Chapter 181: Hunt Begins

Zhang Yu returned to his apartment and before long received a response from Xiong Haohan.

Xiong Haohan: Thank you, classmate Zhang Yu. The seeds you introduced this time are of excellent quality. As for the compensation, the company is already processing it, and it will be transferred to you today.

Shortly after, Zhang Yu received a 100,000 commission fee and felt a surge of joy.

Zhang Yu calculated the money he had worked hard to earn yesterday and found his savings had grown to nearly 300,000.

However, Yu Xinghan still hadn’t replied to his messages, making Zhang Yu sigh: "I was hoping to discuss the spirit realm with him, but this guy doesn’t stop working once he gets started? Working this hard—no wonder he’s a Golden Core disciple."

A few hours later, Zhang Yu received a message from Yu Xinghan.

Yu Xinghan: Zhang Yu! This job really makes money, and it also helps with cultivation!

Zhang Yu couldn’t help but say: "This kid isn’t getting addicted, is he? Am I going to end up ruining him?"

Fuji said: "This was always a hurdle he had to cross. Selling protein for money is still better than him somehow spending money elsewhere and having to deliver protein, right?"

Zhang Yu took the opportunity to ask about the spirit realm.

He received a generous reply from Yu Xinghan: No big deal. I’ll give you a fifty percent discount on tomorrow’s spirit realm cultivation as a thank-you.

Zhang Yu could sense the excitement in the other’s words.

Before he could reply, Yu Xinghan sent another message: Don’t refuse. It’s just a little money. Hang on.

Yu Xinghan: Alright, I’ve already earned back the fifty percent discount fee.

Zhang Yu raised an eyebrow and thought to himself: "This kid… his Dao potential has become even more terrifying."

After arranging the time to log into the spirit realm tomorrow with Yu Xinghan, Zhang Yu knew he would then be hunting an evil god, and he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

Though he had already made up his mind not to act rashly without sufficient confidence, Zhang Yu still felt a sense of tension.

Zhang Yu asked: "Have you prepared all the false intel to be sent through the spirit realm tomorrow?"

Fuji said: "We’ve discussed it so many times; how could I not be prepared?"

"But Zhang Yu, there’s something you may not want to hear, yet I still have to say it."

"It’s about Bai Zhenzhen… Do you intend to keep hiding the information about the evil god from her?"

Zhang Yu frowned upon hearing this and said coldly: "You’re still trying to get Ah Zhen to perform the ceremony with you too, aren’t you?"

Fuji said matter-of-factly: "Why not?"

"Given our relationship now—we’re partners—would I harm you?"

"Performing the ceremony and gaining a potential boost—why can’t we do such a good thing? If you gave Bai Zhenzhen such an opportunity, do you think she would give it up?"

"As a top student like her, with such a great chance to improve her grades, I dare say she’d accept it quickly."

"As for betraying you, with the friendship between you two, that’s even more impossible."

"This is absolutely a huge boon for her, a tremendous opportunity that can greatly increase her chances of passing the Foundation Establishment exam."

"It’s also beneficial for you. Take this hunt of my colleague—if you had Bai Zhenzhen’s help, the success rate would be even higher."

"This is a mutually beneficial situation, a clear win-win. I just don’t understand why you’re so reluctant."

Zhang Yu’s reluctance, of course, had its reasons.

Because according to Fuji, the prerequisite for unlocking potential is completing the contract ritual.

And the ritual itself inevitably comes with the requirement to fulfill the evil god’s wishes. This relates to the nature of the ritual—the rules set by the Evil God Kings, which even Fuji cannot change.

That is to say, after Bai Zhenzhen’s potential is awakened, she will also be bound by the ritual.

Zhang Yu said: "Then what if, after Ah Zhen completes the ritual, you casually make a few simple wishes that she can fulfill on the spot?"

Fuji sighed: "If I could agree, I certainly would."

"But the ritual is like a talisman—it contains many rules that you can’t just change as you please."

"Every surge of a wish will be sensed by the Evil God Kings."

"If I casually exhaust all the wishes of a contractee, I will be deemed as slacking off and betraying company interests. Both I and Bai Zhenzhen will suffer backlash from the ritual."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu’s brow furrowed even tighter, because if what Fuji said was true, then eliminating the ritual’s influence seemed much more troublesome than he had originally thought.

Fuji said, "Zhang Yu, I am always by your side. What do you have to worry about?"

"Without Bai Zhenzhen's help, losing such an important combatant, if you fail when hunting my colleague, wouldn't that affect Bai Zhenzhen?"

"Besides, this is a chance to make Bai Zhenzhen stronger, to let her pass the Foundation Establishment exam and get into the Top Ten. Shouldn't you let her make her own choice?"

Hearing about the Foundation Establishment exam, Zhang Yu sighed inwardly with helplessness.

It was precisely the pressure from those top-tier Immortal Capital lords on the Foundation Establishment exam, the urgency of the second round of the exam two months later... that forced him to push forward his plan to hunt the evil gods.

But even if he boosted his potential, what about Ah Zhen? In her current state, would she be able to overcome those Immortal Capital lords and pass the Foundation Establishment exam in the future?

If Ah Zhen were born into the Songyang aristocratic clan, with her talent and strength, even without a Foundation Establishment certificate, she would still be able to get into the Top Ten.

But as a poor person...

Zhang Yu felt he couldn't make this decision for Bai Zhenzhen. So after thinking it over, he left the choice to her...

That evening, under the bridge.

After hearing Zhang Yu's various information about the evil god, Bai Zhenzhen said in surprise, "Evil god? Isn't that an urban legend? It actually exists?"

Fuji, by Zhang Yu's neck, turned into a doll and spoke, "Of course it's real. Zhang Yu's potential was awakened by me."

Staring at the talking doll, Bai Zhenzhen's eyes widened in shock.

After another round of explanations, once she confirmed that Zhang Yu wasn't controlled by the evil god and that the evil god before her was temporarily harmless, Bai Zhenzhen's eyes suddenly burned with passion.

She looked at Zhang Yu as if to say: You brat, you've been in on it all along! You've been in on it so long and only now bring me in? I lent you my True Spiritual Root to play with ages ago.

Fuji asked, "So if we perform the wish ceremony to awaken your potential, would you be willing?"

Ever since taking the Foundation Establishment exam, Bai Zhenzhen had felt a surging pressure chasing her from behind.

No matter how fast she progressed, how fiercely she advanced, she always felt it wasn't enough.

Hearing Fuji's words now, Bai Zhenzhen's eyes sparkled as she said, "Do you even need to ask? I can't wait to boost my potential right now."

No mistake, no typo, no missing content—all in one look!

Zhang Yu sighed inwardly—it was just as he expected—but he warned, "But after the ceremony is complete, you'll have to grant her three wishes. For instance, the first wish this one made was for me to fulfill a thousand of her wishes. These evil gods are all up to no good."

Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu and said, "But haven't you temporarily got her under control?"

"Yu Zi, I have to get into the Top Ten."

"Since there's a way to improve the odds, and it doesn't cost me money, then taking a little risk... I'm willing."

"This is my own choice. Even if something goes wrong in the future, it's the price I have to pay."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly. "I understand."

Bai Zhenzhen said to Fuji, "So shall we start? Can we do it here? Hurry up and boost my potential."

Fuji smiled awkwardly and said, "My power is too weak right now. I can't do that yet."

"Before I can boost the potential of you and Zhang Yu, we need to hunt another evil god."

The next day.

Soon after Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan logged into the Spirit World and arrived at Ask the Dao Hall.

Inside a shabby apartment.

An old computer screen suddenly flickered, and lines of information appeared, all seemingly about Zhang Yu.

A scruffy-bearded man was drawn to it.

The man's name was Li Quan. He was a high school graduate from years ago, and after being laid off by his company at age fifty, he now worked as a top-tier delivery driver.

But secretly, he also held another identity: a follower of an evil god.

And the evil god he had a contract with was currently in the form of a bear doll, sitting in a corner of the room, playing games intently.

Li Quan looked at the evil god and said, "Master, Song Xu asked you to pass along a message from the Shadow Gu."

The bear doll nodded casually. "Mm-hmm."

Li Quan could only ask again: "What do we do next?"

The bear doll clicked his tongue, impatiently pressed the pause button, and said: "Did all of this come from the puppet machines?"

Li Quan nodded: "The intelligence was relayed through three layers of puppet machines, so the other side probably hasn't discovered our location."

The doll sighed: "Ah, what a hassle. This guy Song Xu is just too hardworking. What's the point of trying so hard?"

The bear doll's name is Huoshan. Though he is an evil god, unlike Fuji—who always strives upward, dreaming of financial freedom and cultivation freedom—Huoshan has always felt that just coasting along in the First Layer is pretty good.

What's the point of fighting to rise? In the end, won't the Evil God King take the biggest cut anyway?

Instead, he can comfortably slack off in the First Layer, no need to work a proper job or take on temp work—when he's short on cash, his followers will work for him.

Even the housework can be done for free by his most loyal followers.

As for anything he lacks or runs out of… in short, he can have his followers work hard to buy it for him.

Though it can't be called great wealth and nobility, for him, a life spent every day at home eating, drinking, and having fun is more than enough.

At least, in Huoshan's view, this kind of life is far better than fighting tooth and nail, endlessly competing for performance on the path of evil gods, right?

So for a long time in the past, his goal was to sign contracts with society's beasts of burden—specifically deliverymen, food couriers, and construction workers. They could earn money for him, they wouldn't easily attract attention, no one would care if they died, and they were all relatively easy to fool.

It wasn't until Huoshan signed Song Xu that the situation began to change.

"This guy Song Xu… he's way too competitive."

"Sigh, why don't we just forget this whole 'hunt your colleague' thing? It feels like too much trouble. What if things go wrong? Isn't life pretty good right now?"