Chapter 159

Chen Long

The statue was destroyed, the people of the Silent Council fled, and the wild monsters also began to scatter and disappear without a trace.

But the masters and the support team still have many things to attend to.

This idol isn't just knocked over and done with; the pedestal and all the scattered fragments must be taken away, lest something else arise later.

While everyone was busy clearing the idol and slaughtering the remaining monsters, Chen Long was running all over the place looking for Chen Shicheng, but after several rounds he still couldn't find the masked person.

In the end, he could only sigh, give up the search—Zishu elder brother truly had the airs of a master: after settling everything, he hid his merits and fame and slipped away unnoticed.

"Chen Long, the boss wants you to come over."

Just as he was sighing, a player from the Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department suddenly ran over and greeted him.

At this moment, looking for him, it was obvious what it was for; Chen Long took a breath and headed toward the temple.

By now, the support team had begun to disperse, collecting the corpses of the monsters killed in the recent battle all around; only the masters of the Iron Blood Great Wall and three squad leaders remained inside the temple.

"That's about all we knew before we came; if you want to know more, you should ask him."

As Chen Long entered the temple, a squad leader was recounting his previous ordeal; seeing him arrive, he hurriedly pulled him over to continue.

He scratched his head and then recounted the two meetings he had at the previous trading gathering.

These things aren't that important; the fisherman sitting on the stone steps listened in silence for a moment, then asked, "You guys are sure this person killed a level‑27 monk?"

"Yes."

"How did you confirm it?"

"He said it himself; someone with that kind of strength probably wouldn't lie, and he also showed us his relics." The squad leader said hesitantly.

"Hmm."

The fisherman nodded, exchanged glances with the other master players, and everyone's eyes revealed undisguised surprise.

You know the strongest players openly are only level 25, and they're scouring the world for heavenly treasures to boost their attributes; yet a level‑27 native cultivator was silently killed on the Icefield—how could that not be astonishing?

It's not that they disbelieve the claim; they saw the newcomer's performance, and they inspected the idol's fragments—made of special stone, with no other attributes, but outstanding in hardness.

Yet under his attack, the cut surface was so smooth and flat it could almost reflect a person, making it easy to imagine his strength.

What's more, he rescued the besieged support team and, by his own strength, broke the stalemate; one could say today's success is entirely thanks to him.

So it's better not to make a fuss about the disappearance of that unnamed 'artifact' in the temple. "Chen Long, right? Don't be nervous." A female master player smiled gently and said, "You're familiar with the player called Zishu; do you know his real‑world identity?"

"Um, I don't know."

Chen Long felt embarrassed and shook his head—let alone his real‑world identity, he had no way to contact anyone; aside from Shuigu Tang, nobody knew how to reach Zishu elder brother. And Shuigu Tang had recently disappeared somewhere, unreachable, so he didn't bring it up.

The female player seemed about to say something, but the fisherman beside her suddenly stood up, handed Chen Long a business card, and said, "It's fine if you don't know; if you have any future trading gatherings, please let him know—we hope to cooperate with him on the upcoming capital tower‑push event, and we can discuss compensation."

"Okay."

Chen Long took the card, put it into his storage slot, and nodded.

At this point, his admiration for Zishu elder brother had peaked—look at him, not only did the masters actively invite him, but he also gave Chen Long a helping hand.

Besides that, his position in the Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department will surely improve, like a boat rising with the water.

Meanwhile, while Chen Long was still sighing, Chen Shicheng was already in the place where they had just been besieged, resting in the crack between two massive boulders.

He didn't want too much contact with those master‑level players, since nobody knew whether they had skills that could see through his identity; after finding the artifact in the temple, he used Five Ghosts Transport to instant‑move here.

The artifact was easy to find—just sitting blatantly on a small altar before the idol. As for why the Silent Council didn't take it, or assign someone to guard it… 【Cen Nuoboge's Inexhaustible Platter: a divine artifact dedicated to sacrificing to the gods; the container holds a piece of fresh beef that can never be eaten up, and consuming it lets one absorb the gods' aura; during Icefield operations, all monsters will retreat three paces.】

This artifact is a gold‑crafted platter bearing a slab of fresh beef of superb quality, marbled with snow‑flake patterns, almost comparable to real‑world A5‑grade wagyu.

But as for this effect, how to put it? It's tasteless to use, a shame to discard.

To say it's useless would be wrong—it actually lets one live without buying food for a lifetime, and even lets one walk sideways across the Icefield.

But if you say it's useful, this buff makes all monsters detour around the holder, making it impossible to grind monsters here for levels later, which is aggravating; therefore Chen Shicheng only uses the platter as a food bowl for La Tiao and Tai Sui, and has no other great use—plus he doesn't know whether the gods would be angry if their sacrificial artifact were given to a pet.

Oh! It seems the immortals and gods of this world have long vanished, so no problem.

Chen Shicheng casually tossed the artifact into his storage slot, didn't linger here, and went straight back to the spatial passage ahead of everyone.

He first removed the Evil Ghost Mask, changed back into his previous clothes, then passed through the channel and returned to reality.

By then the invading monsters had been cleared out, and the defensive works had been moved inside the stadium.

So as soon as he poked his head out, a row of dark muzzles was pointed at his head.

Chen Shicheng paid it no mind—given how big the incident was, with enemies still manipulating things from the shadows, not being wary would be strange.

These soldiers were just doing their duty, and with his current strength, the firearms' damage to him is already negligible, not worth worrying about.

"Don't shoot, it's our own people, our own people."

He didn't care, but Song Bingyuan, who had been guarding this side, hurriedly stepped forward, greeting the soldiers while running up to Chen Shicheng.

Chen Shicheng shook off the water from the melted frost on his body, then produced his Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department credentials and displayed them; only then did the soldiers salute and let him pass.

(End of chapter)