Chapter 27: Mission Accomplished

That senior student said angrily, "Fang Che, you hold so much wealth, yet you sit idly by while so many of your martial brothers can't even afford a meal. How can your conscience bear it? If this delays their cultivation in the future, how will you ever forgive yourself?"

Once again, he slapped a heavy accusation on him.

Fang Che laughed heartily. "Dear senior brothers, even if I have a son in the future, whether I care about him or not is yet to be determined. Whether my son turns out to be successful or not is not up to me, so why on earth should I be responsible for you?"

Instantly, the self-esteem of a group of senior students suffered severe damage. With fierce looks in their eyes and rolling up their sleeves, they crowded forward.

"What? You have the ability to lose contribution points, but no ability to endure hunger? What are you doing? Are you trying to beat someone up?"

Fang Che shouted at the top of his lungs, "Is there any justice left?! Are there any laws?! Help... Desperate gamblers of senior students are trying to beat people up..."

That voice was truly piercingly loud!

"What are you doing? What are you doing?! Is there no law anymore? Are you trying to rebel?!"

A furious roar rang out.

Swish, swish, swish.

Several figures descended!

The male students who had lost their minds from gambling were all taken away by the disciplinary officers.

The female students by Fang Che's side, who had been angrily scolding and rolling up their sleeves ready to take action, watched as the troublemakers were hauled away.

Immediately, everyone rejoiced.

"Pfft! That Huang Shuijing usually looks all decent and respectable, yet he's so shameless. He even used to pursue yours truly—thank goodness I didn't say yes!"

"Exactly! That Hu Xiaoniu lost the bet on Huo Churan, yet he had the nerve to come over to the winner Fang Che and spout such shameless nonsense. It completely shatters my worldview. Truly, someone without shame is invincible in this world!"

"Indeed! What was that big guy's name again? I forgot. He wrote me a love letter last month and I was still considering it. Now it seems there's no need to consider it at all. A person like this deserves to be single; he's way too shameless!"

"Right, and this Long Bi. He looks ugly at the very first glance, and yet he's still so shameless, pushing the lower limit even further. Hmph, serves him right to be a single dog."

"We must inform the sisters about their true faces so they don't get tricked and cheated!"

"Spot on! Absolutely spot on!"

"..."

...

Fang Che enjoyed this meal immensely.

Surrounded by dozens of beauties, amidst cheerful laughter and sweet, warbling voices.

Moreover, since the beauties had celebrated winning their contribution points and treated Fang Che to the meal, not a single penny of his own money was spent, making it all the more satisfying.

"Fang Che, what you said today felt great, but it also offended quite a few people. You must be careful in the martial arts academy from now on."

A beauty reminded him earnestly.

"It's fine!"

Fang Che didn't care at all.

He had come here precisely to offend people, so now that he had truly offended them, why should he have any scruples?

He had no such thoughts whatsoever!

Suffering losses in the future was certain, but... what was there to fear about taking a few losses?

For the sake of his ultimate mission, he had even laid down his life—did he still fear taking a loss?

Besides, the more losses he took, the more secure his status within the All-Consuming Cult would become!

Come on, bring on the losses!

Let me take them all!

...

Fang Che returned to his large courtyard.

With a joyful grip, he pinched Ye Meng's little face and laughed out loud, "Little Ye Meng, your young master here is the grand tournament champion, you know."

Ye Meng instantly wore a look of pleasant surprise. "Young master, really?"

"Of course it's real!"

"Young master is truly amazing!" Ye Meng hurriedly began to shower him with flattery.

As soon as the news was delivered, Fang Che immediately dropped his smile and pulled a long face. "Your young master is already the champion, yet you aren't even a martial master. Don't you feel ashamed?"

"Ah?" Ye Meng was utterly bewildered.

This guy was truly born with the nature of a dog! The previous sentence was good news, and this sentence instantly flipped his face!

"What 'ah' are you doing? Why aren't you going off to cultivate?"

Fang Che scolded angrily, "If you don't work harder, I'll whip you! Once I'm done whipping you, I'll sell you into a brothel!"

"I'm going right now..."

Ye Meng turned around and bolted in a flash.

As she ran, she cursed in her heart. This demonic cultist is truly not a human being, so hateful! I was just flattering him, and as a result, it actually earned me a scolding.

And... ever since she started following Fang Che, every single scolding came without the slightest warning!

One moment he was happy and amiable, and the next moment he started in on her!

She really wanted to hit him!

However, she should probably display the strength of the fifth layer of martial disciple recently; the time was just about right.

...

With a swish.

Sun Yuan appeared in the courtyard like a wisp of smoke.

"I heard you won?"

Those four words made Fang Che pause. "Master found out quite early."

"Hah, hurry up and tell me about it."

Pondering, Fang Che recounted the details of the battles, saying, "Because I killed Ximen Xuri on the first day, I had to take a gentle approach with Ding Jieran and become friends with him, so that there will still be plenty of room for maneuver in the future."

"Well done! This matter was handled brilliantly." Sun Yuan praised him greatly.

"As for Huo Churan, I originally wanted to take the gentle approach and make friends with him too, but this fellow simply didn't know what was good for him. I offered him face, but he couldn't keep it, and inadvertently, I ended up breaking seven or eight tenths of the bones in his entire body."

Fang Che put on a sinister expression and smiled, "However, this way, having one friendly and one antagonistic contact also gives us points of leverage and utilization, depending entirely on how we use them. Both hatred and friendship belong in the category of sharp weapons!"

Sun Yuan clapped his hands in great delight. "Sufficiently sinister! Now I can truly rest easy!"

"Master, my reward..." Fang Che reminded him.

"Rest assured, I haven't forgotten! I reckon the Cult Master is probably grinning from ear to ear by now!"

...

Yin Shengong was indeed grinning from ear to ear.

"Jie jie jie jie..."

Standing at the highest point of the All-Consuming Cult's main headquarters, Yin Shengong looked up to the sky and laughed wildly, feeling the pent-up frustration in his chest swept completely away.

The stifling humiliation he had suffered when the mission failed and he was insulted by the messages from the three sects was now being vented with compound interest in a supremely gratifying way!

Pointing at the clouds, he roared ferociously, "Is this seed something you people can lay your hands on? Is this first place something you can covet? Is the status of the First Divine Cult something you can even dream of?!"

"Bah! Self-overestimating demons! Despicable and shameless villains! Filthy and base creatures! Despicable and sordid things!"

"How is it? Aren't you still bowing in submission under my arrangements? Go on, be tough now?!"

"Damn it, I gave you opportunities, but you bastards were completely useless!"

His voice shook the sea of clouds, causing them to churn and roll in massive waves.

However, apart from Yin Shengong, not a single person heard it.

Coming here, he had dismissed everyone; this was the forbidden sanctum!

Even Mu Linyuan hadn't been brought along!

"Hahahaha..."

Another burst of wild laughter followed.

Then his expression turned ferocious. "You want to ride on my head? Keep dreaming your millennium-long ancestral dreams!"

"What a wonderful Night Demon! This Cult Master is extremely satisfied! Jie jie jie jie!..."

"Reward!"

...

At the same time.

Ye Meng's message had also been transmitted outward.

The intelligence previously signed under the alias 'Shadow' had already stirred up massive waves within the upper echelons of the Defenders.

Moreover, this 'Shadow' had transmitted several pieces of intelligence so far, all of which were of great value.

She had even intercepted a major operation by the high-level members of the All-Consuming Cult, preserving the vitality of the Defenders Alliance's lower-tier Iron-Blood Fortress.

The secret communication channels of the Only My True Cult constituted a major merit, and this time the exposure of the Ximen family could also be counted as a major merit.

A local, deeply rooted family like that—once they began acting, the destructive power they unleashed upon their host city would undoubtedly be enormous and tragic.

Now that their identities were known in advance, preparations could naturally be made in advance, which was equivalent to saving the lives of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of civilians!

The merit was huge!

Thus, after deliberation, the Dark Department prepared to elevate Shadow's clearance rating.

It was roughly enough to match the weight of a 'C' grade. They were simply considering the specific method of promotion and reward.

However, there was no rush for this temporarily; she still needed to continue her undercover work...

In addition, the identities of the Ximen family needed to be notified to White Cloud Martial Arts Academy; there were still two instructors over there waiting to be dealt with.

If they punished their own people because of someone from the Demonic Cult, wouldn't that just grieve their own loved ones and gladden their enemies?

"Send a confidential letter to Gao Qingyu, the Principal of White Cloud Martial Arts Academy."

...

When Fan Tiantiao received the news that Fang Che had won first place in the grand tournament, he instead fell into a state of a headache so severe his head felt like it would split.

Fang Che had indeed won first place in the White Cloud Martial Arts Academy grand tournament!

The champion.

Not only did he acquire a large amount of high-grade medicinal pills and contribution points, but one could also imagine that... White Cloud Martial Arts Academy would definitely cultivate him vigorously and tilt resources toward him in the future.

Yet the problem was... this Fang Che was a person from the All-Consuming Cult.

Wasn't this just cultivating an opponent?

If he reported this upward, wouldn't it mean exposing the fact that Shadow was the maid by Fang Che's side? Otherwise, how could he gain the trust of the upper echelons?

However... the crux of the matter was that the moment even one more person knew Shadow's identity, it added a layer of danger!

Just in case—and he meant merely supposing—the enemy's mole probed out this piece of intelligence, then Fang Che's pipeline, which could otherwise be used to continuously shear wool, would inevitably be snapped!

The All-Consuming Cult might even immediately make alternative arrangements.

Therefore, Shadow could not be exposed.

How, then, could Fang Che be exposed alone?

At the very least, they needed to make White Cloud Martial Arts Academy's resource allocation toward him not quite so obvious.

Thinking it over and over.

Fan Tiantiao couldn't make up his mind, so he went to discuss it with Chen Haihai.

Chen Haihai offered a suggestion: "At White Cloud Martial Arts Academy, I have an old superior. If I could only have one trustworthy person in my life, it would be him.

His name is Huang Yifan.

He is the Vice Principal of White Cloud Martial Arts Academy, and also a high-level member of the Defenders, belonging to the backbone of the Guardians. Furthermore, he has a direct line to the very top."

Fan Tiantiao immediately set off.

To let this legendary Vice Principal Huang help make a decision.

Huang Yifan was extremely annoyed.

Because up until now, he still hadn't made up his mind, nor did he have any certainty to determine whether Fang Che truly was or wasn't one of them.

"What's the use of finding me?"

Huang Yifan clutched his hair. "What on earth do you people want me to do?"

Fan Tiantiao: "..."

Hearing this tone, he suddenly felt as though Chen Haihai had changed into a different skin and was sitting right in front of him.

He carefully looked down at the floor, noting that the shoes seemed to still be on.

And there wasn't that pungent, concentrated odor.

So he relaxed slightly and said, "In our plan, this matter needs to be handled long-term, developing this pipeline over the long haul. Therefore, we absolutely must have the cooperation of White Cloud Martial Arts Academy. And in White Cloud Martial Arts Academy, the only person we trust is you. After all, this matter is simply too important."

He paused, weighed his tone, and said, "If Fang Che continues to remain this talented, then Shadow might just be the first, and only, successful undercover agent our Defenders have ever managed to plant into the upper echelons of the Only My True Cult!"

Huang Yifan rolled his eyes and said, "On your side, you want the person to keep being a genius, to climb higher so as to steal more intelligence; yet on the other hand, you want to reduce the resource tilt to avoid feeding the enemy... Which one are you actually trying to do?"

Fan Tiantiao was at a loss for words. "This... isn't this why we came to ask you to make a decision?"

"This old man only knows how to fight wars, not how to make decisions!" Huang Yifan maintained his composed, senior demeanor.

Fan Tiantiao almost vomited blood.

Are we even talking about the same thing?

Why on earth do you not understand what I mean?

...

[I casually gave Ye Meng's Defender codename as Shadow. Everyone help me think of a good-sounding one to replace it. Whoever's suggestion I adopt will be rewarded with a signed book. To be sent out on the same day.]