I would find even that more believable than the story being presented here! It should be clear at an immediate glance that this entire report is fake, and yet, you dare to bring it to me?!"

The five individuals didn't dare to say anything, but they were still thinking to themselves that it wasn't completely implausible that Yin Shengong had adopted Starlight on a whim.

"I know you're still not convinced, so I'll humor you for now," the young man continued. "Let's say that Yin Shengong suddenly suffered a bout of psychosis and decided to adopt a three-year-old child. In that case, Starlight has already been his foster son for the past forty years. Surely a very deep bond would've developed between the two, right?

“According to the report, Starlight was already at the Lord tier not long after the Parasite Ascension Project. Given his rapid rate of progression, we can assume that he would've been a high-rank General right as the Parasite Ascension Project was taking place, yet Yin Shengong chose not to send him. Why?

“If he's truly been raising Starlight for the past forty years as his foster son, surely he would be closer with Starlight than with his disciple, Night Demon, right? So why is it that Night Demon was given the opportunity, but Starlight wasn't? Did Yin Shengong suffer another bout of psychosis and somehow convince himself that Starlight wasn't fit to go?"

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"It's very impressive that Yin Shengong was able to nurture both Starlight and Night Demon," one of the five individuals remarked as he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Prospects of their caliber are exceedingly rare even in our main church, yet the One Heart Church has somehow managed to produce two of them."

A thoughtful look appeared on the young man's face at this passing remark, and a bold theory began to take shape in his mind, but he quickly banished that train of thought for now as he asked, "Setting aside the subject of Starlight for now, what was the outcome of your assessment?"