Chapter 31 Promotion to Level 2 and [Origin Shelter]
Later, Fang Che felt a bit agitated from cultivating, so he left the inn to meet more members of the Fierce Tiger Group and eliminate them, expanding his influence as much as possible.
Time flew by, and two days passed in a flash.
By this time, Fang Che had completely absorbed the gem rewarded by the Plane Will, and the second-floor altar in his Niwan Palace had become incredibly real.
Fang Che let out a long sigh of relief and took out the last part of the Fierce Tiger Group's member list.
The people on this list seemed to have hidden in the Professional-exclusive Mission Hall, and Fang Che had been unable to eliminate them.
Now that Fang Che had completed his cultivation, he was ready to try eliminating them again.
After countless prostrations, the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book failed to harm anyone.
Fang Che shook his head and casually destroyed this information.
Next, Fang Che was going to break through to the second stage and was not going to waste time on them; since he couldn't kill them, he would consider them lucky.
Then, Fang Che cut his palm and squeezed out blood into a porcelain bowl.
Immediately after, Fang Che took out all the advancement materials, ground them into powder, and, in order, added them to the fresh blood.
As soon as the material powder was added to the fresh blood, it melted into the blood, and the color slowly changed.
When all the materials were added to the fresh blood, Fang Che obtained a pitch-black liquid.
As Fang Che injected Curse energy, the liquid emitted a hazy gray light, and the Curse Master advancement potion was complete!
The advancement potion sounded mysterious, but in reality, it was just that.
As long as a fixed quantity of materials was prepared and the order of material usage was known, anyone could refine an advancement potion without any difficulty, which was also why Professionals in the Emperor Plane were as numerous as cattle.
If advancement potions were difficult to refine, the Emperor Plane would not be so powerful now.
Fang Che put the advancement potion into his Niwan Palace and directly sprinkled it on the curse master gem.
This advancement potion was like oil stains, firmly adhering to the curse master gem and not falling down.
Then, Fang Che took out the dark star stone from his storage ring, absorbed its energy, stored it in his body, and then took out a second dark star stone to absorb.
Fang Che was unsure of the Plane Will's aversion to the dark star stone; if he put too much, he might be directly affected by the Plane Will.
For safety, a slow probing was necessary.
As he continuously absorbed the dark star stone energy, Fang Che's body was transformed by the dark star stone energy, and he keenly sensed the malice emanating from the surrounding air.
This keen perception ability was not bestowed upon Fang Che by the dark star stone.
Rather, it was because the Plane Will detected the gathering aura of the dark star stone, felt aversion, and thus affected the operation of the surrounding energy, also stimulating Fang Che's body.
However, at present, the Plane Will only felt aversion towards the gathered dark star stone energy and not towards Fang Che himself; Fang Che needed to continue absorbing dark star stone energy.
After continuing to absorb a hundred or so dark star stone energies, the vast and ethereal Plane energy suddenly enveloped Fang Che's body, and at the same time, an eye of the plane condensed in Fang Che's Niwan Palace.
The eye of the plane was not as emotionless as before, but showed a hint of aversion.
As this emotion arose, the advancement potion attached to the curse master gem instantly merged into the curse master gem.
The curse master gem rapidly expanded, then split into two; one curse master gem continued to hang high above the altar.
The other curse master gem melted into liquid, filling the gap between the second-floor altars, making the second-floor altar a complete whole!
Immediately after, the altar released energy, integrating into the suspended curse master gem, instantly modifying the advancement method.
Now, Fang Che had broken through to the second stage!
At the same time, the original advancement method recorded on the curse master gem disappeared, and then the method to advance to a third-stage Curse Master condensed!
As soon as he completed the breakthrough, Fang Che unhesitatingly released the dark star stone energy stored in his body.
At the same time, illusory Tiger-man shadows drifted out of the Voodoo Doll, flying towards the eye of the plane.
These Tiger-man shadows represented the Tiger-men eliminated by the Voodoo Doll.
As the Tiger-man shadows merged into the eye of the plane, the aversion displayed by the eye of the plane slightly diminished, though it did not completely disappear.
A moment later, four clusters of light condensed beside the curse master gem; these were the Curse Master skills Fang Che could choose from.
Since Fang Che had chosen the Tool Curse Master advancement path, these four new skills also came from the Tool Curse Master path.
The first skill was named [Flesh Enhancement].
After choosing this skill, if one were to refine Flesh Curse series Tools in the future, they could enhance the power of Flesh Curse Tools and reduce the consumption of using Flesh Curse Tools.
The second skill was named [Spirit Enhancement], similar in effect to [Flesh Enhancement], it could enhance the power of Spirit Curse Tools and reduce the consumption of using Spirit Curse Tools.
If one were to choose from these two skills, they would only be able to refine one type of Tool in the future, otherwise, the full effect of the skill could not be utilized.
However, the Curse Tools Fang Che refined were very special and did not match these two skills.
Therefore, Fang Che instantly gave up on these two skills and looked at the remaining skills.
The third skill was named [Origin Sustenance].
This skill was quite compatible with the Spiritual Flash skill.
For example, after Fang Che created the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book with the help of the Spiritual Flash skill, if someone wanted to refine the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book in the future, they would have to pay a portion of energy during its refinement to help strengthen Fang Che's Nailhead Seven Arrows Book.
Of course, Fang Che could also use this energy to improve his cultivation.
This [Origin Sustenance] skill was equivalent to a means of collecting patent fees.
This was the favorite skill of early Tool Curse Masters; as powerful Curse Tools were created, almost no one chose the Spiritual Flash skill, and thus no one chose this complementary skill anymore.
However, Fang Che himself possessed the eyes to improve Curse Tools and did not care about this skill.
Then, Fang Che looked at the fourth skill.
The fourth skill was named [Origin Protection].
This skill was also very compatible with the Spiritual Flash skill, its effect being to protect the person who created the Curse Tool.
For example, after Fang Che created the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book, if someone were to use the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book to hunt Fang Che, this [Origin Protection] skill could grant immunity to the damage from the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book.
This was a skill rarely chosen by people because most Curse Tools did not have the ability to instantly kill enemies, so there was no need for excessive precaution.
However, the Tools Fang Che refined were different; Fang Che's Tools could instantly kill enemies without anyone knowing.
If an enemy used the Nailhead Seven Arrows Book to attack Fang Che, Fang Che would also be killed without anyone knowing.
And this [Origin Protection] skill could bring Fang Che a strong sense of security!
Therefore, Fang Che unhesitatingly controlled the curse master gem to touch the [Origin Protection] skill.
The [Origin Protection] skill instantly merged into the curse master gem, and Fang Che successfully acquired the [Origin Protection] skill.
Immediately after, the eye of the plane gently turned, looked at Fang Che's Niwan Palace with some disdain, and then disappeared.
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Chapter 32 New Target Qiu Zhen
After the eye of the plane disappeared, Fang Che relaxed slightly, then checked his physical condition.
Each time a Professional advanced, their body would be strengthened.
If the physical strength of a First-Order Professional was compared to freshly cooked tofu, then the body of a Second-Order Professional was equivalent to a wooden chopstick.
Although a Curse Master was not a Profession known for a strong physique, Fang Che still received some strengthening.
Fang Che examined his body and found that his physical strength had already surpassed that of a normal Curse Master, which was likely related to his unique advancement ritual.
Besides this, Fang Che could not think of any other reasons for his strengthened body.
Fang Che did not ponder further and immediately put on his cloak and mask, heading to the Curse Master Mission Hall.
Fang Che did not plan to return to the Blue Sky Group.
Now that the Blue Sky Group was at odds with the Fierce Tiger Group, whoever was the first to break through to the Second-Order would be heavily targeted by the Fierce Tiger Group.
Fang Che did not want to be noticed by the Fierce Tiger Group, and even if he were to return, he would wait until others had broken through to the Second-Order.
Currently, Fang Che planned to go to the Curse Master Mission Hall to accept some missions and earn some resources.
Upon arriving at the Curse Master Mission Hall, Fang Che noticed that the bounty for that Second-Order Professional from the Fierce Tiger Group was still hanging on the wall, and the bounty amount had increased significantly.
Fang Che directly took down the mission token and walked towards the Manager.
No one on the way paid attention to Fang Che, nor were there any 'fishing' personnel targeting him, allowing Fang Che to hand the mission token to the Manager.
The Manager took the token, examined it, and reminded him:
"This mission has been posted for a long time, and people accept it periodically, but none of those who accepted it have survived; everyone believes this mission is for 'fishing,' so I advise you to consider carefully and not be deceived by the generous reward."
Fang Che manipulated energy to condense in his throat and replied with an altered voice, "Thank you for the reminder, but I still want to try it. Please give me the target's information."
The Manager said no more, directly took out a notebook, and handed it to Fang Che.
Fang Che checked the contents of the notebook and found that the information recorded in it was the same as the information Ling Jie had recorded.
This target named Qiu Zhen had only awakened a common offensive Profession, and it was unclear what made him formidable.
Someone who didn't seem formidable was either truly not formidable, or his formidable nature surpassed others' imaginations.
The fact that Qiu Zhen could survive multiple assassination attempts and eliminate his enemies meant he must be formidable beyond others' imaginations.
Fortunately, Fang Che was different and did not need to confront him directly.
Fang Che put down Qiu Zhen's information, took out a pile of coins, and said with an altered voice, "I want to rent a cultivation room with an exit."
The Manager accepted the coins and handed a cultivation room token to Fang Che.
Fang Che took the token and went to the wall, using the token to open a crack and enter the cultivation room.
Inside the cultivation room, curse energy rapidly gathered, but Fang Che only stared at the wall, noticing that the wall did not absorb any mist from him.
This indicated that Fang Che was not being targeted.
It seemed the previous assassination had been effective; the Fierce Tiger Group no longer had the leisure to search for enemies here.
Fang Che sat down cross-legged and cultivated silently.
A surge of curse energy entered his Niwan Palace, and the curse master gem rapidly ascended.
Between the second-level altar and the curse master gem, a smaller, illusory altar condensed.
Curse energy filled these three altars, and the corner areas of the altars slowly transformed into a real state.
After cultivating for a while, Fang Che discovered that his speed of absorbing curse energy was ten times slower than before!
If he continued to absorb this energy, the time to condense the three altars would be extremely slow.
Fang Che was not surprised, as this was all an environment intentionally created by the Plane Will.
The energy of the Emperor Plane was only provided to First-Order Professionals.
After advancing to the Second-Order, the Plane Will's restrictions on Professionals would become stronger and stronger.
If Fang Che wanted to quickly improve his strength, there were only three methods:
First, complete missions to obtain exclusive Second-Order elixirs;
Second, travel to Other Planes and devour the energy of those Other Planes;
Third, eliminate Professionals from Other Planes to obtain energy gems bestowed by the Plane Will.
The purpose of the Plane Will restricting strong individuals from absorbing energy was to force Professionals to fight and conquer Other Planes!
This cultivation model was extremely cruel, and many Professionals died every year.
Except for a few large Planes with many people, if small Planes dared to develop in this way, they would self-destruct before long.
However, if small and medium-sized Planes chose a stable development model, they would also be found and destroyed by Professionals from large Planes.
And large Planes did not dare to change their development model casually, because Other large Planes would not listen to you; if you stopped, but others did not, you would definitely fall behind!
Under this crazy development model, in just tens of thousands of years, the observable small and medium-sized Planes were less than one ten-thousandth of what they were, and battles between large Planes were about to break out.
Fortunately, Fang Che was born just in time, catching the last wave of opportunities to eliminate small Planes.
If he had been born a little later, he would probably only become cannon fodder in the wars of large Planes.
This was Fang Che's luck, and he had to seize the opportunity.
Thinking of this, Fang Che's mood became very solemn.
Fang Che took a deep breath, adjusted his emotions, stopped thinking too much, and seriously absorbed energy.
After absorbing all the energy, Fang Che left the Curse Master Mission Hall and quietly departed the area.
Fang Che was unsure of Qiu Zhen's abilities and had to hide far away before eliminating him.
If the distance was too close, Fang Che worried about being caught by Qiu Zhen.
Time flew, and a day passed in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, in the Fierce Tiger Group, a group of core members gathered in Chen Chuan's room, looking worried, not speaking, just sitting quietly.
After everyone had gathered, Chen Chuan spoke, "Many people have gone to the Professional-exclusive Mission Hall. Although they concealed their identities, there will always be a time when they are exposed, and then we will be on the defensive.
I called everyone here today because I want to raise some money to help Qiu Zhen disguise himself, and then go outside to lure enemies into a trap. Qiu Zhen has already agreed."
As soon as these words were spoken, the worried crowd looked at Qiu Zhen, their faces filled with excitement.
Qiu Zhen then spoke, "My special item won't last much longer. Besides helping me disguise, you also need to provide a sum of resources to help me break through to the Third-Order!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the previously excited crowd instantly lowered their heads, looking very hesitant.
Seeing their attitude, Qiu Zhen frowned and said, "I have sacrificed a lot for the Fierce Tiger Group; I'm the one who has offended people.
If I lose my item and cannot break through to the Third-Order, I will die very soon. If you don't provide enough resources, I absolutely will not help you!"
Hearing Qiu Zhen's slightly threatening words, the crowd was not very pleased.
The Red-haired Captain could not help but speak, "You helped the team take the blame, and the team has given you many benefits. Moreover, the enemy is currently only killing First-Order members and may not have the ability to harm us. You don't need to threaten us."
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Chapter 33 Chain Reaction
The Red-haired Captain spoke, and the surrounding crowd fell silent.
However, the expressions on their faces betrayed their thoughts; they also agreed with the Red-haired Captain.
Qiu Zhen saw their reactions and angrily crushed the armrest of his chair.
The crowd remained silent, not uttering a sound.
Chen Chuan saw this and was about to comfort Qiu Zhen when he suddenly saw Qiu Zhen stand up.
Qiu Zhen stood there, took a deep breath to calm himself down, then sneered, "When you all die, I'll definitely find a good place to bury you!"
Hearing these seemingly cursed words, the crowd frowned, somewhat displeased.
Chen Chuan also felt that the words were a bit much and was about to persuade him when he suddenly noticed that everyone else around him had become motionless.
Even the warm breath exhaled by these people was frozen in mid-air.
Chen Chuan's heart instantly stirred; this situation meant that Qiu Zhen's Curse Tool had taken effect!
Qiu Zhen's Curse Tool was very special.
If someone ambushed Qiu Zhen, this Curse Tool would create a completely still space, freezing everything around and exposing the enemy.
With Qiu Zhen's strength, he could completely freeze Second-Order Professionals and slow down Third-Order Professionals.
Now that Qiu Zhen's Curse Tool had taken effect, it meant that an assassin or Poison Doctor had made a move!
Chen Chuan's mind stirred, and the blood-colored longsword beside him detached from its sheath and flew towards Qiu Zhen.
Chen Chuan's gaze also turned to Qiu Zhen's side, searching for the enemy.
At this moment, Qiu Zhen, the only one unaffected by the Curse Tool, quickly crouched down, his expression somewhat furious.
Now that the enemy was exposed, there was no way to obtain promotion materials from other group members.
Qiu Zhen decided that once the group leader killed the enemy, he would definitely grind the enemy's bones to dust!
At this moment, all of Qiu Zhen's thoughts vanished, and his body slumped to the ground.
At the same time, the frozen space instantly regained its vitality.
The Second-Order Professionals knew about the Curse Tool's situation and excitedly looked around, but they only saw the dead Qiu Zhen and the pale-faced Chen Chuan.
As for the enemy, not even a shadow was seen!
...
In a deserted forest somewhere, Fang Che relaxed slightly after tearing up the paper with Qiu Zhen's name on it.
Killing Qiu Zhen this time was effortless, and he encountered no danger, completing the mission easily.
Fang Che took off the various defensive Curse Tools he had worn before the assassination and returned to the city where Slaughter Saber Academy was located.
A day later, Fang Che returned to the city where Slaughter Saber Academy was located, walking on the streets, Fang Che did not find any Fierce Tiger Group members.
Fang Che curiously passed by the Fierce Tiger Group's station and found that its gate was tightly shut, and it was very quiet inside.
Fang Che walked towards the more crowded street in confusion, and after strolling around this street, Fang Che learned the situation from other people's conversations.
It turned out that this morning, the Fierce Tiger Group had accepted a mission to conquer a Plane, and everyone had participated in the mission and left the area.
In the area where Slaughter Saber Academy was located, only the Blue Sky Group remained as a single group!
Fang Che speculated that perhaps his elimination of the difficult Qiu Zhen had completely scared away the Fierce Tiger Group.
Leaving was the last resort for the Fierce Tiger Group.
Changing environments could stabilize morale again; if they continued to stay, disbandment was inevitable.
Without the Fierce Tiger Group, Fang Che felt much more relaxed.
Fang Che went directly to the Curse Master Mission Hall, handed the mission token to the administrator, and said in a disguised voice, "Qiu Zhen is dead. Please give me the mission reward."
The administrator saw the token, directly placed a pile of items on the table, and smiled, "As soon as the Fierce Tiger Group left, I heard the news of Qiu Zhen's death. You truly have excellent methods!"
"Just luck," Fang Che put away most of the items, leaving only a small amount of money, and said, "Please give me a training room with an exit."
The administrator quickly took the money and handed the training room token to Fang Che.
Fang Che took the token and walked near the assassination missions, carefully checking and finding that there were no longer any missions to assassinate Fierce Tiger Group members; instead, some missions to assassinate Blue Sky Group members had appeared, with Ling Jie having the highest bounty.
Fang Che himself did not appear on the assassination list, which should be due to his weak Curse Master profession.
Fang Che subconsciously thought that these were missions released by the Fierce Tiger Group before they left, but this possibility was instantly ruled out by Fang Che.
There was a Plane Will maintaining fairness between the Fierce Tiger Group and the Blue Sky Group; it was impossible for the Fierce Tiger Group to have released these missions.
It seems the Blue Sky Group had offended others these past few days.
Fang Che ignored these matters and directly used the token to enter the training room.
After confirming that he had not been tampered with, Fang Che cultivated for a while, then returned to his inn room and took out the reward for assassinating Qiu Zhen.
The reward for assassinating Qiu Zhen was very generous, even more than the reward for killing Zhou Duan previously.
However, Fang Che had found Zhou Duan's corpse before and obtained a large amount of resources from it, while the resources on Qiu Zhen's body did not fall into Fang Che's hands.
Overall, eliminating Zhou Duan yielded greater returns.
Fang Che sorted and stored various resources, finding several materials that could be used to refine Curse Tools in the future, but not a single material for strengthening existing Curse Tools.
Besides that, what was most useful to Fang Che was the Second-Order universal cultivation pill.
Universal pills contained a lot of energy, but when Professionals absorbed them, they needed to be converted into exclusive energy, which would waste about 10% of the medicinal effect.
However, Fang Che did not have that many demands; as long as it could be used for cultivation, it was fine.
Fang Che took the pill and cultivated quietly.
With the Second-Order pill, Fang Che's cultivation speed returned to normal.
In the following time, besides cultivating, Fang Che would disguise himself and go out for a stroll.
One day, Fang Che heard that nine Professionals in the Blue Sky Group had broken through to the Second-Order.
After receiving this news, Fang Che then removed his disguise and returned to the Blue Sky Group.
The Blue Sky Group was more lively than before, with more Professionals registering.
Besides Yun Tian, Ye Ling was also responsible for registration.
Fang Che arrived at the Blue Sky Group and directly entered Ling Jie's office.
Ling Jie's expression subtly changed when she saw Fang Che.
Then, Ling Jie smiled brightly and said, "We plan to trade the Group Healing Banner at the station three days from now. If you hadn't come, I would have sent someone to look for you."
Fang Che was slightly taken aback and asked somewhat confused, "Didn't you say we would trade outside? Why the sudden change of mind? Has something happened?"
Ling Jie sighed, her expression somewhat complex as she said, "The Fierce Tiger Group encountered trouble, took a mission, and ran off. I was quite happy at first; but as soon as the Fierce Tiger Group left, new groups were formed, competing with us for resources, and even issuing assassination missions against us; the Blue Sky Group has no ability to Suppression these groups. If we hadn't worked hard to cultivate and successfully advanced these past few days, we would definitely have had a very miserable time; trading the Group Healing Banner locally is to avoid internal chaos, stabilize morale, and at the same time deter other groups."
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Chapter 34 Deciding to Participate in the Transaction
After Fang Che understood the various situations currently unfolding, he felt a little helpless.
After the Blue Sky Group obtained the Group Emblem, they only established an equal competitive relationship with the Fierce Tiger Group.
As long as those later groups were not created at the instigation of the Fierce Tiger Group, they would not be affected by the emblem, and various methods such as hiring assassins could be arranged.
No wonder there were so many missions to assassinate Blue Sky Group members in the Curse Master Mission Hall.
Ling Jie, who was beside him, didn't know what Fang Che was thinking and continued to narrate with some helplessness:
"The Fierce Tiger Group left too thoroughly. If they had left some First-Order Professionals to guard their home, others wouldn't have had the guts to establish groups. I don't know who made the Fierce Tiger Group so afraid."
Fang Che did not boast about his achievements, nor did he want others to know too much.
Curse Masters are not good at direct combat. If the Fierce Tiger Group knew Fang Che's identity, Fang Che might not survive.
So, Fang Che chose to change the subject: "Anyway, they're gone, thinking too much is meaningless. I wonder how strong these new groups are? Are there any Third-Order Professionals?"
Ling Jie shook her head and replied, "There are no Third-Order Professionals. The Fierce Tiger Group, as the largest group near Slaughter Saber Academy, only cultivated one Third-Order Professional.
Those who did not join the Fierce Tiger Group developed even slower. The groups formed now at most only have four Second-Order Professionals."
Fang Che nodded reassuringly. As long as there were no Third-Order Professionals locally, there was nothing to fear.
As for Third-Order Professionals from outside, it was impossible for them to come and form groups.
After all, the Fierce Tiger Group had not disbanded, and Third-Order Professionals needed to consider the Fierce Tiger Group's attitude.
In addition, this area is managed by Slaughter Saber Academy and will not allow Third-Order Professionals from other academies to come and seize resources.
The most important point is that Slaughter Saber Academy has declined, and there are not many missions that can be accepted in this area.
Even if a Third-Order group came, they could only ensure daily life and would not be able to grow stronger.
With so many limiting conditions, the Third-Order Professionals cultivated by Slaughter Saber Academy themselves are desperately fleeing, and it's almost impossible for Third-Order Professionals from outside to come here to develop.
What needs to be dealt with now are only the newly formed groups.
Fang Che suggested, "Others assassinate us, and we can also assassinate others. Assassinating each other a few times can solve most problems. If we only let them issue assassination missions, it makes us seem too weak and easy to bully."
Ling Jie shook her head and said, "Not yet. The most important thing now is to trade for the Group Healing Banner."
Fang Che immediately understood that there were not enough resources in the group, and only after trading for the Group Healing Banner would there be resources to do other things.
Just then, Ling Jie took out paper and pen, handed them to Fang Che, and smiled:
"When we sell the Group Healing Banner in a few days, I hope you can come and support us, showing the Blue Sky Group's strength.
You can write down anything you need, and I will exchange for what you need during the transaction as compensation for your support."
Fang Che took the paper and pen and promised, "I will definitely come. You can contact me with the communication token then."
Actually, Fang Che didn't want to participate in the Group Healing Banner transaction, didn't want to see too many people, and would rather cultivate alone during that time.
However, the compensation Ling Jie mentioned was something Fang Che couldn't refuse.
Fang Che wanted to refine new Curse Tools to improve his strength, but he couldn't get the materials. Now was a very good opportunity.
Fang Che quickly wrote down the materials he needed, and then realized he seemed to have written a bit too much, and Ling Jie might not agree.
Fang Che said somewhat embarrassedly, "My requests seem to be a bit much, but I still hope the group leader can help collect these materials. I will trade items of equal value at that time."
Ling Jie smiled and said, "No problem."
Seeing Ling Jie agree, Fang Che relaxed slightly and smiled, "Thank you. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."
Ling Jie smiled and said, "Walk slowly."
After that, Fang Che turned and left the room. After the door closed, the smile on Ling Jie's face also disappeared, and her expression became much more serious.
Not long after, Ye Ling entered the room and reported with a frown:
"Group leader, when Fang Che came just now, Yun Tian and I were both a little nervous. Others' expressions were also unnatural when facing Fang Che. This is clearly a state of being suppressed.
But I remember that the Curse Master profession does not suppress the professions we two awakened. Can you help check?"
Ling Jie said with a serious expression, "I also felt nervous when I faced Fang Che just now!"
Ye Ling said incredulously, "How is this possible? Fleshly Body Bodhisattva is a top-tier profession not suppressed by any profession. How could she be nervous when facing Fang Che?"
Ling Jie replied somewhat uncertainly, "Perhaps Fang Che created a powerful Curse Tool and received a reward from the Plane Will. Other than that, I can't think of any other reason."
Ye Ling shook her head with a puzzled expression and said, "Impossible. How could the Plane Will bestow such an outrageous thing? Group leader, let's investigate him thoroughly!"
"Absolutely not!" Ling Jie refused Ye Ling without hesitation, reminding her with a serious expression:
"You must never investigate Fang Che privately. The more mysterious and powerful Fang Che is, the greater the benefit to us.
I'm still counting on him to deter others and Fight for benefits in the upcoming transaction!"
Ye Ling hesitated for a moment and replied somewhat unwillingly, "Alright, I won't investigate Fang Che's situation. I'll go continue registering the sign-up information."
Ling Jie reached out and pulled Ye Ling, who was about to leave. Seeing Ye Ling's unhappy expression, she gently advised:
"Most Curse Masters have gloomy personalities, and it's no good to anger them. You are not good at combat, so you must maintain a good relationship with Fang Che normally.
Moreover, if you investigate Fang Che, you might force him away. If he goes to the enemy, it will be detrimental to the group's development."
Upon hearing this, Ye Ling gradually calmed down and said thoughtfully, "The group leader is right. I won't investigate Fang Che.
It's just that I see Fang Che has the ability to suppress everyone. If others stay with Fang Che for too long, they will inevitably do some impulsive things due to nervousness. How should this be handled?"
Ling Jie thought for a moment and said, "You have many friends. If others feel nervous, they will definitely inquire about Fang Che privately from you.
You can help Fang Che weave some stories to let others understand Fang Che's power.
When facing a powerful enough person, others will not have any special thoughts.
If people from other groups have bad thoughts about Fang Che, those other groups will be the ones to suffer, which is beneficial to us."
Ye Ling nodded gently and said, "I understand. I will make sure our people respect Fang Che before the transaction begins."
Ling Jie nodded gently and reminded, "Don't make it too outrageous. If it reaches Fang Che's ears, I'm worried he'll overthink it."
Ye Ling pondered for a moment and said, "Then I'll speak less and try to mislead others' thoughts with my expressions."
Ling Jie nodded and said, "Good."
+++
Chapter 35: The Iron Hand Group Arrives
After Fang Che left the Blue Sky Group, he returned home to cultivate in peace.
After cultivating for a period, Fang Che would disguise himself and visit the Curse Master Mission Hall to see if there were any suitable assassination missions, and also to check if he was being targeted for assassination.
Three days passed in a flash, and Fang Che had not accomplished much besides cultivating.
On the morning of this day, Fang Che received information via a communication token about a transaction at the outpost.
Fang Che immediately set off and arrived at the Blue Sky Group's outpost.
Around the Blue Sky Group's outpost at this time, there were many First-Order Professionals patrolling.
As Fang Che walked along the road, all these First-Order Professionals respectfully lowered their heads.
A moment later, Fang Che entered the Blue Sky Group's outpost and found that the Blue Sky Group had temporarily stopped recruiting members, and the outpost seemed very quiet.
Fang Che entered a room and saw the Blue Sky Group's other nine Second-Order Professionals.
Besides Ling Jie, Yun Tian, and Ye Ling, Fang Che couldn't recall the names of the remaining six individuals, but he had a deep impression of them.
These six individuals were Professionals who had contributed significantly during previous Plane missions: one Fire Manipulator, two Crushers, and three Earth Venerables.
The Fire Manipulator and the Crushers ranked among the top five in contribution, making them eligible for advancement slots.
However, the three Earth Venerables mostly transformed land into swamps to devour enemy corpses; their contribution in combat could only rank in the teens.
Nevertheless, they were lucky enough to survive the battle, while among the Professionals who ranked higher in contribution, only the Fire Manipulator and the Crushers survived.
Fang Che briefly observed everyone, and just as he was about to withdraw his gaze, he suddenly noticed that the way these people looked at him was somewhat off.
Fang Che remembered that his unique method of promotion would restrain all Professionals and would not be restrained by any Professional.
Other Professionals facing Fang Che should feel more tension than any other emotion.
But now, the emotions of these people did not seem like tension; instead, they were a bit strange, giving him an indescribable feeling.
However, Fang Che could tell that these people held no ill will towards him.
Not tense and without ill will, it must have been due to Ling Jie and others using some means; besides this, Fang Che could not think of any other reason.
But this was also good; Curse Masters always hid in the shadows to scheme against others, earning them a bad reputation.
Now that these people held no ill will towards Fang Che, it was beneficial for his survival.
At this moment, Ling Jie smiled and said, "Fang Che has arrived. Please come with Ye Ling and me. The three of us will go outside to greet the Iron Hand Group's negotiators."
Fang Che nodded lightly and replied, "Alright."
Ling Jie looked at the others and instructed, "Everyone, after the Iron Hand Group members arrive, show yourselves to let them know our strength, then you can do other things. The rest will be handled by Ye Ling, Fang Che, and me."
Everyone nodded in agreement, saying, "Understood."
Afterward, Ling Jie walked to a full-length mirror, checked her attire, and declared, "Let's go!"
Ling Jie stepped out, and Fang Che and Ye Ling quickly followed.
Leaving the Blue Sky Group's outpost, they walked openly along the main road towards the city gates, and everyone on the road saw the three of them.
Not long after, the three arrived outside the city. Ling Jie took out a jade pendant and directly crushed it.
A ball of energy floated out of the jade pendant and silently merged into the air.
A moment later, a rift appeared out of thin air in front of Ling Jie; the rift expanded, and three men walked out.
All three of these men were Second-Order Professionals; one of them had awakened the Translation Master profession, and the other two had awakened the Earth Sovereign profession.
The Earth Sovereign profession and the Earth Venerable profession differ by only one character, but the abilities of the two professions are completely different.
The Earth Sovereign is both offensive and defensive, capable of developing in either direction.
However, the Earth Venerable can only develop in offensive and binding directions, possessing no defensive capabilities.
As soon as these three men emerged from the rift, they all looked at Fang Che in unison, their expressions somewhat grave.
However, upon sensing the aura of the Curse Master profession, the three of them became even more confused and puzzled.
How could the Curse Master profession exert such immense pressure?
At this moment, Ling Jie stepped forward, drawing the attention of the three, and smiled as she introduced, "I am Ling Jie, leader of the Blue Sky Group. Beside me are the Curse Master Fang Che and the Translation Master Ye Ling. Welcome, friends of the Iron Hand Group, to be our guests."
The Translation Master from the Iron Hand Group, who stood in the middle, spoke, "I am General Gao Ping. Beside me are my brothers Zhang Jin and Chen Yuan. Thank you, three friends, for greeting us. Let us go to the Blue Sky Group's outpost to discuss further."
"Please follow me," Ling Jie smiled slightly, leading the three towards the Blue Sky Group's outpost.
General Gao Ping and the other two, however, deliberately kept a distance from Fang Che, their eyes filled with vigilance.
As they walked, Ling Jie said, "We did not receive permission from Slaughter Saber Academy, so we could only open the teleportation passage outside the city. We apologize for making you walk a bit further."
"It's fine." At this moment, most of General Gao Ping's attention was focused on Fang Che, contemplating Fang Che's abilities. As for other matters, General Gao Ping did not think too much.
Ling Jie, seeing General Gao Ping's attention drawn to Fang Che, felt a little pleased.
The purpose of having Fang Che greet the three from the Iron Hand Group was to distract them.
That way, Ling Jie could try to gain the upper hand in the negotiations.
It seemed the effect was good.
A moment later, the group entered the city and openly walked towards the Blue Sky Group's outpost.
After the group moved away from a certain street, three Second-Order Professionals emerged from a nearby room, their faces grim, and headed towards Slaughter Saber Academy. They soon met Lü Jing and several other Second-Order Professionals from other groups.
Lü Jing frowned as she looked at the three and said, "You also saw the people Ling Jie invited, didn't you?"
The three nodded in unison and said, "Instructor Lü Jing, please make a decision."
Upon hearing this, Lü Jing's mood became even more irritable, and she also felt some regret.
More than a hundred years ago, Lü Jing nurtured Chen Chuan, who then formed the Fierce Tiger Group and defeated the previous group.
As Chen Chuan's instructor, Lü Jing accepted his invitation to help the Fierce Tiger Group deceive students from other classes into signing loan contracts.
Although she offended many people, under Chen Chuan's prestige, no one dared to retaliate against Lü Jing.
As time passed, Lü Jing became somewhat complacent, even colluding with the Fierce Tiger Group to deceive students she personally taught.
But she never expected that a figure like Ling Jie would emerge among her students, and more than sixty percent of the members Ling Jie recruited had been deceived by Lü Jing!
She originally thought the Fierce Tiger Group would quickly eliminate the Blue Sky Group, but unexpectedly, the Fierce Tiger Group actually ran away!
Lü Jing deeply regretted it. If she had been less greedy for money back then, the current Blue Sky Group would probably be revering Lü Jing, right?
Unfortunately, regret was useless now. Since she had offended people, she would offend them to the end!