[Mission 6: Take Qu Luming as a contracted guard, bestow upon him 200 points of Life Origin, and help him become an independent living being. Reward: Life Origin +300]

[Contracted guard: An existence one tier higher than a Guest. After contracting, all aspects reach one hundred percent loyalty, bound by Law to become someone you can entrust your back to on the battlefield. When facing danger, the system can automatically summon the contracted guard to protect you as it deems necessary]

Jiang Yuan: ...

It even used the word "protect." What, am I about to ascend the throne now?

Give out 200, get 300, net profit of 100 points—indeed a pretty good deal.

But how am I supposed to bring this up? There’s still a Guest Upgrade Card with his name on it unused; if I change his role into a guard, will that card be wasted?

"Sir, may I ask what I need to offer in exchange for your bestowal?" Needless to say, Qu Luming also knew this thing concerned his very Life and was most precious; if he wanted it, he had to pay a price.

But he wasn’t anxious. After all, he had the big spender Du Li behind him; he could totally mark up the intel about Life Origin and sell it to him.

So when the impatient Qu Luming saw the troubled look on his face, he immediately blurted out what was on his mind and sold Du Li out. Thumping his chest, he guaranteed that whether it was a Pill Formula, Spirit Medicine, or other Treasure, he would definitely find a way to have his main body bring something over to trade.

Those words really moved Jiang Yuan’s Heartbeat.

Forget the ingredients—Du Li had sent so many that the Alchemy Room could run nonstop for the next few months; Spirit Stones didn’t really have a fixed price either. Better to ask for a Pill Formula—Little Skylark was working very hard at Refining Divine Power Fire; if she actually succeeded, taking her to meet the Vermilion Bird would still be a hassle, since the Vermilion Bird had already fallen into slumber.

If he could use this chance to get an Advanced Pill Formula and refine a higher-Level Soul Nourishing Pill to feed the Vermilion Bird, She could wake up earlier!

"This matter is indeed a bit troublesome." Jiang Yuan sighed. "First, if you want to be bestowed Life Origin, the relationship between us needs to go a step further. Being merely a Guest is not enough for me to bestow it;

second, I need a Pill Formula for at least a grade-seven Soul Nourishing Pill, or a grade-seven or higher Pill Formula with equal Divine Soul-nourishing effect."

Qu Luming thought, what a coincidence, isn’t it?

The Judge also wanted Pill Formulas, so he would just tell Du Li that two grade-nine Elixir Pill Formulas were needed to exchange for such top-secret information!

He agreed in one breath, then carefully asked, "I just don’t know, how should our relationship go a step further? Does it need to be like Daoist Bai... becoming a Family Guardian Immortal?"

When he said those three words, Qu Luming felt quite disdainful. With Mr. Jiang’s strength, he still needed someone to guard the family my ass? Those two were purely like Spirit Pets in my eyes!

Act cute and whine a bit and they could get all sorts of rewards and opportunities from their master.

But then again, being a Spirit Pet to such a generous master like Mr. Jiang wasn’t bad at all. Just look at senior Yan Xuan and Ling Di—every "my master this, my master that" was said with so much pride!

He had already mentally prepared himself to be a pet, but Jiang Yuan laid his cards on the table and said "contracted guard," then explained the pros and cons.

The benefits: he could be granted Life Origin, and even receive special treatment with Secret Techniques used to help him improve his Realm; the downside: whenever there was a need to charge into battle, as a guard he would be summoned and would have to fight to the death to protect his master.

Great, he didn’t even get to be a pet! 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Many thanks for your grace, sir." Qu Luming saw the pole and climbed it, immediately rising to bow in thanks. He was just about to wait for the boon when he suddenly remembered the most important matter. "But you have to wait a bit; I need to go give Du Li the terms first.

Otherwise, once you bestow me Life Origin and I cut ties with him, he’ll know I’ve already learned the secret, and he might be reluctant to pay up!"

Helping him out so much in the end—how could he not thoroughly fleece—no, how could he call it fleecing? This was clearly matchmaking!

Anyway, Jiang Yuan wasn’t in a hurry. When grinding the World Tree branch dungeon he occasionally got some Life Origin; his current balance was already 2215 points, so he just nodded. "We’ll wait till noon. When Du Li comes over, you can discuss it with him in detail."

"Okay! No no no, not okay, I can’t wait. It’s better if I go find him directly." Qu Luming hurriedly took his leave again.

Teleporting to Wanmang Mountain, the sunshine here was bright, but the atmosphere was abnormally heavy.

Everywhere he looked there was blood, severed limbs and remains, mountain peaks and ground damaged by the battle, patches of the earth turned into "bald spots." The air still carried lingering battle intent and the stench of blood—it was obvious a brutal battle had just taken place.

"What are you doing here?" Wearing imposing Armor, Du Li glanced at him with a slight frown, while directing the people from the Law Enforcement Hall. "Clean the battlefield quickly and clear out all this filth! Also see if there’s any spoils of war. Be extremely careful, don’t fall into their traps again."

The subordinates answered in unison and started busying themselves with clearing the aftermath.

Only then did Du Li sheath his long sword and put it away, stride over to Qu Luming’s side, and say in a low voice, "The ones who attacked just now were a group of Evil Cultivators. They deliberately dropped Storage Bags to make the soldiers think they were spoils. Turned out they were filled with vicious hidden weapons and nearly caused mass casualties.

You came at the right time—use the Profound Light Instrument to run a quick scan for me. There are still many eyes watching from the shadows; I need to set up tighter defenses."

"I’m here to tell you there’s been progress regarding the Life Origin." Qu Luming hesitated, glanced at the stubborn donkey, then lowered his voice. "But it’ll take two grade-nine Elixir Pill Formulas to trade for it. One has to have Divine Soul-nourishing effects; the other is called the Nine Revolutions Dragon Saliva Pill. Have you heard of it?"

Du Li shook his head, but his expression didn’t change much. "Two grade-nine Pill Formulas... For a secret of this level, that price isn’t outrageous. Looks like I’ll have to find time to go to the Gathering of All Realms. There are often High Realm Alchemists there looking for rare ingredients; I should be able to gain something."

Qu Luming couldn’t help asking curiously, "What’s the Gathering of All Realms? Where is it? How come I’ve never heard of it?"

"All those countless small worlds each have their own specialties, and out of that the Gathering of All Realms was born. It’s populated by the elites of various small worlds. The entry threshold is very high, and it’s only open to Demon Cultivators or Human Cultivators who absorb Spiritual Energy. The items traded there are all Supreme Treasures and even Divine Artifacts. Even I rarely get the chance to attend, so it’s normal that you haven’t heard of it."

Du Li let out a heavy sigh and pointed around them. "The main reason I rack my brains to guard that Treasure is—because I damn well once took Ye Fan there! I regret it so much!

If he dares to act rashly, he might have already planned everything and found a Divine Artifact at the Gathering of All Realms to seize the Power of the Celestial Dao’s Remnant! That traitor—I never should’ve had that shred of mercy and saved his damn dog life back then!"

Qu Luming: ...

Can’t talk him down—what now?

"I can’t get away right now. I’ll look for the Pill Formulas when I get the time to attend the gathering." Du Li muttered to himself, "You hurry up and help me run a scan. We might have to fight again in a bit."

"Y-You being so obsessed, making so many alliance generals hold the line and suffer heavy casualties—what’s the point of that?" Qu Luming caught sight of a few familiar guards’ corpses being carried away, and his blood rushed to his head. He felt he had to stop this guy’s insane behavior, or who knew how many innocents would die miserably because of it!

Du Li clasped his right hand behind his back, his face heavy as he watched the fallen soldiers, and said coldly, "Guarding the alliance’s Supreme Treasure and preserving the key to collective Ascension—that is the greatest meaning of all."

His brain buzzed, and one thought echoed in Qu Luming’s mind—Du Li has already gone mad. He must stop this man from issuing orders that cause so many loyal soldiers to die for nothing!

"So, you think Ye Fan’s betrayal is because he got a Divine Artifact that can take away the Supreme Treasure, right?" Taking a few deep breaths, he immediately thought of how Mr. Jiang had obtained the Myriad Lifetimes Mirror, and suggested, "As long as I can find a way to help you locate Ye Fan, you can lead people straight over to kill him and cut off the source of the trouble, then you can temporarily abandon this place.

No matter how those Evil Cultivators and traitors covet it, since they don’t have any Divine Artifact that can subdue the Supreme Treasure, there’s no need to keep waging fierce battles. Let them experience the might of the Power of the Celestial Dao for themselves.

Once you’ve captured Ye Fan, you’ll have eliminated your biggest hidden threat and can question him about why he betrayed you.

Figure out whether he actually has a Divine Artifact, and then you can set clearer and more precise goals for how to protect the Power of the Celestial Dao going forward. Naturally, you won’t need to stay on constant alert and drag the alliance’s soldiers into relentless hard fighting."

Now that was a good suggestion!

Du Li had been holding the fort here just to guard against Ye Fan, afraid the man would slip through the cracks, which was why he fought to the end no matter who showed up. If he could go straight to capture the mastermind, there really was no need for such big operations.

"The problem is: every method the alliance has to locate him has already been used. That bastard spent too much time at my side and knows all the alliance’s methods. He’s also extremely crafty and hiding very well. Are you sure you can find him?"