"The monks at the ninth level of Kaiyuan Realm... have been involved in many cases involving 'Ember'... The possibility of having accomplices has not been ruled out..."
Looking at the description of the task in the jade slip, Gao Yuan considered the information contained in it word by word.
"Well, the tasks assigned by the 'whip bearer' are obviously several levels more difficult than the public tasks in the mission area."
"The target is very powerful, and may have accomplices, including 'Ember'!"
After chewing back and forth for a moment, he suddenly sighed in a low voice.
In the past few years since he joined the Exile Alliance, when he had plenty of spiritual stones, he would often issue various intelligence gathering tasks in the mission area.
By piecing together intelligence information from various sources, his understanding of the world is constantly deepening, which includes the intelligence of 'Ember'.
Frankly speaking, the scale of this organization is much more powerful than he had imagined before.
Just as the "mysterious man" said at the beginning, this is a mysterious and evil organization with many members all over the world.
And the formations he had seen before were just the tip of the iceberg of this organization.
The scale of the power hidden behind it is far beyond the reach of any major city in the Northern Territory.
According to some relatively public information he collected, 'Ember' originated from the Southern Region and was a mysterious organization that suddenly appeared during a certain period more than 700 years ago.
As soon as it appeared, it showed a vitality that was completely different from other forces, especially the number and strength of its members, which grew at an alarming rate.
In less than two hundred years, a large number of high-level combat forces emerged within the 'Ember', and soon showed terrifying strength that could crush an entire region.
Affected by this, members of this organization have become more aggressive and domineering, and its members can be seen in activities all over the world.
Since the day it was born, this organization has been committed to excavating various ancient ruins.
In order to achieve this goal, members of 'Ember' will often hold appalling blood sacrifice rituals.
As the strength of its organization increased, the scale of the blood sacrifices became larger each time.
In the beginning, it was only limited to a certain village or town. Later, it became more frequent and targeted major cities with millions of people.
This process lasted on and off for almost sixty years. During this period, many main cities were destroyed due to the bloody activities carried out by its members.
It wasn't until the main cities in each domain couldn't bear the increasingly unbridled expansion and killings of 'Embers' and began to unite that a protracted fighting officially began.
This bloody battle lasted for thirty years. It was not until the Allied forces captured the 'Altar of Ember' located deep in the swamps of the Southern Region that the great fighting that affected all regions finally came to an end.
During the thirty years of repeated bloody battles between the two sides, hundreds of main cities were destroyed, and countless monks of all levels were killed and injured.
Even hundreds of years have passed since the damage caused by this catastrophe, and the regions have not completely recovered.
At least the number of human main cities has not reached one-third of what it was before the war started!
Of course, the 'Ember' organization was also severely damaged in this war, but all parties knew that the organization was not completely destroyed, and it is difficult to say how much damage was caused.
The most important thing is that although the high-level combat power of 'Ember' fell in large numbers in this bloody battle, the 'Ember Holy Seat' as its leader was not among them.
Not long after the final battle began, this person disappeared, and the organization also disappeared for many years.
It is only in the past hundred years or so that there have been reports of suspected activities of ‘Ember’ members in various domains.
But the leader of this organization has obviously learned the lessons of the past. Although its members are active in activities very frequently, the location of its lair has always been a mystery.
Even though many higher-level members like the 'Sowers' have been arrested over the years with the cooperation of various forces, not much valuable intelligence has been collected.
The organization 'Ember' is like a ghost, clearly showing its existence in various incidents, but the major forces have been unable to effectively attack it.
·
Put away some divergent thoughts, gather your mind high and focus on the task in front of you.
"Yifeng City·Laiyuan Town?"
He repeated the location of this mission in his mouth, but a detailed map of the surrounding area of Yifeng City quickly appeared in his mind.
"'Laiyuan Town' is located about 600 miles southeast of Yifeng City and less than 300 miles away from the Qifeng Mountains. This Yuke is closely involved in the 'Ember' incident..."
"Is this guy in the same group as the dwarf from before?"
Thinking of this, Gao Yuan murmured in surprise.
To this day, he still remembers how he was ambushed by eight 'Ember Devotees' when he was doing tasks to accumulate alliance contribution points.
Although his strength has skyrocketed many times compared to before, even if he is besieged by those eight people again, he is still confident of killing them all.
But the problem is that an organization of the level of 'Ember' does not only have members from the Kaiyuan Realm.
According to his understanding, the actions of this organization are usually led by at least one 'seeder' who is in the Hunyuan Realm.
If you are unlucky, it is not impossible to run into the Hunyuan realm!
"Hey, now that I have become a whip holder, I have a system, and the benefits in all aspects sound really good, but there are also many restrictions. At least when you encounter such a difficult problem, you can't give up the task easily.
!”
Gao Yuan sighed with some emotion, put away the exile mask and the cross-border plate, and walked straight towards the alchemy workshop.
For the sake of future advancement, the ‘whip bearer’ trial mission cannot be given up easily.
Regardless of whether it can be done or not, at least we have to come to Yuanyuan Town to step on the plate.
Before that, to be on the safe side, a batch of elixirs such as the 'Five Spirit Pills' and 'Jin Yuan Pills' that can improve combat strength and battery life must be refined first.
Anyway, the mission period is twenty days, so taking ten days to refine the elixir is not a big deal.
After all, if he couldn't kill the target within ten days, it only meant that the opponent was extremely powerful and exceeded his expectations.
If this is really the case, even if it takes ten more days, the probability of completing the task will not be much greater!
…
Night falls.
Due to the curfew, Laiyuan Town, which was still bustling with people during the day, quickly fell silent at this time.
Except for the law enforcement teams who patrolled by from time to time, there were few pedestrians on the street and it seemed very deserted.
The Yu Family Courtyard is located in the east of Laiyuan Town. As one of the seven major Kaiyuan Realm families in the town, although it is only the last of the seven families, the scale of the mansion is also very luxurious.
The buildings in the courtyard are decorated with carved beams and painted beams, and pavilions and pavilions can be seen everywhere. The exquisite and meticulous layout everywhere reflects the grandeur and majesty of the Kaiyuanjing family.
At this time, the lights in the house were brightly lit, and figures passed by the open door from time to time.
The curfew system set up for the residents of the town obviously does not apply to the Kaiyuanjing family.
The innermost courtyard of the back house of the Yu family is the place where ancestors of the Yu family used to practice their Qing Dynasty.
In a luxurious house at the east end of the courtyard, an old man with gray hair on his temples was leaning on a sofa covered with brocade cushions, his eyes slightly closed and he was awake.
Suddenly, there was a "dong dong dong" knock on the door.
After a slight pause, with a "squeak" sound, a pretty woman about twenty-eight years old, wearing a maid's skirt, walked in.
She lowered her eyes, bowed to the old man with a respectful look on her face, and then whispered:
"Ancestor, please report from the front yard. Mr. Jiang is here. Please see me, Ancestor."
Yu Ke's eyes twitched slightly when he heard this, and he said calmly after a while:
"I got it. Invite Mr. Jiang to the study and tell him I'll be there shortly."
"Yes!" The woman bowed her head and bowed, followed the order and left.
When the sound of the door closing was heard at the door, Yu Ke's brows gradually rose.
He stood up and walked quickly around the place with his hands behind his back for several times before he suddenly stopped.
Standing there, he quickly soothed his face and changed into a relaxed expression. Then he coughed and walked out of the house, walking leisurely towards the west of the courtyard.
·
After a while.
Yu Ke pushed open the door and entered.
There were two people in the room at this time, a round-faced middle-aged man in his forties wearing a black robe, and a girl wearing a maid's skirt.
He waved at the latter, and after he stepped back and walked away, Yu Ke quickly walked a few steps to the middle-aged man, bowed to him and saluted:
"I have met the special envoy!"
The round-faced middle-aged man turned around and looked at him, with a smile on his face. Then he walked aside and sat down, smiling and saying:
"How are things prepared?"
Looking at the smile on the other person's face, Yu Ke felt relieved, but he squeezed out a wry smile and said:
"Replying to the special envoy, the situation is not good. My humble qualifications are still too low, and my foundation in Yifeng City was not very good back then. Even if I have the honor of having a 200-year-old birthday, there are still too few people of the same rank that I can invite. I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete the project.
The special envoy’s request.”
"Oh? How many can you invite?" The middle-aged man seemed to have expected this, and asked calmly without any strange expression on his face.
"About ten people." Yu Ke was silent for a while, then gritted his teeth and said.
"hehe!"
The round-faced middle-aged man chuckled, but the expression on his face quickly turned cold. He looked directly at Yu Ke's withered old face with clear eyes, and said lightly:
"My previous friendly attitude towards you seems to have sent you a wrong signal."
"So much so that you have the illusion that you can bargain with my orders!"
After hearing what the round-faced middle-aged man said, Yu Ke's expression changed slightly. He was about to explain, but the other party didn't give him a chance and continued:
"I don't care what method you use, whether it's normal contact or deception, on the day of your birthday party, there must be more than thirty Kaiyuan Realm monks within the scope of your residence."
"Remember, it's a must. If you can't do it, even if it's just one short, I will report it without hesitation and then take you back."
"Of course, you can also do what you think in your heart, run to Yifeng City and tell your former master all about our plan this time, so as to seek his blessing."
"After all, you are not the first 'pious person' to surrender to other forces, and you certainly will not be the last."
"But one thing I feel the need to remind you is that in the past two hundred years, among these 'devout people' who rebelled against the 'embers', the number of people who achieved a good death was zero."
"Of course, things are fickle. Anything can happen. Maybe you are the exception."
At the end of the sentence, the indifference disappeared from the face of the round-faced middle-aged man, and he looked at Yu Ke with a smile. The tone of his words was just like a chat between friends.
But when Yu Ke heard this, his expression changed drastically, and he immediately cursed the sky and the earth, even saying that he didn't dare.
"Okay, I only care about the results. As for the process, I don't ask at all. Anyway, there will still be some time. You can think about it carefully these days."
The round-faced middle-aged man seemed not to notice Yu Ke's panic. He stood up with a smile and walked out. When he came to the door, he suddenly turned around as if he remembered something and said:
"By the way, I have something to remind you. Several things you have done before may have aroused the suspicion of the Exile Alliance."
"According to reliable information, the 'Whipman' has recently handed over a bounty hunting mission. At present, it is very likely that it is targeting you."
"During this period, you'd better not leave Laiyuan Town. If it is really necessary to leave the city, you can inform me in advance."
Having said this, the round-faced middle-aged man paused for a moment, then suddenly revealed a hint of a smile but said:
"Of course, if you have something to hide, I can take back the last sentence."
Yu Ke's face turned bitter when he heard this. He smiled apologetically and said he didn't dare, while swearing and swearing a few words of loyalty.
It wasn't until the round-faced middle-aged man was led by the servants that he walked outside the house for a while before Yu Ke turned around and returned to the study.
After carefully exploring the place and confirming that there was no problem, a gloomy look gradually appeared on his face.
…
Nine days passed by in a flash.
In the alchemy workshop, Gao Yuan reached out and condensed a magic formula, and shot it at the sapphire five-square furnace not far away.
Following his actions, the talisman array in the furnace quickly extinguished, and the buzzing sound of the talisman array's operation also subsided.
As he played a magic formula to open the furnace, the furnace lid was lifted, and the fragrant medicinal aroma mixed with the steaming white steam escaped.
When the white mist dissipated, inside the cauldron, twenty-five longan-sized elixirs as colorful as rain flower stones came into view.
On the surface of the elixir, the five colors of gold, green, red, blue, and orange are evenly mixed together according to a strange law. At first glance, not only does it not feel inconsistent, but it also has a unique sense of beauty.
In addition, there is a dense layer of criss-crossing golden elixir patterns on the elixir watch case.
"The best five spiritual pills!" Gao Yuan whispered with a calm expression.
In the past nine days, in addition to spending seven days preparing various talismans, he has also been refining elixirs.
After he refined a hundred bottles of the top-quality 'Jin Yuan Pill' in two days, he also successfully refined the first batch of 'Five Spirit Pills' this morning.
After raising his proficiency to the master level, he started batch refining the top-quality 'Five Spiritual Pills' as expected.
"I will refine the 'Five Spirit Pills' for a day today, and I will go out tomorrow morning to verify the power of the pill."
"If everything goes well, we will repair for half a day tomorrow afternoon, and then leave for Laiyuan Town the day after tomorrow. We will decide whether to act based on the situation!"
Muttering to himself in a low voice, Gao Yuan kept moving, shaking his hands to throw out a few medicinal herbs, and then cast a spell, and the lid of the sapphire five-way furnace closed with a clang.
Under the urging of his subsequent spells, the talisman arrays inside lit up one after another.