Chapter 98: Making the Headlines

Just as Li Yu was lost in his daydreams, Hongdou suddenly splashed a basin of cold water on him.

"Master, most of the employee benefits mentioned above can only be realized after you complete at least the first stage of the mission, leave Wanfu City, and report for duty through other networks or by traveling to the Heavenly Craft Sect headquarters."

"Within Wanfu City, there is a high probability of being discovered by the Sacred Nest network, exposing your identity, and being hunted to death."

"Furthermore, the final benefit—the qualification for a Reincarnation Group Administrator—can only be obtained after you complete the mission: [Save the Missionary Leader]."

When these three sentences came out, the joy on Li Yu's face vanished instantly.

Sure enough, there are no obvious free lunches in this world.

The benefits provided by the Heavenly Craft Sect were indeed excellent.

Once he truly completed the mission, it could be said that they would cultivate him as a "Heavenly Pride of the Sect," even if he were not a practitioner of their sect.

But the problem was that the difficulty of the mission was by no means small.

"Let alone that ultimate mission; I don't even dare to think about it."

"Just speaking of the first stage—poisoning the Three Sages—I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it in the short term. I must plan carefully."

"Fortunately, there is no time limit for this mission. I reckon the logic of that super-brain is: being able to continue the mission without self-destructing and cutting off leads is already the optimal solution; it does not pursue anything higher."

"However, if I make no progress for a long time, the Heavenly Craft Sect headquarters will likely take other follow-up actions."

As these thoughts swirled, Li Yu already had a plan.

With a wave of his hand, he stuffed the secret box embedded with a small Heavenly Craft nuclear bomb into his storage sachet.

His expression improved quite a bit, as Li Yu suddenly realized:

Even if he couldn't enjoy those benefits for the time being, he had already obtained a great advantage.

To be precise, it was a shocking weapon.

"I possess a nuclear bomb, hehe."

"Although this thing has significant flaws—Hongdou said it cannot be modified, so at this stage, I cannot use it to bomb anyone, because I wouldn't be able to escape after detonating it..."

"But having such a strategic weapon is enough to make me feel at ease in this Wanfu City for now."

As he thought this, a look of unprecedented peace indeed appeared on Li Yu's face.

The string that had been pulled tight in his heart finally relaxed a little.

It was also at this moment!

Outside, or rather, the entire Tianji Ward suddenly erupted in cheers and excitement.

After a moment of thought, Li Yu knew it was because the "Sacred Nest Barrier" that had isolated the inside from the outside had been lifted.

This meant that the blood-rust virus filling the ward had been completely dissolved, and tens of thousands of residents had been detoxified.

Although there were still many casualties and the antidote had only arrived after a day and a night.

But all the residents were deeply grateful for this.

Even the other citizens within Wanfu City felt extremely surprised by this "god-like efficiency" of the Sacred Nest.

One must know that from the high-sequence powerhouses down to the ordinary citizens in the city, to say that every single one was rotten to the core would be too harsh, but indeed, not one of them could be considered a good person in the true sense.

The onlookers who enjoyed the spectacle had originally thought: the best outcome would be the Sacred Nest dragging its feet for a few days, waiting for thousands or tens of thousands to die before starting detoxification... the worst outcome would be for the majority to die before they came to collect the bodies, or for them to simply carpet-bomb the area to clear the virus.

Who could have expected?

In just one day and one night, a disaster of this level was actually resolved.

Even in the middle of the night, Tianji Ward was immersed in an atmosphere like a festival.

Even the neighbors who had been coaxed out of five hundred taels of silver by Li Yu this morning for his [Furnace Body-Refining Soup]—made from machine oil and lard—were equally joyful; not a single person came outside his residence to hold Li Yu accountable or demand their money back.

Apart from the influence of Li Yu's "art of bewitching the masses," it was more because they hadn't actually lost out.

The Furnace Body-Refining Soup was the real deal.

Every one of them had been detoxified a full day earlier than other residents, and almost none of them had any aftereffects.

While other residents had all paid some price for the blood-rust virus to varying degrees.

Thinking of this, Li Yu's mood improved even further.

For no other reason!

A huge sum of as much as five hundred thousand taels was already in his pocket.

Although Li Yu knew that at higher levels, money was of little use, having this sum was enough for all of Li Yu's daily expenses, and it would still be useful when he promoted to the [Sequence 6] of the Spirit Venerable path in the future.

"Robbery!"

"Sure enough, only robbing everyone is the fastest way to get rich."

"This is true in the mundane world, and it is also true in the cultivation world."

As this thought settled in Li Yu's mind, the outside world also reached the morning hours amidst the jubilant atmosphere.

He didn't need to go out to look at the sky to know this; naturally, it was because that cursed bronze chicken flew out of the coop right on time, clucking wildly as it lunged toward Li Yu.

Previously, although this chicken was well-maintained by Sun Sanniang and Jiao Qing, due to its material, it would still rust and jam.

But last night, after it was also fed a bowl of [Furnace Body-Refining Soup], it was brand new, sleek and shiny, and its cry was no longer so unpleasant; it was practically newer than when it left the factory. Seeming to miss the taste of that soup, this chicken, which possessed not a shred of intelligence, actually instinctively chased after Li Yu.

This scene!

Seemed to spark inspiration in Li Yu's mind again.

"My Furnace Body-Refining Soup is not only effective for humans, but also has miraculous effects on mechanical creations."

"And those three freaks, Hu Vanguard Commander, Yang Daoli, and Lu Yimiao, are currently somewhere between human and machine; I wonder if they can still enjoy delicacies... If they can't, I might just find a good excuse to get close to them."

Li Yu's deliberation had not yet reached a conclusion.

Outside the courtyard, the familiar sound of a motorcycle engine and the puffing of exhaust fumes arrived simultaneously.

The bronze chicken's crowing and the delivery of the Wanfu Daily always followed one after the other.

However, this time, the paperboy did not throw the *Wanfu Daily* in through the door as usual.

Instead, he shouted from outside the residence:

"Guest, please open the door to collect the paper. You were mentioned in the headline of this issue of the *Wanfu Daily*."

"Hmm?"

=9+Shu_ba

Hearing this, Li Yu couldn't help but frown.

Making the headline of the *Wanfu Daily*!

For unbridled geniuses like "Benevolent Doctor Hu Buku," "Green Robe," or "Liu Tu," this kind of thing was a good thing.

But for Li Yu, it was hard to say whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

After thinking for a moment, he had no choice but to open the door himself and take the daily paper from the overly enthusiastic paperboy.

Ignoring the rest, he looked directly at the headline:

"Blood-Rust Disaster Sweeps Through Tianji Ward!"

"Due to the sudden major event last night, this paper has changed its headline overnight to provide you with a detailed explanation of this catastrophe."

"As everyone knows, because a group of Demon Star Lords have recently begun their promotions, disasters in Wanfu City have surged, but this catastrophe is unrelated to the Lords."

"The cause was absolutely the three leaders of the [Three Sages Gang], the overlords of Tianji Ward. It is rumored that Hu Vanguard Commander, Yang Daoli, and Lu Yimiao, because their lifespans were nearing an end, built a flesh-and-blood factory in Tianji Ward, attempting to use various cruel forbidden arts to extend their lives while transitioning to other more promising paths."

"The cause of this blood-rust disease was precisely the massive explosion at that factory, which caused the blood-rust plague to spread."

"Although the Sacred Nest activated the barrier in time to isolate Tianji Ward, it still caused several nearby wards to be affected. Even the outer walls of the City Lord's Mansion developed large patches of rust, and three mechanical artillery towers rotted and collapsed. The Sacred Nest will have to face a massive compensation claim from the City Lord's Mansion."

"Facing accusations from the entire city, neither the Sacred Nest nor the Three Sages Gang has issued any comment."

"The life or death of Hu Vanguard Commander, Yang Daoli, and Lu Yimiao is also unknown... but according to leaks from our informants, although this massive explosion severely injured the three, it did not claim their lives; they were merely transferred elsewhere to continue receiving flesh-and-blood modification."

"After the incident, the Sacred Nest reacted quickly, deploying large-scale detoxifying agents to resolve the catastrophe."

"It is worth mentioning that one Tianji Ward resident performed exceptionally well in this disaster, actually researching a detoxifying soup overnight... This person has been verified as a member of the City Lord's Mansion's pioneer team... It is rumored that this person is a practitioner of the [Food God Path], capable of cooking medicinal delicacies that all things and all spirits can consume, including mechanical creations."

"Tianji Ward was originally one of the top-ranked major wards in the Southern District, with a strong commercial presence and, due to its proximity to City Lord Street, quite expensive housing and land prices."

"But because of this disaster, housing prices in Tianji Ward may plummet by more than ten percent. Several organizations, including the [Rouge Society], [Snake Sect], and [Money Gang], are already discussing moving out of Tianji Ward, clearly feeling that Hu Vanguard Commander, Yang Daoli, and Lu Yimiao are extremely dangerous at this time."

After reading the headline, Li Yu couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

It was indeed as the paperboy said; he was mentioned, which didn't seem like a big deal.

But one must know, this was the *Wanfu Daily*.

Although it had only been published for less than ten issues, the number of subscriptions was skyrocketing every day.

Not only did most practitioners subscribe, but many wealthy commoners also loved to read it; its influence was growing day by day.

It is no exaggeration to say!

Making the *Wanfu Daily* would certainly bring some fame, let alone being the headline.

"Fortunately, I still have the [City Lord's Mansion establishment] as a tiger skin; as long as I don't expose my identity as a mole for the Heavenly Craft Sect, it should be fine."

"This description of me can also be considered a piece of bait."

"A small fry like me, even if I made the *Wanfu Daily*, wouldn't be enough to attract the attention of the Sacred Nest... but those three, Hu Vanguard Commander, Yang Daoli, and Lu Yimiao, are different."

"If I haven't guessed wrong!"

"Every portion of the detoxifying agent provided by the Heavenly Craft Sect was pre-allocated by the Sacred Nest. The Three Sages' sequence rank is neither high nor low, and they were late defectors; their modification should have been just one of many projects within the Sacred Nest. Since the portion given to them was lost, it was naturally gone; at most, they would have been fobbed off with some diluted agent."

"Could it be that this is what triggered the massive explosion... To save the disaster, the Sacred Nest might have exhausted its entire inventory, so the second round of agent procurement definitely wouldn't reach the three."

"They will likely think they have been slighted, and at this moment, they discover that someone in the ward they rule can also cure the blood-rust virus—even if it's only a temporary relief, that is enough."

"Not only will they send people to actively seek me out, but even if the Sacred Nest notices, the three will withstand the pressure and attempt to monopolize my medicinal soup."

Every thought surging in Li Yu's mind had a basis.

There was not a shred of doubt or hesitation, as if he already held the pearls of wisdom and possessed the power of prophecy.

This was another change after he promoted to a Fangshi!

His insight into the desires of the human heart had reached a higher level.

PS: The third update is here. Thanks to Li Qi, d.d. Xiong, Mitu, Tiandi Guoke 666, Book Friend 161220174050759, and Wendao Yizai for their tips. Many thanks.

(End of this chapter)