Chapter 69: Conflict

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In the hierarchy of spiritual realm practitioners, levels 1 to 3 belong to the Transcendent stage, levels 4 to 6 are the Saint stage, and levels 7 to 9 are the Dominator stage.

The rank of Practitioner is within the Saint stage, while Elder belongs to the Dominator stage. Zhang Yuanqing wasn't quite sure what comes above Dominator since he lacked the required access to check, but he guessed it should be the level where the five alliance leaders reside.

Furthermore, judging by the number of Practitioners, it's likely that Mo Jun and Gui Yanpan are at the Dominator level. If they were only Saint-level, the Five Elements Alliance wouldn't place such great importance on them.

It's worth mentioning that within the same stage, there is a significant difference in strength between different levels. For example, in the Transcendent stage, a level 2 practitioner can easily overpower a level 1, and a level 3 can easily defeat a level 2, not considering the influence of items and professions.

Illusionists are one of the peak professions, even stronger than Fire Masters. Even if Master Wuhen is at the Dominator level, he can't be considered weak. Zhang Yuanqing had thought this Illusionist was extraordinary, but he didn't expect his level to be so high.

Looking at it from a different angle, being able to get a Dominator-level figure to make a move is like having a life-saving talisman. Unfortunately, it can't be used in the spiritual realm.

"That's understandable. The spiritual realm is like a single-player instance, and even high-level spiritual realm practitioners can't just intrude at will. The exception is Three Dao Mountain's Mountain Goddess, a native boss."

Zhang Yuanqing mused while closing the page, then continued to search for the mechanisms of spiritual realm tasks.

【After completing the trial tasks, the Multiplayer Spiritual Realm opens once a month, while the Single-player Spiritual Realm opens once every three months. If the Single-player Spiritual Realm is open in a particular month, the Multiplayer Spiritual Realm won't open. The interval between each task is no less than half a month, and the pattern for spiritual realm practitioners entering the instances is: Multiplayer - Multiplayer - Single-player... and so on.】

"So, spiritual realm practitioners face a life-threatening situation once every three months. If they're lucky and get a low-difficulty single-player spiritual realm, the mortality rate wouldn't be too high. At most, their leveling will be slower. Well, that's not too bad..."

"The interval between each task is no less than half a month. I just completed the Jinshui Amusement Park, so within half a month, I don't have to worry about receiving another task..."

He continued reading further:

【To advance from the peak level of each stage to a higher stage, one must participate in a large-scale slaughter instance. The participation in this instance is optional, and it opens twice a year.】

【Note: The core of this instance lies in the mutual hunting between the Lawful Camp and the Evil Camp, but the instance itself presents significant danger and rewards.】

Large-scale slaughter instance... Bing Ge had left me a message, advising me to complete at least one slaughter instance before meeting him...

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly realized that he had previously misunderstood "large-scale slaughter instance" as a high-risk, high-reward single-player spiritual realm.

Zhang Yuanqing spent the afternoon in his office until 2 o'clock, then took a taxi to the hospital to try to help the wandering souls and gain experience. However, he was astonished to find that the experience gained from ordinary people's spirits was negligible.

He tried to help ten wandering souls in one go, but it only increased his experience by less than 1%.

The monsters in the newbie village were no longer enough for him. It seemed like he needed to devour spiritual realm practitioners...

He sneaked into the restroom and used the Exorcism Pestle once to purify the spiritual pollution from his body.

...

At 7 o'clock in the evening, at the dining table.

Zhang Yuanqing summoned Xiao Dou Bi and let him roam in the living room.

"Cough, cough!" Grandma cleared her throat and announced, "I have a friend whose granddaughter is about the same age as Yu'er and Yuanzi. She's in her second year of college, and I plan to introduce her to Yuanzi."

Auntie Zhang's mouth hung open in shock as she stared at her mother.

Grandpa and Cousin Zhang dug their ears.

This kind of good news? Zhang Yuanqing was overjoyed.

Grandpa frowned and said, "He's focused on his studies right now. You can't try to balance things out for him just because Yu'er and Yuanjun aren't doing well."

Not doing well? Chen Yuanjun glanced at his grandfather. Normally, his grandpa didn't care about him or his cousin's blind dates, but it turned out that he was secretly worried.

Grandma waved her hand, disregarding the opposition, "I've already made up my mind. It's for Yuanzi's sake."

Grandpa's expression remained unchanged as he looked at his wife, "I'm thinking of you. Yuanzi's heart is not settled, and it's difficult for him to be wholeheartedly committed to a girlfriend... You've had a good relationship with your old friend for many years, don't deceive yourself."

Grandma looked at her husband and said, "I've decided. I'm thinking about Yuanzi."

Grandpa's face didn't change, but he glanced at his wife, "You're the one who needs to think clearly. Yuanzi's not interested in a relationship now. If his big sister finds out that you've arranged a girlfriend for him, she'll definitely call and scold you. She's planning to take Yuanzi abroad for further studies next year."

Hearing his aunt mention his mother, Zhang Yuanqing's expression darkened.

Grandma thought for a moment, feeling that her husband and daughter's points were reasonable, so she no longer insisted. She gave Zhang Yuanqing a sideways glance and scolded, "Useless thing, you were born with such a handsome appearance for nothing."

Zhang Yuanqing felt guilty and lowered his head to eat, while his aunt and cousin looked suspicious.

After dinner, Zhang Yuanqing glanced around the room and finally found the tree bear-like baby spirit on his aunt's calf.

For some reason, this little guy was particularly attached to his aunt. Maybe because she was the one who most resembled their mother in this family?

Now that the little guy had absorbed enough Lunar Yin Power to nourish himself, he could control his abilities and wouldn't "exchange" aimlessly anymore.

...

At midnight, Zhang Yuanqing played a game and then closed the game console contentedly. He crawled into bed, trying to fall asleep by counting sheep.

After a long time, he finally felt drowsy. However, he suddenly woke up with a deep sense of fear. It was a fear similar to what he felt when he saw the female receptionist at Wuhen Hotel in the morning, but this time, it was even more overwhelming and distant.

What's going on? He lifted the quilt, feeling a little bewildered and frightened. He came to the window, pulled the curtain, and gazed at the brilliantly lit city night.

About five minutes later, the overwhelming wave disappeared, and everything returned to calm.

Lacking experience, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't determine what had happened. He muttered to himself in silence, then climbed back into bed, trying to coax himself to sleep again by counting sheep.

How annoying, I have to start counting sheep again...

At 7:30 the next morning, he woke up on time and saw Jiang Yue'er sitting at the table looking listless and in poor health.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

"Aunt Flo is visiting..." Jiang Yue'er said with a grievance.

Zhang Yuanqing looked around, with Grandpa not around and Grandma in the kitchen. He leaned over and whispered, "Here, let your nephew rub your stomach."

"You, get lost!" Jiang Yue'er angrily smacked his head.

At this moment, Grandma walked out, and the two immediately fell silent.

After breakfast, Zhang Yuanqing pretended to leave and took a taxi to his workplace.

In the office area, only Wang Tai was there.

"Wang Tai, where's Lao Siji?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

"He's in the captain's office."

"Oh!" Zhang Yuanqing took his seat and, after about ten minutes, Guan Ya walked out with a solemn expression and a slightly furrowed brow.

"Yuanshi, Lao Siji wanted to call you," Guan Ya said.

Guan Ya picked up a teacup, took a sip, and leaned her round buttocks against Zhang Yuanqing's desk. She said, "Did you notice anything strange last night?"

"Do you mean the kind of scared-to-death thing...?" Zhang Yuanqing said, "Yes, I was startled awake, but I'm not sure if that's what you meant."

Old Siji nodded lightly, "Last night, the experts from the Xiahou family and the Zhi Sha Palace had a conflict. It happened in the Kangyang District Industrial Park, and the battle caused a building to collapse. Luckily, it was at night, and there weren't many people around."

"But some security guards and a few employees working overtime were killed. Sigh, these high-level spiritual realm practitioners don't care about the lives of ordinary people when they get into a killing frenzy."

"But I didn't receive any spiritual realm wanted alerts. Hmm, no alert, probably because the moral values of both sides didn't drop below 60..." Zhang Yuanqing's face turned serious.

There's no upper or lower limit to moral values; evil people have no bottom line, and kind-hearted people have no upper limit.

The higher-level spiritual realm practitioners of the Lawful Camp have accumulated merits over the years, but the situation has escalated beyond just a deduction of moral values. The authorities won't just let it slide.

"How will the organization handle this?" Zhang Yuanqing asked. The industrial park where the conflict occurred wasn't far from his home, which is probably why he felt the terrifying waves last night.

Guan Ya toyed with her teacup and replied, "The Xiahou family's expert has been temporarily detained, but the punishment won't be too severe. They'll probably just have to pay a fine and receive a warning. After all, the Xiahou family is a formidable force in the Lawful Camp, almost like an official organization, with close cooperation with the Five Elements Alliance."

"As for the Zhi Sha Palace's master, they'll issue an arrest order. They haven't identified her real-life identity yet and are currently in communication with the Xie family."

"Oh," Zhang Yuanqing nodded, gazing at the charming oval face. He asked, "But how does this concern me?"

Old Siji's wife sighed helplessly, "The Xiahou family borrowed the records of wild spiritual realm practitioners from our branch. They're trying to identify several members of the Zhi Sha Palace, and Wang Qian is among them. They might come looking for you. I was just discussing this matter with the captain."

Perplexed, Zhang Yuanqing asked, "But what does that have to do with me?"

Sighing, Old Siji's wife explained, "The Xiahou family wants you to help lure out Wang Qian. It's an extreme approach. The High-Level Branch hasn't explicitly agreed, but they've tacitly accepted it. Anyway, if they find her, it's best, but if they can't, they'll blame Xiahou family."

"But why are they looking for me if they already have Wang Qian's information...?" Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment before realizing, "Oh, the Xiahou family wants me to bait her?"

Guan Ya nodded.

"But Wang Qian is not a fool. How could she easily fall for that...?" Zhang Yuanqing said firmly, "No, I won't betray my informant."

Guan Ya thought for a moment and warned, "The Xiahou family is a bit overbearing. Later, don't say anything. Shichang and I will help you handle the pressure."

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