"Invading Evil Gods, particularly high-level ones like the Thousand-eyed Evil God, the Thousand-armed Evil God, the Thousand-legged Evil God, and so on."

"Compared to Demon Fiends, an Evil God’s invasion is usually more covert at first. By the time it spreads, it has already affected a great number of people, and the damage is done."

"When we discover them early, we can still extinguish the threat in time, killing their Divine Envoys and Second or Third-Order Evil God Avatars. But if we’re late, and the invading Evil God Avatar reaches the Fourth-Order, the casualties are innumerable."

"Ten days ago, a Fourth-Order Evil God Avatar appeared in Hengzhou." Xie Bisheng said in a low voice, "This Avatar was provoked into revealing itself and annihilated three prefectures under the Hengzhou Demon Slayer Bureau, killing everyone within them."

"Including Huang Dajin, who was once ranked alongside you, Ping’an, as one of the Seven Demon Slayers. He also died in that Evil God incident."

Hmm?

"Huang Dajin is dead?" Gu Zheng raised a brow, slightly surprised. "What happened to that Evil God Avatar afterward?"

The Seven Demon Slayers... Jiang Hao was dead. Luo Cheng was dead.

Now, Huang Dajin was dead too.

’How long has it been? Out of seven, only four remain.’

"After annihilating those three prefectures, the Evil God Avatar devoured the souls of two more prefectures, and then it vanished." Meng Taiqi’s expression was grave. "The royal family has a King’s Body expert tracking it, but its current whereabouts are unknown."

"We’re asking for your help because, during our large-scale search for the Evil God Sect in Fengzhou, if we happen to draw out a Fourth-Order Evil God Avatar, we hope you can get there as fast as possible. We’re not asking you to kill it, just to drive it away or delay it."

"The outbreak in Hengzhou was too sudden. The information wasn’t relayed in time. By the time the King’s Body expert from the Royal Capital arrived, it was already a step too late."

"The number of King’s Body experts is limited, after all. We’ve requested aid from the royal court, and they’ve agreed, but the distance is too great. If something happens, they’ll inevitably be a few steps behind." Jiang Xiong continued, "Besides, it’s not just our Fengzhou. Shuzhou and Luozhou are also taking action, launching their ’Godslaying’ plans. They’ve also requested reinforcements. If..."

"I’m just saying, what if—what if two or three provinces have an outbreak with a Fourth-Order Evil God Avatar at the same time? It would be very difficult for the royal court’s King’s Body experts to handle them all."

’That’s true.’

’If Evil God invasions become more frequent, with all sorts of Evil Gods descending, and as Fourth-Order Domains open, lowering the difficulty of merging the two worlds and pulling the ’tear’ between them wider and wider, then Fourth-Order Evil God Avatars will inevitably keep appearing.’

’Not every place is like Taiping City, with over ten thousand years of Human Dao Fortune gathered.’

’If a Fourth-Order Evil God Avatar appears, it’ll be a miracle if the entire city isn’t wiped out instantly.’

The meaning behind Meng Taiqi, Xie Bisheng, and Jiang Xiong’s words was simple.

They wanted Gu Zheng to act as a mobile response force. He wouldn’t be needed for the search itself, but if a Fourth-Order Evil God Avatar appeared, he was to rush over immediately. Killing it would be best. If he couldn’t kill it, driving it away would suffice. If he couldn’t even drive it away, he just needed to delay it until the King’s Body expert from the royal court arrived.

For Gu Zheng, this wasn’t a problem at all. In fact, he couldn’t be happier.

After killing an Evil God Avatar, a large amount of Divine Source would be dropped.

And to Gu Zheng, Divine Source meant Demon Points!

...

"No problem."

As soon as Jiang Xiong finished speaking, Gu Zheng nodded and agreed. "I’m more than happy to help with ’Godslaying’. By the way, does Luozhou need any help?"

Luozhou was right next to Fengzhou; they were neighbors.

At Gu Zheng’s speed, if a Fourth-Order Evil God Avatar appeared in Luozhou, he could be there in a matter of minutes.

"About that... I’ll ask Old Yuan."

Hearing this, Meng Taiqi took out his Commander’s Seal. A Divine Wondrous power surged as he transmitted a message.

Although Gu Zheng also had a way to contact Zuo Lingfeng, it wasn’t his place to offer help so proactively.

But with Meng Taiqi making the offer, there would be no problem.

BUZZ~

The reply came back quickly.

The Commander’s Seal vibrated for a moment. Meng Taiqi read the reply and grinned. "Luozhou would be thrilled. Old Yuan... that’s Yuanqian Mountain from the Luozhou Demon Slayer Bureau... says he’ll come over this afternoon to thank you in person."

"Oh, that’s not necessary."

Gu Zheng smiled. "Zuo Lingfeng—Zuo—is a good brother of mine, and I’ve also met Commander Yuan before. If I can help, it’s no trouble at all."

"Be that as it may, the proper etiquette cannot be neglected," Xie Bisheng said softly.

"Right. When it comes to Evil God Avatars, one can never be too formal." Jiang Xiong agreed. After speaking, he stood up and smiled. "Speaking of which, we’re really lucky to have Grand General Gu. Otherwise, if a Fourth-Order Evil God Avatar really did appear, who knows how many people would die."

"Hehe, I’ve got a good eye, don’t I?" Meng Taiqi said with a smug smile. Then, he shot a glance at Xie Bisheng and huffed, "It’s just that *someone* was unscrupulous and shamelessly insisted on fighting me for him!"

"A word."

Xie Bisheng responded coolly, "It seems to me that I was the one who went to see Ping’an first, and *someone* else only followed."

"Bullshit! You’re the one who snatched him away!"

Meng Taiqi glared. "Back then, I announced in front of everyone that I was going to take Ping’an as my student. You heard the news and ran over to find Ping’an ahead of time. Old Jiang, tell me, isn’t he the epitome of shameless?"

"Sigh..."

Jiang Xiong sighed. "If only I had been at headquarters back then."

Hearing this, Meng Taiqi burst out laughing, and Xie Bisheng lifted his chin proudly.

’There was really nothing more to say about that.’

It was too late for Jiang Xiong to be envious.

Gu Zheng had been listening quietly with a smile, but he suddenly remembered something. He cupped his fist and said, "By the way, Master Meng, Master Xie, your student had a fruitful trip to the Wind Kingdom and would like to offer a gift to show his respect. Shall we step outside first?"

Huh?

Meng Taiqi and Xie Bisheng looked puzzled.

"What gift? Just keep it for yourself."

Meng Taiqi said as he followed behind. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"We don’t need anything," Xie Bisheng said concisely.

Jiang Xiong smacked his lips, saying sourly, "You two... since it’s a gift of respect from your student, what’s wrong with just accepting it?"

"Elder Jiang is right. It is only natural for a student to show respect to his masters."

As Gu Zheng spoke, he walked into the courtyard and glanced around, seeing no one else was present.

Immediately, with a wave of his hand, he took out two shells from a Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle and placed them on the empty ground.

The aura of a Fourth-Order Demon Fiend instantly filled the courtyard.

Even though the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle was dead, the aura of a Fourth-Order Demon Fiend would not dissipate so easily.

The moment the two shells appeared, Meng Taiqi, Xie Bisheng, and Jiang Xiong all felt a jolt to their senses, their bodies tensing up.

Once they realized what was happening, their expressions eased slightly, but they remained grave.

"Is this... the shell of a Fourth-Order Demon Fiend?" Meng Taiqi asked in astonishment.

"Correct. This is the shell of a Fourth-Order Demon Fiend, the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle. It’s incredibly hard; even a Divine Weapon would have trouble damaging it." Gu Zheng said softly, "Your student spent some effort in the Wind Kingdom to kill it. I traded some of the shells I obtained. These are the two I kept, as a gift of respect for my two masters."

As he finished speaking, Divine Wondrous power surged, propelling the two shells—one for each of them—to float toward Meng Taiqi and Xie Bisheng.

Meng Taiqi and Xie Bisheng were somewhat stunned.

Jiang Xiong’s eyes, however, were red with envy.

’The shell of a Fourth-Order Demon Fiend! Indestructible even by a Divine Weapon!’

’Son of a bitch...’

’Why couldn’t he have given that gift to me?’

Before, Jiang Xiong had only been envious, lamenting that Xie Bisheng and Meng Taiqi had gotten shit-faced lucky to have taken Gu Zheng as a student before he became famous.

’Now, he was envious to his very core!’

’The shell of a Fourth-Order Demon Fiend... damn it all, that’s equivalent to gaining a defensive "Divine Weapon".’

’With this shell in hand, even if he encountered a Fourth-Order Evil God Avatar, he could hold it off for a bit.’

’It wouldn’t be like in Hengzhou, where two Heroic Body Realm experts faced a rampaging Fourth-Order Evil God Avatar and were killed, body and soul, in less than a breath’s time.’

’Goddammit!’

Jiang Xiong’s breathing grew heavy as he cursed in his heart.

He desperately wanted to ask Gu Zheng if he could buy one, to trade for one at a great cost, but Gu Zheng had just said directly that these were the last two he had left, specially reserved for Meng Taiqi and Xie Bisheng.

’Whether that was true or not, he didn’t know. In any case, there wasn’t one for him.’

’Meng Taiqi and Xie Bisheng must have eaten shit in their past lives!’

Jiang Xiong complained inwardly.

His gaze toward Gu Zheng was filled with admiration and envy.

Sigh...

’If you’re going to take a disciple, it should be someone like Gu Ping’an!’