Chapter 6 Fishermen in the Mission Hall
Li Yuan heard Captain Li's words, put down the book in his hand, and said, "After my junior brother Mu Hai was killed, the murderer was never found. It's obvious the murderer escaped before the defensive barrier was activated.
Now that this defensive barrier has not been closed, the murderer cannot enter, so I will be fine."
Captain Li reminded him with a serious expression, "Young Master Li Yuan, you must not be careless. There are countless ways in this world to penetrate barriers!"
Li Yuan shook his head gently and said helplessly, "A Professional who can silently penetrate a barrier is someone even my master cannot stop.
As for those items that can penetrate barriers, their price is extremely expensive, and using them on me would be a waste."
Captain Li agreed in his heart, but he still felt uneasy. Therefore, Captain Li insisted, "No matter what, I must…"
Before he finished speaking, Captain Li saw with his own eyes that a hole suddenly appeared in Li Yuan's chest.
"Alert!" Captain Li shouted, grabbing the potion on the table and pouring it into Li Yuan's mouth.
But Li Yuan couldn't swallow the potion at all; whatever amount was poured in, he would spit out.
Li Yuan ultimately could not escape the fate of death.
Captain Li angrily looked up and glanced around the room, finding that the room's doors and windows were tightly closed, with no exits.
The anger slowly dissipated, and Captain Li, somewhat terrified, shouted towards the door, "Are the rooms locked?"
Old Zhang's voice quickly came from outside the door, "They're all locked. The brothers are guarding nearby. Captain Li, what happened?"
Upon hearing this, Captain Li stared ferociously around him, feigning bravery, "Come out, I've found you."
No one responded to Captain Li, and cold sweat instantly appeared on Captain Li's forehead.
"Captain, are you alright?" Old Zhang's voice came again from outside, making Captain Li's body tremble.
After that, Captain Li could no longer maintain his fierce demeanor and slowly shuffled towards the door.
After standing firm at the door, Captain Li shouted outside, "Young Master Li Yuan is dead, and the murderer might be in the room. Find someone to come and capture the person without damaging the room!"
A gasp of surprise immediately sounded outside.
Then someone replied with a trembling voice, "Understood."
…
At this moment, in the inn room, Fang Che collapsed on the bed, looking exhausted.
The clay figure on the table lay in a pool of blood, the pierced area still bleeding.
The seven long nails had returned to the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book, transforming back into characters.
Fang Che was too tired to move at this point and didn't deal with these things, quickly falling into a deep sleep.
When Fang Che woke up, it was already dark.
Fang Che put away the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book and cleaned up the bloodstains on the table.
Then, Fang Che put on a cotton coat to make himself appear fatter and added several layers of insoles to make himself appear taller.
After doing all this, Fang Che put on his cloak and mask and went to the Curse Master Mission Hall to hand in his mission token.
The Manager glanced at the mission on the token, then at the changed physique of Fang Che, but didn't say much, only taking out Li Yuan's portrait, putting it in a basin of water, and verifying his life or death.
When the character 'Dead' appeared in the basin, Fang Che immediately made a request:
"Can I use this mission reward to exchange for a storage ring, a cultivation room with an escape passage, and ten silver coins?"
The Manager reminded him, "If you exchange, we will need to charge a handling fee. Can you accept that?"
Fang Che nodded gently, "I accept."
The Manager smiled slightly, opened the drawer, took out a storage ring, ten silver coins, and a cultivation room token, and placed them in front of Fang Che.
Fang Che put away these items and turned to walk towards the curse-killing mission area.
At this time, many Curse Masters surrounded the curse-killing mission area. They didn't claim missions but just stared at those wearing cloaks and masks.
As soon as Fang Che arrived here, he was targeted by these people.
Fang Che ignored them and quietly searched for missions.
Not long after, Fang Che found a mission from the Fierce Tiger Group. The target of the mission was a Second-Order Professional, and the reward resources were more generous than those for other Second-Order Professionals.
Presumably, this Second-Order Professional had offended people too deeply or possessed powerful strength.
However, with Fang Che's current ability, he could not kill him.
Fang Che could only give up on this mission and continue to look at other missions.
However, the other missions had no good rewards and had nothing to do with the Fierce Tiger Group, so Fang Che directly chose to give up.
After turning to leave, a certain Curse Master who was staking out nearby immediately followed Fang Che and quietly asked,
"Brother, I see you haven't found a suitable mission either. I happen to have some private work here. Can you help me deal with it?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Che instantly understood that this person had come to fish!
When some Professionals are killed, their friends will hire people to get close to assassins and investigate their situation. This is called 'fishing,' and the hired people are 'fishermen.'
Now that Fang Che had just killed two people from the Fierce Tiger Group, he dared not casually approach strangers.
If he were targeted by them, he wouldn't even know how he died.
Fang Che gently shook his head to refuse, not speaking, and walked directly towards the Mission Hall Manager.
However, the Curse Master did not give up and still followed closely behind Fang Che, pleading softly,
"Brother, please help me. I've encountered too much trouble, so I had no choice but to resort to this. I guarantee you sufficient benefits."
Fang Che still did not answer.
The Curse Master said impatiently, "Just give me a straightforward answer, yes or no!"
Fang Che still did not answer, speeding up and walking to the Mission Hall Manager. Only then did he turn his head to look at the Curse Master following him.
The Manager also looked at the Curse Master and reminded him with a serious expression, "If you have a mission to publish, you can tell me. It is forbidden to privately seek people here."
"I didn't intend to seek people privately, just casually looking around." The Curse Master quickly denied his actions and turned to leave.
After he left, Fang Che nodded to the Manager in thanks, then walked to the wall and placed his token on it.
A crack instantly opened on the wall, absorbing Fang Che, and then the crack slowly disappeared.
As Fang Che entered the crack, the token instantly shattered, releasing curse energy.
At the same time, a wisp of mist floated out from Fang Che's body and was absorbed by the wall.
Fang Che looked at where the mist disappeared, feeling slightly relieved.
The rules recorded in the Curse Master Mission Hall stated that the cultivation room had the ability to clear abnormal statuses.
And the so-called abnormal statuses were means of monitoring, tracking, and stealing aura.
Fang Che did not want to be targeted after completing a mission, so after the last mission, he used that bag of coins to rent a cultivation room.
However, Fang Che was not subjected to any abnormal status last time, so the cultivation room did not play a role.
It wasn't until now, with the mist being absorbed by the wall, that this cultivation room truly played its role.
Fang Che waited quietly for a moment until the curse energy stopped increasing, then he began to cultivate.
After some time, the curse energy in the room was depleted. Fang Che opened the door to the exit and walked towards the earthen wall behind the door.
Passing through the earthen wall, Fang Che left the Curse Master Mission Hall.
The place where Fang Che was now was not the alley from last time.
What was similar to that alley was that there were no people passing by nearby.
Fang Che took out the storage ring he had just obtained, pricked his finger, and dripped blood onto it. At the same time, Fang Che released curse energy, enveloping the storage ring.
The next second, the storage ring absorbed the blood cleanly, successfully establishing a connection with Fang Che and becoming Fang Che's personal item.
Fang Che put various items from his body into the storage ring, changed his mask, and disguised himself before leaving the place.
Walking on the street, Fang Che used silver coins to buy several replacement cloaks and masks, and then went to a nearby furniture factory to buy a table, which he also put into the storage ring.
Afterward, Fang Che returned to the academy inn, took out the table he had just bought, and replaced the blood-stained table, completely removing the blood traces.
Immediately after, Fang Che cultivated for a while before going to bed to rest.
+++
Chapter 7 Joining the Blue Sky Group
Early the next morning, Fang Che headed to the Mission Hall, where all Professionals could accept missions.
Fang Che needed to earn some money through legitimate channels to provide himself with a normal source of income.
With a legal income, those righteous Professionals wouldn't constantly keep an eye on Fang Che, nor would they think about eliminating him for the people's benefit.
Walking along the road, Fang Che deliberately passed by the Fierce Tiger Group's station, finding a defensive barrier enclosing the entire Fierce Tiger Group.
The members inside the defensive barrier moved in groups of three or five, each person's mental state was very poor, and they constantly looked around, giving people a suspicious feeling.
Fang Che also saw that Wang Yuan's corpse was casually thrown in a corner, with no one bothering to deal with it.
Fang Che left the area expressionlessly and soon arrived at the Mission Hall, where all Professionals could accept missions.
This Mission Hall was built on a bustling street.
Inside the Mission Hall, every two meters there was a stone wall covered with mission tokens.
If these stone walls were replaced with bookshelves, it would look very much like a library.
Fang Che wandered around for a long time and found that most missions were released in team format, and these missions were more welcoming to Mental Curse Masters.
As for Flesh Curse Masters, no one paid them any attention.
Some teams also welcomed Tool Curse Masters, but they had to possess a Curse Tool with a fixed mental curse effect.
Fang Che's Nailhead Seven Arrows Book could not meet the requirements, so he basically couldn't accept these missions.
What's more, the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book's method of killing was too strange, making it easy for the Fierce Tiger Group to discover problems, so it couldn't be exposed now.
Fang Che could only look for some guard missions that had no Professional requirements.
However, these guard missions were surrounded by a large group of Professionals with weak early-stage combat power, and Fang Che couldn't squeeze in at all.
"Fang Che, you've also come to claim a mission."
A pleasant voice suddenly sounded in his ear. Fang Che turned his head and found that Ling Jie, who had awakened the Flesh Bodhisattva profession, was standing behind him.
Beside Ling Jie, there was also a man and a woman. These two were also classmates: the man was Yun Tian, and the woman was Ye Ling.
Fang Che said, "I came to claim some missions. Are you also here to claim missions?"
"Yes." Ling Jie nodded gently and invited, "We've already accepted some missions and would like to invite you to execute them with us. Do you have time?"
Fang Che did want to participate in the missions, but to avoid exposing the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book, Fang Che said, "I am a Tool Curse Master, and I haven't even refined a single tool yet, so I'm afraid I can't help you."
Ling Jie smiled and said, "It's okay. We are classmates, more trustworthy than others. I just hope you can come and help me with tasks and join my team."
Only then did Fang Che realize that Ling Jie was recruiting members.
In most cases, students from the same class were natural allies, closer than anyone else.
Ambitious individuals would gather classmates to form groups, better to acquire benefits.
Currently, all the well-known groups in the Emperor Plane had their initial members from the same class.
Fang Che really wanted to join this so-called group.
Having a group's help could allow Fang Che to develop faster.
From the perspective of accepting missions, any Professional can only accept one mission at a time. Before the mission is completed, no matter how well disguised, the Plane Will can identify your identity and prevent you from accepting a second mission.
If there is a group, one can take on all the missions they are interested in, have others help execute them, without wasting time running back and forth, and without worrying about others snatching the missions.
Additionally, the more diverse the professions of the group members, the more missions they encounter, and the easier it is to obtain rare rewards.
Everyone shares what they have, which allows them to quickly gather the materials they need and accelerate their strength improvement.
Especially professions like Tool Curse Master, they particularly need the support of a team.
Near Slaughter Saber Academy, the strongest group was the Fierce Tiger Group.
However, the Fierce Tiger Group had strict recruitment, and since they had tricked Fang Che, he didn't consider joining them.
Now that Ling Jie had extended an invitation, he could spend some time with Ling Jie.
After making his decision, Fang Che said, "I can join you, but there's something I need to make clear beforehand: if I find a better place, you can't stop me."
Ling Jie smiled slightly, nodded, and said, "No problem, if our team cannot help you, you can leave at any time;
However, after you leave, please, in consideration of the team having helped you, complete one or two team missions."
Fang Che nodded and said, "A very reasonable request, I agree."
Ling Jie smiled and said, "Then welcome to my Blue Sky Group. I have applied to the academy for a courtyard as our base. You can go back with Yun Tian, and I will continue to recruit more people."
Fang Che nodded slightly, followed Yun Tian out of the Mission Hall, and arrived at a courtyard on the edge of the city.
This courtyard had been expanded by spatial energy; it looked small from the outside but was quite spacious inside.
Yun Tian led Fang Che to a room directly facing the main gate, pointed to a dozen sticky notes on the wall, and introduced:
"These are all the resources needed by other members of the Blue Sky Group. If you find mission rewards related to these in the Curse Master Mission Hall, you can accept them, and everyone will help complete them together;
If you have something you need, you can also write down the information and post it on the wall, and others will help you find missions related to it and leave a message to remind you."
Fang Che nodded slightly, picked up the pen and paper on the table, and quickly wrote down a pile of materials for improving the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book.
Immediately after, Fang Che also wrote down items for refining other Curse Tools.
A moment later, Fang Che finished writing all the information and posted the paper on the wall.
Yun Tian looked at the pile of items and asked with some confusion, "Existing Curse Tools don't seem to require these things to be refined, do they?"
Fang Che explained, "I want to refine Curse Tools myself."
Yun Tian instantly understood that Fang Che had chosen the Flash of Inspiration skill.
This skill was quite good in the first few years after the Curse Master profession was born.
However, after so many years of development, Curse Tools have been thoroughly researched.
Currently, the Curse Tools being developed are basically based on existing tools, and the power of new tools cannot compare to existing ones.
Even if newly created tools can be strengthened, the materials consumed are immeasurable.
Even if someone creates a new Curse Tool now, no one pays attention.
Yun Tian didn't expect that in this era, Fang Che would actually choose the Flash of Inspiration skill, which was the most wasteful of materials.
Yun Tian truly didn't know how to evaluate Fang Che's choice.
However, since he had invited the person to the Blue Sky Group, he had to take responsibility.
Moreover, due to the scarcity of Fleshly Body Bodhisattva Professionals, the local Fleshly Body Bodhisattva exclusive Mission Hall had already closed, and Ling Jie could not accept exclusive missions.
Now, they couldn't lose Fang Che, the only Curse Master in the class.
Therefore, Yun Tian began to persuade him, "Although the Flash of Inspiration skill doesn't 100% create existing Curse Tools like the Dexterity skill, there's always a chance of successful refinement;
I still suggest you claim some common materials and refine some existing tools to improve your combat power. The issue of innovative tools can be considered later, it's not too late."
For ordinary people, Yun Tian's suggestion was appropriate, but this suggestion was not suitable for Fang Che.
Fang Che still insisted, "I want to try, so I won't change the requirements."
Yun Tian didn't expect that the usually reclusive and silent Fang Che was actually stubborn, which made Yun Tian a bit angry.
However, Yun Tian still tried to calm his emotions, took out a notebook and handed it to him, saying:
"Since you insist, I won't try to persuade you anymore. Currently, the Blue Sky Group's treasury has some things you need. Some were exchanged by everyone from Slaughter Saber Academy, and some were unexpectedly obtained before awakening professions in Other Planes;
As long as you can provide various things that others need, you can directly exchange for these treasures."
Fang Che took the notebook and looked at the items recorded on it, his eyes shining with joy.
There were many good things in it; if he could obtain them, Fang Che could try to refine a second Curse Tool.
Yun Tian looked at Fang Che's joyful expression and reminded him:
"If you don't have what others need, you can execute missions with them, and after everyone completes the mission, the credit is divided equally;
You need to complete several missions before you can exchange for one item. You must remember this. Also, I don't recommend you complete missions alone to exchange for resources; that's too dangerous."
Fang Che understood that Yun Tian didn't trust his strength.
Fang Che didn't explain anything, just smiled and nodded: "Understood."
+++
Chapter 8 Upcoming Mission Objectives
After Fang Che finished reading the item information in the notebook, he returned it to Yun Tian, then walked to the wall and carefully checked the items others needed.
Just then, Ling Jie rushed into the room.
Ling Jie glanced at Yun Tian and Fang Che, and said joyfully, "I found a good mission! It requires four people to accept it together. Hurry up and come with me to get the mission first."
"Understood," Yun Tian nodded in agreement without hesitation.
Fang Che, who was understanding the needs of others, looked up and said, "I'm planning to go to the Curse Master Mission Hall to look for a mission. If we accept this mission together, won't I be unable to accept a new one?"
Ling Jie smiled and said, "The missions at the Curse Master Mission Hall aren't as important as this one. As long as you accept it, I can give you some materials to refine Curse Tools!"
Fang Che was pleased to hear that.
Just accepting a mission to get materials was much better than completing a mission.
Yun Tian on the side wanted to tell Ling Jie about Fang Che's situation, but with Fang Che there, Yun Tian couldn't say anything directly and could only remain silent.
"Let's go," Ling Jie commanded, and the three hurried out.
Leaving the courtyard, Yun Tian quickly closed and locked the main gate.
Immediately after, Yun Tian handed a key to Fang Che and said:
"We don't have money now to set up a defensive barrier, nor do we have enough people to guard the house. We can only use a primitive iron lock. From now on, you can come back anytime to check for clues on the items everyone needs.
In a while, you can also move your luggage over and find an empty room to stay in."
Fang Che didn't want to expose his strength, nor did he want to live in the same courtyard as others. However, being able to return anytime to check for clues on the items he needed was quite good.
Therefore, Fang Che took the key and said, "Understood."
Yun Tian's gaze then fell on Ling Jie, and he asked curiously, "What kind of mission is this?"
Ling Jie walked quickly ahead, answering softly, "A few years ago, there was a person who didn't accept missions, but instead chose to secretly rob newly awakened Professionals, severely violating regulations. Many people have been investigating his whereabouts."
These words instantly triggered the memories of Fang Che and Yun Tian, and Yun Tian said:
"I remember this person. Tutor Lü Jing mentioned him. Is there a clue about him now?"
Ling Jie nodded excitedly and said, "We've already locked down this person's information. The Mission Hall just released an assassination notice, and Ye Ling and I discovered it.
Ye Ling has already hidden the mission token. We'll go now and quietly accept the mission. The mission reward is secondary; the main thing is reputation!"
Yun Tian was also somewhat excited to hear that.
Many people knew about that murderer. If they completed the mission, other Professionals would surely come to them, strengthening the Blue Sky Group!
Fang Che, however, didn't care about things like reputation; he only wanted to know about the reward.
If the reward was high enough, then he could kill the mission target.
With the power of the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book, as long as the target's strength was First-Order, no matter where he hid, he couldn't escape death.
Not long after, the three arrived at the Mission Hall and saw Ye Ling waiting anxiously.
After everyone met up, Ling Jie took the mission token and quickly went to the mission acceptance area, handing the token to the Manager, and said eagerly:
"Senior, we want to accept this mission. Please register it for us."
The Manager took the mission token, then looked at the four of them, and reminded, "Four people are just the minimum standard for accepting the mission. I suggest you arrange more people; this target is not easy to deal with."
Ling Jie said, "Don't worry, Senior. Our team has many people, and we are confident we can catch him."
The Manager nodded, took out a notebook, recorded the mission information, then placed the notebook in front of Ling Jie and said, "The four of you sign your names."
Ling Jie picked up the pen and quickly registered their names.
Immediately after, Fang Che and the other two also signed their names in turn.
After the four had signed, the Manager handed a notebook to Ling Jie and said, "This contains the target's information. You have three days to act."
"Thank you, Senior," Ling Jie put away the notebook and left in a hurry, afraid that others might discover them and prevent them from completing the mission.
Only after returning to the Blue Sky Group's small courtyard did Ling Jie open the notebook to check the information inside.
Fang Che and the other two quickly gathered around.
"He's actually an Empath Professional! This is troublesome," Ye Ling exclaimed the moment she saw the target's profession.
Ling Jie and Yun Tian also frowned.
Empath Professionals have a strong perception of the emotions of those around them. No matter what emotions are present, an Empath will discover them.
If a certain emotion is directed at the Empath, it's even easier to detect.
To assassinate an Empath, one must generate killing intent, which will definitely be detected by the Empath.
Only by deploying enough personnel to blockade the Empath within an area can he be killed.
As for the size of the area, it's difficult to calculate, as there are many tools in this world that can increase the range of perception.
Ling Jie frowned and continued to flip through the notebook.
The notebook recorded that this Empath, named Zhou Duan, often assassinated people when Professionals were feeling down, and he had never failed.
Zhou Duan was discovered because he was about to advance and was eager to find advancement materials, leading him to commit crimes more frequently.
However, since Zhou Duan had not yet advanced, the mission was placed in the First-Order Professional area, where Ling Jie and Ye Ling discovered it.
Ling Jie continued to check the notebook and soon saw the portrait at the very end.
After reading all the information, Ling Jie frowned and said, "Now we don't know if this Zhou Duan has advanced. If he has, no matter how many people we send, it will be useless. This is troublesome."
Yun Tian and Ye Ling frowned, remaining silent.
Fang Che on the side reached out and said, "Let me see the mission token."
Ling Jie casually handed the mission token to Fang Che, saying worriedly, "Although the mission reward is high, it hasn't reached the Second-Order standard. Even if I wanted to gather all members of the Blue Sky Group, they might not agree."
But when Fang Che saw the mission reward, he said happily, "If all the mission rewards are given to me, I can give it a try."
Ling Jie and the other two looked at Fang Che in unison, and then Yun Tian asked somewhat excitedly, "Do you know a Second-Order expert?"
Fang Che didn't answer directly, only persuaded, "You don't have a solution either, so why not let me try?"
Ling Jie sighed and said, "We don't have a solution. You can try."
Fang Che smiled slightly and requested, "I need a tool to find corpses. Can you give me one?"
Ling Jie took out a compass and said, "This is a Corpse Seeking Compass. If you paste a picture of the corpse on it, you can find the corpse. I'll lend it to you.
Also, I said before that I could give you materials to refine Curse Tools after accepting the mission. What do you need?"
Fang Che waved his hand and said, "I don't need materials. I want this Corpse Seeking Compass. Can you give it to me?"
Fang Che would kill many people in the future, and if he only killed without managing the bodies, the resources on the deceased would be wasted.
This Corpse Seeking Compass could help Fang Che perfectly.
Ling Jie nodded gently upon hearing this and said, "Okay, I'll give you the Corpse Seeking Compass. Do your best to deal with Zhou Duan. Success isn't required; just ensure your own safety."
After saying this, Ling Jie left directly.
Ye Ling also followed Ling Jie, dejectedly, not believing the mission could be completed.
Yun Tian, however, glanced at Fang Che, not understanding where Fang Che's confidence in killing came from.
Normally, everyone stayed at the academy and rarely went out. The only Second-Order Professionals they had a chance to know were the academy tutors, but these tutors weren't good at combat.
If Fang Che were to act personally, it would be even more impossible, as Fang Che didn't even have a Curse Tool yet.
Even if he had a Curse Tool, so what?
Empaths greatly countered Curse Masters. How could a Curse Master be an Empath's opponent?
Yun Tian couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it and returned directly to his room.
+++
Chapter 9 Eliminate Zhou Duan
After Ling Jie and the other two left, Fang Che hurriedly departed the Blue Sky Group's base, dug up a pile of mud on the way, and returned to the Academy Inn.
Fang Che took out the wooden table that had been stained red with blood earlier, then molded a mud figure from the mud, affixed Zhou Duan's name to it, used the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book to condense a long nail and pierce the mud figure's head, and then began to prostrate.
After the first prostration, seven long nails easily penetrated to a fixed depth.
Fang Che instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
The fact that they could be inserted without resistance meant that Zhou Duan had not yet completed his advancement, and perhaps didn't even have much protection.
So, Fang Che continued to prostrate.
At this moment, in a certain cave, Zhou Duan was counting the resources he had obtained after killing someone.
Suddenly, Zhou Duan's hand, which was counting resources, paused.
Immediately after, a faint light emanated from Zhou Duan's glabella.
When the light disappeared, Zhou Duan's eyes were dazed, and he murmured to himself:
"Strange, I'm clearly nervous, but why can't I find any traces of others harming me when I search carefully?"
A faint light once again emerged from Zhou Duan's glabella.
After the light disappeared, Zhou Duan muttered to himself thoughtfully, "Am I afraid of failing my advancement? No, I can't take the risk."
Zhou Duan quickly activated various defensive items on his body, and under the protection of these defensive items, Zhou Duan's nervous emotions slowly calmed down.
At this moment, after completing a new round of prostrations, Fang Che suddenly found that the seven long nails could not be pushed in any deeper.
Seeing this, Fang Che quickly injected curse energy into the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book.
The Nailhead Seven Arrows Book, empowered by the curse energy, condensed seven fingers and pressed down on the long nails.
The long nails slowly pierced the mud figure.
At this point, Fang Che confirmed that Zhou Duan had probably used some defensive items and had not completed his advancement.
As long as Zhou Duan had not completed his advancement, Fang Che was confident he could deal with him.
Subsequently, Fang Che continued to prostrate before the mud figure.
Not long after, sixty-three prostrations were completed.
Fang Che picked up a simple wooden bow, nocked a sharpened wooden stick, aimed at the mud figure, and shot!
The wooden stick silently pierced through the mud figure and fell to the ground, and immediately after, blood flowed from the hole in the mud figure.
The blood flowed down the mud figure onto the tabletop, rapidly spreading out.
In the cave, Zhou Duan suddenly felt a pain in his chest.
He looked down and found a hole in his chest, with blood continuously flowing out.
Zhou Duan looked incredulously at the defensive items that had not suffered any damage, then reached out to grab a healing elixir.
But Zhou Duan only felt all his strength draining from the wound; his raised arm quickly fell, and he could no longer lift it.
Not long after, Zhou Duan, still in confusion, entered death, and the defensive items on his body lost their energy supply and became ineffective.
"Snap."
In the Academy Inn room, the mud figure suddenly fell, and the seven long nails transformed back into text, returning to the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book.
Fang Che understood that Zhou Duan was dead.
Fang Che took out the Corpse Seeking Compass and pasted Zhou Duan's portrait on it.
The next second, a red dot appeared on the edge of the Corpse Seeking Compass.
Fang Che held the Corpse Seeking Compass and turned around in place, and the red dot also changed position as Fang Che turned.
However, this red dot kept rotating at the edge and always pointed north.
Fang Che put away the Corpse Seeking Compass, tidied up the curse traces in the room, put on his cloak and mask, left the room, and headed north.
After advancing a certain distance, Fang Che would go to an unpopulated area and take out the Corpse Seeking Compass to determine the target's location.
As he continuously moved north, the red dot on the edge of the Corpse Seeking Compass gradually moved towards the center.
When Fang Che arrived outside a cave, the red dot was already infinitely close to the center of the Corpse Seeking Compass.
Fang Che put away the Corpse Seeking Compass, picked up a few stones from nearby and threw them into the cave, listened for a moment, and after confirming there were no unusual sounds inside, he walked in.
Entering the cave, after only a few steps, Fang Che saw Zhou Duan sitting cross-legged on the ground.
At this moment, Zhou Duan's face was pale, there was a hole in his chest, and blood had dyed the clothes below his chest blood-red.
Fang Che walked forward, directly put the corpse into his storage ring, then searched the surroundings, took all valuable items, and then left the place.
Some time later, Fang Che returned to the Academy Inn, took out Zhou Duan's various items, and after carefully counting them, a brilliant smile appeared on his face.
Zhou Duan had several storage rings on him, of which elixirs and items exclusive to the Empath Professional accounted for one-fifth.
Items and elixirs from other professions were varied and accounted for two-fifths; these should have been accumulated by Zhou Duan from killing people over time.
These two types of items have professional requirements, so Fang Che could only use some of the Curse Master's things, while the other items could only be sold when the opportunity arose.
The remaining two-fifths of the items were some general items or unprocessed basic materials.
Among them were some materials that could be used to improve the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book.
Fang Che directly took out the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book, unfolded it on the table, then picked up these materials, placed them one by one on the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book, and used the Flash of Inspiration skill to let the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book absorb the materials.
As the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book absorbed these materials, the text information rapidly changed, and the improvement was quickly completed.
At this time, the text on the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book was already different from before:
[Write the enemy's name on any item to substitute for the target's body;
Then, with the help of cursing power, condense the text in the bamboo slip item into seven long nails and pierce the substitute item;
Bow and prostrate before the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book and the substitute item, and recall the target's appearance; after seven continuous bows and prostrations, smash the substitute item, and the enemy will die on the spot without any external injuries.]
The improved Nailhead Seven Arrows Book could use materials from anywhere, shortened the prostration time, and made it easier to curse enemies to death.
Moreover, no obvious wounds would appear on the enemy's body, which could confuse the investigation direction and allow Fang Che to hide better.
The only regret was that the flaw of needing the target's name for the curse had not changed, and Fang Che still needed to continue searching for materials.
Afterward, Fang Che put away the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book, then put the items he needed into a separate storage ring, and then came to the Blue Sky Group's base.
At this time, the base gate was open, and Fang Che walked straight in, entered the public room directly opposite the gate, and saw Yun Tian.
Fang Che walked up to Yun Tian and said, "The person is dead. We can go submit the mission now."
"What person?" Yun Tian was slightly startled, then thought of something and asked in shock, "You're not talking about Zhou Duan, are you?"
Fang Che nodded and said, "It's him. I brought back Zhou Duan's treasures."
At this point, Fang Che poured out items from various professions from his storage ring and said, "I want to exchange these things for what I need."
Yun Tian looked at the items on the table and said with slight excitement, "Since you could bring back these things, you must have brought back Zhou Duan's corpse too, right? Can I see the corpse?"
Fang Che shook his head and said, "The corpse has been destroyed. After submitting the mission, the Mission Hall can use special items to confirm Zhou Duan's death."
Fang Che dared not take out Zhou Duan's corpse now.
If Zhou Duan's corpse were exposed, the Fierce Tiger Group would target Fang Che.
The Fierce Tiger Group would not look for evidence; if they suspected Fang Che, they would definitely go straight for the kill.
This was also the reason why Fang Che had to bring back Zhou Duan's corpse.
Upon learning that Zhou Duan's corpse had been destroyed, Yun Tian looked at Fang Che with some suspicion, then said:
"I will inform Leader Ling Jie. Please wait a moment."
Then, Yun Tian took out a communication jade, injected energy, and reported:
"Leader, Fang Che brought back a pile of resources and said that he successfully killed Zhou Duan. However, Zhou Duan's corpse was destroyed, and Fang Che didn't bring it back. Fang Che hopes you submit the mission as soon as possible."
After saying these words, Yun Tian stopped outputting energy.
Yun Tian waited quietly for a while, and when the jade glowed, Yun Tian injected energy again.
Immediately after, Ling Jie's excited voice came from the jade: "The mission has been successfully submitted! Zhou Duan is really dead! I'll be right back, don't let Fang Che leave."
Yun Tian received the message, looked at Fang Che, and asked curiously, "Where did you meet a Second-Order Professionals?"
Fang Che saw that Yun Tian didn't believe in his strength and didn't retort, just smiled slightly and prevaricated, "Anyway, the person is dead, why bother with how they died?"
+++
Chapter 10: Voodoo Doll
Fang Che didn't want to discuss Zhou Duan's death anymore. He pointed at the materials on the table and changed the subject: "I want to exchange some items with these materials, is that alright?"
Seeing that Fang Che was unwilling to say anything, Yun Tian could only suppress his curiosity, take out a notebook, and say:
"I'll help you register these items. When the other members of the group return, I'll let them exchange for what they need. You can also write down anything you need."
After saying that, Yun Tian began to count the items Fang Che provided and register them in the notebook.
Fang Che, on the other hand, walked to the wall, took down the material list he had written before, crossed out the materials he already owned, and wrote down information about some Curse Master exclusive cultivation elixirs.
Just then, Ling Jie rushed back into the room, approaching Fang Che with a smile, and said:
"Thank you. I won't ask about your elimination of Zhou Duan, and please don't tell anyone else casually."
Yun Tian, who was registering the material information, originally wanted Ling Jie to help him inquire, but upon hearing these words, he didn't bother with the registration and hurriedly asked:
"Why? Having a Second-Order Professionals help is a huge benefit for the Blue Sky Group, and we can also provide Fang Che with various resources to maintain the relationship."
Upon hearing the information about Second-Order Professionals, Ling Jie was also led astray, thinking that Zhou Duan was killed by a Second-Order Professionals.
Ling Jie also developed a hint of curiosity.
How did Fang Che get to know such a powerful Second-Order Professionals?
However, Ling Jie didn't ask, but suppressed her curiosity and smiled: "Zhou Duan's death will attract a lot of attention to us, and there will definitely be some people with malicious intentions among them;
However, they don't know how Fang Che killed him, nor do they know how Zhou Duan died. As long as their strength is not as good as Zhou Duan's, they won't act rashly."
Yun Tian nodded in realization.
Immediately after, Yun Tian continued to ask: "What if someone stronger than Zhou Duan targets us?"
Ling Jie smiled: "People stronger than Zhou Duan won't care about Zhou Duan, nor will they pay attention to us;
What we need to do now is to publicize the news of Fang Che killing Zhou Duan and recruit as many group members as possible."
Yun Tian pondered for a moment and nodded: "That makes some sense."
Fang Che, who was listening nearby, immediately stopped Ling Jie when he heard her wanting to publicize him:
"Regarding my killing of Zhou Duan, I hope it can be kept secret and not publicized."
Ling Jie looked at Fang Che with some doubt and reminded him: "Zhou Duan is a famous person; killing him can bring great prestige, and the benefits brought by this prestige are very numerous!"
Fang Che gently shook his head and said indifferently: "What is prestige? I don't want to stand in front of people and accept others' gazes. I just want to stay alone in an unnoticed corner and complete my own affairs."
Fang Che always felt that it was more satisfying to scheme behind people's backs than to show off in front of them.
Making enemies unable to find a target for revenge, that was the most satisfying thing in the world.
Anyway, the benefits had already been taken, and Ling Jie and the others understood the situation and wouldn't treat Fang Che unfairly.
Ling Jie glanced at Fang Che, and seeing his firm attitude, she sighed: "Alright, I won't publicize your matter. Oh, by the way, I've already brought back the mission reward."
Ling Jie took out some items from her storage ring and handed them directly to Fang Che.
Fang Che took these items and said: "To prevent others from finding me through Zhou Duan's items, I'll trouble the group to handle Zhou Duan's materials. If I need anything, I'll need your help to exchange for it."
"No problem." Ling Jie readily agreed and took out a communication token, handed it to Fang Che, and said: "When others are willing to exchange items with you, I will contact you through the token."
Fang Che took the communication token and said: "Then I'll be leaving now. Goodbye."
"Walk slowly."
After Fang Che left, Yun Tian suddenly asked: "Isn't Ye Ling your little follower? Why didn't she come back with you?"
Ling Jie replied: "I told Ye Ling to stay in the Mission Hall. After the news of Zhou Duan spreads, she can directly disseminate our base information to attract Professionals to join us."
Yun Tian nodded gently and continued to record the items Fang Che had brought.
Ling Jie then picked up the communication token and sent a message to Ye Ling: "Don't tell anyone who killed Zhou Duan."
...
On the other side, after Fang Che left the Blue Sky Group's base, he went to take a look near the Fierce Tiger Group's base and found that the defensive barrier was still not closed.
The Fierce Tiger Group's abnormal behavior attracted many people. Many people passed by and observed curiously.
Fang Che found that Wang Yuan's body, which was originally thrown in the corner, had disappeared.
The people in the Fierce Tiger Group were still moving in groups of three or five, but at this moment, they were not as suspicious as before; instead, they were somewhat anxious.
Fang Che was happy to see the Fierce Tiger Group members, who had modified their contract, in such a miserable state, but he showed no emotion on the surface, leaving the place like a passerby.
Upon returning to his inn, Fang Che took out a puppet from his suitcase, opened the puppet's head, and took out a yellow paper covered with seal characters from inside, carefully examining the seal characters recorded on it.
This was the tool Fang Che was preparing to refine next: the Voodoo Doll.
The seal characters taken from the puppet were different from those on the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book.
The power of the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book mainly came from the seal characters; the bamboo slips were just the carriers of the text.
As long as one acted according to the seal characters, the power of the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book could be unleashed.
However, the power of the puppet came from the puppet itself; these seal characters were merely materials required for refining the puppet.
These were all methods Fang Che had summarized using his eye of the plane ability, the ones with the highest success rate for refining Curse Tool.
Currently, Fang Che did not have items bestowed by the Plane Will, so he could not directly create Curse Tool. He could only use the materials he had just collected.
After examining all the characters, Fang Che took out a piece of black wood emitting a unique aura and carved it into a humanoid puppet with a knife.
Immediately after, Fang Che dug eighteen holes of different sizes on the puppet and used a silver needle to pierce them, connecting all the holes.
Then, Fang Che took out seventeen colorful stones, carved them into the shape of brains, and stuffed them into the puppet's holes.
After using all the materials, most of the puppet's holes were filled, leaving only the head hole empty.
Subsequently, Fang Che gathered the remaining materials from the seventeen stones, ground them into powder, and glued them together.
Immediately after, Fang Che carved the Voodoo Doll's ability onto the glued colorful stone:
[Bury the Voodoo Doll in the living area of a certain group. The highest-ranking person in that group will go insane and slaughter other members within the group. The group's number of people must be controlled within twenty, otherwise it is invalid]
After writing this information, Fang Che took out a basin of fresh blood.
The owner of this fresh blood was a tiger.
This tiger came from a low-level Plane ruled by the Emperor Plane. It commanded all beasts and, by chance, gained the recognition of its Plane, becoming a First-Order Professional.
However, this tiger did not enjoy its freedom for long before it was killed by someone, and its body was dismembered and sold to various places.
And this fresh blood was one of the rewards for killing Zhou Duan.
Fang Che held the puppet, put his hand into the fresh blood, and touched the bottom of the basin.
Immediately after, Fang Che instantly cast the Flash of Inspiration skill.
The next second, the puppet emitted a suction force, rapidly absorbing the fierce tiger's fresh blood.
The fierce tiger's fresh blood quickly disappeared. When all the fresh blood in the basin was absorbed by the puppet, a layer of blood-red bark condensed on the puppet's surface, wrapping the entire puppet.
Suddenly, the puppet came alive and struggled violently in Fang Che's hand!
At this moment, Fang Che had successfully refined the Voodoo Doll!
Fang Che quickly put the Voodoo Doll into his Niwan Palace, allowing the curse master gem to touch the Voodoo Doll.
Upon contact, a Voodoo Doll-shaped pattern appeared on the curse master gem, and the Voodoo Doll also stopped struggling, floating quietly beside the curse master gem.
At this moment, the Voodoo Doll was bound to Fang Che, becoming Fang Che's unique Curse Tool, which outsiders could not take away!
The next second, vast and ethereal power was bestowed upon Fang Che, and the Plane Will descended!
An eye of the plane appeared out of thin air in the Niwan Palace, observing the Voodoo Doll emotionlessly.
A moment later, a white light flew out from the eye and turned into a piece of jade.
Immediately after, the eye of the plane also disappeared, and the vast and ethereal aura bestowed upon Fang Che also vanished.
Fang Che once again received a Plane reward!